Some solutions to inspire grade 3 students at quang minh primary school in their learning english

SAM SON CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANDTRAINING QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME SOLUTIONS TO INSPIRE GRADE 3 STUDENTS AT QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THEIR... Inord

SAM SON CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND

TRAINING

QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

SOME SOLUTIONS TO INSPIRE GRADE 3 STUDENTS

AT QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THEIR

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

colleagues and schools

1.1 Rationale for the research

Language is one of the most basic aspects of human communiations This

is the main measure in which people convey what they are thinking about.Thanks to this specific characteristic, language allows human innovation tobecome drammatically developed in many knowledge fields Therefore, it isnecessary for human generally and children specifically to master one language

as soon as possible, especially English No one can deny the importance ofEnglish in our daily lives This is one of the most popular foreign languages and

is spreaded in many schools all over the world English is considered as thebridge which can help us to achieve a lot of success as well as opportunities instudying and working worldwide

Unlike learning Vietnamese, learning English with variaty of themestogether with speaking requirements will help children become more confident.The combination of playing and studying gives children the good chance to beactive and alternative students Moreovere, children can explore more about theworld and connect themselves with others; hence, their language will begradually enriched Therefore, children’s ability in communication will bedeveloped and they no longer feel embrassed A child who is fluent in Englishcan have greater career opportunities in the future, improve their self-esteem and

be enriched with all kinds of personal experiences to be able to communicatewith people from different cultures and countries

In education system, English is a compulsory subject applied to schoolcirculicum from Grade 3 to 12 This subject helps to build up and developstudents’ communicative ability through the practice of four skills (listening,speaking, reading and writing) However, the application of teaching andstudying English in our education system generally and in primary levelspecifically still have a lot of challenges In Quang Minh primary school,students in Grade 3 are those who experience many dificulties because they are

on the process of getting acquainted to a new language Children are not able tosystematically grasp language and analyze language in a conscious way.Moreover, they do not have long-term focus and easily get bored Therefore, theteaching method of teachers is the decisive factor, hich is the top priority Inorder to have a good quality English lesson and give students an inspirationwhen receiving lessons, the teacher must really have unique, attractive andinnovative teaching methods To promote the activeness and creativity oflearners, students must be considerd as the subjects of the teaching process withthe help of teacher’s guidance

With aim to help students in Grade 3 – Quang Minh primary school in the

process of learning English, I have chosen the topic " Some solutions to inspire

Grade 3 students at Quang Minh primary school in their learning English " to

provide some solutions that I myself have and will continue to help change thelearning atmosphere Therefore, it makes lessons less stressful and easier tounderstand and learners can remember and absorb knowledge deeply

1.2.Objectivesof the res

The thesis focuses on studying the use of techniques and methods of teachingvocabulary and model sentences for Grade 3 studetns at Quang Minh primaryschool through games, music, role-play, portfolios Accordingly, suggest somerecommendations to improve the use of vocabulary in real situations Proper andscientific application of techniques in organizing games during English lessons

in primary school aims to:

- Create students interest in learning as well as arouse their desire toparticipate in exploration, discovery and experimentation activities

- Help students to carry out learning activities in an active way Givestudents the good condition to play and study at the same time; hence, they canre-create, systematize knowledge in the easiest way

- Apply appropriately modern teaching methods to the subject to promotestudents’ activeness

1.4 Research Methodology

The thesis has used several methods as follows:

- Methods of investigation

- Experimental method

- Methods of studying language teaching theory

- Researching methods of teaching words through documents, networks,

on television

2 Main content

2.1 The theorotical background knowledge

Primary level plays an vital role in the foundation of forming anddeveloping students’ personality N.X.Leytex has demonstrated that “Primaryage is the period when children start their knowledge absorption in a naturalway.”Primary students nowadsays has proved to be the main subjective throughtheir own activities under the organization and guidance of adults throughmodern mothods Therefore, when teaching primary students, teachers have toconcentrate on the way to help them in their learning process Wrong methodsand techniques will dramatically affect

English now has been applied to be taught as a basic language in primaryschool It is an isolated language which take students a lot of time to study.Functioning as other languages, English aims at providing students withbeginning knowledge of a foreign language and helping them to communiate thesecond language through English communicative practice of four skills(listening, speaking, reading and writing) Also, learning English help students

to improve their ability of expressing their individual ideas in a condifent andcreative way.English is of great importance in the current renovation period of

the country, with a great ability to educate and maintain perseverance andmemorization from the thinking processes necessary for access and forming anew language Primary English is considered to be the bridge of teachingEnglish to middle and high school levels, ensuring the integration with relevantcontent of other subjects in the elementary program.

