skkn cấp tỉnh using some methods to help students improve reading skill in grades at to hien thanh high school thanh hoa city

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ

TRƯỜNG THPT TÔ HIẾN THÀNH

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM

USING SOME METHODS HELP STUDENTSIMPROVE READING SKILL IN GRADES AT TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA CITY

Người thực hiện: LÊ THỊ HÀChức vụ: Giáo viên

THANH HOÁ, NĂM 2024

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Subjects of the study 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

2.3.1 Time and Measurement 5

2.3.2 The ways of using reading skills in English language classrooms 5

PART III CONCLUSION 10

3.1 Conclusion 10

3.2 Suggestion 11

REFERENCE 13

PART I: INTRODUCTION1.1 Rationale

English is one of the core subjects, which are complusory in the GCSEexamination or the National Examination for upper- secondary school students.Therefore, students have invested a lot of time in studying it.

However, it can be said that most of the students are stressed andfrustrated about this subject Some feel completely hopeless and feel they willnever be able to understand and do the test well especially with vocabularyquestions

There is a fact that students understand everything their teacher taught inclass but find themself struggling at home when they attempt the vocabularyquestions and reading parts in English mock tests

Many students sometimes struggle to remember things for exams Eventhey get overwhelmed as the teacher progresses with the syllabus worried thatthey are forgetting the things they studied a week, two weeks or a month ago.This is a situation that many students find themselves in Some study techniqueshave scientifically been proven that will exactly solve these problems andsubstantially improve the student’s grades Two highly effective scientificallyproven techniques are reading skills.

Reading skills,as the skill suggests, students actively recall theinformation that they have learnt This constant retrieval of information helpsthem to move information from short-term to long-term Moreover, byconstantly making the brain retrieve specific information, the brain will be ableto form stronger muscle memory that will allow students to draw informationwhenever they need it When students simulate their brain to process andremember new information, they can improve their English proficiency andlearn easily.

Reading skillsallows students to acquire information before they wouldforget and keep it constantly fresh in their mind The concept is simple: studentslearn a new word, and then they see it a few days later, then a few weeks later,etc The more they study a new word, the easier they remember it In the end, itwill stick into your long-term memory.

Therefore, there are a large range of benefits teachers can have for usingsome methods help students improve reading skillsin English teaching in general

and review for the National High School Exam in particular This makes themone of the best and most motivating methods in the classroom, regardless of thebackground of the students.

For these above reasons, I would like to choose the topic: USING SOME

METHODS HELP STUDENTS IMPROVE READING SKILL INGRADESAT TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA CITY

In the hope of motivating the students of class B6 at To Hien Thanh Highschool in studying English in general and reviewing in order to prepare betterfor their English test on The National High School Exam in particular I alsoexpect that these scientific methods are possible to increase the students’interest in the study of English at school and help them get higher marks in thisexam as well.

It is hoped that both students and other teachers will find some usefulreference for their learning and teaching in this study.

1.2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed to help the students:

- Learn English vocabulary in English tests easier, then remember themlonger.

- Become familiar with English vocabulary used in tests and preparebetter for the National High School Exam.

- Create an enjoyable asmophere and reduce the stress.- Increase the students’ interest in the study of English.

1.3 Subjects of the study

The study is carried out with 43 students of the class B6 who have beenlearning English for 7 years( 4 years at lower secondary school, more than twoyears at high school).These students study at To Hien Thanh High School inThanh Hoa city.

Among 43 students who take part in the study, many of them are not goodat English, they only remember and know some simple words or phrases.However, they have mobile phones which can be connected by wifi or 3Geveryday

1.4 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the above aims, the teacher use practice tests ( thesame form as The illustration Test 2023 of Ministry of Education and Training)as materials not only to improve the students’ vocabulary but also help them

remember what they have learned in the study of English as a second language.Students will have time to study vocabulary and revise many times to rememberbefore forgetting them After practising these two methods in a period of time,they will gradually improve their vocabulary and master more words andphrases and prepare better for the English test on the National High SchoolExam.

