LIST OF APPENDICES

No.
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

Appendix
AS L1-i
AS L2-ii
ST L1-i(a)
ST L1-i(b)
ST L1-iii
CS L1-iii
CS L2-ii
CS L2-v
CS L3-ii(a)
CS L3-ii(b)
CS L3-iii
CS L3-v
PS L2-i
PS L2-ii
PS L2-iv
DR L2-iii
DR L3-iii
PD L1-iii
PD L1-iv(a)
PD L1-iv(b)
PD L1-v
PD L2-iii(a)
PD L2-iii(b)
PD L2-v
PD L3-i

Activity / Material
Score Sheet (Action Song)
Tongue Twisters
Score Sheet (Storytelling)
Storytelling
Casey Jones
The Grasshopper and the Ants
Examples of Tongue Twisters
Steps in Teaching Jazz Chant
Choral Speaking in the Elementary Classroom
Elements of Choral Speaking
Onomatopoeia
Score Sheet (Choral Speaking)
Just A Minute
Board Game
Sample Questions to Be Copied on Cards
Poison Box
Suggested Situations for the Role-Play
15 Facts and 15 Opinions
Cause and Effect Treasure Hunt
Treasure Work Worksheet
Debate Poison Box
Mission Possible to Mars
Relevant Social Conventions
A Man Called Future Husband
Pros and Cons Relay

24

Page

No.
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

Appendix
PD L3-ii(a)
PD L3-ii(b)
PD L3-iv
NIE-A
NIE-B
OUTDOOR A
OUTDOOR B
OUTDOOR C
OUTDOOR D

Activity / Material
W.A.R (We Argue and Refute!!!)
Sample Mahjong Paper for W.A.R!!!
Lets Walk in Different Shoes
Scavenger Hunt
NIE Relay
Running Dictation
Treasure Hunt
Blind Man
Survey & Report

Page

GUIDELINES FOR
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION
Being able to communicate effectively and confidently in the English Language will enable students to function
and contribute successfully in local as well as international situations such as forums, meetings, transactions
and negotiations. To instill confidence, usage and interactions in the English Language is of utmost importance.
As such, this guide book advocates fun yet educational activities that help build confidence in students to learn
and speak the language.
This five-year scheme of work has been designed as a guideline for teacher advisers of the English Language
Society in schools. The activities outlined are based on the major activities subsumed under the English
Language Motivation and Support Programme organized by the Ministry of Education such as Action Song,
Storytelling, Choral Speaking, Public Speaking, Debate, Drama in English and English in Camp. The activities

25

include warmers, puzzles, language games, NIE activities and competitions which students can enjoy and learn
in a non-stressful manner.
The activities designed in this book can be described as light relief in comparison to serious teaching and will
be a delightful way of reinforcing what is taught in the classroom. Besides using and adapting the suggested
activities outlined in this book, it is hoped that teachers will also initiate other English Language Programmes or
activities that would meet the needs of the students in their schools.
The activities subsumed under the English Language Motivation and Support Programme are divided into 3
levels Level 1 for beginners, Level 2 for intermediate learners and Level 3 for advanced learners. There are 5
activities proposed for each level. As there are more than 100 activities offered in this book, a coding system to
identify activities and appendices is designed for easy reference. The coding system used for activities is as
follows:
Code
AS
ST
CS
PS
DR
PD

Reference
Action Song
Storytelling
Choral Speaking
Public Speaking
Drama in English
Parliamentary Debate

Each activity is further coded according to its level of difficulties and sequence of activities. For example, an
activity with the code of DR L1-iv refers to the fourth activity in Level 1 for Drama in English. On the other hand,
AS L3-i should refer to the first activity in Level 3 for Action Song. As for the appendices, their coding system is
almost similar with the coding for activities. For easy reference, Appendix DR L1-iv refers to the appendix for
the fourth activity in Level 1 for Drama in English.
OBJECTIVES

26

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

To enable students to learn the English language in an interesting, authentic and a creative manner.
To encourage students to communicate confidently and effectively in the English language.
To enable students to develop critical and creative thinking skills.
To enable students to develop leadership qualities.
To engage students in activities that enable them to build confidence and awareness of self.
To promote integration and inculcate positive values.

ACTION SONG
Programme
Action Song
Level 1

Activity

Procedure

1. Introduction to
Action Song
[AS L1-i]

a. Teacher introduces Action Song to

students and explains the key information
found in the score sheet.
b. Students listen to a few songs and
discuss the key features that are found in
the songs.

2. VCD-watching
[AS L1-ii]

a. Students and teachers watch an action

song presentation / competition.
b. Students discuss in groups the action
songs presented in the VCD.
- tempo
- actions

27

Remarks
Appendix AS L1-i
Score Sheet.

Teachers to get the

Action Song
Competition VCD
from the state
Education
Department.

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

- singing
c. Each group presents their views during
the group discussion.
3. Humming a
Song.
[AS L1-iii]

4. Sing Along 1
[AS L1-vi ]

5. Music and
Actions (no
singing )
[AS L1-v]

a. Students choose a song. Eg. Here We

Go Round the Mulberry Bush.
b. Teacher asks students to learn the
melody of the song.

Examples of melody:
- hum hum
- la..la..la..
- sh sh sh
- ppp
- d.dd
- thth..th

a. Teacher plays any suitable childrens song

Eg. It Youre Happy, The More We Get
Together, Hokey Pokey.
b. Teacher asks students to sing along.
a. Teacher plays a suitable action song.
b. Students are divided into groups.
c. Students discuss appropriate actions that
can be acted out for the song.
d. Each group presents their actions.

Examples of actions:
Static
-hands /Legs
movement
- Head movement
- Body movement
Slow Movement

28

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks
-Swaying
In Motion
- walking forward /
backwards
- leaping, skipping
- clapping hands
- nodding heads

Action Song
Level 2

1. Sing Along 2
[AS L2-i]

a. Teacher chooses an action song.

Students sing along with emphasis on
diction and intonation.

2. Tongue Twisters
[AS L2-ii]

a. Teacher chooses a tongue twister text.

b. Students read the text as fast as possible
(individually, in pairs or in groups).

3. Elephant
Dance
[AS L2-ii]

a. Students are divided into several groups.

b. A leader must be appointed in every
group.
c. A song is played and the leader has to
lead the other group members walking
about in the classroom. While walking the
leader has to make some movements /
actions.

Refer to Appendix AS
L2-ii

Options:
This activity may also
be carried out in a
big circle.

Other group
members should also
be given a chance to
d. Group members must follow every be the leader.
movement / action made by the group

29

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

leader as they are walking behind the

leader.

4. Creative
Movements /
Choreography
[AS L2-iv]

a. Students are divided into several groups.

b. Each group chooses a song on their own.
c. Students plan creative yet meaningful
actions to be acted out for their songs.
d. Group presentation.

5. Performances
during Special
Occasion
[AS L2-v]

a. Students to have a schedule for practice.

(Teacher to facilitate and guide students)
b. Students brainstorm for better movements
to improvise on the steps/ choreography.
c. Practices can be done in an open space or
on the school stage.
d. Teacher can come up with a special
theme for each action song performance.
Example :
- Occasion: Teachers Day
- Theme: To pursue ones interests
- Song: Que Sera Sera
a.

Action Song
Level 3

1. Moods
[AS L3-i]

a. Students are divided into several groups.

30

Note: The moods /

Programme

Activity

Procedure
b. Each group must choose a song (Teacher
may also decide the songs for all groups).
c. Each group goes through the lyric of the
song and identify the mood(s) / emotion(s)
of the song. They should discuss how the
mood(s) / emotion(s) can be portrayed in
their presentation.
d. Each group is given 20 minutes to make
preparations for their group presentation.

2. Highlighting
Theme
[AS L3-ii]

3. Jingles
[AS L3-iii]

Remarks
emotions can be
delivered
through
choreography
and
facial expressions.

Prizes should be
offered to the winning
e. Each group is only given 5 minutes to groups.
present their action song.
a. Students are divided into several groups. Options:
b. Each group is given a theme such as
unity, racial harmony, Vision 2020, Teacher may come
with
other
patriotism, science and technology, out
themes.
environment, love, etc.
c. Students have to discuss how each
theme can be presented through an Teacher may also
choose only one
action song.
theme
to
be
discussed
by
all
d. Group presentation. Teacher and other
students should respond / give feedbacks students.
to the ideas presented.
a. Students listen to a few jingles (TV or
radio)
b. Students in groups are given a topic and
to come up with suitable jingles.

31

Examples:
-Star World channel
jingle (Astro)
-Digi jingle

Programme

Activity

Procedure

4. Inter-group
Action Song
Contest
[AS L3-iv]

a. During the initial meetings, students can

form groups for workshops, discussion
and presentation.
b. Students to have regular practice before
the inter-group action song contest.
c. Teacher to conduct inter-group action
song contest. Teacher may use the score
sheet provided for judging.
d. Teacher may award students with
certificates instead of monetary prizes.
The best group can perform during the
weekly assembly or during English Week

5. Lyric Writing
[ AS L3-v]

a. Each group chooses a theme of their

choice for lyric writing.
b. Groups work on writing the lyrics
creatively.
- word rhyming
- current issues
- educational
- family and friends

Remarks

Static
-hands /Legs
movement
- Head Movement
- Body
Slow Movement
- swaying
In Motion
- walking forward /
backwards

32

STORYTELLING
Programme
Storytelling
Level 1

Activity
1 Introduction to
storytelling
[ST L1-i]

2. VCD watching
[ST L1- ii]

Procedure

Remarks

a. Teacher introduces storytelling to

students and explains the key
information found in the score sheet.
b. Students make facial expressions to
indicate different emotions.
c. Teacher gets students to read dialogues
in different moods or situations or voices.

Appendix ST L1-i(a):
Score Sheet
Appendix ST L1-i(b):
Storytelling

a.

Get the VCD from

the State Education
Department.

b.

Students and teacher watch a

storytelling competition on VCD.
In groups, students give their opinions

33

Examples of mood:
angry, sad, happy,

Programme

Activity

Procedure

c.

Remarks

on how the participants deliver their

stories.
Groups present their opinions.

3. Listening to
stories
[ST L1-iii]

a. Students listen to a story.

b. Students listen again and look for
creativity in the following:
- voice clarity and variation of
intonation
- pronunciation
c. Encourage students to give feedback of
the story heard.

Appendix ST L1-iii:
Casey Jones

4. Play Judge
[ST L1-iv]

a. Students listen to two different

storytellers.
b. Teacher asks students to judge the two
storytellers and highlight the strengths
and weaknesses of both storytellers.

This activity enables

students to
conceptualize the
characteristics of a
good storyteller.

5. Let Me Share
With You
[ST L1-v]

e. Students choose a synopsis / a part of

any story which interests them.
f. Students share the synopsis / interesting
part in groups.

34

Programme
Storytelling
Level 2

Activity
1. Chain Story
[ST L2-i]

Procedure

Remarks

a. A group of 4 to 5 students sit in a circle.

b. One student starts with the first sentence Teacher must explain
of the story or continues the sentence the concept of
provided by the teacher.
storyline, plot etc.
c. The next student will add on to the first
sentence but the storyline must make
sense.
d. The third student will add on to the
second sentence.
The process will go on for a few rounds
within the time limit given.

2. I Fell in Love
[ST L2-ii]

a. Teacher asks students to choose a story

that they really like or have fallen in love
with.
b. The story can be taken from any source
(e.g. story books, movies, magazines,
internet, etc.).
c. Each student must get ready to tell the
story chosen in about 3 5 minutes in
front of the class.

3. Interrupted
Storytelling

Students should be
allowed to make
preparations at
home.
The story may be
told in smaller
groups first to
develop students
confidence.

a. Teacher asks students to write a word on

a piece of paper and tells them not to This is an activity
show to anyone. This word should be a that will make your

35

Programme

Activity
[ST L2-iii]

3. An Imaginary
Journey
[ST L2-v]

Procedure

Remarks

verb (or whatever you'd like to highlight).

b. Teacher starts telling a story, then stops students speak in
and chooses a student.
class
and
be
c. That student will continue the story and creative.
must use his/her own words. The student
then chooses the next student to
continue the story.
d. The last student must end the story.
e. After the story is over, the students then
try to guess what words each student
has written on his/her paper. The student
who correctly guesses the most words
wins the game.

This speech exercise

encourages
confidence in ones
ability to describe a
sequence of events.
The journey from
c. The speaker verbally gives the attentive ones own front door
to ones bedroom is
listener an imaginary errand to do.
well known by the
d. The speaker must carefully explain to his speaker. The
a. Teacher pairs up the students each pair
consists of a listener and a speaker.
b. Teacher tells the students that they are
standing outside of the speakers front
door.

36

Programme

Activity

Procedure
or her listener how to go into the
speakers house, go to the bedroom,
and, once there, describe where to find a
special item somewhere in the room.
e. The speaker tells the listener a story
about why the item to be retrieved is
special and then the speaker verbally
explains how to get back to the front door
to bring the special item out to where the
speaker will be waiting.

Storytelling
Level 3

1. Pass the
Picture and
Tell the
Story.
[ST L3-i]

1. Teacher stands in a circle with the

students.
2. Then, teacher holds up a picture and
briefly tells the part of the story which
goes with it.
3. Give the picture to the students on your
left, who must repeat the sentence(s) you
said.
4. The student then passes it to her or his
neighbour, who does the same thing.
5. When the class is confident, you can
have several pictures moving at the
same time.

1. A student begins telling a story and then

37

Remarks
speaker may
discover in
discussing this
exercise afterwards,
that he or she
imagined the house
clearly and saw
more detail than was
mentioned.

Students are
encouraged to
imitate the
intonation, stress
and rhythm of the
teacher when telling
the story.

