Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: What mind map activities will help students improve their understanding the meaning of words?

Therefore, in each lesson I have tried my best to help my students understand the meaning of words in the lesson context through “ mind map” activity.. The main technique I used for my a

I INTRODUCTION

1 The need of teaching words in context

Teaching new words always plays an important part in teaching the whole lesson Because words are the bricks that help students build their house of English However, many teachers have the habit of teaching isolated words Actually, they have used many techniques of teaching words, but the words presented by the teachers are not in the same contexts with the words in the lessons Moreover, we all know that words and phrases have different meanings

in different contexts As a result, it is difficult for students to understand the true meaning of the words in the lessons In addition, students feel that it is really difficult for them to remember the words This leads to the fact that students are lack of motivation for learning new words And they feel that learning words are really boring because there is no linking between the words in the lessons and the words presented by the teachers Therefore, in each lesson I have tried my best to help my students understand the meaning of words in the lesson context through “ mind map” activity

2 Study’s purpose

The purpose of this study is to find out if mind map activities help improve students’ understanding the meaning of words The study question is “What mind map activities will help students improve their understanding the meaning

of words?

II LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Definitions and terms:

To understand my area better, I have already searched some definitions and terms related to teaching words in context so that I will have clear references

* Teaching the meaning of words in context is suggestions found within a sentence, a situation, or a key word that a learner can use to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words

* A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas Just as in every great idea, its power lies in its simplicity

* A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information A mind map

is hierarchical and shows relationships among pieces of the whole It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those major ideas

2 Previous study:

In order to find the resources to consult my issue I have read a study written by Andana, a professor in Cukurova, Turkey The title of this study is a guide to

teaching students Their problem is teaching high proficiency students in high

schools and universities Their aim is to help students understand the meaning of

words in academic situations

After reading this research I found some strengths as well as weaknesses The strength of this research was that they use authentic situations and tips to teach students Their scaffolding activities help students to understand the situations

in which the words are The limitation was that their research was only carried out in classes with good students and students in their universities

However, in some ways their issue is relevant to mine They also use the theories of teaching the meaning of words in context

III METHODOLOGY

1 Scaffolding activities

First, students are given the key word related to the context.Then, they are supplied some useful suggestions Next, students are encouraged to activate their background knowledge of words Finally, they present the words that they know and teachers provide some more words in context, so students can understand the words better

3 Data collection

Students in class 11A1, class 11A7 and class 11A9 at Huynh Thuc Khang

high school where I was teaching were chosen for my study Before scaffolding activities were carried out, all students in class 11A1, 11A7, 11A9 were provided words in normal ways and I checked their understanding After that, students in each class were supplied the words based on the new method (students understand the meaning of new words in context) Teacher checks and compares the result before and after the new method is supplied

4 The marking scales for students’ability to undesrstand and remember the words

The following criteria is the one I find relevant to check the result

1 Number of words that students can remember 3

2 Using the words they have learnt in other

situations

3

3 Finding the synonyms and the antonyms of the

words that they have learnt

No Students’ names Scores before the

new method is applied

Scores after the new method is applied

IV DISCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITIES

* In what ways were my activities carried out?

In the school year 2018-2019, I was responsible for teaching grade 11 So, in

this paper I would like to deal with the lessons only in Textbook “ Tieng Anh 11” Here are the description and the purpose of each activity

Activity1:

At this state teacher led students to the context by giving the topic of the lesson or the main content of the lesson to activate students’ background knowledge The reason for doing this was that students were motivated to get interest in the topic and had ideas of words related to the topic

Activity 2:

At this state students were given some suggested questions by the teacher, they were step by step led to this context to another one by the teacher’s instructions The keys words in each lesson were underlined And the lessons which I used “

the power point” to present, the keys words were both underlined and changed

the colour in red to make students easier to notice In some cases, students understood the contexts and the meaning of words, but they did not know how

to express in English, I myself helped them know what those words in English were As a result, their words were developed in a natural way Therefore, they were eager to learn new words because they found no difficulties in understanding and remembering Besides, this not only helped students understand the new words but also helped students have the prediction of the content of the lesson that they would learn

The main technique I used for my activities were to brainstorm the ideas to fill

in the “mind map”

The following is the full description of how I helped my students understand the meaning of words in context in each lesson in “ Tieng Anh 11”

knowledge of friendship to complete a mind map

Question 1: Do you have any friends?

From the word “ friend”, I taught my students the word “ acquaintance”

Question 2: What qualities are necessary for true friendship?

