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Sophie Wang’s

Phonics for
Adult ESL Students
LINC Themes
Health
&
Communications
Transportation &
Safety
Media

Employment Family
Life
Community
&
Housing Commercial Government
Services

Canada
Leisure Canadian
Education
Law
Sophie Wang’s
Phonics Book
for
Adult ESL
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ISBN 978-1-894799-67-6
Introduction
A. Why Thematic Phonics?
No matter which literacy approach a teacher may favour, Whole Language or Phonics,
learning to decode on the letter-level is an inevitable process for one to become a
successful reader. I have used phonics textbooks designed for early education students
or illiterate adult native speakers in my class because there are not many phonics books
written specifically for adult ESL literacy. These books can be quite handy and effective
to introduce certain concepts of phonics; however, they are often not a good fit for
adult ESL literacy students’ needs. Here is a good example. A 57 year old man started
my class. He had been in Canada for 30 years, and was illiterate in his first language
Punjabi, and English. His motivation for coming to school was to pass the Canadian
citizenship test, but the related vocabulary would not be covered in a standard phonics
workbook. His beginning point to prepare for the test was learning the alphabet.
Creating my own phonic sheet I taught him to read and write “Canada.” Then he asked
me, “Canada. Why does c sound like k?” We had our first phonics lesson introducing
initial c /k/ with the words “coast” and “capital.” He was focused during the whole
session, and when he was able to decode “Arctic” on a map by the first vowel sound, he
was quite excited, saying, “English is not that hard!”
I still had some doubts about this way of introducing phonics: vocabulary around the
citizenship test would not be considered ideal for early literacy students. Two or three
syllable words are not the traditional way to present basic phonics elements. I noticed
my student enjoyed the ABC song and never considered it “childish.” I decided to bring
in a textbook worksheet on short vowel “a” with 3-letter words and pictures. When my
student saw the worksheet, he was not excited to see those “easy” words. He asked, “Is
this for kids?” Yes, the worksheet was from a book written for children. Although the
worksheet was a great phonics exercise, it was not age appropriate for my student. He
could develop some degree of phonemic awareness with short vowel “a” from the work-
sheet, but he would probably get by in his daily life without using any of the words from
the activity, such as bat and ant. I compiled an age appropriate phonics book for adult
ESL students with practical vocabulary for adults.
In this book I keep a balanced approach mixing Phonics with Whole Language while build-
ing basic reading and writing decoding skills around practical vocabulary and structures -
vocabulary and structures that an adult learner uses in their daily communication at
school and in the community. Each unit focuses on one target sound or a sound group,
which is introduced in a dialogue. The dialogue is followed by exercises using all four
skills, reinforcing the letter-sound correspondence. After all, decoding the print
information can be easier when the learners are orally familiar with the content.
B. Some Unique Aspects of Teaching Phonics to ESL Adults
1. Reading, Vocabulary Building and Oral Fluency
When children get to the age to learn how to read, most of them have acquired speaking
fluency and aural repertoire. The oral vocabulary they use frequently in speaking can be
easily recognized as reading vocabulary when they see or hear it in reading. It is not
necessary for children to produce a perfect pronunciation to match the word they
already know from spoken language (Beck, 2006). However, such matching for adult ESL
literacy learners may take a longer or a different process as they face the challenge of
learning both the sound and the meaning of words at the same time. As orality and
literacy lie on a continuum, second language (L2) literacy can never be considered in
isolation from L2 oral communicative competence (Jones, 1996).
ESL literacy learners also need to master some vocabulary for phonics development. For
example, the consonant digraph /ch/ can be introduced with the following words:
cherries, chicken, chips, cheese. Once the students are familiar with the single words,
they can be applied in a short dialogue.

Would you like some cherries? Yes, thank you.


Would you like some chicken? Yes, thank you.
Would you like some chips? Yes, thank you.
Would you like some cheese? Yes, thank you.

