DONG NAI EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT NAM HA HIGH SCHOOL Code : THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE APPLYING GAMES TO AN ENGLISH CLASS Teacher : DUONG LE THANH THUY Research field : Education management : Teaching method : English Methodology : Other fields : Attachments : Object Software Film Other things School year: 2011-2012
CURRICULUM VITAE I. PERSONAL INFORMATION: 1. Full name: DUONG LE THANH THUY 2. Date of birth: February 20 th, 1977 3. Sex: Female 4. Address: 141/ 114 Tan Phong Bien Hoa Dong Nai 5. Telephone number: 0918090244 6. Fax: E-mail : huytcoi@gmail.com.vn 7. Work: Teacher 8. Place of work: Nam Ha high school II. Training standard - Diploma: Bachelor - Graduation year: 1998 - Major in: Teaching III. Scientific Experience - Major in: teaching - The length of service: 13 years - The initiative experience: 1. Combination of various skills in teaching Word study (2006 2007) 2. Teaching Speaking in a Reading period (2007-2008) 3. How to check the previous lesson effectively (2008 2009) 4. Raising the effect of using English (2009 2010) 5. Developing students listening skill by varifying exercises (2010-2011)
I. The purpose of the chosen subject A. The purpose of the subject chosen B. The foundation from the fact Index II. Advantages and Disadvantages A. Advantages B. Disadvantages C. Objects and Researching methods III. The content of the subject IV. The sample of teaching lesson V. Effect of application VI. Requirements VII. Conclusion VIII. Reference data
A. The purpose of the subject chosen Nowadays teaching as well as learning English is compulsory for all grades (from the primary school to the university or especially after the university) because it plays an important role in communicating, updating the information or doing researches. To teachers, how to teach effectively, applicably and attractively? To students, how to learn the lessons by heart fast and easily as well as use them correctly? This is always a big question for teachers before each teaching period and for students when studying a foreign language (especially English). Basically, there have been many changes in content and the methods of teaching foreign languages (in general), English (in particular). The purpose of curriculums and books is helping students obtain the main knowledge of the modern practical English and know how to use English as a means of communication. However, students are still under pressure, students aren t really active and creative because in Vietnam, teaching and studying a foreign language (especially English) at the high schools as well as at other grades mainly focus on grammar, that s why an English class becomes boring and passive. To break the silence in class and how to find out the solutions to this hot topic. It s still a problem for teachers of foreign language at the professional work-shops. In fact, to find out the best solutions to the problems teachers often meet while teaching and studying foreign languages, all groups and departments related to education usually carry out the movements, the contests or the discussions which help teachers have opportunities to gather, talk to and learn experiences with each other. Thanks to the annual plan for writing the creative teaching experience of Nam Ha high school and Dong Nai Education and Training Department, I think of the way to make an English class more interesting and students feel relaxed while studying. With the 13-year teaching experience, I have had an idea and applied it to the fact. That idea is named: Applying games to an English class. B. The foundation from the fact: - To enable English classes more interesting and more fascinating. - To help students feel relaxed from the beginning to the ending of a learning period. - To help students get not only the knowledge but also the studying methods after each class.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES DURING MY PREPARATION OF THE SUBJECT
A. Advantages: - Realizing the importance of studying foreign languages, many parents have paid more attention to their children s studying. - There are various teaching techniques supporting for an English class (computer, screen and flash light). - The head-staff board always suports and helps teachers during the teaching period. - There are many experienced teachers in the Foreign language group. - In school, many teachers who are good at the I.T help us design games. - More students are interrested in learning English. - Teachers are always enthusiastic and creative in teaching. B. Disadvantages: - Students capacity is much limited and at different levels. Some of them are quite deficient in the base of learning English. - Some students pronounce habitally wrongly and the teachers feel in vain in correction. Moreover, they transcribe English into Vietnamese without using the International Phonetic Alphabet. This wrong study leads their lack of English knowledge. The teachers must face this problem A great difficulty in our teaching. - The majority of students have lack of self-confidence in listening to teachers expanation in English. - Most students, for the sake of the university entrance examinations, consider some other subjects, such as: maths, physics, chemistry, even biology more important than English. As the result, they learn English with a rather ignorant attitude. - Time for a teaching period is relatively short. - In Bien Hoa city, there aren t many opportunities for students to communicate in English. - Students fail to study properly and don t have enough time to take part in the English speaking clubs. C. Objects and the methods of doing the research: - Objects: students at Nam Ha high school (class 11A1 A2 A3 C2) - The methods of doing the research: + Read books as well as other documents. + Learn experience from the colleagues. + Do some experiments make statistics consider the results.
