Mr Drew  Grade 3  April, 2025

Prefixes and suffixes with base words

Prefixes and suffixes are “building blocks” of words. In grade three, students begin to learn them to build their vocabulary, and to better understand words they may not have seen before, but can infer the meanings.

 “Healthy” is a base word, and “un-” is a prefix meaning “not,” so “unhealthy” means something that is bad for your health. So, if you add the prefix “un” (which means “the opposite of”) to the beginning, of a word, that word now means the opposite.

We implement different ways for students to learn and remember prefixes and suffixes in our program. Word play is one that allows students to use their creativity to make new words from known words using prefixes or suffixes to change their meanings. The words don’t necessarily have to be real words, because the idea is to get them to give the prefix meaning in ways that make it easy to remember. 

Many common prefixes and suffixes are simple 2-4 letter blends. Students in Grade three learn phonetic blending skills from Grade 1. So, in addition to playing with prefixes and suffixes and root words, exercises in which they attempt to spell words they hear give them a chance to practice not only the meanings of the prefix or suffix, but also their phonetic abilities.

When using prefixes and suffixes, English learners will understand or guess meanings of new words effectively as they are exposed to more vocabulary. They are a useful tool for learning, understanding, and even creating language in English.

Mr Little  Grade 4  (April, 2025)

Learning Science in a Foreign Language

Learning Science is already a challenge for many people, but add on top, that you’re learning it in a foreign language! How is this even possible? The answer: use crafts, pictures, manipulating objects, repetition, and lots of laughs.

In grade four, we study the water cycle as part of our unit on weather. We use power points with bright pictures and highlighted words to help get them started. We put the lessons to a rhythm and sing it in a song every day. We cut out and draw our own water cycle using vocabulary that we’re already accustomed to. We write descriptions, outline it and make essays. We do class discussions and picture recognition. We use speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as crafts to give the students every chance to engage with the material in a way that resonates with them.

When singing our song about the water cycle, we do not just sing it once or twice, but twice every day for the entire duration of the unit.

We encourage all the students to join in the activities, by making them fun, but still challenging, so they try hard and do their best! When the students are invested and committed to the lessons, they begin to understand the concepts and language well enough to answer questions and explain the science of the water cycle on their own.

The students can be very proud of the hard work that they put into their science lessons! They can do it! Great job! 

Mr Ward  Grade 5  (April, 2025)

Writing - Describing Characters

In our writing classes, we have been focusing on adding adjectives and details in our stories. Our students are often given a variety of prompts from pictures, videos, to sentences. As a class, we do a pre-writing exercise to help bring out creativity or to give students new vocabulary. The students then work on writing a first draft of their story. As the students are writing the stories, the teachers and the TA go around the room and work with tables to help them develop their ideas or point out mistakes and giving advice on how they can improve their writing. After the students have finished their first draft, we will work on some editing exercises as a class. Some exercises, like this month, we focused on adding detail to our sentences with vocabulary that we have studied in class, while other exercises were used to help students notice mistakes in their writing. The teacher used sample sentences from the students’ stories and together we fixed the mistakes on the board.  Afterwards, students used colored pencils to fix their own mistakes in their writing. Students are not expected to be able to find all the mistakes in their writing but will be able to find some, especially with the help of the TA and teacher as we go from table to table while students are editing. This process helps students understand that getting their ideas on paper first is important, then looking back at their writing and editing, to correct errors and improve their story, can lead to a final polished story. 

Mr Hare Grade 3  (March, 2025)

Time Machine to Kindergarten

In our 3rd grade classroom, students have been diving into the world of simple past tense verbs, and they had a lot of fun using their own memories to help them learn. The first step in the process was introducing simple past tense verbs and teaching when and how to use them. Students learned how to talk about actions that happened in the past, such as "played," "jumped," and "learned."

To practice using these verbs, the students then worked on Daily Talk presentations. They shared pictures from their time in kindergarten and used the simple past tense to describe their experiences. This helped them practice speaking and using the new verbs in a fun and personal way.

After the presentations, students wrote in their notebooks about their memories from kindergarten, focusing on using the simple past tense correctly. This was a great way for them to apply what they had learned in a written format.

Finally, the students created colorful posters featuring both the pictures from their Daily Talks and the writing they had done. These posters showcased their creativity and reinforced their understanding of the simple past tense.

At the end of the activities, all the students did an amazing job! They had a lot of fun reflecting on their kindergarten years while strengthening their understanding of the simple past tense.

Mr M  Grade 2  (March, 2025)  

Daily Talk: Building Confidence, Creativity, and Connections!

At Clifford School, we love to see our second graders shine, and Daily Talk is the perfect way to help them grow as confident speakers! This fun and engaging activity encourages our young learners to express themselves openly, share their thoughts, and build connections with their classmates.