Programme

Activity

Procedure

2. Throw the Ball

and Continue
Telling the
Story.
[ST L3-ii]

throws a ball or any soft objects to

another person.
2. He or she must continue the story

3. Miming the
Story.
[ST L3-iii]

1. The children act out or mime the story as

you or any student retell it.
2. Divide the story, with the students help,
into different scenes.
3. Discuss what you need and allocate
roles. Objects in the classroom or the
children themselves can represent
objects in the story. For example, a
cupboard can represent a mountain, and
children can represent trees, doors, or
anything. This planning phase is a way of
checking their understanding of the story.
4. Some of the students act the story as the
teacher retells it.

4. Impromptu
Storytelling
[ST L3-iv]

a. Teacher writes one-word titles on small

pieces of papers, fold and put them in a box.
Examples: Love, Hobbies, Money, Food,
Family, Peace, Water, Friends, etc.
b. One student is called to take one paper in
the box and he / she is given 3 minutes to
prepare. After that, the student has to tell a

38

Remarks
The story could also
be a nonsensical
story.
The task of the story
teller can be done by
a student or a group
of them taking turns.
If the students are
good, they can tell
the story using their
own words without
reading the text.

Programme

Activity

5. Inter-Class
Storytelling
Competition
[ST L3-v]

Procedure

Remarks

story (any story relevant to the title) in 2

minutes.
c. The game is continued by other students.
a. Teacher organizes an inter-class
storytelling competition.
b. More planning should be done by the
teacher advisers and ELS members.

CHORAL SPEAKING
Programme
Choral
Speaking
Level 1

Activity

Procedure

1. Introduction to
Choral Speaking
[CS L1-i]

a. Teacher introduces Choral Speaking to

students.
b. Teacher provides students a sample script
each for the explanation.

2. VCD Watching
[CS L1-ii]

a. Students and teacher watch a recorded

choral speaking competition.
b. Students discuss in groups the choral

39

Remarks

Get the video

tape/VCD on choral
speaking competition

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

speaking presentation .
a. content
b. facial expression
c. pronunciation
d. overall performance, etc.
c. Each group presents their opinions /
feedbacks.

from the State

Education
Department.

3. Choral Reading
[CS L1-iii]

a. Teacher gets a sample of a choral reading

script.
b. Teacher asks students to read in groups.
c. Present the choral speaking.

Refer to Appendix CS
L1-iii.

4. Phonetics / Word
Attack
[CS L1-iv]

a. Teacher provides a pronunciation chart with

the symbols of vowel and consonant
sounds.
b. Students practise the vowel and
consonants sounds.
c. Students practise using a list of words.

Refer to the Adobe

Reader English
Sound System.
Select words with
vowels and
consonants.

5. Sound System
[CS L1-v]

a. Students practise the sound system.

b. Students read the script, with emphasis on
the sounds produced .
c. Teacher may record the choral speaking
script in a cassette. Students listen to and
follow it.
d. Teacher records students voices during the

Refer to the HSP for

sound system
ph as in pharmacy

40

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

choral speaking activity. Teacher allows

students to listen to their own voices
(recorded) and students improve on them .
Choral
Speaking
Level 2

1. Basic Phonetics
and Phonology
[CS L2-i]

2 Tongue Twisters
[CS L2-ii]

a. Teacher divides students into groups.

b. Teacher shows the IPA chart.
c. Teacher provides students with a list of
words.
d. Students look up for the correct
pronunciation from a dictionary with the
help from the phonetic transcription.

Refer to the IPA chart

(Adobe Reader)

a. Teacher provides students with sample

texts for tongue twisters.
b. Students read the tongue twisters.

Refer to Appendix CS
L2-ii.

Oxford Dictionary or
Longman Latest
Edition

c. Teacher organizes a tongue twister intergroup competition.

3. Reading
Emotionally
[CS L2-iii]

4. Echo
[CS L2-iv]

a.
b.
c.

Teacher provides sentences.

Students read the sentences in different
emotions.
Students read the sentences in pairs using
different emotions.

Examples of
sentences /
dialogues:
I like you, Please
help me, etc.

a. Students are asked to line up in two rows.

Row 1 and Row 2
b. Teacher gets a suitable choral speaking text may lead the reading
or any suitable text.
alternately.

41

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

c. Students in Row 1 read out the lines of the

text and students in Row 2 have to repeat
after them.
d. The text is read till the end.
5. Jazz chant
[CS L2-v]

a. Teacher introduces the lyric of a jazz chant.

b. Teacher reads the chant to the class.
c. Teacher reads one line at a time and asks
students to repeat the line until they can say
most of the words.

Refer to Appendix
CS L2-v for other
procedures to teach
jazz chants

d. Teacher adds the rhythm (clapping,

marching, or pounding a table or a drum).
e. Let the class do the rhythm and say it at the
same time.
f. Let soloist say it while everyone else
claps.
1. Q&A
[CS L3-i]

a. Teacher provides Q and A lines to students.

Eg. Good morning
How are you?
I am fine. Where are you going?
I am going to town. Why do you look
sad? ..(and son on).
b. This activity is conducted in two groups or
pairs.

42

Suggested topics:
Social expressions,
General knowledge,
Getting to know you

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

c. Each group / pair takes turn asking

questions and answering the questions.
2. Colourful Voices
[CS L3-ii]

3. Onomatopoeia
[CS L3-iii]

a. Teacher explains the functions of different

voices.
b. Divide students into groups of different
voices.
c. Students practise the types of voices.

Refer to Appendix
CS L3-ii(a) and
Appendix L3-ii(b)

a. Teacher provides content and information

on onomatopoeia to students.
b. Students read and connect the samples of
onomatopoeia.
c. Students practise the text that contains
onomatopoeia. Students produce sounds
while reading.
d. Teacher may want to use soft instrumental
music as the background while students are
producing the sounds.
e. In groups, teacher asks students to
sequence the 6 lines of different
onomatopoeia and come up with a short
story. Sequencing may vary. Allow
creativity.

Refer to Appendix CS
L3-iii.

43

Boys: dark voices

Girls: light voices

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

4. Script
Adaptation
[CS L3-iv]

a. Teacher divides students into groups.

b. Each group chooses a theme, a topic or a
story.
c. In groups, adapt the story to suit a choral
speaking text or create a choral speaking
script.

Suggested topics :
Good manners
Healthy eating
Happy Living
Nature

5. Inter-group
Competition
[CS L3-v]

a. Teacher divides students into groups.

b. Each group works on the breathing
exercises or warm ups.
c. Students choose a leader from each group
who will conduct or direct the presentation.
(The leader is like a choir master).
d. Students present their choral speaking.
e. Teacher acts as judges.

Refer to Appendix CS
L3-v for the choral
speaking score
sheet.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

Public Speaking
Level 1

1. Introduction
to Public
Speaking
[PS L1-i]

a. Teacher explains what public speaking is.

b. Students discuss in groups the
advantages of being a good public speaker.
c. Students make a list of qualities to be a

Refer to the handouts

on Public Speaking
distributed by The
Ministry Of Education

44

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

good public speaker.

d. Teacher introduces public speaking
competitions to the students and explain to
them about the key information about
public speaking competition such as criteria
for judging.

to schools.

2. VCD
Watching
[PS L1-ii]

a. Students and teachers watch a public

speaking competition together.
b. Teacher may ask students to judge or
comment to enhance their understanding
about public speaking competition and how
to be a good public speaker.
c. Teacher highlights good qualities of public
speakers e.g. body language, voice
projection, intonation, enunciation, eye
contact etc.
d. The activity ends with a Q&A session to clear
students doubts about the public speaking
competition.

Get the video

tape/VCD on public
speaking competition
from the state
resource centre.

3. Memorized
Circle.
[PS L1-iii]

a. Ask the students to sit in a circle (A group of

10).
b. The first person will introduce him/herself
and
state what he/she likes using the first letter
in his/her name. e.g. My name is Sulaiman

The students might

think that the last
person will have a
hard time but actually
the last person will
gain more for

45

Programme

Activity

4. Introducing
Another
[PS L1-iv]

5. News
Reading
[PS L1-v]

Procedure

Remarks

and I like swimming.

c. The next person in the circle will then
introduce the first person first, then only
him/ herself and he/she likes doing.
E.g. His name is Sulaiman and he likes
swimming. My name is Anita and I like
apples.
d. The activity will go until all the students have
a chance to speak.

speaking longer.

a. Divide the class into pairs.

b. Each person talks about him/herself to the
other, sometimes with specific instructions
to share a certain piece of information. For
example, "The one thing I am particularly
proud of is..."
c. After five minutes, the participants introduce
the other person to another person, a group
of students or to the whole class.

The information to be
shared could vary
from simpler to more
challenging topics.
E.g. My family or
The happiest day in
my life depending on
the students ability.

a. Teacher asks students to choose a

newspaper article.
b. Individually/ In pairs, students deliver the
news.

46

Programme
Public Speaking
Level 2

Activity
1. Just a Minute!
[PS L2-i]

Procedure
a. Teacher introduces a board game to the
students and read the rules and
regulations of the game.
b. Teacher groups the students in a group
of four.

2. Board game.
[ PS L2-ii]

Remarks
Refer to Appendix
PS L2-i.
This board game is
an adaptation of the
snake and ladder
game.

c. At the end of the game, teacher explains

the objective of the game is for fluency.
a. Teacher introduces a board game to the
students and read the rules and
regulations of the game.

Materials needed are

dice or spinner,
counters, timer and
the game board.
Refer to Appendix PS
b. Any one can start in order to play the
L2-ii Teacher can set
game by throwing the dice.
his/her own rules in
organizing the game
c. Students are to talk about the topic or
picture found in the square that they land such as the number
of player per group,
on.
talking time and the
d. Students must keep on talking for about subject or topic for
the students to talk
2 minutes and other students in the
group are encouraged to ask questions. about.
e. This is to sustain the talking time of their
friends.

3. Sale Promoter
[PS L2-iii]

a. Teacher groups the students in a group

of four or five.

47

Promoting the
product could be

Programme

Activity

Procedure
b. Each group is assigned to design a
futuristic stationery on a mahjong paper.

Remarks
done in front of a
small group or to the
whole class.

c. Students will then discuss the strategies

to promote their product.
d. Teacher organizes a parallel session so
that all students will have the chance to
promote their product.
4. Answer me!
[PS L2- iv]

a. Teacher distributes question cards

among the students.
b. The students will take turn to answer the
question on the card. The student is
awarded 4 points for a complete answer,
3 points for a reasonable answer, 2
points for an incomplete answer, and 1
point for any answer at all. If your class
is up to it, you can get them to award the
points.

Materials required:
Question cards
For suggested
questions refer to
Appendix PS L2-iv

a. Divide the students in a group of three.

Doing this in small

groups is probably

5. Two-minute

48

The objectives of this

activity are to
get the students used
to answering general
questions at a level
that resembles
normal speech and to
give the students
conversational
confidence.

Programme

Activity
Talk on
Random Topic
[PS L2-v]

1. Five-minute Talk
[PS L3-i]

2.. Speakers
Corner
[PS L3-ii]

Procedure
b. For every talk, there are three positions:
speaker, topic maker, and timer.
c. These positions rotate as different
people do their talks. For each talk, the
topic maker picks a random topic, the
speaker talks about it, and the timer
makes sure the talk lasts for two
minutes.
a. Students stand or sit in a big circle.
b. Teacher plays music while passing
around a ball. Once the music is
stopped, the student with the ball has to
present a short speech on the given
topic such as Money.
c. The student who has given a speech
does not have to present again if he or
she gets the ball for the second or third
time. In fact, he or she is given the
privilege to choose anyone in the circle
to give the speech.
a. Teacher decides where and when the
activity should be held. Most probably at
a school canteen during recess as there
will be many students there.

49

Remarks
less intimidating that
having the whole
class watch each
student. The list topic
should also be
suitable to students
ability.
Teacher may also
pass around 3 balls
for more student
participation.

This activity can be

done weekly.

Programme

Activity

3. Wonderful
Product
[PS L3-iii]

4. If I were
[PS L3-iv]

Procedure
b. Teacher selects some potential students
to speak at the chosen corner in public.
a. Teacher divides students into groups.
b. Each group has to create a unique,
exclusive and wonderful product. For
examples, a pair of bionic shoes and a
magic calculator which have multipurpose, extraordinary and sophisticated
functions.
c. Students have to draw and label their
products on mahjong papers.
d. Students must also discuss the details of
their products name, price, features,
specialties, etc.
e. Each group presents the product in 5
10 minutes inclusive of a question and
answer session with the teacher as well
as students from other groups.
a. Teacher writes on small pieces of papers
personalities / individuals such as Prime
Minister, Principal, Dato Siti Nurhaliza,
Beyonce Knowles, Tiger Wood,
Education Minister, Dr. Sheikh Muzaffar
Mustapha, Mahatma Gandhi, etc.
b. The papers are folded and put into a
box.
c. Every student is given a paper /
personality and they have 10 minutes to

50

Remarks

Students should be
encouraged to be
creative. They may
use colourful markers
to draw their
wonderful products.

Teacher may ask

students to give other
/ more names to be
written on the papers.

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

think about 3 things that they would do if

they were that particular personality.
d. Students must support their statements
with appropriate reasons.

5. Inter-Class
Public Speaking
Competition
[PS L3-v]

e. Teacher calls students to make

presentation one by one.
c. Teacher organizes a school level Public
Speaking Competition.
d. More planning should be done by the
teacher advisers and ELS members.

DRAMA IN ENGLISH
Programme
Drama in

Activity
1. Introduction to

Procedure
a. Teacher asks students to share their

51

Remarks

Programme
English
Level 1

Activity
Drama in English
[DR L1-i]

2. Drama VCD
Watching
[DR L1-ii]

3. Adverbial
Charades
[DR L1-iii]

Procedure

Remarks

understanding of drama and drama in

English.
b. Teacher sums up students
understanding of the terms above and
explains what drama and Drama in
English mean.
c. Teacher highlights some important
information about drama based on the
handout produced by the School
Division, Ministry of Education.
a. Students and teachers watch a video /
VCD on a Drama in English competition.
E.g. District / State / Zone / National
level
b. Students are given a task/ tasks during
the session such as identifying and
describing characters, messages,
values, plot, setting or others.
c. Students discuss their task after the
session.
d. Teacher highlights certain key aspects of
drama as discussed in DR L1-i.

