PROMOTING STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY AND LOGICAL THOUGHT THROUGH UNIT 6 COMPETITIONS PART a READING – PERIOD 29 TEXT

The reality of teaching and learning reading skill at Hau Loc 4th Upper secondary school... At Hau loc 4th Upper secondary school, most students find it difficult to understand and compl

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SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ

TRƯỜNG THPT HẬU LỘC 4

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM

PROMOTING STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY AND LOGICAL THOUGHT THROUGH UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS-PART A: READING – PERIOD 29 –ENGLISH TEXTBOOK 11

Người thực hiện: Trần Thu Hiền

Chức vụ: Giáo viên

Đơn vị công tác: Trường THPT Hậu Lộc 4 SKKN thuộc lĩnh mực (môn): Tiếng Anh

THANH HÓA, NĂM 2018

2 CONTENTS OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

3

2.2 The reality of teaching and learning reading skill at Hau Loc 4th Upper

secondary school

4

2.3.1 Procedure:

5

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, English is considered as a more and more important part as a means of international communication than ever English is one of the necessary subjects for students in general, and even more important for high school students because it is not only a compulsory subject at school but also a subject of decision

in the important contests as high school exams and university entrance exams

At Hau loc 4th Upper secondary school, most students find it difficult to understand and complete reading comprehension questions well They often give mechanical responses They even do not finish exercises in reading parts in both textbooks and tests As the result, they regularly get bad marks Therefore, it is a necessity to find effective methods used in reading to help students easily complete their tests well

One of the most causes that makes students meet many difficulties in learning English is that they often read passages so little that they can understand the passages fully and misunderstand the passages easily Insufficient vocabulary makes students less confident and leads them eliminate reading comprehension part

in studying process and the exams Those above reasons urge to me find the best way to help students solve that problem that why I choose the topic:

“PROMOTING STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY AND LOGICAL THOUGHT THROUGH UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS-PART A: READING – PERIOD 29-TEXTBOOK 11”

1.2 Aims of study

This study is conducted to help 11th – form students of Hau Loc 4th Upper secondary school to promote their creativity and logical thought through a reading lesson as a model Furthermore, it is hoped that students overcome the hard of reading comprehension section, and gradually improve and develop reading comprehension skills in the exams To summarize the above, my study is aimed at:

- Providing the theoretical background about reading skill

- Developing the effectiveness of applying reading skills,

- Especially, using comprehension questions set up in the forms of reading exercises in English tests of most examinations

- Reading comprehension is to acquire a lifelong skill, one that helps the student maintain a competence and fluency in the target language that may well outlast competence and fluency in speaking, listening and writing Finally, it is a skill that requires only passage And it can be done at any place any time

- Some difficulties possibly encountered by students at Hau Loc 4th Upper

secondary school when answering comprehension questions

- Suggesting some feasible solutions to help teacher and students at the school improve the quality of teaching and learning English skills, especially in mastering English reading skill

1.3 Scope of the study

Given the rationale and the aims of the study, it is necessary to limit the study

to the areas which are manageable Benefits of using questions in forms of reading exercises create the effectiveness of students’ reading skill which focus on two factors: developing students’ creativity and their logical thought The subject under the study are the 11th – form students at Hau Loc 4rd Upper secondary school (students from two classes: 11A8 and 11A9) The study focuses specially on “Unit 6: Competitions – Part A: Reading – Period 29 in English textbook 11 (basic level)”

1.4 Methods of the study

To complete this study, the following steps implemented:

- Collected references and books related to reading skill are analyzed in details to form the theoretical background this paper

- The available theory concerning with comprehension questions is studied

and followed in my study paper

- Ideas of some possible difficulties are got from my understanding the English learning and teaching English at Hau Loc 4th Upper secondary school as well as my gained experiences in training course

2 CONTENT OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE 2.1 Scientific background

The title of my experience initiative:

“PROMOTING STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY AND LOGICAL THOUGHT THROUGH UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS - PART A: READING – PERIOD 29-ENGLISH TEXTBOOK 11”