Each weekday, a different table group will have their turn to present. Students are given a topic in advance—whether it’s their favorite hobby, a dream vacation, or even a fun “What if?” question. They’ll have time in class to prepare, but if needed, they can take it home to add the finishing touches.

The goal? To get them talking! Whether they want to tell a funny story, share an exciting fact, or speak from the heart, this activity is all about expressing ideas freely and confidently in front of their peers. Plus, it’s a fantastic way for classmates to get to know one another in a supportive, encouraging space.

As the weeks go by, it’s great to see students becoming more comfortable speaking up and sharing their thoughts. Some might start off a little shy, but before long, they’re eager to take the spotlight and join in the conversation! 

Mr Iain  Grade 1  (March, 2025)

Inventive Expansion - Writing

To encourage the students to write sentences on their own, using the word study words for this week ( “an” words) the teacher started by modeling the writing of some simple narratives. This helps the students understand what their finished work should look like.

At their tables, students draw pictures of the “an” word family words, to demonstrate understanding. Encouraging students to draw pictures before writing is helpful to give them ideas for their writing.

Once completed, students begin to write their own sentences. Students are motivated to use visual prompts throughout the classroom. These visual aids stimulate the students’ creativity helping them develop descriptive skills.

While they’re writing, students also use word banks or thematic charts to aid in giving them ideas. This assistance can boost confidence and reduce frustration if they can’t think of something interesting to write.

As the students continue writing, students phonetically sound out the words and spell them to the best of their ability, this is called “Inventive Spelling”. This enables students to first get their idea on paper without worrying about perfect grammar and spelling, which can be reviewed later.

After writing, students work is checked by the teachers, highlighted for improvements, and corrections which are then made by the students to complete the writing assignment.  Progressive and constructive feedback inspires students to take risks in writing.

Encouraging inventive and creative writing in first-grade students is essential for their general English language development, and fundamental for cultivating well-rounded, confident, and accomplished writers.                                                                                                                 

Mr Nathan  Grade 4  (March, 2025)

Adjectives, Creatures of Description

To begin, the students read the story, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” in which some blind men describe an elephant and its parts. We looked up the new vocabulary and talked about the story. The students learned how to make a “simile” describing something as something else and practiced making our own in class. Next we did a worksheet with a detailed description of a nature scene, in which a boy is looking out over a lake and describing what he sees. We circled the descriptions and tried to draw a picture of them as we recognized them. Then we talked about the creatures that we already knew; dragons, unicorns, cats, and dogs. We then tried to think of new creatures and talked about what we remembered about them. The students talked about some Chinese creatures that they knew. Finally, each student made their own creature or found a creature to talk about. They drew a picture of the creatures and wrote a story or described it in detail. Some were scary while others were very cute. They talked about if it was good or bad, where it lived, what it ate, and what did it like to do.  Afterwards, each student introduced their creatures in front of the class and told everyone about them. This was a very fun assignment.

Mr Ryan  Grade 6  (March, 2025)

Value Based Teaching and Learning

By incorporating value-based teaching into our classroom, we can help the students to develop into compassionate, responsible, and well-rounded individuals, prepared to make positive impact in school and in their communities. The benefits will hopefully be improved behavior, increased empathy, better decision making and positive relationships. As it’s the beginning of the semester we focused on the values of respect, responsibility and self-discipline. As an introduction to the topic we discussed these concepts and what they mean. We then discussed how each of these values can be applied in the classroom and outside of school. Students were then divided into pairs and had to follow a set of instructions to create a poster for the classroom that reflected these values. They had to include the various ways these principles can be actively applied every day in class or at home. Once the posters were complete they had to present the posters to the class and also role play different scenarios that demonstrate positive values. By stressing these values and getting the students to discuss, write down, work in teams to create a poster and then present to the class, they are applying themselves in the language areas of speaking, listening, and writing. The posters are then displayed in the classroom for the students to reflect on and help promote these values every day.

Mr V  Grade 5  (January, 2025) 

Building Super Sentences

Great English writers use many adjectives in their sentences to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Our classes learned the differences between writing just fine, good, and super sentences.  The students know that adding adjectives or describing words to their sentences strengthens them. This year, we are focusing on making our characters and story settings more interesting to read.

We first looked at a simple sentence, “The cat is in a tree.” The class discussed how these sentences do not give us much information. We learned to build stronger sentences that a sentence should include the following five things: adjectives, when, where, how, and why. We then read another simple sentence, “The dog is running.” We built it into a super sentence by looking at a PowerPoint explaining how to go through each step using the mini-whiteboards. First, by adding adjectives.

Next, the students practiced making short sentences using the five steps of adjectives: when, where, how, and why. The students were asked to add each part in the steps for the final activity. 

