How to design games and songs in english lessons at primary school effectively

HOW TO DESIGN GAMES AND SONGS IN ENGLISH LESSONS AT PRIMARY SCHOOL EFFECTIVELY Writer: Tran Thi Viet Huong... For most of things, I know the importance of inspirating desires of learning

THANH HOA EDUCATION&TRAINING DEPARTMENT

NGOCLAC EDUCATION &TRAINING OFFICE.

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVES

HOW TO DESIGN GAMES AND SONGS IN ENGLISH LESSONS

AT PRIMARY SCHOOL EFFECTIVELY

Writer: Tran Thi Viet Huong.

1 INTRODUCTION

It has been common knowledge that English plays an important part inour life Due to English, we can widen our knowledge to communicate withpeople all over the world Because of its importance, our education andtraining department decided that English 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 mountainous 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 bestways of teaching to stir my lessons by using some suitable games and songswhich make our pupils be keen on their new language and lead them toachieve their new knowledge through lessons actively Through games andsongs children are easy to learn, Team games and songs encourage children towork together Moreover, they use all their senses when they play games orlisten to the rhythm of songs, Children can use the knowledge they alreadyhave about rules and their roles in a game Besides, they can easily create a newsong from a familiar song with the same rhythm through their new ownlanguage

Furthermore, music can stimulate strong feeling that can be channeled toenrich the language learning experience Songs can be a fun way of exploringnew culture and language Music helps promote a relaxed, stress-freeatmosphere in the classroom because songs are sung at a reasonably fast speedthey contain natural phonological structure like linking and weak form thatstudents learn to recognize and be comfortable with Songs often include ofrepetition that helps to make language memorable Moreover, Songs containchunks of language then Learners can remember and use

Last but not least, listening to music can help children visualize asituation that stimulates their imagination, they should be encouraged to speak

to each other

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

to share with my honorable readers about the topic: “How to design games

and songs in English lessons at primary school effectively” In the course of

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

1.1 THE PURPOSE OF CHOOSING THE TOPIC.

In real life, children learn through playing, especially they like singing.Therefore, using games and songs in English classes can help children’s

language learning Moreover, games create a child - friendly learning

environment which help Teachers have more chance to developpupils’speaking skill Besides, through songs they become more eager to learnand remember their lessons naturally ,they can widen their field of languageafter creating new song after each lesson, so they have an other chance to learn

more their new language and it makes them be able to master English well.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 tomotivate Primary pupils feel like learning this second language and gain bettergrade

1.3 RESEARCH SUBJECTS.

In my topic, I just focus on how to use games and create songs suitably ineach unit of knowledge, such as: some games focus on vocabulary & fluency,some reinforce accuracy or build up model sentences……and create new songswith the same rhythm and similar contents to the ones they are heard

1.4.5 Research based on songs related to their lessons in their textbooks

1.5 NEW CHANGES IN THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE.

During a long time of applying the initiative experience: “How todesign games in English lessons at primary school effectively ” I discoveredthat children also learn better through chunks of language in songs, They arestimulated to concentrate on learning Moreover, music helps childrenremember their lessons willingly, children become more eager to start theirlesson , especially they like to show their abilities through new songs, Moreimportantly, They feel confident in using their new language, they feel English

so meaningful and interesting because knowledge of English is like a piece offull music, they can use the knowledge they have learnt and easily create a song

of theirs taken from melody of an old song, so creating a similar song to thesongs in each lesson or other popular songs with children is one of the bestways to give children interest of learning and love for English From abovethings, I would like to develop my new idea to change the old initiativeexperience into a new one: “How to design games and songs in English lessons

at primary school effectively”

2 CONTENTS OF THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

2.1 THEORETICAL BASIS OF INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

The fact is that Children are not old enough to be able to understand oranalyze structure of a tense or other grammars that make them so confusing Inthe past I taught some primary classes about model sentences and ask them toexplain the usage again but it seemed to me that most of them couldn’tacquire

What I taught made my lessons rather boring So I think Teachersshouldn’t only teach basic knowledge in textbooks because learners will bepassive and they will not feel confident as well as not flexible to adapt withchanging daily life

In the past few years methods of teaching have been changed to be withthe development of society and communicative method has been used It meansthat in lessons pupils are centered to develop their creations and activenessthrough different activities Therefore, suitable games in lessons are the bestchoice

Besides, It will be more exciting If children learn through songs becausesong and music make children have strong personal preferences about what theylike

In addition ,creating songs improves concentration, memory and balanceslevel in class which I was very surprised at benefits of songs

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 and songs to motivate children to learn English Besides,Teachers are sometimes attended workshops that encourage Teachers to usegames and songs 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 body language in teaching if necessary

2.2.1.2 On the part of students.

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

- They are very active and so industrious

- They are so much interested in singing

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 primarypupils, so children sometimes don’t know the reason why they have to learn thelessons which make teaching and learning no meaningful.

2.2.2.2 Teaching equipment.

Equipment used for teaching English is limited Some equipments arespoiled or outdated inconsistent with teaching More importantly, there is nofunction room which is also a challenge with Teachers to organize a game orturn on music without any noise to other classes around

2.2.2.3 On the part of students.

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

Before applying 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:

attitude like dislik e Hesitat ion

QUESTIONS OF A SMALL TESTPART - 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 / ?