When we reinforce phonics concepts by spiralling target vocabulary in communicative


activities, it benefits the students in both vocabulary building and oral fluency, which
will make the basic grammar structure easier to understand later on.
2. Analytical Skills of Adult Learners
The analytical and critical thinking skills of adult learners can be used to understand
English spelling patterns. One of my students spelled ten as tene. When he realized it
should be ten, he looked confused. He asked, “Five and nine, why ten?” The human brain
looks for patterns. It is natural to analyze the unknown, such as the word ten, with a
known pattern. It was a perfect moment to introduce him to the silent e. I listed five,
nine, cake, home and cute on the board with the silent e highlighted and I used lines to
match the long vowels to the alphabet chart beside the board. In another column I
wrote the words ten, fit, cat, pot and cut. Once the list was done, there was an
expression of understanding on his face even before I explained. This does not
necessarily mean he acquired the silent e concept in CVCe words right away, which
requires more repetition and spiralling. However, he sensed accomplishment at being able
to figure out a pattern through his own analysis.
3. Motivation/Needs
The vocabulary set which interests adult learners usually belongs to a different corpus
than early education students, according to their needs/motivation. A 5-year old may
want to learn the word “pony” but an adult driver may eagerly want to learn to pay
attention to “Private Parking,” especially if they have got parking tickets or been towed.
Language learning for immediate or practical goals (Gardner and Lambert, 1972) does
play an important role in success in second language learning. Therefore, the vocabulary,
structure and sociolinguistic competencies that help ESL learners to function and enjoy
life should be included in ESL literacy phonics activities. Mastering more practical skills
can lead to an ESL learner’s increased interest in phonological awareness and phonics
learning.
C. Challenges in Teaching Phonics in an ESL Literacy Class
1. In what order should the phonics elements be taught?
Ideally, phonics can be taught in a fixed sequence that linguists have agreed on. In
Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000: ESL for Literacy Learners, phonics concepts under
each ESL Literacy Benchmark reading/writing competency are clearly listed. (See Table
1)
However, any teaching theories should not become “dogmatic” and limit what teachers
can do or cannot do. Instead, instructors can trust their instinct based on experiences
and knowing their students (Law, Eckes, 2000). For example, real life situations the ESL
literacy students encounter do not wait for the systematic sequence of phonics lesson in
the class. It can be justified that consonant /p/ can be taught before /c/ if students
are interested in signs in the parking lot.
We can question whether the practical vocabulary set should be taught first, or the less
confusing one-syllable words. The fact is that the words you choose in the lesson depend
on how comfortable the students are at the letter-sound level, unless it is the focused
phonics concept. For example, if a student has trouble with /st/ in stapler or /z/ in
easer, then these distracting words do not have to be on the long vowel “a” worksheet.
Instructors may find that fixed-sequence phonics instruction works for some learners,
but not for others (Anna Lyon, P. Moore, G. A. Sharman, 2002). To benefit both groups
in the class, teachers should create a print-rich classroom displaying the phonics
concepts that have been taught and review them on a regular basis. During the spiralling,
those concepts can be reorganized in the order the instructor prefers. A 5-Vowel
poster can be posted on the wall where students add new words beside the vowel sound
which the word contains (See Appendix D for a sample poster).
2. How much classroom time should be devoted to phonics?
During the precious 2.5 hours of a typical ESL class, how much time should be
contributed to phonics? Some instructors prefer a dedicated 30 minutes per day on
phonics. The 30 minutes not only makes the idea of phonics learning explicit, but also
develops a systematic learning routine which is crucial for adult literacy learners. The
context of the phonics materials may not be necessarily linked to their ESL themes, but
some instructors slip phonics lessons into their thematic lesson.
One way to introduce a phonics lesson is through a shared reading. The reading can be
generated from warm-up, daily greetings, the theme for the day, weekend plans, field
trip notice/journal, or even election news.
Here is an example of a shared reading in an ESL literacy class.
Today is Wednesday, May 13, 2009. The weather is windy.
We went to the Cambridge Art Center for a drawing class yesterday. It was fun.
There are six w-words in the reading. The reading can be easily adapted for an
introduction or a review of initial consonant /w/.
3. How to assess phonics development?
Henderson (1990) divides spelling development into 5 stages. According to the develop-
mental characteristics of each stage, the first focus of phonics learning in an ESL
literacy class is letter naming. The skill to be assessed is to visually distinguish the
letters in the alphabet and verbally pronounce their names. This can be done either
formally or informally, such as having the students play a board game while the instruc-
tor records their letter-name knowledge in reading (See Appendix B – Assessing Letter
Knowledge). The recorded errors can guide individualized instruction planning later on.
Once the students accomplish the letter-name system, the focus can be shifted to
letter-sound recognition. The basic task assesses the students’ knowledge of the sounds
that letters typically make (Lyon, Moore, 2003). Appendix B contains a recording form
for assessing letter sound knowledge using a simple test.
Phonics instruction does not only focus on teaching the connection of the sounds and
letters, but also includes increasing the learners’ phonemic and phonological awareness.
Phonemic awareness refers to the understanding of single sound unit – phoneme.
Phonological awareness focuses more on the understanding of spoken words. Adams
(1990) provides five basic types of phonological awareness tasks. There are progres-
sively more complex activities under each task type that can be found in his writing.
Appendix B has a sample test of a typical segmentation task.

