ZPD and Scaffolding

Scaffolding through story and drama

REFLECTIONS ON MULTIMODALITY

Being literate in this age requires an educator to being adept in using technological 

devices and digital communication practices. However, does this mean teachers can now abandon traditional forms and modes of instruction? I doubt that as our schools are pretty much non-compatible to such advanced facilities. In my read-ups, I came across Jewitt (2008) who talks about ‘modal affordance’ which he says is queries on how a mode is used, what it has been used to do, and the conventions that inform its use. More often than not, teachers use such a mode to diversify instruction without real thought on its effectiveness as a learning tool. After doing some extended reading and online browsing, I see that multimodality comes with the 21^st century learning, bringing with it variety in pedagogical approaches, techniques, strategies, and pedagogical tools; concepts such as multiliteracies, 

diversification, authenticity, and connection-making.

However, I do need to caution myself and the teachers I coach that however advanced the 
modal they use in classrooms, children are still in need of the teacher. Making sense and meaning of learning has to be supported, facilitated and extended with the human touch that only the teacher and parent can provide. On the other hand, there are still a few teachers who are digital-phobic and refuse to part with the chalk and talk method. I believe these teachers are quickly losing relevance (some may have lost that already) in the system and with their students. A teacher has to compete with social networking sites, blogs, and whatever else is accessible online and on mobile phones to stay relevant. Teachers, no matter what age, must strive to stay ahead of their students and if technology is moving ahead too fast to catch up with, become humble enough to learn from the young ones.

MULTIMODALITY - LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Poetry in the classroom

Why bother using poetry?

- For sheer enjoyment

- It is after all, a intergral aspect of almost every culture i know of...it is in the songs!

- It evokes feelings ... The imagery appeals to all our senses

- It encourages imagination, allowing us to draw and paint images, even those we have not experienced.

- It is prove that language is thought...thought expressed in beautiful and meaningful choice of words

- It is about life...its joys, sorrows, love, hate, war, peace, beauty, ugliness, etc

- it teaches values and develops and promotes expression of thought

Activities...activities...activities

1. Illustrate a poem...get students drawing, painting.

2. Move to the poem...get students stamping, jumping, dancing, tapping, struting....

3. Predict missing words with a cloze poem

4. Do jazz chants

5. Substituting words in the poem with words of opposite meaning and discuss the change in meaning

6. Do creative recitals...strategies like ' I read to you, You read to me', paired and reciprocal reading.

Use the poems in the literature component in creative ways....your students will adore you for it and most importantly...they will be actively using the language.

ELT METHODS AND APPROACHES - A WORKSHOP

Trainers and module writers: 

SHARMINI SIVAVIKARAMAN

VILOSHINI BASKARAN

(ELTC)

Venue: Bilik Merpati, Cinta Sayang Resort, Sungai Petani

Date: 23 - 25 November 2014

Content:

Introduction and Principles to ELT Methodology

Skills-based Projects

Speaking Skills

Multiliteracies

Listening Skills

Writing Skills

Developing Integrated Skills through Projects

Developing Reading Skills

SISC+ & SIP+ Convention

Date:18-20 November 2014

Venue: Orkid Hotel, Melaka

SISC+ & SIP+ CONVENTION (SABAH, SARAWAK & LABUAN)

DATE: 28 - 30 OCTOBER 2014

VENUE: MEGA HOTEL, MIRI, SARAWAK

Presentation COACHING - BEST PRACTICES

With Dr Zaini Ahmad (EPRD)

BOOKworms PENANG: Seniors and their stimulating pastime - READING!

"R. Malar said: “Reading feeds my soul. It nourishes and sustains it. Reading is a gift I share with my three children. It equips me with knowledge and has made me a far better human being.”

