English Messages A Monthly Newsletter by and for teachers in Bahrain

April 2012 Year 1 Issue 4

Earth day is meant to inspire the public to take

better care of the environment and learn to take

pride in the environment. The original Earth Day was used as a teaching day to get the public more informed about the environmental impact humans were making. Since then, the basic message of the day is the same, but it has been taken much further. Since

this original celebration Earth Day has become

an international holiday. Several environmental groups have also started participating in an Earth week. During this week, these organizations host several different programs that educate their communities about the different aspects of Earth and how to

take better care of Earth. Each year, Earth Day celebrations have become more and more elabo-rate with an ever increasing audience.

Different activities are held to acknowledge Earth Day. Each participating country holds their own

activities which can be seen on the international

Earth Day webpage. Last year, groups across

the globe began to enter into active communication with their government officials concerning environ-mental policy. These groups began to make moves toward getting schools and business to recycle as well as take other actions towards preserving our environment.

Kingdom of Bahrain - Ministry of Education - English Language Unit (Basic Education)… English Messages—Year 1—Issue 4

Let Earth Day 2012 Inspire You!

• You read in our Third Issue: • Environmental Education Programs •••• Critical thinking •••• Classroom observation •••• Testing in Practice •••• Reflecting Upon the Material •••• Free Posters

English Messages

!Many countries also began environmental educa- t i o n p r o -grams for children so environmental conservation would start at a younger age. Of course, Bahrain like most world states, has included lots of lessons dealing with environmental issues in its curric-ula to encourage students to take an active role in the preservation of the country’s resources. Other, more recreational, activities are also held each year in different parts of the world. Many na-tional parks hold nature walks in hopes that these will inspire more environmental responsibility. Other groups organize clean-ups to clear trash and make the environment more livable.

A big push for more child appropriate programs has also been seen throughout recent years. Nearly every community holds some sort of

Earth Day activity. All you have to do is talk with

your students about Earth Day and see what ac-tivities they may suggest. Don’t waste more time. Think green and let’s together ensure a better fu-ture for Bahrain and the whole world. English Language Unit Basic Education

Definitely we all strive to live in a healthy and safe environment. Life would have no value and no taste without greenness. Like most countries worldwide Bahrain is making great efforts to pro-tect the environment and ensure a green future for the upcoming generations. Actually a big number of fantastic parks was built during the last ten years. I remember that one of my friends once told me that what Bahrain is doing is really amazing. The country is investing huge amounts of money to build those parks and ensure a healthy and safe environment for its citizens.

As a matter of fact, I think that all teachers should realize that one of the key purposes of our current curriculum is to build global citizens who worry about the future of mankind and do their utmost to preserve the stability and integrity of our planet.

Invite your students for a short walk in Dohat Arad. I’m sure you would spend unforgettable moments together. Invite their science teacher and seize the opportunity to tell students about the value of such projects.

Let them realize how essential it is to preserve endangered species, how crucial it is to care for our future and the future of our planet. Don’t forget to take cameras with you as the scenes you may capture are really gorgeous. After you finish your trip, ask your students to draw a poster, write a story or a report about the place or even about the challenges our planet is facing.

You could also ask them to prepare a Power-Point presentation about Dohat Arad and to describe some of the photos they have taken.

Next April 22, 2012 the majority of countries worldwide will be celebrating Earth Day. And like all human beings we, too, do care here in Bahrain.

By Mr. Emad Abdulla Al Sediri Curriculum Specialist

Environmental Education Programs

Like all human beings we, too, do care in Bahrain

“The future now belongs to societies that organize

themselves for learning…nations that want high

incomes, and full employment must develop policies

that emphasize the acquisition of knowledge and

skills by everyone, not just a select few.” Ray Marshall

and Mark Tucker, Thinking for a Living, 1992.

