Applying some language games effectively to renew warm - Up activity of reading lessons - English 10 (basic)

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ
TRƯỜNG THPT 4 THỌ XUÂN
EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
APPLYING SOME LANGUAGE GAMES EFFECTIVELY 
TO RENEW WARM-UP ACTIVITY OF READING LESSONS 
- ENGLISH 10 (BASIC) -
 Người thực hiện: Đỗ Thị Sen
 Chức vụ: Giáo viên 
 SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (môn): Tiếng Anh
THANH HOÁ NĂM 2017
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research
 Nowadays, English assumes as a more and more important part as a means of international communication than ever. It is also a "useful tool" and a "master- key" to discover the world of science, technology, education, culture, business and diplomacy. With such a trend of development, therefore, improving the quality of education in general and quality of the subject English in particular is one of the concerns leading the current educational policy. Specially, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the Students’ needs for effective communication.
 However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning in particular does not come up to the study aims. In spite of teachers’ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam.
 At 4 Tho Xuan high school, most students are not aware of the importance of reading skill. It has been proved that some students got into a habit of learning “mute English” which obviously harmful to a language learner. Therefore, it is necessary to find a supplementary technique used in teaching reading.
 Games can help teachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. Games bring a relaxed atmosphere and create more opportunities for students to practice so they are highly motivating, competitive and fun. With games, students will enjoy themselves, be stimulated and get involved in speaking. As a result, they can learn new lexical items faster and remember better. With so many advantages, games seem to be an effective way in teaching and learning a foreign language.
 All the above – mentioned reasons and factors have inspired me to conduct a research titled “Applying some language games effectively to renew warm-up activity of reading lessons – English 10 (basic)”
1.2. Aims of the research
 The aims of the research are:
- To investigate the situation of teaching reading skill to the 10th graders in classroom.
- To investigate the effectiveness of using games in teaching reading skill to the 10th graders at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
- To provide some suggestions and implications for the improvement of teaching at 4 Tho Xuan high school by using games in addition to other techniques.
1.3. Object of the research
 The research focuses specifically on using games in warm up activity in teaching reading skill to the 10th graders at 4 Tho Xuan high school, namely, 2 classes 10A1 and 10A7.
1.4. Methods of the research
 In the process of carrying out this research, the survey questionnaire is used to collect data. The survey questionnaire including pre-task and post-task survey questionnaire is for 80 10th form students from 2 classes 10A1 and 10A7 at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical background
 Warm up activities
 A warm up activity is a short and fun game which a teacher or trainer can use with students. The purpose of a warm up is to encourage the students and prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds and/or their bodies.
 Motivation
 Motivation is generally defined as an abstract concept used to describe the willingness of a person to expand to reach a particular goal. For language learners, mastery of a language may be a goal. In linguistic, sociolinguistic and second language acquisition, a number of language learner motivation models have been postulated.
 Oxford and Shearin (1996) points out: “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learnt (the target language), how well they do on curriculum-related tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over”.
 Language games
 Language games mean games related to language. Hadfield (1987) classifies language games into may categories as follow:
 + Sorting, ordering, or arranging games.
 + Information gap games.
 + Guessing games.
 + Search games.
 + Matching games.
 + Labeling games.
 + Exchanging games.
 + Board games.
 + Role play games.
2.2. The reality of the problem
 The research was carried out at 4 Tho Xuan high school with the participation of 80 the 10th form students. All of the surveyed students have learned English for 7 years. However, most of them have difficulties in mastering four language skills. Of the four skills, as many of them revealed, they find reading especially important yet challenging one. That was the reason why most of the students feel bored and unmotivated in classes.
 English 10 textbook consists of 16 units for two terms. Lessons are under the tendency theme-based approaches. In general, the textbook provides students with a variety of topics and activities with the aim of helping students improve their skills. However, there are some topics that are far unfamiliar with the students’ background knowledge such as people’s background (unit 3), special education (unit 4), technology and you (unit 5), undersea world (unit 9), conservation (unit 10) and historical places (unit 16). 
The survey questionnaire used for 80 students from 2 classes 10A1 and 10A7 at 4 Tho Xuan high school.
 Table 1: Students’ attitudes and perspectives towards reading lessons
Options
Questions
A
(%)
B
(%)
C
(%)
D
(%)
Question 1:
How are reading lessons important to you?