It means my design of a lesson plan for reading part in textbooks have been based on the types of reading comprehension questions in tests of exams during a few last years

- There are some main reading skills that I often drill my students

1 Reading for main ideas

2 Reading for inference

3 Reading for reference and vocabulary.

4 Reading for details

5 Gap filling

6 Timed reading

7 Additional reading skills

To help students understand what you are reading from an English text, teacher has to teach students the ways “extensive reading”, “fluency”, and

“intensive reading”

Apart from that, teacher never forgets some basic principles for simple reading strategies It consists of 3 steps That is, pre-reading activities, while-reading activities, and post-reading activities Those above steps are very necessary for teaching reading comprehension, and may help students read the text more effectively

- Some reference books: The methodology course, Concepts and Comments, IELTS reading tests, TOEFL reading flash, Between the lines, etc

2.2 The reality of teaching and learning reading skill at Hau Loc 4th Upper secondary school.

My students, my colleagues and I encountered with some problems

To students, first, when my students were in grade 10th, they didn’t like reading lessons because they thought there were a lot of new words in the passages and some tasks were too difficult Second, they didn’t get lots of reading skills Third, they only expected their teachers would explain the meanings of words, tasks and translate all the English passages into Vietnam Last but not least, they didn’t get acquainted with kinds of reading comprehension questions in English tests It is a fact that students try to remember the formula mechanically, or think carelessly and sometimes do not find out the nature of the problem clearly to infer basic conclusions As the result, they didn’t understand the questions and complete tests well Certainly, they got bad marks

Therefore, teachers sometimes felt confused because of the situations above At that time, I was also confused After spending most of my time studying methods, I decided to design types of reading comprehension questions for reading parts in textbooks that were similar to those in English tests so that students could get a purpose of studying They tried to study English in order to promote their creativity and logical thought Moreover, they will get good marks in tests and develop other skills

2.3 The solutions

2.3.1 Procedure:

First, I introduce some English tests I focus on reading exercises Next I provide students with types of reading comprehensions in tests in exams Then I explain the following reading skills and ask students to discuss them in groups This study only focuses on the following skills:

1 Reading for main ideas

For example, firstly I guide students to use the skill “reading for main ideas” to answer the following questions:

Which of the following could be the best title for the passage? / What does the passage mainly discuss?/ What’s the main idea/ topic of the passage?/ The main idea of this passage is that…

-Then I introduce strategies to the students to find a main idea The main idea can be the first sentence in the paragraph or it can appear in the middle or toward the end of the passage or paragraph The main idea usually covers the whole content of the passage We have to skim (read the passage over quickly) for the main idea

2 Reading for details

-We use the skill “scanning” (reading over) for specific information It means

we use the skill “reading for details” The following detail questions:

+ Factual questions:

According to the passage, why/what/how….?/ What of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?/ According to the passage,………?/ What of the following words best describes …… ?/ In Which lines does the author describe/ explain……?/ According to the information in paragraph 1, what….? -I have students find key words in both questions and answers Because key words are clues in order to find the best answer

+ Negative factual questions:

What of the following is (NOT) mentioned about… in the passage?/ The following…… are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT……/ ……….LEAST likely………

- I ask students to find the information that is not mentioned or wrong

It is important for me to create suitable answers to questions I have to establish right answer and confusing answers Students must think over, compare and analyze questions and answers, which helps them develop their creativity and logical thought.

Especially, I use principles of teaching reading below:

1 When teaching a reading text, it is necessary to state a purpose for reading

a given text Tell the students why they are reading the text It is to skim for the main idea It is to scan for specific information It is for critical reading The purpose of reading task should be stated to the students before they read

2 Before the students read the text, I have them read questions first.

3 Focusing on developing the skills of the readers The purpose of teaching is not only to help the students understand the context of the passage for that day, but also to help them learn to read effectively for themselves

2.3.2 Application

- Pre-reading

- While-reading

-Post-reading

This study only focus on designing reading comprehension questions which are similar to reading comprehension questions in the tests of English examinations I usually make questions and answers which are suitable with each reading lesson In

a lesson plan, I only use questions that require students have to use skills such as: reading for details and reading for main ideas

