UPSR: Tips for Teaching Section B in Paper 2

   Assalamualaikum and hello everyone!

   I'm sorry that I cannot do this consistently. I wish I could post and share what I know and have learnt as often as I can but I am either too lazy or busy doing something else. Please bear with me, dear friends. I have not even spent any time to customise my blog and it has been like this for the past two or three years. I think.

   This time I would like to share a type of exercise that you can use to teach your pupils to write for Section B in Paper 2. This exercise would be useful for weak pupils and for those who are just beginning to write for Section B.

   You will need to prepare the templates below for them. I shall provide the link to the PowerPoint and Word documents for the exercise so that you can download them and edit them to suit your class.


  First, read through the information provided in the exercises you wish to use with your pupils. If you wish them to transfer the information first into the table/space provided, then by all means do so. Then, depending on the type of information you have, read through the sample that you have prepared. Below is one sample my mentor prepared, which I edited a bit to suit my pupils:

   Since I prepared this for weak and average pupils, I made the sentences very simple. The point of this exercise is to help pupils write based on the example given. Then, provide templates with blank spaces for them to write in using the information for the two other options, such as shown below:

   And there you go! Easy peasy in syaa Allah. Hope this helps!

DOWNLOAD LINK: POWERPOINT SECTION B: AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES

DOWNLOAD LINK: MICROSOFT WORD SECTION B: AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES

KSSR Listening & Speaking : Match-up Numbering

   I used to rather dislike teaching Listening & Speaking. For one, my first experience of teaching KSSR involved 2 Delima and boy what a time I had! From what I understand, in a L&S class you focus on teaching your children how to actually use the language in spoken form. This was not the easiest thing to achieve with 2D as they were more interested in copying (if they were interested in the lesson at all) and creating hoavoc in the class rather than actually sit down to listen and speak in English. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot of things from teaching them but it was NOT easy.

   This year I was given the responsibility to teach one of the Year 3 classes, 3 Zamrud. At first it was not that easy either- they were much brighter and rather more disciplined (I say rather because there are quite a handful of monkeys there too! Naughty things!) and I was still unsure of how I was supposed to conduct a good listening and speaking lesson. For one, would they be interested in doing activities which does not involve any writing at all in one class? Of course you can include some written activities in an L&S class but they should not be the main focus.

   How was I to teach them to speak the language and understand it? These are kampung children, mind you. Even the children whose parents are teachers watch Spongebob in Malay. (Rolls eyes in desperation). Seriously, watch Upin and Ipin in Malay as much as you like but cartoons with English audio should be viewed as so! Haiya how on earth are you going to improve your English ah! The only thing they keep saying is "Oh My English!" every time I speak more than a few sentences in English.

   Then, as Emily of Newmoon would say, I got The Flash. A flash of inspiration. A simple but practical idea. My children love love love games and they are rather used to starting a class with a simple game. Every morning when I walk into class that's all they think about. "What game are we playing today? So came the The Flash.

   The idea of this game (if you can call it a game) is to get children to partner up randomly and talk to each other using the dialogue or sentence structure given. Follow the steps below:

The Match-up Numbering Game


1. Teach the children a set of sentence structures according to you topic. For example:

Unit 10: A Ride in the Safari Park

Question: What animal is this?
Answer: This is a _______________.

Question: Where can you find it?
Answer: You can find it _______________.


2. Give each child one number.
   Let's say there are 28 children in your class. Start a child off to say '1' and the others should follow suit.

3. Write the numbers on the board.
   If there are 28 children, write 1,2,3,4 and so on up to 28.

4. Explain the rules.
   The teacher will call out two numbers. The first number will ask the questions and the second number will provide the answers.

5. Have a try-out round. Call out two numbers so that the children can see how the game is played. The first number to be called will ask the questions and the second number will provide the answers.

6. Always cross out the numbers you have called out. Make sure you call out random numbers so that it will be more interesting. My children found this part fun because they could not expect the person they would be partnered up with.

And that's it! Super easy and when I think about it, not that brilliant. But it helps to keep my children in focus and they love it. At first it was awkward for some of them and I got so frustrated because one or two just would not open their mouths. But now they're used to it and we have a lot of fun in our L&S lesson. I need to get more Flashes so that we don't get bored of this game. Haha.

To my Muslim friends and readers, I hope you are spending your Ramadhan productively, in syaa Allah. Take care!

UPSR: Tips for Teaching Section A in Paper 2 (1)

   With the implementation of KSSR, KBSR will soon be demolished. That is, in three years time. There are still three batches of pupils who must go through UPSR and fortunately(?) I am lucky enough to have been selected to teach Year 6 this year. Yayyy!! (pumps hand into the air while trying very hard to ignore how much it's shaking).

