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V Teaching Plans and Strategies Primary (Grades 1-3) ISBN 978-971-07-2588-5 Copyright 2009 by Vibal Publishing House, Inc. and Lily Nodalo All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher and the author. Artwork belongs solely to Vibal Publishing House, Inc. Published and printed by Vibal Publishing House, Inc. Main Office: 1253 Gregorio Araneta Avenue cor. Maria Clara
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Preface This book shares with the teacher some knowledge and activities that focus on certain dimensions of second language teaching. The topic it explores is not linked to a particular method or approach in teaching. It does not set out to inform teachers what effective teaching is, although Part I of the book presents a review of some popular approaches, methods, and procedures in second language teaching. A brief description of these “methodologies” is motivated by the fact that research findings suggest that the teacher’s belief system is derived from various sources. One of them is the principle that teachers derive from an approach or method. The teacher may believe in the effectiveness of a certain approach or method and may apply it in the classroom. Thus, a recall or rereading on this area of language teaching is presented under the section, Background Issues to enable the teacher to examine his/her attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, and teaching practices. It may also help the teacher to decide if aspects of his or her own teaching could be changed to improve his or her teaching skills. Much can be learned about teaching through self-monitoring. Many teachers depend on the visits of their principals and supervisors as the main source of feedback on their teaching. While comments and suggestions of “superiors” can be a useful source of information about one’s teaching, the best persons to examine and evaluate teaching are the teachers themselves. Teachers should get involved in collecting data and information about their teaching. They may do it individually or in collaboration with other teachers. It is an undertaking which involves making decisions about their teaching, deciding what aspects they need to change, and selecting strategies to carry them out.
The book discusses direct and indirect strategies that are applicable in teaching the four language skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The interest in learner strategies in second language teaching focuses on ways in which teachers and learners can work collaboratively in developing effective approaches to second language teaching. Through better understanding and managing of learning strategies, learners come to understand that the use of an appropriate learning strategy can enhance success with the learning task. Preparing a good lesson plan is not a lost art. The experience of seasoned teachers in the field strongly supports the idea that a good lesson plan leads to good teaching. Part II of the book explains why teachers need to write the lesson plan and the basic principles to observe in preparing it. The book also includes a presentation of compiled lesson plans of teachers active in the field. Teaching, indeed, is a very personal task. Every teacher brings to teaching different beliefs and assumptions about what constitutes effective teaching. This can be seen through the lessons basically prepared by the teachers from Region IV who hope that their work will in some way help other teachers develop teaching skills and enable them to prepare and present classroom tasks that will most benefit the learners. From All of Us in the VPHI Family
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Table of Contents Part 1 Teaching Strategies .........................................................2 I.
Background Issues.................................................................. 2
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Applying Images and Sounds .......................... 7
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Reviewing Well ................................................. 7
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Employing Action ............................................. 8
b. Cognitive Strategies ............................................... 8
A. Introduction ........................................................................ 2
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Practicing .......................................................... 9
B. Some Popular Approaches, Methods, and Procedures ................................................................... 2
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Receiving and Sending Messages .................. 10
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Analyzing and Reasoning............................... 10
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The Direct Method ....................................................... 2
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The Audio-lingual Method (ALM) ............................... 2
Creating Structure for Input and Output ...................................................... 11
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The Grammar Translation Method ............................. 3
c. Compensation Strategies ..................................... 12
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Presentation, Practice, and Production (PPP) ............ 3
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Guessing Intelligently .................................... 12
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Total Physical Response (TPR) .................................... 3
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Suggestopoedia ............................................................. 3
Overcoming Limitations in Speaking and Writing ............................................................ 13
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Community Language Learning (CLL) ....................... 4
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Task-based Learning (TBL) ......................................... 4
2. Indirect Strategies...................................................... 15
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Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) ................ 4
a. Metacognitive Strategies ..................................... 15
Summary of Direct Teaching Strategies ................... 13
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Centering Your Learning ............................... 15
II. Strategies for the Four Language Skills ................................5
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Arranging and Planning Your Learning ....... 16
A. Defining Strategy ............................................................... 5
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Evaluating Your Learning ............................. 16
B. Strategies for Language Learning .................................... 5 1. Direct Srategies ............................................................ 5
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Lowering Your Anxiety .................................. 17
a. Memory Strategies ................................................. 6
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Encouraging Yourself ..................................... 17
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Taking Your Emotional Temperature ........... 17
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b. Affective Strategies .............................................. 17
Creating Mental Linkages ............................... 6
c. Social Strategies ................................................... 18
Lesson Plans for Grade 3 ............................................ 58
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Asking Questions ............................................ 18
Lesson 1 ...................................................................... 58
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Cooperating with Others ................................ 18
Lesson 2 ...................................................................... 62
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Emphatiizing with Others ............................. 18
Lesson 3 ...................................................................... 65
Summary of Indirect Teaching Strategies ................ 19
Lesson 4 ...................................................................... 68
C. Examples of Activities and Strategies Used ................... 20
Lesson 5 ...................................................................... 71 Summary of Skills Learned .................................................... 74
III. The Lesson Plan ....................................................................25
Bibliography ............................................................................ 76
Why We Prepare a Lesson Plan ...................................... 25 Guiding Principles in Lesson Planning........................... 25 Lesson Plans for Grade 1 ............................................ 26 Lesson 1 ...................................................................... 26 Lesson 2 ...................................................................... 28 Lesson 3 ...................................................................... 32 Lesson 4 ...................................................................... 35 Lesson 5 ...................................................................... 38 Lesson Plans for Grade 2 ............................................ 42 Lesson 1 ...................................................................... 42 Lesson 2 ...................................................................... 45 Lesson 3 ...................................................................... 48 Lesson 4 ...................................................................... 52 Lesson 5 ...................................................................... 54 v1
TBL has three stages—the Pre-task, the Task Cycle, and the Language Focus. In the Pre-task, the teacher introduces the topic by highlighting words and phrases which may prove useful for the students in understanding the topic. The students may also listen to a recording of other people doing the same task. During the Task Cycle, the students perform the task while the teacher observes from a distance. Later, the students plan how to tell the class what they did and how it went. They report on the task either orally or in writing. The students compare notes on what has happened. In the Language Focus stage, the students discuss specific features of a listening or reading text which they used for the task or the teacher may present some form of practice of specific language features which are related to the task.
