QUANG TIEN 2 PRIMARY SCHOOLEXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME SOLUTIONS TO CONSOLIDATE ENGLISH KNOWLEDGE FOR GRADE 5 STUDENTS AT QUANG TIEN 2 PRIMARY SCHOOL Writer: Nguyễn Quỳnh Lê Position: Te
Trang 1QUANG TIEN 2 PRIMARY SCHOOL
EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
SOME SOLUTIONS TO CONSOLIDATE ENGLISH KNOWLEDGE FOR GRADE 5 STUDENTS
AT QUANG TIEN 2 PRIMARY SCHOOL
Writer: Nguyễn Quỳnh Lê Position: Teacher
Place of work: Quang Tien 2 primary school Initiative field: English
SAM SON, 2022
Trang 2TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic 1 1.2 Objectives of the research 1
1.5 New points of the experience initiative 2
2.1 The theoretical background knowledge 2 2.2 Current situation before applying the initiative 4
2.3 The solutions applied to solve the problems 5 2.3.1 Consolidating English knowledge through games 5 2.3.2 Consolidating English knowledge through worksheets 10 2.3.3 Consolidating English knowledge through educational
applications and websites
12
2.4 The efficiency of the research 15
3 Conclusion and recommendations 16
Reference
Trang 31.1 Reasons for choosing the topic
Grade 5 is considered the most important point because students are about
to finish their primary learning process and move to secondary level Accordingly, they have been provided with difficult knowledge from many subjects in general and English in particular Longer and more difficult vocabulary and sentence patterns are introduced which give students a lot of challenges in their learning process If student cannot absorb this knowledge, they definitely cannot build up their four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing As a result, together with supplying students with new knowledge,
it is highly recommended that teachers should spend the certain amount of time
on consolidation activities to check students’ ability after each lesson
Consolidate learning could mean asking students to test out the new skills, language or knowledge they have gained through the course of the lesson or overall topic Consolidate learning is an excellent way of enforcing the information learned during a lesson and making sure none of your students are left uncertain As a teacher, this gives the chance to clarify aspects of the lesson, answer any questions and revisit the lesson objectives Consolidating activities not only help teachers evaluate the level of students acquiring knowledge to give proper adjustments but also help students assert themselves However, consolidating knowledge has been carried out in the traditional way such as asking and answering for a long time This approach somehow produces some certain effects; yet it is no longer appropriate in the current requirements of teaching method innovation, especially for students in Grade 5 Accordingly, it requires teachers to change the old ways of consolidating knowledge into attractive and effective ones in order to attract students to actively participate in
To primary students especially, they will memorize knowledge faster and more deeply if they have chance to study and participate in activities as well This also creates a comfortable spirit in studying which make students more passionate and interested in English
Personally, I always spend a certain amount of time each lesson to reinforce students’ knowledge in new ways to not only help students in Grade 5
to deepen their knowledge but also create fun and comfortable learning atmosphere Through the implementation process, it brings about a lot of appreciate effects as the students show their interests in English generally and consolidation activities particularly In the scope of this report, I would also like share some activities that I myself have implemented for Grade 5 students at Quang Tien 2 Primary School - Sam Son City
1.2 Objectives of the research
The paper focuses on studying several creative activities to help Grade 5 students at Quang Tien 2 Primary School to consolidate their own knowledge after each lesson through the use of games, handouts and applications Accordingly, suggest some recommendations to improve the learning environment in an active and effective way In details:
Trang 4- Through some suggested games, students will have a chance to review how they absorb the knowledge as well as have fun times together after each lesson
- Through quick handouts, it is a good opportunity for students to not only recall the knowledge through well-designed questions but also have better assessment of their own ability of mastering knowledge afterwards
- Through PowerPoint, students have a chance to review the knowledge in
a visual way with helps of illustrations
- Through the website www.liveworksheets.com, students are hoped to have an efficient method of consolidating English language at home with the assistant of the Internet This is also a good opportunity for them to get acquainted to technological approach, especially when they have to be at home because of Covid-19 pandemic
1.3 Research object
Examine the present situation of teaching English at primary school and suggesting some solutions to help students consolidate English knowledge well (focusing mainly on vocabulary and model sentences)
Research time: School year 2021-2022
Research location: Quang Tien 2 Primary School
Research Object: Some solutions to help Grade 5 students (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E) at Quang Tien 2 primary school consolidate English knowledge
1.4 Research Methodology
There are some methods that have been used in the paper, namely:
- Investigative method
- Experimental method
- Studying language teaching theory method
1.5 New points of the experience initiative
Instead of using “Quizziz” as an useful tool of consolidating English knowledge online, www.liveworksheets.com has been suggested as the other effective tools of learning in the period of Covid-19 pandemic This representative website consists of various kinds of worksheets that are well-design and uploaded With the help of the Internet, students can easily access to those worksheets using smart phones or computer
2 Content
2.1 The theoretical background knowledge
