Contemporary Literature KSSR Year Four

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Love this book!

Browsing through the books used for the literature component excite me! The books are bright and colourful and the contents cater to multiple-level language learners.

The curriculum states that the books to be used during the language arts lesson, cultivating learning in fun manner and diversified.

3 in 1

I love the "Anthology of Poems" the most! The contents are manageable, wide range of genre and pupils friendly.

The vocabulary is suitable for young learners, although the fluent reader might find it easy, teachers can adapt the literature activities based on the pupils' ability.

Suggested activities

I found there are many activities suggested on the internet, regarding the use of literature in teaching English. Fascinating indeed!

My findings!

What we can do in literature class?

1. We can get the pupils to respond to pictures in the book.

2. Pupils can respond on the morale value obtained from the book.
                                                                             Source: British Council

3. Teacher can get the pupils to decode the message from the literature by using word of sentence game. For example, teacher can make a crossword puzzle based on the vocabulary from the story.

4. Taping a recording of teacher reading the passage from the literature and playing it to the pupils allow them to practice pronunciation and intonation. Pupils can also tape their reading and play it to their peers allowing peer correction.
Source: Global Post

5. Reviewing vocabulary on the terms used to discuss literature. It might require repetition in every class, but as the time goes by, these vocabulary will come in handy thus expediting any literature discussion. 

I might say, these words might be a little alien to rural English Language learners, especially here in Perlis, but we must set a standard, achievable with extra effort both on the teachers and pupils. 

  • Alliteration – a literary technique that uses the same sound at the beginning of a set of words (the large laughing lion languished)
  • Antagonist – the person who comes against the protagonist or hero. The antagonist is often the villain. (the Joker is the antagonist to Batman)
  • Author – writer of the book (Mark Twain was the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.)
  • Climax – the emotional high point of the piece of literature where the reader does not yet know the outcome
  • Genre – the class of literature to which a piece belongs (includes biography, romance, mystery and science fiction among others)
  • Plagiarism – Use of another person’s words or ideas without proper citation
  • Point of view – the perspective from which a story is told, usually either first person (I shall tell you of my grand adventure.) or third person (He spoke of lands unknown and people unseen by modern eye.)
  • Protagonist – The main character or hero of the piece (Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
  • Resolution – the completion or correction of the conflict in a story
  • Setting – the time and place of a story (in The Help the setting is Mississippi in the 1960’s)
  • Symbolism – using one person or thing to represent another (chaos is often symbolized by water)


6. Pupils also can be asked to discuss the characters from the stories. 

Using the vocabulary above, pupils can analyze, compare and evaluate the characters based on their understanding. 

Teachers must bear in mind the level of their pupils and create useful prompts in order to solicit information. 
Source: Busy Teacher

In addition to all these, I found a slide on SlideShare outlaying the activities suitable for the year four literature books. 
I have difficulties in trying to make up of the activities stated, but the suggested timeline for teaching the books is very useful!


There are a lot more that we can do during literature. 

Understanding literature will help pupils see the application of the language and in the mean time make use of what they have learn in class in an authentic discourse. 

Welcome to a wonderful world of reading!












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