2.3.3 A Lesson plan

Unit 6: Competitions

Period 29:Reading

I Objectives:

1 Educational aim: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

- Develop such reading micro-skills as scanning for specific ideas and identifying meaning in context

- Use the information they have read to discuss the related topic

2 Knowledge:

- General knowledge: Students get information about competitions

- Language: Sentences and expression for competitions

- New words: Words related to some competitions

3 Skill: - Word meaning in context

- Passage comprehension

- Scanning for specific information

II Method: Intergrated mainly communicative

III Teaching aids: Textbook, some photos, power point lesson plan

IV Procedure:

Time/ stages Teacher’s activities Students’ activities

Warm-up :

(5 minutes)

Pre-reading: (3

minutes

While-reading:

(28

minutes)

Task 2:

Warm-up :(5 minutes)

- Asks students to look at the photo and answer the following questions

Pre-reading: (3 minutes)

- Asks students a question:

Is winning the most important thing in a competition? Why / Why not?

While-reading: (28 minutes)

- Have students work in pairs

* Task 2:

- Asks students to read the passage silently and questions to answer the questions in the full form

Task 2: Read the passage and choose the best answer A, B, C,

or D

1 Who took part in the annual final English Competition last Saturday?

A The representatives of three classes of the school

B The good students of three classes

D Students from many schools

- Discuss the questions

- Give answer with the photo

- Answer the question in pairs

Answers:

1 They took part in the competition “WHEN

I AM 18 YEARS OLD”

2 It happened last weekend at Hau Loc

4th Upper Secondary School

- Work in group Students may give different answers

-Work in pairs -Read the text and questions carefully

2 What was the aim of the

competition?

B To stimulate the spirit of

learning English

C To help the poor students

D To make fun

competition?

A The students’ parents Society

B The teachers in school

C All students and teachers in

school

D The Vietnam of Learning

Promotion

4 What did each group of student

have to do during the contest?

A Answer the question

B Think of the question

C Work in group

D Complete 5 activities in all

5 What did the judges have to do

to choose the winner of

competition?

A Observe the students’

performance

B Score the students’ performance

C Announce the total score of

each group and the winner

D A, B, C are correct

6 What would be awarded to the

winner?

A set of CDs for studying English

B scholarship

C A set of CDs for studying

English and an Oxford Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary

D An Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary

- Remind students to use the skill

Task 3:

“scanning” for details

- Asks students to give oral answers in turns

- Gives feedback

Task 3: Read paragraph 3 again and choose the best answers:

1 In Activity 5, Hung was unable _

A to recite the poem

B to write the poem

C to answer the judges’ questions

D to read the poem

2 Having achieved the highest score, Group B _

A was very happy

B sympathized with Group A and Group C

C became the winner of the competition

D was very proud

3 Group C lost the game because they just got _

A 55 points

B 60 points

C 65 points

D 70 points

4 Nga encouraged her group by _

A singing a song

B telling a story

C saying that for her the most important thing was their

- Listen and use the skill “scanning”

- Answer

- Listen and take notes Suggested key:

1 A

2 B

3 A

4 D

5 D

6 A

- Read the text and questions again

Post-reading: (8

minutes)

participation in the competition and the enjoyment they had from it

D saying “For me the most important thing was the points we got and the enjoyment we had from the competition”

- Asks students to do task 3 in groups of 4

- Remind students to use the skill

“scanning” for specific information

- Asks representative of each group to give oral answers

- Gives feedback

Work in groups and summarize the passage, using these cues.

• Name of the competition:

• Aim of the competition:

• Time / Place of organization:

• Organized by:

• Sponsored by:

• The winner / points:

• The award:

• The most important thing

in a competition

- Have students to work in groups of 4

- Remind students to recall main ideals

- Asks students to copy down in their notebooks

- Work in groups

-Listen and read for specific information, then discuss answers

- The representatives give answers

Keys:

1 A

2 C

3 B

4 C

- Listen and read information over

- Work in groups

- Try to remember main ideals

Key:

• Name of the