Teaching Practice - Literacy Entry (1)
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| source: https://www.participatelearning.com/blog/world-literacy-day-build-love-for-reading-and-writing/ |
During my practice this year, I’ve been observing mostly 3rd and 4th graders. Throughout those few weeks, I’ve seen different topics and subjects. I witnessed different stages of the units, including introduction of new units, revision of vocabulary and grammar structures, revision to the test and writing short tests. 4th graders have Literacy classes twice a week, where they focus specifically on language-related skills and working with different texts. Younger students acquire them during English classes they have every day.
Depending on the age groups, goals of the lessons were very different. WIth younger students, the teacher focused more on fluency in spoken word, and only then on practising writing. With older students, she would spend more time on accuracy in writing, omitting spelling and grammatical mistakes. In the context of literacy, there was enough time spent on oral skills. Usually, written forms of the words or sentences were a challenge for younger students. That part was sometimes less of a priority, so some pupils had problems with writing down things they could easily say.
New content was usually introduced by asking students the question or completing the quiz connected to the previous topic. Each of them would come to the interactive whiteboard and choose the correct option (name of an object in the picture). Once, the teacher gave them definitions of the words they already knew and asked them to think of the words being defined. Definitions were written with ‘magic markers’ - they were visible only after flashing the UV light on them. Children have lots of fun with it and sometimes needed to guess the rest of the words that weren’t always fully visible.
To activate students' prior knowledge, the teacher elicited the vocabulary they already knew to present the meaning of the words. One time she asked them to name words with similar meaning to the word ‘easy’. After writing them down, she explained what ‘synonym’ is. During another class, they talked about their experiences connected to a given topic.
Vocabulary introduced by the teacher included: synonyms, idioms, types of food and names of everyday activities. Many lessons focused on practising Present Simple tense, as well as comparing it to Present Continuous. Teacher introduced different language functions - mostly expressive and informational. Language used in the classroom enabled students to describe, comment on, express their opinions and ask questions. The language was taught through texts, analysing the examples, working with the workbook, describing pictures.
I think there was enough emphasis on the language. It was used as a tool to teach content and communicate in the classroom. The teacher used English during the class and the break, so the students were prepared to use it all the time. When I first entered the classroom, some students came to me and started asking me questions in English. I don’t think I would change anything in this approach. I will definitely try to do it with my students, so using the language feels more natural and meaningful.
Strategies often used in the classroom included pair and group work, scaffolding and hands-on activities. Very often children would work in pairs or groups of three (based on their setting) and write words or sentences on mini whiteboards. Then, the teacher would walk around and easily notice the effects of their work. This strategy was rather successful, but was sometimes giving false impressions of students’ level of understanding or acquiring the skills. In groups of three, the strongest students would often write and the teacher didn’t get a chance to see what mistakes the rest of them were making.
One activity I especially loved was word dictation in a form of group competition. Children would form two groups and sit one after another. When given a word, they would have to write it down correctly, with one person writing only one letter. I witnessed many mistakes and was really interested in how students were trying to correct them. Words they were given weren’t new to them, but their written and oral forms were very different. This activity students liked a lot. They were very competitive, which made them focus on the task and cooperate with their peers by correcting groupmates’ mistakes and giving them hints.
Depending on the age groups, goals of the lessons were very different. WIth younger students, the teacher focused more on fluency in spoken word, and only then on practising writing. With older students, she would spend more time on accuracy in writing, omitting spelling and grammatical mistakes. In the context of literacy, there was enough time spent on oral skills. Usually, written forms of the words or sentences were a challenge for younger students. That part was sometimes less of a priority, so some pupils had problems with writing down things they could easily say.
New content was usually introduced by asking students the question or completing the quiz connected to the previous topic. Each of them would come to the interactive whiteboard and choose the correct option (name of an object in the picture). Once, the teacher gave them definitions of the words they already knew and asked them to think of the words being defined. Definitions were written with ‘magic markers’ - they were visible only after flashing the UV light on them. Children have lots of fun with it and sometimes needed to guess the rest of the words that weren’t always fully visible.
To activate students' prior knowledge, the teacher elicited the vocabulary they already knew to present the meaning of the words. One time she asked them to name words with similar meaning to the word ‘easy’. After writing them down, she explained what ‘synonym’ is. During another class, they talked about their experiences connected to a given topic.
Vocabulary introduced by the teacher included: synonyms, idioms, types of food and names of everyday activities. Many lessons focused on practising Present Simple tense, as well as comparing it to Present Continuous. Teacher introduced different language functions - mostly expressive and informational. Language used in the classroom enabled students to describe, comment on, express their opinions and ask questions. The language was taught through texts, analysing the examples, working with the workbook, describing pictures.
I think there was enough emphasis on the language. It was used as a tool to teach content and communicate in the classroom. The teacher used English during the class and the break, so the students were prepared to use it all the time. When I first entered the classroom, some students came to me and started asking me questions in English. I don’t think I would change anything in this approach. I will definitely try to do it with my students, so using the language feels more natural and meaningful.
Strategies often used in the classroom included pair and group work, scaffolding and hands-on activities. Very often children would work in pairs or groups of three (based on their setting) and write words or sentences on mini whiteboards. Then, the teacher would walk around and easily notice the effects of their work. This strategy was rather successful, but was sometimes giving false impressions of students’ level of understanding or acquiring the skills. In groups of three, the strongest students would often write and the teacher didn’t get a chance to see what mistakes the rest of them were making.
One activity I especially loved was word dictation in a form of group competition. Children would form two groups and sit one after another. When given a word, they would have to write it down correctly, with one person writing only one letter. I witnessed many mistakes and was really interested in how students were trying to correct them. Words they were given weren’t new to them, but their written and oral forms were very different. This activity students liked a lot. They were very competitive, which made them focus on the task and cooperate with their peers by correcting groupmates’ mistakes and giving them hints.
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