This was the thing I have been busy about all week! I am glad its over! I am glad the exhibition room was flocked with visitors! There were some things that can be done better, I know.

I am grateful there were many people who helped, Alhamdulillah. Thanks to the practicum teachers, Jazakallahu Khairan Kathira. Can't thankful enough.

I decided to do double focus for all the skills.

The contents in the textbook were rather too much for the week to run through. The words involved were sight words that requires multiple exposures for the pupils to master.

The words are:

Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth, Run, Kick, Jump, Skip.

Day One, continue from last week: Reading

We read the vocabulary a lot. We wrote all the body parts in the writing book. It is a reading lesson, ya I know, I am guilty of doing this. I think I should focus more on reading games so that they will be able to get the words right.

Writing

For 1P, we continued the reading lesson cum writing lesson. As for 1S, I decided to do some enrichment activity as I got them to write sentences based on the pictures. They needed guidance at first, but many managed to do it. However, the clear indicator will be the individual assessment on writing in the coming Bands.

The second day of writing involved the actions we can do with our body. For this I taught them a new song which requires me to skip, jump, kick and run in the classroom. Phew!! It was fun though. The words of the song were as such:


Then, you substitute the verb with any verbs that you like. Sing it to the tune of skip to my lou.

The pupils then need to write with guidance, I can skip. I can run, I can jump and I can kick. That's all. Then again, it is all mechanics. I have to teach the vocabulary in order again next week....

Language Arts

Buntings! I just love them. We did people buntings and I will post the pics next week. Many were confused because I did the explanation in English, but still those with visual spatial intelligence able to figure out what I meant.

Its a whirl wind week. Need to focus on vocab and its sound. Crazy week, period.

The flow of the week were as follows:

Writing


We start off from where we left before the holiday. Writing will be the continuation of what we did. Nothing much, we wrote the letter d, D, I and i. No problem regarding this, all were able to copy from the board now. I just need a leisure day so that they will not feel shocked coming to school on the first day after the break.


Language Arts


Since the week revolves around the story of Dilly Duck (yeah, I repeat the topic), we did some creative work using the characters. For year 1S, we made a small garden with the three characters. We used ice-cream stick, cardboard, coloured paper, glue and scissors, and of course coloured pencils. 


It is very simple, just draw  a character of your choice, cut it in a circle, stick it onto a cardboard and stick everything on the ice-cream stick. It looked like a lollipop. Then I stick it on a polystyrene and wow! It looked like we have planted a pot full of lollipop flowers.


As for my weaker pupils, we did bunting. I hung their art work on a long string and stretch it across the windows. They love to admire their work and until now its still hanging, so I think they really like it.

Listening and speaking


On the third day, we started the new unit, about the body. The vocabulary involved body part as the song, Head and Shoulders. 


The pupils love them! Even the ones in the weaker class were caught singing to themselves during writing task. I find nursery rhymes are good introduction to learning English as it introduces words in fun form. Furthermore, repetition of words allow the learners to learn the rhymes faster thus giving the learning a sense of achievement.


Many of them were familiar with the rhymes and many were able to get the tune right. Pronunciation were emphasis in this turn and I really want the words to come out clearly. 






The drill for this focus were done this way:


1. The teacher sang, Pupils listen.
2. The pupils followed teachers action while the teacher remain as the singer. ( I did this so many times with my weaker pupils because they were not able to take instruction, I am very particular about this)
3. Then the pupils will sing followed by the action. 


This lesson were carried forward to the second day, this time teacher used a doll to demonstrate the body parts. Then, we played "simon says" and turn it into competition. The last one to remain, wins. I managed to tell them on good hygiene and what to do to keep clean and safe.  




Reading


This is where the sight words were introduced, we did the matching activity from the activity book, and this was where the lessons for the week ended. 


Assessment

Since last two weeks, I began assessing pupils reading. The standard involved is B1DB3E1. Previously I did the instrument, however I did some revision and I find it better to assess based on the activities in the activity book. This is because they are familiar with the materials and I can ask them to do their revision on the specific page.

The letters D and I has arrived! We focused on those two letters last week. It started with Dilly Duck's Doughnut story, followed by the introduction of the phonemes /d/ and /i/ and the writing of the letters. I guess the flow was smooth from one focus to another.

The learning standards involved last week

I did variation of activities concerning this skill. I think it would benefit my learners even more. For both of my year one classes the lesson started with a story telling. I've posted on the soft copy of this story here.

The progression from the story telling then differ for 1S and 1P.

• Teacher posted the pictures of the characters on the board.
• Teacher mimicked the characters with the dialogue from the story, I used a lot of gestures for this.
• Teacher then selected some pupils to mimic the character chosen silently.
• The rest of the class guessed what was the character being mimicked.

I find pupils understand which gestures belong to whom but was rather shy in mimicking. If the pupil was shy, I asked the class to help by doing the mimicking. However, some did brilliantly and I was very proud of them.I think the lesson was not stressful as I find many were laughing and able to name the characters by the end of the lesson.