CONTENT
With the following games, we can apply them to all the skills as well as the steps of teaching and learning foreign languages ( particularly English). To make a teaching period more effective and fantastic, teachers must be flexible in choosing the proper games for each lesson or each skill. 1. BRAINSTORMING/ NETWORKS Eg : English 10 Unit 6 (Listening and Speaking) Requirement : In this game, students can do it individually to show their feelings, thoughts and ideas based on teacher s given questions. Performance : teacher makes questions students answer. Example: 1. Do you like traveling? 2. When do you often go? 3. Where do you like to go? 4. What do you often prepare for your trip or picnic? 10 clothes 9 food 8 1 water sleeping bag 2 PICNIC 7 guitar cell phone 6 3 camera shoes 4 tent 5 suitcase Aim : This game can be used to introduce or enforce a lesson, such as Listening or Reading. Its purpose is helping students guess the subject and the information about the lesson. Moreover students can review the previous knowledge and learn the new words by heart at the same time.
2. RUB OUT AND REMEMBER Requirement : In this game, students can do it individually, in pairs or groups. Eg: English 12 Unit 14 (Reading) Performance : - Teacher gives a short passage or some sentences with the missing information. - Students read and fill in the gaps with the words they have just learnt. (Note : teacher asks students to close all books and notebooks while doing the game.) WORLD CUP, the international football tournament, is held every four years. It is considered the most popular sporting event in the world. The World Cup is followed with passionate interest around the globe- the final game of the 2002 World Cup tournament attracted more than one billion viewers. Aim : This game is for the consolidaion of a lesson, such as Listening or Reading. It helps students review the words they have just learnt. Besides, this game is vey useful for the lesson having many difficult words because of its data and logicality.
3. CROSSWORD Requirement : A class is divided into four groups in this game. Performance : - Teacher gives the topic and some suggestions (the initial letters and pictures) - Students guess and write the answers. - When time is up, a representative of each group writes the answers on the board. The winner is the group having more right answers. Teacher should give the winner a present to stimulate their enthusiasm in the next class. Eg: English 12 Unit 10 (Listening) Do the crossword 1 t 2 e 3 d 4 k 5 r 6 g 7 d 8 z 9 b 10 l
1 t i g e r 2 e l e p h a n t 3 d o l p h i n 4 k a n g a r o o 5 r h i n o c e r o s 6 g o r i l l a 7 d e e r 8 z e b r a 9 b e a r 10 l e o p a r d In another form, the teacher can give the questions Eg : English 11 Unit 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. My mother often makes a.. for my bithday. 2. On your birthday, you often receive a lot of 3. The day when you were born is called 4. A piece of paper which you often write best wishes on for your friends on New Year or Christmas Day. It s a.. 5. is on December 24 th. 6. January 1 st is the day of
1 C A K E 3 B I R T H D A Y 2 P R E S E N T S 4 C A R D 5 C H R I S T M A S 6 N E W Y E A R Aim : This game is used in Listening or Speaking. Especially, we can use it to introduce or conclude the lesson because students can guess the topic of the lesson or list the words and then learn them by heart. 4. NOUGHTS AND CROSSES This game is like ca ro in Vietnamese. It can be done at the end of the lesson. Requirement : A class is divided into two groups. Performance : - Teacher forms a frame with a signal for each group. Nought (O) for this group and Cross (X) for the other (colors instead). - Each group does the game in turn. If the group has the correct answer, its signal or color will appear on the screen. When time is up, the turn will be exchanged if that group has no answer. If all two groups don t have the answers, teacher will erase the signal or color. When the group has three signals in one line, that group will be the winner. On the contrary, when no group has enough signals as required, the winner will be based on the number of the right answers. Aim : we can use it to consolidate the lesson.
