Silent Letters- Pelmanism And Snap
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Card games to practise words with silent letters, including pairs/ pelmanism/ the memory game, and the faster, more exciting game of Snap, with cards for A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1/ C2 levels.
Lesson Plan Content:
Silent Letters- Pelmanism And Snap
Instructions for teachers
Choose the most useful words below for your students, preferably making sure that there
are at least four examples of each silent letter, e.g. four with silent T. This will usually mean
cards from more than one level below, e.g. all the Elementary ones and most of the Pre-
Intermediate ones. Cut up one pack of cards per group of two or three students.
There are two games that can be played with the same pack of cards. In pelmanism (also
called “pairs” and “the memory game”), they spread all the cards face down on the table
and try to find two which have the same silent letter, also pronouncing them correctly in
order to keep those two cards and score two points. Snap is a much faster game in which
they deal all the cards out but don’t look at their own pack, take turns turning over the top
card from their packs, then race to shout “Snap!” if the last two cards to be turned over
(their last card and their partner’s last card) have the same silent letter. If they are right
and the two words do both have the same silent letter, they can take all the cards which
have been turned over so far. If they are wrong, they have to give a card to each other
player as punishment. The game then continues. The winner is the person with the most
cards when the game is stopped.
Before, after or between those games, students can work together to find similar words
with the same silent letter, including for the same reason and/ or in the same position.
p. 1
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020
Elementary
answer
island
ballet
buffet
biscuit
build
Christmas
listen
could
should
know
knife
science
scissors
sandwich
Wednesday
raspberry
receipt
what
when
where
which
white
why
wrap
wrestling
write
wrong
Pre-Intermediate
autumn
column
bomb
lamb
climb
comb
champagne
foreign
ghost
yoghurt
guarantee
guard
handkerchief
handsome
honest
hour
knee
knitting
plumber
thumb
rhyme
rhythm
whale
while
p. 2
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020
Intermediate
artistically
physically
business
parliament
cabaret
sachet
castle
fasten
debt
doubt
exhausted
exhibition
fascinated
scenery
knapsack
knight
knock
knot
psychiatrist
psychology
wheel
whistle
who
whole
wreath
wrist
Upper Intermediate
acquaintance
acquire
aisle
isle
beret
gourmet
bidet
chalet
breadcrumb
tomb
campaign
cologne
condemn
solemn
critically
magically
cupboard
coup
damn
hymn
descend
scene
exhilarating
vehicle
p. 3
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020
heir
honour
kneel
knob
miscellaneous
scent
muscle
obscene
pseudonym
psychic
rhetoric
rhino
whoever
wholly
wrestle
wrinkle
Advanced/ Proficiency
aplomb
catacomb
apostle
epistle
apropos
bourgeois
arraign
reign
bristle
bustle
cachet
crochet
debris
rendezvous
debtor
subtle
diaphragm
feign
ghastly
ghoul
glisten
hasten
gnarly
gnash
gnat
gnaw
gristle
hustle
jamb
limb
jostle
nestle
knack
knoll
knackered
knuckle
p. 4
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020
numb
plumb
pestle
trestle
playwright
sword
pneumonia
pneumatic
psalm
pseudo
rapport
ricochet
rhapsodic
rhinestone
rhododendron
rhomboid
rustle
thistle
scintillating
scion
silhouette
vehement
soubriquet
valet
succumb
womb
whet
whey
wrangle
wrath
wreak
wreck
wrest
wretched
wriggle
wring
writ
writhe
wrung
wry
p. 5
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020
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