Obtain the video /

VCD from the State
Education
Department.

a. Each student is given a card with a

familiar adverb on it. E.g. gracefully,
slowly, quickly, angrily, loudly, happily.
b. Each students is called to the front of
the class one by one.

Some students may

get cards with similar
adverb.

52

Teacher may also ask

students to watch the
drama carefully and
later conduct a quiz
based on it. Small
prizes can be offered.

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

c. Then the class tells the student to do

something so they can guess the
adverb on the card.
d. They can tell the student to do things in
pantomime, like drinking a bowl of soup,
or really do it in class, like opening a
door or taking a book from the teacher.
4. Facial
Expression
Marathon
[DR L1- iv]

a. Ask the students to stand / sit in a circle.

Ask the first students in the circle to
make a funny face or assumes a funny
posture.
b. The next student mimics the gesture,
passing it on quickly to the next person,
and so on around the circle.

5. Mirror Mirror
on
the Wall
[DR L1-v]

c. When the funny face has completed the

circuit, another person begins, until all or
as many persons as possible have had
a chance to initiate the face-making.
a. Pair everyone up with a partner and
have them take turns mirroring, or
copying the verbal and nonverbal
behaviour of the other.
b. This can be varied to have them copy
only facial expressions, or to have them

53

This activity is
intended to enhance
students facial
expression while
acting in a drama.

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

try to do it in groups, with groups trying

to copy each other.

Drama in
English
Level 2

1. Acting Out
[DR L2-i]

a. Students are placed in a group of three They can also guess

or four.
the singer(s) of the
song.
b. Each group is to choose a song that
they like.
c. Based on the lyric of the song, each
group will act out using the lyric as their
line.

2. Comic Alive!
[DR L2-ii]

3. Poison Box
[DR L2-iii]

d. The other students will guess the title of

the song or what the song is generally
about.
a. Students are placed in groups of four or Students should be
five.
encouraged to add a
few lines of their own.
Narration
is
also
b. Each group is given a cartoon strip.
allowed to enhance
the understanding of
c. Students are to act the dialogue in the
the cartoon strips.
strip.
a. Students are asked to stand in a big Teacher may
circle.
provide more

54

also
than

Programme

Activity

Procedure
b. Music should be played when three
small balls are being passed around.
c. Once the music is stopped there must
be three students holding the balls and
one of them has to take a piece of paper
in a box on behalf of the others.
d. The paper taken should tell what all
three of them have to do. Refer to
Appendix DR L2-iii for some suggested
tasks.
e. Teacher decides whether they perform
the task one by one or simultaneously.
f. All the other students have to judge
which one of the three students
performs the task given the best.

4. Stressed,
Unstressed,
[DR L2-iv]

a. Teacher asks students to form a circle.

5. Expressing

a. Teacher explains that students will be

Remarks
three balls. The balls
can be replaced by
other objects which
are safe and easy to
be passed around.
(Before starting) The
distance among each
ball should be spaced
out.

Some other
sentences that can
b. He then gives one sentence to the be used are:
-May I know your
students. E.g. This is my book.
name?
c. All the students will take turn to say the -I love you!
sentence in different intonations, stress -Those are my story
books
and rhythm showing different emotions.
-She loves the cat.
-When can I see
you?

55

Teacher can also ask

Programme

Activity

Procedure

Feelings with
Objects
[DR L2-v]

b.

c.

d.
e.
Drama in
English
Level 3

1. A Day in the Life

of ...
[DR L3-i]

given an item and they have to

communicate with the item. For
instance, they can be given a wristwatch, a handkerchief, a calculator, a
mobile phone, a batik sarong, a bottle of
Vitamin C, etc.
Students have to imagine that the item
is alive have feelings and can
respond to conversation using a special
language.
Students are asked to create dialogues
to communicate with the item in about 2
5 minutes. They have to imagine that
they are the only persons who can
understand the special language used
by the item.
Students prepare the dialogues in 10
20 minutes.
Students present individually.

a. Students are paired.

b. Each pair is required to choose a
renowned person (dead or alive) such
as the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee, Michael
Jackson, Nicol David, Tiger Wood, etc.
c. Student A has to be a reporter of a
television programme named A Day in
the Life of and Student B has to play
the role of the chosen renowned

56

Remarks
students to bring an
item each from home.
Teacher should
encourage students
to show appropriate
facial expressions
when they
communicate with the
item.

*This activity is done

together with the
Commercial Break
activity - DR L3-ii.
Teacher may appoint
some students to
hold cards that
indicate audience to

Programme

Activity

2. Commercial
Break
[DR L3-ii]

3. Role-play

Procedure

Remarks

personality.
d. Students have to create dialogues
between the reporter and the
personality.
e. Teacher tells the students that they are
going to witness the recording of A Day
in the Life of at a local television
station.
f. All pairs present the dialogues one by
one.

clap, laugh, sigh and

be silent.

a. Students are divided into several

groups.
b. Each group has to come out with an
advertisement for commercial breaks
during the television programme above
DR L3-i.
c. Each group has to promote a product or
service (e.g. soap, bank, perfume,
snacks, etc.) creatively and convincingly.
However, they may adopt and adapt
ideas from the advertisements in
television.
d. Teacher decides when the group should
present their advertisements during the
commercial breaks.

Remember that there

should not be too
many groups doing
the
advertisements
as other students
have to carry out the
television
interview
above DR L3-i

a. Teacher divides students into several

57

A director should also

be appointed to say
1,2,3 Action! and
Cut! accordingly.

Programme

Activity
[DR L3-iii]

Procedure
groups.
b. Each group is given a task to come out
with a role play based on the situation
given. Refer to Appendix DR L3-iii for
the situations.
c. Students make preparation for the role
play.
d. Group presentations.

4. Inter-class Sketch
Competition
[DR L3-iv]

a. The ELS should organize an inter-class

sketch competition.
b. More planning should be done by the
teacher advisers and ELS members.

5. Special
Performance
[DR L3-v]

a. Teacher encourages students to perform

at a special function in school such as
Speech Day, Teachers Day, Cocurriculum Day, etc.
b. The performance may be in the form of
a sketch or role-play.

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

58

Remarks

Programme
Parliamentary
Debate
Level 1

Activity
1. Introduction to
Parliamentary
Debate
[PD L1-i]

2. VCD Watching
[PD L1-ii]

F&O Corners
[PD L1-iii]

Procedure

Remarks

a. Students discuss in groups the

advantages of being a debater or
having debating skills.
b. Each group presents and discusses the
advantages.
c. Teacher sums up the great benefits of
involving oneself in a debate team.
d. Teacher introduces parliamentary
debate to the students and explains
about its key information such as
format, roles of each speaker and
criteria for judging.

Refer to the Tan Sri

Datuk Wira Abdul
Rahman Arshad
Challenge Trophys
handout.

a. Students and teachers watch a

recorded debate competition together.
b. Teacher highlights certain key features
(e.g. Point of Information, rebuttal, reply
speech, presenting a case stand, etc.)
of parliamentary debate as explained
before.
c. Teacher may ask students to judge or
comment to enhance their
understanding about the debate style.
d. The activity ends with a Q&A session to
clear students doubts about
parliamentary debate.
a. Teacher prepares 30 strips of manila
cards (last longer) containing 15 facts
and 15 opinions. Refer to Appendix PD

Get the debate video

tape VCD from the
district education
office or state
resource centre, if
your school does not
have any.

59

Some materials /
pages may be printed
for students.

Pair some students if

there are more than
30 students.

b.
c.

d.

e.

4. Cause and Effect

Treasure Hunt
[PD L1-iv]

L1-iii.
Two corners of the classroom must be
labeled as FACT CORNER and
OPINION CORNER.
Each student is given one strip of card
and he / she has to decide whether it is
a fact or an opinion and gather at the
respective corner with the others.
Students from each corner take turn to
step forward, read aloud the card and
quack (3X) if it is a fact but
Moooooooooo if it is an opinion.
Teacher and all students listen carefully
for verification. If the student tells
wrongly, he or she has to make another
animal sound of his / her choice.
When all students have finished telling
about their facts / opinions, teacher
explains the significance of
differentiating both and using them to
support arguments / statements in a
debate.

a. This activity can be done individually, in

pairs or groups. However, for safety
purposes as well as to promote peer
interaction, it should not be done
individually.
b. Teacher places the cause and effect
clues at various strategic locations
within the school compound before the

60

The animal sounds

are included merely
for injecting fun and
joy in the activity.
Option: teacher may
suggest other sound
effects.

Some office bearers

of the ELS should
assist the teacher.

c.

d.

e.
f.

g.
h.

treasure hunt starts. Refer to Appendix

PD L1-iv(a) for the suggestions on the
clues and flow of students movements
from location to location within the
school compound.
Every student /pair /group is given a
worksheet to be completed during the
treasure hunt. Refer to Appendix PD L1iv(b).
Students are given 20 30 minutes (it
depends on the number of clues /
questions placed) to complete the
treasure hunt.
The worksheets have to be submitted to
the teacher.
All students gather in a class and
teacher asks students to evaluate their
friends responses / answers.
Exchanging worksheets promotes more
discussion of the responses given in the
worksheets.
Teacher and students discuss the
acceptable and logical causes and
effects.
Teacher ends by stressing that thinking
about the causes and effects of certain
issues will make students become
better decision makers as well as it can
help them to support their arguments
better in a debate.

61

Make sure students

do not evaluate their
own worksheets.
Marks / Points can be
awarded accordingly.

5. Debate Poison
Box
[PD L1-v]

Parliamentary
Debate
Level 2

1. Debate Scrapbook
[PD L2-i]

a. Students sit in a big circle.

b. Teacher passes around the circle four
small balls as a song is being played.
Two balls are labeled A (advantages)
and two more balls are labeled D
(disadvantages).
c. The song is paused several times. Each
time this is done, the students with the
balls have to stand up and one of them
picks up a paper/topic from the Poison
Box. Refer to Appendix PD L1-v for the
list of topics in the box.
d. For instance, if this topic is picked up
from the box Advantages and
disadvantages of the internet, then,
both students with ball A are required
to give one advantage of the internet.
Conversely, one disadvantage of the
internet must be given by each student
with the ball D.
e. The game goes on after several topics
are covered.
a. Teacher divides students into several
groups. There should be not more than
four members in each group.
b. Teacher presents a list of general topics
for the scrapbook for the groups to
choose.
c. Each group has to come out with a
scrapbook containing as much

62

The friends sitting

close to the students
with the balls may
assist
them
with
ideas, if necessary.

Teacher may also

ask students to
suggest their own
topics.
Teacher should
decide on the
number of pages and

2. Two-minute Case
[PD L2-ii]

information as possible about the topic

chosen/suggested. The information can
be gathered from any printed/written
materials such as newspapers,
magazines, brochures, posters,
classroom essays, downloaded
materials from the internet, interview
excerpts, personal notes and others.
d. The scrapbooks should be circulated
among the society members. If copies
cannot be made, create a system that
records students who borrow and read
them.
e. This activity should be carried out a few
times in a year so that by the end of the
year, the students should have explored
many argumentative topics / issues.

duration to complete
the scrapbook.

a. Teacher asks students to create a

positive or negative characteristic of a
person. For instances, he or she is a
good / lousy cook, patient / bad
tempered, diligent / indolent, extrovert /
introvert, computer savvy / illiterate,
brave / coward, etc.
b. Teacher asks every student to think of
one statement (negative or positive) to
describe their characteristic. For
example, I am a good cook.
c. Teacher asks some students to share
their characteristics.

Teacher / students
should list down the
characteristics in two
columns on
blackboard.

63

Prizes may be
offered to the best
three scrapbooks.
The society may also
establish its own
collection of
reference materials
for future debates.

d. Students are given 5 10 minutes to

prepare reasons / explanations or a
case to support their statement.
e. The case will be presented in 2 minutes.
f. Snowballing presentations:
- students rehearse their case
individually in 3 minutes
- all students walk about in the
classroom (as music is played) and
stop when they are told to do so.
They must take turn to present their
case to 1 2 persons nearest to
them.

Students should
make a few stops
and share their case
with more students if
they are less
confident to present
individually later.

g. All students are seated and teacher

calls for volunteers / selects some
students to present their case
individually in 2 minutes in front of the
class. Teacher and students should
pose at least a question (to promote
POI) to the presenters during / after
their presentation.
3. Mission Possible
To Mars
[PD L2-iii]

a. Teacher asks the students to imagine

that they are in a committee to select
the first group of human beings to
conduct an intensive research and
establish a settlement on the Mars.
b. Teacher presents a list of final
candidates and their backgrounds.
Refer to Appendix PD L2-iii(a).

64

Teacher should
provide a list of
relevant social
conventions to be
used in the
discussion / debate.
Refer to Appendix PD
L2-iii(b).

c. In groups, students are given 20 30

minutes to choose only 5 persons from
the list and provide convincing reasons
why some are chosen and vice versa.
d. Each group presents their chosen
candidates and reasons. Students are
strongly encouraged to debate during
group presentations.
e. If possible, students should
unanimously decide the top 5
candidates at the end of their
presentations / debate.
4. If I Were a
Millionaire .
[PD L2-iv]

a. Students are asked to imagine that

each of them receives a fortune of RM1
million from a billionaire like Tan Sri
Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary or Bill Gates.
b. While holding the RM1 million note (if
there is none, just imagine), students
must think of three ways how to spend
the money to help a society.
c. Students are grouped and they are
supposed to reveal their plans of
spending the money to all group
members.
d. Each group has to come to a consensus
by choosing only 3 ways of spending
the money. They must also discuss
reasons and explanations for each plan.
e. Each group presents their plans. Other
groups are encouraged to question their

65

Teacher may design

a RM1 million note
for
each
student
using A4 papers.

planning and the presenting group has

to defend their plans as best as
possible.
6. A Man Called
Future
Husband
[PD L2-v]

Parliamentary
Debate
Level 3

1. Pros and Cons

Relay
[PD L3-i]

a. Students are divided into three groups

and are required to imagine that they
are a 67-year-old father (Group 1), a
65-year old mother (Group 2) and a 37year-old unmarried daughter (Group 3).
b. The mother, father and daughter
always have disagreements regarding
the traits of their future son-in-law /
husband because each of them has his
/ her own candidate. Students sit in
three groups known as Perfectionist
Father, Fussy Mother and Stubborn
Daughter.
c. Each group has to develop their
arguments with relevant and logical
supporting details.
d. The three groups sit in a big circle and
discuss.