   Alhamdulillah, I've been blessed with the fact that my mentor in school (who also happens to be the PK HEM) is an expert on UPSR answering techniques for English. He has traveled quite extensively around Gua Musang to give talks to pupils and teachers alike, and from what I've seen (I've had the privilege of accompanying him once or twice) the teachers and pupils all like his method as it helps them to have a system for answering the questions.

   A day or two before, a friend asked if I could share some tips on how to teach pupils to answer Section A of Paper 2. I must tell you that I don't know much myself, but I have learned from a person I consider to be an expert on this matter. Insya-Allah, I hope to share what I've learnt from him with you in this blog, together with a few tips and tricks that I've managed to come up with as I teach my pupils. I hope this will help and benefit you! All the best!

NOTE: Please remember that different teachers will have different strategies or answering techniques. This is what my mentor taught me, and he has managed to help many pupils succeed in scoring for the exam, so I take that as a good sign.

   Introduction
   There are 3 sections in Paper 2. The first is Section A for which pupils must produce five sentences based on the picture given. For example, for the picture below, pupils can compose the five following sentences:

UPSR 2012

ADVANCED-AVERAGE PUPILS
1. There are many people doing various activities at the toy shop.
2. The man who sits on the bench is reading a newspaper.
3. The man who wears a collared-shirt is looking at some badminton rackets in the display area.
4. The woman who sports shoulder-length hair is looking at the baby in the pram while another woman who wears a head scarf is holding the handle of the pram.
5. The girl who wears a t-shirt and a pair of trousers is showing a doll to a man.

AVERAGE-WEAK PUPILS
1. This is a toy shop.
2. There are many toys in the toy shop.
3. A man is looking at the badminton rackets.
4. A/Another man is reading a newspaper.
5. A girl is holding a doll.

   There are many other possible answers or sentences that may be produced, but the ones I've provided are examples to help you see the possible sentence structures for the picture. Weak students may not be able to produce such sentences, so other options need to be explored. I shall provide step-by-step instructions that will help you to help your pupils to prepare themselves for answering Section A. I have decided to separate the steps into different posts so that it is easier for you to follow and understand them. (It also helps me prepare blog entries more easily as a long post would take a very long time to be composed.)

   Please follow the links below (will be updated gradually. Stay tuned!

Step 1
Step 2

Tutorial: Colour Printing

   Assalamualaikum and hello everybody! I hope you're all well.

   Even though I'm busy with school, I don't mean to abandon this blog. I could write a lot of random posts but that won't be fun, so I decided that I'd do a series of tutorials that might be useful to you. They're actually not really tutorials- just ideas and tips that I have learned while doing my work.

   Let's start. Ever since I entered my training institute, I've been used to having my own printer and computer or laptop. Life doesn't feel complete without them. To date, I've bought/owned (and disposed some of) 5 printers. Yeah. All were colour printers, and 4 were Canon ones. My favourite printers are definitely from the Canon series, I think they have the easiest user interface and they're also easy to handle.

   Anyway, whatever brand of printer you use doesn't matter in this tutorial. What I want to yalk about is how to make sure that what you print is the exact shade of colour that you want. Let me explain. A lot of times I find that the colour that I selected/used in whatever documents that I create using my laptop is not the same on screen and off screen. For example, magenta sometimes come out as red, dark blue comes out as a different shade than the one you see on your laptop screen and so on.

   This is what I did.

   Step 1

Select font colour

Step 2

Select 'more colours'

 Step 3

This is what will come out

Step 4

To ensure a sharper and better quality image, enlarge the pop-up screen by dragging at the corner.

 

Step 5

Click on 'Print Screen' (or it may be written as PrtSc on your keyboard).

Open Paint.

Select 'Edit' and 'Paste'.

Edit as necessary.

   But hey, you know what, I decided to make life a lot easier for you. Below is the picture of the colour diagram that I got. I printed it out (you can either print is an image or paste it into word before printing it out). I paste it on my wall and I refer to the colour that HAS BEEN PRINTED before choosing the colour to use in my laptop. This way you can determine the shade of colour that you really want and expect it to come out.

 

   I realise that my explanations are all over the place, so if you can't make out head from tail on this post, shoot me a question and I will do my level best to answer!

The Skeleton Dance

   This is one of the videos that I used in class, and it's really good if you want to insert some fun into your lessons. I love it, and the children... well, they were hooked the moment the skeleton came out!

   I was actually looking for an interesting video that could help me teach my Year 3 pupils to remember their left and right hands. This was after a disastrous lesson that we went through (which is a very, very long story so I won;t talk about it here). Now, I wouldn't exactly say that this video helped them to remember their left and right hands (and feet, for that matter!) right away, but it certainly got them interested in the lesson.

