IMPROVING QUALITY OF EFFECTIVE PAIR AND GROUP ACTIVITIES IN HIGH SCHOOL LESSONS scope level of grade english high school

But the reality is not so: With guidance andcontrol of teachers and establishment of rules when working in groups and pairs,the noise of foreign language exchange is positive noise, a ma

DEPARMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF THANH

Working Place: Mai Anh Tuan High School

Unit: Foreigner Language

Initative from experience in field: English

Nga Son, May 19th, 2021

GENERAL INFORMATION OF INTIATIVE

1 Name of initiative: “Improving quality of effective pair and group activities

in high school lessons”

2 Scope / Level of grade: English / High School

3 Applied time of initiative: from Jan 10th, 2020 to May 20th, 2021

5 Working place to apply the initiative:

Name of Location: Mai Anh Tuấn High School

Address: Nga Thanh Commune, Nga Sơn District, Thanh Hoa Province.

A - QUESTIONING

I CONDITIONS OF CREATING INNOVATIONS

English plays an important role in our lives It has been and is becoming anecessary need in daily communication, in work and in the process of scientificresearch English is used as a universal language in the world Through thiscommon language, people all over the planet understand each other, exchangescientific achievements, culture, sports, art, advanced civilization of mankind.Our country is on the way of integration and development, so English is the key

to open the door to integration between our country and other countries in theworld

Because English is so important, in recent years the Party, State,Government and the Ministry of Education and Training have always paidattention to and paid attention to innovating teaching methods, renewingtextbooks for the most effective teaching and learning of English

From the above basic reasons and bases, it shows that comprehensiveeducation for students is very necessary Besides, teaching English is also animportant task in the school The problem for each of us in general and teacherswho directly teach English at high school level in particular is how to get goodresults in teaching Therefore, active teaching methods are always thoroughlyand creatively implemented by teachers

II PRACTICE BASIS.

In our Vietnamese situation, the class is often crowded with students,and the short class time is not enough for the majority of students to participate

in the lesson Except for the practice of reading in unison, on average eachstudent in the class only has a total of 10-15 seconds to speak To increase thetime students practice speaking in class, they must organize activities so thateveryone can speak

Learners-centered people often think that if all students in the classparticipate in speaking at the same time, the class will become very noisy,disorderly, and difficult to control But the reality is not so: With guidance andcontrol of teachers and establishment of rules when working in groups and pairs,the noise of foreign language exchange is positive noise, a manifestation ofeducation.

In order to work in pairs and groups of students to be effective in teachingand learning foreign languages in general and teaching English in particular, it isnecessary to understand what group and pair activities are; What principles need

to be followed and what do teachers and students have to do? In this topic, Iboldly collect to suggest how to organize working in pairs and groupseffectively

III SCOPE OF RESEARCH

Applying "Experience in organizing students to work in pairs and groups

in effective English teaching" is an initiative of research experience in the scope

of giving situations and some exercises suitable for activities act in pairs, or ingroups At the same time, there are a number of ways to organize pairs, groupsand control activities in pairs and groups

With this scope of study can be applied in developing all skills oflistening, speaking, reading and writing which are mainly communicationactivities

IV RESEARCH PURPOSE

With the successful research of the topic, the experience initiative willhelp teachers gain the following experiences:

1 Understand the concept of pair and group activities

2 How to organize effective pair and group activities

3 Steps to conduct effective pair and group activities

4 Guide students to self-practice and practice to have Englishcommunication skills and techniques.

5 Experience in applying pair and group activities in teaching English athigh school level

V RESEARCH METHODS

1 Observational method: The subject conducts self-research, conducts

class visits of colleagues

2 Method of exchange and discussion: After attending the time of the

colleague, the colleague observes the time of the subject, the colleague and thesubject conducts the exchange and discussion in order to draw out theexperience experience for the lesson

3 Experimental method: The teacher conducts experimental teaching

according to each purpose, and specifically requires a number of lessons toapply the form of group and pair activities

4 Investigative method: Teachers ask questions to check and assess

students'understanding of the lesson content

B- CONTENT

I- LEARN ABOUT PAIR /GROUP ACTIVITIES.