Students gave some qualities of true friendship However, Some words were only given in Vietnamese, I helped my students understand what those words in English were

* The mind map

1 Do you have your own idol?

2 Dou you immediate his/ her in different ways?

Students answered my questions about her/ his own idol and in what ways they liked to immediate her own idol After that I said that in this lesson they would read a story about a girl who wanted to have a hat like her idol’s one Her father knew this and gave her some money so that she could buy the one for herself Next, students were divided into groups and were asked to build a story based

on the pictures in the textbook Each student in the group who were chosen to tell the story completed the story they had built During the time students told

the story I helped them to understand the meaning of some new words based on the pictures

Picture d: > idol

Picture b: > floppy cotton hat

Picture f: > glance > sneaky; not making a fuss > take the money back

C LISTENING:

In this lesson students were led to the context of a fire They were told to listen

to Christina who would tell the audience about her unforgettable experience that she had witnessed The experience was that her house caught fire during the night time when she was very small Then students were asked to look at the

picture in the textbook and to answer some questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What do you think were the causes of the fire?

Question 2: How did she feel when she saw the fire?

Question 3: Who do you think she was the first person that she called when she saw the fire?

Question 4: What did her mother do to save her?

Question 5: Was the fire a forgettable experience?

* The mind map

A HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE

causes of the fire

UNIT 3: A PARTY

A READING:

In this lesson, students were led to the context by looking the pictures in the

textbook and answering the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1:

1 On what occasions are parties held?

2 What is the relationship between the people in the pictures?

3 What are they doing?

* The mind map

C LISTENING:

In this lesson, students were led to the context by answering the questions in the

textbook to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What do you usually do to prepare your birthday party?

Question 2: What foods and drinks are often severed at your birthday party? Question 2: What activities do you often have at your birthday party?

* The mind map

Question 1: What do American students do as volunteers?

Question 2: What are the words in the passage related to the word “ volunteer”?

open presents

saying

“happy birthday to the host”

preparing the birthday cake

with icing

decorating the house

putting flowers

inviting guests

prizes

for winners

* Volunteer work: Working in hospitals, orphanages or homes for the aged

Helping disadvantaged children or handicapped children, give care and comfort to them

* Volunteer (n): Voluntary ( adj)

answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Who are students in Spring School?

Question 2: How is money raised to support charities in Spring School?

Question 3: Who set up classes in Spring School?

* The mind map

SPRING SCHOOL

Disadvantaged children fund-raising activities

Organisation for Educational Developmentco-operates with Spring School set up the classes

UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS

A READING:

In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about an English competition in a high school Then students were led to the context by

answering the questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: How often is the English competition held in your school?

Question 2: What is the purpose of the competition?

Question 3: What do we call in English the students who are chosen to take part

in the competition?

* The mind map

ENGLISH COMPETITION

UNIT 7: WORLD POPULATION

A READING

In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about WOLRD POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the

questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Do you know what the population of the world in 1850, 1950, 1985, and 2000?

Question 2: Can women in the world limit the size of their families?

Question 3: How does the government help them in family planning?

* The mind map

B SPEAKING

In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about WOLRD

POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the

questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What are the causes of population explosion?

Question 2: Can you list the problems facing poor and overpopulated countries? Question 3: Can you suggest the solutions to the problems of overpopulation?

WORLD POPULATION

the size of their families

safe birth-control

methods

* The mind map

WOLRD POPULATION

poor conditions

lack/ shortage of school/ hospital/ teacher/ doctor

birth-C LISTENING

In this lesson, students were told to listen to a world population expert talking about the world population Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s

questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Which country has the population ranked the first?

Question 2: What problem does population explosion cause to the world?

* The mind map

UNIT 8: CELEBRATIONS

A READING

In this lesson, students were watched to a video clip about Tet Then students

were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: When is Tet?

Question 2: What activities do people usually do at Tet?

Question 3:What are special things at Tet?

Question 4: What do people prepare for Tet?

WOLRD POPULATION

China ranks the first

problems population explosion cause to the world

illiteracy

lack of hospitals and schools/ shortage of food / poor living conditions particularly in

developing countries

* The mind map

B SPEAKING

In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about popular holidays and celebrations in Vietnam and in the world Then students were asked to look at the pictures in the textbook and answer the teacher’s questions to complete the

visit

relatives

eating special foods

receiving lucky money

go to pagoda

to pray

between 19th January and 20th February

grandest

and most important occasion

for agrarian people, the start of a new year

flowers ( apricot blossom, peach blossom)

candied fruits (sugared apples, plums)

Banh chung

preparations

streets decorated

with colored lights

and red banners

decorating the house

Question 1: What are the holidays and celebrations?

Question 2: What is the purpose of each celebration?

Question 3: What are main activities in each celebration?

* The mind map

C LISTENING

In this lesson, students were told to listen to how people celebrate the New Year

in Japan Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to

complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What activities do people usually do on New Year Days in Japan? Question 2:What are special things on New Year Days in Japan?

Question 3: What do people prepare on New Year in Japan?

celebrate the

harvest

a large meal with

roast turkey

express their love give chocolates, flowers or gifts to the

people they love

celebrate the largest full moon

children wear

masks, parade in the streets

* The mind map

UNIT 9: THE POST OFFICE

A READING

In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about Thanh Ba post office Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to

complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What services do you think the post office offers?

Question 2: What do you know about fax machine?

Question 3: Who do you work with when you go to the post office?

NEW YEAR IN JAPAN activities

decorate the house

with pine trees