Some methods to improve the quality of learning english for students at grade 5 at thi tran primary school

1 Introduction 1.1 Reason to choose the medthos Nowadays, English is the most common language spoken everywhere Combining with the application of information technology, learning English has become urgent and indispensable more than ever In our country, responding to developing trends and requirements of the society, the government has had the practical educational policies of teaching and learning English in the school, especially for primary schools English is gradually being introduced even earlier into the curriculum in many schools The English educational programme is reformed, the communicative method is internationally recognized best practice in English language teaching English is a compulsory subject from grade in all regions across the country The prominent feature of the innovation in the content according to the program of Ministry of Education and Training provides students in general and elementary students particularly with more interest in learning English Thanh Hoa Department of Education and Training has been organizing many English contests for both elementary students and teachers to enhance the quality of education recent years, such as, English contest for students in the internet (IOE), the contest for talented students in English, exams for English teachers according to international standards… Thereby, students have many opportunities to show their abilities But it is not easy to get high results in these exams because primary students almost have no more interest, they are too small to be aware of the importance of English, so they not care about learning in their class Moreover, they think that English is too difficult for them to study therefore they are not confident enough to sign up English contests Finding and nurturing qualified and qualified students in English in the classroom is necessary and, at the same time, paying special attention to mass quality is also important, and the number of excellent students is a measure of the quality of teaching With many years of teaching experience, I pay attention to discover gifted and genuinely students who are interested in the subject to give a suitable direction for fostering in order to maximize their abilities in the class, in parallel with the promotion of weak students I always ask myself the questions, how to make my students learn English actively, how to impart sufficiently knowledge in the most general way without making them feel bored It has become mandatory fo me to consider carefully, have to be flexible, innovate teaching methods to achieve the highest quality of education In order to complete this study, I finished the survey for students at Thi Tran Primary School in school years 2019 – 2020 with the help of 36 pupils in class 5D I found out the pupils’ attitude towards learning English, combining with drawing on obtained performance in the teaching process, together with my personal experience in directly teaching grade 5, I boldly go into a problem “ Methods to improve the quality of learning English for students grade at Thi Tran Primary school, school year 2019 - 2020” 1.2 Research purpose With the goal of building a diverse, rich and positive learning environment in order to promote a sense of learning and interest in learning for students, the exciting learning activities will reduce the pressure and stress of the period on students in the classroom Students will be confident to communicate in English right from the class 1.3 Research subject Experienced initiatives with research subjects are the methods to improve the quality of learning English for students grade at Thi Tran Primary School 1.4 Research Methods To present this experience initiative, I have coordinated many methods such as document reseach, basic investigation, comparative experiment, analysis of experimental results in accordance with English subject Content 2.1 Theoretical basis On December 8, 2018, the Ministry of Education and Training held a seminar on: “Solutions to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning – especilally English in the education system” Minister Phung Xuan Nha emphasized that it is very important to arouse an environment where everyone likes to learn English English subjects as well as all other subjects must be based on the above objectives to define specific tasks of the subject, organize training activities to contribute to the implementation of educational goals set by the Party and the government Based on education goals, in order to help students have an exciting llearning environment and achieve high results in the quality of teaching and learning, it is really necessary to apply flexible methods 2.2 Really state of affairs before applying the method a Current status of the school Located in the center of Nghi Son town, Thi Tran Primary School is considered one of the leading primary schools in the town The school has a teaching staff who are young, dynamic, enthusiastic,100% of them are qualified and above standards The school administrators always pay special attention to the teaching of teachers, as well as always have prompt encouragement to the teachers and students to implement and achieve educational goals Facilities are relatively guaranteed Besides, there are still some difficulties that exist, the overcrowded number of students in each class makes teachers have difficulties in