The second part is the presentation and discussion of new dialogue material and its native dialect equivalent. In the third part, the students go through a “seance” or “concert” session which is listening to relaxing music while the teacher reads the new dialogue material in a way which harmonizes with the music. Finally, the students go through several minutes of solemn silence and leave the room quietly. •
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Community Language Learning (CLL) As the name suggests, the students sit in a circle as a community. A counselor or a “knower” stands outside the circle. He or she provides and corrects target language statements. When a student says something using his or her first language, the knower can give the English equivalent for the class to use. In some lessons, students analyse a classmate’s tape recorded utterances. They are given a period for reflection during which they give their frank comments about the activity. The main point is to help students attain what they want to achieve while the teachers offer help and counsel to the “community.” The central tenet of this method is to “facilitate” rather than “teach.” Task-based Learning (TBL) Task-based learning was introduced by Prabhu who, while working in Bangalore, India, observed, “that students were just as likely to learn language if they were thinking about a non-linguistic problem than if they were concentrating on particular language forms” (Prabhu, 1987). In a task-based learning class, students are presented with a task they have to do or a problem they have to solve. The focus of the lesson is not the structure but the task. In retrospect, Taskbased Learning is sort of a reverse application of PPP.
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Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) CLT is popularly known as the Communicative Approach. This approach in second language teaching stresses the significance of language functions rather than focusing mainly on grammar and vocabulary. The guiding principle is to teach students to use the language forms appropriately in a variety of context and for a variety of purposes. It embraces the idea that for the students to develop their knowledge and skill in the language, they need a rich exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it. In a typical CLT class, the students are involved in real or realistic communication. That is why roleplaying and simulation have become very popular. In CLT, students simulate a scene like ordering food from a restaurant, solving a puzzle which involves by sharing information, or by writing a poem or story
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Overcoming Limitations in Speaking and Writing ➭ Switching to the Mother Tongue (S) It’s often called “code switching.” It involves using the mother tongue for an expression without translating it. ➭ Getting Help (S) It involves asking someone for help in a conversation by asking for the missing expression. It is similar to the strategy of asking for clarification or verification. In getting help, the learner wants the other person to give what the learner does not know, not to explain or clarify. ➭ Using Mime or Gesture (S) The learner uses physical motion such as mime or gesture, in place of an expression during a conversation. ➭ Avoiding Communication Totally (S)
Partially
or
It involves avoiding communication when difficulties are encountered. It also means avoiding the topic for which the learner does not know the words, concepts, or grammatical structures in the new language. ➭ Selecting the Topic (S,W) The learners choose the topic of conversation. They make sure that the topic is one in which they are interested and for which they possess the needed vocabulary and structures.
➭ Adjusting or Approximating the Message (S,W) It means using less precise expressions to substitute for more precise but unknown ones. Learners of the second language usually resort to this strategy when they simply cannot come up with the right or precise expression. ➭ Coining Words (S,W) It involves making up new words to communicate a concept for which the learner does not have the right vocabulary. For example, Alex might say airball to mean balloon; and Khalil a learner of English, is not familiar with the word bucket and he coins the word water-holder. ➭ Using Circumlocution or Synonym (S,W) The learner uses a roundabout expression involving several words to describe or explain a single concept or a synonym to convey the intended meaning. Example: Cora does not know car seatbelt so she says “I’d better tie myself in.” The chart below summarizes the direct strategies that are applicable for the four language skills–Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing.
Summary of Direct Teaching Strategies The direct strategies—memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies—are used to enhance performance in the four language skills. Some direct strategies like placing new words into a context, repeating, and reasoning deductively work across all four skills, while other direct strategies like grouping, semantic mapping, and mime or gesture are applicable for only one, two, or three of the four skills. 13
Summary of Direct Teaching Strategies Direct Strategies
Language Skills Listening Reading Speaking Writing L R S W
1. Memory Strategies • Creating Mental Linkages a. Grouping b. Associating or Elaborating c. Placing new words into a context • Applying Images and Sounds 1. Using imagery 2. Semantic mapping 3. Using keywords 4. Representing sounds in memory • Reviewing Well • Employing Action a. Using physical response or sensation b. Using mechanical techniques 2. Cognitive Strategies • Practicing a. Repeating b. Formally practicing with sounds and writing systems c. Recognizing and using formulas and patterns d. Recombining e. Practicing naturalistically
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• Receiving and Sending Messages a. Getting the idea quickly b. Using resources for receiving and sending messages • Analyzing and Reasoning 1. Reasoning deductively 2. Analyzing expressions 3. Analyzing contrastively 4. Translating 5. Transferring • Creating Structure for Input and Output 1. Taking notes 2. Summarizing 3. Highlighting 3. Compensation Strategies • Guessing Intelligently a. Using linguistic clues b. Using other clues • Overcoming Limitations in Speaking and Writing a. Switching to the mother tongue b. Getting help c. Mime or gesture d. Avoiding communication partially or totally e. Selecting the topic f. Adjusting or approximating the message g. Coining words h. Using a circumlocation or synonyms
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