A. Very important
B. Important
C. Normal
D. Not important at all
8
17
25
50
Question 2:
How do you find reading topics introduced in English 10 textbook?
A. Very interesting B. Interesting
C. Normal D. Boring 
10
21
23
46
Question 3:
How do you find reading activities introduced in English 10 textbook?
A. Very difficult B. Difficult
C. Normal D. Easy 
62
27
11
0
Question 4:
Are you willing to speak in classes?
A. Yes, I like speaking very much
B. Yes, sometimes
C. No, I’m never willing to speak
1
28
71
 As can be seen clearly from the table 1, a lot of the surveyed students think that reading skill is the most difficult skill meanwhile there are only 8 % consider it very important. More specifically, 46 % find topics introduced in English 10 textbook boring and 62% find activities introduced in English 10 textbook very difficult. Moreover, there are so many students who are never willing to speak in classes (71%). In summary, the students are losing their interest during the lesson. Therefore, an effective technique should be exploited to motivate students in reading lessons. 
2.3. Measure implementation
 To stimulate the students’ minds before studying a reading lesson, a short and fun game should be used for warm up activity. The following are some sample games for each unit in English 10 textbook:
Unit 1: A day in the life of.
Type of games: Describing pictures
Classroom management: Class work 
Materials: Pictures 
Time: 4 minutes 
Procedure:
- Hang on some pictures in turn and ask sts to say out what they can see
 - Ask sts to guess the content of the lesson
Unit 2: School talks
Type of games: Slap the board
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Stick cards
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
Divide the class into 2 groups
Ask each group to send 5 presentatives and set in a queue
Provide each group of sts 7 stick cards & give instruction
Read aloud sentence by sentence
Give feedback
Declare the winner
* Suggested sentences:
+ I often play online when I have free time
+ After the school year, I’ ll go on a summer.
+ Soccer and badminton are my favourite.
+ Do you usually watch.at 6p.m everyday?
+ What is the .like today?
+ Students have tohard for the exam.
+ My .is collecting stamps.
Keys : games/ holiday/ sports/ film/ weather/ study/ hobby
Unit 3: People’ s background
Type of games: Guessing game: Who am I? ( 3 persons)
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Pictures, some pieces of paper
Time : 5 minutes
Procedure:
Divide the class into 2 teams
Give instruction
Read aloud the 3 clues for 1 person in turn
Declare the winner 
Who am I?
+ I was born in Nghe An
+ I am the greatest leader of Vietnam
+ My birthday is May 19th 1890 
à UNCLE HO 
Who am I?
+ I live in America
+ My name begins with letter B
+ I am the boss of the company Microft
à BILL GATES 
Who am I?
+ I am a famous female scientist.
+ I was born in Germany
+ My name begins with letter M
à MARIE CURIE
Unit 4: Special education
Type of games: Questionnaire
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: none
Time: 3 minutes
Procedure: 
Give questions and ask sts to answer:
+ Can all of you hear/ speak/ see?
+ What are people who can’t hear/ speak/ see called? àTHE DISABLED
+ Is it easy or difficult to teach the disabled?
+ May they have normal education?
Lead in the lesson : SPECIAL EDUCATION
Unit 5: Technology and you
Type of games: Matching words and pictures (names of hardware)
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Pictures, stick cards
Time: 4 minutes
Procedure:
Devide the class into 2 teams and give instruction
Hang pictures on the board
Call on the representative of each group to stick cards with the right words on
 the pictures
Declare the winner
Unit 6: An excursion
Type of games: Word square 
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Papers 
Time: 3 minutes
Procedure:
Divide the class into groups of four or five students
Give each group a paper containing a word square 
Ask them to find out the names of some places (Thien Mu pagoda, Ha Long Bay, One- pillar pagoda and Da Lat) in the square. The words may go across, down, up, backwards or at an angle. 