1 Work in pair/pair work

1.1 The role of the teacher when students participate in practice in pairs

Teachers who used to be leaders and in control of all activities in theclassroom need a different perspective because their roles have changed in thesenew stages of student practice Now the teacher has two functions The firstfunction is the observer: The teacher goes from group to group listening andnoting repeated errors in the students but still letting them speak freely,interrupting them as much as possible unless absolutely necessary… Seriouserrors will be resolved at another time, possibly at the beginning of the nextlesson or at the end of the practice session The second function is to provide,document, help, and answer students' difficult problems in terms of corpus orgeneral knowledge

In the teaching process, in order to promote the activeness of students,pair and group activities are a good form of learning activity Through this form

of learning, students have the opportunity to present, exchange and express theirthoughts about the amount of information about the lesson that they understand

or maybe partially wrong From there, the teacher grasps the level of thinkingand understanding of the children This process takes place in a two-wayrelationship In terms of teaching theory, this is a dialectical relationship Inaddition, when exchanging pairs, groups of students are trained more in skillsand habits of thinking, expressing and presenting a problem in front of a group.Through this activity, students' listening, speaking, reading and writing skills areincreasingly improved

1.2 Introducing how to practice in pairs

When using this type of exercise for the first time, explain to studentsthe advantages and reasons for using it Explanations may be made in the

student's native language In addition, it is necessary to agree with students onthe following principles:

1 Working in pairs is not the time to chat

2 After completing the assignment of the exercise, students can switchroles and do the exercise again

3 If the time is up and the students still haven't finished, there is nothing

to worry about, because the most important thing is that they get to practice, notnecessarily the specific results of a certain task

4 After the time is up, the teacher must check and evaluate the results ofthe work done by the students in pairs

5 All students must participate in this activity in a pair When odd, thatstudent can join with the pair closest to him/her If the exercise requirement is anexchange between two people, the third person will sit and watch, thenparticipate in the second round of practice with one of the other

6 They can ask the teacher for help if needed While students practiceQ&A, the teacher must cover and monitor the class to comment on each pair,listen and correct them, notice to pairs of weak students

1.3 Steps to practice in pairs.

Step 1: Prepare

It is necessary to prepare very carefully through the introduction andpractice of the corpus, so that everyone is confident when using the foreignlanguage After the introduction and practice the corpus should save all theinformation on the board

Step 2: Teacher models with a student

The teacher, along with a good student in the class, acts as a model for anexercise package so that all students understand the requirements and know how

to do it

Step 3: Two students model

Call on two pretty good students to model in front of the class again Ifstudents are allowed to stand in place, ask them to speak loudly enough for thewhole class to hear

Step 4: Set time

Tell students how much time they will have to complete this exercise(usually 2-3 minutes)

Step 5: Students work in pairs

Signal all students to begin work at the same time While students work,teacher goes from pair to pair, monitoring and helping them as needed butavoiding interfering with the students' activities even though they may see theirmistakes

Step 6: Pre-class test

At the end of the lesson, when most pairs have done the song, signal allstudents to stop Choose a couple of pairs and ask them to present them in front

of the class This test is very important because it makes the students workharder in the next practice Students will become more diligent, more self-awareknowing that teachers will assess their learning activities

2 Types of practice in pairs.

2.1 Conversation

After studying a sample dialogue, the students are familiar with thestructure of the lesson and understand the grammar issues in it, the teacher canask pairs of students to role-play the text, but with some substitutions details(e.g name, hometown, occupation, hobbies, etc.) to make their lines talk aboutthemselves or about issues they care about

2.2 Substitute exercise

After introducing the sentence patterns and giving them quick practice,the teacher writes the suggested replacement words on the board and asks thestudents to practice in pairs Should leave plenty of space in the suggestionsection to let students develop their creativity Example on the board:

What do you think of horror film?