There have been many attempts to define THINKING. Scientists, psychologists and educationalists have all tried to come up with a definition that reflects the subtle complexity inherit to this psychological process. Researchers have, nevertheless, been more successful in categorizing the various forms and manifestations of thinking, hence the familiarity of terms such as creative, analytical, basic, effective, convergent, lateral, inductive, productive, reflective, holistic, cognitive, mathematical, abstract, practical, ineffective, complex, divergent, vertical, deductive, logical, impulsive, meta-cognitive, analytical, concrete, scientific, verbal and critical thinking.

DEFINING CRITICAL THINKING: The Expert Consensus Statement has summarized thorough research about critical thinking (CT) and the critical thinker as follows: “ We understand CT to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. As such CT is a liberating force in education and a powerful resource in one’s personal and civic life.[…] The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider. […] Thus educating strong critical thinkers means working towards this ideal. It combines developing CT skills with nurturing those dispositions which consistently yield useful insights and which are the basis of a rational and democratic society.” (Emphasis added) Facione, 2011, explains the last idea emphasized in the definition in a really attractive way: “Critical Thinking is

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English Messages

skeptical without being cynical. It is open-minded without being wishy-washy. It is analytical without being nitpicky. Critical thinking can be decisive without being stubborn, evaluative without being judgmental, and forceful without being opinionated.”

While trying to probe the complexity and relevance of the

process of critical thinking, experts have focused on what

they think is at the very CORE OF CRITICAL THINKING.

They have listed a number of cognitive skills and dispositions

including: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference,

explanation and self-regulation.

What might a generation be like if it lacked these dispositions? It would most probably be a generation that:

• Does not care much about anything, • Is not interested in the facts, • Prefers not to think, • Mistrusts reasoning and as a way of finding

things out or solving problems, • Holds his or her own reasoning abilities in low

esteem, • Is close minded, • Inflexible, • Insensitive, • Is unfair when it comes to judging the quality of

arguments, • Denies his or her own biases, • Jumps to conclusions or delays too long in

making judgment, • Is never willing to reconsider an opinion.

Now, does this remind you of something?! Does this mean that societies need to invest much more money, time and energy to foster the value of critical thinking? The answer is most probably YES.

CRITICAL THINKING: WHY IT COUNTS?

By Mr. Adel Ashoor, Al Maari Primary Boys School, Muharraq

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Year 1 Issue 4

Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback By Mr. Noaman Amara*

By attending my colleague's English class as

part of our school's policy of inter-teachers classroom visits, I have learned a lot. Indeed, I have jotted down notices about each part of the lesson on the classroom observation sheet I had and wrote down other commentaries for the sake of my evaluation of the lesson.

From the very beginning, the teacher started by greeting his students, while smiling, and this was a good class routine especially for begin-ners so as to create a friendly and positive at-mosphere where learning can take place. Then, the teacher started the lesson with a guessing game activity in order to review and reinforce the target vocabulary by using flash cards. In fact, using extra material -such as attractive flash cards- motivated students to participate in the game. Besides, in order to memorize the new vocabulary items I realized that it was es-sential to recycle them and then consolidate them. This is why my colleague’s students were very engaged and willing to participate.

The second activity

was about a poster of a house. The aim was that students would be able to recognize vocabu-lary and use prepo-sitions (in/on/under) in context. What I really admired was the way volunteers

used known vocabulary to answer their teacher's questions. However, what I sincerely appreciated most was the teacher's awareness of "when to cor-rect [pronunciation] errors and how to do that without any hurt or humiliation". In fact, while eliciting answers from the students, it was a good opportunity to correct pronunciation errors and help them with sentence structures.

The third activity was about spelling the names

of the rooms. The boys told the teacher how to write the names of the rooms on the board, without referring to the poster. In this activity, I admired the way the teacher guided his stu-dents to correct each other while spelling out the names of the rooms (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room). I also noticed the impor-tance of peer-correction. Actually, in a learner-centered classroom, teachers are advised to start with self-correction, then peer-correction and finally teacher correction (Amara, N. 2009).

