Drilling, lecturing and more worksheets! These are the staples of students from exam classes, typically associated with form five and year six students. The exaggerated emphasis on doing well in public examination has driven many teachers and students down to this lonely, dark and misery lane.
Down this road, we suppressed our students to rote learning which left no room for personal creativity and sense for learning. I personally felt that and how I wish somebody could help me back then. Time passed and my ideas about how knowledge should be taught have changed and the sky seems brighter now. Nonetheless, as we are dictated by the current system, we are still on the same road but I am optimistic to look at the bright side and I hope much more are with me.
In this module, I presented some ideas on teaching important content for the exam but in a fun manner. These ideas are tried and tested from previous workshops conducted to year six students, therefore, they are manageable for teachers and adaptable based on students’ proficiency level.
Many thanks to my respected friends, Sri Rahayu Gulam Ali and Marsuzaina Mardipi from SISC+ Perlis for the refinement of the ideas and the collaboration on the workshops.
This module is divided into 3 parts, teaching grammar, teaching reading and teaching writing. Each part may be conducted in isolation or infuse together. I choose to write the module based on the format of the lesson notes provided by Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum. This way, it would be easier to implement or to adapt the lesson. However, given the nature of the modular configuration, teachers must observe the cycle prior to the implementation of this module. The materials are taken from the year six English Language textbook for Sekolah Kebangsaan.
Fun time module from Asniem CA
Alhamdulillah, many Islamic musicians have come forward to produce music. Muslims now has an alternative in listening to songs that are worthy, clean and most of all with a message. Previously, as an English teacher, I have to go through the lyrics of a song as well as investigating the profile of the singer before I choose to use it in my class. Suggested here are songs by 3 Islamic musicians who are making waves with their music which I think suitable for the classroom.
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| Raef |
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| Maher Zain |
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| Harris J |
I enjoyed listening to these songs as they are soothing and pleasing to the ears. Repeating the verses, all in the remembrance of God and good things helps my conscience. May Allah continues to guide us towards His Path.
Common to some, New to some.
New to me.
I think it is not peculiar to have the experience of discovering something new. I happened to find lapbook on a site I frequent and excited to do it. If you too think lapbook is alien to you, check out this video.
Generally I think lapbooking is a collection of materials of a topic. Instead of the old scrapbooking or worksheet as evidence of learning, lapbooking provides a fresh perspective. Students may choose the materials, plan the layout and organise their ideas.
Lapbooking is not an end production of learning but it is done continuously throughout the topic. Therefore it may be one of the alternatives in conducting formative assessment. The progress of the pupils may be easily tracked and documented by observing the depth of learning and the evidence of applying higher order thinking. Pupils may analyse information, compare and contrast and create something of their own. The more pupils learn about something, they would want to showcase more.
The weaker learners will be motivated to showcase too because it doesn't require them to write essays which are tedious and difficult for them. As pupils are making choice on the presentation, they will feel empowered and less intimidated.
As for myself, I started lapbooking to present my daughter's behavioural progress. At the moment, there is her good girl chart for last week's Masjeed trip and I hope to include the do's and don't at the Masjeed, with her help of course.
I used recycle materials like cardboard, stickers and printed materials from past projects. Some lapbooks shown on the net use paper file and and teacher will print materials specifically for the book. I wish to avoid that because I believe we have alternatives such as drawing and writing directly on them. This would allow creativity on the pupils' part.
These are some resources for lapbooking which I like. Click on them to check it out.
New to me.
I think it is not peculiar to have the experience of discovering something new. I happened to find lapbook on a site I frequent and excited to do it. If you too think lapbook is alien to you, check out this video.
Generally I think lapbooking is a collection of materials of a topic. Instead of the old scrapbooking or worksheet as evidence of learning, lapbooking provides a fresh perspective. Students may choose the materials, plan the layout and organise their ideas.
Lapbooking is not an end production of learning but it is done continuously throughout the topic. Therefore it may be one of the alternatives in conducting formative assessment. The progress of the pupils may be easily tracked and documented by observing the depth of learning and the evidence of applying higher order thinking. Pupils may analyse information, compare and contrast and create something of their own. The more pupils learn about something, they would want to showcase more.
The weaker learners will be motivated to showcase too because it doesn't require them to write essays which are tedious and difficult for them. As pupils are making choice on the presentation, they will feel empowered and less intimidated.
As for myself, I started lapbooking to present my daughter's behavioural progress. At the moment, there is her good girl chart for last week's Masjeed trip and I hope to include the do's and don't at the Masjeed, with her help of course.
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| Recycle Materials for Lapbook |
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| Front Cover |
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| Inside the book for now |
I used recycle materials like cardboard, stickers and printed materials from past projects. Some lapbooks shown on the net use paper file and and teacher will print materials specifically for the book. I wish to avoid that because I believe we have alternatives such as drawing and writing directly on them. This would allow creativity on the pupils' part.