Refer to Appendix PD
L2-v for the list of
candidates and their
different traits.

a. Students are divided into 3 4 groups.

Refer to Appendix PD
They have to line up in front of the
L3-i for the list of
class.
topics.
b. Each group is given a piece of mahjong
paper and a marker and they are placed
at the back of the class on a desk. The
mahjong paper is divided into two
columns pros and cons (advantages

66

c.
d.
e.

f.

g.
h.
i.

2. W.A.R.!!!
(We Argue and
Refute!)

and disadvantages)
All groups are given one similar debate
topic simultaneously. Teacher writes the
topic on the blackboard.
Each group has 5 minutes to discuss
the pros and cons of the topic.
Each group is given 5 7 minutes to
run (do not rush safety first) to the
back of the class to write on the
mahjong paper the pros and cons
appropriately. At one time, only one
group member is allowed to run and
then write on the mahjong paper.
When the time is up, all students are
seated and teacher puts up the
mahjong papers on the board. The pros
and cons of the topic are presented by
each group.
Students should be encouraged to
argue with each other during the
presentations.
Teacher should conclude by highlighting
the three most significant and prominent
pros and cons.
If time permits, the students should
have one or two more rounds of similar
relay. They may also be regrouped.

a. Students are divided into 5 groups.

b. Phase 1: Each group is given a piece of
mahjong paper to write about 3

67

A marker pen can be

used as a baton to be
passed to the next
group member to
complete the task.
Teacher may blow a
whistle to start and
end the relay or start
and stop playing
music accordingly.

Refer to Appendix PD
L3-ii(a) for the list of

[PD L3-ii]

arguments (in complete sentences)

based on the topic given.
c. Phase 2: The mahjong papers are
exchanged using the following system:
- Group 1 exchanges with Group 5
- Group 2 exchanges with Group 3
- Group 3 exchanges with Group 4
- Group 4 exchanges with Group 5
d. Phase 3: Each group is given another
piece of mahjong paper to be attached
to the one received from another group.
They are supposed to refute / rebut the
three arguments written on the first
mahjong paper. Each refutation /
rebuttal should be written on the second
mahjong paper parallel to the argument
refuted.
e. Phase 4: The mahjong papers are
returned to the original group for them
to rebut the refutations. Therefore, each
group is given another piece of mahjong
paper to be taped beside the
refutations. Group members have to
think of possible counter-refutations and
write them down accordingly.
f. Phase 5: Each group presents their
arguments, refutations for their
arguments and their rebuttals to defend

68

topics.

Use masking tape to

attach the two papers
together.
Drawing an arrow to
indicate the link
between the
argument and
refutation is helpful.
Again, drawing
arrows is helpful to
link each refutation /
rebuttal. Refer to
Appendix PD L3-ii(b)
for a sample
mahjong paper.

POIs are encouraged

during the
presentations.

their arguments.
3. Mum, Dad, please
.
[PD L3-iii]

4. Lets Walk in
Different Shoes
[PD L3-iv]

a. Students are asked to imagine that they

are having a two-month school holiday.
They are very interested to take up a
part-time job but their parents urge them
to attend a two-month Spoken English
Course.
b. Students are divided into two groups
The Teenagers and The Parents.
c. Each group discusses valid reasons to
support their choices.
d. Some group members from each group
have to present their reasons to
persuade and influence the others to
agree with their suggestion.
e. Teacher should encourage students to
question each others reasoning or
arguments.
f. Teacher ends the activity by deciding
the most convincing group and
highlighting the strengths of their
arguments.

The two options can

always be changed
with other choices
such as:
Computer Course
Summer Camp
Cooking class
Driving lesson

a. Teacher divides the students into three

groups and labels them as
TEENAGERS, PARENTS and
GOVERNMENT. The students in each
group have to present viewpoints /
arguments from the perspectives of
teenagers, parents and government

Make portable and

standing labels using
manila cards. Put
each label
accordingly in front of
the group.

69

Options: Students
can also debate on
hobbies, favourite
television
programmes, top
artistes, etc.

b.

c.

d.

5. Inter-group Debate
Competition
[PD L3-v]

a.

b.

c.
d.

respectively.
Teacher gives a debate topic one at a
time. Based on each topic, students are
given some time to make their stand
clearly and support it convincingly.
Refer to Appendix PD L3-iv for the
suggested debate topics.
Every group presents its stand and
arguments. All group members must
cooperate to defend their arguments or
clarify any doubts raised by others.
Teacher must change the labels for
every new debate topic (students
remain seated) so that every group of
students has a chance to walk in
different shoes when presenting their
arguments.
Teacher should form 4 groups of
potential debaters among the ELS
members. There should be 3 debaters
in each group.
Two topics are given the first topic is
for the first round and the second topic
is for the final round. Teacher may use
past debate motions used at district,
state or national level.
All groups are given sufficient time to
prepare themselves (could even be 1
2 weeks).
Teacher should be the Chief Adjudicator
and may be assisted by some ELS

70

Teacher determines
the duration for the
inter group debate.

Teacher may think of

other ways of
regrouping the
students according to
their shoes.

More debating
groups should be
encouraged.
Other ELS members
who are not debaters
can make
contributions as:
- researchers
- advisors
- trainers
- timekeepers
- speaker
- co-adjudicators

members.
e. Teacher should provide some prizes at
least for the efforts and commitment put
in by the winning group.

7. ENGLISH IN CAMP
7.1 WARMERS
Activity

Procedure

1. Gloves And
Sweets
Relay

a. Divide students into two teams.

b. Students line up in two rows.
c. The first in line of each team is given a paper bag filled with
wrapped sweets and a pair of men's thick gloves.
d. Each student, in turn, has to take the gloves out of the bag,
put them on, choose a sweet, unwrap it, and put it in their
mouth.
e. They then have to take off the gloves, return them to the bag,
and pass it to next student in the team.
f. The first team to finish the task is the winner.

2. Dont
Answer
No.

a. Teacher asks questions and if the students answer "Yes" they

must get up from their chairs and move one seat to their left.
b. They may end up sitting on someone's lap or two laps.
c. Here are the questions which you can vary on your own: Do
you have black shoes on? Did you walk here? Do you have

71

Remarks
Materials: Wrapped sweets, 2
paper bags and two pairs of men's
large thick gloves

Activity

Procedure
three or more siblings? Are you wearing earrings? Do you
have blue jeans on? Is it your birthday this month? Are you
wearing something red?
d. The first person to get back to her original seat is the winner
of a bar of imported chocolate or simply a 2B pencil!

3. Alphabet
Circle

a. Arrange everyone in a circle.

b. Someone says the name of any country, city, river, ocean or
mountain that could be found in an atlas.
c. The person next to him must then say another name that
begins with the last letter of the word that has been given.
Example: First person: Indonesia
Second person: Austria
Third person: Australia
d. Each person has a definite time limit (e.g. 3 seconds) and no
name can be repeated.

4. Feed Me
Please!

a. Teacher pairs up the students and tie their left wrist together.
b. Give each pair a banana to hold in their left hand.
c. When teacher says "Go", they peel the banana with only their
right hand and try to push it in their partner's face/mouth.
d. You may want to blindfold the students to add excitement.

5. Crack Me

a. Students are paired up.

72

Remarks

Activity
Not

Procedure

Remarks

b. Teacher gives each student a peanut.

c. They should try to crack their partner's peanuts by pushing
their peanuts against one another.
d. Those with cracked peanuts are out. Do this in rounds until
only one or a few peanuts are left not cracked

6. Money,
Money,
Money

a. Teacher pairs everyone up and forms a big circle.

b. Each pair is given two coins.
c. One person in each pair tilts his head back and places a coin
on each eyelid with eyes closed (no peeping!).
d. Put a big container in the centre (e.g. a garbage can).
e. The object is for each person to dump their coins into the
container, following the verbal direction of their partner.
f. No physical guiding by the partner is allowed
g. If any coin dropped, the person should pick it up and start all
over again.
h. The fun comes when all the pairs go at once, crowding around
the container, blinded by money, trying to hear their partner's
direction.

7. Eat And
Blow

a. Start the game by getting each student to blow up a balloon

and eat a biscuit at the same time.
b. The student who has a fully blown balloon and has eaten
their biscuit wins a prize.
c. They have to take a bite - blow the balloon, take a bite, blow
the balloon...etc.

73

Materials: Balloons and large

biscuit to each student.

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

The teacher places a large drawing of a face on the floor

and each students in turn attempts to drop a pair of bright
buttons to form the eyes of the face.
b.
The most accurately place eyes wins the game.

Materials: Large drawing of a face,

2 buttons to each student.

8. Eyes
Please!

a.

9. Rhythmic
Jumping

a. Have the entire group get in a circle.

b. Everyone put their arms over the shoulders of the persons on
their left and right. On the word GO, everyone must jump (feet
off the ground) at the same instant.
c. The ones who do not (too fast or too slow), go out of the
group.
d. Repeat until only a few are left. These are the winners.

10. Confess
Please

a. Get a small rubber ball.

b. Arrange the students in a circle.
c. Throw the ball to one person and ask the individual to disclose
something unusual about himself.
d. He can then throw the ball to anyone he chooses and repeats
the process.

11. Getting to
Know You

a. Each student writes his/her name on a piece of paper.

b. Collect the papers and redistribute them so that everyone
gets the name of a person he/she does not know.
c. Students walk around the room to find the person whose
name he/she is holding.
d. When everyone has found his/her partner, they should get to
know each other. He/she introduces him/her to the whole
group.
E. Teacher ask for volunteers to introduce their friends.

74

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

12. Happy
Family

a. Each student is given a card bearing a family member.

Grandfather Pluto, Grandmother Pluto, Mother Pluto.
Grandfather Mars, Grandmother Mars, Father Mars
b. Student locates family members.
c. As each member is found, they move around looking for the
remaining members.
d. Grandfather introduces the family to the other families.

This activity can also be used to

divide students into groups.

13.
Personality
Matching

a. Each student receives half a name of a personality.

This activity can also be used to

pair up the students.

WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARE

MAHATHIR

MOHAMED

ISAAC
NEWTON
b. Each student has to find the other student holding the other
half of the name.
c. In pairs, they then describe their personality for others to
guess.
14. Blow
Wind
Blow

a. Students sit in a circle with one of them standing in the centre

of the circle.
b. He/she starts by saying blow wind blow
c. The other students reply blow to where?
d. He/she replies, for examples blow to those wearing
spectacles/ blue shirts/whose name starts with the letter
Netc
e. Students wearing spectacles/blue shirts/whose names starts
with the letter N.etc must get up and find a new seat within

75

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

the circle.
f. The student without a seat has to stand in the centre of the
circle and continues doing the same activity.
7.2 LANGUAGE SKILLS ACTIVITIES
Activity
1. Bingo

Procedure

Remarks

a. Students to work in pairs.

b.. Give each pair an envelope that contains :
A card with 9 words on it (eg, words in past participle)
Card 1
gone
sewn
combed

taken
put
given

swam
done
eaten

Refer to the warming-up

section for ideas on
groupings.
Eg. Of a cheer :We are smart
We are bright
We can do it
Right, right, right
Leader has the master word
list in which he crosses out
the words he calls out.

Card 2
given
spoken
lied
cut
done
spoken
Nine blank cards for covering the words

taken
bought
combed

c. Leader calls out the root word (eg. Go) and pairs look for the past
participle of the word and cover it with a blank card. The pair that
successfully covers 3 words in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal

76

Cards
prepared
may
contain more than nine
words depending on the
students
level
of
proficiency.

2. Spelling
Bee

3. Words
Scrambling

4.
Advertisement
Jingles

5. Deserted

line is the winner.

a. Appoint a leader in every group.
b. Leader starts by spelling and saying a word, for example,
B-A-T (spell)
bat (say)
c. The next student spells and says a word that starts with the
last letter.
Eg. T-A-R (spell)
tar (say)
d. The game continues. If a student is not able to continue, he is
droped out of the game. The next student starts again with a
new word.

a. In pairs, students form as many words as they can using the

letters in the card provided.
eg.
A
M
N
U
E
I
U
S
O
T
S
L
b. The pair that uses every letter given to form a word gets bonus
points.
c. The pair that scores the most point is the winner.
a. Divide students into groups of 4-6.
b. Each group is to prepare an advertisement to promote the sale of a
product. Jingles must be included in the advertisement.
c. Each group presents advertisement and jingles.
a. Teacher reads the situation and sets the task.
Example of a situation:

77

1. Teacher may carry out

the game
in a few rounds.
Eg. Round 1 involving
only 3
letter words
Round 2 involving 4
letter
words
Round 3 involving 5
letter
words
Suggested scoring :
1-letter-word 1 point
2-letter-word 2 points, etc
Bonus 20 points

Island

You are stranded on an island. There is food and water on the

island but nothing else. From the list, choose 5 most useful
items and give reasons for your choice.
An axe
A box of matches
A bottle of water
An atlas
A nylon tent
A blanket
Ointment

a saucepan
a knife and a fork
20 meters of nylon rope
a compass
a towel
a pencil and paper
a transistor radio with batteries

b. Students work in groups of three of four.

d. Students present their solutions and defend their choices against the
others arguments.
6. Give Us A
Clue

a. Prepare idioms and proverbs on cards.

eg. green eyed monster
an apple a day keeps the doctor away
b Divide the students into groups of 4-6.
c. Teacher/student facilitator shows a card to student in the group
who is to mime the words in front of the others. The student
cannot mouth or say any word or he will be disqualified.
d. The others guess the idiom or proverb. Each time a word is
guessed correctly, the teacher/facilitator writes it on the board.
e. A student can pass his role to another member of the group to
continue the mime using a new card.

