MANAGING THE CONSTRAINTS IN PRIMARY CLASSROOMS: SOME GUIDELINES

By Jayne Moon INTRODUCTION

In every teaching situation, there are credits, things which work to your advantage and debits, things which work to your disadvantage. These will differ from country to country. In Hong Kong, a group of primary teachers identified the following:

Credits

children enjoy games
children enjoy songs
children enjoy drawing
children enjoy activities

Debits

small crowded classroom
children are shy/unwilling to talk
big class size
discipline problems

SELECTING SUITABLE ACTIVITIES

When selecting activities for use in the classroom, it is important to keep in mind the debits and credits above. Below is a list of criteria which may help in choosing activities which are suitable for your teaching situation.

CRITERIA

1. stirring -- stirring activities excite children and wake them up,
2. settling -- settling activities calm children and make them quieter,
3. mental engagement -- these activities involve children mentally or cognitively,
4. physical engagement -- these activities involve children physically (Halliwell, 1992),
5. physical movement -- this refers to the amount of movement by children around the classroom,
6. teacher control -- this refers to the degree to which the teacher controls an activity,
7. teacher preparation of materials -- this refers to the amount of preparation required by the teacher to do the activity.

Activity: "Simon Says"

"Simon says" is a stirring activity which involves the children both physically and mentally. However, the amount of movement around the classroom is minimal. During the activity, the teacher is usually in complete control but there is no preparation of material needed before the activity.

EDITOR'S NOTE

"Simon Says" seems to be an ideal game for the Hong Kong primary classroom, especially in the afternoon class when both teacher and children tend to be a bit sleepy.Though this activity is physically engaging, the children can stay in their seats and not much movement across the classroom is needed. Hence,it can be carried out in a small crowded classroom where 40 children can be doing the same action at the same time. It is true that there may be some discipline problem, but "Simon says" is one of the few physical activities where teachers' control is maximal. When the teacher gives the command, the children have to be quiet and pay attention. By the way, it is an activity most suitable for those children who may be unwilling to talk at the initial stage. Finally, since little preparation is necessary before the activity, I am sure that the busy Hong Kong primary teachers will love it.

In the following, Jayne Moon will introduce another activity which you can evaluate according to the above criteria to see if it can be used in your classroom.

ACTIVITY: "NOUGHTS AND CROSSES"

Skills:Intensive reading; reading for specific information; listening for specific information.

This activity is based around the game "Noughts and Crosses".You need to make sure that children are familiar with the game first. You win the game if you get 3 noughts and crosses in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line.

1. Choose a passage from your textbook. My example is based on "An Old Friend" from Integrated Primary English 6. The same idea can also be adapted for use with lower classes.

2. Prepare the children for reading as you would normally do. Carry out a simple scanning or skimming activity first so that children have already had a chance to read through the passage at least once.

3. Put the following grid on the blackboard.

When	Why	Who
how	mystery square	What
where	odd word out	yes/no

4. Divide the children into two teams. Decide who should begin by tossing a coin. Get each team to choose a symbol, e.g. noughts or crosses.

5. The first team then chooses one of the squares in the grid, e.g. *when*. The teacher then asks a member of that team a *when* question, e.g. "When did the judge send the man to prison?" If the team member answers correctly, the team can put their symbol in the appropriate place in the grid. If the team member cannot answer, the question is offered to the other team.

6. The winning team is the first team to get a diagonal, vertical or horizontal row of symbols.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:

When
When did the judge send the man to prison?
When did the man escape from prison?

Why
Why did the judge send the man to prison?
Why did the lion lie down at the man's feet in the stadium?

Who
Who caught the man when he entered the city?
Who helped the lion?

How
How did the man help the lion?
How did the prisoners die?

What
What did the man steal?
What did the prison guards do with the prisoners?

Where
Where did the man sleep one night?
Where did the prison guards take the prisoners?

Yes/No
Did the judge send the man back to prison?
Did the lion kill the man?

Mystery square
How do you think the lion hurt his paw?
Where do you think the story took place?

Odd word out
Which one is the odd word out?
a. lion, tiger, dog, elephant, giraffe
b. roared, shouted, whispered, yelled, screamed
c. paw, tail, claw, ear, wild.

This activity motivates children to read. It is, therefore, important that the teacher encourages children to look for answers in the textbook and not to use the activity as a memory test.

REFERENCE

Halliwell, Susan. 1992. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. U.K.:Longman.

　

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