THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DONG SON OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING INITIATIVE IN TEACHING EXPERIENCE TOPIC: “HISTORY – GEOGRAPHY – LITERATURE – CIVIC EDUCATION AND FINE ART INTEGRATED TEACHING IN AN ENGLISH PERIOD OF GRADE PERIOD 33: UNIT 5: NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD LESSON 1: GETTING STARTED.” ENGLISH SUBJECT Written by: Mai Thi Lien Career: Teacher The unit of work: Dong Quang Secondary School The initiative experience of subject: English THANH HOA, YEAR 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION The reason for choosing the topic Research purposes Research subjects Research methods II SOLUTION OF THE ISSUE Theoretical basis of the initiative experience The real situation before applying the initiative experience Innovations or solutions used to solve the problem The effectiveness of the initiative experience for topic III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1.Conclusions Recommendations IV REFERENCES Page 3-5 3-4 4-5 - 19 5-6 - 18 18 - 21 19 - 20 19 19 - 20 21 I INTRODUCTION The reason for choosing the topic In the context of further international integration, English teaching and studying are of greater and greater significance Accordingly, a good command of English and great success gained in puttting English in action definitely enable you to improve your own status and position in the eye of international friends Generally, English is widely considered the most popular language on the globe, at the same time it is the key to the world For the businessmen circle, English is regarded as the tactic for every potential achievement Above all, English absolutely raises its voice on every aspect of daily life Nowadays, it is not only a compulsory subject in educational settings at any level, but has also been developed into an all-round critical communicative tool Thus, it is more increasingly important to determine which English study approach is the most effective In fact that once studying approach has been mis-executed, we probably face bigger challenges in achieving planned goals as a result As a rule, English teaching and studying are interrelated In the setting of further global integration, the Vietnamese education has been changing basically and the teachers are very important volunteers in this, in which greater importance has been attached to learneroriented teaching Specifically, teacher plays the role as the guider for students during their English acquisition In the spirit, teacher’s traditional function, known as pure teaching performance, should be taken into consideration Accordingly, something should be changed That is, there is a demand in integrated teaching approaches in which social science subjects (Literature, History, etc) or natural science ones (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geography) are integrated into one subject Based on it, students are taught how to perform information, collection, processing and assessment, therely well applying acquired knowledge to their real situations of daily life Research purposes Integrated teaching can be performed in the scope of one unit, one theme, or one certain period in class In the period of in this topic, I have made most use of inter-subject knowledge acquired in order to enable students to well deal with physical and sport activities after school Therefore, the performance of the topic of study on the 33th period (Lesson 1, English 6) is in need of inter-subject teaching involved in subjects as follows: - History: Students know how to use their historical knowledge to inculcate their understanding of time of birth; the process of building ancient wonders, new world wonders and natural wonders of Vietnam as well as artistic values of natural wonders, thereby helping students understand and appreciate labor achievements and creative talents of people - Geography: Using Geography knowledge to introduce students how to determine the geographical location of natural wonders - Literature: Studying skills about writing paragraphs or articles on natural wonders - Civic education: Educate students to love consciously, preserve and protect the wonders - Fine arts: using the Art knowledge to help students drill their imagination and illustrate with pictures through paintings as well as see all the beauty and values of artistic architectural masterpieces of the world's natural wonders In order for them to appreciate the cultural and historical values of humanity and consciously preserve them - Being a teacher in the current situation, I am well aware of greater significance of integrated teaching approach in dealing with potential problems in each subject, thereby facilitating students to have further understading of every aspects of the subject involved Also, integrated teaching helps students bring into full play their own thinking and creativity in knowledge acquisition and application in reality In the spirit, I would like to express certain experiences in integrated teaching in the topic: “History – Geography – Literature – Civic education and Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English period of Grade Period 33: Unit 5: Natural wonders of the world – Lesson 1: Getting started Research subjects - History – Geography – Literature – Civic education and Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English - Objective of Study includes 28 students of class 6A of Dong Quang Secondary School, Dong Son District, Thanh Hoa Province - The 2018 - 2019 school year Research methods During the teaching of the topic, I have used many methods such as: - Methodology of theoretical research - Methodology