SAM SON CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME SOLUTIONS TO INSPIRE GRADE STUDENTS AT QUANG MINH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THEIR LEARNING ENGLISH Writer: Nguyễn Quỳnh Lê Position: Teacher Place of work: Quang Minh primary school Initiative field: English SAM SON, 2020 Introduction 1.1 Rationale for the research 1.2 Objectives of the research 1.3 Research object 1.4 Research Methodology Main content 2.1 The theorotical background knowledge 2.2 Current situation before applying the initiative 2.2.1 Advantages 2.2.2 Disadvantages 2.3 The solutions applied to solve the problems 2.3.1 The solution of using music in English lessons 2.3.2 The solution of using games in English lessons 2.3.3 The solution of using role-play in English lessons 2.3.4 The solution of using porfolio in English lessons 2.4 The effects of the thesis to teaching activities, individual, colleagues and schools Conclusion and recommendations 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Recommendations Reference TABLE OF CONTENT Page 1 2 2 4 5 13 14 17 18 18 18 20 1.Introduction 1.1 Rationale for the research Language is one of the most basic aspects of human communiations This is the main measure in which people convey what they are thinking about Thanks to this specific characteristic, language allows human innovation to become drammatically developed in many knowledge fields Therefore, it is necessary for human generally and children specifically to master one language as soon as possible, especially English No one can deny the importance of English in our daily lives This is one of the most popular foreign languages and is spreaded in many schools all over the world English is considered as the bridge which can help us to achieve a lot of success as well as opportunities in studying and working worldwide Unlike learning Vietnamese, learning English with variaty of themes together with speaking requirements will help children become more confident The combination of playing and studying gives children the good chance to be active and alternative students Moreovere, children can explore more about the world and connect themselves with others; hence, their language will be gradually enriched Therefore, children’s ability in communication will be developed and they no longer feel embrassed A child who is fluent in English can have greater career opportunities in the future, improve their self-esteem and be enriched with all kinds of personal experiences to be able to communicate with people from different cultures and countries In education system, English is a compulsory subject applied to school circulicum from Grade to 12 This subject helps to build up and develop students’ communicative ability through the practice of four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) However, the application of teaching and studying English in our education system generally and in primary level specifically still have a lot of challenges In Quang Minh primary school, students in Grade are those who experience many dificulties because they are on the process of getting acquainted to a new language Children are not able to systematically grasp language and analyze language in a conscious way Moreover, they not have long-term focus and easily get bored Therefore, the teaching method of teachers is the decisive factor, hich is the top priority In order to have a good quality English lesson and give students an inspiration when receiving lessons, the teacher must really have unique, attractive and innovative teaching methods To promote the activeness and creativity of learners, students must be considerd as the subjects of the teaching process with the help of teacher’s guidance With aim to help students in Grade – Quang Minh primary school in the process of learning English, I have chosen the topic " Some solutions to inspire Grade students at Quang Minh primary school in their learning English " to provide some solutions that I myself have and will continue to help change the learning atmosphere Therefore, it makes lessons less stressful and easier to understand and learners can remember and absorb knowledge deeply 1.2.Objectivesof the res The thesis focuses on studying the use of techniques and methods of teaching vocabulary and model sentences for Grade studetns at Quang Minh primary school through games, music, role-play, portfolios Accordingly, suggest some recommendations to improve the use of vocabulary in real situations Proper and scientific application of techniques in organizing games during English lessons in primary school aims to: - Create students interest in learning as well as arouse their desire to participate in exploration, discovery and experimentation activities - Help students to carry out learning activities in an active way Give students the good condition to play and study at the same time; hence, they can re-create, systematize knowledge in the easiest way - Apply appropriately modern teaching methods to the subject to promote students’ activeness 1.3 Research object - Some solutions to inspire Grade students at Quang Minh primary school in their learning English - Study documents and summarize practical experience on using interactive activities such as games, songs, role-play, porfolio to inspire Grade students at Quang Minh primary school in their learning English 1.4 Research Methodology