First, the students wrote their short sentences, adding adjectives. Next, they built upon their sentence by adding the “when”.  Then, they continued to build their sentence by adding the where, when, how, and why. After the students wrote their best sentences, they were asked to draw a picture depicting their best sentences. By making stronger, interesting sentences, our students will become better writers. 

Ms Jenna  Grade 1  (January, 2025)

Winter Writing Practice  

In preparation for winter students of 1.3 learned new winter vocabulary and used them in sentences. Our vocabulary this month included many winter themes such as winter food, clothing, and weather.  To continue our vocabulary practice we played games involving seasonal clothing where students had to place the randomly selected clothes under the right weather condition. Then students in one class practice writing their vocabulary, while the other class wrote sentences. Their vocabulary included: snow, snowman, snowflake, boots, mittens, parka, spaghetti, and soup.

We also read a book about 1^st graders experiencing a “snow day” for the first time. The book title was called “Snow Day!” and the author was Lucille Colandro.  Students learned that during a real snow day, school is usually canceled, and many outdoor snow activities can occur. Students exclaimed that Guangdong doesn’t get any snow days!

In preparation for our writing assignment about snowflakes, we talked about the many shapes we can see in a snowflake. We can see triangles, hearts, and even parallelograms!  Students had the freedom to write about their unique snowflakes anyway they wanted. They could say, “My snowflake has a star and a heart,” or “My snowflake has two circles and a square.” After they finished writing, they had an opportunity to practice making their own unique snowflake. 

Mr James  Grade 3  (January, 2025)

Going Far with Phonics - Phonics /ar/ Sound

Review and Introduction - To start our class, we reviewed the previous week’s /or/ sound words with some recitation, a couple of games, and some oral sentence making. The /ar/ sound was then introduced with songs and videos, which were paused for students to repeat words and sentences. After this, the students volunteered as many /ar/ words as they could.

Realia Bag - For some active learning, random students drew realia from Mr. James’ bag, including a shark, a dart, a jar and a star! We reviewed the objects on screen, and after eliciting their names, students repeated the words a few times and used them in sentences.

Focus Words - The week’s /ar/ focus words (car, star, large, bark and shark) were then introduced.

Five pictures were shown in turn on screen, and students guessed the related focus words. Each word was then revealed and the students repeated them, before we discussed their meanings and created sentences with them. We played a game of connecting pictures to the focus words, after which we decoded the words by breaking them into phonetical chunks.

Students then made some imaginary /ar/ “crazy words,” and explained their meanings!

Conclusion - To conclude our class, the students read sentences together, choosing the correct focus words to fill in gaps and complete sentences. Then to further reinforce our learning, we read a phonics story book “Shark in the Park” together. The fun, holistic learning was successful in giving the students confidence decoding /ar/ words.

Mr Reynolds  Grade 6  (December, 2024)    

Fun With Simple Machines

As part of the thematic unit on tools and machines, students have been studying simple machines and how they work together to make complex machines.  To further develop student’s critical thinking skills as well as their speaking, writing and listening abilities; students have created a project in which they have to use the information they have learned about simple machines and create a working machine and presentation. Through readings, videos and PowerPoint presentations, students will gain the knowledge and vocabulary to present a working machine to their classmates.

The process begins with students learning the basic vocabulary and concepts from a PowerPoint presentation. The students take notes and discuss the different concepts behind simple machines. Then students complete a reading comprehension and video comprehension listening activity to further their development of the concepts being presented in the unit.

Once the main concepts are understood, the students conduct some more research and begin working together as a group to create and design a working simple machine. First the students create a design poster that explains what simple machines are used and how they intend for their machine to work. Next, using recycled and other materials found in the classroom, the students construct a working machine. 

Mr Rohde  Grade 2  (Dec, 2024)

Exploring Language with Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs

Teaching grade 2 students to write with nouns, adjectives, and verbs is an exciting adventure into the world of words! At this stage, the goal is to spark creativity, grow their vocabulary, and help them discover the joy of self-expression.

We start by exploring nouns—names for the people, places, and things all around us. Activities like show-and-tell or scavenger hunts turn learning into a fun discovery game as students identify everyday nouns in their world. Once they’ve mastered nouns, we add a splash of color with adjectives. From describing their favorite stuffed animal to sharing details about a sunny day, students learn to make their writing come alive with descriptive words!

Next, we bring in verbs—the action heroes of sentences! (6) Interactive games and story prompts encourage students to pair verbs with nouns and adjectives to create lively, dynamic sentences. Visual aids like storybooks or picture cards help students see how these parts of speech work together to tell stories full of action and detail.

As their skills grow, students get to try their hand at writing short stories, using nouns, adjectives, and verbs to paint vivid pictures with their words. Sharing their creations with classmates turns the classroom into a place of encouragement, teamwork, and laughter.

