Reflections from Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island
Every teacher knows this phase.
The exams are over.
The bags are lighter.
The routines are looser.
And suddenly, attention, motivation, and even attendance begin to dip.
The post-year-end examination period is often treated as “filler time,” but I’ve always felt that how we end the year matters just as much as how we begin it. So in 2025, with my Year 2 Zamrud learners, I decided to try something different.
Instead of worksheets or disconnected activities, I designed a small project-based learning experience called Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island: Sharing Stories and the Things We Love.
Why This Project?
The intention was simple.
I wanted my learners to:
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stay engaged after exams
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continue learning without pressure
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feel happy and safe using English
And since Perky Piung had already become a familiar and well-loved learning mascot in our classroom, it felt natural to bring her along on this journey.
If learning had to continue, it had to feel friendly, meaningful, and manageable.
What Did the Project Look Like?
Learners worked in groups of three, but here’s the important part:
👉 each learner completed the task individually.
Every group produced three sets of work — one from each learner.
However, groups could only submit their work once everyone had finished.
This small condition made a big difference.
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Learners supported one another
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No one could “opt out”
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Everyone stayed accountable
The tasks themselves were intentionally simple and familiar:
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copying words and short sentences
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talking about things they love
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creating visual and written project outputs
The focus was never on perfection — it was on participation, effort, and confidence.
What Did the Learners Tell Me?
After the project, I collected feedback through a simple learner survey.
The results were encouraging:
All learners said they enjoyed learning English with Perky Piung
Most learners reported feeling happy and engaged during the project
Nearly all enjoyed talking about themselves, their families, and familiar topics in English
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All learners reported enjoying learning English with Perky Piung. This suggests that the use of a familiar learning mascot helped maintain positive emotions and engagement during the post-examination period. |
For young learners, these responses matter.
Before accuracy comes confidence.
Before confidence comes emotional safety.
And this project created that space.
What Did the Assessment Show?
From a skills perspective, most learners demonstrated:
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basic to developing writing ability, which was expected for Year 2
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high levels of participation, even among quieter learners
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strong creativity, especially in visual elements
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The majority of learners achieved the highest participation score, suggesting that the project design successfully encouraged active involvement. The combination of individual accountability and group responsibility helped prevent passive participation. |
Writing confidence remained an area for growth — and that’s okay.
This was never meant to be a high-stakes academic intervention.
It was a bridge — keeping learners connected to English at a time when disengagement is common.
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While some learners felt confident writing simple sentences, a significant number still required support. This highlights the importance of continued scaffolding and reinforces that the project prioritised engagement and confidence over writing accuracy. |
What I Learned as a Teacher
This project reminded me that:
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engagement is a learning outcome
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joy is not a distraction from learning — it enables it
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young learners need emotional safety before academic risk-taking
Using a familiar mascot and familiar topics wasn’t a shortcut — it was a pedagogical choice.
And perhaps most importantly, I was reminded that post-exam periods don’t have to feel empty or rushed. With the right design, they can be meaningful, gentle, and deeply human.
Moving Forward
If I were to refine this project in the future, I would:
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include short oral recordings for richer evidence
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add more scaffolded writing support
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compare before-and-after samples more intentionally
But as it stands, Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island achieved what it set out to do:
👉 keep learning alive, joyful, and purposeful — even after exams.
And sometimes, that’s exactly what our learners need most 💚
🌴 Week 2 — Family, Friends, and Feelings on Wonderful Words Island
Tuesday, November 25, 2025Week 2 on Wonderful Words Island was full of warmth, drawings, discoveries — and a handful of funny surprises. Our checkpoint this week focused on family and friends, and it turned into one of the most heartwarming weeks so far.
📖 Session 1: Shared Reading — “Piung’s Family”
We started with shared reading of “Perky
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Piung’s Family”. Learners love hearing about Papa Piung, Mama Piung, Brother Piung and Sister Piung — the familiarity helps them make sense of the vocabulary.
Together, we explored words like:
mother, father, brother, sister, friend
Reading about a topic that is familiar to them is comforting to them; it makes learning feel communal and safe.
🌳 Before Session 2: Drawing Their Own Family Tree
Before moving into writing, learners drew their own family tree. Since they had drawn Perky Piung’s family tree in the previous session, they immediately understood what to do.
Their drawings were adorable and full of personality.
