How to teach english spelling - The sound "K"

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ 
TRƯỜNG THPT THẠCH THÀNH 3
SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM
HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH SPELLING - THE SOUND "K"
Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Văn Mạnh
Chức vụ: Giáo viên - TTCM
Đơn vị công tác: Trường THPT Thạch Thành 3
SKKN thuộc lĩnh môn: Tiếng Anh
THANH HOÁ NĂM 2017
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research
1.2. Aims of the research
1.3. Scope and object of the research
1.4. Researching method
1.5. New points 
II. MAIN CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical background
2.2. The status of the problem
2.3. Some useful suggested lessons of spelling
2.3.1. Lesson one: The sound “-IC”
	2.3. 2. Lesson two : The sound “qu”
2.3. 3. Lesson three : The sound “ X ”
	2.3. 4. Some useful tips.
2. 4. Result after applying the research in teaching
III. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
3.1. Conclusion
3.2. Some suggestions
I. INTRODUCTION
 1.1. Reasons for choosing the research: 
	I started to do this research for two reasons : desperation and guilt. I was desperate becuse My middle school and high school students repeated their spelling mistakes year after year. I felt guilty because, as an English teacher of non - native speakers, I had but few teaching remedies. When " spelling" was discussed in the staff meeting at my school, I focus on such questions as : " How much to correct?" and " How many marks should be deducted for poor spelling ?"
	It seemed that both teacher and students had succumbed, unknowingly, to two " nature - nurture" spelling myths: one saying that good spellers are born, not made; the other saying, give students enough reading and writing to do, and spelling will teach itself. If either of these statements were true for everyone, then why should we try to re-introduce spelling? One thing disturbed us: there seemed to be a fair number of students we considered " good readers" whose written work had many spelling errors.
	The spelling generalizations were unaccompanied by a detailed explanation, thus, some of us were confused! There were also no practice exercises for the students. No practice, no learning! Slowly, the teachers abandoned the new spelling programme, some more quickly than others - a fact many students didn't mind, since it had become a trifle boring.
	The long list of spelling patterns was shelved, until the monotony of students' spelling errors forced us to ask, once again:
+ Why can't they spell?
+ Which spelling patterns do we teach, and how do we organize them ?
+ What should the lesson plan include ?
+ What should be our criteria for the practice activities ?
+ What and how do we test ?
1.2. Aims of the research:
- To introduce some lesson plans to motivate students in spelling . 
1.3. Scope and object of the research: 
- Scope : Researching in the process of teaching English at Thach Thanh 3 high school.
- Object: This subject is concerned with ways of organizing spelling activities in the class. 
1.4. Researching method: 
Reading reference books , discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences.
1.5. New points 
- In this research, improving the topic of the 20015 written by me.
- In the topic of the 2015, I mentioned the sound “ C” or “ K” , the sound “-ck” or “-k” at the end of a word .
- In the topic of the 2017, I mention the sound “-IC” , the sound “qu” , the sound “ X ”. 
II. MAIN CONTENT:
2.1. Theoretical background
All of us know that spelling is very difficult, especially for the beginner learning english. Therefore, to solve this problem and to make the learners more enthusiastic about learning english. I would like to mention some lessons to how to teach english spelling - the sound ‘k’.
2.2. The status of the problem
From all the periods , I see that most of our students are still passive, not really interested in learning English. This consequence is partly because our students come from the rural regions, their knowledge of English is not rich, especially some know very little about English. When the teacher asks them to read or write, they mostly read or write incorrectly.
That is the reason why I think that I must design the really interesting activities for the spelling lesson to attract students’attention and make them more excited with the lessons.
2.3. Some useful suggested lessons of spelling
2.3.1. Lesson one : The sound “-IC”
* Since the vocabulary level of words that end in “-ic” is for intermidiate and advanced students, most of the exercises for this spelling pattern are at these levels. Howevever, we feel that it is important for all students to know that when they hear the sound / ik / as in panic at the end of a multi – syllable word, it will be written as “-ic”.
1. ELICIT: Ask students to suggest words that have two or more syllables and in end the sound /ik/. Write them on the board.
2. ASK: What spelling pattern can we deduce from this? Note students’suggestions.
3. WRITE ON THE BOARD:
 We write “-ic” when we hear the sound /ik/ at the end of a word that has two or more syllables.
You might suggest that students add this to their notebooks, with examples.
* Warm-up practice of “ic” spelling pattern:
The same list can be used at two levels. Choose ten words from the following list and dictate the as a listening exercise. It is recommended to include some “-ic” words from the previous lesson.