In this study, theory study, observation, data collection and analysis,discussion as well as evaluation are mainly used to achieve the aims of thestudy

PART 2: CONTENT2.1 Literature review

2.1.1 Readings.

English reading passages are short texts and paragraphs written inEnglish, helping English learners practice and improve their readingcomprehension skills English readings are very diverse in genre, such as stories,short stories, short paragraphs, conversations

2.1.2 Reading skills.

Reading skill is often rarely mentioned in English learning tips, but it isone of the important skills and requires learners to have a serious trainingprocess to be able to deeply understand content of documents Especially inIELTS, this skill is even more emphasized and the English test on the NationalHigh School Exam.

2.2 The reality of the students's readingskills in the study of Englishat To Hien Thanh High School.

Although students who are in grade 12 have been learning English for 7years or even 10 years(3 years in primary schools), they still feel that English isa very difficult subject, especially reading skill Many students do not receivesufficient exposure at home They have many difficulties in understandingEnglish sentences as well as using their knowledge to do the tests because of thelack of reading skill

Additionally, the students who study at To Hien Thanh High School inThanh Hoa city do not have much opportunities to use English outsideclassrooms Thus, with 3 periods at school, they find it difficult to understand

text as well as reading skill Those are the reasons why their English are notgood, even there are many students who do not know anything about English.

All this turned this subject into something horrible and boring to tears inorder not to get good marks.

Therefore, motivating students, improving and developing their readingskill and language skills are really necessary and important in their Englishlearning and in their final test in the National Exam as well.

2.3 The produce of using reading skills to improve students’ skills inreview for the National Exam for the students of class B6 at To Hien ThanhHigh School in Thanh Hoa city.

2.3.1.Time and Measurement

The study is carried out at extra English lessons in the afternoon Thestudents of class B6 have four English lessons per week at class but using thesemethods as warm-up activites are applied twice a week with short passages.Every lesson is repeated three times Students study at home( words andphrases are up on the group of the class on Facebook or on Shub classroom)

The study lasts nearly 3 months ( from April 4th 2023 to June20th2023) Inthis study, there are 6 tests are used

Moreover, I also have discussion with my students and my colleageworking with me at To Hien Thanh High School on using the following readingskills

2.3.2 The ways of using reading skills in English language classrooms.

For students in class 12B6, the teacher chose texts that are very familiar,realistic and easy to understand to helps them and understand easily Theyunderstand mostly from what they receive through their senses, that is to say,

Some principles on using some methods to improve the students’ Englishreading skills and language skills.

This proceduce is divided into three stages: + Preparation+ Presentation

2.3.3 Some suggestions in reading skills selection.

Basing on format of the English test this year and the content of units inEnglish 12 textbook and the students’knowledge I recommand some practicetests such as:

- The English Illustration test in 2023 (of Vietnam Ministry of Educationand Training)

-Practice test 1 - Practice test 2- Practice test 3-Practice test 4-Practice test 5

Practice Tests offer popular topics, so it is not difficult for teachers toreading skills that are suitable for the students to review for their National HighSchool Exam

Here are an illustrating example The steps and activites I have proposedfor the example chosen can equally be appiled to any Practice tests with fiveskills have chosen.

2.3.3.1 Skill 1-identifying the topic and the main of the passage.

To answer questions about the topic and the main ideas of the passagefollow these steps:

Step 1: Read the first several sentences for the topic and the main ideas.Step 2: Read the last sentences for the conclustion and posible restatementof the topic and main ideas.

Step 3:Skim the rest of the passage for the key words that will confirm thetopic and the main ideas and show the organization of the passage.

Step 4:Read the first questions about the passage and anwser it.

Step 5:Read the anwser choices Eliminate any anwsers that definitelywrong and choose the best anwser from the remaining ones.

Think about the following passage Read questions about the topic of apassage are often worded as follows :

Question 1: With what is this passage mainly concerned?Question 2:What is the topic of this passage?

