Skkn cấp tỉnh some experience in organizing pair and group activities in english lesson for 4 th grade students at vinh long primmary school

The current status of organizing pair-group activities for students English teaching and learning of teachers and 4th grade students at Vinh Long Primary School.. However, to ensure tha

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 1.1 The reason to choose the topic

7 2.1 Theoretical basis of the organization pair and group

2.2.2 The current status of organizing pair-group activities

for students English teaching and learning of teachers and 4th

grade students at Vinh Long Primary School

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11 2.2.3 The results of the English survey at the beginning of the

12 2.3 The solutions were used to solve the problem 6

13 2.3.1 The teachers and students’s preparation in the

organization in pair and group activities 7

14 2.3.2 Method of organizing activities in pairs and groups 7-8

15 3.3 Determine when and what types of exercises should students work in pairs or groups 10

18 3.3.3 Use AI technology to make videos and guide students

to practice speaking conversations through videos at home 15

19 2.4 The effectiveness of experiential initiatives for

educational activities, for myself, colleagues and the school 15-18

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reason to choose a topic

In the current integration period, foreign languages, especially English, play an extremely important role because English is an international language that

is widely used in many countries around the world In our country, English is considered one of the official subjects, as some professional schools require English proficiency as one of the conditions for students upon graduation Knowing a foreign language is an essential capability for the modern Vietnamese Especially after Vietnam joined the WTO, English is used more and more widely Learning English is increasingly becoming a necessity for every citizen of Viet Nam, especially with the younger generation Clearly seeing the importance of this, the elective curriculum at the elementary school, many schools have held elective teaching English was quite long In particular, July 23, 2018 the Ministry

of Education and Training signed Decision No 2658/QD-BGD &DT on promulgating a plan to implement the Project on teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system for the period 2017-2025.[3]

For children in the age of primary, learning English is one of the starting points that contribute to the formation and development of lifelong learning skills, ability to work in the future and the ability to participate in the cultural - social activities, going to the school that they have access to an abundant and diverse amount of new knowledge However, with an abundant knowledge that awareness amongst children only stop at a reduced rate English is taught at the elementary level to help children initially engage with, understand, and develop some basic skills, creating a good foundation for future foreign language learning In the English subject at the elementary level, the 4th-grade program helps students improve their communication skills, providing them with a solid foundation to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, with particular emphasis

on the listening and speaking skills

To have a successful lesson, teachers must know how to find new teaching methods while combining various elements to promote students' positivity and initiative Students practice, develop, and improve their language skills for communication purposes rather than just providing pure language knowledge through traditional methods Therefore, in the teaching process, I realize that having students practice in pairs and groups is essential for innovating educational methods in schools today, especially in English classes Each teacher has different ways of organizing depending on the objectives, requirements, student demographics, and the amount of knowledge to be conveyed in each lesson However, to ensure that pair and group activities are effective, we need to agree

on some common, easily implementable methods that can meet all conditions and circumstances to achieve the best results for each classroom lesson, which all teachers can easily carry out Therefore, I strongly offer my experience on "Some experiences in organizing pair and group activities in English lessons for 4th grade students at Vinh Long Primary School, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province" that I have researched and successfully applied it in the 2023-2024 school year

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1.2 The researching purposes

The topic contributes to innovating teaching methods, teachers can be proactive in guiding students in group activities Students are more confident, cooperate more actively in the learning process, and have the opportunity to express themselves and practice more listening and speaking skills

State the role and importance of group activities in teaching; Research the current situation of 4th grade students in Vinh Long Primary Schools and point out some measures and skills to help teachers and students perform well and effectively group activities in the teaching and learning process

1.3 The researching subjects

Some pair and group activity skills during English lessons

1.4.The researching methods

Document research methods

Investigation methods

Research methods for active products

Testing method from testing

Method of summarizing educational experience

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2 CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical basis of the organization pair and group activities

During the open economic period, foreign languages in general, and English in particular, are considered the golden key that opens the endless treasure trove of precious knowledge of humanity However, it is not really valued because many children are not aware of the importance of learning a foreign language