By keeping learning playful and interactive, we inspire a love of language in Grade 2 students while giving them the tools they need to shine as writers. It’s a journey they’ll carry with them throughout their English learning adventure!

Mr Allan  Grade 2  (December, 2024)  

Learning Opposites with Fun and Engagement

The lesson began with a warm-up discussion. This opened the floor for guesses and excitement as they identified opposites of words the teacher provided, such as “up” and “big.”

Following the warm-up, students were introduced to opposite pairs through a slideshow with images and labels like “hot/cold,” “big/small,” and “day/night.” Real objects, such as a large and small ball, were also used to illustrate the concept visually and tangibly.

Next, the class played a round of charades, where students took turns acting out adjectives for their classmates to guess. After identifying the adjective, the class brainstormed the opposite and acted it out as well. This game brought laughter and movement to the lesson.

After the energetic charades game, students moved to a quieter activity, where they practiced using opposites in sentences. The teacher modeled a few examples on the overhead project and students created their own sentences. This activity helped students connect the concept of opposites to sentence structure.

The lesson ended with a matching game, where each student held a flashcard with one half of an opposite pair. Students took turns calling out their words, such as “I have ‘big.’ Who has ‘small’?” This final activity reinforced learning while encouraging teamwork and listening.

Overall, the lesson’s blend of active participation, visual aids, and individual practice helped students feel engaged and excited about learning opposites. It was a lot of fun! 

Mr B  Grade 1  (Dec, 2024)

What Plants Need to Grow

In Grade 1 we have been learning all about plants. After learning about the parts of a plant we learn about what they need to grow. We begin by learning vocabulary. We learn it all as a group first. Then the students get a chance to practice the vocabulary in smaller groups. And lastly they practice the new vocabulary and the question individually by asking each other “what do plants need to grow?” We also watch some videos and sing songs to help learn the vocabulary in a different way.

We learn that plants need water, air, sun, and soil to grow. Next we began a science experiment to see if the plants do not have one of these elements can it still grow. (8) The students all the got the opportunity to plant some grass seeds and will give them all the elements throughout the next couple weeks and see if the plants will grow.

The students loved having opportunities to help water the plants and check on them every time they arrive to class to see if they are growing.

Lastly we also draw a picture of a plant that is getting all four elements to help it grow. This gives the students one other way to help them learn the new vocabulary and show off their creativity.

Mr Frank  Grade 4  (December, 2024)

Transportation of the future.

In our themed unit on Transportation and Communication, the students learned about types of vehicles and how people and things are moved around the world. Our discussion led us to talk about the ways we can use different forms of transportation to explore our planet.

The students seemed very excited to contribute to the conversation. The class dedicated a few class periods to making a poster as a group project, as that allows for communication and creativity from the students. We talked about different types of posters and what kind of information they need on them. Next, the teacher broke the project down into three phases for the students. Then, we generated the language that the students would need to use to communicate tasks and responsibilities within the groups at each of the three phases of the project. 

During the planning phase, the students assigned tasks to each member of the group. They also discussed the features of their poster, and the placement of the information on their poster. They also shared different ideas to build a pool of ideas to choose from.

During the creation phase, the students worked diligently to write, draw, cut, and glue their features to the poster as they communicated what needed to be made and where information would be placed. They also continued to discuss ideas adding new ideas or refining existing ideas.

During the presentation phase, the students put the finishing touches on their work. They also decide who would talk about each feature of their poster and what they would say before they presented their finished product to their classmates.

Through group projects students learn more than just the content; they learn from each other and shared team work.

Mr John  Grade 3  (November, 2024)

Mastering Possessives: A Journey of Ownership in English

In Grade 3, we recently unlocked the world of possessives—an exciting way for students to express ownership in English. From the start, the class embraced the concept, learning how a simple apostrophe and ‘s’ could transform everyday sentences.

Students were thrilled to apply their new skills in real life. Pointing to objects around the classroom, they confidently declared, “This is John’s book,” and “That’s Amanda’s pencil.” Connecting the lesson to their surroundings made it personal and engaging.

One of the highlights of the lesson was our creative writing activity. Students crafted short stories using possessives to describe their classmates and their belongings. It was a joy to see sentences like, “Henry’s cat jumped on Amy’s chair,” emerge from their imaginations. These exercises gave them an opportunity to actively use possessives in a way that felt natural and meaningful.

By the end of the lesson, possessives became a regular part of their speech and writing, boosting both their grammar skills and confidence. The hands-on approach we used made learning feel fun and relevant, helping the students retain the concept and apply it effortlessly in daily conversations.

Though a small part of English grammar, possessives gave our students a powerful tool to communicate ownership and brought a sense of accomplishment to the classroom.