For 1S, I've blogged about them in this post. You can view their videos too.


The focus is the phonemes /d/ and /i/. Therefore I introduced the letter Dd and Ii. As usual the phonemes were sound and gestures were taught. This introduction was a breeze as I find many were able to identify the letters.

To enrich them in reading, I presented them with words starting with the sounds from the letters. To get them alert with the sounds, letters and words, I let the pupils matched the picture cards to the letters. I helped them by sounding the words so that they were aware of the connection.

As a practice, I recycle my reading cards into reading worksheet. Pupils just need to colour blue for the picture which started with the sound /d/ and read with the sound /i/.


I thought of incorporating words writing into this focus. Unfortunately I didn't have the time. I managed to complete the writing of letters in the exercise and activity book and we did some housekeeping since I need to assess my learners on their progress.




I'm glad my son suggested me into blogging my KSSR journey. I know in the future it can be a reference for me. Writing it also allows me to reflect on my ideas of teaching, looking at myself and being truthful
and honest. Teaching, it is not an easy job for me when I have other things to do, but the support and encouragement from my love ones keep me going. Thanks guys!

Believe me, the one I'm sharing is not that hard. While many of us familiar with the Sheila sells shells on the sea shore,  little that we know  there is alternative to this called alliteration. Alliteration means the words in the sentence starts with the same consonant. We can use this to teach phonemic  awareness in our young learners, as they usually consist of funny sentence and sometimes a confusing one.

In the year one guide book for KSSR, there are many suggested sentences for teaching alliteration. A friend of mine resized the pictures and shared the soft copy. So, I print it out, spend two days colouring it with my mom and children (they 'helped' a lot :-P). I plan to laminate it and have it on display in the classroom. Since many of them are able to read, I hope this achieve its purpose.

Where is my doughnut?

I am not sure whether the term role play is over rated as per title, but hey for year one to memorize three lines of second language in few minutes, I think they are perfect!

Last week, in an enrichment activity for 1S, I tried to incorporate role play in the listening and speaking focus. Pupils memorize few lines from the dialogue and act it out.

In order to find the actors for the role play, we did some exercise so that they are familiar with the dialogue.

1. I grouped the pupils into 3, Dilly Duck, Dotty Dog and Iggy Iguana.

2. Each group will practice the dialogue based on the characters.

Hello, I am Dilly Duck. I am sad. I am mad!

 Dotty Dog

 Hello, I am Dotty Dog. Please don't be sad. Please don't be mad.

Hello, I am Iggy Iguana. I found a doughnut. Yum!

3. After some time, the groups recited the dialogue in groups. Some of you might relate this to choral speaking.





4.  Time for little role play!




Phew!!! The pupils were very noisy due to practicing the dialogue. I find the ones in Dilly Duck and Dotty Dog were committed in the recitation. Maybe the dialogue for Iggy Iguana was a little difficult for them.

Anyway, after the actors did their role play, one of the girls who belong in the same group went on to hug her friend because she felt proud of her performance. My heart beamed with pride because I know many did enjoy the activity.

If you notice one of the girls in the role play, Anis Husna, she was amused when Zakwan recited his dialogue confidently with his american accent and funny tone.

Many of them, although were not selected to act, they remembered the dialogue and use it to mock their friends. :) am I one proud teacher? YES!!!

Recently I've posted on making big book for my pupils. You can download the soft copy from this blog post. The book currently is gaining interest among them because they love it when I story tell.

Some even complimented on how funny I was and I know they were not lying because they were laughing as I 'perform'.

I don't mind if they were laughing at me or with me, as long as I can keep their attention... quite an achievement!

Take a view of the big book I made, and recently I printed another story but have yet to slot it in.

I think I'm falling in love in making this book, hopefully to be able to slot a  story of my own.

• 
  " Teaching English in an Islamic Cultural Context" | IATEFL Harrogate Online 2010
  " Teaching English in an Islamic Cultural Context"
  tags: teaching english context online islamic
  • Teaching English in an Islamic Cultural Context
  • Teaching English in an Islamic Cultural Context
  • what it means to be an English language teacher in an Islamic culture.
  • Teaching English in an Islamic Cultural Context
  • Teaching English in an Islamic culture in the current times poses complex questions for both teachers and learners.
  • Learners on the other hand experience perplexing perceptions and feelings; they realize the international status of English language and its importance for advancement in studies and having a good future career. At the same time, this lingua franca is, mistakenly, associated with colonialism and political dominance.
  • I hope to address such issues and identify teaching methods and practices that best suit Muslim learners.

• 
  Song Time!

• 
  10 tips for read-aloud learning
  tags: tips learning reading aloud

Jumping on the exam bandwagon, I decided (finally) to build the instrument for assessing my year one pupils. The instruments were based on what I taught my pupils up until now and with some abiding to the Dokumen Standard Prestasi latest edition. It is on the LPM website and you can click here to redirect.




