Using the Book

 Making the most of the text book activities

The English text books have been written as a guide to help teachers follow the curriculum, but many teachers follow the book page-by-page, even though they are not required to. Of course, many teachers make extra materials to use alongside the text book, but the text book features very heavily in everybody's lesson plan.

I have seen lots of classes where teachers replicate the activities in the text books, and the pupils really enjoy themselves. There are lots of good activities in the text book, and it's great to see teachers using them well.

Lately, I was at SK Jerantut Jaya and Teacher Maryana Bt Amer recreated the role play for Pat's Family with her 2I class. In the text book picture, Pat is a girl, but Pat is one of those names that can be used for either a boy or a girl (Patrick / Patricia). In teacher Maryana's class, Pat was a boy and the pronouns were changed accordingly.

Text book activity

I am Pat

Props and costumes bring the book to life.

Pat's 'father' and 'mother'.

Stephen-Peter Jinks (ELC Jerantut)

Tioman Island English Camps

   Tioman Island is a part of Pahang, but has not been able to have much interaction with the TELL programs due to its remote location.  In an effort to contribute to the education of the teachers and students 9 Brighton mentors along with some of the management staff were sent to do English camps at SK Tekek and SK Juara on April 13th & 14th respectively.  The camps were themed around the Little Red Riding Hood story, and divided into classes for art, drama, reading, and writing.  Teachers were given the opportunity to observe the mentors in each category and then participate in the instruction and activities of each class.

Lots of learning and fun was had by all involved!  I think that the whole event could only be described as a resounding success.  When asked in a survey how we could improve upon the camps one teacher responded, "Just come here again!"  I think it is fair to say that we all hope we have the opportunity to do just that!

Students at SK Tekek were excited for a turn at the mystery box.

Level 2 students learning at a writing station.

Jinks encouraging students to read with emotion that fits the passage.

Level 1 students showing off their props in drama class.

Getting the teachers involved.

Year 3 students enjoying a writing station.

Level 1 students acting out their parts of Little Red Riding Hood.

Secret Emotions activity in Siobhan's drama class.

Reading activities can be fun!

Teachers oversee a reading activity.

Giving teachers ideas on English through art.

Linda works with a teacher while Meryl guides the students.

Tara explaining how  teachers can use this writing activity in their classes.

Meryl and Linda explaining the art activities.

We were also asked to work with a Preschool class at SK Juara.

If you would like to see more photos from the event or download originals please follow the link below:
Tioman English Camp Pictures

LINUS

Trying to Engage Slow Learners

Everyone is working hard to get their LINUS measurements completed, and it is something of an uphill battle with some classes. Large class sizes and some low-level learners are creating a lot of problems, but I can see a lot of effort on the part of the teachers to help as many pupils as possible.

One group of learners at SK Jerantut Jaya has had teacher Norul Faralisa Abd Gany and me struggling to get them even up to constructs 3 and 4 in reading. The class is generally quite low-level, but this group, while lively and outgoing, lacks focus and cannot always distinguish between letters and words, even. 

E.g. ant pat sat nap

Teacher: Show me 'pat'

Pupil: points to 'sat' (finger on the middle 'a')

Teacher: No, p.p.p.a.t pat

Pupil: moves finger (hopefully) from the 'a' to the 't' of  the same word

I think that books and notebooks and pencils and the like are completely unknown to these children outside of the school environment, so we tried to engage them in a medium they might be more familiar with.

There is a growing body of research that says that exposing young eyes and brains to screens can be damaging to their overall educational, physical and social development, but the fact is that screens are now playing a large part in children's lives. We decided to introduce the words and sounds of LINUS reading constructs 4 and 5 to these pupils through screens and keyboards via electronic media.

Finding letters on a telephone keyboard

I would like to say that we found the silver bullet, and that our seven learners were all able to type out and read 'pat', 'sat' and 'nap' etc. by the end of the hour. But, as you can guess, there was not such a clear cut improvement in the pupils' overall knowledge by the end of one class. It was unfortunate that the laptop we had booked had no cable and no battery, so we could just use the phone. Some pupils quickly got the hang of finding the letters and typing in the words. Even those who had a shakier knowledge of the letter shapes and sounds were keen to have a go. We finished up by playing a racing game to be the first to run and find words, but they still had problems matching letters to sounds and a lot of their guesses were just that - wild guesses!

The children did enjoy the activities; which is something after three weeks of grinding away at the same thing, so we will keep on bringing electronic media in for them to write on and read from, as I think it is a more recognisable medium for these children. 

The next step is to put meaning into 'pat', 'sat' and 'nap'!

Stephen-Peter Jinks (ELC Jerantut)

Reading and Writing Workshop

Visitors from Temerloh

Two mentors from the TELL2 programme in Temerloh came to Jerantut to lead a reading and writing workshop for us at SK Jerantut.
Click the link to see the pictures HERE

Stephen-Peter Jinks (ELC Jerantut)

Penmanship Competition

Displaying the pupils' skill and creativity

Mentors and teachers have been working together with the PPD to organise a penmanship competition for all Level 1 and Level 2 students in the Jerantut cluster. We really need to give a big thank you to Joshua and Melissa Simon, Pn Raja Maheran, Pn Nuurul, Mme Chin and Mme Lily for all the organisational work they have done so far. We can also thank our DLO En Othman for supporting our project and allowing us to host the final exhibition and Best of the Best competition at the Jerantut PPD.

Each school will have a competition to find the best handwriting sample from each year (Years 1-6). We have standardised the texts and entry forms to make a level playing field. The winning entries from each school will be exhibited at the district-wide TELL2 Activities and Events workshop at the PPD in August. With the help of the PPD staff, Brighton Education managers and non-TELL teachers from Jerantut we will find the Best of the Best of Jerantut penmanship.

It is now over to all of us - not just the organising committees - to take this event into our schools and make it work!

As well as the pupils'penmanship display and competition at the August workshop, we are also planning a similar, on-the-spot, high-fun, low-stress penmanship competition for teachers and mentors If you are interested in making a 'penmanship booth' at the August TELL2 Activities and Events workshop, please be in touch so we can share ideas.

Contact your mentor for more information

For Teachers:  Official Contest Documents

Stephen-Peter Jinks (ELC Jerantut)

MOTIVATION: How NOT to talk to children

P/PAL (Parental / Peer Assisted Learning)

This academic from Stanford University researches motivation and success. What she says here is very similar to some of the points that we make at our P/PAL sessions. Learning is a process, not a product, and it is very important for parents to realise that they are in a very special position to be able to help their children learn how to learn. Check out the blog archives for posts about P/PAL at SK Teh, SK Jerantut Jaya and SJKC Sungai Jan.

Talk to your mentor about introducing a P/PAL programme at your school.

Listen to the interview here - it's very interesting!

Stephen-Peter Jinks (ELC Jerantut)