Ms Jemma  Grade 5  (November, 2024)

Crafting Creative speeches

Over the last month students have been learning how to craft creative speeches that engage audiences and effectively communicate their ideas. The process involves several key steps: using hooks, planning the speech, and delivering it as a team. For the topic of their speech we combined this with our theme class, they were tasked to plan a holiday while still sticking to a budget.

A well-structured speech typically has three main parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. First we looked at using a hook at the beginning of their speech; hooks are powerful tools that grab the audience's attention right from the start. Once students have selected their hooks, the next step is planning the speech. The body of the speech needed to include some information about the country they were visiting along with their daily plan and an explanation of how they were spending their money. The students spent time independently planning and researching their holiday locations.

Finally, delivering the speech is the moment where all the planning comes together. By following these steps, using hooks, planning their speeches, and delivering their speech as a team, students worked to develop their abilities to engage an audience and communicate effectively. This was their first major project in grade 5 and it was a challenge for a lot of students, but they overcame and successfully presented their speeches. 

Ms Trudy  Grade 4  (October, 2024)

Contextual Learning

Grammar is the backbone of any language, but learning it in isolation can be boring and ineffective. Putting grammar into context helps students to understand the practical applications of grammatical rules and retain them.  In this lesson, we focused on reinforcing the possessive pronouns, prompting the students to talk about the relationship between people or to say who owns something.

First, the teacher introduced the topic with “Is This Mine or Yours?” questions, by asking the students to each put something into a box. Then, the students took turns pulling something from the box, using possessive pronouns to ask questions or make statements. Example: Whose book is this? It's not mine

They were then shown a short film to brainstorm profession related vocabulary in groups. Each group wrote down seven professions. Then, on additional cards, they wrote items related to each profession. Each student in the group held up one of the profession cards. The other students in that group took turns assigning related words for each “professional.” The players selected cards and had to decide who they belonged to, and hand the cards to that student, using a sentence that includes possessive pronouns and adjectives.

Afterwards, the students identified words in sentences that should be replaced with possessive pronouns. By learning in a context the students have a better chance to retain the grammar taught!

Ms Maria  Grade 5  (October, 2024)

Cooking Up a Story

The students have been working on a multi-part writing exercise so that they can improve their ability to write paragraphs and stories. The students first worked in groups to come up with words that related to a topic to help them generate ideas to start the writing process. They then worked as a whole class to create a story web together. Different students came up with ideas for setting, characters, problems, and events. Once they understood how to create a story web, they then got into small groups of two or three students to create their own story webs on a large piece of paper. Then the students learned how to take their ideas from the various story webs and organize them into a more formatted plan. As a class they separated the story into at least 5 paragraphs using the story web that they made together. After that, they went back to their small groups and planned their individual stories while also adding some more personal details or changing parts so that all the stories are different from each other. They also learned about the different reasons authors start new paragraphs when writing stories - time, place, topic, and people talking. Next they took their individual plan and wrote out their stories. The stories were checked for grammar mistakes and finally they wrote their final version on a cauldron as they have “cooked up” an interesting and scary story!

Mr B  Grade 1  (October, 2024)

Bringing Stories to Life:

A Grade 1 Role-Playing Adventure

In our Grade 1 classroom, we're not just reading stories; we're living them! Our Story Time Role Plays are a fun and engaging way to develop our beginner reading skills and to foster our interest in books and stories.

It starts with choosing a simple, age-appropriate story. We read together as a class, following along with the teacher and learning new words. We talk about the pictures and make exciting guesses about what might happen next. To check our understanding, our teacher asks us questions about the story, and we complete a simple worksheet to consolidate the details.

After our first reading, we return to the story and dive deeper. We read aloud together, acting out the narrator and characters' voices and conversations.

To really get into character, we practice our roles in small groups. With a little help from props, masks and costumes, each group takes turns performing their version of the story for the class. Being “on stage” can be a little scary so our teacher is always close by to help us remember words or even act out the story with us.

This process helps us develop our reading and speaking skills, while also teaching us the importance of being good listeners and audience members. It's a fantastic way to make learning to read fun and memorable!

Mr Ryan  Grade 2  (October, 2024)

The World of Plurals

Over the past week, our class jumped into the rules of “es” and “ies” plurals, transforming this grammar topic into an enjoyable learning experience. We kicked off the week with a catchy song that introduced the plural rules, sparking interest and setting the tone for an interactive learning journey. Then the teacher introduced when to add “es” (for words ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh) and when to change “y” to “ies” (for words ending in a consonant + y).

After the musical introduction, we moved into a detailed explanation of the rules, showing how singular words like “fox” become “foxes” and “lady” turns into “ladies”. Students took part in lively discussions, asking questions and giving examples.

