Effective Teaching Aid

Effective Teaching Aids
(taken from "Pemulihan" class SJK Sam Hap Hin, Kuching)

Teaching aids for primary school are things such as classroom decorations, classroom organizers, activity tools, grammar games and pre-made blank books.

Teaching aids are useful to:

z reinforce what you are saying,

z signal what is important/essential,

z enable students to visualise or experience something that is impractical to see or do in real life,

z engage students’ other senses in the learning process,

z facilitate different learning styles.

Pocket Charts

1. The picture above is our pocket chart.
2. We are using pocket chart to teach the weather (Rainy, Sunny, Windy, Snowy)to the students.
3. There are 4 different pictures with are related to the weather.
4. We might place the words on each different pocket.
5. The students have to place the pictures on the right pocket which correctly describe the word.
(eg. For "Rainy", the student need to place the picture with a girl wearing raincoat next to the word "Rainy").
6. We might use pocket charts for other teaching materials, like food, fruit, animal, etc.

Diagnostic Test

1. What is the definition of diagnostic testing in education?

Diagnostic testing is individually administered tests designed to identify weaknesses in the learning preocesses. Usually these are administered by trained professionals and are usually prescribed for elementary, sometimes middle school, students.


These are two example of Diagnostic Test by our group.

TEST１

-Matching Objects to their shadows-

________________________________________________

TEST 2

-Define and Calculating Shapes-

"There are 4 types of shapes including rectangle, square, triangle and round in the figure. Calculate the shapes and write down the total of the certain shapes."

________________________________________________

TEST 3

________________________________________________

TEST 4

________________________________________________

TEST 5

Speech Language Therapy

1. What Is Speech-Language Therapy?

Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most kids with speech and/or language disorders. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.


2. Speech Therapy


When there is an underlying medical condition and a speech disorder, speech therapy may be utilized. Prior to the initiation of speech therapy, a comprehensive evaluation of the patient and his or her speech and language potential is generally required before a full treatment plan is formulated.

Speech therapy services should be individualized to the specific communication needs of the patients. It should be provided one-to-one by a speech-language pathologist educated in the assessment of speech and language development, the treatment of language and speech disorders, and the evaluation of people with swallowing disorders. A speech-language pathologist can offer specific strategies, exercises and activities to regain function communication abilities (Kortte and Palmer, 2002).

Before speech therapy is initiated a complete evaluation by the speech-language pathologist should be performed. As part of the evaluation, standardized assessment tests should be used for evaluations to identify and quantify impairment (Kortte and Palmer, 2002): Tests include the following:

Coverage Policy Number: 0177
• Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale (REEL): infants (birth to three years)
• Test of Language Development (TOLD): school-age children
• Porch Index of Communication Ability (PICA): adults
• Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination: adults
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT): for all ages

For the child with speech delay, the speech/language evaluation may demonstrate that the potential exists that, through speech therapy, the child will reach an age-appropriate level of speech. Some situations for which speech therapy may be appropriate in the prelingual child include: following long-term intubation, chronic otitis media, or after cochlear implant or cleft palate surgery.

A hearing test may also be conducted to determine if the child is experiencing mild hearing loss as a result of transient or persistent ear infections or allergies. Should these conditions be identified, then medical management and monitoring should be used to minimize the effects that this could have on future language learning. Comorbid psychiatric disorders, environmental deprivation, pervasive developmental disorders, mental retardation, autism and selective mutism should all be considered in cases of language delay (Johnson, 2005).

Speech therapy is generally not appropriate for use in prelingual children when there is no identified underlying medical condition or there is no possibility of the child reaching an age-appropriate level of speech (e.g., autism, pervasive developmental disorders developmental delay or mental retardation; the inability to construct sentences, stuttering or tongue thrust) (Johnson, 2005; Bressmann, 2005; Kroll, 2005).

Documentation of the proposed treatment should include all of the following:
• findings of the speech evaluation, including motor and expressive results
• short- and long-term measurable goals, with expectations for progress
• specific treatment techniques and/or exercises to be used during this treatment
• determination of how the goals will be measured and reported every two weeks
• expected duration of therapy for goals to be met
• documented strategy to transition this supervised therapy to a patient-administered or caregiver-directed maintenance program


Before continuing speech/language services, the results of these patient-specific measures should demonstrate that the individual is consistently improving and that a plateau (i.e., where no additional meaningful improvements are being measured or are expected to occur) has not been reached. Once the individual has reached their goals or a therapeutic plateau has been reached, then ongoing therapy becomes maintenance in nature.


The use of group therapy is not one-on-one, individualized to the specific patient needs. Services that are provided by speech therapists and occupational therapists may overlap (Michaud, et al., 2004). Speech therapy that is being provided as part of an occupational training program is considered duplicative in nature.

Flashcards

Introduction

1. A picture flashcard represents a particular vocabulary item that you want to introduce.
2. It can be an object, an animal, an adjective, a character, a place, an action, etc.
3. We can represent anything on a flashcard, provided there’s no ambiguity in what is represented !
4. Uses of Flashcards:
a. To teach vocabulary
b. to practise vocabulary
c. for reading and writing practice


Now, we will be discussing the uses of flashcards into more detail.