   There are two versions of the video. In the first version, the skeleton shakes his own left and right hands in accordance with the lyrics:

VERSION 1:

   The second video is a mirrored version of the first one. This means that the skeleton puts up his LEFT hand while singing about the RIGHT hand, while putting up his RIGHT hand when he sings about the LEFT hand. If I'm not mistaken was made after one of the comments suggested  a mirrored version so that young children could follow the skeleton's hands without being confused about which hand to put up in order to follow the song. 

   This video makes a great set induction, and you can also wrap up the lesson with it. If your children's level of English is pretty good, they'll probably be able to sing along to the lyrics when hearing it for the second time. If it's not, you can just let them stand up and dance along with the skeleton. 

VERSION 2:

   I've also tried it with the Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, and they loved it! So try it out, and let me know what you think! Let's dance!

   [I collected my portfolios and record books from the practicum unit a few days ago. I hope to be able to share some useful things with you soon. Look forward to it!]

The Silent Game 1 - useful for keeping your class quiet! (or not)

   I was thinking of what useful things I could write, and I suddenly remembered this game that I invented in order to help me gain some quiet and peace in class. It worked... well enough, I guess.

   The idea popped into my head when I was taking a relief class with Year 1 at SKP. Now, I've had a little experience with Year 1 pupils when I went for SBE at SKP.

   (Wait a mo', I just remembered. Both schools that I went to, for SBE and teaching practice, have the same initials- SKP! Well, the one I went to for SBE is SK Palekbang in home sweet home Kelantan while the SKP I went to for teaching practice is SK Pegoh. What do you know... huh? I wonder if I'll go to another SKP when I start teaching... anyway...)

   From my SBE experience with Year 1, I realised that you have to be really active in class. I mean, really, really active. If you've read about the Year 1 pupils at my school, you'll understand why.

   Anyway, during a particular relief class with Year 1, I wanted to show them how to make animal masks. At first I had planned to give them some worksheets to work on, but as soon as I began to take them out, the children began to complain and turn on sour faces. They were tired of worksheets. They wanted to do something interesting.

   So I gave way and sent the class monitor to get some fresh sheets of drawing paper from the staff room. So we waited. Now, it's a dangerous thing to have nothing to do in class. You must always have some sort of activity so that the children don't start getting noisy and rowdy. In a sudden burst of inspiration, I invented the Silent Game.

   It's quite simple and can probably be implemented for 5 minutes or so before the children start getting noisy again. But trust me, with these particular group of children,  5 minutes of silence is a blessing... a great blessing.

   The game goes like this.

   (1) Explain to the children that they will play a simple game. In this game, no noise must be made. They are absolutely forbidden to talk or even whisper.

   (2) The teacher will asks some simple Yes/No questions.

   (3) If their answer is YES, they must put up their right hand and do a thumbs-up while smiling.
        (Don't ask me why, like I said the idea came out of nowhere)

thumbs up!!!!!!
source

   (4) If their answer is NO, they must use their arms to form an 'X'. (Again, don't ask me why).
 

-couldn't find a suitable picture-

    And that's it. Yeah. Haha. I hope you're not too disappointed.

   It actually worked quite well, because the children were so determined to stay quiet that some of them bit their lips. (You could actually add one rule, in that anyone who makes a single noise would be punised, or something). It also took all their will not to shout out or make a noise. When I played the game with Year 1, I could see that it took a lot of effort for them to hold themselves from jumping up in excitement.

   The trick is to ask interesting questions that relate to the children. When it's interesting, you can see them getting all excited.

   * You can probably invent questions depending on your creativity
   * It helps if you start the question with a short introduction or even story

   Question: I have a pet cat at home. (If you have a story then blablabla...) Do you like cats?

   If you want to make the game short and simple, then just ask a bundle of questions at one go.

   I also used this game with Year 3, but in a different way. But that, is another entry, haha.

   p.s. 1 - If you're able to exude that spirit and excitement when you're with children in class, even the simplest game can become interesting :)

   p.s. 2 - If anyone does try this game, I'd be really interested in knowing the outcome, so drop me a line through your comments!

KPLSPM

   I was in the campus last week. As I waited for my employer (my employer... yeah... but nope that story has no part in this blog) in the car park behind Anjung Hikmah I saw a number of young people standing around in groups looking nervous.

   Ah. I thought. These young people are waiting to be interviewed for the PPISMP programme. Later, my employer explained that it's now called the KPLSPM (what a mouthful!) which stands for Kursus Perguruan Lepas SPM. Oh. There were also candidates waiting to be interviewed for the PPC (Program Pelajar Cemerlang) as well.