To reinforce their understanding, we played a series of games, including Plurals Jeopardy Game and Guess the Correct Ending. In Plurals Jeopardy Game, students had to select and answer a question to gain student points, while in Guess the Correct Ending, the students had to select the correct ending by standing in a specific spot in the classroom! This encouraged the students to be active and most importantly, everyone could participate at the same time!

To wrap up our week, students paired up to create colorful posters showcasing the plural rules and examples they had learned. These posters are now proudly displayed in the English classroom, serving as a helpful reference for future lessons. Overall, the week was not only educational but also filled with laughter, creativity, and teamwork.

Mr Keeler  Grade 3  (October, 2024)

Pesky Pronouns

This week in grammar class we looked at pesky pronouns! Pronouns help us to avoid too much repetition in our writing and speaking. Some pronouns are – I, he, she, it, we, you, they. To begin with, we brainstormed the pronoun words that we already knew and the teacher wrote them on the board. To help us to review these words, students demonstrated representations of different pronouns whilst the class created sentences to match. Then, we had to decide which missing words to add to some sentences. We worked in our teams to identify the correct pronoun to add before showing the teacher our answers on our whiteboards. Each sentence had a fun picture to help us!

To reinforce our understanding of pronouns, we then played a matching game using flashcards which featured a pronoun or a sentence which uses a pronoun. Each flashcard also included a picture to help to solidify our understanding. We took turns to turn over two cards and read the sentence aloud for each one. We got to keep the cards of any matching pairs that we found and added our total up at the end to see who won! To further review our understanding, some students did demonstrations individually, and in groups, for the class to elicit full sentences to describe their actions whilst including the correct pronoun. It turns out that pronouns aren’t so pesky after all! 

Ms Kay  Grade 6  (October, 2024)

Making Good Choices

Grade 6 began the year with the theme of making good choices in order to have a successful year! To help show the differences between good choices and bad choices, the teachers became the students. Our grade 6 teachers pretended to be students and acted out bad choices that students should try to avoid, which the grade 6 students enjoyed seeing! Then, they modeled what would be good choices to make in English class to help make sure everyone has a good learning experience. Students got a chance to point out what were the bad choices and what were the good choices.

Afterwards, the students took time to write down different ways to show respect, responsibility, and self-discipline in the class. The grade 6 students gave many examples of how to show respect in the classroom, to their classmates, and to their teacher, but also, they got to talk about the different ways a teacher can show respect to them in the classroom. Next, they discussed how they can show responsibility such as giving their best effort in class. Lastly, the students mentioned ways to show self-discipline in the classroom. This could be making sure they don’t harm others when they feel angry or sad, or it could be making sure they stay attentive instead of disturbing others during class time. The students enjoyed the performances, and this presentation helped to set the tone of their last year in elementary school!

Mr Tshepo  LELS  (January, 2024)

Inductive Learning:

Discovering the Importance of Transition Words

A typical English lesson consists of students walking into the classroom and waiting for the teacher to execute a lesson plan. But what if students were told that they would be their own teachers for the day? That is what happened to LELS 1 students this month.

First, students were given scrambled flashcards, labeled A – I, which they had to organize. Some students organized the flashcards in alphabetical order whilst others organized them according to the pictures shown on the flashcards. Next, students read three short stories and were asked to find a grammatical structure that was consistent in the stories. This is where students discovered the use of transition words, i.e., words that show the relationship between sentences and paragraphs. They also discovered that the stories followed a sequence of events (6, 7). We brainstormed other words that can be used as transition words and watched a video to help come up with more words. Then, students realized that the flashcards they organized earlier told a story that followed a sequence of events. They reorganized their flashcards and presented the sequenced story using transition words. They also presented their own sequenced stories thereafter. Finally, once students understood the objective of our lessons, they were tasked with using the vocabulary and grammar they had discovered to write short stories of their own.

Students created stories that explained daily routines, weekend itineraries, instructions to activities, directions, etc. They did so through the process of self-discovery, that made students both the teacher and the student – an approach called Inductive Learning.

Ms Trudy  Grade 4  (December, 2023)  

Transforming language learning through speaking

One of the most important goals of learning English as a second language is being able to effectively communicate. Students often find it challenging to express themselves fluently in the language. They often experience a wide range of speaking-related problems such as lack of vocabulary and grammar knowledge, poor pronunciation skills, lack of knowledge about how to start, maintain and end a conversation politely and lack of confidence when speaking with more competent speakers of English. This lesson focuses on helping the students to develop public speaking skills with an emphasis on voice level, eye contact, clarity, and inflection.

 The Process

1. We started the lesson by discussing the term “Inspiration”. The students were asked several to get their thoughts flowing. 

2. They were then introduced to the key vocabulary to assist them with the upcoming activity.

3. The teacher modeled writing the speech on “My Hero” by explaining to the students the definition of hero, and then brainstorming the qualities that a hero might or should possess.