Eg: English 12 Unit 12 (Listening) 1 x 2 x time 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 123456789 1 o 2 o 3 x 3 o 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 x 9 x O1 X 2O X O3 X 4 7 5 6 OX OX OX 8 9 OX XO OX 4 o 5 o 6 o 7 o 8 o 9 o 5. LUCKY NUMBERS/ STARS/ FLOWERS Requirement : A class is divided into two groups. Performance : This game is like The Road to Olympia Mount - Teacher forms a frame with numbers. - Each group does as required with the chosen numbers. In this game, if they choose the lucky number, they will be able to get a prize. Lucky numbers 1 2 3 4 Very good 5 6 7 8 9 10
Eg : English 10 Unit 13 (Writing) In this game teacher can give some questions related to the beneath picture. 1. What vehicles are used in the sea? 2. What works were written by Walter Lord? 3. Which film made Leonardio Dicapro, an actor, become famous? 4. In which film did Leonardo Dicarpro act with Kate Winslet? 5. What is Kate Winslet s nationality? Aim : - This game should be used for introducing or consolidating a lesson such as Listening, Reading or Writing. - We can combine this game with another game (ex: description) in Speaking period or More exercise.
6. DESCRIPTION Requirement : Students can play this game in pairs or groups. Eg : English 11 Unit 1 (Speaking) Performance: Teacher can give not only pictures but also suggestions and then make an example. - This is a baby girl. - She is wearing a sleeveless dress with flowers and having some bubbles in hand. - She looks very beautiful because she has white complexion,round black eyes, full lips, a straight nose and short black hair. - She looks very happy. Aim : This game is often used in Speaking period or More exercise because it can help students to recall and use the words they have learnt in Reading period effectively and correctly.
7. QUIZ Requirement : Students can play this game in pairs or groups. Performance: Like Ring the gold bell game on VTV3, class should be divided into four groups. Then, teacher makes questions and students write answers on the boards (each group has a small board). Next, teacher will give one point for the group having the right answer. At the end of the game, the winner is the group having the most points. They will be given a prize and a special prize for the group having the right answer for the difficult question. Aim : this game not only provides students with the basic knowlegde but also reminds them of the applied vocabularies. It s very useful for Test yourself period. 1. What mouse can go on 2 feet? (Mickey) 2. What mouse can t go? (computer mouse) 3. Please tell the name of the national cities in China. ( Benjing, Shanghai, Trung Khanh and Tianjin) 4. What is the highest Mount in the world? (Mount Everest) 8. MATCHING Requirement : Students can play this game individually, in pairs or groups. Performance: Like Olympic English program which is conducted by The National Education and Training Department. Thanks to the information technology, we can let two lines of words run about three times for students to observe, remember and match them with each other correctly. Merry Happy Sing Santa New Year Ending Claus Chrismas A song Aim : this game helps students to react fast. It can be used in Listening or Reading period.
The example lesson: Unit 3 - Reading - Grade 11. I. Warm up BRAINSTORMING : - Teacher gives students a game with some questions to discuss within 5 minutes. - Students guess the answers. - Teacher checks students answers and give some presents for the pairs or the groups having more right answers to increase the excitement before beginning the lesson. Example: 1. Do you like going camping? 2. Who do you go camping with? 3. Where do you often go camping? 4. What do you often prepare when you go camping? 1 water 2 guitar 3 camera 10 Friends /guests 9 food 8 A birthday cake A birthday party 7 drinks 6 flowers 4 gifts 5 candle STRONG POINTS Students can guess the content and the vocabularies of the lesson in advance or learn the words they have just learnt by heart. It can ease the Reading comprehesion lesson for students. All students at any levels can take part in this game.