Plastic; fantastic; trick; logic; electric; clinic; thick; traffic; chick; arithmetic; stick; Mick; Atlantic; click; brick; classic; magic.
* Beginner and intermidiate students can write either “-ic” if the word they hear has more that one syllable, or “-ick” if it has only one syllable.
* Advanced students can write the whole word they hear.
A. Beginners:
Word pairs:
Match “-ic” words with nouns to form common phrases and idomatic expressions. Do it as a competition between groups, to see who gets the most logical pairings within three minutes
 Traffic festival
 Picnic band
Elastic boon
Metric basket
Magic clock
Sonic circle
Arctic system
Atlantic lights
Music ocean
Electric stick
B. Intermidiate:
What’s their line?
Match field of word with phrases that describe professions. All the fields of work end in “-ics”. A dictionary might be useful here to look up some of the words in the word bank. Do at least ten. The first one has been done for you. (A* means that this is difficult, so be careful!)
PROFESSION FIELD OF WORK
1. An arcrobat in a circus acrabatics
2. A member of Parliament 
3. A beautician in a store 
4. A scientist of DNA and heredity 
5. A person who study language 
6. A robot builder 
7. A runner on a sportstrack 
8. An expert in aircrafts and flight 
9. A person who studies drawing 
10. A person who fixes cars or tractors 
11. A scientist of matter and energy 
12. A doctor of children’s illness 
13. A specialist in old age 
Words bank:
Acrobatics; aeronautics; athletics; cosmetics; genetics; geriatrics;
Graphics; linguistics; mechanics; pediatrics; physics; politics; robotics
C. Advanced:
Words in the circle
a.All the words in the circle below end in “-ic”. See it if you can find eight of them. The first letter of each word is capitalized in each segment. Write the words you find on the lines.
1.  7. 
2.  8. 
3.  9. 
4.  10. 
5.  11. 
6.  12. 
Suggested answers:
1. acrobatic 2. bionic; 3. madic; 4. panic; 5. logic; 6. symphonic; 7. politic
8. magic; 9. sceptic; 10. frantic; 11. ballistic; 12. Arabic
2.3.2. Lesson two: The sound “qu” 
* This lesson looks at the sound /kw/ as in quick. This is a common spelling pattern and is found at the beginning or in the middle of the words. The letter “q” is always followed by “u” and another vowel.
* What are the letter patterns that we have learnt that give us the sound /k/? answer: “c” as in cat, “k” as in kettle, “-ck” as in back, and “-ic” as in magic.
* How do the following words pair differ in the sound /k/?
Queen – keen; quiet – kite; square – scare ; squid – skid
→ Answer: The first word of each pair has the sound / kw/ and the second the sound /k/ 
* WRITE ON THE BOARD:
When we hear the sound /kw/ in a word, we wrtite “qu”. “Q” never stands alone: It is always followed by “u” + vowel.
* Warm-up practice of “qu” spelling pattern:
You can choose ten words from the following list dictate them as a listening exercise. The same list can be used at two levels. It is recommended to include words from the previous lesson.
Clap ; trick; quit; black; shock; crown; square; drink; care; jack; quarrel
Question; picnic; snack; quize; dask; quick; king; cross
* Beginners and intermediate students can write “c”; “k” “-ck”; “-ic” or “qu”
* Advanced students can write the whole words
A. Beginners:
1. Picture quiz:
In order to find the word in column 3, look at the picture in Column 1 and unscramble the letters in Column 2.
1
2
3
1
 a r o q
 e u r
 equator
2
 k u
 c d
.......................................
3 
 q r u 
 u
 a i a m 
.......................................
4
 z
 q u 
 i
.......................................
5
 i k
 d
.......................................
6
 t r r q
 e u a 
.......................................
7
 n d
 a c y 
.......................................
- Suggested answer:
 1. equator 2. duck 3. Aquarium 4. Quiz 5. Kid 6. quarter 7. Candy
2. Find out ..
1.  which kid in your class asks the most questions.
2.  when your next quiz is.
3.  which Egyptian queen fell in love with Antony.
4.. find different things you can put in an aquarium.
5. . The name of five games or sports where you have to run quickly.
B. Intermediate:
Letter fill:
Complete the letters in the digram according to the clues on the left. Do at least seven.
1
It has four equal sides
Q
U
2
The same for everyone
Q
U
3
A furry animal with a long tail
Q
U
4
Zero degree latitude
Q
U
5
?