4. The students were then asked to write on the topic, describing their hero and how they inspired them.

5.  Afterwards the teacher then modeled the qualities of a good speaker, placing an emphasis on voice level, eye contact, clarity, and inflection.

6. The students were then task with presenting their written speeches focusing on these areas. 

Ms Belinda  UELS  (December, 2023)

The Thing about Phonics /th/ sounds

UELS.1 students have been working on digraphs during phonics lessons. We paid particular attention to the voiced and unvoiced /th/. In the first lesson, we introduced how to make the sounds. We focused on the position of the teeth, tongue, and lips and discussed soft and hard breathing using images and a mirror. Then, using a phonics video, we introduced and mimicked common words using the two sounds. In the following two lessons, we isolated voiced and unvoiced sounds. In both classes, we did a whiteboard activity where students wrote words using the letter sounds made by the teacher. This activity helps students decode new words when reading and improves their ability to sound out and spell words when writing (encoding). We then did short readings. We approach reading two ways. The first way is to analyze the story and identify the specific sound to improve decoding skills. The second is team reading races. The races help students trust their knowledge and attack a reading with confidence. (pic 9,10) We finished the unvoiced /th/ class with a whisper game to strengthen the use of phonics for writing. For the final activity in the voiced /th/ lesson, students played a Roll and Read game.

They challenged each other to decode unfamiliar words. In our last unit, we revisited both sounds using the whiteboard and reading activities. Then, they finished the /th/ unit with ‘Go Fish,’ where students successfully matched and sorted the two sounds. 

Mr Frank  Grade 4  (December, 2023)

Mind Maps for Journal Writing

In the writing strategies lesson, the students were tasked with making a mind map about Thanksgiving. Their discussion led them to discuss Thanksgiving in terms of planning a dinner. The students seemed very excited to contribute their ideas to the conversation. They dedicated a few class periods to having a discussion about thanksgiving, making a mind map and writing a journal about their perfect thanksgiving holiday.

This process allows for both organization and expression of their thoughts. Students discussed planning a guest list of people to invite to their holiday dinner, what food would be served to the guests and what activities to do after the dinner is finished. The assignment was divided into three phases for the students. Then, the students worked together to generated the language that they would need to use to make their mind map.

During the discussion phase, the students discussed and shared what they knew about Thanksgiving. They also asked questions about the holiday traditions in my family.

During the planning phase, the students worked diligently to write, draw and color their mind maps as they shared their ideas with their table-mates.

During the production phase, the students put the finishing touches on their mind maps and began writing their journals. They used the rest of the lesson writing and self-editing before giving their mind map and journal to the teacher.  

Mr Michael  LELS  (December, 2023)   

Writing stories/creative writing

An important part of learning a language is learning how to communicate in the written form. A good way for students to practice this is by having them create stories. We do this in a number of ways.

In class, we will watch a video to introduce the topic. We will then brainstorm vocabulary that can be used. The teacher will provide an example framework for how students should structure their writing. The students will then write their stories about the topic.

We can also use picture prompts. After we have brainstormed some vocabulary, the students will write about what they can see in the picture. They will also try to guess what the people might be feeling, what they will do later, etc.

Another fun way to get the students engaged is to have them create comic strips about their daily lives, and things they like doing. This allows the students to be creative, and because it is about them, it means they are interested in trying to express themselves in English.

These activities are all designed to allow the students to be creative and have fun while using English. It starts off small, with only a few sentences. Eventually, we aim for students to be capable of producing a passage like in the final photo. With hard work and focus, we are confident they can do it. Well done ELS students!

Mr Little  Grade 4  (November, 2023)

Learning new words for daily use

At the lower levels of language learning—that is to say, the beginning of the long road—learning new words to use in various situations is the most important thing. Luckily, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That step, is learning new words. In our class, we take short, easy stories, both reading and listening, as a platform on which to build our vocabulary. We learn the new words in a story a little at a time. We write them down in our notebook. Then we make flash cards with a picture on one side and the word on the other. We make crossword puzzles that require us to have the correct letters as well as an understanding of the definition. We write the word with its definition and then in a sentence. We write this again a couple times. The repetition with the fingers helps the repetition with the eyes and the mind; tying everything together with as many neural points as possible. Having learned new words and their meaning, and practiced writing them in sentences, it’s time to be let go and to write freely with the new vocabulary. Students write Thanksgiving cards, Halloween cards, and journal essays using their new vocabulary.

Their ears, eyes, mind and hands, all having practiced the words before, are better equipped to make use of the words in a natural and free setting. Just look at these beautiful minds fly free! Unfettered by a limited vocabulary! It’s a wonderful thing! 