Question 3:This passage mainly discusses……Question 4:What does this passage mainly discuss Question 5:This passage deals mainly with… Question 6: What is the subject of this passage?

2.3.3.2 Skill 2-understanding details and comprehension questions.

The reading skills of skimming and scanning are very important whenyou need to read quickly for information Skimming means reading quickly forgeneral meaning.You skim reading material to find out about the topic.the mainideas, and the general organization of passage.Scanning means knowing whatinformation you need to find before you read.Then your eyes move quickly tofind that particular information.You can when you are looking for a fact or adetail or particular word.

In this lesson, you will learn reading skills related to understanding andcomprehension

details.The followings are the commom question types of this technique.Question 1:Wh- questions ( what, where, when, why, how …….)

Question 2:All of the followings are mentioned in the passageEXCEPT….

Question 3:Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

2.3.3.3 Skill 3-identifying referents.

The reading comprehension section often includes question on referencewords Reference words are those words in a passage that refer back to concepts

mentioned earlier in the passage or refer forward to words or phases that will beintroduced We use reference words in English to avoid repeating the sameword

Reference words help to tie together the whole passage so that it is easierto understand.

Reference words are usually pronouns , but may also be possessiveadjectives or specified items Some examples of reference words are It, its, this,one, they, them, their,those………

The followings are the commom question types of this technique.Question 1:The word “ their” in line 6 refers to

Question 2:The pronoun “they” in line 7 refers to.Question 3:The phrase “ these men” in line 10 refers to.

2.3.3.4 Skill 4-understanding vocabulary in context.

How to make use of context in reading passages

Most writers try hard to help their readers to understand the information ina reading passage.They do this by providing “cues” or “ aids” in their writing toclarify ,define, and explain difficult concepts , key words and expressions in thepassage

In the following example sentences ,common context cues in writtendiscourse are illustrated for the words “ adversity” that may be :contrast,example, definition, appositive, series, parallelism, Wh-marker, reason, use yourknowledge of the word and personal experiences.

2.3.3.5 Skill 5-check to make inferences.

Questions on the reading comprehension section often ask you to useyour understanding of the facts and details which are directly stated in a readingpassage to make an inference about the passage Information that is not directlystated in the passage is said to be implied by the author Questions aboutimplied information may be about a part of the passage.You may be asked todraw conclusion about the passage itself or to make predictions about anotherrealated situation.

For an example : Think about the following sentences and questions,In last year’s competition, of the five contestants chosen, one was fromWhite Springs, two from other towns in Idaho, and the rest from neighboringareas of the Pacific Northwest.

Using the facts of the text itself, we can make several inferences aboutthis sentence.

Question 1:What or Where is White Springs?

We can infer that White Springs is a town in Idaho, based on the phrase

other towns in Idaho.

Question 2:Where is Idaho?

We can infer that both White Springs and Idaho are in the Pacific

Northwest , based on from neighboring areas of the Pacific Northwest.

After using Active Recall and Space Repetition and at the beginning oftwo lesson per week during nearly two months, the teacher recogized thatstudents were eager to wait for the vocabulary word and using English with thetests the teacher select

Another finding is that the students become familiar with Englishpronunciation and accent at the same time as they know more about thevocabulary and develop their language skills as well as share a good momentwith their classmates.

According to the measurement scale , the level students received whenthey did the tests was determined by their confidence, ability to rememberlanguage skills in the topics and improve their reading skills as well

The students were asked to do the same trial test at the first lesson and lastlesson of the study The result had changed dramatically

Table: The result of the trial test of the students in class B6 whounderstand reading skills at the beginning and the end of the study incomparision with measurement scale

Skill 1 15 students 43 studentsSkill 2 13 students 43 studentsSkill 3 12 students 41 studentsSkill 4 10 students 40 studentsSkill 5 5 student 35 students

In other words, there was a link between the students’ vocabulary with thedevelopment of language skills in general and the reading skills in particular.The more they improve reading skill, the more their English skills develop.