II. Pre- reading VOCABULARY: Teacher - Teacher can give students some keywords to guess the kinds of words as well as their meanings.(students can do the preparation at home.) Students - Students do the exercise teacher gives 1. celebrate 2. anniversary 3. adult 4. joke 5. milestone 6. silver anniversary 7. golden anniversary (v) làm lễ kỉ niệm (n) ngày, lễ kỉ niệm (n) ngƣời trƣởng thành (v/ n) nói đùa (n) cột mốc, mốc lịch sử (n) kỉ niệm đám cƣới bạc (n) kỉ niệm đám cƣới vàng Students learn these provided words visually within 5 minutes before beginning the new game. MATCHING anniversary silver anniversary golden anniversary celebrate milestone cột mốc, mốc lịch sử ngày, lễ kỉ niệm kỉ niệm đám cƣới bạc kỉ niệm đám cƣới vàng làm lễ kỉ niệm
Using the information technology to let 2 lines of words run in parallel for about 3 times for students to match the words meaningfully. The winner is the group having the most right answers. STRONG POINTS Students can learn the vocabularies by heart at the class. It enables students to learn vocabularies in groups. All students at any levels can take part in this game. III. While- reading READING COMPREHENSION Teacher - Let students read- comprehend the lesson individually, in pairs or groups. Students - Students read- comprehend the lesson individually, in pairs or groups. - Teacher observes and answers their questions. - Students can ask teacher any questions while doing the exercise. - Students translate the lesson into Vietnamese as teacher asks.
- Students do all the exercises as required. - Teacher asks students to do all the exercises in books or other appropriate exercises because they can help students understand and remember the lesson faster and more easily. Task1: True False 1. Tet is always on 20 th February on the western calendar. F 2. According to the text, for people anywhere in the world the beginning of spring is the start of a new year. F 3. Tet used to be longer than it is nowadays. T 4. According to the text, lucky money is given to everyone at Tet. F 5. Kumquat trees are popular both in the North and in the South of Viet Nam. T 6. People try to be nice and polite to each otherbecause they want to have good luck on New Year s Day. F Task1: Answer the questions: 1. When is Tet holiday in Viet Nam? Between the 19 th January to the 20 th February. 2. How long did the preparations and celebrations for Tet last in the past? Over a month.
3. What do streets look like before Tet? Streets are decorated with colorful lights and red banners. 4. What do people do to prepare for Tet? Buying gifts, cleaning and decorating their houses and cooking traditional foods. 5. What is banh chung made from? It s made from sticky rice, green beans and fatty food. 6. What is mut? Candied fruit. 7. What are some popular activities at Tet? Going to the pagoda. - Giving and receiving lucky money. - Taking part in games and various forms of entertainment
RUB OUT AND REMEMBER - Teacher gives students a paragraph with some missing words. - Students use the words they have just learnt to fill in the gaps. This is Lisa s birthday. She is 7 years old. There is a big birthday cake on the table.their friends are singing the song Happy birthday to you to congratulate her.then she blows the candles on the cake. While evereybody is eating cake and icecream, Lisa is opening the gifts and cards which her friends and relatives give her. She looks very happy. Notice: In America, when they give their 30 th birthday, they don t have candles on the cakes. On that day every year they often joke I m 29 years old today. STRONG POINTS Students can easily remember the content of the lesson. It enables students to realize the effectiveness of studying in pairs or groups through games. All students at any levels can take part in this game. The Reading period becomes more exciting because all students work.