(action films, thrillers films, war films…?

2.3 Grammar practice

After students have grasped the grammar problem and have beenpracticing collectively (by repeating or converting exercises…), divide studentsinto pairs and ask them to exchange with each other (pay attention to choose thefamiliar and close subject matter) For example, talk about yourself or realthings related to the student's own life The suggested words on the board arestill ideal for this exercise

2.4 Unofficial test

Regular testing is just as effective as teaching By allowing students tocollaborate on a test, teachers can encourage their learning because weakerstudents are helped by better students There should be a short test at the end ofthe hour once in a while and then give the score The test does not need to covereverything the student has just learned in the lesson, but can focus on any aspect

of language use The requirements of the work should be very clear, writesample sentences on the board and control the time to train students to reactquickly and flexibly in using language Finished work can be tested orally or bypairs of cross-checks and marks each other

2.5 Description of the picture

Pictures can be used as stimuli for a variety of pairs of exercises Forexample, looking at a picture that accompanies a reading passage, one student in

a pair finds out what is right and wrong in the picture and the student states theiropinion for or against (compare the picture with the text) Or two students have

two similar panoramas but the details in the picture are different (such asposition of objects in the picture, color, type of clothes, appearance ofpeople, ) One student describes the details in his picture and the other findsdifferences in the second picture.

2.6 Find a title for the reading passage

Before the whole class read a text, ask pairs of students to read, ask pairs

of students to skim, then give the passage a question Depending on the length ofthe lesson, the time will be determined, but it should be noted that the time spent

on this activity should not be too much because this is essentially a type ofexercise to practice skimming for the main idea What's more, this activity isgreat because it gives students a chance to read with real intent, reading for realinformation Reading results can be checked orally with individual students orthe whole class

2.7 Ask and answer

There are often questions at the end of the reading passages Students candiscuss the answers to these questions in pairs Students first make their mouths,then the teacher calls some random students to check Or enrich the activity byhaving students discuss their answers orally and then write their answers onpaper, with pairs of pairs swapping their answers under the teacher's control

2.8 Write illustrative sentences

After teaching and practicing new words, at the end of the lesson, stillleave the new words on the board, delete only the illustrated sentences, and thenask students to rewrite other illustrated sentences for the new words to check ifthey have learned the new words and they can really understand the meaningand usage of the new words

3 Work in group/group work

In our classrooms the chair cannot be moved around the classroom so inthis situation can only ask the students from the upper desk to turn to the lower

table to form groups to practice It is best to form groups of 4-6 people, butsometimes the number of students in each group depends on the number ofstudents sitting at each table.

After dividing the group, it is recommended to appoint or let the groupmembers elect the group leader or secretary This person will directly contactthe teacher when the group is having difficulty implementing the requirements

of the assignment This will make it easier for the teacher to control all groups inthe class It is advisable to appoint or instruct students who are more vocal andenergetic to do this But sometimes change is also needed: choose a goodstudent but still shy to create conditions for that student to practice to becomebolder or you can also let the group members take turns as the group leader It isimportant that this work be done quickly and that students are informedimmediately who their team leader is so that they can get to work, withoutwasting time Group division can be in the mother tongue, if using English,students must first familiarize themselves with and understand commands such

as: “The first row, turn and face the second The third row, turn and face the

fourth please Now work in groups”.