Which group finishes first and has the correct answers will be the winner.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1
I
O
W
A
X
C
H
O
V
E
H
2
Y
H
R
A
O
P
F
N
A
T
D
3
A
E
D
R
D
A
D
E
S
I
R
4
D
N
V
A
B
C
D
P
E
O
A
5
O
U
J
A
L
X
R
I
E
P
C
6
G
T
X
T
L
A
E
L
A
O
S
7
A
T
Z
H
O
T
T
L
I
X
I
8
P
E
O
I
N
S
G
A
K
F
D
9
U
W
Y
M
G
N
D
R
L
G
E
10
M
G
P
A
T
Y
C
P
E
S
S
11
N
H
G
L
H
N
F
A
Q
U
D
12
E
B
H
A
L
O
N
G
B
A
Y
13
I
K
C
S
E
P
S
O
N
E
A
14
H
M
P
R
K
J
Y
D
M
H
B
15
T
S
I
U
Q
F
V
A
D
I
L
Unit 7: The mass media
Type of games: Kim’s game
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Pictures on the power point
Time: 3 minutes
Procedure:
Hang pictures on the board
Ask sts to look at the pictures and try to remember their names
Call sts to name all of them in 1 minute (television, internet, books, newspapers, radio, cell phone)
Lead in the lesson: THE MASS MEDIA
Unit 8: The story of my village
Type of games: Questionnaire
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Pictures 
Time: 3 minutes
Procedure:
Hang pictures on the board
Ask sts to look at the pictures and answer the questions
Who are they?
They are farmers
What is the name of this animal?
Buffalo
Where is this?
In a field
What are they doing?
They are transplanting
Lead in the lesson: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE
Unit 9: Undersea world
Type of games: Matching
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Pictures
Time: 4 minutes
Procedure:
Hang the pictures of sea animals on and give their names 
Ask sts to match the pictures with their names
Ask sts the question: “Where do these animals live?”
Lead in the lesson: UNDERSEA WORLD
Shark
Dolphin
Seal
Jellyfish
Turtle
Unit 10: Conservation
Type of games: Observing pictures and answering questions
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Pictures 
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
Asks sts to observe the pictures and answer the questions:
 What do you think about these pictures?
Unit 11: National parks
Type of games: Hang man
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Black board and chalks
Time: 4 minutes
Procedure:
Ask sts to close their books
Give instruction of the game “hang man”
Give the clue “It is a noun phrase that has 12 letters. It is a place in use for conservation purposes”
It is a noun phrase that has 12 letters. It is a place in use for conservation purposes
 N
 A
 T
 I
 O
 N
 A
 L
 P
 A
 R
 K
 - Declare the winner
Unit 12: Music
Type of games: Brain storming
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Black board and chalks
Time: 3 -5 minutes
Procedure: 
 - Divide the class into 2 teams
Ask each group to send a representative and list kinds of music 
Declare the winner
Jazz
Kinds of music
Pop
Folk
Unit 13: Films and Cinema
Type of games: Matching
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Extra-board
Time: 4 minutes
Procedure: 
Ask sts to match the titles of these films with their Vietnamese translation
1. Gone with the wind 
2. The thorn birds
3. Love Actually
4. Lion King
5. Hero
6. Bridget Jone’s Diary
7. Mummy return
8. Ghost
9. Pearl Habour
10. American beauty
A. Hồn ma
B. Nhật ký tiểu thư Jones
C. Xác ướp trở lại
D. Cuốn theo chiều gió
E. Tiếng chim hót trong bụi mận gai
F. Yêu thật sự 
G. Anh hùng
H. Vua sư tử
I. Vẻ đẹp Mỹ
J. Trân Châu Cảng
 - Give the keys
* Keys:
1.D	2. E	3. F	4. H	5. G	6. B	7.C	8. A	9. J	10. I
Unit 14: The world cup
Type of games: Labeling games
Classroom management: Group work
Materials: Pictures 
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure: 
 - Divide the class into 2 teams
Ask each group to name the football teams
Declare the winner
BRAZIL
GERMANY
SPAIN
ITALY
ENGLAND
FRANCE
Unit 16: Historical places
Type of games: Matching
Classroom management: Class work
Materials: Pictures
Time: 3 minutes
Procedure:
Hang the pictures of some places on and give their names 
Ask sts to match the pictures with their names
Mausoleum
Cathedral
Citadel
Harbor
Ask sts the question: “What are they?”
Lead in the lesson: HISTORICAL PLACES
2.4. Results
 After applying the above language games in warm up activities in reading lessons for the 10th graders, I realized that there have been some considerable changes such as:
+ The atmosphere of the class became more ebullient; the students were eager to practicing speaking and active to contribute their ideas to the lesson. 
+ The students were more confident and less afraid of making mistakes.
The progress of the students can be seen through the following tables comparing the data collected from the survey questionnaire before and after applying this experience initiative:
Table 2:
Questions
Options
A
(%)
B
(%)
C
(%)
D
(%)
Question 1:
How are reading lessons important to you?
