Brighton Kids English Club V

Our newest installment of the Brighton Kids English Club surpassed expectations as the biggest and most exciting yet! We had twenty-plus participants aged seven to twelve, and everyone interacted very well, practiced spoken English, and enjoyed the activities. We had games, dialogue practice, Q&A (name, age, birthday, etc), chalk drawing, and a new team-oriented activity: Skip to the Symbol, using colors, numbers, ABCs, and shapes. (Team Alpha was a decisive winner). And finally we had, of course, snack time -with an emphasis on proper manners, i.e. queuing, asking for things politely, and saying "Thank you" every time.
This great lot of smiling, well-behaved and well-spoken children made impressive progress this week, and we look forward to seeing everyone for our next club meeting on September 29!
Here are some of the photo highlights of this week's meeting:

 

 

 

 

The Teacher Feature: Mr. Nazri Bin Abdullah

The Resource Based Lesson Planning Initiative in Chenor has been a successful method for implementing new student-centered activities.  Mr. Nazri Bin Abdullah has really taken the recommended ideas and adapted them to the needs of his pupils.  His adaptation of the dice activities we discussed during our Resource Based Lesson Planning is a model for all teachers to learn about a new technique or activity and apply it to their own practice.  We can all learn a little from each other, and Mr. Nazri has shown us a great way to adapt a new resource to suit the topics we are teaching and the needs of our pupils.

Interview with Mr. Nazri Bin Abdullah

Did you find the Dice Initiative for Resource Based Lesson Planning helpful?

Yes. I used it during a year 3 class to help the children associate the pictures from the text book with various verbs. So the story could be verbalised individually by rolling the dice and they could revise previous learning.

How did you to adapt the dice activity for your class?

Although I used the laminated dice provided, I have also made some larger cardboard versions. Working in small groups, children took turns to roll the dice and verbalise the picture.

What are the benefits of using dice based activities for pupils?

The children really enjoyed being the centre of attention. Because they all wanted a chance to roll the dice they each practiced speaking the text. It was in groups so was a peer-driven activity.

How do you plan to use this activity in the future?

I can now paste a different picture onto the large dice for each new class. I plan to use the laminated dice for year 1 and 2 phonics classes. 

Tom James, Chenor

Let's Eat! Speaking Role Play with Umi @ SK Jengka Batu 13

Mentoring at SK Jengka Batu 13 has been very successful.  Umi Zuriati Bt. Ab Rahman has been actively lesson planning and implementing suggestions for class activities.  You can find her lesson plan for Year 1, Unit 18, and pictures from her class below.  An outstanding effort by Umi!

“I find Tom’s ideas useful and now I teach phonics differently now.  Some pupils are children of other teachers, and they give me good comments about how the children are excited by the games we do in class.” -- Umi Zuriati Bt. Ab Rahman

 Year 1, Unit 18 Best Practice

Warm-up

1.       Review food vocabulary (list on board)

2.       Show & Draw (Group Game)

a.       Teacher shows picture card

b.      Pupils write word on mini-whiteboards

3.       Dice Game (Group Game)

a.       Pupils Roll a dice with pictures on each side

b.      Say the word to their group mates

Practice

1.       Rehearse Target Language “Do you like apples? // Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.”

2.       Role Play

a.       Pupils form 2 queues

b.      Teacher shows a picture card

c.       Pupil at the front of the queue asks their classmate opposite them “Do you like __?”

d.      Pupil in other queue responds, “Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.”

Wrap-up

1.       LIKE/DON’T LIKE Running Game

a.       Teacher draws two large circles on the courtyard and label LIKE / DON’T LIKE

b.      Teacher shows a picture card

c.       Pupils run to LIKE or DON’T LIKE based on their preference

d.      Teacher asks: “Do you like __?” then pupils respond by group “Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.

Tom James, Chenor

Differentiation & Getting the Most from your Mixed Ability Classes

Since the onset of the LINUS module, we have all faced a similar challenge in our classes.  The LINUS module may be easy for some students, yet challenging for others.  How can we cope with a gap in student ability?  Please take a look at this content and be prepared to discuss on my next visit.

So, how can we address mixed ability classes?  The answer is differentiation.  Differentiation is how you adjust to meet the needs of your students.  There arethree categories for differentiation:

• differentiation by task (setting different tasks for pupils of different abilities)
• differentiation by support (giving more help to certain pupils within the group)
• differentiation by outcome (setting open-ended tasks and allowing pupil response at different levels)

Try a practical approach to differentiation by planning your class activities with different ability levels in mind.  As teachers, we never know exactly if our activities are going to be successful, so always plan a back-up activities for your above-average and below-average pupils.

On a final note, remember that all classes are mixed ability because they all have different experiences in life.   

-Sarah Higgs, Jempol