The thesis has used several methods as follows: - Methods of investigation - Experimental method - Methods of studying language teaching theory - Researching methods of teaching words through documents, networks, on television Main content 2.1 The theorotical background knowledge Primary level plays an vital role in the foundation of forming and developing students’ personality N.X.Leytex has demonstrated that “Primary age is the period when children start their knowledge absorption in a natural way.”Primary students nowadsays has proved to be the main subjective through their own activities under the organization and guidance of adults through modern mothods Therefore, when teaching primary students, teachers have to concentrate on the way to help them in their learning process Wrong methods and techniques will dramatically affect English now has been applied to be taught as a basic language in primary school It is an isolated language which take students a lot of time to study Functioning as other languages, English aims at providing students with beginning knowledge of a foreign language and helping them to communiate the second language through English communicative practice of four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) Also, learning English help students to improve their ability of expressing their individual ideas in a condifent and creative way.English is of great importance in the current renovation period of the country, with a great ability to educate and maintain perseverance and memorization from the thinking processes necessary for access and forming a new language Primary English is considered to be the bridge of teaching English to middle and high school levels, ensuring the integration with relevant content of other subjects in the elementary program In order to help primary students study English well, teacher is not only the one who teaches knowledge in a mechanic way but they have to inspire students on studying by engaging them to studying activities Accordingly, if organizing interactive activities are applied through warm – up part, they will help to focus students’ attention on the main points of the lesson Moreover, students will have chance to consolidate and memorize knowledge deeply if teachers apply some interactive activities in practice part In addition, we can integrate the use of activities in the introduction and practice of new language to avoid being boring for students to repeat the sentence patterns to master Research and rational use of interactive activities in each lesson will contribute positively to the success of the lesson Some of the activities such as games, music, role-play, portfolios have been widely applied and has given a lot of benefits Obviously, learning is a serious business Yet that doesn’t mean students shouldn’t have fun while doing it In fact, playing games increases motivation by helping students relax, open up, and get out of their heads while learning Games are perfect for practicing vocabulary and targeting grammar; thus increasing camaraderie through light competition, boosting energy levels, reducing stress, promoting problem-solving, and buying more focused lesson time later in the hour While it’s clear that children and beginners shine brighter when playing, it’s also true that adults and advanced learners enjoy competition and lighter moments in class Also, using music when teaching English can be beneficial for non-native English speaking students as well as fluent speakers In his book "Music and Learning," Chris Boyd Brewer explains, "The intentional use of music in the classroom will set the scene and learning atmosphere to enhance our teaching and learning activities." Implementing the use of familiar or easy-to-learn songs is a great way to introduce principles of speaking, hearing and understanding the English language he function of using songs while teaching English classes is to engage students in speaking and understanding the English language, while reinforcing the fundamentals of language and communication According to an April 2005 edition of the Translation Journal, "Behaviorists emphasize repetition of material so that it becomes a natural reaction for the student." As students repeat lyrics, they begin to understand the meaning of the words until it becomes a natural act With this, students can understand the way English is used without even realizing they are learning Moreover, role-play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into somebody else's shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation! Incorporating role-play into the classroom adds variety, a change of pace and opportunities for a lot of language production and also a lot of fun! It can be an integral part of the class and not a 'one-off' event If the teacher believes that the activity will work and the necessary support is provided, it can be very successful However, if the teacher isn't convinced about the validity of using role-play the activity "will fall flat on its face just as you expected it to" (Gillian Porter Ladousse 1987) In addidtion, teachers can take advantage of portfolios in their teaching process Paulson, Paulson, Meyer (1991) defined a portfolio as a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection." In details, a student portfolio is a compilation of academic work and other forms of educational evidence