Some drew fathers with superhero muscles.
Some lovingly showcased their baby sister.
And a funny discovery:
Many didn’t actually know their siblings’ names — they wrote “Abang”, “Kakak”, or “Adik”, because that’s what they call them at home. It was such an honest glimpse into how children think about family.
But what amazed me most was how proud they were of their drawings. They paid attention to hairstyle, favourite colours, tiny details — their families really mean something to them.
✏️ Session 2: Guided Writing — Fill-in-the-Blank Paragraph
Next, learners completed a fill-in-the-blank paragraph about their family.
This was more challenging.
While they could identify “mother” or “brother” easily, the difficult part was choosing hobbies.
I learned a lot of funny family secrets this week:
“Teacher, my father likes sleeping".“My mother likes TikTok”.“My baby sister likes crying.”
Even though they struggled, they stayed motivated.
Some needed help identifying hobbies, but they tried and that effort is what matters most.
🎨 Session 3: Creative Work — Appreciation Cards
We ended the week with a simple but meaningful activity: appreciation cards.
Before starting, I taught them exactly what to write — they copied a short, clear sentence onto the card. This full guidance helped every learner succeed, including those with limited writing skills.
Once the writing was done, the magic happened.
They loved decorating their cards:
✨ colouring
🎀 drawing
💖 adding stickers
🌟 making it uniquely theirs
A simple sentence transformed into something filled with love and pride.
💭 My Reflection
This week was soft, sincere, and surprisingly funny.
The repetition across reading, writing, and drawing is starting to show results — they’re beginning to remember words, rely less on me, and feel more confident.
And even when support is heavily guided (like the appreciation card writing), their creativity takes over beautifully.
This week taught me that:
🌟 children express love openly
🌟 learning becomes meaningful when linked to real life
🌟 creativity makes even guided tasks feel personal
🌟 family is a topic that brings out their best stories
🌟 effort matters more than perfection
Week by week, step by step, the island becomes more alive — and with Piung cheering them on, we’re building not just language skills, but memories.
🌴 Week 1, Sessions 2 & 3 — “This Is Us!” with Our Buddy Shells
Tuesday, November 18, 2025Our journey on Wonderful Words Island continued with two colourful and challenging sessions. This week, my learners worked in their Buddy Shell groups to create their “This Is Us!” posters — a task that required teamwork, creativity, and a little more thinking than the previous session.
🐚 Session 2: A Challenging Start, but a Creative One
This task required learners to introduce their Buddy Shell and their friends using simple dialogues. They had to draw speech bubbles and write what each friend was saying — something new and slightly abstract for many of them.
And yes, they did find it challenging at first.
Some were confused about where to place the speech bubbles, how to match the sentences with the drawings, or how to organise their poster. I needed to repeat instructions several times, and eventually asked a few of my more proficient learners to mentor three groups who were struggling.
These groups had mediocre to low English proficiency, so having a peer mentor beside them made a big difference — not just in understanding, but in confidence.
Despite the confusion, one thing carried them through the task beautifully:
✨ They absolutely enjoyed drawing and colouring.
Their joy in decorating their posters kept them engaged, even when the writing part felt hard. And sometimes, that little spark of enjoyment is all they need to keep going.
🌈 Session 3: “Ohhh, so that’s what the speech bubbles are for!”
When we moved into presentations in Session 3, something clicked.
As they took turns introducing their Buddy Shells in front of the class
“We are the Coral Shell.”“This is Aizat. He likes to play football.”“This is Hana. She likes to look at shells.”
Many suddenly understood the purpose of the speech bubbles.
The moment they heard their classmates present, they realised how the drawings and dialogues worked together to show who they were as a group.
The room felt lighter.
The posters felt more meaningful.
And more learners were able to complete the task successfully.
Out of 30 learners, only 5 required extensive help with reading during the presentation, yay! celebration!!
💭 My Reflection
This pair of sessions reminded me that “challenging” doesn’t mean “unsuccessful.”
Sometimes, the struggle is a form of learning.
My learners are still building familiarity with English words through repetition — and I can already see how exposure is helping. Their progress wasn’t instant, but it was clear.
What mattered most was this:
🌟 They stayed engaged.
🌟 They worked together.
🌟 They enjoyed creating something of their own.