Sophie Wang
Table 1: Phonics Concepts for Learning/Teaching at Different ESL Literacy Benchmark Levels
(Source: Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000: ESL for Literacy Learners)

Reading Writing
ESL Literacy
Benchmarks
Foundation Initial Trace and copy upper and lower case letters
Recognize/point to and recite the alphabet by
memory. Read lower case letter name in isola-
tion from memory. Read upper case letters by
name
Developing
Recognize basic sight words used in forms by
providing oral or actional response
In lower case letters
In upper case
In upper and lower case
Phase I Initial Initial
Name all letters of alphabet in random order Begin to understand and use basic spelling
both upper and lower case conventions
Recognize Use phonics to write initial consonant and
Initial consonant sounds in sight words short vowel sounds in words
and phonetic words Fill in the missing initial consonant or short
Initial short vowel sounds in sight words vowel sound in rhyming word groups
such as _as, _ as, _ad, _ad
Copy or write a small bank of sight words
Copy or write word groups with varying initial
consonants

Developing Developing
Name all letters of alphabet in random order Begin to understand and use basic spelling
both upper and lower case conventions
Recognize and discriminate between Use phonics to write initial and medial conso-
Final consonant sounds in sight words and nants in words
phonetic words, such as him, his, hit Copy or write a bank of sight words
Medial consonant sounds in sight words Fill in the missing final consonant sound in
word groups of 3 letter words such as ba_,
ba_, ba_
Adequate Adequate
Read using phonics Begin to understand and use basic spelling
3 letter words with short vowel sounds in me- conventions
dial position, such as cat, hat, rat, sat, cot, cut Use phonics to write the short vowel sound in
medial position
Copy a greater bank of sight words
Write a number of sight words from memory
Write word groups with varying initial and
final consonants and varying medial short
vowels
sat cup ten big
Phase II Initial Initial
Read words using phonics Use
Initial and final consonant blends Phonics to write short vowels in initial and
br, dr, fl, gl, sm, sp, st, ng, nk medial position
Initial and final consonant digraphs Invented spelling
sh, ch, th, tch
Final consonant combinations
ff, ss, ck
Developing Developing
Read words using phonics Use
Two syllable words with short vowel Phonics to write words with long vowels with
sounds the final –e ending
address rabbit Invented spelling
Words with long vowel sounds that have
the silent e
Final suffixes – tion, sion, station
Adequate Adequate
Compare and contrast words with Use
long and short vowel sounds Phonics to write words with short and long
cap cape vowels
“r” controlled vowels in single syllable Compare and contrast vowel blends such as
words ee, ea
ar, or, ir, ur, er Invented spelling
Multi-syllable words
computer weather mirror
ACTIVITY INDEX
CONSONANTS
c as in Canada
Activities Skills/Competencies Grouping Min. Page
What country are they
Listening comprehension Whole class 10 1
talking about?
Whole class/
Labelling Copying, vocabulary about Canada 15 2
individual
Circle the same Accuracy in reading Individual 10 3
Listening discrimination on initial
Listen and circle Individual 10 4
consonant c
Read the story Reading comprehension Individual/pair 15 5
Sentence completion and Speaking, wh-questions in simple
Individual and pair 15 6
dialogue practice present tense
Reading and speaking, wh- ques-
Matching, dialogue practice Pair 15 7
tions in simple present tense

ch as in chicken
What do they order? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 8
Game variations: matching, memo-
Flashcards of food Pair/small group 20 9, 10
rizing, fishing
Word search Reading, vocabulary on food Individual 10 11
Consonants in both initial and me-
Fill in the blanks Individual/pair 15 12
dial positions
Listening discrimination on conso-
Listen, circle and copy nant ch in initial, medial and final Individual 15 13
positions
Fill in blanks and dialogue Yes/No question with verb “to
Individual 15 14
practice "be”, short answers
Role play A sample restaurant menu Small group 20 15

p as in parking
Where is the parking lot? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 16
Listening for consonant p, traffic
Listen and circle Whole class 10 17
signs
Listening and speaking, traffic
TPR Pair/small group 15 18, 19
signs
Where can you park? Reading signs Small group 15 20
Listen and circle, finish
Listening discrimination, copying Individual 15 21
words
Information gap Listening and speaking Pair 15 22, 23
r as in library
I need to borrow a movie Listening comprehension Whole class 10 24

