NiE pullout always offers more to learn
Activities designed to promote English in fun manner
KLANG: The much-anticipated Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) pullout is making a significant difference during English lessons at SMK Convent Klang.
The NiE activities suggested by the first issue of the year, which led off with the topic Fabulous Me!, got the students from Form Two cheering and laughing as they learnt new things about their classmates.
English teacher Renuka Viswanathan, who is also the senior assistant (afternoon session), said she had been using the pullout to help with lessons for some time now.
“We have been subscribing to The Star for so many years. The school has been participating in the annual NiE contests without fail since the Campaign For Rewards contest that was held 10 years ago,” she said.
Over 800 students from SMK Convent Klang took part in last year’s NiE contest Game4Life.
Renuka, who described the pullout as “an authentic learning material”, said the material provided her a different route to teach English.
“I can also use the newspaper to generate conversation,” said Renuka, who also saw improvement in her students’ vocabulary and sentence structures since the adoption of NiE.
The 33 issues from January to November are designed to promote English in a fun, simple and effective manner. Three major segments – NiE English, NiE Literature and NiE Life – provide a comprehensive learning framework.
The pullout is syllabus-based with ready-made lesson plans that tackle themes and topics on literature set by the Education Ministry.
This year, the pullout’s much-loved comic strip will feature characters from the novel Captain Nobody.
Renuka said students who are interested in writing will definitely benefit with the inclusion of BRATs and Earn your band 6 in the pullout this year.
Student Kirthana Devi said NiE encouraged her to read The Star.
“Before this, I rarely touched the newspaper,” she said.
Schoolmate Nur Hanim Amalina said she learnt a lot from the pullout, and it gave her substantial issues to talk about.
“I also got closer to my friends because the activities encouraged us to work together,” she added.
Principal Rohimah Muhammad is in full agreement on the effectiveness of NiE in improving her students’ English.
“They have always been active in
The Star’s NiE and they have my full support,” she said.
Subscription to the NiE pullout is through schools only. For more information, call 1300 887 827 or read
StarEducate this Sunday.