3.1 The teacher's role

The teacher is in charge of all activities in the classroom So they have toplan it, organize it, start it, monitor it, time it and finish it The most tabooestthing is that after asking students to work in groups, the teacher will return to thetable to sit or work separately, considering that the job is done It is imperativethat teachers manage, monitor, urge and help students practice The teacher can

go from one group to another, checking if the students are doing the taskcorrectly Teachers need to be active and sensitive to the classroom atmosphere

as well as group work rhythms, remembering repeated mistakes in students toadjust their lessons later If it is found that most students are having difficultycompleting the task of the assignment, it is advisable to stop all groups, explain

more about the requirements of the assignment, about its structure or grammar,

or to the whole class Rehearse the problem and then resume working in groups

3.2 Types of group exercises

Group activities tend to be more liberal and also more interactive thanpair activities There are many activities that are easy to do, even for the mostinexperienced teachers

• Game

Information guessing games to practice Yes - No questions The simplest

is the guessing game Who am I thinking of? What's my profession? Or Guesswhat I did (last night/ during the weekend) Title the game on the board, providesome suggested words, vocabulary, background knowledge, then model andthen let students play on their own

• Make a question

Ask groups to read the passage then ask questions about it After a fewminutes, the groups closed their books, one by one the group leader or secretarystood up to ask a few questions, and the other group members were responsiblefor answering In order for students to be more interested in the activity, itshould be organized as a contest: answers are graded based on linguisticaccuracy as well as information

• Guided practice

After using the replacement exercise to familiarize the students with itsstructure and function, it is recommended to organize more exercises with morecommunicative meaning with creative and game-based group activities

For example, after teaching the structure with should/ shouldn't mean to

advise:

You should/ shouldn't + verb

(You should eat more fruit)

The teacher gives some suggested words for students to work in groups.One person raised his or her problem and the others in the group offered advice.One problem can have many different advices To get students to participatemore actively, turn this activity into a contest: see which group gives the mostadvice and has the best advice that cannot be refuted.

Examples of suggested words:

Wallet/ lost bad marks for science

Shirt/ torn have headache/ toothache

Watch/ broken etc.

Maybe take a few minutes for students to come up with real problemsthey face in their own lives, and others in the group to give advice Orconversely, students in one group read some of their advice while students inother groups had to try to guess what the advice was about

• Reading and spelling

Why do teachers always have to be dictators? This task can be assigned toone person in the group to read to other members Of course, you should chooseshort and learned passages The reader may also be responsible for checking andcorrecting errors for other team members

• Role playing games

After the class has practiced a structure with a certain function, playing games work very well to reinforce students' understandings of thestructure's function in more natural settings For example, groups could be asked

role-to play a scene in which a person complains that he wants role-to exchange for a newpiece of clothing he bought the day before; or gather information for an all-inclusive holiday… With role-playing, groups can create plays in which eachmember plays a role While the group members are acting, the group secretarytakes short notes of the dialogue to review and then present to the class

• Predict

This exercise is usually used by students at a relatively advanced level.Before reading a text, ask the groups to predict the content of the lesson or themeaning of the vocabulary that may be encountered in the lesson For example,before reading an article about pollution, students may anticipate that the articlewill deal with issues related to the sea, forests, underground resources, smokefrom car exhaust, motorcycle…

• Answer speculative questions

After each reading, the teacher can ask some questions for students tospeculate about the circumstances that happened in the lesson The answer isonly based on the student's inference, not in the lesson Students in groupsdiscuss and come up with a common answer for the whole group

• Discuss

Used for students with relatively high language knowledge Discussionallows students to freely express their views and opinions, so the usefulness of

this type of exercise is undisputed The teacher brings up a certain topic (What

do you think about women who work as politicians? What should be done about all the beggars on the streets?) and then lets all groups discuss and exchange

ideas your score in minutes A group member will then report back on thegroup's general opinion (if there is agreement), or summarize the opinions (ifthere is a difference) Next, have students discuss the problem as a whole class.Teachers are not required to express their views, unless there are false opinionsthat no one can disagree with

• Essay writing

This format is not ideal for classes with large numbers of students Theteacher cannot monitor and help a class or have about 40 - 50 students and thesestudents write different articles Moreover, reading, correcting, and grading 40-

50 essays is not an easy job Some experts in teaching methods argue that lettingstudents write without supervision is only harmful to students Because students