Sentence Stress
Content words and contrastive stress
A ready-to-teach B1+/B2 pronunciation lesson on sentence stress: which words carry the meaning, and why.
Students stand and clap the beat, then learn two rules: content words are normally stressed and function words reduced, but any word can be stressed on purpose for contrast. A three-question checklist helps them decide before they speak. They race in teams to sort content and function words, underline the stress in pairs and guess the hidden meaning as you say I never said he broke the window five different ways. The Contradiction Game and a weekend plans mingle put it all into conversation.
What's inside
- 17 colourful slides to project, with answer keys straight after each exercise
- Two rule slides and a golden checklist
- Team sorting race, underline-the-stress pair task and a meaning guessing game
- Contradiction Game, mingle survey and wrap-up
Level: B1+ / B2 · Time: 45–60 minutes · Prep: none. Project and teach; you model the sounds yourself, so no audio is needed.
Please note: this is a slides-only lesson, without a separate printable worksheet. It is also part of the Pronunciation Toolkit bundle of 16 lessons.
Licensed to the purchaser for classroom use. Please do not share or resell.