Teachers must remember that KSSR involves continuos assessment and measures must be taken to adhere to this. Although the SPPBS have not kick in for the year, manual checklist must be prepared in order to keep track of your pupils performance. I've done mine based on the previous year's standard prestasi and currently I'm doing some updates to suit the current development.

Frankly, I find it tedious and demanding. Nowadays I spent more time doing school work, but hey in time, I'll be an expert and will be able to do things better... :) some pep talk! ya!

Feel free to download and kindly give me some feedback. Thanks!

• Love Idioms
• Most Frequent words in English
• How To Write A Children's Story - Top Ten Tips - YouTube
  tags: how to children story tips youtube
• How to Write & Self-Publish a Children's Book : How to Illustrate for a Children's Book - YouTube
  tags: how to children book youtube

[Infographic provided by Grammar.net]

I find it is very important to got through his unit again. based on the small scale test I've conducted, I find learners  were able to sound the letters and read the words but cannot connect the words with the meaning. Therefore, I decided to do the topic once again as a revision with the whole module in full swing before moving on to unit 6, which new letters and sound will be introduced.

Listening and Speaking

Molly and her red napkin

Its Molly and Nat in action again! My pupils were captivated by the Big Book! I'm flattered! They love it when I flipped through the pages and I can hear the oos and aaa....went on. Anyway, I read the story twice then going on doing the whole question and answer. They love it when they got the chance to act in class. Some of them were so cheeky when I did the role play and tease me a lot. The sentence patterns in focus are:

Person A: May I sit here with you?
Person B: Yes.
Person A: Thank you.
Person B: You are welcome.

After the activity, I introduced the punctuation mark. I used a blue card for question mark and red card for full stop. I told them where do we usually used by these marks. I read out the sentence and at the end used the correct card to indicate which mark that I'm currently using.

For enrichment, we did some exercises in the activity book. A blue coloured pencil was used to indicate question mark, while a red coloured pencil were used to show a full stop. I find this lesson appealing in the first part when we did the role play but punctuating need to be reinforce in more lessons to come, Insyaallah.

Reading

Reading lessons were conducted in two classes this week. The first part of the class were to familiarize the pupils with punctuation marks. A full stop and question mark. We did the story again (May I), and we did role play on the dialogue which include the question marks. Pupils were able to identify the usage of question mark is to indicate question and a full stop can be used as a stop to a sentence or as an answer to a question. While doing this, I relate to the story again and showing the punctuation as they showed up in the big book.

In addition, pupils were introduced sentences more or less similar to the one in the story such as:
1. May I have the pen, please?
In this case, the word pen were left for the pupils to substitute. To assist them, I used the picture cards to help them. They only need to spell the words and write it down.

I did the first part of the reading lesson in similar patterns with both of my classes but then while doing the exercise, I only asked 1S to complete the ones in activity book while year 1P continues revising on the word cards and its meaning. I feel it is very important to provide repetition in order to make it familiar thus triggering their unconscious side to remember it as well. 

In reading lesson part two, the lesson for 1P was rather the same as the day before, but with varied activity, involving spell-robic and writing. As for year 1S, the lesson progressed to understanding the punctuation marks. Blue coloured pencil was used to indicate question marks. Pupils copied the sentence and punctuate correctly with guidance.

The sentences used for the pupils to punctuate were as follows:
1. May I go to the toilet?
2. May I go to the canteen?
3. May I go to the book shop?
4. May I go home?

Below is the worksheet used during my absence. The first part is matching activity. Pupils must read and match the pictures to the correct words. The second part was a rearrange exercise of the story May I, under the language art module.






Writing

I was not around at this time, so I assigned them work to do. The task was simply to trace the dot and draw the picture of the intended item. This way, the need to read what was required and draw the picture. The purpose is to get them to connect the words with the meaning. To check their reading ability whether they can draw the correct item.

However, the result of this exercise cannot be a clear indicator of their understanding as the relief teacher might taught them on what to draw. I will go through this exercise again next week. During this exercise it is crucial for teachers to observe the pupils because some might resort to copying which will lead to wrong conclusion of the pupils' understanding.





On Monday, I need to do a whole recap session and identifying those who really in need of help and coach them a little bit more. As for Tuesday, I hope to do some of the assessments and let see how it goes. Till then, enjoy!!!

It is not my idea. I got it from one of the courses I went to. The facilitator suggested teachers to make a big book of their own. He proposed for a A3-sized folder but I find it expensive, so I make do with my A4 folder and this is it.

Sadly I forgot to snap the pictures of the finished product, but you can have a glimpse of it in the videos below. My son is the star reader in both videos. I hope his voice is audible enough.



The stories are from the textbook. Here are the soft copy if you want to print it on an A4 paper. I printed the stories on a pre-designed paper so that it will be very colourful. I love colourful papers and design, although some might say its a little crowded and looked childish, but I love it! :)

I hope to make more of these as we go through the unit. Till then, enjoy!