Primary education is considered as a single-phase where programmes are typically designed to provide fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics and to establish a solid foundation for learning This is an important period in which students are going to be supplied with necessary knowledge and skill for a better upcoming educational level Due to the unique characteristics of the early age, good teaching methods are highly recommended
as N.X.Leytex has demonstrated that “Primary age is the period when children start their knowledge absorption in a natural way” Primary students have a great tendency of easy remembering or easy forgetting or easy getting tired of the
Trang 5lesson at the point of time Proper methods together with interesting activities can be considered as the key to solve this problem, especially in English lessons
It is undeniable that consolidation plays an important part after each lesson in way it is always presented in each lesson plan As for N.M.IACOPLEP, “Consolidation is an important pace of teaching It expresses the integrity of the lesson and teacher can emphasize the knowledge through consolidating activities” Consolidation can be compared with revision, which takes place at a later time and serves to remind learners Consequently, taking the time to have students summarize and synthesize is the key to teaching for transfer
It is definitely true that using games in a lesson as part of teaching and learning helps to create positivity around the lesson, motivating students with their participation and creating a positive attitude towards learning Games can also create a positive memory and experience of learning for students in the classroom Using games in teaching English is always a good approach as
“playing is a child’s natural way of learning” (Genevieve Roth) Games are a great tool to use in the classroom to consolidate new knowledge After teaching new content to the class, provide students with a game that will consolidate their understanding and make connections with what they already know Accordingly, it not only becomes a good tool of assessment but also creates friendly and happy learning atmosphere in the last minutes
In addition, as an assessment tool, worksheets can be used by teachers to understand students' previous knowledge, outcome of learning, and the process
of learning; at the same time, they can be used to enable students to monitor the progress of their own learning According to Cindy Wyels, “Worksheets are an effective tool in ongoing efforts encouraging our students to engage their brains during class” A well set out and informative worksheet is one that allows students to move towards understanding, applying and The best kind of worksheets really push students to evaluate and give them the opportunity to create Good worksheets work for teachers as well They provide teachers with inspiration and direction on how to teach a new subject and give experienced teachers a refreshing outlook on how to structure content to learners' needs They also provide valuable feedback to teachers and parents as a moderation tool
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc PowerPoint presentations can be used in many ways in the ESL classroom as well as in other classrooms Presentations can be used for initial teaching, for practice and drilling, for games, for reviews, and for tests As PowerPoint presentations are easy to obtain, modify, and create; they are versatile and a great asset to any classroom PowerPoint presentations can be used right after each lesson for consolidating English knowledge in a quick and convenient way
Together with some typical educational applications, online learning through websites has been developed these days, especially through the
Trang 6Covid-19 pandemic This kind of learning gives hands to help students keep track to the knowledge they have learnt The website www.liveworksheets.com is the representative example for this case in which exercises are well-designed and upload through the base of online learning Therefore, students can easily approach the worksheets through smart phones, computers or tablets with the help of Internet The result from each worksheet is also displayed for students to find how good they are when they doing
2.2 The current situation before applying the initiative
2.2.1 Advantages:
+ About the School Managing Board: The School Managing Board
always support as well as give the best conditions for me to teach English for Grade 5 students at Quang Tien 2 primary school Accordingly, teaching materials and teaching aids are very supportive thanks to the concern of the School Managing Board
+ About the teachers:
I myself have a high awareness of trying harder and harder to improve my teaching career in order to bring about the best teaching results In spite of my short time being as a primary teacher, I still look for valuable materials relating
to primary age as well as teaching methods with aims to have remarkable improvements Moreover, I frequently let myself get updated to technological achievements as well as apply them into my lessons properly to have better lessons
In addition, it would be very supportive because I have received a lot of assistance from my colleagues at school This definitely is a great help which gives me a good opportunity to understand my students more and have appropriate teaching methods basing on each individual as well
+About the parents:
Most of the parents show their consideration on their children’s studying process They usually spend time discussing with the teacher in order to find the best direction to help their children in studying
+ About the students:
Students have chance to get acquaintance to English from the early age when English has been taught as the optional choice in Grade 1 and 2 Some students have shown their interest and attention on the lessons
They also get addicted to the activities and become very active and cooperative in class
In order to understand their learning situation, at the beginning of the school year, I conducted a survey to assess the learning ability of English for Grade 5 students
The results are as follows:
Total
students of
Grade 5
Survey results