of reasoning - Observation method - Conversation method - Investigation method - Test and evaluation methods II SOLUTION OF THE ISSUE Theoretical basis of the initiative experience - In the current process of national industrialization and modernization, further internation integration is of greater significance In the spirit, our State and Party have reaffirmed the policy “Education is National Top Priority”, in which English has been paid more and more attention and listed in the compulsory educational curriculum In fact, English is open to all learners at any level, but it requires reasonable learning approaches and know-hows for truly great effectiveness In other words, how to study English well is an issue of much interest - Above all, English studying requires all learners to make ultimate self-motivation, which drive them to be patient in their practices of English skills listening, speaking, reading and writing, at the same time determining specific goals within a certain period of time What is English studying for? Just be well aware of individual goals, like foreign business communication, abroad travelling, tourism, or overseas study, and so on Once specific goals have been set and determined, best English studying approaches are probably found out The same can be said about English teachers Thus, integrated teaching should be soon taken into consideration, mostly because it enables students to precisely acquire knowledge, skills and positive attitudes, at the same time integrating all of them into real social situations, as well as inspiring them to learn English and lead meaningful lives The real situation before applying the initiative experience In fact, English teaching and studying at Dong Quang Secondary school are facing a great number of issues, caused by certain things as follows: - As for students and their parents: A certain number of students and their parents are not clearly aware of English significance As a result, students take little interest in English studying, while their parents pay no attention to their children’s performance at school A contingent of students take no notice of their lessons (due to chatting; inattention in teachers’ performance, as well as distraction caused by outersocial factors like online games, social networks and teenager tendencies, and so on Also, students generally show signs of laziness and poor awareness of self-study They frequently forget to review lessons, homework, and make preparations for new classes In addition, they fail to balance their interests in life A certain number of students have lost their English background, that is proven via the outcome of schoolyear-beginning placement test - As for teachers: Regardless of numerous efforts made during their lessons, namely diversified teaching approaches aimed at further student mobilization, eventual results are to some extent limited Teachers fail to apply their favourite teaching approaches to all lessons, as well as all students It is partly because of overloaded coursebook content, over-sized classes, poor student background, and poor awareness of self-improvement As a result, the English teaching outcome has failed to meet the demands up to now - As for the English curriculum: Despite its further attraction in content, the English curriculum, in fact, is much more difficult, therefore acts as a huge challenge to students of poor background Apart from it, English is in close connection with other subjects in the over-all curriculum at secondary school level Thus, it requires learners a certain level of background which ensures them a relatively performance at school In reality, a lot of students, as a result, fail to keep pace with the curriculum and eventually are left behind Innovations or solutions used to solve the problem In some cases, the allocation of English content in each period is to some extent uneven Some English content, that is, can’t be dealt with in just 45 minutes as scheduled Also, time for further practice of grammar points is in fact limited In face of it, teachers are forced and also driven to adjust their own teaching approaches that are much more in line with such new situation At the same time, new goals are set As a result, one of new teaching approaches is taken into consideration in my topic, namely historis – geography – literature – civic education and fine arts integrated teaching It is as follows: - History integration : Students know how to use their historical knowledge to inculcate their understanding of time of birth; the process of building ancient wonders, new world wonders and natural wonders of Vietnam as well as artistic values of natural wonders, thereby helping students understand and appreciate labor achievements and creative talents of people - Geography integration: Using Geography knowledge to introduce students how to determine the geographical location of natural wonders - Literature integration: Literature study enables students to get better at expressing ideas, making speech in certain cases Also, it creates a ground for students to approach other subjects as well as form their own style Literature, therefore, is critical to individual study performance and personal development, via improved idea expression Thanks to it, it makes students find it easier to translate new linguistic materials during their English lessons - Civic education integration: It enables students to be well aware that natural wonders and how to conserve them Accordingly, civic education makes remarkable contributions to higher education and training quality, as well as developing student into contributing members in the society, as well as welldetermined, honest