The aim of the fourth activity was that students

be able to label the rooms on the worksheet of the house. The boys wrote the room names on their individual worksheets. At this stage, I en-joyed the way the teacher monitored and as-sisted weaker students, but what I liked most was the peer-correction technique adopted for correcting this writing activity. In f act, after most of the students gave their answers orally, the teacher guided the students of each group to exchange their worksheets so that each worksheet would be checked and corrected by another member of the same group, which was a good application of cooperative learning!

(Read more on page 5)

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Year 1 Issue 4

By the end, the teacher distributed a second

worksheet for his students to reorder the pic-tures according to the events of the story. What I really appreciated was essentially the fact that the teacher accepted every contribution from each student and later guided his students so that they all reach a unanimous decision about the correct order of the events. The teacher also assigned a homework activity asking each of his students to color and cut the pictures so that they can make their own story book.

To summarize, I can say that by observing my

colleague's lesson, I learned a lot from his way of teaching and his management of the class-room. I realized the importance of creating a positive and friendly classroom atmosphere for young learners. This encouraged them to partici-pate and not to fear making errors and mistake. Although, the teacher missed to mention the stages of the lesson for his students at the be-ginning, and although he didn't share the objec-tives of the lesson with his, the lesson was highly successful. What I would like to say is that classroom ob-servation is a good strategy to improve one’s teaching practices. It’s simple, but it’really helps you progress and flourish.

Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback Classroom Observation Feedback By Mr. Noaman Amara*

*By Mr. Noaman Amara (Religious Institute, Al-Jufair, Manama)

Activity five was devoted to story-time. The aim of this activity was to introduce a new story entitled "Terrible Tiger". What was noticeable at the beginning of the story was the way the teacher prepared the setting of the story. He switched off the lights of the room and put on the projector light so that the focus is on him as if he were on stage, and students could notice his "shadow", a new keyword in the story. Be-sides, while telling the story, he used a big story book in which there were pictures of the terrible tiger and its body parts. In addition, the teacher wanted to create a scary atmosphere so as to enable his students to understand other new vocabulary items like "terrible", "go away", "don't stay", "claws", "jaws", "tail", etc.

Actually, the teacher used simple and pur-

poseful questions to introduce the story like "Can you see my shadow?"; "Is the boy happy?"; "Where is the terrible tiger?", "Where is the boy?", etc. It was clear that the boys were enjoying the activity and managed to un-derstand all the new lexical items.

English Messages

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English Messages

What Makes a GOOD TEST?What Makes a GOOD TEST?What Makes a GOOD TEST?What Makes a GOOD TEST?

Never trap your students! Don’t just test their Intelligence and Alertness

1– Reliability:

A test is reliable if it accurately

and consistently evaluates a

student’s performance. In gen-

eral, ambiguous questions, un-

clear instructions, very short

tests and vague grading criteria

threaten reliability. Also,

highly challenging questions

affect student’s performance

and consequently affect the

reliability of exams.

4– Authenticity:

A test should be authentic,

namely, the teacher should con-

struct his tests out of materials

extracted from authentic works

such as novels, newspapers,

magazines, speeches, interviews,

songs, letters, advertisements, dia-

ries… Teachers have to adapt

those materials to the level of

their students by reducing length,

replacing unfamiliar lexical items

and modifying culturally inappro-

priate details.

5– Practicality:

In addition to the above mentioned criteria, consideration must also be given to practical matters such as

time indication, length, printing quality and presentation. Numbering paragraphs, questions, indicating the

point value (marking scheme) of all tasks and leaving enough space for the productive task are key features

of good tests. Even providing a special space for teachers to grade exams and for students to write some of

their personal details are very crucial components which should never be overlooked.