taking control of their learning Electives subjects such as Music, Arts, PE and English not yet have separate function rooms English is not equipped enough with visual aids, pictures to serve teaching and learning b Parents and students With the centre position of Nghi Son town, where is developing everyday, the students’ parents mostly work in the office, a small number of them are selfemployed They generally have a stable standard of living Almost parents may not have enough knowledge or educational methods to assist their children's learning English, so most of them use the alternative way such as learning in centers, buying English software online But this also leads to some problems, almost students are not self-conscious to learn They prefer watching TV to doing their homework, instead of knowing how to use the computer for study, they play games, watch cartoons They remember detailedly the characters' names, the content of the cartoons, games but can't remember the content was learned at school Meanwhile, a period of each lesson at school only takes 35 minutes, it is too short for the teacher to draw students’ attention because they are often affected by problems outside the subject, and adjusting their behavior also wastes a lot of time Gradually, students not concentrate on studying both in the class and at home c Teachers As a teacher directly has been teaching at grade five, I realize that elementary school students in general and grade five in particular, are still not aware enough about learning English, so they are not interested in taking part in classroom activities It is not to mention becoming an outstanding student in English With 13 years of experience in teaching English in primary school and actively participating in training programs as well as voluntary methodology training courses, I always try to innovate teaching methods so that students will not be afraid of learning English, and feel more excited when coming to class But English is a difficult subject, it is not enough time for teachers to organize all activities effectively in each lesson There are many lessons in which the knowledge are too heavy, students seem overwhelmed and they memorize mechanically It is really necessary for teachers to find methods that are suitable and effective for each unit of knowledge to excite learning for students and achieve the highest effectiveness in teaching purposes How to help students to be bold in their studies, not to feel the pressure, and every day to class is a happy day I have carried out a quality survey of 186 students in class at Thi Tran Primary School with an exercise that have to be completed within 35 minutes at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year The purpose is to find ways to enhance the quality of studying and practicing English for students grade 5, as follows: I Listen and number … … … II Listen and fill in the blank with the words given below Yessingitcanpet Nam: Do you have a (1) , Quan? Quan: (2) , I I have a parrot Nam: What (3) it do? Quan: It can fly, (4) _and climb a tree Nam: Can it speak? Quan: Yes, it can.(5) wonderful1 can count to ten in English Nam: Oh, it’s III Choose the correct answer a, b, c or d Minh’s birthday is …… the seventh of October a at b in c on d to He likes ……… morning exercise in the park a b doing c does d is doing ……… does your brother do? He is a doctor a What b When c Where d Why Let’s go to the pharmacy I want some ……… a chocolate b medicine c bread d noodles What does Phong look like? He is ………… a fast b scary c funny d tall IV Read the passage and answer the questions I am Daisy I go to a restaurant for dinner twice a week My favourite restaurant is “Hon Que” – a Vietnamese restaurant on Hang Bong street It is not very big but it’s a really nice restaurant There are a few tables in the restaurant and there is a white tablecloth and a flowers vase on each table There are plants in the corners I usually order traditional Vietnamese food and eat them with rice The food is delicious I enjoy it very much How often does Daisy go to the restaurant? …………………………………………………………………… Does she love Vietnamese food? …………………………………………………………………… How many tables are there in the restauant? …………………………………………………………………… What is there on the tables? …………………………………………………………………… What does she usually order in the restaurant? …………………………………………………………………… V Write complete sentences from given words She/ love/ Vietnamese/ she / not/ like/ Maths …………………………………………………………………………… There/ be/ three maps/ on/ wall ………………………………………………………………………… would/ I/ cake/ and/ mineral/ water./ like / some ………………………………………………………………………… you / Did/ play/ yesterday/ piano/ evening? ……………………………………………………………………… wants/ to/ some/ He/ because/ wants/ to/ bookshop/ he/ go/ the/ books ………………………………………………………………………… Results: No Class Total Best complete No % Complete No % Not complete No % 5 Total 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E 37 37 37 38 37 186 31 31 18,9 16,2 21,0 13,5 16,7 16,7 24 26 26 27 129 129 64,8 70,3 68,5 73,0 69,4 69,4 5 26 26 16,3 13,5 10,5 13,5 13,9 13,9 According to the survey results, only a few students successfully completed their excercise, but the remaining students are not worried about the results It means that students not care much about good or just achievement Therefore, effective methods to draw students' attention to the lesson as well as help them memorize and practice are really necessary During the teaching process, I find that