Q
U
6
Fast
Q
U
7
A test
Q
U
8
A place for fish at home
Q
U
9
The King’s wife 
Q
U
10
Q
U
* Suggested answers:
1. square; 2. equality; 3. squirrel; 4. equator; 5. question; 6. quick; 7. quiz
8. aquarium; 9. queen ; 10. quarter
C. Advanced:
Compound words:
From the word bank, match a word to those below to make compound words or familiar phrases. Most of the words will be used more than once. A dictionary will be useful. Do at least 15.
Words bank:
Queen ; country; question; quarter; aqua; quick ; square; skin
1. ..’s English 11. thick 
2. to pot the . 12. . marine
3. “Beauty is only . deep” 13. . back
4. .. mother 14. .. mark
5. four .. s of the moon 15.  lung
6. .. silver 16.  house
7. . master 17.  sands
8. .. music 18. A .meal
9.  of an hour 19.  thinking
10.  dancing 20. A  of time
* Suggested answers:
1. Queen’s English 	11. thick skin
2. To pop the question	12. aqua marine
3. “Beauty is only skin deep”	13. quarter back
4. Queen mother	14.question mark
5. four quarters of the moon	15. aqua lung
6. quick silver	16. country house
7. quarter master	17. quick sands
8. country music	18. a square milk
9. quarter of an hour	19. quick thinking
10. square dancing	20. a question of time
2.3. 3. Lesson three: The sound “ X ” 
- The letter “ x” appear at the end of a syllable or a word. At the end of a word its sound is always / ks / as in six . With words that begin with “ ex” , its sound is either / ks / as in exercise or / gz/ as in exhibit.
- The sound / ks / at the end of the words can be spelled in four different ways: “ks” as in thinks ; “cks” as in sticks ; “ ics” as in comics; and “ x” as in six. However , note that all words that end in “ x” are root words.
1. WRITE ON THE BOARD: Write the following column headings and examples:
EX- 	MIDDLE 	END OF ROOT WORD
Excellent	taxi	six
Extra	sixty	fax
Example 	text	mix
2. ASK : What sound does the letter “ x” make and what kind of vowel sound precedes it ? Elicit the answers that the letter “ x” make the sound / ks / ( or / gz/ in some “ ex-” words ) and it is always preceded by a single - letter, short vowel sound.
	You might like to point out that words such as books ; rocks ; banks ; takes ;picnics also have the sound / ks/ because these are root words plus a suffix. In words that end in “x” , we need to add “ es” 
Mix + es - mixes	; fax + es - faxes
3. WRITE ON THE BOARD:
 If we hear / ks / at the end of a syllable or a root word and it is preceded by a single-letter, short vowel sound, we write ‘ x’
You might wish to mention to more advanced classes that the same sound / ks / is found in ‘cc’ word, sush as accident and eccentric.
You might suggest that students write this in their notebooks.
* Warm-up practice of “x” spelling pattern:
* Beginners:
You can use the seven words below as a listening -writing exercise. Read out the words and ask the students to write them.
Six ; box ; mix ; fax ; next ; sixty
* Intermediate and advanced:
The following list includes words that follow the ‘x’ pattern as well as ‘-xes’ ; ‘-cks’ ; ‘-ks’ and ‘-ics’ words. Read out the words and ask the students to write them. 
Taxi ; example ; boxes ; backs ; picnics ; relax ; exit ; banks ; exam ; politics
A. Beginners:
1. Initial fun:
This is your chance to learn some new ‘x’ words. Take the first letter from each drawing, add an ‘x’ to the letters to form a word that answer the question. Write the letters on the spaces.
1. What is a candle made of ? 
 X = W A X
2. What do you do if you break a window ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ it 
3. What do you do with eggs, flour and sugar to make a cake ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ them.
4. Which smart wild animal looks like a dog ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ 
5. What looks like a pipe and makes music ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ 
6. What word means ‘ This way out’ ?
 = ____ ____ ____ ____ 
7. What can you put things in ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ 
8. How do you send a note by phone ?
 X = ____ ____ ____ it.
9. What car do you pay to ride in ?
 = ____ ____ ____ ____ 
2. The crazy millionaire’ shopping list:
a. Do you know what the crazy millionaire wants to buy ? Look at his shopping list and fill in the ‘-x’, ‘-ck’ and ‘-k’ words in place of the numbers and pictures . You can use the word bank to help you. 
b. In pairs, decide what he is going to do with the things he buys. Which would he need for .....transport ? .... the kichen ? .....amusement ? ..... work ? Defend your decisions! 
1. 66 = sixty -six cricket bats 
2. 7 = .........................................
3. 4 = .........................................
