Classroom Activity

Tongue twisters in your classroom

How fast can you say this sentence? Say it several trimes – FAST!

The sixth sheikh’s sixth sheep is sick.

Using tongue twisters in class is a fun and challenging way of providing pronunciation practice. Tongue twisters don’t always make sense but your students will enjoy trying to say them.

Here’s just one idea on how to use tongue twisters in the classroom.

Disappearing tongue twisters

Choose a tongue twister. Practice it as a class then write up the sentence on the board, for example:

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Now rub out a couple of words and replace them with lines, for example:

She sells ____ shells by the sea _____.

Ask the class to say the complete tongue twister, then remove another word, for example:

She sells _____ _______ by the sea ______ .

Continue until there are no words left! Your learners can now practice repeating the tongue twister as quickly as possible.
You might want to remind your students that part of the fun of tongue twisters is getting them wrong so it doesn’t matter if you make lots of mistakes. Just have fun!

 

Try one of these tongue twisters:
Six slippery snails, slid slowly seaward.
(Repeated sounds are s and sl)

A tongue twister twists tongues.  
(Repeated sound is t)
Students say together as a class then practice in pairs. They must try and say as many as possible, quicker and quicker, without making a mistake.