assembled for the purpose of (1) evaluating coursework quality, learning progress, and academic achievement; (2) determining whether students have met learning standards or other academic requirements for courses, gradelevel promotion, and graduation; (3) helping students reflect on their academic goals and progress as learners; and (4) creating a lasting archive of academic work products, accomplishments, and other documentation Student portfolios are most effective when they are used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement Portfolios can help teachers monitor and evaluate learning progress over time Portfolios help teachers determine whether students can apply what they have learned to new problems and different subject areas.Portfolios can encourage students to take more ownership and responsibility over the learning process 2.2 Current situation before applying the initiative 2.2.1 Advantages: + About the School Managing Board: The School Managing Board has pay a lot of attention on training methods, innovating the ways of teaching activities and giving the best conditions for me to teach English for Grade at Quang Minh primary school + About the teachers: Personally, I am passinate to my teaching career as a teacher of English Although I myself still not have long time teaching primary students, I am highly aware of working hard to improve Also, I often search for related-toEnglish resources from books, magazines and the Internet in order to apply properly in my teaching career Moreover, my colleages at schools always are those who are very enthusiatic in helping me teaching English They have good cooperation with me in my teaching and organizing learning activities I have good opportunities to understand my students more and more thanks to their help + About the students: At Quang Minh primary school, there are only 76 students in Grade which are devided into classes, namely 3A-3B-3C The number of students in each class is quite ideal for me to teach English It brings me a good chance to observe all students’ activities and assist them if necessary Although English is not a familiar subject, most of students show their interest and attention on the lessons Many of them have had good chance to get aquaitance to English from the early age when their parents have sent them to some local English centers In order to understand their learning situation, at the beginning of the school year, I conducted a survey to assess the learning ability of English for Grade students The results are as follows: Survey results Good Total students 76 Average Poor Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 6,5% 35 46% 36 47,5% + About the parents: Most of the parents show their consideration on their children’s studying process They usually spend time discussing with the teacher in order to find the best direction to help their children in studying 2.2.2 Disadvantages + About the teachers: My short experience as an English teacher in primary schools prevents me a lot from reaching the best teaching results + About the students: Many students not have chance to get aquainted to English until they are in Grade 3; consequently, they encounter many challenges in learning the subject Many have bad ability of mastering knowledge which affects their learning process Some students not receive enough care from their parents, from which somehow distracts their studying + About the parents: Most of the parents are workers who not have a lot of time taking care of their children in the learning process The children usually spend most of the time with their grandparents which create a lot of difficulties in educating Moreover, English is not an easy lesson to be taught by parents who not good at it 2.3 The solutions applied to solve the problems 2.3.1 The solution of using music in English lessons Using music when teaching English, especially as a second language to non-native speakers, is a great way to create a friendly, comfortable atmosphere for students to learn When students feel at ease and in a safe environment, they have the potential to better retain information The nature of the music changes the act of learning English to the act of experiencing English, which may allow students to focus on the core principles of the language in a manner unlike traditional grammar lessons or drills 2.3.1.1.Warming up Although all parts of a lesson are important, the engage phase (or warm up) may be the most important The engage phase is the departing point of the lesson, where you need to draw the attention of the students away from other occurrences of the day and make them focus on learning the English language Choosing an activity to grab the students' attention can be a challenge, as it needs to work within just a few minutes Through various studies, music has shown to be an activity which utilizes many parts of the brain at once, and therefore is a great activity to “jump start” the brain, and get students to focus more quickly There are a variety of different ways to use music in warm-up activity The simplest way is just letting students listen to the song that relates to the theme they are studying It would be better if teachers provide students with the lyrics for students to sing as a group Example 1:In Unit 1: Hello, teacher can use the song “Hello, how you do?” to get students be familiar with the right pronunciation of “Hello” because this is one of the words being mispronounced the most Moreover, it is an easy and simple song that students can remember and sing along easily Example 2:In Unit 4: How old are you, in order to supply students with numbers in an exciting way, teacher can play the song “Ten little Indians” It would bring a happy atmostphere before leading to the main lessons This activity would become extremely effective if there is a help of projector and speakers for students to watch the video and sing along Example 3: In Unit 6: Stand up, before leading the main lessons of actions, teacher can show the video of “Stand up, sit down” song It’s a good way for students to be familiar with the actions before learning or writing them down in their notebooks Together with listening and singing along, music can be used as the best way of dancing which is considered as an efficient way of warming the lessons up There are a lot of songs that can really help in this situations Songs with some simple actions that students can easily dance will really give the lessons the efficient beginning Some of suggested songs for dancing can be “Baby shark; Ram Sam Sam; Walking walking; Apples and Bananas; Walking Walking,” … 2.3.1.2 Introducing new lesson The teacher can use music before they introduce students with new words or model sentences There are two steps that need to be considered as follows: + Preparation: Teachers choose English songs related to the topic that students will learn + Procedure: Have students listen to the songs depending on the theme of each lesson, ask students to discuss and guess the content of the song After the students speak, the teacher will lead the new lesson In addition, teachers can use the song to teach vocabulary and sentence patterns if they appear in the lyrics For example: Name of the song Hello, hello, how are you? Unit Theme Unit Greeting How old are you? Unit Numbers This is my friend Unit Friends What’s this? What’s that? Unit School things I can sing rainbow Unit Colours a Vocabulary/ Model sentence How are you? – I’m fine, thank you One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten How old are you? This is my friend Sarah Rubber, pencil, school bag, notebook, pencil case, … Red, purple, pink, green, blue, yellow, brown, black, white 2.3.1.3 Consolidating knowledge: + Preparation: English songs together with papers, crayons and pencils + Procedure: Give each student a piece of paper, pencil and crayons When listening to a song, students will write words that are heard in the song on paper or draw pictures according to the theme they hear After 40 to 60 seconds the teacher stops the music, students will stop writing or drawing to check The teacher can show the song to students to correct the words or give students a description of the picture they paint Example: Tell the students to listen to the song "What’s in your bag?" Give students time to listen to the song and draw school things that they have heard from it Teacher can introduce some new words from the song after checking up students’ drawing papers What’s in your bag? – It’s my pencil What’s in your bag? – It’s my notebook What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet snake What’s in your bag? – It’s my ruler What’s in your bag? – It’s my earser What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet spider What’s in your bag? – It’s my pencil case What’s in your bag? – It’s my pet dinosaur 2.3.1.4.Considersations For best results in using music in English lessons, teachers may want to consider using songs that are easy to learn and follow "Silly" songs that contain easy to remember lyrics are often easy for students to process and understand If using songs to teach English to non-native speakers, it may be beneficial to translate songs that may be familiar to students into English and perform as a class if possible The subject matter of the songs should generally be relatable to the student, and if possible, address real-life situations 2.3.2 The solution of using games in English lessons Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading They encourage students to interact and communicate They create a meaningful context for language use The use of game is definitely benificial in introducing new lesson or consolidating knowledge 2.3.2.1.Solution to use games to expand and reinforce vocabulary There are numerous techniques concerned with vocabulary presentation However, there are a few things that have to be remembered irrespective of the way new lexical items are presented If teachers want students to remember new vocabulary better, it needs to be learnt in context, practiced, and then revised to prevent students from forgetting Teachers must make sure students have understood the new words, which will be remembered better if introduced in a ‘memorable way’ Accordingly, using games is one of the effective ways of vocabulary presentation Example 1: In Unit 4: How old are you?, the teacher can use the game “Slap the board” In this game, the teacher put the vocabulary items (numbers: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten) on the board in any order jumbled and sometimes a little bit higher than the tallest child can reach, so that they'll have to jump Then divide the class into groups The teacher say a word, the first person in each group to slap the right word gets a point In the orther