7 True or false

a. To begin with, each pupil should think of a factual statement and a To encourage story-telling
fictitious statement about themselves to relate to the rest of the
technique. This is good for
class, who have to guess which is which.
confidence building and

78

A time limit should be set for

guessing the idiom/proverb.
(usually 90 seconds)

b. The teacher could start by announcing his or her own statements

to the class. Building on this, each pupil then thinks of one true
story and one false story to tell to the rest of the class.
c. Again the class attempts to discriminate. This continues until
everyone has had a turn at telling their stories.

helpful for story-writing.

7 Secret
Messages

a. The students are paired and each pair is asked to write out the
letters of the alphabet, A-Z, and the numbers 1-26 underneath.
Each pair thinks of a simple message, written in the number code,
to send to another pair.
b. The teacher organizes an exchange, and then each pair cracks
the code using the number coding.
c. One of each pair is in prison and writes a letter to their associate
outside with a coded message in it. The partner must try to crack
the code and decipher the message, then reply using the code.

Many different codes can be

developed and used in
games based on espionage,
police, radio hams, etc.

9. Just the
Job

a. Each student in the class thinks of an unusual job.

b. Each student is questioned by the rest of the class about what the
job is.
c. The person questioned can only answer Yes or No.
Eventually, if the class cannot guess the job, the person
has to mime it.

10 Coffee-pot

a. Ask a pair of volunteers to leave the classroom to choose a noun,

and then ask them back to have a conversation about it in front of
the class.
b. Example: The pair has chosen the word dustbin. The
conversation might go as follows:
My coffee-pot is black and made of plastic.
My coffee-pot is grey but it smells awful.
When anyone else thinks they know what the coffee-pot

79

is, they may guess. If they are correct, another pair is sent
out.
11. Aunt
Sitis cat

a. This is an old party game usually played by children and adults

together.
b. The teacher usually says whether the word chosen is possible or not.
c. The name can be varied: My uncles parrot. The grocers horse. Bill
Lees bulldog. My grandmothers monkey, etc.
The first player begins with a, perhaps My Aunt Sitis cat is an
alarming cat. The second has to use an adjective beginning with
b, e.g. My Aunt Sitis cat is a bad cat. The third may continue.
My Aunt Marys cat is a careful cat. And so on through the
alphabet.

12 .Classroom
Shop

13. What Can

You Do
With It?

a. The pupils provide the articles for sale- or pictures, drawings,

or models of them, or simply their names on cards- and the
teacher, to get the game going, acts first as salesman and
then as a customer.
b. Useful phrases: Can I help you? Have you got a ? Have you
got any..? I want to buypounds/kilograms of Please give
me Im sorry we are out of stock/we havent got that, etc.
a. Write a list of the objects on the board or display pictures of
the objects if you have them.
b. For each object, ask the class What can you do with it? or
How can you use it?
c. Asking the same question in different version repeatedly
encourages the students to be creative with their suggestions.
Example:
A: How can you use a paper bag?
B: You can put things in it.

80

Prepare to ask questions

on about 5 or 6 common
objects.
You might like to
stimulate a. discussion
by using pictures or the
objects themselves.

14. Chain
Spelling

A: Yes, what else can you do with a paper bag

C: You can light a fire with it.
A: I suppose so. Anything else?
D: You can blow in it and make a bang.
a. Have the students stand in a large circle around the classroom.
c. Explain that the goals of the game are speed and accuracy of
spelling.
d. Ask one student to say any word. The student to her left must say
a word that begins with the last letter of the word given, and so on
clockwise around the circle.
e. After several times round the class, stop the game. Tell students
that they must now spell as well as say the word they think of.
f. If a student takes too long (more than 5 seconds) to think of a
word, begins with the wrong letter or spells it incorrectly, she must
return to her seat.
g. The student who is the last standing wins the game.
Example: A: band. B-A-N-D
B: dog. D-O-G
C: goal. G-O-A-L

15. Hybrid

a. Students are divided into group of 4 and 5 and are challenged

to create names for imaginary hybrid animals.
b. Examples:
Suppose a lobster mated with a termite. What would you call
the baby? How about a lobsTERmite?
How about the offspring from a kangaroo and a rooster? A
kangaROOster?

16. Getting
the

c. One member of the group or class says Ive been reading a very
interesting story, but gives no detail except in response to questions,

81

Alternatively, add the

rule that the words must
all fall within a given
category- e.g. names of
countries or sports.
If students are very good
at the game and no one
looks
like
winning,
reduce the time limit for
answering.

Here are some

possibilities (keep them
to yourself until the
students have finished):
mooSErpent
goriLLama
hippopotaMUskrat
elephANTelope
birDonkey

Full Story

17. Dictionary

e.g. Who are the characters? Where do they live? What are their
names? How does the story begin? etc.
d. Teacher needs not know what the story is and can join in
questioning, but the teachers main role is to encourage varieties in
the questions.
a. Teacher finds a suitable word in the dictionary, names the part of
speech (noun, verb, etc.) and the first letter, and reads the definitions
(and the sentences using the word in context, if necessary).
b. Students try to guess the word being defined. The first student
correctly to identify the word chooses the next word and reads its
definitions.
Example: My word is a verb and it begins with the letter t. It
means:
1. produce thoughts; form in the mind. I often _____ of home.
2. reason; consider. He is _____ about the problem.

82

Provide a dictionary that is

geared to the proficiency of
your students.

7.3 NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

Activity
1. The Gifts

Procedure

Remarks

e. Students are asked to imagine they come from a big family

which consists of the following members mother, father,
granduncle, eldest brother, younger sister, youngest brother,
cousin and foster sister.
f. Each student is required to prepare a gift for each of the
family members above. Students must provide a reason for
the choice made.
g. They have to cut pictures from the newspapers to show the
gifts.
h. The pictures are pasted on a mahjong paper and should be
labeled.
i. Teacher asks every student to make an oral presentation
about the gifts chosen and the reasons for choosing them.

Students
newspapers.

2. Scavenger
Hunt

a. Teacher divides students into several groups.

b. Each group is given some newspapers. (More newspapers
are needed if students have to complete more tasks)
c. Every group is given a list of items for students to cut and
paste on a piece of mahjong paper. Refer to Appendix NIE-A
for some suggested tasks.
d. The first or fastest group to complete the task is to be
declared as the winner.

A number of different lists can be

given to each group and the task
can be done in a few rounds. If this
is done, the winning group is
decided based on the least time
taken to complete all the tasks.

3. NIE Relay

a. Teacher divides students into several groups.

Several newspapers are put on the
b. Group members line up in a row at the back of the class.
desks in front of the classroom.
c. Each group has to complete 20 tasks. (The tasks are almost
similar to the ones given in the Scavenger Hunt)

83

should

share

This activity can also be carried out

in groups.
Examples of gifts: a holiday
package, ring, car, mobile phones,
etc. Students have to find suitable
pictures and label them properly.
(what the gift is and its recipient)

Activity

Procedure
d. Teacher puts a box that contains 20 tasks (each task is
printed on a small piece of paper) in front of each group. Refer
to Appendix NIE-B for some suggested tasks.
e. The first group member in the row has to take out one piece of
paper (one task).
f. He / she has to run / walk to the front of the class and use the
newspapers on the desks to complete the task.
g. After cutting the newspaper based on the task given, he / she
gets back to the group and the second student in the row
should continue the activity (e, f and g). The activity goes on
until all the tasks are completed.

4. My Story

5. Family
Tree

a. This activity can be done individually, in pairs or groups.

b. Students are asked to cut pictures from newspapers. All
pictures are to be arranged on a piece of mahjong paper and
students have to create a story based on the pictures.
c. Once the story is finalized, the pictures can be pasted.
d. Students should be given some time to rehearse their stories.
e. Teacher calls for volunteers to present their stories.

Remarks

The winning group is chosen

based on the fastest time taken to
complete all tasks as well as the
accuracy of the answers.

Teacher may limit the number of

pictures depending on the time
available.
The arrangement should indicate a
proper sequence of events.

a. Students are divided into several groups. They have to Markers should be used to draw
assume that they come from one family.
and label the family trees.
b. Each group has to create a family free and cut relevant photos
in the newspapers to represent their family members.
c. Other pictures / materials in the newspapers can also be cut
to reveal more about the family members (e.g. mansion to
indicate their wealth, hockey game to tell about their hobby,
etc.)
d. The family tree should be drawn and labeled on a piece of

84

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

mahjong paper. Pictures and other materials are to be pasted

there too.
e. Teacher calls every group to present their family trees.
6. My Dreams

a. Students are asked to imagine that they are millionaires.

Some gifts may be given to the
b. They are given about 20 30 minutes to cut materials in volunteers.
newspapers to tell how they would spend their money.
c. Those materials are pasted on mahjong papers.
d. Teacher asks students to find 2 4 persons with whom they
should take turn telling about how they would spend their
money.
e. Teacher may call some volunteers to present in front of the
class.

7. My Future

a. Teacher tells that students have to think of their lives in 15 Teacher should encourage other
years time.
students to ask questions during
b. Every student cuts materials (pictures, words, etc.) from the presentation.
newspapers to convey information about his / her future life.
c. Students are encouraged to be creative in arranging all the
newspaper cuttings on mahjong papers.
d. Students present their future lives orally.

8. Mind My
Own
Business

a. Students choose their own pairs.

b. Each pair is required to imagine that they have a business
company.
c. Students are supposed to cut materials in newspapers to tell
more about their companies such as its name, building, office,
employees, nature of business, etc.
d. All the newspaper cuttings are to be pasted on a piece of

85

Teacher can also ask two pairs to

present at the same time. Both
pairs have to argue and convince
that their company is better than
the other.

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

mahjong paper.
e. Each pair presents their business company.
9. Top Secret

10. A Holiday
For My
English
Teacher

a. Each student is required to cut a picture of a famous

personality and imagine that he / she is very close with the
personality.
b. Students have to create a statement / secret about the
personality. The secret should not be something that is
sensitive such as about sex, religion, race, etc. Examples of
permissible secrets X puts on make-up before going to
sleep, X has six lizards as his / her pets, X loves to eat fried
banana with tomato sauce, etc. THE SECRET CANNOT BE
WRITTEN, IT HAS TO BE CONVEYED ORALLY.
c. Teacher plays music and students walk about the classroom
while holding the picture of a personality.
d. Once the music is stopped, students have to form a group by
finding 3 students closest to him / her. The 3 students take
turn to reveal the secret.
e. The music is played and then stopped. Students form a group
of 3 again (with new members) and repeat the activity.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Students are divided into several groups.

Students are asked to imagine that they are successful and
wealthy businessmen. They would like to sponsor a five-star
holiday for their English teacher and his / her family.
Students have to cut materials in newspapers to tell more
about the five-star holiday package to be offered to the
teacher.
The newspaper cuttings are pasted on a piece of mahjong

86

Teacher may stop the activity after

some time.
Teacher should ask for some
volunteers to reveal the secrets
to all.

At the end of all presentations,

teacher should encourage students
to argue and suggest which
holiday package is the best for
their English teacher.

Activity

Procedure

e.

Remarks

paper and they are encouraged to be creative in their

presentation.
Each group makes a presentation.

7.4. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Activity
1. Running
Dictation

2. Treasure
Hunt

Procedure

Remarks

a. Students are divided into several groups.

b. Students should line up at Spot A and a text should be placed
at Spot B.
c. Each group member has to take turn to run to Spot B to read
and memorize as much as possible about the text. Refer to
Appendix OUTDOOR-A for some sample texts.
d. The student runs back to Spot A and dictates what he / she
has read / memorized to a group member whose task is to
rewrite the text on a piece of paper.
e. Teacher should decide the time given for all groups to
complete their task based on the distance between Spot A
and Spot B as well as the length of the text.
f. The winning group is determined based on the fastest time
taken to complete the task and the accuracy of their dictation.

The suggested distance between

Spot A and Spot B should only be
about 15 25 metres (not very far)

a. This activity should be done in pairs or groups.

b. Teacher gives a piece answer sheet to students.
c. Teacher tells all students to move to Check Point 1 (CP1) for
them to get their first question and also a clue about CP2.
Refer to Appendix OUTDOOR-B for suggested questions to

Teacher should give emphasis on

students safety in determining the
check points or the route for the
activity.

87

There can only be one text for all

groups or one text for each group.

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

be placed at each check point.

The questions in the appendix can
d. Once all students have submitted their answer sheets, be changed, if necessary.
teacher may select winners.
e. Answers should also be discussed.
3. Blind Man

4. An Affair
with an Egg

a. Students are divided into two groups that consist of 7

members per group.
b. One group member in each group has to be blindfolded. Each
group decides who should be blindfolded.
c. The blindfolded students are temporarily separated from the
groups (go elsewhere so that they cannot hear teachers
explanation to the other group members).
d. Teacher explains to the other group members (not
blindfolded) the tasks to be completed by the blindfolded
students at each station. Refer to Appendix OUTDOOR-C.
They may take notes as they listen to teachers explanation.
e. Each group decides which member will be at each station to
give verbal instructions to the blindfolded member.
f. The winning group is decided by the first blindfolded member
to reach the finishing line.

Both groups should appoint one

student to be a spy and he / she
is sent to the other group to ensure
all tasks are completed by the
blindfolded student as instructed
by his / her group members.

a. Students are divided into groups.

b. Each group is given some materials such as an egg, a plastic
bag, 4 rubber bands, 5 pieces of A4 paper and 4 strings.
c. Students have to plan and strategize in making a parachute
to save the egg when it is dropped from a higher place (e.g.
first floor of a building) to the ground.
d. Once the time is up, all groups have to move to the spot
where the egg / parachute will be dropped to the ground.