With each checkpoint on Wonderful Words Island, I hope they’ll continue growing more confident with the words they hear, say, and write. We’re moving slowly — but we are moving. And that’s a win I’m grateful for. 💛
Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island
Our adventure on Wonderful Words Island began with smiles, laughter, and a curious little turtle named Piung. 🐢✨
In this session, learners listened to the short story “Piung Wants to Meet New Friends” and joined in the fun Name-Action Game, saying things like:
“My name is Aisyah. I like to dance.”
“My name is Adam. I like to run.”
It was such a joyful way to reconnect with English after exams — a balance of movement, speech, and confidence-building.
💭 My Reflection
I was pleasantly surprised at how well my pupils understood the sentence structures. They remembered them easily and could say them with confidence.
When it came to writing about the things they like to do, many still needed guidance — but what touched me most was how independently they looked up activities in their textbook to find the right words! 💚
It reminded me that our previous learning truly stays with them, even when we don’t realise it.
Their ability to apply what they’ve learnt — that’s the kind of progress that fills me with quiet joy and gratitude.
They also absolutely loved decorating their work — colouring, adding stickers, and turning simple sentences into something proudly their own.
🌈 A Happy Start
This first session reminded me that learning doesn’t always need to be complicated — sometimes, it just needs to feel alive.
If the rest of the project stays as joyful and engaging as this session, I know we’re in for a wonderful journey on the island.
✨ 27 out of 29 learners submitted their work on time — a wonderful start indeed!
#PerkyPiung #WonderfulWordsIsland #TeacherAsniem #ProjectBasedLearning #EnglishYear2 #JoyfulLearning #FunWithEnglish #PrimaryEnglish #CreativeTeaching #CEFRinAction #AdventureInLearning #MalaysiaTeacher
A 3-Week Project-Based Learning Journey for Year 2 English Learners
After the exam season, the classroom energy shifts — calmer, yet filled with the need for something refreshing. I wanted to design a learning experience that would keep my Year 2 learners engaged, active, and joyful, while still staying true to the learning standards.
That’s how Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island came to life. 🌴💬
This project is a 3-week Project-Based Learning (PBL) experience where pupils use English to explore stories, express themselves, and work together in creative ways — all led by their friendly classroom mascot, Perky Piung.
🌈 Why Perky Piung?
Perky Piung is more than just a mascot — she’s a curious, kind, and adventurous little turtle who loves meeting new friends and discovering new places. 🐢💚
Her sense of wonder and courage inspires my pupils to see English as something alive — a language that helps them share who they are and connect with others.
Through Piung’s adventures, learners journey across Wonderful Words Island, a place filled with imagination, colour, and meaning.
Each week, they visit a new checkpoint on the island — from introducing themselves to talking about the people and places they love. Every stop brings new opportunities to listen, speak, read, write, and create together.
🐚 Buddy Shells: Learning Together
To make the experience collaborative and manageable, my pupils work in groups of three, called Buddy Shells. Each Buddy Shell travels around the island, completing small English missions at every checkpoint.
Because many of my learners still need strong guidance — especially when writing — I guide them closely through structured activities like fill-in-the-blank tasks, sentence frames, and guided speaking. This helps them stay confident and supported as they build their language.
However, for my more proficient learners, I give them the freedom to decide how they’d like to express their ideas. They may change or expand their sentences if they wish — a small way to nurture creativity and ownership in their learning journey.
🌞 A Project Rooted in Joy
This project isn’t about perfect grammar or polished presentations — it’s about helping learners use English with heart.
Perky Piung’s Wonderful Words Island celebrates communication, collaboration, and confidence. Through stories, drawing, and shared tasks, learners experience how English can be playful, expressive, and deeply personal.
In every session, they laugh, move, create, and discover new ways to make meaning — not because they have to, but because they want to. 💖
💬 Follow the Journey
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing highlights from Wonderful Words Island — from our first introductions to the final island celebration.
Join me (and Perky Piung!) as we discover how language, storytelling, and imagination can make learning feel like an adventure worth taking. 🌴✨
#PerkyPiung #WonderfulWordsIsland #TeacherAsniem #ProjectBasedLearning #EnglishYear2 #JoyfulLearning #PrimaryEnglish #MalaysiaTeacher #FunWithEnglish #CreativeTeaching #CEFRinAction #AdventureInLearning