With the goal of "The majority of Vietnamese youth, after graduating from intermediate schools, colleges, and universities, have enough foreign language ability to use independently and confidently in communicating, studying, and working in an integrated environment." , multilingual, multicultural; Turn foreign

languages into the strength of the Vietnamese people, serving the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country." With the spirit and goals proposed by the project "Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system", we can see the importance of teaching and learning English today From there, we also realize the role of English teachers at all levels, especially elementary school, who help students master vocabulary, grammatical structures, lesson types, and styles the lesson, while also finding good methods suitable for the age of the students to help them absorb the lesson effectively In today's new perspective on teaching, the teacher is not the one who imparts or crams knowledge, but the one who organizes, controls and guides students to discover knowledge themselves A comfortable and relaxing atmosphere will be created by letting students learn while playing, allowing them to guess the meaning of words and lessons through pictures, stories, group activities without forcing them forcing children to learn according to a specific pattern Therefore, using group activities during lessons is a very necessary and correct thing to do,

in line with current teaching trends

2.2 The current situation before applying experiential initiatives

2.2.1 On the school side

a Advantages

The school has been recognized as a level 2 National Primary School Therefore, the school has full functional classrooms according to regulations, including an English classroom Equipment and teaching aids for English teaching are relatively completed

Most of the students' parents cared about, supported, and created favorable conditions for their students to participate well in English activities The majority

of students are diligent and obedient

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2.2.1.2 The current status of organizing pair-group activities for students English teaching and learning of teachers and 4th grade students at Vinh Long Primary School, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province

- A common problem when organizing pair-group activities is that students

can make many mistakes that teachers cannot control However, teachers can overcome this problem by giving specific instructions before conducting the activity and through testing after letting students conduct discussion This can help teachers detect and correct errors that students encounter if necessary However, error correction also needs to be carefully considered by teachers according to each skill For example, if it is speaking time, teachers need to minimize correction of errors, especially small ones, to encourage students to speak and avoid situations where students do not dare to speak for fear of making mistakes

- A large number of students are weak and passive in learning activities

- Students are not familiar with group activities and just rely on other students

to do them

- Some teachers do not really pay attention to group activities

- Teachers do not encourage and promote the positivity of capable students in class in a timely manner

- Group activities are usually only done during lecture and inspection sessions,

so answers are usually given to students, so they don't need to think or argue at all

- Group division and group assignment are not done well, some children do not know what to do and how to do it

- Too little time for group activities

- There is no timely inspection, correction, praise or encouragement for the group to perform well

2.1.3 The results of the English survey at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year for the 4th grade at Vinh Long Primary School

To gain a better understanding of the situation and the English language learning outcomes of the students, I conducted observations during English lessons and surveyed the students through a test, the results are as follows:

TEST SURVEY Question 1: Circle the odd one out

1 A sweater B dress C shirt D pants

2 A socks B jeans C shirt D shoes

3 A want B big C small D cute

4 A hitting B kicking C painting D morning

5 A soccer B tennis C volleyball D play

Question 2 Read and match

2 May I go out? b I’m good at hitting 2 -

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3 Can you play volleyball? c No, they don’t 3 -

4 What are you good at? d I want some socks 4 -

5 Do your friends like tennis? e No, you may not 5 -

Question 3: Choose the best answer

1 Are _ your pants? -> Yes, They are

A those B this C that D it

2 Is that _jacket? -> Yes, it is

A she B you C your D me

3 Is that her belt? -> Yes, it

A is B isn’t C are D aren’t

4 Let’s go , girl

A skii B skis C skiing D skied

5 those your boots? ->No, they aren’t

6 Put the doll _the wardrobe

7 The red car is the table

A for B from C under D of

8 do you put this doll?-> Put under the chair

A Where B When C What D How

9 _ cards do you have? I have three cards

10 There seven apples on the table

A have B are C is D has

Question 4 Read and fill in the blanks

Tom: Hello, Lucy

Lucy: Tom you like math?

Tom: , I do

Lucy: do you have it?

Tom: I have it Monday, Wednesday, Thurday and Friday

Table 1: Results of the English survey for grade 4 before applying the measures

* Through observing students and the results of the student survey via the test, I have noticed the following issues:

Grade

Number

of students

Results of the survey of students before applying the

measures

Well completed Completed Not completed

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The effectiveness of students' pair and group activities is not good, the quality of students who complete their work well is still low, and many students have not completed their tasks

* The reasons for the above situation:

- The teacher doesn’t have a real investment in research to find effective measures, especially in the preparation of organizing pair and group activities, as well as the teaching equipment and learning materials for both teachers and students

- When guiding students in group activities, the teacher does not consistently follow the steps for implementation and sometimes acts arbitrarily (not including all steps or not following the steps in order)