and objective Thanks to it, civic education helps students improve their own knowledges It drives them to lead a better and valuable life - Fine arts integration: using the Art knowledge to help students drill their imagination and illustrate with pictures through paintings as well as see all the beauty and values of artistic architectural masterpieces of the world's natural wonders In order for them to appreciate the cultural and historical values of humanity and consciously preserve them Based on it, students are developed to be more passionate, flexible and concentrative on other subjects as well Last but not least, history – geography - literature – civic education – fine arts integrated teaching helps improve teaching quality and outcome, at the same time enabling students to find out better study approaches In addition, the reality shows that the performance of integrated teaching has shown remarkable signs, like further student determination, their greater efforts, and so on that were not available before As expected, students have known how to take innitiative in their own study, and got much more creative and flexible in knowledge acquisition Generally speaking, integrated teaching helps promote student critical thinking, as well as develop into highly professional citizens who always know how to put any situation under control in the future Based on it, I would like to design certain lesson plans that I have personally taken charge of in the Grade English curriculum by taking integrated teaching approach In which, a set of charts, mind maps, diagrams, as well as images of fine arts, and details of physical education and literatures are included and made most use during my lesson Hopefully, the best teaching outcome is achieved in a well-prepared combination of multi-subject qualities, thereby driving students to love studying English more, also leading a much more beautiful life Detailed examination: Creative application of history – geography - literature – civic education – fine arts integrated teaching approach to a specific lesson in class at Dong Quang Secondary School: Period 33: UNIT 5: NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD Lesson 1: Getting stared I OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to use: Knowledge: - To use lexical items related to “ things in nature” Use fixed expressions for classroom situations - To get to practice in reading to seek information - Understand more about famous landmarks in Vietnam as well as in the world - Write the passage about one of famous landmarks Skills: As for English: - Listening: Listen “Listen and read” page 48 & 49, grade English coursebook - Speaking: Practise the conversation activity and then answer the questions in activity 1, 2, 3, page 48 & 49, grade English coursebook - Reading: Read in details the conversation activity again and answer the questions in activity 1, , page 48 & 49 , grade English coursebook - Writing: Practise whole sentences and write the answers to question in activity , page 49 grade English coursebook down in workbook Inter-subject knowledge integration: - History integration: Students know how to use their historical knowledge to inculcate their understanding of time of birth; the process of building ancient wonders, new world wonders and natural wonders of Vietnam as well as artistic values of natural wonders, thereby helping students understand and appreciate labor achievements and creative talents of people - Geography integration : Using Geography knowledge to introduce students how to determine the geographical location of natural wonders - Literature integration: Studying skills about writing paragraphs or articles on natural wonders - Civic education integration: Educate students to love consciously, preserve and protect the wonders - Fine arts integration: using the Art knowledge to help students drill their imagination and illustrate with pictures through paintings as well as see all the beauty and values of artistic architectural masterpieces of the world's natural wonders In order for them to appreciate the cultural and historical values of humanity and consciously preserve them Attitudes: Aimed at improving students’ self-awareness and competence in intersubject knowledge integration, at the same time motivating them to initiatively practise English major skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing which are focused on natural wonders of the world Based on it, students are inspiried to learn English well The same can be said about such subjects as history, geography, literature, civic education and fine arts in the curriculum at the secondary level II PRACTICE SKILLS: - Introduce new linguistic materials in the lesson and practise activity , 2, and in grade English coursebook at page 48 & 49 - Further practise listening and pronunciation, and then read carefully and answer all the questions in lesson in grade English coursebook at page 48 & 49 III Language Focus: Vocabulary: the lexical items related to “ things in nature ” Grammar: Superlatives of short adjectives Request: Can you ? and Can I ? IV TEACHING AIDS: * Teacher: - Multi-functional TV, laptop - Study card, pictures - The Internet – available sports pictures - E – lesson plans (lesson content tape has been connected to e – lesson plan) - Grade English coursebook * Students: - Pen, English coursebook - Their earlier preparations for the part Lesson at page 48 & 49, grade English coursebook V PROCEDURES: Getting started: Entering the class, make earlier review, and check the class size A Class organization - Greeting - Checking attendance: B New lesson Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents WARM UP 5’ - Ask student to watch the pictures about famous landmarks in Viet Nam and in the world: THE WONDERS OF ANCIENT WORLD Kim tự tháp Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza Tượng thần Dớt Vườn treo Babylon The Hanging Garden of Babylon ®Ịn Artemis The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus The Wonders of Ancient World The Statue of Zeus at Olympia The Lighthouse of Alexandria Lang mé mááolus The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Tượng thần mặt tròi The Colossus of Rhodes 10 THE NEW WONDERS OF THE WORLD Đấu trường La Mã Rome đền Taj Mahal Ấn Độ Thành cổ Petra Jordan VIET NAM 11 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents  Introduce new lesson + Introduce the new lesson “ There are a lot of famous landmarks in Vietnam as well as in the world Today we are going to learn: Period 33: UNIT 5: Natural wonders of the world Lesson 1: Getting started Getting started: - Inform the topic: Natural wonders of the world Ask Ss to describe what they can see Ask Ss What can you see in the picture 1? if they know the places: Picture Where is it? Do you know this P1 place? Ayers Rock What can you see in the picture 2? Where is it? Do you know this place? 12 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents P2 What can you see in the picture 3? Where is it? Do you know this place? P3 * Base on the knowedges of the History, Geography ? How you know about these wonders? - Ss answer - Give the answer keys: AYRES ROCK + It is in the middle of Autralia + It is about 350 km Southwest of Alice Springs at 25 degrees 20’41” S 131 degrees 01’57” E + It extends 2.5km into the ground + It was described by exploreer Ernet Giles in 1872 as “the remarkable pebble” HA LONG BAY 13 Steps/ Time PRESENTATION 10’ Teacher’s and Sts’ activities + It located in Quang Ninh province + It includes 1553 km2 + There are 1969 both big and small islands + In 1994, It was regconized as a world Heritage Sites SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE + It located in Sydney, Australia + It completed in 1973 - by a Danish architect + In 2007, It was regconized as a world Heritage Sites + Its shape is the roof shells 185 meters + It includes 1000 rooms long Contents New words mountain (n) waterfall (n) forest (n) desert (n) 120 meters island (n) wide valley (n) - Pre-teach new words quickly by using pictures Look at the pictures Complete the passage 2- Listen and repeat the following words mountain river waterfall forest cave desert lake Viet Nam has lots of beautiful a) islands It has lots of b) mountains and c) caves There are a lot of d) waterfalls There are big e) forests and there are some beautiful f) valleys There aren’t any g) deserts a) b) c) f) e) d) g) Listen and repeat the following words beach mountain desert river lake waterfall beach forest island cave 10 valley island 10 valley 3- Now label the pictures Key: 14 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Read the conversation in Tick the words you can find  mountain desert river lake waterfall beach forest cave  island 10 valley Contents mountain river waterfall forest cave desert lake beach island 10 valley Listen and read Practice: Listen What are they talking about? PRACTICE a Their houses b Their schools c Natural wonders and read 20’ *Base on the knowlegde of the Literature: ?Can you explain what “ Natural wonders” means? a- Ss work independently Allow them to share answers before discussing in groups or as a class a Answer the following questions Key: a Answer the questions Who is the leader of Geography Club? Vy is ( the leader of Geography Club) Why is Mai late? Because she went to the wrong room 3.What is the other name for Ayes Rock ? Uluru (is the other name for Ayer Rock) Which country would Phuc like to visit? Phuc would like to visit Australia Vy is because she went to the wrong room Uluru Australia An island 5.What is Tuan Chau? It is an island 15 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents b- Tell Ss to refer back to the conversation to find the phrases Ss can work together to write the correct sentences Ensure they add appropriate punctuation eg: capital letters, question marks - Practice saying the letters together - Draw a character on the board b spell / you / that / please/ can -> Can you spell that , please ? repeat / you / that / please/ can -> Can you repeat that , please ? come / I/ can / in -> Can I come in ? c- Use the example to practice a conversation with Ss Then ask Ss to develop a role-play around their ideas Support with suggestions More able Ss can try to extend the conversation b- Put the words in the correct order Key: Can you spell that, please? Can you repeat that, please? Can I come in ? c- Brainstorm situations when people use these sentences Then role-play the 16 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents situations with a partner Can you spell that, please? Can I come in? - Role-play Can you + V + …, please? Can I + V + …? -Người nói u cầu người nghe làm việc -Người nói đề nghị làm việc Some chicken Some bread PRODUCTION 8’ 17 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents Some milk d- Ss listen and repeat HOMEWORK 2’ e- Ss look back at the conversation in Getting Started and try to find the vocabulary used - Teacher ask: ? Which wonder you like best in Viet Nam and in the world? Why you like it? ? Can you tell us your understanding about these landmarks? - Ss will use the Literature, History, Geography… to answer * Use the Geography, Civil Education: 4- Read the conversation in again Tick the words you can find - Teacher: ? What have we learnt today? You have just known about famous landmarks in Viet Nam as