How to design games in english lessons at primary school effectively

How to design games in english lessons at primary school effectively THANH HOA EDUCATION&TRAINING DEPARTMENT NGOCLAC EDUCATION &TRAINING OFFICE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVES HOW TO DESIGN GAMES I[.]

THANH HOA EDUCATION&TRAINING DEPARTMENT

NGOCLAC EDUCATION &TRAINING OFFICE

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVES

HOW TO DESIGN GAMES IN ENGLISH LESSONS

AT PRIMARY SCHOOL EFFECTIVELY

WRITER: Tran Thi Viet Huong Job: Teacher

Working place: Minh Tien I primary school Experience initiatives’ subject: English

THANH HOA, YEAR 2018

SangKienKinhNghiem.net

2.1.The theoretical basis of initiative experince 3

CATALOGUE OF THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCES

CHOSEN FROM THE GRADES OF EDUCATIONAL

SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT

16

1 INTRODUCTION

It has been common knowledge that English plays an important part in our life Due to English, we can widen our knowledge to communicate with people all over the world Because of its importance, our education and training department decided that Engish is a main subject from primary to

university grade However, It is very difficult to teach and learn English in

primary school, especially in the countryside and moutainous places

For most of things, I know the importance of inspirating desires of

learning English for our fresh men, so I have always tried to find the best ways

of teaching to stir my lessons by using some suitable games which make our pupils be keen on their new language and lead them to achieve their new knowledge through lessons actively Through games children are easy to learn,Team games encourage children to work together Moreover, they use all their senses when they play games,Children can use the knowledge they already have about rules and their roles in a game

With those criterias, during the past few years, I have successfully applied my experienced initiatives which I courageously write and show out

to share with my honorable readers about the topic: “How to design games in English lessons at primary school effectively” In the course of research, I

believe that there will still be some errors, I hope to receive comments and advice from my leaders as well as colleagues

1.1 THE REASON OF CHOOSING THE TOPIC.

In real life, children learn through playing Therefore, using games in English classs can help children’s language learning Moreover, games create a

child - friendly learning environment which help Teachers have more chance to develop their pupils’speaking skill – this is the most important skill for new

beginners From my thoughts and experiences above I research this topic

1.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE.

When I write this idea, I would like to contribute my small part to motivate Primary pupils feel like learning this second language and gain better grade

1.3 RESEARCH SUBJECTS.

In my topic, I just focus on how to use games suitably in each unit of knowledge, such as: Some games focus on vocabulary & fluency, some reinforce accuracy or build up model senences……

1.4 RESEARCH METHODS.

1.4.1 Research, kinds of English tests to find out which can assess the qualifications and the knowledge of the students without any pressure

1.4.2 Research based on observation methods: attending worshops about techniques of teaching primary pupils Or classes of my colleagues

1.4.3 Research based on practice: Teaching with the attendance of some colleagues then discuss to learn from each other

1.4.4 Research based on studying materials related to designing games for primary lesson

2 CONTENT INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE 2.1 THEORETICAL BASIS OF INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

The fact is that Children are not old enough to be able to understand or analyse the structure of a tense or other grammars that make them so confusing

In the past I taught some primary classes about model sentences and ask them

to explain the usage again but it seemed to me that most of them couldn’t acquire

What I taught made my lessons rather boring So I think Teachers shouldn’t only teach basic knowledge in textbooks because learners will be passive and they will not feel confident as well as not flexible to adapt with changing daily life

In the past few years methods of teaching have been changed to be with the development of society and communicative method has been used It means that in lessons pupils are centered to develop their creations and activeness through different activities Therefore, suitable games in lessons are the best choice

2.2 THE SITUATION OF THE PROBLEM.

2.2.1 Advantages

2.2.1.1 On the part of teachers

-Nowadays, there are so many textbooks , tapes or videos that provide

kinds of games to motivate children to learn English Besides, Teachers are sometimes attended workshops that encourage Teachers to use games to consolidate knowledge

- Have to access and use of new methods in teaching

- Creativity, learn some appropriate teaching compatible with the content

of the lecture

- Teachers use modern equipment well such as computers, speakers, projectors,

-Teachers should use bodylanguage in teaching if necessary

2.2.1.2 On the part of students

- The majority of school students are eager to be taught this new language

- They are very active and so industrious

2.2.2 Disadvantages

Besides the above advantages, teachers and students exist back:

2.2.2.1 On the part of teachers

Teachers also use several methods that are not child –friendly for primary pupils , so children sometimes don’t know the reason why they have to learn the lessons which make teaching and learning no meaningful

