Peter Piper

Level: TBD

Aims: Vocabulary development, exposure to English culture, dictionary lookup skills

Grammar: Extending vocabulary by transforming nouns into verbs and titles, and vice-versa

Time: 30-50 minutes

Materials: Photocopies of the rhymes, dictionary

Introduction: Peter Piper is a traditional rhyme of the English world. It’s notable as a difficult “tongue-twister.” Trying to recite the tongue-twister quickly is a fun game for English children.

The students will be given photocopies of the Text of the Rhyme. Using the Text of the Rhyme with Notes, go through the text. Follow this with the Discussion Questions.

Text of the Rhyme

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Text of the Rhyme with Notes

• Introduce the concept of the tongue-twister. Say, “A tongue-twister is a way that English children play with words.” Give examples of tongue-twisters from the students’ native language if possible.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

• Dictionary lookup: “Piper,” to pipe
• “Peck”: say to the students: “’Peck’ means a large quantity or number. English-speakers don’t use this word any more though, it’s an old word. If you say it to an English-speaker nowadays, it’s likely he or she wouldn’t understand what you mean.”
• Dictionary lookup: “pickled,” to pickle
• Dictionary lookup: “peppers”

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Discussion Questions

1. “Piper” is an example of a word that can function as a noun (pipe), a verb (to pipe), and as a title (Piper). Have the students think of other examples; e.g., play/to play/player, game/to game/gamer, joke/to joke/joker, etc.
2. What kinds of foods are pickled in the students’ native cuisine? E.g., in Korea we have “kim chee.”
3. Challenge the students to recite the tongue-twister as quickly as possible. Ask them if their tongue becomes “twisted.”
4. Ask the students, “What is this rhyme about?” and let them think about it. This is an example of a nonsense rhyme; it has no appreciable meaning, and is used merely for playing with words. Elicit examples of nonsense rhymes from the students’ native culture if possible.