Other materials can be added, if

necessary.

88

There must be some distance (2

4 metres) from one station to the
other.

The suggested time to prepare the

parachute is 20 minutes.

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

e. The parachute is dropped one by one.

f. Teacher must check the egg to ensure it is not broken as the
winning group is the one that is able to save the egg from
being broken.
5. The One

6. Survey &
Report

a. Students and teacher sit in a big circle, preferable under the

shade of a tree.
b. Teacher asks students to imagine that there is a philanthropist
who wishes to give away RM1 million to one of them.
c. Teacher explains that in order to decide who will get the
money, every student will be given a piece of paper for them
to vote or write down one name and one reason why the
person should be given the money. (They cannot write down
their own name).
d. Teacher appoints two students to record the votes which will
be read.
e. All votes are collected and teacher reads out the name and
reason on each paper one by one.
f. The student with the highest number of votes is the winner of
the RM1 million gift.

This activity resembles the final

episode of a famous television
reality programme, Survivor.

a. Students are paired.

b. Teacher explains that they are going to carry out a survey
among the society members or / and other school students
based on the following topics:
a. Breakfast
b. Television programmes
c. Each pair is given a set of questionnaire to be used in the
survey. Refer to Appendix OUTDOOR-D.

This activity should be done on a

day when there are many other
students
within
the
school
compound.

89

Teacher may appoint volunteers to

read the names and reasons.

Teacher should teach basic social

skills in asking others to co-

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

d. They are given about 20 30 minutes to carry out the survey. operate in the survey.
e. Then, students are asked to combine all the data, analyse
them and record the findings.
f. Some students are selected to present the findings.
7. My Senses

8. Mural
Painting

a. Teacher reads and revises the Form 1 poem, The Dead Crow,
with the students. Teacher highlights the imagery in the poem
and relates them to mans senses and feelings.
b. Teacher explains about the senses and gives some
examples. For example, if students were asked to imagine
what they would see, hear, taste and touch if they were to
stand on a polluted beach or walk in a virgin forest.
c. Students are asked to go to certain places within the school
compound and record what they see, hear, touch and taste as
well as what they feel.
d. Students should write what they have sensed and their
feelings in complete sentences.
e. Once the task is completed, students are asked to compose a
poem to describe the places they visited earlier as well as
their feelings.
f. Students write their poems and teacher asks for some
volunteers to recite the poems.
a. All society members are involved in this charity /
beautification project.
b. Thorough planning has to be made by the teacher and
students regarding the location, duration, cost, wording,
design, volunteers, etc.
c. Some examples of wordings to be painted by the students:

90

More examples should be given, if

necessary.
Teacher decides where students
should go such as the field, rock
garden, canteen, recycling centre,
etc.
Weaker students may be asked to
carry out the task in groups, not
individually.
*Imagery may be defined as the
representation through language
of sense experience.

Activity

Procedure
-

9.
Personification

10. Language
Telematch

Remarks

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today

Lord Hesterfill
Dont try to be perfect, just be an excellent example of
being human Anthony Robbins
Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must
wait for a very long time Chinese Proverb

a. Teacher explains about and exemplifies personification.

b. Teacher discusses what would the following objects / places
say if they could express themselves:
i. flag pole
ii. clogged drain
iii. busy trunk road in front of the school
c. Students are asked to walk around the school compound and
choose an object (living or non-living) or a place. In 20 30
minutes, they are required to write down possible expressions
by the object / place chosen.
d. When all students have completed the task, students are
required to present those expressions. Teacher should initiate
more discussion especially on the reasons behind those
expressions.

Suggested objects (living or nonliving) and places: parking shade,

hibiscus,
basketball
court,
staircase, fire extinguisher, chalk,
herbs garden, recycling centre,
toilet, notice board, etc.

a. Teacher decides what games to be played for the telematch.

Common examples of games for telematch are carrying pingpong ball in spoon, running in gunny sacks, finding sweets in
flour and dressing models with old newspapers.
b. All games are done in groups and should involve relay
events.
c. Integrate the games with language-based activities during the

Other suggestions for languagebased activities to be integrated

with telematch giving an
adjective that begins with N,
finding the verb for beautiful,
answering a general knowledge
question in English, giving an

91

*Personification is a figure of
speech in which human attributes
are given to an animal, an object
or a concept.

Activity

Procedure

Remarks

relay. For example, if Team Member 1 carries a ping pong ball eleven-letter word, etc.
in a spoon, then Team Member 2 may have to solve a simple
puzzle (e.g. rearrange jumbled letters to form an English
word) before he or she can continue the relay.
d. The group with the fastest time to complete the relay and
language-based activities is the winner.

92

APPENDICES

Appendix AS L1-i

93

SCORE SHEET
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACTION SONG COMPETITION
PRIMARY SCHOOLS (LEVEL 1)
NATIONAL LEVEL YEAR __________

TEAM

Lang.
Proficiency
(40 m)

Presentation
Delivery
(40 m)

Theme
(10 m)

Costume
Props
(10 m)

Penalty
max
(-10 m)

Total

Placing

Time

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Name of Adjudicator :
Date :

Signature :

Appendix AS L2-ii
TONGUE TWISTERS

94

Cheryl's chilly cheap chip shop sells Cheryl's cheap chips.

The cat catchers can't catch caught cats.

Bright blows the broom on the brook's bare brown banks.

All I want is a proper cup of coffee

Made in a proper copper coffee pot.
You can believe it or not,
But I just want a cup of coffee
In a proper coffee pot.
Tin coffee pots
Or iron coffee pots
Are of no use to me.
If I can't have
A proper cup of coffee
In a proper copper coffee pot,
I'll have a cup of tea!

Black bugs' blood.

The bleak breeze blights the bright blue blossom

Betty beat a bit of butter to make a better batter.

Am I and Amy aiming anemic anemonies on
my many enemies?

95

Tiny orangutan tongues!

A laurel-crowned clown!
When does the wristwatch strap shop shut?
Does the wristwatch strap shop shut soon?
Which wristwatch straps are Swiss wristwatch
straps?
A purely rural duel truly plural is better than
a purely plural duel truly rural.

Lesser weather never weathered lesser wetter weather.

Is there a pleasant peasant present?
United States twin-screw steel cruisers.

Robin Redbreast's bad breath

Urgent detergent!

Diligence dismisseth despondency

Do drop in at the Dewdrop Inn.

If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the
doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does
he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

96

She is a thistle sifter

and she has a sieve of sifted thistles,
and a sieve of unsifted thistles,
and the sieve of unsifted thistles
she sieves into the sieve of sifted thistles,
because she is a thistle sifter.

The sun shines on shop signs.

On two thousand acres, too tangled for

tilling,
Where thousands of thorn trees grew thrifty and
thrilling,
Theophilus Twistle, less thrifty than some,
Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick
of his thumb!

A tidy tiger tied a tie tighter to tidy her tiny tail

"Sheath thy sword," the surly sheriff said, "or surely shall a churlish serf
soon shatter thee."

A skunk sat on a stump.

The skunk thunk the stump stunk,
And the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Thirty thrifty whistling washers witchingly
whistling, wishing washing was washed.
Meet Sir Cecil Thistlethwaite, the celebrated
theological statistician.

Sheep shouldn't sleep in a shack.

Sheep should sleep in a shed.

Appendix ST L1-I (a)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE STORYTELLING COMPETITION

NATIONAL LEVEL YEAR .

97

LEVEL 2
SECTION 1
(PREPARED)
Contestant
No.

Language
Proficiency
(35 marks)

Presentation
/ Delivery
(20 marks)

SECTION 2
(IMPROMPTU)
Theme /
Storyline
(10
marks)

Costume
(5 marks)

Language
Proficiency
(15 marks)

Presentation
Delivery (10
marks)

Theme /
Storyline
(5
marks)

Penalty (10 marks)

Total

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Judge's Name &
Signature

Appendix ST L-I (b)

98

Placing

Storytelling
Source: http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/listen.html
Storytelling is an oral sharing of a personal or traditional story, told using the essence of the tradition from which
it originates. As a shared experience between teller and listener, it offers natural language experiences for
students.
Storytelling can be an enjoyable activity for both tellers and listeners and should be engaged in at all grade
levels. The teacher should model storytelling before expecting students to tell stories. As well, students
should have opportunities to listen to Native Elders and other storytellers who can provide enjoyment and act as
role models for their own storytelling experiences.
Storytelling allows students to internalize important aspects of story beginnings and endings, settings,
characters, and plot lines. It provides practice in expressing ideas in thought units, using colourful and
descriptive language, developing ideas in sequence, and choosing effective action words.
The speech abilities needed for storytelling are essentially the same ones required for all speaking activities.
Storytelling encourages students to experiment with voice, tone, eye-contact, gestures, and facial expressions. It
also lets them practise techniques for holding audience attention. Storytelling encourages reading motivation
and aids listening comprehension. It can lead directly to story writing.

Before Storytelling

99

As an introduction to storytelling students might tell riddles, jokes, or personal anecdotes that have some story
elements. In each case, practice beforehand is required and close attention must be paid to the conclusion or
punch line.
To ease students into the practice of storytelling, the teacher might suggest that they make up different endings
to stories that are old favourites and tell them to one another. After a story is read aloud, an individual or group
could create an add-on story and tell it. Another introductory activity is having students recall one incident in a
story they have read, and telling about that incident as though they are one of the characters involved.
When students are comfortable with the idea of storytelling they can choose to tell tales that appeal to them.
Some of the best sources are collections of folk tales and fairytales from around the world. These tales have
been gathered from the oral tradition and are records of human survival throughout the ages, as well as unique
glimpses into cultures. Titles of suitable collections of tales for storytelling are listed in the bibliography that
accompanies this curriculum guide.
The following guidelines apply to storytellers in general (teacher and students):

choose a story that you like that enables you to use words you enjoy, and communicate enthusiasm to
your audience
look for a simple, direct story in which the plot unfolds crisply and the characters are few
choose a story that will not lose meaning when translated into your own words
memorize only refrains or phrases used for special effect
record yourself reading the story aloud and listen to the tape several times
divide the story into sections, constructing the divisions in a way that will make sense to the listeners
(e.g., use a storyboard, an outline, a diagram, or a story map)
visualize the settings and the characters (e.g., close your eyes and imagine each location; add details of
colour, shape, and light; make a mental picture of each character; picture facial expressions, hand
gestures, and mannerisms)
next, in your mind, silently run through the story's action from beginning to end (e.g., picture the scenes
happening in sequence and develop a sense for which ones happen slowly and which ones are fastpaced)

100

in your own words, tell the story aloud to yourself

continue with the visualization process as you speak, using your voice to tell about the action, describe
the settings, and speak the dialogue
tell the story over a few times referring to your story notes, if necessary
put your notes away and tell the story directly from your moving mental images (you will have internalized
the tale by now and will know it "by heart")
tell your story on audiotape while it is fresh in your mind and play back the recording to clarify the visual
story elements in your imagination
practise telling your story to a live audience (family, friends, pets) until it comes naturally.

Students may wish to tell stories from real experiences or from their imaginations, rather than retelling stories
they have read; or they may wish to retell a story they have heard. Topics for personal stories might include how
students got their names, favourite family possessions and the stories behind them, grandparent stories, family
pet stories, or pourquoi tales (e.g., where does lightning come from?).
If students like to develop their own stories, they might borrow traditional plots, themes, and story patterns; or
they may take several versions of the same story and combine them to achieve the results they want. A story
could be transposed from the past to the present or future, or a traditional tale could be transferred from one
time period or geographical setting to another. Some new stories are actually traditional ones, reconstructed with
a different perspective in mind.
While Storytelling
Listeners require a physical setting that allows them comfort during the storytelling, perhaps on a rug and
cushions in the reading corner. Listeners should be encouraged to relax and to concentrate on understanding
and enjoying the storytelling experience.
Storytellers should find a comfortable position, look directly at the audience, tell the story as they have practised
it, and let the tale do its work.

101

Storytellers may darken the room, play music, or do whatever helps to create an appropriate mood. They may
select visual aids or props (e.g., an article of clothing, illustrations, wordless film) to enhance the effectiveness of
their stories. These aids offer a number of advantages:

provide the shy speaker with a prop

guide students through a sequence
motivate student interest
combine visual and oral activities.

After Storytelling
Talking with students about their listening experience after the story has been told is an important way to
develop their "story sense". As well, discussing what they have heard allows students to reflect on the
interpretations each of them has of story and how their own unique life experiences and prior knowledge affect
those interpretations. Students need time to explore thoughts and feelings about story characters and events.
When a storyteller is ready to examine his or her storytelling style, the teacher might make arrangements to
have the storytelling process either audiotaped or videotaped. Students need to be reminded that the storytelling
process is what is important: the shaping of the story, its restructuring, and the discovery of what it was in the
story that mattered to them. Although students will strive for improvement, performing a story in a polished way
is not the primary purpose.
If an audio recording is used for self-assessment, storytellers might listen for the effectiveness of the use of
pauses, intonation, phrasing, certain sound effects, timing, repetition, or voice pitch and volume. They can chart
these on a checklist they have created for this purpose. If a video recording is used, they might wish to assess
posture, effectiveness of visual aids, hand gestures, body movements, and facial expressions. After viewing or
listening to the tape and completing the checklist, students could identify one or two areas for improvement.
Appendix ST L1-iii

CASEY JONES

102

These are two of Casey Jones' Adventures: On April

28, 1900, there was a downpour. The track might be
washed out. The bridges might collapse. And there
were sharp turns. But Casey kept on driving right
through. Finally, Casey made it through on time.
There was cheering all around.
At about midnight, a messenger came. The return
trip engineer was sick. Casey was out the door in less
than two minutes.

This is the first of the adventures.

Say Casey made it through as if you're celebrating.
Exaggerate the words on time.
Say the speeds louder and louder as the speeds get
higher.
Say nothing in a horror voice.