the flexibility of teaching methods for each different unit of lesson is one of the factors that determine their interest in learning, which also determines the quality of their learning With my personal experience, I would like to give some teaching experience to improve the quality of learning and practicing English for grade 2.3 Solution 2.3.1 Establish Expectations on Behavior Early in the School Year Each teacher in each subject will encounter individual student environments Classroom behavior is also a prerequisite that contributes to the quality of learning in all subjects, not just English It is important for a teacher to work with all students and create a plan for acceptable behaviors in the classroom Some ideas can conclude: - Use a star sticker or a good point flower to drop on students' desks while they are working effectively, which can be exchanged for a secret attractive reward later or plus good points for bigger rewards at the end period However, a good sticker or flower can be taken away if a student violates the class rules - Identify a different item to place on the student’s desk when they are not working appropriately, as a subtle private reminder, will draw more their attention A red hand sign to indicate “STOP” is a great example - Use the emulation board, divide the class into groups or the number of groups depending on the type of board Name the groups according to colors and shapes with magnets attached to the board, such as spacecraft, cars If a group is active in learning, their spacecraff or their car will move one futher notch, but at the same time the group will be pushed back if any member of the group violates the class rules 2.3.2 Apply information technology in the classroom Today, we live and function in a digital era where students are constantly exposed to the latest trends in technology and media When teaching the elementary students, it becomes important for teachers to be flexible and find new ways to improve their teaching quality This not only helps them to be more effective in the classroom but will help their students learn and retain the information in a better way Modern teachers are always looking for new ways to interact with their students, have to be creative and explore using technologies to attract students' attention This does not necessarily require a huge investment in screens and apps Instead, teachers can use videos, digital games, free online education resources, and digital tools that can be easily implemented in the classroom, especially in English Elementary students are the age that are still infected with television programs, watching TV is therefore integrated with technology in the classroom, which will immediately make the best effectiveness - Sach Mem software of the Ministry of Education is a creative and extremely useful product for English teachers and students The software was used as a textbook that could speak Teachers can download the software to their computer, phone or install it directly on a smart TV, and just click on each item, each part of each unit of study In classes that have not had a television yet, I use Sach Mem installed on my phone connecting with a bluetooth speaker However, using the phone only to support the listening part is the main thing, the teacher must combine with other visual tools such as flashcards, pictures suitable for each lesson to teach For the classes that have televisions, when using software via television, in each unit of lesson, students can watch and be listened to at the same time Vivid, clear images with clear sections increase the students' attention The teacher can also use the pictures of the lesson to check the vocabulary they have just learned - Using Powerpoint is also an effective tool for improving the quality of teaching and learning, giving students the attraction to the lesson At the same time, a playground with activities organized through the screen makes the lesson exciting, memorizing knowledge through images becomes easier, and students are more interested Teachers should download pictures on the internet to be more beautiful and clearer, not use the phone to take pictures in textbooks if they not know how to take pictures For example: Unit 3: Where did you go on holiday? (grade 5) Lesson To teach new vocabularies: Hoi An ancient town, Ha Long bay, Hue Imperial city, Phu Quoc island Teacher shows pictures on TV The audio files are inserted into the corresponding sections to help students access the native language correctly, instead of the teacher being the reader, sometimes the pronunciation is not correct - In addition, videos and clips related to the lesson help students expand their knowledge and vision of language units Unit 3: Where did you go on holiday? Lesson Students learn about: Ha Long Bay, Hue imperial city, Hoi An ancient town, Phu Quoc island The teacher can use the clips about the places above to help the children reinforce the new language while they have a chance of discovering more informations or pictures about the places Power point plans requires teachers to invest in time and technology However, its effective use on students is very worthy of what the teacher spent 2.3.3 Make Class Fun Making class fun is a surefire way to up motivation levels of students When they are having a good time, they will be more engaged in learning Their motivation will come from them rather than from the teacher The teacher has to find the best ways to help your students