way, the teacher doesn't have to call out the English word, get other kids to call out so they're getting practice speaking too SLAP THE BOARD GAME THREE NINE FOUR EIGHT ONE TEN FIVE SIX TWO SEVEN Example 2:In Unit 6: Stand up, Miming can be used as a guessing game of actions students have learnt (stand up, sit down, open your book, close your book, be quiet, come here, don’t talk) This wordless activity leads the students to speak quite naturally Someone mimes an action and the others try to guess what it This kind of guessing game can provide further practice of a wider variety of lexical and grammatical units Example 3: In Unit 7: That’s my school, “Bingo”can be used as a good game for students to practice new words relating school (library, gym, classroom, playground, music room, computer room, large, new, old, big, small) In this game, student have to choose words that you like the best in each turn and write them down on a piece of paper The teacher also writes down his/her favourite words, then alternately read his/her words Students listen and check up if they write the same words that they have heard Any with all correct words will say “Bingo” for being the winner The purpose of this simple game is giving students an opportunity to write English in a natural and spontaneous way instead of getting tired writing dictation at home It’s a good and easy way to write and remember English vocabulary when students still feel comfortable and happy Example 4: In Unit 10: What you at break time, “Choosing game” can be used for students to recall their memory of sports and games they have learnt This is a simple game in which teacher show students with two pictures of sports and games Teacher asks students “What you at break time?” and students have to choose only one picture to answer Then, teacher shows students with the back of the picture The one with the sticker behind will be the chosen Students with the answer will be the winner 2.3.2.2 Solution to use games to practice communication skills For practising speaking skill, “Board game” will be the most efficient one for student to revise model sentences they have been taught Preparation for the game can be various due to the real conditions, namely pictures or words/phrase Teacher have to prepare the dice for each group In turn, they roll the dice that show them the place they have to make sentences with The game would be more interesting if the teacher put some special items such as  for “play again”,for “move backward”, or  for “move forward” It would be even more exciting with the help of the ladder (showing the shorter way to the end) In more detail, I have prapared a model board game for Unit 10: What you at break time as follows: (?) What you at break time? Table tennis Finish Badminton Chess Hide-and-seek Skate 1  Skip Volleyball  2 football Blind man’s bluff Hide-and-seek Start Basketball For practising listening skill, “Listen and draw” can be an ideal game Accordingly, students will listen to the teacher’s sentence or from the CD, then they draw what they heard on the board It would be more interesting when teacher make it a small competition among students The one with the most correct drawing will be the winner For example, In Unit 4: How old are you, teacher asks student to design a birthday cake with the number of candles that are spoken by teacher or from the CD When students hear “I’m seven years old”, they have to draw seven candles on the birthday day It requires quick and accurate thinking of numbers instead of counting from number one To design game for Unit 8: This is my pen, teacher can show handouts of empty school bags in which students have to listen to teacher’s requirements and draw the school things Teacher can say sentences like: This is my pencil, This is my pencil case, These are my books, These are my rulers, etc Students have chance to practise plural forms of nouns to draw the right number of school things The model school bag given to students will be demonstrate as follows This is my school bag One more game can be used to practise listening skill is “Whisper” In this activity, students are divided into groups and they make a line The first one of each line will be the only person to be listened to teacher’s sentence They then in turn whisper the sentence to their friends in the group The last person of the line will say loudly the sentence they have been whisper The one with the fastest and most correct answer will become the winner of that turn In Unit 9: What colour is it, teacher can prepare handouts of school things such as pen, pencil, pencil case, rubber, pencil sharpener, school bag,… The purpose of this game is to help students revise colours Students will have to prepare their own crayons to listen to teacher’s sentece and then colour the right colour For example, when they hear “My pen is yellow”, students have to colour the right yellow on the pen Unit 4: How old are you? Unit 9: What colour is it? For practise reading skill, teacher prepare some reading texts relating to the topic or just simply use the reading text in the textbook for students to attend a reading competition Class will be divided into groups in which they send one representative for each turn The person with the fastest time of reading will be the winner of that turn Teacher listen, give feedback as well as correct any pronunciation mistakes For practising