2.2.2.2 Teaching equipment

Equipment used for teaching English is limited Some equipments are spoiled or outdated inconsistent with teaching More importantly, there is no function room which is also a challenge with Teachers to organize a game without any noise to classes around

2.2.2.3 On the part of students

Pupils have no chance to practice at home because there is no English environment around them So schooltime to learn English is rather little.Moreover, some children are shy to communicate in English

Before applying the games in lessons, I took a class survey to see the differences I chose class 4A at Minh Tien 1 primary school with total pupil is

31 to do a small test after learning theme 1(from unit 1 to unit 4):

This is the result before I apply the experience initiative:

Result of before applying the experience initiative

attitude Excellent Good Fair Weak

like dislike Hesit

ation

N

o

G

ra

de

To

tal

L

L

L

% SL/

%

Sl/

%

Sl/

%

A

3

11/36 6/19 15/4

5

QUESTIONS OF A SMALL TEST PART - READING

Question 1: Read and match 1p

1 What nationality are you? A Yes, I can

2 Can you cook? B It’s on the fifth of November

3 What day is it today? C It’s Monday

4 When’s his birthday? D I’m Vietnamese

* Answer: 1 - ; 2 - ; 3 - ; 4 -

PART -writing Question 2: Fill in the blanks 1p 1 Am _ rica 2 We _ nesday 3 M _ rch 4 s _ im Question 3: Reoder the words to make meaningful sentences 2p 1 is / today / What / date / the / ? -> ………

2 I / volleyball / can / play / -> ………

3 What / you / on / do / Tuesdays / do / ? -> ………

4 from / Linda / is / England -> ………

* After finishing this test I did a survey to ask their attitudes :

I ask:do you like this test?you tick “ x” in one of the squares :

 like  dislike  hesitation

*Comments after checking: the result of the survey showed that primary pupils felt so bored to do exercises ,they were not keen on the subject,They had

difficulty in practising both at home and at school and it seemed to me that they had no reason of learning

2.3 THE SOLUTION USED TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

2.3.1.Using games in lessons to build up students’ skills:

The fact is that children love games and are always inventing new games

to amuse themselves.Using games in class is a natural way for children to learn

For example ,to practice vocabulary and pronunciation,we can play games which focus more on accuracy.This type of game require children to remember and repeat words and phrases.These games are more controlled and fluency practice games because we want the children to be more accurate in their language use

In both fluency and accuracy practice.It is important that games help

children to use chunks of language and not just single words or sounds Playing

games really helps children improve vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar in

a fun way but it is important that your games have a clear language focus.Before class,you need to prepare games carefully to make sure that they provide good language practice

2.3.2 How to design games in English lessons:

It’s important that games must be suitable with the contents of each lesson, it means that Teachers must choose which games focus on grammar,vocabulary, Fluency, accuracy or so on

Games are so meaningful and ceate a child–friendly learning invironment Games are suitable with Teachers and Pupils as well as school’s facilities Games wake up all children’senses, develop their creations, attract their attention, And enhance learning

2.3.3 Learning games’structures:

-Name of the game

-Aims of the game:

To practice or revise which skill(vocabulary,fluency or accuracy…)

-Game’s materials: Describe kinds of things used to play games

-Number of players:how many people can join in a game

-Rules of games:

*First of all,get your pupils’attention before you start giving out the instructions

*Plan what you are saying

*Give short instructions

*Make sure your instruction are in alogical order,using such signposts as

first,second,next…

*Always demonstrate what the students should be doing

*Check that students understanding before starting, Short and simple instructions together with gestures are more efficient

2.3.4 How to play games:

- Allowed time: from 5 to 7 minutes.

-How to organize: First,Teacher introduces name of the game, guide

pupils to play by modeling the games(should be twice).This is a very good way

of helping children to learn and remember rules of the games so they don’t have

to remember long and difficult spoken instructions

-Start playing game: Pupils are participants and Teacher plays as a

referee

-Teacher gives comments about results of game: Pupils’attitudes,mistakes

should be avoided, or knowledge they have just practiced

-After the game:Teacher should give reward for the winning team , it may

be aclap,points,songs,sweets,pens…Which motivate children to learn better,

besides If someone breaks rules of a game, Teacher should give them a child –

friendly punishment such as: run one leg, dance or sing a song…It’s important

that Teacher must be fair which makes children feel comfortable and ready to

receive any punishments if they lose a game

2.3.5 Introduce some games for types of practicing skills at primary

classes:

I would like to introduce some games I have ever applied in my lessons:

Game 1: Body labeling

Materials:

-A white board

-14 sticky labels (or ‘post-its’ ) for each group of 4 or 5 students

-A3 size paper for each group (option-see below)