She shared from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird – a book she treasures because her faather had read it out to her.:

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2014/10/12/Sharing-their-interest/ 

  

MAJLIS PENGURUSAN PPD KEBANGSAAN CONVENTION

DATE: 22- 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

VENUE: KSL HOTEL & RESORT, JOHOR BAHRU

With Mr. Mubarak (DTP Officer Kedah)

With Hjh Serina, Pengarah JPN Sarawak

connect_ed

TFM be connect_ed Seminar 2014

Date: 14 June 2014

Day: Saturday

Venue: Sunway International School, Bandar Sunway

connect_ed is a forum that encourages educators from across the country to come together to innovate, collaborate, and synergise around the key question: “What will it take for all children in Malaysia to have the opportunity to attain an excellent education?”
connect_ed is a chance to be connected.
connect_ed comprises a combination of symposiums, workshops, knowledge cafés and exhibition booth. The Organisers believe that this is a perfect opportunity to showcase your experience as
discussions around three major themes are explored: Transforming Classroom, Transforming School, and Transforming System. Proposals will be selected through the Call For Proposals (CFP) process.

Presentation topic: RELEVANCE OF THE SISC+ IN TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

With the TFM fellows ... Gals so brainy that they are oh so sexy!

TFM INITIATIVE - ESTABLISHING PLC

Establishing a Professional Learning Community

A TFM Initiative by

Cheryl Ann Fernando & Constance Yuen

SMK PINANG TUNGGAL

Charis Ding

SMK TUNKU ISMAIL

From Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones of Success

Time 1.30 pm—4.30 pm

 Date: 20 July 2014

 Venue: Dewan Al-Zakri, SMK Pinang Tunggal

Our Objectives

i. to follow-up on the programme initiated & support the endeavor at district level

Ii. To create teacher awareness of low-cost, high-impact initiatives that can be

championed at school level

Iii. To establish a working collaborative effort to enhance literacy and intervene

effectively

Issue:

Illiteracy and low levels of reading and writing among Form One and Form Two students

Factors:

Lack of intervention

Learning disabilities left unattended

Scale & Significance: 

Students are merely following through the syllabus without understanding what is being taught.

Students left unattended will either drop out of school or continue in the system without being able to read or write

Perpetuating cycle of illiteracy 

Vision:

· This initiative will see students from the last Form 1 and Form 2 class successfully reading and writing at least one year above their current level

· Students will be invested and motivated in the idea of education

· Tutors will develop leadership skills by the end of the year.

Project Model:

 · Reading using phonics system

· Fall back on Form 1 syllabus

· Mentors (Forms 4 &5 students)

· Twice a week @ 1 hour

· Students with severe learning disabilities to come out of normal lessons and work on reading/writing

· Assessments @ monthly

 

 Participants:

16 English teachers from 8 selected schools

A collaborative effort by:

Rumuthamalar SISC+

TFM Fellows: Cheryl Ann Fernando, Constance Yuen & Charis Ding

SMK Pinang Tunggal

PPD Kuala Muda Yan

In memoriam to an idol..a most phenomenal being.. MAYA ANGELOU

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

WOODPECKER (Std 4 Language Arts)

• Suggested learning activities for the poem ‘WOODPECKER’.
• 1.    Listening to the tapping sound of a woodpecker. Watching a video clip of an authentic woodpecker or a clip of the cartoon ‘Woody Woodpecker’.
• 2.    Reading aloud after teacher / model readers. Paying emphasis to intonation….yes/no question (voice up) and exclamation.
• 3.    In pairs, one taps on the table while the other recites the poem. Reversing roles.
• 4.    In groups, coming up with a collage using recycled materials to depict the poem.
• 5.    Talking about sounds made by different birds / animals and miming them.
• 6.    Matching animals to the sounds they make.

SOUNDS MADE BY BIRDS AND OTHER ANIMALS

    1.  Bears…growl 
2. Bees…buzz 
3. Cats…mew, purr 
4. Cows…moo 
5. Crows…caw 
6. Dogs…howl, grow, snarl and bark 
7. Ducks…quack 
8. Elephants…trumpet 
9. Frogs…croak 
10. Geese…cackle 
11. Hens…cluck, cackle and chuckle 
12. Horses…neigh, whinny 
13. Lions…roar 
14. Mice…squeak 
15. Monkeys…chatter 
16. Owls…hoot, screech, cur 
17. Parrots…chatter 
18. Snakes…hiss 
19. Wolves…howl 

Go to http://www.percepp.com/sounds/birdpics.htm to let pupils hear recorded sounds of birds.