   Wow. I shook my head and sat back in my seat. Six years ago, I also went through the same thing. Six years ago. That's a long, long time. Well, it is for someone who's only lived for 22+ years. Six years is about a third of the time that I've spent breathing.

   Memories. It's strange how they can be jerked into life. I remembered how nervous I was when I went for my interview. Siap pakai blazer! Tak tahan. Semua Dad's idea la tu. The problem I was too small (probably looked a bit under-nourished as well)  and looked too much of a kid and the smart black coat, instead of making me look skema and professional, only blanketed me and make me look out of place. Sigh. I don't exactly have good memories regarding my interview, but hey, I'm here now.

   I remember I met Awatif for the first time. Later when I got to know her, she said she noticed me and thought, "Sapalah budak skema ni." Haha. At least ada gak oghang kata aku skema. Menjadi gak bolezer tuh. Awatif is a great friend, and one of my favourites although she may not know it. She's one of the most hardworking in the cohort, which explains why she got nominated for 'Cemerlang' during practicum. Yeah. Cool, huh. She's also one of the people I really enjoyed working with- remember those productions we had, Watap? (But of course she doesn't read my blog. I doubt she even knows it exists).

   Anyway, back to the interview. When I said I saw young people, I mean young people. Seriously! Well, they didn't exactly look young (kids nowadays look really mature) and people still think I'm in Form 4... but the thought that I took the interview 6 years ago really kicked me into reality. I'm old! I've basically completed my studies. Just waiting to be posted. I'm old!

   Well, let's talk about something useful. I'm not sure who reads my blogs, and at the same time the interviews for KPLSPM are probably way over, but just in case some teacher-wannabe stumbles upon my blog, I've listed some tips on what to do in order to prepare for BPG (Bahagian Pendidikan Guru) interviews based on my own experience. This was 6 years ago, but I think it always more or less goes the same way.

   1. Dress smartly, in a way that shows that you're ready to become a teacher
   - There's no need to wear anything fancy. Girls usually wear baju kurung and covered shoes, while boys usually go for collared shirts and smart pants.

   2. Read up on the latest education news
   - Thankfully I read the news on the morning I went for the interview. They asked me if I read the newspaper, and I was able to answer. Well, sort of anyway.

   3. Read up on basic info concerning the Cabinet etc.
   - My dad got me a poster that listed all the important people in the Ministry. They didn't ask about it, but one might as well be prepared.

   4. Polish your knowledge on the subject you're going for
   - If you're aiming to be an English teacher, you might as well show them that you can actually use the language, right?

   5. Be confident and brave
   - Not an easy thing to do, but just try to show that you're confident. Meet the eyes of the interviewer(s) and answer their questions as confidently as you can.

   6. Smile
   - It won't hurt to smile a bit. Just don't go all giggly sudahla.

   And that's about it for the tips. All the best!

Hot Tips for Teachers: The Learning Line

   A few weeks ago, Dad came home and plopped this book down in front of me:

   "Hot Tips for Teachers".

   Cool. Well, it's just as well. Rather than lazing around at at home and doing... well, nothing, I might as well read a book or two that can help me become a good teacher, because that is what I am going to be. A teacher.

   Anyway, so far I have only finished the last chapter. It's a good book, I guess, just a little not-my-type in its presentation style. You have to go through this process of looking at your own teaching process in the classroom (which I am yet to do) and write down what happens after you use a particular technique.

   It's a little boring, but of course I shouldn't be saying that. Besides, the authors must know what they're talking, enough to get their book published (something I'll never achieve, huhu), so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and keep on reading.

   There is one particular technique that I am interested in. It's in Part 1, which lists down Hot Tips for Opening the Lesson. It's called "Draw the Learning Line". In this activity, the teacher will draw a line at the door using a piece of chalk, adhesive tape or anything that works, and write "The Learning Line" on it. This is supposed to help students get into the mood of the lesson and prepare for learning.

   Students and teacher will then enter the class by stepping over the learning line, one by one. As soon as they enter the class, voila! They're in Learning Land! Well at least that's what I call it.

   Anyway, this Hot Tip gave me an idea for a nice way of injecting interest into students (ouch that sounds painful, maybe I should have chosen a better word...but anyway).

   Let's say the topic for my English Lesson for the Day is something that has to do with animals. Animals leads you to zoo. And so, instead of using the Learning Line (or using it anyway, only with a different name), I can use the "Going to the Zoo" Line. I can either draw a line using chalk, paper or adhesive tape as mentioned above, and write "Zoo" on it. Then students will step over the line from outside the classroom door and pretend they're entering the zoo! What do you think?

   If you're up for more work, you could make an arch out of cardboard or other materials and hang it on the doorway. The idea is the same- to get the students into the mood of the lesson, and to let them take a guess at the topic for the day.

   I can't wait to try this out! :)