- Teachers have not paid much attention to diversifying group and pair activities

to enhance students' abilities and create interest in learning

- The students' attention to the subject is very limited, and their skills have not been developed or practiced Specifically, their speaking skills are weak, especially in terms of working in pairs and groups

- Students are not enthusiastic about English lesson They lack confidence in their speaking skills, so practicing in pairs or groups is not effective

2.3 The solutions were used to solve the problem

* The advantages of working in pairs and groups

It is important to understand that pair-group activities are not teaching methods but ways of organizing the classroom In pair work, the teacher divides the class into pairs Each student works with a partner and all pairs work at the same time In group activities, the teacher divides the class into small groups (each group has 4 to 6 students) As with pair work, all groups work together at the same time However, the tasks of each group may be different and working in pairs and groups are two communication activities that have many advantages

First, they increase student engagement If a topic in class is discussed by five or six groups at the same time, this means that the number of speakers and individual discussion time is increased five to six times Furthermore, high participation not only attracts active students but also timid students Students will feel more comfortable communicating in small groups and, therefore, can express their thoughts more naturally

Second, students usually prefer working in groups rather than having to answer the teacher in front of the class The reason is because, when communicating in small groups, the type of language they use to express is often specific, intimate and they have the conditions to experiment with language without pressure from outside

The third advantage of pair or group communication is that it frees the teacher from the role of teacher, corrector, and classroom controller, allowing students to take on the roles of teacher natural communication

Another advantage of communication activities in pairs and groups is that, while conducting these communication activities, students have more conditions

to help each other, they will learn from each other consciously or unconsciously

- First of all, the teacher needs to carefully study the content that needs to

be conveyed in the lecture Clearly define the focus of the article to have the most reasonable time allocation for each subsection Take full advantage of the functions of modern teaching equipment

- Create a very specific outline of ideas about the lesson process to fully exploit the lesson's content

- Clearly determine which content is necessary for group activities, and which content is not really necessary Avoid spending too much time on group activities or forgetting the necessary focuses for this activity

- Research to find questions that are truly succinct and concise, capable of promoting students' thinking and creativity Avoid lengthy questions and questions where students can read the answers in a textbook

- Prepare study sheets or questions to ask students to discuss to distribute

to groups when necessary

- Grouping is also very important The needs to be specific group division from the beginning of the school year, each group should not be too large or too small (the most appropriate is a group of 4 - 6 students) Depending on the pedagogical purposes and requirements of the learning problem, we have many ways to divide groups When forming a study group in class, it is necessary to pay attention to: The working rhythm of group members; Academic level of individuals in the group; Relationships between students Each group has a group leader Each group or row of desks has a good student who acts as a teaching assistant to check the groups and advise the groups to complete their assigned work on time

The students need to prepare carefully according to the teacher's requirements from the previous lesson Students can explore and collect additional knowledge from sources other than textbooks to serve their lessons

2.3.2 Method of organizing activities in pairs and groups

2.3.2.1 Pair work

* Teacher and student pair

Teachers can call students who are quite hands-on with them as models Then call the weaker student to do it again For weak students, teachers can ask easy questions to stimulate and engage all students in activities where everyone has to think and answer

This method is often used as a model before letting students practice new knowledge in open or closed pairs

Example :

For example: English in grade 4 - Unit 2 What can you do do? [1]

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(Appendix 1: Photo 1: Teacher and student work in pair)

* Close pair: between two students sitting next to each other

- With this form, the teacher must number the students in vertical or

horizontal rows, specify the tasks of each student in the Question - Answer pair

and vice versa or role A - role B and vice versa

(Appendix 1: Photo 2: Students work in closed pairs )

- This group is often organized for students to work when assigning

students to grade and correct each other's work (through study sheets or through

exercises in the book), or in cases where after assigning individual work, students

must mobilize previous experience to think, and finally exchange experiences

with people next to them to solve the given situation, or let students practice new

vocabulary after being introduced, or let students Practice conversational

communication skills according to the content of the lesson The advantage of

this form is that it does not take time to organize, does not disturb seating but still

mobilizes many students to work together

* Open pair: between two students who do not sit close to each other

- The teacher can call on two students to play the characters in the

conversation (one student on the left, one student on the right )

- You can call on a student to ask a question and allow him or her to

nominate an answerer

This method is often organized for students to practice the lesson or practice

new vocabulary before they practice in pairs

(Appendix 1: Photo 3: Students work in opened pair )