AT THE PLAYGROUND (Std 4 Language Arts)

Suggestions of learning activities for the poem ‘At the Playground’

1.    Listening to modeled reading by the teacher.

2.    Repeating after teacher line by line (for low proficiency pupils); selected reading alouds by pupils or reading in pairs (for higher proficiency pupils).

3.    Choral reading / jazz chants with rhythmic clapping (using syllable counts).

4.    Pronouncing words with the initial sounds of ‘sw’, ‘sl’ and the final sounds of ‘dle’. Matching words with the same initial and final sounds.

5.    Grammar in context: verb tense forms – talking about what one does at the playground and then what one did yesterday at the playground.

Swing – swung

Slide – slid

Hang – hung

Race – raced

Fall – fell

(for the higher proficient pupils- forming sentences in the present and the past simple)

6.    (for lower proficient pupils) drawing / colouring picture posters of a playground, naming/labeling things found and seen in a playground. (make it competitive)

7.    (For vocab reinforcement) completing a word search / crossword puzzle on things found in a playground / things one can do in a playground.

For weak students / with ICT

Go to http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/category/topics/playground

A COACH ...

... is an on-site professional developer who collaborates with educators to identify and assist with implementation of proven teaching methods.


… displays a compelling modesty, is self- effacing, understated

… displays a workman like diligence, is more plow horse than show horse

… attributes successes to factors other than herself

… looks in the mirror and blames herself when things go poorly

... knows that coaching involves learning conversations which should be mutually humanizing experiences.

... knows that talking about learning should be energizing, empowering, enjoyable, and fun, should bring
both parties alive


The Identity Conversation looks inward: it’s all about who we are and how we see ourselves. How does what happened affect our self-esteem, my image, my sense of who I am in the world? What impact will it have on my future? What self doubts do I harbor? In short… the identity conversation is about what I am saying to myself about me.
- Stone, Patton, Heen. (1999) Difficult Conversations


Develop a Teachable Point of View - A TPOV is a “cohesive set of ideas and concepts that a person is able to articulate clearly to others” (Tichy, 2002, p.74).


When you lead people, you often begin with a desire to contribute to an organization or community, to help people resolve important issues, to improve the quality of their lives. Your heart is not entirely innocent, but you begin with hope and concern for people. Along the way, however, it becomes difficult to sustain those feelings when many people reject your aspirations as too unrealistic, challenging or disruptive. Results arrive slowly. You become hardened to the discouraging reality. Your heart closes up.
- Heifetz & Linsky (2003) Leadership on the line.

READERS' THEATER: A VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle

Readers (5)

1:  In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.
2:  One Sunday morning the warm sun cam up...
3: and POP, out of the egg came a tiny, very hungry caterpillar.
1:  He started looking for some food.
5:  On Monday he ate through one apple.  But he was still hungry.
4:  On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry.
2:  On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still hungry.
3:  On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry.
5:  On Friday he ate through five oranges, but he was still hungry.
1:  On Saturday he ate through  one piece of chocolate cake,
3.  One ice-cream cone,
4:  One pickle,
2: One slice of Swiss cheese,
5: One slice of salami,
3: One lollipop,
2: One piece of cherry pie,
4: One sausage,
1: One cupcake,
4:  And one slice of watermelon.
5: That night he had a stomach ache!
3: The next day was Sunday again.
2: The caterpillar ate through one nice leaf, and after that he felt better.
5: Now he wasn't hungry anymore--and he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore.
3: He was a big fat caterpillar.
1: He built a small house,
2: Called a cocoon,
1: Around himself.
3: He stayed inside for more than two weeks.
5: Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and...
4: He became a beautiful butterfly!