Cross out the odd ones Vocabulary of library services Whole class 10 25

Game variations: matching, memo-


Flashcards Pair/small group 20 26, 27
rizing, bingo, fishing

Listening discrimination on conso-


Listen and circle Individual 10 28
nant r

Listening discrimination on conso-


Bingo Whole class 20 29
nant r

Dictation Listening and writing Whole class 15 30

Reading and copying, expressing


Sentence completion Individual 15 31
personal needs

Unscramble the letters, Writing and speaking, modal


Individual and pair 15 32
dialogue practice “can”, expressing personal needs

th as in Thursday

How long are you open? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 33

Check the holidays Holidays in Canada Whole class 10 34

Reading and copying, vocabulary


Underline “th” words Individual 10 35
of calendar

Matching Cardinal numbers review Individual 10 36

Matching Ordinal numbers Individual 15 37

Listen and unscramble Listening for consonant blend “th” Individual 15 38

Back and forth Listening and speaking Whole class 15 39, 40

Matching questions and Yes/No and wh- questions


Pair 20 41
answers differentiation
Listening and speaking, getting
Small group/whole
Role play hours of operation for public 20 42, 43
class
swimming pool
Initial Consonant Review – Personal Hygiene
How often do you brush
Listening comprehension Whole class 10 44
your teeth?

Game variations: matching, memo-


Flash cards of jobs Pair/small group 20 45, 46
rizing, bingo, fishing

Matching Verb phrases of personal hygiene Individual 10 47

Reading, vocabulary of personal


Domino Small group 15 48, 49
hygiene

Listening discrimination on initial


Listen and circle Individual 10 50
consonants

Count your stars Reading, vocabulary of frequency Individual 15 51 -54

Sentence completion, Writing, speaking, wh- questions


Individual and pair 15 52
dialogue practice in simple present tense
Writing, speaking, wh- questions
Individual and
Interviewing in simple present tense frequency 20 55
whole class
expressions

Medial Consonant Review – Jobs

What does he do? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 56

Game variations: matching,


Flash cards of jobs Pair/small group 20 57, 58
memorizing, fishing

Initial consonants review,


Listen and circle Individual 10 59
vocabulary of jobs

Listen and fill in the Listening and reading, medical


Individual 10 60
missing letters consonants

Information gap Listening, speaking and writing Pair 15 61, 62

Medial consonants, vocabulary of


Labelling Individual 10 63
jobs

Fill in blanks, dialogue Wh- questions in simple present


Individual and pair 15 64
practice tense. 3rd person singular.

Speaking, initial and medical Small group/whole


Board game 20 65
consonants review class
SHORT VOWELS
a as in apple
What does she like? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 66

Game variations: matching,


Flash cards of food Pair/small group 20 67, 68
memorizing, bingo, fishing

Food vocabulary matching Reading Individual 10 69

Spell the word Writing/copying Individual 15 70

Listening discrimination on short Individual and


Circle the “a” words 15 71
vowel a whole group

Circle  or  on food
Reading with own experience Individual 10 72
vocabulary

Circle “like” or “don’t like” Sentence completion, copying Individual 15 73

Simple present Yes/No ques-


Do you like……? tions on food preferences in Individual and pair 20 74
reading and writing

Simple present Yes/No ques-


Find someone who tions on food preferences in Whole class 20 75
speaking

i as in bin
Listening comprehension, discus-
What’s in your house? Whole class 15 76
sion

Flash cards of house Game variations: matching,


Pair/small group 20 77, 78
objects memorizing, bingo, fishing

Underline the “i” words Reading/copying Individual 10 79

Reading, vocabulary on house


Cut and paste Individual 10 80
objects

Listening discrimination on short Individual and


Listen and circle 15 81
vowel i whole group

Yes/No questions with verb “to


Fill in the blanks/dialogue Individual and pair 15 82
be“ and affirmative answers.

