skkn tiếng anh 10-Games in teaching Grammar – Grade 10

As an English teacher, I really want to clarify the topic here with my knowledge to analyze, understand the situation of teaching and learning English at high school; the application of

GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR-

GRADE 10

PART I: REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC

Recently, teaching English has improved in method in the light of the communicative, learner-centered approach which is adaptable to required objectives and helps students have many opportunities to communicate in English However, at many high schools, teaching English still has not developed students’ ability, activeness and motivation

For many years, versions of a claim that students remember “10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, and 90% of what they do” have been widely circulated among educators The source

of this claim, however, is unknown and its validity is questionable It is an educational urban legend that suggests a willingness to accept assertions about instructional strategies without empirical support

A lot of new teaching methods have been applied in teaching foreign

languages in secondary schools As a teacher you are really annoyed when your

students do not concentrate on your lectures It may be objective reasons such as

climate and weather or subjective ones as the lectures are not interesting enough Therefore, games are very useful and effective They encourage being active, people like to win and they include some physical activities when participants stand up and move around

As an English teacher, I really want to clarify the topic here with my knowledge to analyze, understand the situation of teaching and learning English at high school; the application of games in teaching English at the school Thanks to it, I

will find out lessons, experience for myself and make a small contribution to enhancing the effectiveness in teaching this subject

"A good beginning makes a good ending." The saying is true for the TEFL

classroom as well Use effective warmers to start your interesting TEFL classes and grab students’ attention So in this writing, I present some experience in applying educational games in teaching grammar grade 10

PART II : REAL SITUATION BEFORE THESE SOLUTIONS ARE

CARRIED OUT

1 Advantageous conditions

- Parents and students are aware of the importance of acquiring a foreign language

- Some students show a special interest in learning English

- English is one of core subjects, which are compulsory in final examinations at certain stages of the school education system This will encourage students to invest more time in studying it

2 Difficulties

- Some students are not really interested in learning English

- Teachers do not have enough time to apply educational games in teaching in order to motivate the students

PART III: CONTENT

Since motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examine approaches to motivation in learning in order to bring about better insights into it Learners’ motivation can change overtime and effect on their language learning Various studies have found that motivation is strongly related to success in language learning

There is an interesting movement towards teaching English with games It creates students’ motivation in learning English Just imagine when coming in class, the teacher announces that it's time for a grammar lesson with games and instead of moans and whining, the teacher and the students get smiles and excitement

Students may wish to play games purely for fun Teachers, however, need more convincing reasons “Teachers need to consider which games to use, when to use them, how to link them up with the syllabus, textbook or programme and how, more specifically, different games will benefit students in different ways (Khan, J.1996)” The key to a successful language game is that the rules are clear, the ultimate goal is well defined and the game must be fun

Most classes should start with a “warm-up” activity to help the students relax and settle into the class The warm-up is often a game, just to start things on a “fun” level The basic idea is to let the class play, have a couple laughs and some fun right

at the very beginning – work them very hard in the middle – and finish up the class with some fun Following this process, where the class begins and ends with anxiety-reducing activities or games, we should find the students more motivated for their next class

 ILLUSTRATION

 Circle

Teacher gives a word and each student in groups gives one word to make a full sentence

 Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: THREE and asks students to give words containing the sound /i:/ or /I /

Ex: Three sleepy sheep and a bee see Bill kick a big tin under the kitchen sink

Unit 3: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar

Teacher gives the first words (The) and asks students to give words to make complete sentence having To infinitive or Gerund

Ex: The manager asked me to finish the report by lunchtime

 Unit 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: PAUL and asks students to give words containing the sound : và 

Ex: Paul wants to call his daughter not to pour water on the floor and watch out the dog

The teacher gives a picture of a famous person

Students in turn make questions

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar (WH - Questions)

The teacher gives a picture of a famous person (Michael Jackson)

The teacher can ask the students to work in groups of 4 In 5 minutes, the group make more questions will be the winner

Ex: What is his name?

Where is he from?

What is his job?

 DETECTIVE GAME

and places them face down in the middle of the group

Students have to arrange the cards to make a story

 Unit 3: PEOPLES BACKGROUND - Grammar (English 10)

The teacher copies and cuts up one set of cards (a murder story)for each group, shuffles them and places them face down in the middle of the group

Students have to arrange the cards to make a full story (they practice past

tenses)

An old lady was found dead in her living room She had been hit on the head and jewellery worth five thousand pounds had been stolen from the house The murder occurred between seven and ten oclock in the evening One of the principal suspects is Annie Hudson, the district nurse, who has the key to the old lady’s house, and who lives ten minutes walk away The cards contain details of Annie’s

movements that evening

The groups’ task is to read them and try to work out if she could have committed the murder or not Students should turn over one card at a time from the pile and discuss the probable sequence of events

After the groups have finished, let them compare their findings

 Tongue Twisters

Teaching English pronunciation is an area of language teaching that many English teachers avoid and students might initially be shy about their pronunciation

By using fun, silly activities, it creates a more relaxed, effective atmosphere than strict practice

- Write some English tongue twisters on the board or on pieces of paper to

distribute to students

- Ask them to read the tongue twisters aloud Then faster Then three times in a row Here are some examples:

a) Examples

 Unit 3: PEOPLE’S BACKGROUND – Language Focus (English 10)

/ e / and / æ /

How many cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans?

How many berries could a bare berry carry if a bare berry could carry berries?

 Unit 10: CONSERVATION – Language Focus (English 10)

/ b/ and / p /

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

 Unit 14: THE WORLD CUP – Language Focus (English 10)

/ g / and / k /

How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies?

