Learning English in a fun manner
IT was definitely a fun way to use English for the pupils from SJK(C) Keh Seng in Malacca.
In conjunction with English Week, the teachers from the English Panel and the pupils worked together to prepare and present short skits based on popular stories for children and a ‘Show & Tell’ session.
Pupils from every year and class were actively involved in these two activities as the objective for this year’s English Week was to create opportunities for them to communicate in English through fun and meaningful ways.
The pupils were interested in trying out short skits because they were previously exposed to role playing activities during Language Arts lessons in class.
In the beginning, they were very excited when they were told that they were going to act. The pupils loved getting into different characters, preparing the props and background while having fun along the way. First, they were instructed to select a story for their skits. In accordance to the pupil-oriented approach, the children had their own discussions under the careful guidance of the teachers.
Based on their deliberations, they managed to come up with two stories: ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ and ‘Hansel & Gretel’.
Then, the class had a preview of both stories to ensure that each pupil understood the plot in both.
They watched snippets of the stories in cartoon form which was projected on the whiteboard.
After that, the pupils were split into two groups, each group taking a story for the skit.
While the teachers prepared the scripts, the children were tasked with the responsibility of creating props and backgrounds for their respective stories.
They were told to produce simple props from everyday materials like cardboard and polystyrene.
Once the scripts and props were ready, the pupils began their rehearsals, memorising their lines and practising their movements. They were also taught to convey the appropriate body language and emotions for their characters.
On the performance day, the two groups took turns going on stage to present their skits, with each presentation receiving rapturous applause from the audience when the shows ended.
The ‘Show & Tell’ session was recommended by the school’s English Language teacher Ng Wee Gwek. It replaced the usual story telling competition.
In the past, whenever there were storytelling competitions, pupils had to memorise stories beforehand and present them in ways that were dull and tiresome for both the speaker and audience to listen. They also faced pressure and anxiety from stage fright and other stressful elements in their preparations, making them less likely to enjoy the process of using the target language.
This made the project counterintuitive to the main objective of English Week. This is why the English teachers decided on the ‘Show & Tell’ session so pupils would enjoy the activities while developing an interest in the English language. For this activity, pupils were told to either prepare a slideshow, a video clip, or bring an item, to talk about for one or two minutes on stage.
The benefits of the ‘Show & Tell’ session are numerous. Pupils could utilise their ICT skills as some had prepared PowerPoint slideshows and video clips to be displayed as they presented their topics of interest.
Parents were also encouraged to be directly involved in helping their children prepare the slides or videos. This allowed parents to teach their children to deliver speeches effectively besides promoting healthy parent-child relationships.
The activities for English Week in SJK(C) Keh Seng were a success. School headmaster Yang Suan Chin thanked all the English teachers and parents who were involved. Without them, he said, the pupils would never be able to experience learning English in a fun, meaningful and engaging manner.