Yes/No questions with verb “to


Fill in the blanks/dialogue Individual and pair 15 83
be“ and negative answers.
o as in shopping
What did Bob buy? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 84

Flash cards of shopping Game variations: matching,


Pair/small group 20 85, 86
items memorizing, bingo, fishing

Let’s go shopping (cut and


Shopping warm-up Individual/pair 10 87
paste)

Reading, vocabulary of shopping Whole group and


Labelling 15 88
items individual

Listening discrimination on short Individual and


Listen and circle 15 89
vowel o whole group

Wh- questions in past tense with


Fill in the blanks/dialogue Individual and pair 15 90
answers

Dictation/complete Wh- questions in past tense in a


Individual and pair 15 91
dialogues 3-line dialogue

u as in truck
What’s the problem? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 92

Reading, vocabulary of shopping Whole group and


Labelling 15 93
items individual

Circle the same Accuracy in reading, copying Individual 15 94

Listening discrimination on short Individual and


Listen and circle 15 95
vowel u whole group

Wh- questions with verb “to be”,


Fill in blanks/dialogue Individual and pair 15 96
expressing personal needs

Reading comprehension (looking


Problem solving (Step 1:
for key words), Wh- questions, Pair 15 97, 98
Matching answers)
personal needs.

Problem solving (Step 2: Reading comprehension (looking


Pair/small group 20 99
Find the right place) for key words), giving suggestions
LONG VOWELS AND VOWEL DIGRAPHS
a as in paper
Where is the paper? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 100

Read, trace and copy Letter formation Individual 15 101

Lower and upper case


Matching Individual 10 102
identification

Reading, vocabulary of classroom


Matching Individual 10 103
objects

Listening discrimination on long


Listen and circle Individual 10 104
vowel a

Long vowel a sound and letter


Fill in blanks with a or e Individual/pair 15 105
identification

Reading and speaking,


Complete the questions Individual and pair 15 106
wh- questions, prepositions

Listening comprehension, wh- ques-


Drawing Pair/small group 15 107
tions, prepositions

ee as in sleep
When do you go to sleep? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 108

Letter names review, vocabulary of


Letter dictation Individual 10 109
activities at home

Multiple choice /sentence Reading and copying, simple


Individual 10 110
completion present tense

More vocabulary of activities at


Multiple choice Individual 5 111
home

Multiple choice / sentence Reading and copying, simple


Individual 10 112
completion present tense

Listening discrimination on vowel


Listen and circle Individual 10 113
digraph ee,

Simple present tense with time


Fill in blanks Individual 10 114
expressions

Reading and speaking, Wh- ques- Whole class/small


Chain drills 15 115
tions in simple present tense. group
Silent e as in cake
Happy birthday! Listening comprehension Whole class 10 116

Circle and labelling Reading and copying Individual/pair 10 117

Listening, vocabulary of birth-


Fill in blanks Individual 15 118
day party

Listening discrimination, silent e


Listen and circle Individual 10 119
identification

Writing, vocabulary of birthday


Word search Individual 15 120
party

Listening and speaking. Reading


Information gap Pair 15 121
comprehension

Find the different Accuracy in reading Individual 10 122

Read the story Reading comprehension Individual 15 123

oo as in zoo
What do you see at a zoo? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 124

Labelling the animals Letter formation Individual 10 125

Tracy and copy Letter formation Individual 15 126

Fill in the blanks with “oo” Listening discrimination on vowel


Individual 10 127
or “ee” digraph oo

Find the different Accuracy in reading Individual 15 128

Reading comprehension, simple


Read the story Individual 15 129
present tense

Wh- words review, wh-questions


Cut and paste Individual and pair 15 130
in simple present tense

Long Vowels Review – Phonebook


Is Mr. Cage home? Listening comprehension Whole class 10 131

Ordering Alphabetic order review Individual/pair 10 132

Listening discrimination on
Listen and circle Individual 10 133
names with long vowels
Listening discrimination on
Listen and circle names with long vowels, wh- Individual 15 134
questions
Information gap Scanning, speaking Pair/small group 20 135-138
CD
AUDIO TRACKS
Track Page Title
1 1 c as in Canada dialogue

2 2 What sound does “c” make in Canada?