have a good time while they are learning Games and music in the class are the perfect solution to exploit all the evolving behaviours in a fun and exciting way, making English lessons stimulating while the students are effortlessly learning a Games Games are one of the most important component in English lessons, they provide many advantages for both teachers and students They support learning the targert language when students are involed in the games and have fun without noticing that they are learning the target language, and furthermore it is a pleasure for the teacher to present the language in an enjoyable atmostphere which makes the job powerful But sometimes, if games are played too often, students may frequently prompt the teacher to play a game whenever possible, a large number of students may feel that they are not learning at all So the teacher has to be careful, and knows when and where games should be happened - games in teaching English vocabulary * Word Grab Race important components EFL include classrooms activities which in same time fun fun They To set this game up, the teacher again need a collection of cards with the vocabulary on Mix all the cards up (while still being able to see them all.) Next, divide the students into two teams, standing in two lines A student from each group will have their turn first When the teacher says the word, the chosen student from each team has to toss the column with a ring, if the ring fits the column, the student will run to the front, find the correct card with the word from the pile Once they have brought it back to the group, both teams will then switch the active player This is repeated until all of the cards have been captured The team with the most at the end wins To make this harder, instead of the teacher saying the word the teacher could show a picture (on a screen) or hold up an object This forces the students to use the vocabulary and understand what it means 10 For example: Unit 9: What did you see at the zoo? (grade 5) Lesson Vocabularies: panda , quietly, beautifully, slowly, loudly Prepare the cards: beautiflly slowly loudly quietly Devide the class into two teams of three lining up in two rows, play in minutes The student at the first position takes first turn When the teacher say: “beautifully” the chosen student tosses the column with a ring then runs to the front, finds the card “beautifully” from the pile, brings it back to their group The next player will take his/ her turn This is repeated until all of the cards have been captured The team with the most at the end wins * Category Spin This game is to check or revise vocabularies Students works in groups of five, six or more…in minutes or more than minutes belongs to the content of lessons Students sit in a circle Spin a pencil, a hand or an arrow - the student that the arrow points to is first 11 The student needs to say a word or phrase from a pre-decided category The next student will say last word plus his own and so on until it gets to the one who fails For example: Unit 19: Which place would you like to visit? (grade 5) Lesson Vocabularies: Ben Thanh market, the City theatre, Bai Dinh Pagoda, Hoa Lu temple, Trang Tien bridge, Thien Mu pagoda, Thong Nhat park, The musuem of history Students sit in a circle of four Spin an arrow, the student that the arrow points to is first The student says a phrase from the set of vocabularies S1: Ben Thanh market Continue spinning to point to the next student, who repeat the previous phrase and the following one S2: Ben Thanh market, The City Theatre S3: Ben Thanh market, The City theatre, Thien Mu pagoda ……………… The next student will say last phrase plus his own and so on untill the last phrase * Blind Toss The game is good for students to memorize vocabularies since they are repeating words Have students sit in group of four or more Place flashcards (target vocabulary) with the number on each card Taking turns, each student gets blindfolded and tosses a dice so as to hit a card She/he must call out that word the same number of times as the number indicates, and the student gets the equal points At the end, the student with the most points wins! For example: Unit 11: What’s the matter with you? (grade 5) 12 Lesson Vocabularies: headache, stomach ache, earache, sore throat, toothache, fever Have students sit in group of four Place the following cards on the table Headache toothache sore throat (4) (5) (5) fever (3) stomach ache (6) Earache (5) Taking turns, each student gets blindfolded and tosses a dice so as to hit a card She/he must call out that word the same number of times as the number indicates, and the student gets the equal points S1: fever (3) Student says: fever, fever,fever And gets points S2: takes turn, earache (5) Says: earache, earache, earache, earache, earache And get points …… If there is a student who can not say the word correctly, she or he lost turns At the end, the student with the most points wins! - games in teaching sentence partern * Make a Sentence with Jumbled Words Sentence Unscramble is a mindbending game for students to test and build their sentence-making skills In this game, kids are given a sentence in a scrambled way, i.e., with its words shuffled They have to rearrange the words so as to make a grammatically correct and meaningful sentence This game tests and improves students' knowledge of parts of speech and how to make meaningful sentences Write or stick some sentences with the words not in the