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 primarypupils felt so bored to do exercises ,they were not keen on the subject, They haddifficulty in practising both at home and at school and it seemed to me thatthey had no reason of learning

Besides, when I didn’t ask my students to create songs from the old songs

in the text they seemed not to be active and creative Before applying thecreation a new song from an old song in lessons, I took a class survey to seedifferences I chose class 5A at Minh Tien primary school with total pupil is

31 to compare the differences before and after creating a new song

This is the result before I apply the experience initiative:

attitude like dislik e Hesitat ion

Let’s sing: How did you get there?

I went by bus, I went by train,

I went by bus I went by train

To my home town To my home town

I had fun I had fun

I had fun I had fun

All the way home All the way home

(Taken from English 5-Part 6: let’s sing- unit 3-lesson 2)

*Students really enjoy listening and singing songs in each lesson.However, not all the fields of knowledge are mentioned in the songs, they areonly rehearsed some parts of knowledge from a unit, so I think we can widenmore words or model sentences from the rhythm of the old songs to create newsongs which is one of the best ways to consolidate and memorize much morelanguage through music

2.3 THE SOLUTION USED TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

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

About games: The fact is that children love games and always invent

new games to amuse themselves Using games in class is a natural way forchildren to learn

For example ,to practice vocabulary and pronunciation, we can playgames which focus more on accuracy This type of game requires children toremember and repeat words and phrases These games are more controlled andfluency practice games because we want the children to be more accurate intheir 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 andgrammar in a fun way but it is important that your games have a clear languagefocus Before class, you need to prepare games carefully to make sure that theyprovide good language practice

About songs: Songs bring a sense of community to a group children are

given projects for each team to create a new song and present in class, songshelp people absorb material, so children should be encouraged to speak to eachother, Moreover, words or sentences placed in songs are familiar to children.they use body language together with the rhythm of music For example, Theyclap their hands, turn up, turn around, move backward or foreward, move right

or move left and there are many repetition words

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 create a child–friendly learningenvironment

Games are suitable with Teachers and Pupils as well as school’s facilities.Games wake up all children’s senses, develop their creations, attract theirattention, And enhance learning

2.3.3 How to create songs in English lessons:

It is suggested that content of new songs should be depended on tunes ofold songs moreover, words or phrases must be easy, clear and they are related

Before creating a new song, Making sure that Students have to be listened

to the song which they take the same or familiar tunes from it

The stage of creating a song can be given at the consolidation time afterlistening a song in the text book or a project for groups in class to do at homethen Teacher asks the groups to present in the next lesson to review old lesson.

After finishing the Students’ task, Teacher should give reward such as aclap, a small gift …etc to the group with the best presentation

Steps to create songs:

Step 1: Select a topic It can be Names ,Days of week, the weather,

Number, Colors, Food and Drink, Animals, Clothes, Sports, Seasons…Yourchoice depends on the need of your students

Step 2: Write down useful words associated with the topic you have

chosen (Select about 10 words that you think will be interesting, useful and fun

for your students to know)

Step 3: Group your words according to the number of syllables in each

Eg: -Topic: clothing

One syllable: hat, coat ,

Two syllable: T-shirt,

Three syllable: pullover

Step 4: Make a list of descriptive words that might be used with your

topic according to syllable count

Topic: Clothes

Red, green(1- syllable adjective)

Yellow(2- syllable adjective)

Beautiful(3-syllable adjective)

Step 5: Pick up a familiar tune

- Put the words you have chosen into the tune to make a new version ofthe song relating to the topic you choose

Where’re you going ?

Where’re you going ?

2.3.4 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 theinstructions

*Plan what you are saying

*Give short instructions

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

as first, second, next …

*Always demonstrate what the students should be doing

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

2.3.5 How to play games:

- Allowed time :from 5 to 7 minutes.

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

- 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, itmay be a clap, points, songs, sweets, pens…Which motivate children to learnbetter, besides If someone breaks rules of a game, Teacher should give them achild –friendly punishment such as: run one leg, dance or sing a song…It’simportant that Teacher must be fair which makes children feel comfortable andready to receive any punishments if they lose a game

2.3.6 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 thumbshoulder

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

3 Put the children into team of 4 or 5.

4 Give each group 14 sticky labels Students write one different word oneach 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 thechildren can’t remember or any problems with pronunciation

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

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

Important note:

This game is great fun, and good for energizing pupils However, if youfeel that it’s not appropriate to use the children themselves as the body, then youcan 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 thelesson) 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 correctbody parts

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

the winner such as: a clap or candy…

Game 2: Kim’s game.

Materials: A piece of cloth, collect a group of items of the same type, e.

Divide the class into groups Show the class the items under the piece ofcloth for 60 second Then cover the items again and ask each group to writedown the names of as many objects as they can remember Groups get a pointfor each correct item The group with the most points wins the game.

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

the winner such as :a clap or candy…

Game 3: The skeleton game

Materials:

- A white board

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

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

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