3 4 Listen and Circle

4 8 ch as in chicken dialogue

5 10 Listen to the words.

6 13 Listen and circle.

7 16 p as in parking dialogue

8 17 Circle the sign.

9 19 Listen and hold up the card.

10 21 Listen and circle.

11 24 r as in library dialogue

12 27 Listen to the Vocabulary

13 28 Listen and circle.

14 30 Write the word for each picture that you hear your teacher
spell.

15 33 th as in Thursday dialogue

16 38 Unscramble the letters.

17 39 Back and Forth

18 44 Initial Consonant Review - Dialogue

19 50 Listen and circle.

20 56 Medial Consonant Review Dialogue

21 59 Listen and Circle.

22 60 Listen and fill in the missing letters.


Track Page Title
23 66 a as in apple dialogue

44 71 Listen and circle.

24 76 i as in bin dialogue

25 82 Listen and circle.

26 84 o as in shopping dialogue

27 89 Listen and circle.

28 91 Listen and write.

29 92 u as in trunk dialogue

30 95 Listen and circle.

31 100 a as in paper dialogue

32 104 a as in paper

33 108 ee as in sleep dialogue

34 109 Write the word.

35 113 Listen and circle.

36 116 silent e as in cake dialogue

37 118 Listen and fill in the blanks.

38 119 Listen and circle.

39 124 oo as in zoo dialogue

40 127 Listen and fill in the blanks.

41 131 long vowel review dialogue

42 133 Listen and circle.

43 134 Listen and circle.


Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

c as in Canada
CD
1

Listen to the dialogue.


What country are they talking about?

Callie: What country do you live in?

Coco: I live in Canada.

Callie: How is the weather in the winter?

Coco: It is cold.

Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485 1
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

What sound does “c” make in Canada? Read the words aloud with your teacher. CD
2

Canada capital coffee


canoeing cold camping

Write the word beside the correct picture.

__________________

__________________

__________________

__________________

__________________

__________________

2 Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

Circle the same spelling as the given word.

1. Canada

Canda Panada Canada Danada


2. capital

oapitl capilal capital capltal


3. coffee

sofe voffee coffee toffee


4. canoeing

hanoeing caneing canoeing ganoeing


5. cold

old cold gold nold


6. camping

lamping macping camping damping


Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485 3
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

Number the rows. CD


3
Listen and circle.

Canada panda
adaptable capital
coffee toffee
snoring canoeing
cold gold
camping damping

Put the words in alphabetical order.

Canada capital coffee


canoeing cold camping

1.__________ 4. __________

2.__________ 5. __________

3.__________ 6. __________
4 Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

Read the story and answer the questions.


Underline all the words with “c” in the story.

We live in Canada.

It is cold in the winter.

It is cool in the fall.

Some Canadians drink coffee in the winter.

They go camping and canoeing in the fall.

It is a big country.

The capital is Ottawa.

Circle Yes if the statement is true from the story above.

We live in Canada. Yes No

It is cool in the winter. Yes No

It is cold in the fall. Yes No

It is a small country. Yes No

The capital is Ottawa. Yes No

Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485 5
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

Complete the sentences with the following words.

Practise with a partner.

Canada cold cool


1. What country do you live in?
camping canoeing capital
We live in ______________.

2. How is the weather in the winter?

It is ___________.

3. How is the weather in the fall?

It is ___________.

4. What do Canadians do in the fall?

They go _________ and ________.

5. What is the capital of Canada?

The ______________ is Ottawa.

6 Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: c as in Canada Canadian Society - Canada

Find the correct answer for the questions.

Questions:

1. What country do you live in?

2. How is the weather in the winter?

3. How is the weather in the fall?

4. What do Canadians do in the fall?

5. What is the capital of Canada?

Answers:

1. We live in Canada.

2. It is cold.

3. It is cool.

4. They go camping and canoeing.

5. The capital is Ottawa.

Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485 7
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only
Consonants: ch as in chicken Commercial Services - Eating Out

ch as in chicken
CD
4

Rachael and Charles are in a restaurant.


What do they order?

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Rachael: Yes. I’ll have the chicken.

Charles: I’ll have the pork chops.

Waiter: O.K. Chicken and pork chops.

8 Phonics for Adult ESL Students - Sophie Wang © 2010 www.eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485
Photocopiable by the Purchasing Teacher for Her/His Students Only

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