Mr Nathan  Grade 4  (November, 2023)

Sportsmanship

With Sports Day coming we wanted to teach about Sportsmanship and the proper way to deal with playing games and competitions. The students first needed to learn the vocabulary we were going to use, so they copied down the vocabulary from our presentation. Next we read how to act while playing and after winning and losing. We learned about being fair – not cheating to win, taking turns – making sure that if you get a turn, everyone else gets an equal turn, and sharing – not being selfish and keeping everything for yourself. As a class we talked about how we would demonstrate sportsmanship while playing games or during a competition. The teacher then called up some volunteers to act out both good sportsmanship and bad behaviors so the students could see what they were to do next. Finally, the students worked in small groups to come up with a role play where they demonstrated both the good behaviors and the bad behaviors. There was a lot of fun with them coming in front of the class and acting and it helped build up their confidence in themselves and their English abilities. We agreed in the end that we liked being treated nicely so we should treat others nicely too.

Ms Becky  Grade 4   (September, 2023)

Prepping for the School Year

Starting a new school year can be a very challenging time for all concerned. Students are worried if the work will be too difficult, or too easy. In order to help students become the best learners they can be, in 4.3 we spend time discussing the specific challenges and expectations of being part of Grade 4, to help everybody adjust smoothly.

We encourage new friendships and balanced ideas by sitting students apart from old classmates and having a mix of boys and girls at each table. The students sign an agreement once they understand the rules. Giving ample rewards encourages other children who need more time to adjust. We model our expectations, and give students opportunities to redo an action until they are successful, which teaches persistence and respect.

In classes, we promote organized thoughts and ideas by insisting on neat and tidy room, and neat books. We work on how to be a good friend and how to have more emotional control so we can behave properly. We make a class circle and discuss these ideas openly so that students can get to know each other and feel safe to express ideas. We value all ideas and encourage students to support and listen to each other, through modeling and rewards.

After a few weeks, we find that starting the year with clear and high expectations for social and academic behavior develop the ‘whole child’, and, produce much more motivated and determined students. They develop clear goals of how to behave and respect each other, which makes the academic work flow well. Three cheers for a great new year! 

Mr Zhang  Computers  (July, 2023)

G3 - G5 English Computers

In the realm of information technology, a seamless integration of both technical and creative element is vital. On one hand, it's deeply technical, where precise instructions execute particular functions. On the other hand, it can be remarkably creative, deploying these specific instructions to build a plethora of innovative works. Now, encouraging the students to think more creatively is increasingly critical given the advancements in Artificial Intelligence and recent breakthrough with Large Language Models (LLM). This program serves to stimulate, nurture, and elevate students' innate creativity through the dual mediums of language and technology.

Within the G3 program, students concentrate on the essential skill of correct keyboard positioning, familiarize with A.I. while immersing themselves in a diverse range of activities, encompassing art, listening and reading.

Moreover, they acquire skills to operate interactive software equipped with tools that empower them to personalize various elements in accordance with their individual style.

Within the G4 program, students regularly practice typing and are provided with explicit instructions for conducting online research, employing curated websites to procure information for their respective projects.

Equipped with the appropriate amount of information, students are then instructed in the use of editing tools. This allows them to transform an ordinary animal into one that lives within their imagination, creating both subject and setting in a sandbox environment.

In the G5 Program, students work on coding activities while their typing accuracy (%) and word per minute (wpm) are challenged with typing tests. Additionally, they learn advanced editing tools guided by a blend of inspirational concepts and their own imaginations and take the reins in crafting their unique worlds.

A higher quality is felt; setting a new personal benchmark. This is achieved by their commitment to the task at hand, their enjoyment of the process, and their meticulous attention to detail.

The result of such a thorough effort transforms a project into a remarkable one. It evolves into a fusion of outstanding ideas and technical precision, manifesting as a creation in which both students and teachers can share a sense of collective pride.

Mr Little  Grade 4  (June, 2023)

Methods of Vocabulary Building

There are two basic paths to language acquisition. One is to memorize grammar and vocabulary from the start. This tends to be very complicated and uninteresting. A simpler and more enjoyable path is to start learning words that relate to your personal interests, and starting conversing on day one. In my experience, this method can bring you more success and fluency if practiced diligently. To find common and relevant vocabulary, we search through simple reading comprehension stories. We sift through to find the words that are new to us. Then we develop various means of learning them.

The first step is to read through a new story and create a list of words we plan to learn. Then we discuss the meaning of the words and reread the story, stopping frequently to take special notice of the new words. Next, we catalogue words into “word families” that have related letter groups and phonetic pronunciation. Then we take turns reading the story repeatedly, to cement the words into our minds and muscle memory. A further step is to cut out and write flashcards, which we use to memorize.

After working on these new vocabulary words for two weeks, we do a reading fluency assessment, and comprehension work. Using this method, our 4.5 class is working hard to build vocabulary and use the new words to improve our speaking and writing!