right order Students work in two teams of or 4, in minutes One student of each team stands in front of the class to catch sticky balls from the other Then run fast to the board to reorder the words to make correct sentences If they can not catch the ball, they must go back to the end The next one will take turn Do the same until time is over Which team gets more correct sentences will win 13 For example: Review (grade 5) Sentence patterns : always/ I/ teeth / brush / my to / he / Hoi An / ancient / went / town went/ by/ Linda/ plane chat/ Did / you / friends/ with /? I /will / think/ be/ in / I / the / countryside Have students work in two teams of four One stands in front of the class taking the dish to catch the sticky ball And two others stand in line When the teacher says: let’s go The one tosses the ball, the other catch it Once she or he catches correctly will move fast to the board to give right order S1: I always brush my teeth S2: He went to Hoi An ancient town …………………………… Then run into the end of team Which team gets more correct sentences will win * Words to sentences This engaging sentence race game can be used with large classes The game is useful for practicing or revising vocabulary, parts of speech and sentence structure Divide the students into two teams Give an identical set of word cards to each team Each student takes one word card Call out a word The two students with that word card run to the board and try to write a sentence using the word The first student to write a grammatically correct sentence containing the word scores a point for their team 14 Repeat the game until all the word cards have been used The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner For example: Unit 13: What would you like to be in the future? (grade 5) Lesson Vocabularies: nurse, pilot, patients, plane, architect, buildings, Prepare sets of magnetic cards with the words above Divide the students into teams of 6, each with a set of flash cards Each student has card When the signal begins, students take turns holding their cards to run up to the board, writing a sentence that uses words S1: I would like to be a nurse S2: I would like to be a pilot S3: I’d like to look after patients S4: I would like to fly a plane S5: I would like to be an architect S6: I would like to design buildings The team that completes the fastest and the most accurately will win b Music Music can play a really important part in the language classroom It can change the atmosphere in the room within seconds Music in the classroom doesn’t always mean listening to a song and using the lyrics in some way Music can be used in the classroom in a multitude of ways Here are just some ways to use music in English classroom * Warm-up The teacher can use music as a nice lead-in to the lesson When choosing an appropriate warm-up song, select one with an easily repeated chorus For example: Unit 9: What did you see at the zoo? (grade 5) Teachers can use the song: Five little ducks ask students guess what they are going to learn, to draw their attention to the content of lesson 15 * Change the tempo: Music can be used to calm down an over excited class or to wake up a sleepy one If the teacher know that the students have high energy levels and sometimes need to calm down, try playing some relaxing music to put on as they work At first they may find it strange but they will get used to it It may help to increase their energy levels, the songs as: Bayby shark, The gummy bear song * Time limits: Instead of telling students they have two minutes to finish a task, a minute to tidy the room up after a craft activity, tell them they have until the end of the song Play the music and when the song ends students should be paying attention ready to listen to the instructions to change tasks 2.4 The effectiveness of the methods - With the effective support of technology products, students' learning activities become more various and diverse Image memorization is the easiest memorization for even the most difficult language units The students are more attentive, interested in studying When technology is integrated into the lessons, the students are more engaged in the English language, because technology offers different opportunities to participate in activities that make learning fun, and it has a lot of fun being taught similar things in new ways - Establishing behaviors at the beginning of the school year not only brings efficiency to the classroom but also brings an atmosphere of competition in the classroom, because students love to be rewarded, to have the feeling of a winner Behavior setting early in the school year has produced a very positive result Students are self-aware of the spirit of learning, sense of collective spirit, individual responsibility, and learn from the outstanding individuals in the group - Regarding the effectiveness of games, I can say that my students seemed to learn new vocabulary more quickly and retain it better when it was applied in a relaxed and comfortable environment such as while playing games Most students agreed that their use of vocabulary was becoming better since they actively joined games and involved in cooperative learning They were interested in games on the whole and preferred mostly joint group games, they did their best to become winners Students collaborated quite actively in games that required group work, even the shy students They said that they liked the relaxed atmosphere, the competitiveness and