2.3.2.2 Steps to perform and control an activity in pairs

- The 1st step: Teacher introduces the exercise and shows what questions

and answers that students can give

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- The 2nd step : Ask a few students around the class to show the kind of conversation students might have

- The 3rd step : Divide the class into pairs then give instructions If there is

a group of three, one asks all questions then change round in turn

- The 4th step : Ss work in pairs Teacher goes more quickly round the class, checking that everyone is talking but do not try to correct mistakes It will be better for the teacher to take answer notes the mistake silently

- The 5th step : When most pair finished, stop the activities call one by one pair

- The 6th step: Teacher comments the activity

2.3.2.3 Group work

Grouping depends on the psychological and cognitive characteristics of students and depends on the learning task to be solved Each group must have a clear assignment of tasks and must cooperate to solve the group's common tasks Students must directly participate in activities and solve the learning tasks set for each group Grouping must ensure a balance in numbers Arrange the seating position of the group as well as each member so that students can easily discuss and communicate with each other and with the teacher There are many ways to divide groups depending on the requirements, learning tasks and pedagogical intentions of the teacher Groups can be divided in the following forms:

* Divide into groups according to the student's desk position

Teachers can divide into small groups of 3 - 4 people, each table can be a group or large groups of 6 - 8 people, maybe 2 tables sitting next to each other is

a group

(Appendix 1: Photo 4: Students work in groups )

The advantage of this type of grouping is that it is organized compactly, mobilizing all students to solve the work, without having to shuffle tables and chairs This type of group is often used to mobilize the abilities of students in the group to solve cognitive and practical situations or exercises to apply knowledge

to solve real-life situations

* Divide into groups in a shuffled manner throughout the class

The teacher gives the students a roll call (Depending on the number of students in the class and the teacher's intention, if the teacher intends to let the students practice in 4 groups, then let the students take a roll call from 1 - 4 Students practice in 5 groups, then let them take attendance from 1 - 5 in turn until the end of the class), then divide into groups according to the pre-arranged positions the teacher has arranged Group 1 is the students with number 1, group

2 is the students with number 2, group 5 is the students with number 5

This type of grouping is organized, cooperative, and clearly assigns tasks Therefore, when forming a group, tasks must always be assigned to each member Regarding class organization, it is necessary to re-arrange tables and chairs according to the group's seating position, which has been arranged in a way that

is convenient for organizing teaching in the classroom, with enough space for

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teachers to move around This group is often used in practical classes, where students must practice, observe, analyze or practice organizational skills

* Divide groups into rows of desks in the classroom

The teacher divides the class into 2 or 3 groups depending on the row of desks arranged in each class This way of organizing groups is often simple and quick This group is often used in learning games, or solving a cognitive exercise that involves competition between groups

2.3.2.4 Steps to carry out and control a group activity.

- The 1st step: Teacher introduces the requirements what students have to

do

- The 2nd step: Divide class into groups

- The 3rd step : Give instructions – check Ss' understanding

- The 4th step: Ss work in groups Teacher goes round to check and take notes

- The 5th step : When most groups finished , stop the activities Each group reports their answers

- The 6th step: Teacher gives feedback

3.3 Determine when and what types of exercises should students work in pairs or groups

3.3.1 Work in pairs

The form of activity in pairs is suitable for conversation activities between

two people, so it will be suitable for types of exercises such as:

3.3.1.1 Practice model sentences after introducing new material (Practise model sentences)

Example :

UNIT 1 - Lesson 3.1 ( P12): B1 LISTEN AND PRACTICE

Nam : What are these?

Mai : They’re penguins

Nam: What are those?

Mai: They’re bats

Ss listen and repeat and then role play : one is Mai, other is Nam and then exchange

3.3.1.2 Practice grammar exercises using sentence patterns:

Example : UNIT 2: Lesson 3.3 ( Page 28): E POINT, ASK AND ANSWER

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Picture 1: S1 : What can you do?

S2 : I can play the piano

Picture 2: S1 : What can she do?

S2 : She can ride a bike

Picture 3: S1 : What can they do?

S2 : They can do gymnastics

Picture 4: S1 : What can your mom do?

S2 : She can drive a car

Picture 5: S1 : What can he do?

S2 : He can play badminton

Picture 6: S1 : What can your dad do?

S2 : He can play the guitar

Picture 7: S1 : What can they do?

S2 : They can play tennis

Picture 8: S1 : What can she do?

S2 : She can play the drums