writing skill, “Words chain” can be used to help students write down words that they have learnt The rule is that they have to write new words beginning with the last letter of the former word The requirement of this game is the correct spelling of words Students have to build up their own vocabulary to win this game Example of the typical “Words chain” game is: hello, orange, elephant, tiger, ruler, red, dining room, music, classroom, mother, rubber, rhino, open, nurse… If the teacher want to check students’ ability of writing model sentences, “Word arranging” can be effectively used There are a list of sentences which have been put in the wrong order Students take turn to write the correct sentences basing on the given words All the sentences will be taken from the knowlegde being given in each lesson Therefore, this simply game would be the good one for students to practice model sentences as well as writing skill The teacher can make it more interesting by setting points together with the sentences The winner and loser will be defined basing on the total points This kind of game can be used after each lesson for students to revise the model sentences as well as after some units for student to consolidate knowledge Basing on the results of the game, teacher have the best observation of students’s learning process; consequently, students would be given help if necessary.Some of the model sentences demonstrated for the game can be: a Mai/ this/ friend/ is/ my/./ b that/ my/ computer/ is/ room/./ c that/ Mr/ is/ Loc/?/ d is/ my/ pencil/ yellow/ case/./ e rulers/ are/ what/ your/ colour/?/ 2.3.2.3 Considersations There are some important things to consider when using games in the classroom First of all, we have to choose suitable games (depending on the number of students, proficiency level, cultural context, timing, learning topic, and the classroom settings) Also, clear objectives and goals must match the difficulty level of the game and ability level of the students Moreover, one big problem when organising games for students is that teacher hasto control the class atmosphere defenitely well The reason for this challege is that kids are easy to be distracted and noisy The key of success is when students have chances to play but under proper attitude Time division would also be one thing to be considered for that teacher have to organize proper time for teaching and playing If not, all the teaching schedule will be affected In order to achieve the best effect of game, teacher have to be wellprepared with a lot of tools In some cases, handouts and pictures are very useful It would be more effective with the help of technology Projector which helps to show pictures or sentences under power point software will avoid time – consumption Teacher then have more time to teach and design further interesting activities The computer connecting Internet can also be very necessary in the way teacher searches for needed materials using in the games 2.3.3 The solution of using role-play in English lessons Role-plays give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to use English in real life situations and make them focus more on communication than on grammar Role plays are used to allow students to practice speaking in a conversational situation, build confidence and fluency, assess progress, and put learning into action Role-play is possible at elementary levels providing the students have been thoroughly prepared Teacher have to try to think through the language the students will need and make sure this language has been presented Students may need the extra support of having the language on the board At the beginning level as Grade 3, role-play is simply act out the dilougues being presented in the text-book Normally, there will be from one to four students in each turn To make it more complicated, teacher ask students to change the content of the sentences to make their own play Students have to use their own body language, gestures, or postures to complete their role in the new play From my actual teaching, it seems that students show their interest in roleplay After some shy moments, they can act out their roles in a condifent and natural way This activity really helps in practising model sentences that students have been taught about Some of the possible teacher roles are: Facilitator - students may need new language to be 'fed' in by the teacher If rehearsal time is appropriate the feeding in of new language should take place at this stage Spectator - The teacher watches the role-play and offers comments and advice at the end Participant - It is sometimes appropriate to get involved and take part in the role-play yourself For example: In Unit 9: What colour is it - Lesson 1, students are put into the role of Mai and Nam to talk about their school things and the distance using “this” and “that’ The simple play would be more exciting and real with the use of real things in the classroom Students then have a chance to practice the model sentences “Is this your…?” and “Is that your…?” Teacher can use other school things in stead of “school bag” and “pen” to check students’ understanding of knowledge This small game can be practice very quick and efficient with the large contribution of different pairs of students In unit 10: What you at break time – Lesson 1, three students will act as Mai, Linda and Phong to perform the