In order to help primary students study English well, teacher is not onlythe one who teaches knowledge in a mechanic way but they have to inspirestudents on studying by engaging them to studying activities Accordingly, iforganizing interactive activities are applied through warm – up part, they willhelp to focus students’ attention on the main points of the lesson Moreover,students will have chance to consolidate and memorize knowledge deeply ifteachers apply some interactive activities in practice part In addition, we canintegrate the use of activities in the introduction and practice of new language toavoid being boring for students to repeat the sentence patterns to master.Research and rational use of interactive activities in each lesson will contributepositively to the success of the lesson Some of the activities such as games,music, role-play, portfolios have been widely applied and has given a lot ofbenefits

Obviously, learning is a serious business Yet that doesn’t meanstudents shouldn’t have fun while doing it In fact, playing games increasesmotivation by helping students relax, open up, and get out of their headswhile learning Games are perfect for practicing vocabulary and targetinggrammar; thus increasing camaraderie through light competition, boostingenergy levels, reducing stress, promoting problem-solving, and buyingmore focused lesson time later in the hour While it’s clear that childrenand beginners shine brighter when playing, it’s also true that adults andadvanced learners enjoy competition and lighter moments in class

Also, using music when teaching English can be beneficial for non-nativeEnglish speaking students as well as fluent speakers In his book "Music andLearning," Chris Boyd Brewer explains, "The intentional use of music in theclassroom will set the scene and learning atmosphere to enhance our teachingand learning activities." Implementing the use of familiar or easy-to-learn songs

is a great way to introduce principles of speaking, hearing and understanding theEnglish language he function of using songs while teaching English classes is toengage students in speaking and understanding the English language, whilereinforcing the fundamentals of language and communication According to anApril 2005 edition of the Translation Journal, "Behaviorists emphasizerepetition of material so that it becomes a natural reaction for the student." Asstudents repeat lyrics, they begin to understand the meaning of the words until itbecomes a natural act With this, students can understand the way English isused without even realizing they are learning

Moreover, role-play is any speaking activity when you either put yourselfinto somebody else's shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourselfinto an imaginary situation! Incorporating role-play into the classroom adds

variety, a change of pace and opportunities for a lot of language production andalso a lot of fun! It can be an integral part of the class and not a 'one-off' event.

If the teacher believes that the activity will work and the necessary support isprovided, it can be very successful However, if the teacher isn't convincedabout the validity of using role-play the activity "will fall flat on its face just asyou expected it to" (Gillian Porter Ladousse 1987)

In addidtion, teachers can take advantage of portfolios in their teachingprocess Paulson, Paulson, Meyer (1991) defined a portfolio as a purposefulcollection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress andachievements in one or more areas The collection must include studentparticipation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria forjudging merit and evidence of student self-reflection." In details, a studentportfolio is a compilation of academic work and other forms of educationalevidence assembled for the purpose of (1) evaluating coursework quality,learning progress, and academic achievement; (2) determining whether studentshave met learning standards or other academic requirements for courses, grade-level promotion, and graduation; (3) helping students reflect on their academicgoals and progress as learners; and (4) creating a lasting archive of academicwork products, accomplishments, and other documentation Student portfoliosare most effective when they are used to evaluate student learning progress andachievement Portfolios can help teachers monitor and evaluate learningprogress over time Portfolios help teachers determine whether students canapply what they have learned to new problems and different subjectareas.Portfolios can encourage students to take more ownership andresponsibility over the learning process

2.2 Current situation before applying the initiative

2.2.1 Advantages:

+ About the School Managing Board:

The School Managing Board has pay a lot of attention on trainingmethods, innovating the ways of teaching activities and giving the bestconditions for me to teach English for Grade 3 at Quang Minh primary school

+ About the teachers:

Personally, I am passinate to my teaching career as a teacher of English.Although I myself still do not have long time teaching primary students, I amhighly aware of working hard to improve Also, I often search for related-to-English resources from books, magazines and the Internet in order to applyproperly in my teaching career

Moreover, my colleages at schools always are those who are veryenthusiatic in helping me teaching English They have good cooperation with

me in my teaching and organizing learning activities I have good opportunities

to understand my students more and more thanks to their help

+ About the students:

At Quang Minh primary school, there are only 76 students in Grade 3which are devided into 3 classes, namely 3A-3B-3C The number of students in

each class is quite ideal for me to teach English It brings me a good chance toobserve all students’ activities and assist them if necessary Although English isnot a familiar subject, most of students show their interest and attention on thelessons Many of them have had good chance to get aquaitance to English fromthe early age when their parents have sent them to some local English centers

In order to understand their learning situation, at the beginning of theschool year, I conducted a survey to assess the learning ability of English forGrade 3 students

The results are as follows:

Total

students

Survey results

Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage

+ About the parents:

Most of the parents show their consideration on their children’s studyingprocess They usually spend time discussing with the teacher in order to find thebest direction to help their children in studying

2.2.2 Disadvantages

+ About the teachers:

My short experience as an English teacher in primary schools prevents me

a lot from reaching the best teaching results

+ About the students:

Many students do not have chance to get aquainted to English until theyare in Grade 3; consequently, they encounter many challenges in learning thesubject Many have bad ability of mastering knowledge which affects theirlearning process Some students do not receive enough care from their parents,from which somehow distracts their studying

+ About the parents:

Most of the parents are workers who do not have a lot of time taking care

of their children in the learning process The children usually spend most of thetime with their grandparents which create a lot of difficulties in educating.Moreover, English is not an easy lesson to be taught by parents who do not good

at it

2.3 The solutions applied to solve the problems

2.3.1 The solution of using music in English lessons

Using music when teaching English, especially as a second language tonon-native speakers, is a great way to create a friendly, comfortable atmospherefor students to learn When students feel at ease and in a safe environment, theyhave the potential to better retain information The nature of the music changesthe act of learning English to the act of experiencing English, which may allow

students to focus on the core principles of the language in a manner unliketraditional grammar lessons or drills.