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies

 CHANGE SEAT IF…

This Game can be used at the end of the class after the students learn Conditional sentence (type 1); so that your students go home with a smile on their faces; or you can play this game when you want to notice your students focus fading

Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE - Grammar

Procedure

To play this all you have to say is, Change Seats if

+ you have black hair

+ you have a sister

+ you like to eat hamburgers

+ you are sitting beside a boy

+ your favorite color is red

+ you like to do homework

+ you don't like to do homework!

if whatever you said is true about any student in the class , they must Change Seats

with one of the other students who also has to switch his/her seat This is one of the best Games to play with your class and every student will really be happy to play it; and while you are playing this game you are also improving the students listening skills

 If I…

This Game can be used at the end of the class after the student learn

Conditional sentences (type 1, 2, 3)

 Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE Grammar (English 10)

Unit 9: UNDERSEA WORLD Grammar (English 10)

 Unit 11: NATIONAL PARKS Grammar (English 10)

Procedure

- Divide the class into 2 groups

- One group make sentences beginning with IF I… The other will finish the

sentences

- The students put their paper into 2 hats one with IF I… , another with I At

the end of the sentences the students have to write their names The winner will be the pair has the most interesting sentence, the most meaningful sentence,

Ex: Teacher takes 2 pieces of paper 1 If I am a bird

2 I will be a monkey!

 NOUGHTS AND CROSSES

- Draw a noughts and crosses grid on the board

Supermarket Sournenir shop School

- Divide the class into 2 groups : one is Noughts (0) and one is Crosses (X)

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALK - Grammar (WH- questions)

 Unit 12: MUSIC - Grammar (WH- questions)

- Divide the class into two teams, and label the teams noughts or crosses

- Each team has to make a question correctly before they can place their

symbol into an appropriate place on the board

- The winning team is the one who gets a line of three of their symbols on the grid

Ex 1.What do you do in your free time?

2.What is your favourite sport?

3 How often do you watch TV?

4.Where do you usually go on a Sunday?

5 Who do you often spend your free time with?

6 Why do you morning exercises everyday?

7 Where do you go on holiday?

8 Where do you have free time?

9 Which sport do you prefer football or swimming?

 RELATIVE CLAUSES

Divide the students into two teams, the noughts and the crosses, and give out a worksheet like the one in the photo It consists of the nine squares of the noughts and crosses diagram, each containing the photo of an object or a person that the students will not know in English, but will be able to describe within the limits of the grammar (relative clauses ) and vocabulary that they have already learnt

 REPORTED SPEECH SOCCER

The teacher can choose some students to play the games

 Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE - Grammar

The teacher can flip over a quotation card and the student whose turn it is reads the quote and reports what was said, heard, read, or thought For example, if the card

says it's a beautiful day then the student will say: He/she said that it was a beautiful day Every card has been designed so that the student can easily identify the pattern

that is required

Ex:

said that thought that

If the student correctly reports what was in the quotation, the soccer ball

advances one space (one player) closer to the opposing net If the student makes even the slightest mistake then the ball moves one space closer to his or her own net

 MIMING GAME:

Students use their bodies to convey the meaning of an action or an expression which the others have to guess It can involve all the members of class at the same time

Teacher can divide the students into small groups

One of the students in the group has to mime and the other groups have to guess

Unit 6: AN EXCURSION - Grammar ( The Present Progressive)

Students stand in front of the class and mime actions The other students must guess what the student is doing: She's driving a car, He's opening an umbrella in the rain, etc…

 BRING ME SOMETHING

Comparative and Superlative adjectives are a very important part of learning English While grammar lessons and exercises are beneficial, we all know it is

important to get the students communicating and using the structures in realistic

situations

Unit 16: HISTORICAL PLACES - Grammar

I like to play a game where they search the class to find an item I have requested The students are in groups, and I stand in front of the class As an example,

I ask for something smaller than a pencil The first group to bring me an item that fits the request gets a point Other examples include:

+ Something bigger than the textbook

+ Something older than the desk

+ Something newer than a new notebook

+ Someone better looking than the teacher (That always gets some laughs)

This game promotes the development of memory and observation skills

a) Preparation

- Divide the class into small groups Make sure that all desks are cleared and no student has pen or paper to write anything down

- Flashcards or pictures

- Show flashcards or pictures to the silent class for 60 seconds After that each group must write down the verbs followed by infinitive or gerund as they can remember

- The students try to remember what they have just read

b) Examples

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALKS – Grammar ( Gerund - Infinitive)

 Unit 12: MUSIC – Grammar ( Infinitive)

Teacher’s activities & contents Students’ activities

 Have Ss play the game Explain the rule of the

game

 Post the poster on the board containing some

verbs followed by gerund:

Verbs Followed by a Gerund

admit

advise

appreciate

avoid

can't help

complete

consider

delay deny detest dislike enjoy escape excuse

finish forbid get through have imagine mind miss

permit postpone practice quit recall report resent

resist resume risk spend (time) suggest tolerate waste (time)

 Put the poster down the table and give Ss 1’ to

discuss the answers

 Call on 4 members from 4 groups to go to the

board and write their answers

 Repost the poster to check the answers

 Announce the winners

 Listen to T’s instruction

 Look at the poster and try

to remember

 Discuss to write down as many songs as possible

 4 representatives go to the board and write in limited time

 Look a the poster and check

 SIMON SAYS“Listen carefully to the articles”

 Unit 13: FILMS AND CINEMA – Grammar ( Articles)