Casey was told he was an hour and a half off

schedule. He was also told to watch out for two freights Say crashed very loudly. Use hand motions to show
near Vaughan. Casey was going 50,60,70 mph. He
the train crashing.
was making up time quickly. At a town called Sardis,
Casey stopped for passengers. 70,80 90 mph.
80,90,100 mph. As Casey neared Vaughan, he saw
the two freights. Suddenly, the freight's brakes locked.
Casey was still going full speed. Sim saw the lights of
the stalled train. Casey pulled the airbrake. Nothing.
Casey shouted "Jump, Sim!" Sim jumped into the
dark.
382 crashed into the freights. The sound was
deafening. Not one passenger was killed. Casey Jones
died with one hand on the airbrake and one hand on
the whistle. Sim was unconscious, but still alive. And
so ends the tale of Casey Jones.
Appendix CS L1-iii
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS

103

Choral Speaking Version by Lois Walker

This choral speaking version of THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS includes a variety of
speaker experiences. As in most choral speaking, CHORUS SPEAKERS speak in unison together.
But, in an effort to bring needed variety of sound and a composer's touch to the choral expression
of this piece, you may find that:
SOLO SPEAKERS speak special lines.
ALL BOYS and/or ALL GIRLS speak in unison together.
SPECIAL QUARTETS speak in unison together.
CHARACTER SPEAKERS (Grasshopper and Ants) speak character lines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANTS

104

1.
CHORUS: There once was a
grasshopper

15 And how her tummy ached

16 GRASSHOPPER: I haven't saved a
thing to eat

2 SOLO SPEAKER 1: Who was in a

party mood

17 And now my tummy aches!

3 CHORUS: She sang away the
summer days

18 CHORUS: Hey grasshopper Gal!

4 And ate up all her food!

19 Hate to burst your bubble

5 GRASSHOPPER: Yo-hoo, that's me!

20 There's a moral to this tale

6 It's true, it's true

21 YOU'RE headed straight for trouble!

7 I ate up all my food!

8 CHORUS: Hey grasshopper Gal!

22 BOY'S CHORUS: The ants who

lived next door to her

9 Hate to burst your bubble

23 Had planned ahead, in fact

10 There's a moral to this tale

24 Had worked throughout the summer

heat

11 YOU'RE headed straight for trouble!

25 To store up food out back
12 GIRL'S CHORUS: When winter
came she realized

26 ANT QUARTET: Did you ever, did

you ever

13 She'd made a big mistake

14 She hadn't saved a thing to eat

105

27 Meet a group of ants so clever?

37 Hate to burst your bubble

28 CHORUS: Hey grasshopper Gal!

38 There's a moral to this tale

29 Hate to burst your bubble

39 YOU'RE headed straight for troubl?

e!

30 There's a moral to this tale

31 YOU'RE headed straight for trouble!

40 GRASSHOPPER: O.K., O.K., I've

heard enough!

32 GIRL'S QUARTET: And when our

dear grasshopper

41 So what's the moral? Tell me

please!

33 Came begging for some bread

42 SOLO SPEAKER 2: I bet the moral's full

of DON'TS!

34 BOY'S QUARTET: The ants just

shook their heads and said

43 SOLO SPEAKER 3: Don't sing away the

summer?

35 ANT QUAR?TET: "You're going to

end up dead!!"
36 CHORUS: Hey grasshopper Gal!

106

Appendix CS L2-ii
Examples of tongue twisters
1.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

2.

Betty Botter had some butter,

"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter-that would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

107

Appendix CS L2- v
1. Steps in Teaching Jazz Chant
1. Be sure students know all the key vocabulary.
2. Write the chant on the board.
3. Read the entire chant to the class.
4. Read one line at a time and have students repeat the line until they can say most of the words.
5. Add the rhythm (clapping, marching, or pounding the table or a drum).
Let the class do the rhythm and say it at the same time.
6. Let "soloists" say it while everyone else claps.
2. Jazz Chant
Divide your class into two groups.
Let the second group chant the words in italics.
Exchange parts.
Let one person solo one part.
Let he entire class chant another part
1.I'm learning to find my way around
I'm learning to find my way around
Around the town
Around the town
I'm learning to find my way around
Around my town

Thats right, turn right at the next light

I'll turn right at the next light
Repeat chorus: I'm learning ...
If you are working on grammar and verbs, you can substitute:
Shes learning Hes learningWere learning

2. Go one block, turn right at the light

Turn right at the next light?
Jazz chants lyrics.

Computer, computer,
I love my computer.
My printer, my keyboard, my mouse.
I never have problems,

Pre-intermediate
My computer's crashed

108

I use it all day.

I never go out of the house!
Computer, computer,
I hate my computer.
My modem, my disk drive, my screen.
I always have problems,
It.s driving me crazy.
Computers make me want to scream!

That.s my t-shirt.
This white t-shirt? No, that red t-shirt.
These are my jeans.
Those black jeans? No, these blue jeans.
Those are my shorts.
These green shorts? No, those white shorts.

Intermediate
May I switch off the light?
May I turn down the air conditioning?
Do you mind if I lower the blind?
Is it all right if I put away these files?
I don.t mind! I don.t mind! I don.t mind!
Is it all right if I switch off the light?
Do you mind if I close the door?
May I switch on the fan?
Sure! Sure! Sure!

I twisted my ankle
Ow!
What happened?
I was lifting a heavy bag and I hurt my back!
Ow!
What happened?
I was changing a light bulb and I got an electric
shock!
Ow!
What happened?
I was slicing an onion and I cut my finger!
Ow!
What happened?
I was making some tea and I burned my hand!

Intermediate

Starter
These are my blue jeans
That.s my shirt.
This red shirt? No, that brown shirt.
Those are my shoes.
These brown shoes? No, those black shoes.
This is my jacket.
That green jacket? No, this blue jacket.

Ow!
What happened?
I was climbing a ladder and I fell off and broke my
leg!
Intermediate
I feel so embarrassed

109

I.m frustrated! My computer.s been crashing all day.

Add some cheese and bake it slowly.

Mmm. Can I have a taste?

I.m heartbroken. I.ve been fighting with my girlfriend

again.

Elementary

I.m lonely. I.ve been living on my own for years.

I have a headache
Head, head, I have a headache.
I have a headache,
And my eyes hurt!

I.m confident. I.ve been studying really hard.

I.m furious. Someone.s been using my car.
I.m exhausted. I.ve been running in the park for an
hour.

Stomach, stomach, I have a stomach ache.

I have a stomach ache,
And I have the flu!

I.m excited. I.ve been thinking about my vacation.

I.m irritated. He.s been playing that music for hours.

Ear, ear, I have an earache.

I have an earache,
And I have a fever!

I.m confused. I.ve been trying to read this book.

I.m embarrassed. I.ve been wearing my jacket inside
out.

Tooth, tooth, I have a toothache.

I have a toothache,
And a sore throat!

Add some salt & pepper

Wash, wash, wash the lettuce.
Slice, slice, slice the cheese.
Put some butter on the bread.
Can I have my sandwich, please?

Back, back, I have a backache.

I have a backache,
And my knee hurts!
I have a headache, I have an earache,
A toothache, a backache,
And a sore throat.

Fry, fry, fry the tomatoes.

Put them on a pizza base.

My eyes hurt, my knee hurts, I have a stomach

ache.

110

I have a fever,
And I have the flu!

Why not?
I.m visiting relatives on Friday.
Would you like to go out on weekend?
Well. maybe!

Oh, dear. Next, please!

Elementary

Elementary
I'm babysitting on Thursday
Would you like to go out on Monday?
No, sorry, I can.t.
Why not?
I.m babysitting on Monday.
Would you like to go out on Tuesday?
No, sorry, I can.t.
Why not?
I.m doing my laundry on Tuesday.
Would you like to go out on Wednesday?
No, sorry, I can.t.
Why not?
I.m working overtime on Wednesday.
Would you like to go out on Thursday?
No, sorry, I can.t.
Why not?
I.m working out on Thursday.
Would you like to go out on Friday?
No, sorry, I can.t.

I do karaoke on Wednesdays
Mondays, Mondays.
What do you do on Mondays?
On Mondays I usually listen to jazz music.
Tuesdays, Tuesdays.
What do you do on Tuesdays?
On Tuesdays I sometimes go for a drive.
Wednesdays, Wednesdays.
What do you do on Wednesdays?
On Wednesdays I always play the guitar.
Thursdays, Thursdays.
What do you do on Thursdays?
On Thursdays I often go to a rock concert.
Fridays, Fridays.
What do you do on Fridays?
On Fridays I always do karaoke.
Weekends, weekends.
What do you do on weekends?
On weekends I usually stay in bed!
Appendix CS L3 - ii (a)

CHORAL SPEAKING IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

111

Source: http://www.loiswalker.com/choralsp.html
Here is a short poem you might wish to use as a choir "signature verse". It can be used as a part of the warm-up
during rehearsals, used to announce the start or finish of rehearsal, used just for fun, or used during a
performance to introduce a choral speaking piece:
1 ALL: Choral speaking is aweseome, we know,
2 ALL: When a chorus of kids wants to put on a show!
3 GIRL'S CHORUS: We have light voices,
4 BOY'S CHORUS: dark voices,
5 QUARTET: high and low too,
6 ALL: And we all talk together,
7 QUARTET: Or talk - just a few.
8 ALL: Choral speaking is fun
9 ALL: Year-round through Decem-m-m-ber.
10 SOLO: But first find a verse
11 ALL: You'll be glad to remem-m-m-ber!
OR

112

9 ALL: Year-round through Decem-m-m-ber.

10 SOLO: So here is a verse
11 ALL: We hope you'll remem-m-m-ber!
(At this point the piece is introduced and performed)
TYPES OF CHORAL SPEAKING
1. REFRAIN is one of the most common forms of choral speaking. One person reads the narrative portion of the
text while the rest of the class joins in the refrain.
2. UNISON calls for the whole group to read the material together. Additional sound effects might be
incorporated.
3. ANTIPHON calls for the class to be divided into two or more groups, with each group being responsible for a
certain part of the selection.
4. CUMULATIVE choral reading or speaking refers to a method where groups of voices or individual voices are
added to or subtracted from the choral reading, depending on the message or the meaning communicated by
the selection.
5. SOLO LINES is a type of choral reading where individuals read specific lines in appropriate places throughout
the group activity.
6. LINE AROUND or CHILD-A-LINE is more solo work where each line is taken by a different person in the
group.
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER

113

1. Select verse material with care. It should reflect student interest and preference as well as student vocabulary
level. Poetry is especially suitable for choral speaking, particularly poetry that contains some repetition (e.g.,
ballads, narrative poetry, adventure poetry).
2. Give advance thought to interpretation. Discuss meaning and the various ways of reading the material to bring
out the meaning.
3. Consider suggestions for improvements after practice readings, including suggestions for improving phrasing
and diction.
4. As the students become more experienced, they will offer suggestions as to which lines may be most
effectively delivered by the whole group, by part of the group, or by individuals.
5. The amount of time spent preparing a poem or other selection will vary, but it is more important to keep the
enthusiasm alive than to strive for perfection (unless you are preparing for competition or performance).
6. Students who will be listening to the choral readings should be prepared for the listening experience. They
should be willing to listen attentively, without distracting the speakers; they should also prepare to respond
regarding the effectiveness of the speaking activity (e.g., sound arrangement, choral patterns).

CHORAL SPEAKING FOR COMPETITIONS OR FESTIVALS:

114

Choral speaking requires a special technique of its own. A competitive speech-choir must not be "a lot of people
speaking at once", but a group of speakers who are as controlled, unified and harmonized as a choir of singers.
The most important of all requirements is unity, and both a unity of articulation and syllabification as well as a
unity of pitch and inflection are necessary.
UNITY OF ARTICULATION AND SYLLABIFICATION
All speakers must attach, move through, and finish their syllables at precisely the same moment. If the body of a
choral speech were cut short at any point during a performance, each individual voice should be at precisely the
same place in the syllable as every other voice.
UNITY OF PITCH AND INFLECTION
In spite of differing individual voice qualities, a speech choir of voices must blend harmoniously to a common
unified tone. This unified tone must move as a whole through changes in rhythm/tempo and changes in
emotional intensity so that the inflection-line linking them is also single and unified.
Note: The words of a verse give a poem form. A successful combination of the following choral speaking
elements give the poem life.
VOICE QUALITY
* The ability to combine successfully the light, medium, and dark voices in the choir (using these groups for their
natural basic sounds and/or combining them for special effects).
* The ability to communicate, through voice, reactions to thoughts or emotions.

115

NUMBER OF VOICES
* The ability to add or subtract whole sections, banks, smaller groups, or solo speakers to increase or diminish
the power or richness of the sound to better express the meaning.
BODILY MOVEMENT
* Ability to use gesture, choreography, or other movement to enhance communication and better express
meaning.
PITCH
* Pitch refers to the variations of the voice on the musical scale and is generally referred to as inflection.
Children generally have little problem with pitch because they use it naturally and freely.
POWER
* Ability to use volume, force, or loudness as emphasis in appropriate places to better express feeling and
meaning. A power build should be related to the elements of a sentence and/or growing emotion.
PHRASING AND RHYTHM
* Ability to use phrasing and rhythm as reinforcements for each other. Each must blend together to better
express the meaning of the verse.
TEMPO
* Tempo refers to the rate of speed at which a reading progresses. The ability to balance the rhythm of a piece
and the tempo of performance. Tempo should relate to the central "beat" of the poem. (Too fast? Too slow?)
STAGING
* The ability to successfully organize and position the choir on stage or risers for miximum performance effect.
The ability to stage entrances and exits which enhance the mood of the poem and performance. The ability to

116

"costume" speakers in a way which also enhances the performance as a whole.