A. TO TEACH VOCABULARY

A flashcard is meant to be seen by the whole class and will be held up by the teacher. If necessary, in larger groups, the teacher may have to walk around the room to show the flashcard to the pupils.

To present vocabulary, hold up a flashcard, saying the word clearly with and without the indefinite article :

« Look. A pencil.
Pencil.
A pencil. »


Say the word clearly two or three times while the pupils listen.

They then repeat the word several times after you : use words and gesture to get them to repeat the word. Then, ask individual pupils to say it.

Teacher :Now say it after me.
A balloon.
Class : a pencil.
Teacher : Again
Class : a pencil
Teacher : Robin
Joseph : a pencil




B. TO PRACTISE VOCABULARY

All these activities can be done to practise vocabulary you’ve just taught or to reinforce it . We’re just giving some here, you can obviously devise many more !

1. Hold the flashcard asking « what is this ? » or « is this a ball ? », expecting « a balloon », « No. It’s a balloon ».

2. Hold up the flashcard and get pupils to say the word without saying anything yourself. The pupil who says the word first wins the card.

3. Hold up the flashcard but let pupils see only part of the picture and ask them to guess what it is as you remove the covering sheet little by little.

4. Put the flashcards on the board and ask pupils to point to the picture of the word you say.

5. Put the flashcards on the board and say the words for all the cards in the set except one. The pupil who says the word first wins the card.

6. The teacher names a flashcard. Pupils must do a simple mime or gesture to represent the item on the flashcard.

7. Give some cards to the pupils, and ask them to hold up their picture when they hear the right word.

8. Pupils stand in a line. Give one card to the last pupil in the line. Pupils, starting from this last one, must whisper the word up the line to the first person, who says it.


C. FOR READING AND WRITING PRACTICE

We can have word flashcards matching the picture flashcards, thus allowing you to teach the whole word and develop reading and writing skills.

Word flashcards should never be used to introduce a word for the first time. Always use the picture flashcards first and revise the vocabulary orally.



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You can devise your own set of flashcards, or use the sets provided by some publishers. If you make your own set, make sure:
· the drawings are clear and unambiguous
· the cards are drawn on cardboard paper, and can’t be torn
· they are sorted out (for instance in colour groups) to be easily found : you can group them in topics (toys, animals, food,…) or code them according to your teaching sequences, or any other classification you may find suitable and useful.
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My Hero

MissQ says : 

Michael Jackson is an inspiration to many people, to this day. His music inspires people to dance, and sing. He’s an amazing dancer, and has incredible vocal cords. With all this in mind, his music teaches everyone to smile, and his music isn’t just random words, it all means something. For example, his ‘Black or white’, it is about promoting racial unity. Even through his diseases and rumors about it, he’s determined to please the crowds. This is why, Michael Jackson, is my hero. =)

Jordan says:

"Jackson donated and raised more than 300 million dollars for beneficial causes through his Heal the World Foundation, charity singles, and support of 39 charities." 
Michael Jackson had done a lot of charity works in order to help people. Do you think most of the rich artist could do so? But MJ did it. He wanted his money to help people in need. I admire MJ not because of his fantastic songs and dances, but also his kindness. So, are you all ready to do what MJ had done to the society???

Ann Ling says:

Michael Jackson has always been a very good and great musician of all times and I think that people are really and truly like and love his and his family’s music that he and his brothers have made together and what his sister Janet made too. And he will be missed forever but never forgotten and he will always be in people heart and prayers forever.

Alison says:

Michael's death was a sudden shock for me. He's part of my childhood and became almost a fictionnal character. Michael Jackson----one of the great singer and dancer of the century. A great showman. His music always been an inspiration to everyone. Well...he did make a lot of money but he spent them a lot in donation. And now he had left us...may God bless his good soul..

Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within

Young girl don't cry
I'll be right here when your world starts to fall
Young girl it's alright
Your tears will dry, you'll soon be free to fly

When you're safe inside your room you tend to dream
Of a place where nothing's harder than it seems
No one ever wants or bothers to explain
Of the heartache life can bring and what it means

Chorus:
When there's no one else, look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend just trust the voice within
Then you'll find the strength that will guide your way
You'll learn to begin to trust the voice within
Young girl don't hide
You'll never change if you just run away
Young girl just hold tight
Soon you're gonna see your brighter day
Now in a world where innocence is quickly claimed
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
It's so hard to stand your ground when you're so afraid
No one reaches out a hand for you to hold
When you look outside look inside to your soul

Chorus
Life is a journey
It can take you anywhere you choose to go
As long as you're learning
You'll find all you'll ever need to know

(be strong)
You'll break it

(hold on)
You'll make it

Just don't forsake it because
No one can tell you what you can't do
No one can stop you, you know that
I'm talking to you

Chorus
Young girl don't cry I'll be right
here when your world starts to fall