well as in the world ? What are the role of the wonders like? * Use the Civil Education: ? What should you to conserve and promote these heritages? - Learn new words - Write about natural wonders which you like and which is related the knowlege you have learnt in this lesson 18 Steps/ Time Teacher’s and Sts’ activities Contents - Prepare for the next lesson: A closer look VI SELF-VALUABLE: The effectiveness of the initiative experience for topic Targeted outcome: Quality Excellence Strong-pass Average Weak Class number % number % number % number % 6A 18 47.4 16 42.1 10.5 0 Following a period of experimental teaching performance in class 6A, at Dong Quang Secondary School, I realize that all of students have got much more excited about learning English They are more eager to take part in the lesson Also, the weaker feel no longer worried and hestitate about proving themselves Generally, all the students have got engaged in all possible exercises during the lesson Via the period, students are well aware of English studying significance in mastering core knowledge, getting updated information for better English communicative activities, as well as great benefit taken from sports activities, also improving competence in performing English or Vietnamese dialogues In addition, further progress has been also made via making charts or mind maps related to the lesson content Based on it, students have opportunities to experience an over-all development in terms of “Morals, Mental Power, Physical Strength, and Beauty” 19 III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions: In spite of ongoing difficulties in English teaching and studying at Dong Quang Secondary School, the experimental performance of intersubject history, geography, literature, civic education and fine arts integrated teaching in an English period has shown remarkabke signs A great majority of 6A students as well as other ones in school has got excited about it They have confirmed about their further confidence, better in-class performance and greater passion for English studying Although little progress has been made, anyway, we felt extremely delighted at inspiring students to learn English well Such integrated teaching approach is mostly focused on promoting students’awareness of self-study, further practice, self-testing, and also practical application and improvement In reality, integrated teaching method must be performed in line with renewed over-all curriculum, and upgraded class fascilities on a large scale Apart from it, integrated teaching, in one subject or inter-subject manner, must be specifically implemented in every lesson, also in every period in class Any successful teaching is in need of detailed preparations However, the decisive factor is how teacher performs it in class In detail, class organization and direction drive students to take initiative and get more creative during the lesson? Are students inspired to learn English? Do they master their knowledge? Is there a synchronized combination of lesson content – curriculum – teaching approach – class facilities or not? In fact, it of great significance to improve any subject teaching quality, not only English Thus, the application of inter-subject integrated teaching approach are of much importance to a higher English teaching quality in our school Recommendations 2.1 For the teachers: - Regard of numerous efforts made during the lessons, namely diversified teaching approaches - Teaching is in need of detailed preparations for each period before going to school - Integrated teaching method must be applied so as to attract students during study - Always use software, utilities, tools cater for the developping education and know how to apply ICT to teach English 20 2.2 For the students - Must the homework carefully at home - Must prepare the lesson carefully before class - Must integrate the subjects each other - Must obey the instructions and guidance of the teacher 2.3 For the leaders - Should equip adequate modern equipments such as laptop, TV, smart phones instead of teaching traditional methods - Should supply functional rooms to improve skills in teaching and studying English nowadays Lesson allocation causes certain over-contented periods, and no periods for review are made available period to a 45 – minute test (grade 6) The above-mentioned are my certain teaching experiences in the topic: “History – Geography - Literature - civic Education - Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English period of Grade - Period 33: Unit 5: Natural wonders of the world – lesson 1: Getting started)” I would like to receive the clleague’s construction feedback and support for a better performance in my topic Sincere thanks! SIGNATURE OF HEAD OF DONG QUANG SECONDARY SCHOOL Thanh Hoa, February 25th, 2019 I COMMIT TO NO COPYING ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS Signature of candidate Tran Thi Mai Huong Mai Thi Lien 21 REFERENCES Students’ and teacher’s English Program Pilot books Some information from the internet 22 ... certain experiences in integrated teaching in the topic: “History – Geography – Literature – Civic education and Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English period of Grade Period 33: Unit 5: Natural. .. Natural wonders of the world – Lesson 1: Getting started Research subjects - History – Geography – Literature – Civic education and Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English - Objective of Study includes... civic Education - Fine Arts Integrated Teaching in an English period of Grade - Period 33: Unit 5: Natural wonders of the world – lesson 1: Getting started) ” I would like to receive the clleague’s