dialouge about what they at break time Teacher can instruct students to use their body language to make their conversation naturally like when they are speaking in Vietnamese Other groups can change the sports and games to make their own conversations Time will be set for students’ dicussion of changing This activity allows students to apply vocabulary they have learnt in the new context apart from the textbook Also, it show students’ creativity and activeness in the way the act in the simple play 2.3.4 The solution of using porfolio in English lessons 2.3.4.1 Steps of making a portfolio We can use portfolios as a tool to document and demonstrate student progress over time Each section of the portfolio should be designed to demonstrate a child’s progress with the early learning goals or standards identified by the program They can be used as tools to demonstrate each child’s individual progress from the beginning to the end of the school year Students can design the content of their own portfolios after each lesson or when they are given by their teacher For academic aspect, portfolios contains a lot of works However, I just make use of them as a tool of revising vocabulary, model and sentence and writing skill There is a cover page that shows the basic information of the student The model cover page designed by the teacher has been demonstrated in the appendix Grade 3’s portfolios will contain a lot of units from students’ textbooks in which they design main pages each unit The first page consists of colored drawings or printables together with vocabulary that are taught in the unit This page is considered as a mini picture dictionary for children can recall their knowledge and spelling of vocabulary they have been provided with This page also show students’ creativiness and activeness when they can design relating words in their own way Thus, portfolios are unique among students They can freely impress others through their own papers In the second page, students note down model sentence they have learned with the demonstration of some examples They then write a small writing paper basing on the topic they have been taught in the topic For example, to demonstrate how students make their portfolios for unit 4: How old are you, teacher instruct them to design their pages In the first page, student draw things relating to numbers from 1-10 Things drawn can be shapes, flowers, toys, school things, etc Teacher should suggest some ideas and let students choose the one that they like the most The finished first page is desired to be look like this: Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten One Six On the second page, the model sentence in unit will be noted down together with the typical example Besides, students are instruct to write a short paragraph about themselves using the knowledge they have learnt from unit 1-4 Students with good understanding can be instruct to use more complicated structures to make their writing paper a better one The following demonstration will provide more details about this Model sentence: How old are you?  I’m ……….years old Example: How old are you?  I’m eight years old Hello My name is Danny I’m eight years old I’m in Grade at Quang Minh primary school My class is 3A Nice to meet you! To make pages of portfolio for Unit 5: Are they your friends, students also follow the steps that have been instructed by teacher They can distinguish friend and friends through their own drawings The demonstration for this unit can be in more details as follows friend Model sentence: Mai, this is my friend Mary friends Hi! My name is Mai I am nine years old I have two friends This is Linda And this is Tony They are my friends Linda is nine years old and Tony is ten years old 2.3.4.2 Considersations The overall purpose of the portfolio is to enable the student to demonstrate to others learning and progress The greatest value of portfolios is that, in building them, students become active participants in the learning process and its assessment A portfolio is not just a collection of student work, but a selection – the student must be involved in choosing and justifying the pieces to be included A portfolio provides samples of the student’s work which show growth over time By reflecting on their own learning (self-assessment), students begin to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their work These weaknesses then become improvement goals The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents must be clear to the teacher and the students at the outset of the process Teacher should pay attention to students who get troubles with making their own portfolio Encouragements are suggested to help them get in track with the learning process Moreover, portfolios are often given as a project at home and it is definitely time-comsuming for students have to spend a lot of time drawing, making model sentences as well as writing As a result, teacher have to choose the proper units to set as an assignment at home Accesment should also be made continuously to evaluate students’ learning process 2.4 The effects of the thesis to teaching activities, individual, colleagues and schools After using above techniques in my teaching career, I have experienced some efficient results Teaching then no longer gives the knowledge in a traditional way, it becomes more active and interesting instead As a