Effect of application (school year:2009-2010) Class 11A1 (42) 11A2 (43) 11A3 (43) 11C2 (40) A number of students are interested in English before applying to the new method. A number of students are interested in English after applying to the new method. 25 students 25 students 15 students 10 students 40 students 40 students 35 students 25 students Requirements Because of the characteristics of the subjects, we need the help of the modern techniques, some specialized knowledge in computer as well as the information technology and the infrastructure. So, through my writing, I hope that the head-staff board of Nam Ha high school and Dong Nai Education and Training Department will supply us with some things below: - More labs for teachers to apply the new teaching methods to an English period effectively. - Improving the internet system and the programs related to using the information technology in teaching. - More I.T courses for teachers at every level. - Popularizing the most creative teaching experiences with all other teachers to raise their profession. That s also the way to learn, exchange as well as apply the new methods to teaching with each other.
Conclusion - Applying various games to teaching will help students learn more effectively and excitingly. After having applied this new method to my classes I ve taught for 13 years at Nam Ha high school and got some certain benificial effects of application: + Students will be able to find their own way to improve other skills, such as: Writing, Reading - + Students deep love for English and their enthusiasm for learning English prove that we, teachers, are somewhat successful in one of our teaching steps. And that means we are getting closer and closer to the aim of that English is the communicative language among students. - I decided to share this topic with the hope that it will be useful for teaching. - In my opinion, in order to make full use of it, teachers must make some efforts for the following reasons: + Firstly, the allotted time for a teaching period is relatively short. + Secondly, it can take teachers a lot of time to design a game. + Thirdly, teachers should be flexible in choosing suitable games for each lesson. Besides, choosing what words to teach, the way to distribute time reasonably is also very essential. With this method, teachers play the role of activators.
REFERENCE - Broughton Get all- teaching English as a foreign language - Documents of ELTTP methodology course skills - Guidelines June 1984 David Crable - Hutchinson J (1994) hotlineseries, OXFORD :OUP - Language teaching issues in Mutilingual environment in South East Asia - Textbook: English 10,11 and 12 - Teacher s books English 10,11 and 12 - Teaching methodology - Nguyen Hanh Dung
SỞ GD & ĐT ĐỒNG NAI Đơn vị : Trƣờng THPT Nam Hà CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc Biên Hòa, ngày 03 tháng 01 năm 2011 PHIẾU NHẬN XÉT, ĐÁNH GIÁ SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM Năm học : 2011 2012 Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm : Applying games to an English class Họ và tên tác giả : DƢƠNG LÊ THANH THÚY Đơn vị ( Tổ ) : Ngoại ngữ Lĩnh vực : Quản lý giáo dục Phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn : Phƣơng pháp giáo dục Lĩnh vực khác : 1. Tính mới - Có giải pháp hoàn toàn mới - Có giải pháp cải tiến, đổi mới từ giải pháp đã có 2. Hiệu quả - Hoàn toàn mới và đã triển khai áp dụng trong toàn ngành có hiệu quả cao - Có tính cải tiến hoặc đổi mới từ những giải pháp đã có và đã triển khai áp dụng tại đơn vị có hiệu quả 3. Khả năng áp dụng - Cung cấp đƣợc các luận cứ khoa học cho việc hoạch định đƣờng lối, chính sách : Tốt Khá Đạt - Đƣa ra các giải pháp khuyến nghị có khả năng ứng dụng thực tiễn, dễ thực hiện và dễ đi vào cuộc sống : Tốt Khá Đạt - Đã đƣợc áp dụng trong thực tế đạt hiệu quả hoặc có khả năng áp dụng đạt hiệu quả trong phạm vi rộng : Tốt Khá Đạt XÁC NHẬN CỦA TỔ CHUYÊN MÔN THỦ TRƢỞNG ĐƠN VỊ ( Ký tên và ghi rõ họ tên ) ( Ký tên, ghi rõ họ tên và đóng dấu )