I am going here next year. A must-visit before I too go to meet my Maker.

Stairway to the gas chamber

Gallows of the camp commandant 

Memorial

Gallows

Wall of Death

Why Teachers Should Read Children's Books

Teachers who read for pleasure have better book knowledge...thus are stress-free in the classroom. There is value in teachers becoming reading role models. Teachers' knowledge of children's literature contributes to a child's enjoyment of reading.
In order for reading to become"bibliotherapy" readers should identify with characters met in a strory and form emotional connections with them...via writing-in-role, hot-seating activities.
Reading can induce well-being and a sense of joy. But our teachers need support. They need knowledge on good books available, know how to access these books, have indepth knowledge of various reading skills and strategies, and informal sharing sessions via book clubs.
This is a movement that needs immediate attention by policy makers, educators and community members.

Adapted from Jo Bowers and Dr Susan Davis, 2013

Teaching of Phonics

Reflections on the training session attended at ELTC  on The Teaching of Phonics

Phonic Segmentation Skills
- ability to break words down into individual sounds
- an example of a phonological awareness skills
- supports the aqcuisition of literacy skills

Sample goal for phoneme segmentation skills
The learner will
- listen to a target sound (phoneme) presented orally
- determine the word that begins with the target phoneme
- indicate the word by saying it out loud, signing it, and selecting the appropriate picture.

Instructional Task

* The teacher says
                              the sound /m/ (only the sound)

* The learner
                      Listens to the sound
                      Looks at each picture / symbol
                      Segments the initial sound of the words
                      Determines the word that starts with the target sound
                      Says the word out loud, signs it and selects the correct picture.

Instructional Procedure
                       - model
                       - guided practice
                       - independent practice

Andragogy - Man-leading

Six Principles of Adult Learning

1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed.
2. They bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences.
3. They are goal-oriented.
4. They are practical - relevancy -oriented.
5. They like to be respected.

This is what I learned during my training in Teaching Phonics at ELTC Bandar Enstek.

What Reading Means to Me and my Children

Reading meant shared time with my father. Reading meant time allocated to my inner self. Reading means joy. Rereading selected books means reliving my childhood, redrafting the journey of my life, revaluing judgements made, and redesigning the rest of my life. But mostly, reading means shared moments with my children.
Reading has made my children critical. They do not take anything at face value. They always ask first..." So what Amma?" They then go further and ponder.... "What if?" I believe the reason they adore Dr Who (the TV series) is because they are not bound and limited in their ability to imagine and think beyond the box formal schooling has drawn them into. They can watch the current BBC version of Sherlock and appreciate the wit and the characterizations of the protagonists. They are
selective of the movies they watch. They appreciated what was put in the trilogy Lord of the Rings movie yet disagree with the inclusions of characters not in The Hobbit book.
My children grew up with the best of idols, imaginary they may have been, and could relate their experiences with these characters. I did not dictate moral values to them. They know what their
mother expects of them. They introduce books to me now, books I had not had time to discover.
We do not have a TV set in our living room. We have books. The living room is our personal corner...where we cozy up with cups of steaming hot coffee (and tea...) and books. We talk about the characters like we know them personally. Sherlock, Watson, Atticus, Elizabeth, Darcy, and even Hamlet and Iago join in our conversations. It is great company that we keep.
These are treasured times. These are the most precious memories.

The Magic of Storytelling

"If there is one universal thread that binds all people together, it is their need for stories." - Lisa Lipkin

Bedtime storytelling could feel like a chore, but here are three great reasons to do so:
1. It provides your own imagination a workout - more so when you include sensory details, setting, conflict, twists and dialogue.
2. It forces you to turn off your inner editor - please improvise and let the character lead you forward.
3. You have a captive and honest audience.

Ref: Creative Storytelling: Choosing, Inventing, and Sharing Tales for Children by Jack Maguire.