result, students have provided with exciting atmosphere without being scared and shy as they were at the beginning of the term After semester of applying English teaching teachniques, I realize that Grade students who study English that I directly teach have significant changes and have achieved some remarkable results as shown in the following table Survey results Total students 76 Good Average Poor Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 18 23,6% 52 68,4% 8% I myself become more aware of teaching English in a different way to explore students’ ability and to reach modern methods of teaching The role of teacher and student has now been changed as students can actively acquire their learning process themselves Teacher then plays the role of assisting and observing English new methods are updated day by day and I would become out-of-date if I did not have good vision of changing My colleagues at school also experience some good effects as students become more active in any activities being given They become more confident talking in front of others or making their own speech in a clear way We also have good cooperartion in helping students in their learning process The above teachniques definitely change students’ attitude in their learning English Many of them have shown their excellence of mastering English who will be chosen to be under futher revision in future examination in Sam Son city Although they are only Grade students, they can be trained soon to be the representatives of our school in the going examinations Conclusions and recommendations 3.1 Conclusion Although the English language doesn’t have the largest number of native speakers in the world, it has the widest reach of any language spoken today Both native and second-language speakers of English are found on every continent, and English has become the lingua franca in many fields, including business, politics, science, technology, and entertainment It is also the mostused language of the internet, accounting for more than half of all websites For many people, learning English is a way to get access to a broader range of information, connections, and opportunities In Vietnam, English has been obligatorily applied into school circulicum from Grade However, in order to improve English teaching quality in primary level, it is a need that teachers have to change their teaching methods to inspire students in their learning process In my experience, the use of games, role-play, music and portfolios in teaching English has been very efficient Students feel excited when they have been taught English in an interactive and active way 3.2 Recommendations In order to maximize the results of teaching and learning English in elementary school, I have some suggestions as follows: For Sam Son city Devision of Education and Training, training teachers basing certain topic would be suggested with the instruction of experts in English Moreover, teaching experience would be improved through attending lessons from school to school For teachers at Quang Minh primary school, it is suggested that they should continue to write their own initiative for improving students’ learning process Moreover, they should fully participate in meetings organized by the department in order to gain experiences in teaching career For Quang Minh primary school, modern tools such as projector, TV, speakers and laptops should be invested to assist learning and teaching process; accordingly, achieve the best learning results It would be greater if there are a media room which is used only for learning English For students’ parents, they are advised to pay more attention on their children’s learning process Discussion to the form teacher or the English teacher will really help to improve the cooperation between family and school The above-mentioned issues are only subjective opinions of myself, so certain limitations are unavoidable I look forward to receiving suggestions from colleagues and comments from superiors to make this topic more and more complete XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Hiệu trưởng Sầm Sơn, ngày12 tháng 05 năm 2020 Tơi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, không chép nội dung người khác Nguyễn Văn Ninh Nguyễn Quỳnh Lê Reference N.X.Leytex, Các khả trí tuệ lứa tuổi, NXB Giáo dục, 1971 Chris Boyd Brewer, Music and Learning, published by LifeSounds Educational Services, 2008 Gillian Porte Ladousse, Role Play, Oxford, 1987 4.Paulson, Paulson, Meyer , The Practice of English Language Teaching Jeremy Harmer, Longman, 1989 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVSnDZHNEQc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r9oD44HZzY https://www.youtube.com/user/englishsingsing9 8.https://www.youtube.com/user/SmartBooksMedia  ... aim to help students in Grade – Quang Minh primary school in the process of learning English, I have chosen the topic " Some solutions to inspire Grade students at Quang Minh primary school in their. .. teaching methods to the subject to promote students? ?? activeness 1 .3 Research object - Some solutions to inspire Grade students at Quang Minh primary school in their learning English - Study documents... attending lessons from school to school For teachers at Quang Minh primary school, it is suggested that they should continue to write their own initiative for improving students? ?? learning process Moreover,