These are some resources for lapbooking which I like. Click on them to check it out.
Give it a try, I know you will find dash of difference for your class!
Since my last article on Bansho, I had the chance to apply what I learn during my workshop with the year 6 students. While it is easy to read and write article on it, the application part needed some thought and review because I want to be true as not to erase anything and yet keep the content relevant throughout the lesson!
This is my first try on Bansho at a school.
This is my first try on Bansho at a school.
This is the second.
while the third, which was on last Monday, err....I forgot to take any picture, but it was as the second!
Nonetheless, these two differ slightly as the understanding deepens. During the second and third workshop, pupils work were compared but it took place at a corner because I find it too crowded for it to be on the same board.
Applying Bansho in my class certainly has open a new perspective and consciousness in demonstrating good management in note taking. However, the activities from the workshop didn't require the students to note anything therefore, I think I have not achieve a level four in Bansho.
In addition, Bansho technique pushed me to incorporate higher order thinking skills into the lesson as it requires some analysing from the part of the students. By looking at samples from others they understand which part were they lacking without having me to show their mistakes. The only thing I emphasised was the answer or in my case, the drawing my not be exactly the same as theirs, but the main ideas were depicted.
Democracy of this kind in the classroom may demonstrate a lot of things that mirror real life. In life, people tend to be unique in their approach to things and teachers should make room for this to happen in the classroom. Allowing variation in arriving at a certain answers would be an eye opener and a trigger for creativity. We would want our students to be able to evaluate things in life from different perspectives, enrich themselves with great thoughts and ideas so that the possibilities are endless!
In short, Bansho helps me to rediscover knowledge, tactful management and wonderful experience. Maybe you had experiences using Bansho and would like to share?
I always wonder on how we could maximize the use of blackboard/whiteboard. We could just term it as a board for the discussion here. A board is a tool used by teachers to enact a routine, write facts and demonstrate ideas and solutions.
Upon discovering Bansho or Board Writing, I learn that it is a fascinating concept to be applied in the teaching of English although much of the discussion in Bansho concerns its application in the teaching of Mathematics.
What I learn of Bansho strictly came from my readings from the sources which I will cite in which I used them here.
Bansho is an organization of the board, comprising of a visual display from the least to the richest concept. Teacher elicits responses from students and organizes it into a theme from easy to complex. Students, in turn, observe their responses and reflect on the way they see and approach to problem-solving. The connection between their previous knowledge, current knowledge and the knowledge generated or discovered may be implied as a success of assessment for learning.
There are four levels in Bansho (Yoshida & Jackson, 2010) ranging from the recording of information to student reflection towards the learning. The levels are as follows:
For application of Bansho in ELT, I think it is applicable in the teaching and learning of reading and writing. In reading, we can have a demonstration of reading techniques used by students to understand or extract main ideas from text. For young learners, we may have the students brainstorm of ideas in a short period and make comparison after some examples.
As for writing class, teacher may demonstrate the writing and ask the students develop their writing and explain their process. The writing then compared and contrast while the students determine on their own, on which styles serve them well.
In order to achieve a level four, students reflected on their learning and why they chose a certain strategy over another. I observed from Yoshida & Johnson (2010), students reflected on the board as well as in their own notebook.
If you would like to read more, I find this article by Taufik Hidayah interest me.
In short, Bansho will help navigate the learning process for the students and ensure teaching progress in a systematic manner. Both teacher and students have equal accountability and the chance to be critical of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, both parties will have a sense of ownership of what is it contribute to a successful learning.
Cheers and happy teaching!
For application of Bansho in ELT, I think it is applicable in the teaching and learning of reading and writing. In reading, we can have a demonstration of reading techniques used by students to understand or extract main ideas from text. For young learners, we may have the students brainstorm of ideas in a short period and make comparison after some examples.
As for writing class, teacher may demonstrate the writing and ask the students develop their writing and explain their process. The writing then compared and contrast while the students determine on their own, on which styles serve them well.
In order to achieve a level four, students reflected on their learning and why they chose a certain strategy over another. I observed from Yoshida & Johnson (2010), students reflected on the board as well as in their own notebook.
If you would like to read more, I find this article by Taufik Hidayah interest me.
In short, Bansho will help navigate the learning process for the students and ensure teaching progress in a systematic manner. Both teacher and students have equal accountability and the chance to be critical of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, both parties will have a sense of ownership of what is it contribute to a successful learning.
Cheers and happy teaching!
We had a blast today at the Pejabat Penasihat Undang-Undang Negeri Perlis! Thank you for having us there and I am blessed with the opportunities.
These are the slides that we used for the workshop.
Some notes for the participants...
These are the slides that we used for the workshop.
and, some pics to show off!