2.3.1.1.Warming up

Although all parts of a lesson are important, the engage phase (or warmup) may be the most important The engage phase is the departing point of thelesson, where you need to draw the attention of the students away from otheroccurrences of the day and make them focus on learning the English language.Choosing an activity to grab the students' attention can be a challenge, as itneeds to work within just a few minutes Through various studies, music hasshown to be an activity which utilizes many parts of the brain at once, andtherefore is a great activity to “jump start” the brain, and get students to focusmore quickly

There are a variety of different ways to use music in warm-up activity.The simplest way is just letting students listen to the song that relates to thetheme they are studying It would be better if teachers provide students with thelyrics for students to sing as a group

Example 1:In Unit 1: Hello, teacher can use the song “Hello, how do you do?” to get students be familiar with the right pronunciation of “Hello” because

this is one of the words being mispronounced the most Moreover, it is an easyand simple song that students can remember and sing along easily

Example 2:In Unit 4: How old are you, in order to supply students with numbers in an exciting way, teacher can play the song “Ten little Indians” It

would bring a happy atmostphere before leading to the main lessons Thisactivity would become extremely effective if there is a help of projector andspeakers for students to watch the video and sing along

Example 3: In Unit 6: Stand up, before leading the main lessons of actions, teacher can show the video of “Stand up, sit down” song It’s a good

way for students to be familiar with the actions before learning or writing themdown in their notebooks

Together with listening and singing along, music can be used as the bestway of dancing which is considered as an efficient way of warming the lessons

up There are a lot of songs that can really help in this situations Songs withsome simple actions that students can easily dance will really give the lessons

the efficient beginning Some of suggested songs for dancing can be “Baby shark; Ram Sam Sam; Walking walking; Apples and Bananas; Walking Walking,” ….

2.3.1.2 Introducing new lesson

The teacher can use music before they introduce students with new words

or model sentences There are two steps that need to be considered as follows:

+ Preparation: Teachers choose English songs related to the topic that

students will learn

+ Procedure: Have students listen to the songs depending on the theme of

each lesson, ask students to discuss and guess the content of the song After the

students speak, the teacher will lead the new lesson In addition, teachers can usethe song to teach vocabulary and sentence patterns if they appear in the lyrics.

Unit 1 Greeting How are you? –

I’m fine, thankyou

How old are you? Unit 4 Numbers One, two, three,

four, five, six,seven, eight, nine,ten

How old are you?This is my friend Unit 5 Friends This is my friend

I can sing a

rainbow

Unit 9 Colours Red, purple, pink,

green, blue,yellow, brown,black, white

Example: Tell the students to listen to the song "What’s in your bag?".

Give students time to listen to the song and draw school things that they haveheard from it Teacher can introduce some new words from the song afterchecking up students’ drawing papers

What’s in your bag? – It’s my pencil.

What’s in your bag? – It’s my notebook

What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet snake

What’s in your bag? – It’s my ruler

What’s in your bag? – It’s my earser

What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet spider

What’s in your bag? – It’s my pencil case.What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet dinosaur

2.3.1.4.Considersations

For best results in using music in English lessons, teachers may want toconsider using songs that are easy to learn and follow "Silly" songs that containeasy to remember lyrics are often easy for students to process and understand Ifusing songs to teach English to non-native speakers, it may be beneficial totranslate songs that may be familiar to students into English and perform as aclass if possible The subject matter of the songs should generally be relatable tothe student, and if possible, address real-life situations

2.3.2 The solution of using games in English lessons

Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning Gamesprovide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening andreading They encourage students to interact and communicate They create ameaningful context for language use The use of game is definitely benificial inintroducing new lesson or consolidating knowledge

2.3.2.1.Solution to use games to expand and reinforce vocabulary

There are numerous techniques concerned with vocabulary presentation.However, there are a few things that have to be remembered irrespective of theway new lexical items are presented If teachers want students to remember newvocabulary better, it needs to be learnt in context, practiced, and then revised toprevent students from forgetting Teachers must make sure students haveunderstood the new words, which will be remembered better if introduced in a

‘memorable way’ Accordingly, using games is one of the effective ways ofvocabulary presentation

Example 1: In Unit 4: How old are you?, the teacher can use the game

“Slap the board” In this game, the teacher put the vocabulary items (numbers:

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten) on the board in any order jumbled and sometimes a little bit higher than the tallest child can reach, so thatthey'll have to jump Then divide the class into groups The teacher say a word,the first person in each group to slap the right word gets a point In the ortherway, the teacher doesn't have to call out the English word, get other kids to callout so they're getting practice speaking too

-SLAP THE BOARD GAME