3– Contextualization:

Focusing on form and ignoring

meaning is a major defect in

tests. Instructions should be clear

and well-contextualized to give

students a chance to better un-

derstand and reflect on the ques-

tions. For example, it is always

important to provide a clear con-

text for the productive task

(writing)

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2– Validity:

One important concept in testing

is validity. Teachers have to de-

sign valid and balanced tests by

reference to the objectives of the

course they are teaching. A good

analysis of the skill areas in-

volved and the content taught in

class always ensures high levels

of validity

English Messages

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Year 1 Issue 4

Brief Guidelines For Final Exams

1– Listening

Teachers have to continuously

evaluate and test their students’

listening skills. In final exams

rubrics have to be clear, precise

and concise. Besides, topics

should be suitable for the learn-

ers’ age, interests and culture.

Multiple choice, matching, infor-

mation transfer, note-taking and

gap-filling are types of questions

to be included in our exams. We

have intentionally chosen these

types of questions because they

are highly objective and reliable.

In addition, they are less time-

consuming for both students

(during the exam) and teachers

(after the exam)

2– Reading

Reading is one of the basic skills

that receives a great deal of atten-

tion and care in our educational

system. Like listening, this para-

mount skill could be tested in dif-

ferent ways. We have decided to

choose the following types of

questions to be able to construct

GOOD tests which objectively

and precisely measure our stu-

dents’ reading skills and the lev-

els of proficiency they have

achieved. Questions could vary

from cloze tests, multiple choice

options, True/ False statements,

W/H questions to information

transfer tasks. We always have to

start with easier questions and

move towards some more chal-

lenging tasks. Also, we have to

respect and follow the structure of

the text while constructing ques-

tions so that students won’t jump

from one paragraph to another

without any logic or order.

GOOD TESTS objectively

and precisely measure our

students’ reading skills

and the levels of profi-

ciency they have achieved.

3– Writing

Writing tasks have changed.

They have become more human-

istic, more realistic and less so-

phisticated. We test our students’

ability to produce ideas and ex-

press themselves in different

contexts. Based on what they

have seen in class, we expect our

students to be able to tackle a

wide range of tasks confidently,

independently and profession-

ally. Writing topics and styles

should be within the experience

and interests of intermediate

level students. They should re-

flect the various writing tech-

niques and strategies our stu-

dents have acquired in class. Our

students will often be given the

opportunity to express them-

selves freely and show the extent

of their command and mastery of

the English language in clear,

realistic and well-contextualized

tasks.

On March 20th,Tariq Bin Zeiyed Intermediate school English Department headed by the senior teacher Mr. Hussein Qus-sim hosted cooperative schools English teachers to take part in a workshop entitled; Reflecting upon the Material. The workshop was prepared and conducted by Mr. Iyadh Labadi. What is it about?What is it about?What is it about?What is it about?

We teachers know much more how to do things than why we're doing them! This idea goes, in fact, straight to the heart of a central concept in language teaching. That's our need to get into the habit of critical reflection. With an insight into different assumptions of the reading process, the rationale for different reading tasks and classroom techniques, the workshop works largely with developing teachers' drive to have full awareness of what they're doing. In a communicative English language teaching environment, our task as teachers goes beyond familiarizing students with a text in the target language or testing their ability to "understand" it. It is developing students' reading skills that matters most.

* Mr. Iyadh Labadi (Tariq Ben Zeyad Intermediate Boys School)

English Messages

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea are excel-

lent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

By John Lubbock

“Reflecting upon the Material” By Mr Iyadh Labadi *

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Year 1 Issue 4

Kingdom of Bahrain

Ministry of Education Directorate of Curricula English Language Unit

(Basic Education)

curriculabh@hotmail.com

Tel +973 17 27 86 16

Fax +973 17 24 34 72

Editorial Team

Dr. Nawal Al-Khaja

Mr. Emad Al-Sediri

"Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect."

Native American Proverb

English Messages

15. look carefully