Encouraging reluctant readers to read is not easy. Even to get them to watch a video in the second language was an agony. They block their senses to hearing, reading or writing the language. This situation causes me frustration but I know some measures must be done.

Starting from tomorrow, I think I will allocate 30 mins, 3 times a week for Guided Reading after school for the year 5T. I will start off by not forcing them to read but just by listening to me read. Once I got their attention, only then I will ask them to read. The strategies Im going to adopt and adapt for my class are from the suggestion from this site.

The strategies outline are suitable for my adaptation plus it covers the area which I find lacking in my TnL activities, assessment and evaluation.

I look forward to conduct this programme and I hope it will bring a little success if not much in their reading.

This week, the year 5 pupils have started learning Unit 2: Travel and Adventures. The lesson plans are the same however there's differences in the reading text and approach.

For 5 Berjaya, the materials are travelling brochures, reading passages from the textbook and videos.
The learning of 4 skills is done in separation as to ensure the success of each objective outlined. In the listening lesson today, pupils watched the videos on Malaysia. Based on the videos pupils were asked to answer these questions.

1. What is the tagline for Malaysia?
2. Malaysia is special in many aspects. What are the amazing aspects about Malaysia can you observe from the videos? List out 5.

I might say, the question is rather vague and the video does not give the answer easily. Many manage to answer question 1, but they have some difficulty in answering question 2. The lesson was put on hold and will be continued next week.

One of the videos shown.


As for Year 5 Tekun, the reading passages are from the Smart Reader workbook. I find the passages slightly easy and the pupils were able to comprehend. The idea is to get them familiarize with the vocabulary and keep their interest in learning the subject. Scaffolding is easier as the passages are short and teacher has ample time to go through the passages many times. The passages chosen will relate to the topic and as for this week, we have gone through passages namely, A Visit to Cameron Highland and Rantau Abang. I plan to find videos on these places and emphasis on the vocabulary while watching.

So far, this week has been a great week and I hope next week will be even better! Cheers!

Officially, 5 Berjaya is finish with Unit 1: Family First. We end the topic with video watching. The title of the movie is Spirited Away and I found they really like the story following their responses in the classroom.

I will record some of the feedback from the post-listening task.

Many of them asked whether they can watch it online, so I managed to find one site that offer free view but you need to download the webplayer. If you didn't, the site will show the preview version only.

Please click here to redirect you to the site.

Happy Watching!

Dont know what got into them but I am glad my 6G finished their homework!! As promised tomorrow I will show them some video clips about Malaysia, hence our topic Proud to be Malaysians.

Before viewing, I would need them to copy some of the questions pertaining to the video clips.

Video One




Questions:
1) What is the tagline for Malaysia?
2) Name 5 of Malaysian wonders.
3) What do you think the video clips are for?

Upon completion, pupils need to write 5 sentences of why they love Malaysia.

I love Malaysia because.................................................................................

Last week, the year 6 Gigih was introduced to Unit 2: Proud to be Malaysian. We started of by reading an email from Syazureen to Hannah in New York.

The gist of the email is about travelling to Malaysia and some places of interest. I gave the pupils some travelling brochures to browse through and to familiarize them with the vocabulary concerning this topic.

Later during the week, I introduced them to a sentence pattern.

I want to go to ______________ because_________________.

The pupils need to look at the travelling brochure and locate the places that they might want to visit. The exercise required them to scan the brochure for information and this was my learning outcome for the week.

I think next week, it would be interesting to use this slide and maybe we can expand the sentence patterns.

On the 21st January 2011, I launched a reading program to inculcate reading habits to the 5 Berjaya pupils. The program will last for six months until 30th June 2011.

The reading program will be conducted in this manner.

• Pupils will volunteer to read to teacher during class hour.
• The reading material must came from the text book.
• Only one reading session with one reading text is allowed.
• Every successful reading will travel from one major city to another.
• Pupils must complete 16 cities in 6 months.
• A passport will be issued to travel abroad when all cities are visited.

The objectives of the program are:
1) to inculcate reading habits among the pupils;
2) to instil discipline; and
3) to put the reading materials in the text book into meaningful use.

The assessment of successful reading includes the following:
1) able to decode words correctly;
2) good pronunciation and intonation; and
3) general good impression.

I sincerely hope that the pupils will take advantage of this program to improve on their reading.

I find reading is exciting and I hope to share this belief with them.

A seminar on the examination format overview was conducted by the Jawatankuasa Peningkatan Prestasi Sekolah Kebangsaan Simpang Empat and Unit Bimbingan Kaunseling.

The participants were Year 4 and Year 6 pupils on separate venues. The talks were presented by teachers for Bahasa Melayu, English Language, Mathematics and Science.

I presented the examination format to the Year 4 participants. The presentation covered Paper 1 and Paper 2. The slides can be viewed here.

Ending a topic with a movie would be good. It would serve as a treat. This time around, I chose Spirited Away, the 2003 Oscar winner for Best Animated Film.

As of now, we are half way in watching the movie. However, I think for future viewing shorter movie would be of preference.



More information on Spirited Away, please click here.

These notice boards present English Language materials. The materials are flexible, there are always changes in content. Lets us hope to diligently continue to decorate our board and keep the contents fun and lively!

Learn a Word a Day!

Year 5 Berjaya

Year 5 Tekun

Year 6 Gigih