A. Very important
B. Important
C. Normal
D. Not important at all
Before
After
8
53
17
29
25
11
50
7
Question 2:
How do you find reading topics introduced in English 10 textbook?
A. Very interesting B. Interesting
C. Normal D. Boring 
Before
After
10
21
21
45
23
26
46
8
Question 3:
How do you find activities introduced in English 10 textbook?
A. Very difficult B. Difficult
C. Normal D. Easy 
Before
After
62
24
27
19
11
45
0
12
Question 4:
Are you willing to speak in classes?
A. Yes, I like speaking very much
B. Yes, sometimes
C. No, I’m never willing to speak
Before
After
1
13
28
62
71
25
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
3.1. Conclusion
 This research is done with the purpose of seeking one effective teaching technique to improve students’ reading skill. And as there are many teaching techniques exploited by the teachers to teach skills, the study limits itself to use language games to motivate students to speak. The literature review has been made in the hope of demonstrating the scope of the research theoretically in terms of skills and language games. The findings from the data analysis show that many students have low motivation towards English classes. They find activities either challenging or boring. Thus they show their unwillingness to raise their voice. Language games are used for warm up activities to motivate students in reading lessons and are applicable as a motivator. 
It is hoped that the research will prove worthwhile to those who want to motivate students in English classes and who are concerned about the problem.
3.2. Suggestions
 Although the research has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, it can not avoid some limitations.
Due to the time is short; limit of knowledge and the scope of the research, the research can not cover all the uses of language games in four skills and language elements. Therefore, further study can focus on the use of language games as a motivator in reading classes, speaking classes, writing classes, listening classes and language games as an effective technique to teach vocabulary and grammar.
Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this research will be highly appreciated.
Xác nhận của hiệu trưởng
Thọ Xuân, ngày 20 tháng 05 năm 2017
Tôi xin cam đoan đây là SKKN của mình viết, không sao chép nội dung của người khác.
Người viết SKKN
Đỗ Thị Sen
REFERENCES
Hoàng Văn Vân (2007), Tiếng Anh 10, NXB Giáo dục.
Nguyễn Thủy Minh – Lương Quỳnh Trang (2009), Thiết kế bài giảng tiếng Anh 10, Tập 1 và Tập 2, NXB Hà Nội.
Vũ Thị Lợi (chủ biên) (2006), Giới thiệu giáo án tiếng Anh 10, NXB Hà Nội.
Lưu Qúy Khương (2006), A practical course for teaching English as a foreign language.
Bygate (1997), Speaking, Oxford University Press.
Wright, A; Betteridge, D&Buckly, M. (1983), Games for language learning, Cambridge University Press.
Rixon, S.(1981), How to use games in language teaching, London, Macmillan Publishers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research.
1
1.2. Aims of the research..
1
1.3. Object of the research
2
1.4. Methods of the research.
2
2. CONTENT..
3
2.1. Theoretical background.
3
2.2. The reality of the problem......
3
2.3. Measure implementation
5
Unit 1: A day in the life of  - Type of games: Describing pictures
5
Unit 2: School talks - Type of games: Slap the board
5
Unit 3: People’s background - Type of games: Guessing (Who am I?)
6
Unit 4: Special education - Type of games: Questionnaire
7
Unit 5: Technology and you - Type of games: Matching 
7
Unit 6: An excursion - Type of games: Word square
7
Unit 7: The mass media - Type of games: Kim’s game
8
Unit 8: The story of my village - Type of games: Questionnaire
9
Unit 9: Undersea world - Type of games: Matching
10
Unit 10: Conservation - Type of games: Observing pictures and
 answering questions 
11
Unit 11: National parks - Type of games: Hang man
11
Unit 12: Music - Type of games: Brainstorming
12
Unit 13: Films and Cinema - Type of games: Matching
13
Unit 14: The World Cup - Type of games: Labeling 
13
Unit 16: Historical places - Type of games: Matching
14
 2.4. Result..
14
 3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS...
17
3.1. Conclusion.
17
3.2. Suggestions
17
DANH MỤC
SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM NGÀNH GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO HUYỆN, TỈNH VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN
___________________________
Họ và tên tác giả: ĐỖ THỊ SEN
Chức vụ và đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên - Trường THPT 4 Thọ Xuân
TT
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1
Using some language games in warm up activity effectively to motivate the 11th graders at 4 Tho Xuan high school in E