the motivation that games brought to the classroom Through the practical lessons of students and compare the quality of the class during training I recognized that they no longer feel bored with leaning vocabulary, 16 they are eager to speak in English much in the class, and the results of all students acquire better * The result achieved through the first semester examination grade – school year 2019-2020 No Total Class 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E Total 37 37 37 38 37 186 Best complete No % 21,6 10 27,0 11 29,7 12 31,6 18,9 48 25,8 Complete No % 24 23 23 23 25 118 64,9 62,2 62,2 60,5 67,6 63,4 Not complete No % 13,5 10,8 8,1 7,9 13,5 20 10,8 * The result achieved through the second semester examination grade – school year 2019-2020 No Total Class 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E Total 37 37 37 38 37 186 Best complete No % 17 45,9 18 48,6 19 51,4 20 52,6 16 43,2 90 48,4 Complete No 20 19 18 18 21 96 % 54,1 51,4 48,6 47,4 56,8 51,6 Not complete No % 0 0 0 0 0 0 According to the first semester survey results, there are still more than 10% of students lacking basic knowledge, nearly two-quarters of students only reach completion level Through a year of innovative teaching in teaching, compared with the results in the first semester, I see that there are no students who lose their basic knowledge, nearly half of the students well with their homework It means that most of them are more excited and really interested in learning English Therefore, communication skills and four basic skills have also been significantly improved Most of them improve their practice skills and apply their knowledge and other communication skills to the test Conclusion and Proposal 3.1 Conclusion Foreign languages and information technology are two tools that, if done well, will promote the development of Vietnam's education Recently, although the Education sector has made efforts to improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning, the results have not been as expected Parents are also particularly interested in learning foreign languages inside and outside of school Teachers always have to make their best efforts for innovation and creativity in teaching to meet the needs of society, parents and students Based on the actual situation of the school, the locality, based on the current English learning situation of the students, I always try to improve my professional 17 skills, as well as learn and apply information technology in teaching Teaching aims to create the best quality and effectiveness of education Bring students a love for English in particular and learning in general, not only the task but also the joy of the profession It is true that, what has been achieved, students now feel more confident and active in learning English Above are some of the experiences that I have gathered in the process of teaching English subject for grade at Thi Tran primary school We hope to receive sincere attention, sharing and suggestions from all levels of leaders and colleagues 3.2 Proposal * For the Education and Training Department of Nghi Son Town Currently, the number of teachers in schools is insufficient compared to the number of classes and periods of English, so students are not allowed to learn enough periods according to the standard distribution of the lessons So they not have much time to practice Therefore, I hope that the superiors will consider supplementing English teachers to ensure the quality of teaching and learning * For the People's Committee of Hai Hoa Ward Although Thi Tran Primary school is located in the central area, but at present, the school does not have a separate function room for English, we hope to be paid attention and invested in equipments and machineries to best serve teaching and studying I sincerely thank! CONFIRMATION OF SCHOOL-MASTER Thanh Hoa, 20th, April, 2021 I declare that this is my experience innovation writen by me, not copy of other content Writen by LE THI HONG REFERENCE: 18 Classroom teaching tips with The Teachers' Room https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/classroom_teaching 10 ESL Teaching Strategies That Successfully Motivated My Students To Reach The Next Level https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/effective-esl-teaching-strategiesmotivation/ Ways to encourage more use of English in class https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/ways-encourage-more-use-english-class and other websites Students’ book and Teacher’s book advantages language teachers for both and its learners learning They support learners are involved inin the games noticing and that they fun without language, and furthermore it teacher is job a pleasure that he for presents the the atmosphere which makes the powerful important EFL classrooms components They include activities which same time fhave 19 ... boldly go into a problem “ Methods to improve the quality of learning English for students grade at Thi Tran Primary school, school year 2019 - 2020” 1.2 Research purpose With the goal of building... a quality survey of 186 students in class at Thi Tran Primary School with an exercise that have to be completed within 35 minutes at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year The purpose is to. .. improve the quality of learning English for students grade at Thi Tran Primary School 1.4 Research Methods To present this experience initiative, I have coordinated many methods such as document