/w/ and /th/ Sounds: Articulation Guide

Section role: supports the 'Decoding the Glide and the Breath' section while the teacher formalizes the phonetic concepts of /w/ and /th/, correcting misconceptions and building on student observations. Slides: (1) Title — '/w/ and /th/ Sounds: Articulation Guide'; (2) Recap Our Observations — bullets: What did we notice about our mouths for 'water' and 'three' during the challenge? What felt different?; (3) The /w/ Sound: The Lip Glide — bullets: How lips form an 'O' shape and glide to the next vowel, an anatomical diagram of lips rounded, air flowing freely, vocal cords vibrating; (4) Common /w/ Words — bullets: a list of 5-7 words like 'water', 'what', 'we', 'away', 'swim', with emphasis on the initial /w/ sound; (5) The /th/ Sound: The Tongue Sandwich — bullets: How the tongue is placed between the teeth, air pushed out, an anatomical diagram showing tongue position, air flow, and lack of vocal cord vibration (unvoiced); (6) Common /th/ Words — bullets: a list of 5-7 words like 'three', 'think', 'math', 'both', 'path', emphasizing the unvoiced /th/ sound; (7) Video Clip: Semi-Vowels — bullets: an embedded video explaining semi-vowels and the distinction from true vowels; (8) Minimal Pairs Practice — bullets: pairs like 'win/thin', 'wet/threat', 'wear/there', to highlight subtle differences; (9) Putting it into Practice — bullets: example sentences for listening practice, connecting to the upcoming listening task. Concrete examples: 'water', 'what', 'we', 'away', 'swim' for /w/; 'three', 'think', 'math', 'both', 'path' for /th/. Hooks back to the 'Silent Mouth Challenge' from Section 2 by referencing student observations and sets up the listening task of this section. Closing slide: 'Can you hear the difference between /w/ and /th/?' — sets up the listening activity that follows. This material is part of a English foreign-language class for students in Chile learning English. Regardless of the material's language, the key terms and examples being taught must be written in English, not in the students' native language.

Lara de Teachy