4. 16 = .........................................
5. 5 = .........................................
6. 1 = .........................................
7. 3 = .........................................
8. 6 = .........................................
Sixty - six ; mixes ; foxes ; one ; trucks ; six ; seven
fax machine ; five ; sixteen ; boxes ; two
saxophone ; taxis ; cricket bats ; four ; three ; banks
Answers:
A1. 1. wax 2. Fix 	3. Mix 	4. Fox	5. Sax 	6. Exit
7.Box	8. fax 	9. Taxi	 	
A2a. 
1. sixty -six cricket bats	2. Seven taxis 3. Foour foxes 4. sixteen trucks	
5. Five fax machines 6. one saxophone	7. Three mixers	8. Six banks
B. Intermediate:
1. Poet’s corner:
Now is your chance to become a famous poet . Compare this silly rhyme with words that end in ‘x’. If you need any help, look at the words in the previous exercises.
1. 
 - I once had a f ___ ___ that sat on a b ___ ___ . I called him M ___ ___ and he likes to r ___ ___ ___ ___ .
2. 
 - One day , at s ___ ___ I had to f ___ ___
3. 
 - My father ‘s s ___ ___ . It needed w ___ ___ .
4. 
 - M __ __saw the s __ __ and couldn’t r __ __ __ __ .
5. 
- He jumped off his b __ __ and I lost my f__ __ !
2. letter fill - in:
a. Listen to these sentences then fill in the missing letters of the words. Use ‘ qu’ ; ‘ex’ ; ‘k’ ; ‘ c’ ; ‘ks’ ; ‘x’ ; ‘ck’ ; ‘xes’:
1. The si ......... fo ........ ..............it ............ercising because they felt si..........
2. ..............en , the sa.........ophone players,.........an’t find an .......cuse for playing ............tra notes.
3. ...........itty tal........ si.........ty words a se..........ond. That’s ...........ite ........ick. In fa.............t, it’s faster than a fa.............. .
b. Make up some more sentences or words with similar missing letters and give them to a friend to solve:
C. Advanced:
1. Dictionary definitions:
Complete the sentences to show that you understand the meaning of the ‘x’ words. Use s dictionary to help you.
1. A dyslexic person is someone who ...................................
2. An exciting trip is one where ...........................................
3. An excellent meal might consist of ...................................
4. A complex problem is one that .........................................
5. An expert is a person who .................................................
6. A galaxy contains .............................................................
7. A fax is a message that .....................................................
8. A hex may be used by ......................................................
9. A sexist is a person who ...................................................
10. If you exalt someone you .................................................
11. At an exhibition you might see .................................................
12. Latex is .................................................
13. Wax is used to make .................................................
14. A prefix is one or more letters that .................................................
15. A suffix is one or more letters that .................................................
2. Exclusive alphabet:
In pairs, students work through the alphabet, writing down a word containing the letter ‘x’ for as many initial letters as possible, for example: box . Do this 
within five minutes. Compare answers.
2.3.4. Some useful tips:
	I have found the following tips helpful in our teaching: 
1. Teach one spelling pattern every week.
2. Spend 8 - 12 minutes introducing spelling pattern, another five minutes doing the warm - up listening exercise, and as much time as your class needs to do and check spelling activity.
3. Because we teach non-native students, try using the students' mother tongue, if possible, to introduce the spelling pattern and write the "rule" on the board. [1]
4. Have a " spelling corner" to record / display the spelling patterns, as you teach them. Reffering to previously taught patterns becomes easier this way.
5. Encourage your students to use a seperate notebook or fife for the weekly spelling patterns, example words and spelling activities.
6. Teach words listed as " common exceptions" only if they are fairly important words that your class is likely to need.
7. Test the weekly spelling pattern a few days after teaching it. This shouldn't take long, and it can be a five - minute activity for the beginning or end of a lesson.
8. To reduce students tension, as well as your own teaching load, try letting the students grade their own spelling quiz, by comparing their answers to those you write up on the board. Occasionally, you may want to check them yourself. We suggest that one mark be given for writing the correct spelling pattern, and another mark for spelling the whole word correctly. [2]
2.4. Result after applying the research in teaching:
	After applying the research in teaching, the students became more and more attentive and conscientious in class. They had more enthusiasm in their learning, they learn new words enthusiasticly and effectively. Especially, Students like the way of my teaching, From students’ responses to my open-ended questionnaire at the end of the term, I knew that the majority of students were satisfied with this course.
III. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
3.1. Conclusion
Using the teaching english spelling activities in teaching brings us many positive effects. Th