Head eye nose mouth body toe knee Arm hand finger leg foot thumb

shoulder

Aims of the game: to build children’s pronunciation and grammar

Procedure:

1 Use flashcard to teach or review the target vocabulary Check that the

children know the words to practice pronunciation

2 Write the words from the box above on the white board, eliciting the

vocabulary from the children

3 Put the children into team of 4 or 5

4 Give each group 14 sticky labels Students write one different word on

each label

5 Option A One child from each group is selected to be the ‘body’.The

other children in the group put the sticky labels on the correct part of the

body.The winning team is the first to stick the label to all correct body parts

When they stick the label to the body part ,the children have to say:here’s the

mouth , here’s the toe etc

6 While the children are playing, monitor and check which words the children can’t remember or any problems with pronunciation

7 At the end of the game , check the meaning of the words and practice pronunciation with the whole class You can do this by having a drawing of a body or skeleton on the whiteboard Point to a body part and the class shouts out what it is Drill the pronunciation of the word Then write the word next to the body part.Repeat this for the words which children had problems with while playing the game

8 Recording:Ask children to draw a skeleton or body in their vocabulary note books and label the body parts

Important note:

This game is great fun , and good for energizing pupils However , if you feel that it’s not appropriate to use the children themsves as the body , then you can use Option B for stage 5 of the game:

Option B: Give each group an A3 piece of paper and ask them to draw a

skeleton or human body (or prepare one for each group yourself before the lesson) Each group sticks the labels on the correct part of the skeleton or body

on the piece of paper The winning team is the first to stick the notes to correct body parts

After the game :Teacher congratulates the winner and gives reward for

the winner such as :a clap or candy…

Game 2 : The skeleton game

3

4

7

8

1

2

- A white board

- A set of written instructions (see below ) and one dice for each pair of children

- A4 size paper for each child Children play this game in pairs

Aims of the game: to build children’s pronunciation and consolidate their

vocabulary

Procedure:

1 Prepare a handout with the following instructions and give one to each pair of children (or show the onstructions on the white board ):

Play this skeleton game with a friend :

Instructions:

must get 1= a body to begin

a body on your paper.

 Take turns, roll the

dice and draw the different parts of the body

on the skeleton.

Don’t forget ! you must have a body before you can

draw the shoulders , arms , legs or neck; you must

have a head before you can draw the eyes, ears , nose

and mouth !

finish his/her skeleton is the winner !

1=body , ear 2= head , eye 3= neck , shoulders 4= arm , nose 5= leg , mouth 6=hand , foot

1 Read the instructions with the children Model the game first and check they understand what to do , eg Demonstrate how to play the game to the whole class, The children in each pair take turns in throwing the dice and then drawing

a body part The winner is the first child to complete the skeleton with all the body parts

2 Before the children play ,teach them useful functional language they need to play the game and let them practice repeating this language Eg “you start”,“It’s your turn “,”A five, good! I can draw a leg ”; “ oh ,no! I can’t draw anything.”; “I’ve finished!”

While the children are playing ,monitor and note any problems with the meaning of the words or pronunciation

3 At the end of the game ,spend sometime checking meaning of words ,

or practicing pronunciation

After the game: Teacher congratulates the winner and gives reward for

the winner such as: a clap or candy…

Game 3: Bingo

Materials: A black board

Aims of the game: A great game for practicing/ reviewing almost any

language area, for very young children you could use this game to revise letters

of the alphabet

For older learners, you could make it more challenging by giving definitions of words instead of just the words

Procedure:

1 Draw a word grid on the board and ask pupils to copy it

2 Have them the words they have learnt in their lessons

3 Lists the words on the board

4 Each pupils chooses nine words from the lists to copy into their grid While they are doing this ,copy each word onto a piece of paper

5 Put the pieces of paper into a bag and mix them up

6 Select pupils to pick out a piece of paper and call out the word Pupils with that word in their grid can cross it out.The quickiest pupil to cross out an

entire row of words in their grid and call out Bingo is the winner Alternatively

, you can continue the game until one pupil has crossed all the words

After the game :Teacher congratulates the winner and gives reward for

the winner such as: a clap or candy…

Important note :

A great game for practicing/reviewing almost any language area For very young children you could use this game to revise letters of the alphabet

For older learners, you could make it more challenging by giving definitions of words instead of just the words, Eg, teacher says “this shop sells bread and cakes” The children have to cross out “the baker’s”

Game 4: Bees find words

Materials:

-Two flowers with 5 petals, each flower has different colours, each petal has different numbers and sides behind sticked with magnet

+ 10 bees written words and sides behind sticked with magnet:

7 2 4

3 6

9

1

10

8

5