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Trang 7170 56 32,9% 99 58,3% 15 8,8% 2.2.2 Disadvantages
+ About the teachers:
As I mentioned above, my short experience as an English teacher in a primary school somehow challenges me in my own teaching career
+ About the students:
It is until in Grade 3 when most students study English in a serious way This definitely challenges them in way they master the new language Also, there are a lot of students having bad ability of mastering knowledge; hence, it affects their learning process a lot Some students have bad living conditions in which they do not receive enough care from their parents
+ About the parents:
A lot of students were born in families in which their parents do not have
a lot of time caring about their learning Some of them do not receive enough family education because they have to live with grandparents when their parents have to work far from home In other cases, parents cannot assist their own kids
in learning English because they are not good at it
2.3 The solutions applied to solve the problems
2.3.1 Consolidating English knowledge through games
Frankly speaking, teaching through games a lot of benefits to any classes
in general and to English lessons in particular The teacher can use games to warm the lesson up or to consolidate English vocabulary and sentence patterns
in a different and exciting way
Using games to reinforce English knowledge for students is an extremely useful method which brings positive effects in helping students consolidate their knowledge as well as creating a comfortable and dynamic learning atmosphere Teachers need to be flexible enough to turn the-new-in-knowledge into effective educational activities
Personally, when applying them for Grade 5 students at Quang Tien 2 Primary School - Sam Son City, I focus on reinforcing vocabulary and sentence patterns that I have just taught to design some simple consolidating activities Accordingly, students both play and study in the most effective way
The key point for carrying out any games in English class is that the teacher has to make students get involved in the activity to give them a good chance to express themselves Moreover, rules must be set directly and clearly to make sure things go right when games are being played to avoided mistakes and noises
Some games to consolidate English vocabulary can be carried on as follows:
a Changing pictures
Objective: Help students to recognize and remember words and phrases
they have studied
Teaching aids: Flashcards
Form: Individually
Trang 8Time: 5 minutes
Rules: Teacher call out 5 – 6 students to hold pictures while asking other
students to remember each student’s picture Then ask students to turn the pictures as their friends cannot see them at all, then ask the class to recall the
vocabulary Questions can be used as “Where is ……?” or “Who has … ?”.
The game can be more interesting when the position of students is changed or teacher can assign some representatives to be the host of the game
Example: Grade 5 - Unit 3: Where did you go on holiday?
I have used pictures relating to countries such as Ho Chi Minh City, Ha
Noi City, Hoi An Ancient Town, Hue Imperial City, Phu Quoc Island to be
applied in this changing picture game Students are fully involved in the game as
they not only remember words but also practice structures by answering “Where
did …go on holiday?” Some photos have been taken when I applied this game
to Grade 5 at Quang Tien II Primary school as follows
b Matching eggs
Objective: Help students to recognize and remember long phrases
Teaching aids: Separated egg pieces
Form: Individually
Time: 5 minutes
Rules: Teacher prepares separated egg pieces with separated words in a
phrase Students have to match the right pieces correctly and quickly Teacher can ask students to read the phrases again together with give feedback and compliments in a proper way
Example: Grade 5 - Unit 2: I always get up early How about you?
I have prepared separated egg pieces showing phrases in Unit 2 such as:
study/ with a partner, go/shopping, talk/ with friends online, surf/the Internet, ride/a bicycle, listen/to music I called out 3 students who were given 2 pieces.
Trang 9They had to quickly match the correct pieces of eggs to make correct phrases The student with the most correct answer in the shortest time will be the winner
c Missing pictures
Objective: Help students to recognize and remember words and phrases
they have studied
Teaching aids: Pictures and magnets
Form: Individually
Time: 3 minutes
Rules: Teacher stick 8-10 pictures relating to words students have learnt.
Then ask them to close their eyes while teacher quickly take out a random one Students then open their eyes and raise their hands to recognize which picture has been taken out Teacher can assign students to be the host of the game to make it more interesting
To make it more challenging for students, the teacher can ask students to retell the missing word and write that word again as well in order to get the point for their team
Example: I have sticked pictures relating to Unit 4: Did you go to the
party? (go on a picnic, enjoy the party, join the funfair, watch TV, go to the zoo, play hide-and-seek, have nice food and drink, study with a partner, go fishing).
Then I took out one picture in each turn while students were closing their eyes Students then had to guess which picture has been taken Here are some pictures when this game has been carried on
Trang 10d Stars and Flowers
Objective: Help students to write words and phrases they have learnt It
can be used after students have learnt some units or to recall the knowledge from the lower classes
Teaching aids: Board of letters
Form: Boys versus Girls
Time: 5 minutes
Rules: Teacher shows the class the Board of letters Each team will
choose a letter and then write down the words they have learnt starting with the letter they choose They then choose the around letters in order the make a three-block line vertically, horizontally or diagonally The icon star (✮) and flower (✿) are given to Boys and Girls team in order to mark on the letter board
Example: The following board of letters is the illustration for game