NOTE FROM LOIS:
As of March, 1998, the entire Vancouver library system had only three books on choral speaking! The most
useful to educators and those interested in festival competition might be E. Kingsley Povenmire's "Choral
Speaking and the Verse Choir". This book was published by A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc. in 1975. I have included
some of his thoughts here:
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE VERSE CHOIR
Young Children
* As we learn more about individual differences, cultural backgrounds, disparity of earlier learning opportunities,
language facility, and motivational factors we see that children of any one chronological age cannot always be
fully served in a single grade level.
* Some schools find they can best serve their children by becoming ungraded, by combining several grades in
one group and by varying their organizations in other ways as they find workable factors for determining groups
with the greatest educational facility. A child may even be placed in classes of different age levels that match his
potential in various subjects.
* It is also good practice, in using the verse choir, to give an "older" poem to a younger group, or vice versa, to
stretch their abilities in the first case or to encourage them to find greater depth in the latter.
* From the very beginning of awareness of the sound of poetry, and on through the primary grades, children are
attracted by its 'jingle" quality. Very young children will respond to this element long before they can speak.
* The jingle quality is a combination of distinct meter, rhyme, and inflection patterns. Although we have
minimized these, as such, for other age groups they are important at this beginning stage and therefore you

117

should make the most of their intrinsic value--especially as they excite the imagination and lead into visualizing
and catching the spirit of the subject of the poem.
* This enticement will help children, as they begin to speak, in their natural desire to give generous vocal
expression as they become further involved in the story and characters of the poem, including the animals,
trees, wind, and abstract concepts that only a child can conjure up.
* You can encourage this by an animated presentation of the poem and the "living out" of each character in your
own way, extracting all the fun you can by generous facial expressions and strange and wonderful vocal
changes. They will love it, and you, for doing it; and it will establish a rapport that could ease if not dissolve some
stubborn problems. When the teacher "has fun" with the poem the floodgates are open for the spirit of the
children to follow; and, once under way, they can be directed to even greater heights than they thought possible.
This wave of fun can carry them well past the short attention span usually expected of this age.
* Beginning with pre-schoolers and progressing through grade three, these suggestions may be helpful:
1. The most likely subjects to begin with are animals they know and love, then move from these into new and
broader subjects.
2. They love nonsense words and sounds. Short words are best at the beginning, but the interest engendered by
group speaking will speed up their vocabulary growth.
3. The boy-girl organization will likely work best but this can be varied by smaller groups and child-a-line
arrangements.
4. Child-a-line arrangements will also strengthen individual recognition. This will help the transition from selfconcern to group-awareness as the children grow through this age span.
5. Verbal perfection is not as important at the beginning as enjoyment of the poem. So accept what the children
do and use their momentum for later improvement in language skills.

118

* When the children express a desire to, as they will say, "act out" the poem, they have an unusual opportunity to
do so through the verse choir for it allows each and every child to simultaneously live each character, animal,
and element as it appears in the poem. This leaves no one out, reinforces the expression of each individual, and
gives the whole group the growth value of the experience. The need of this age group for physical activity is also
met, to the degree each child has room to move in the group arrangement.
* Here we have another growth opportunity through a vocabulary change. Instead of the child's term "acting" or
"acting out," why not introduce the more meaningful one "living out"? "Acting out" carries an insipid suggestion of
artificiality and unwanted exaggeration, while "living out" keeps the experience closer to real-life values.
Springboards to Creative Dramatics:
The door is now open and the momentum is mounting to further enrich the children's experience by working out
a creative dramatics treatment of the poem.
With guidance the children could participate in choosing the cast of characters from those who proved
themselves to be "most like" the various characters in the verse choir experience. Several more "run-throughs"
of the poem may be necessary, but this is all to the good.
Another growth opportunity is presented in the term "most like," which emphasizes the imaginative portrayal of
the character, while the word "best" tends to evaluate the person. There usually is a "best" person who can
garner all the richer parts, whereas a submerged individual may be "most like" a certain character and get
her/his chance!
Simple scenery, properties, and other production elements will provide more creative opportunities and lead your
people into other areas of learning. Simple pieces of costume that merely suggest the character are often better
than fully developed outfits since they allow room for the imagination of the child to "fill it out." One boy was
disappointed when his teacher brought him a crown she had worked hard to make--because he liked the one he
imagined better.
Intermediate Children
* Intermediate children are in their active years, when the emerging identity is centered in physical prowess. It is
also a time when the mind is whetting its appetite. Some individuals in this span are mastering subjects and

119

concepts that earlier generations struggled with in high school--and some new ones belonging only to the
present. So how do we interest them in the verse choir?
* Three approaches are suggested: The first is to capitalize on their group loyalty and introduce the verse choir
as "the next thing we will do," assuming that they will all be interested. Those who aren't at first may sit in a
comatose condition that will become increasingly untenable as the enthusiasm of the others mounts.
* The second is to form an extra-curricular choir as an after-school activity or during a class period when all
volunteers can be present. This depends on some initial stimulation that could be provided by a record, tape,
CD, or video of a successful group, or hearing one do a live program.
* A third way to introduce the choral speaking approach is to say "I know a poem that says this very thing" to a
class that has demonstrated a vital interest in a given subject or direction of thought. It can also work with a
class that needs to show a vital interest. There are poems on every subject going and in many directions, and if
you do not have time to read--read--read, why not form a reading committee of the stimulated youngsters who
need something more to do?

Appendix CS L3 ii (b)

120

Elements of choral speaking

What are the elements of choral speaking'? They are, in random order:
Number of voices: Choral speaking utilizes every voice in the group. Students can be given solo lines, divided
into sections or small groups, or the entire group can speak a line simultaneously. This ability allows you to
increase or decrease the sound or volume
as well as express the meaning of the text. "Playing" with the number of voices in this way is a large part of the
learning process
.Pitch: Pitch refers to the "highness" or "lowness" of a sound, or more technically to the variations of the voice
on a musical scale. This is often referred to as inflection as well.
Tempo: Tempo refers to speed. The rate at which a piece is recited has an impact on both the reader(s) and the
listener(s). The tempo, ideally, should relate to the overall rhythm of the piece.Dynamics: Dynamics refers to
volume or loudness. Altering this element allows for emphasis (either sentence, phrase, or word). This emphasis
conveys mood, emotion and meaning to the listener.
Tone: Tone refers to the quality of sound unique to each voice. Our ears perceive voices as "light', "medium", or
"heavy/dark'. Depending on the piece, you will combine students who have similar tones, grouping them
together for effect, or you will combine a variety of tones for special effects.
Movement: Choral speaking involves movement! Experiment with gesture, large physical actions, or even
choreography!

121

Rhythm: Rhythm reflects patterns of sound. Sounds can be short, medium or long, and they can be arranged in
a variety of forms. The rhythms in a piece are often more easily identified as phrases or combinations of
rhythms. Rhythm often involves repetition and
through this repetition a feeling of movement is evoked. These are the essential elements. If you choose to
share your work with other classes in the school, you may wish to consider staging: this involves organizing the
students either on stage or risers or mime boxes for the benefit of the audience. Practical concerns involve sightlines (i.e. can the students be seen by the audience) as well as other
logistical considerations such as: entrances; exits; and movement. Costumes too can be worn if desired! Use
simple "suggestions' of character such as hats, scarves, canes, etc., or dress in full character attire.
Are there different types of Choral Speaking?
Yes! Use one or all of these common forms below either individually or combine a few within a piece (length
permitting) to produce the effect you and your students collectively desire! The key is to experiment until you
have achieved your intention for the piece.
Unison: The entire groups reads the material together. You may add sound effects if desired.
Antiphon: The class is divided into two or more groups, each responsible for a different portion of the piece
you've chosen. Refrain: A "narrator" reads the majority of the text; the refrain or "chorus" is spoken by the rest of
the group. Solo: Individual students are assigned lines within the piece.

122

Cumulative: Here individual voices or groups of voices are either added or subtracted, depending on the
desired effect. Teacher Tips: Be sure students have had ample opportunity to become familiar with the text
before putting it "on its feet". Focus on one or two elements at a time when rehearsing the piece, making sure to
discuss the effect each had for both the listener(s) and speaker(s). As students gain experience, allow them to
suggest possible changes such as the number of voices designated to individual lines or any other changes they
feel would enhance the piece. Have them work in groups to prepare new pieces on their own, using he elements
of choral speaking they have learned thus far. Think of the group as you would a choir of singers. They too are
broken into sections, have solos, etc. The key principle is unity. When groups of voices speak a line together
they must remain unified at all times. This means paying careful attention to articulation and inflection.
The benefits of choral speaking are many and the process of preparing pieces is enjoyable for students
(and teachers!). In addition to meeting overall and specific expectations for drama and dance, you will find
growth in the following areas: x diction/enunciation cooperative group skills/inter-personal skills vocabulary
knowledge of literature
Try choral speaking with your class, using poems or selecting material from the source book JAZZ CHANTS.
Keep in mind that there is no 'right" way to interpret the material; experiment and have fun

Appendix CS L3 iii

123

Onomatopoeia is the formation of words in imitation of sounds; a figure of speech in

which the sound of a word is imitative of the sound of the thing which the word
represents;
as, the buzz of bees; the hiss of a goose; the crackle of fire.
Onomatopeia poetry samples from Division 8
http://www.sd35.bc.ca/lm/archive/div8poetonomatopoeia.htm
Lacey Boat

Delaney Act
Swoosh, swish

Flick, the lights go on,

paddling down a creek

Clap! Shout! The show must go on

splish, splash, whump

Screech, bump, the microphone's gone!

a fish jumps on me

Click, clack, goes the shoes

Swoosh, creak, the curtains open
Ding, dong, the bells ring
Ting, Tang, the triangles go,
"And they lived happily ever after."
Laughter, cheering, "encore" the show is done.
Becky

124

Drip, drip, drip

Steven

The faucet had a leak

The duck went

slop, drop, plop

Quack quack

It fell in a spot

The bottle went fizz, pop

slippery, sliding, slip

the chicken went cluck, cluck

Puddle underneath the sink

All in the kitchen.

Time to clean it up,

What do you think?

Talmage

Swish, swoosh the trees blow

Swish swoosh, the leaves fly
Crunch, the leaves crackle
Whoosh, the wind blows
Splash goes the puddles
Squawk cries the duck
Splash jump the fish.

125

Riley

Boot hit
goal! Yea!
The crowd cheers
Swish, Swoosh
Buzzzz!
Vroom, vroom
The engine starts
Beep beep
at the race track
Ruff ruff
bark bark
scratch scratch
the new dog

Boom, snap, crackle

wants in.

The thunder starts

Bang, bump, boom,
It's all fine

David

Thud, thud, thud,

the rain begins to fall harder
Splash, sploosh, splash

126

Strong men try to save the town .

Swish, swoosh, stretch

Moriah Snow Day

I just put my snowpants on

Swoosh, squelch
I just put my boots on
Zip, on goes the jacket
Splash, swish
Out I go into the snow
Swop
I got hit with a snowball.

Reno
Drip drip drop drop
It's raining today

Amber - Vancouver

I'm so bored I want to play

Boom, bang

I want to play in the rain

The door slams

I don't care if I get wet

Vroom, Vroom

But my Mom won't let me out

The engine starts

Ho hum

Squeak Screech

Splash splash, oops!

Go the windshield wipers

I slipped on the cement

Flicker, flash

Splish, splat, crack

I'm really hurt
Whir Whir
Ambulance!

127

We're in the city.

Sarah M
Jingle, jangle ping
I lost my money!

My Cat

Kick! splat! crash!

Rattle Snake!
Kenny S.

Cling! Clang! Ching!

My cat meows.

It's back in my pocket again.At night my

Rattle,rattle a snake goes through the

desert

cat rustles in the bushes.

It wakes up everybody in the house with a

large hiss.

hiss,hiss,rattle,rattle.

I think my cat is the loudest cat in the

neighborhood.

He see's an egg
snatch,crunch,crunch,gulp.
Then he slithers down the hill of the
desert slither, slither.

By James D.

I shove some people down

128

A Bad Day at School by Loryn S.

bow wow

beep

a dog is chasing me

there's my school bus

ahhhh

rool

its owner got him , bang

I roll down my window

to continue
...my back pack fell , rip

splash

my pants ripped

I got splashed by a car

my mom is going to kill me

drip, drip, drip

ring ring ring that's the school bell

I'm soaking wet

mummer

clink the bus broke down

I'm almost there

I have to walk to school

yeah I'm there

my mom is going to kill me

oh I forgot

ring ring ring that's the school bell

129

It 's Saturday
man

Plop

Slurp!

By Tara

By Melissa

Plunge

Oh no!

goes the ice cream

I hear something

drip

crash ahhhhh

goes the fudge

something's near

bop

I have a lot of fear

fall bananas

clink,clink,clink

Now I'm almost done

It's here,It's here

Shhhh

It's black in the room

goes the whipped cream and,

It's on my bed!

plop

SLURP!

goes the cherry

130

Oh, It's just my cat!

Meow!

The Morning Clock Time

by Josh
Beep!
Yon wake up.

Tornadoes and Tomatoes

slap!

by Mohamed

snap!

There is a tornado

Come and get it Crash!

and there's a tomato

woosh!

Ahh! Flip-flop
Sizzle!

splat!

Ring! Ring!

splash!

Fizz tick tock.

I'm bleeding but I'm cleaning the tomato

that's on me

Ding dong! cuckoo!

I forgot I'm not bleeding

Mom!
You would not believe the dream I had

131

Appendix CS L3 v
SCORE SHEET

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHORAL SPEAKING COMPETITION

PRIMARY SCHOOLS
NATIONAL LEVEL

Team
No.

Sub.
Matter
(10 m)

Pronunciation
(20 m )

Enunciatio
n
(30 m)

Variet
y
(10
m)

Special
Effects
(10 m)

1.
2.
3.

132

Rhythm &
Timing
(10 m)

General
Demeanour
(10 m)

Penalty
(-10 m)

Total

Time

Name of Judge :
Date :

Signature

Subject Matter :
Point of view of interest and audience appeal
2.
Pronunciation :
Accuracy in pronunciation
3.
Enunciation :
Articulation, Clarity and Expression
4.
Variety :
Variety of intonation, mood and tempo

5.

Sound Effects :
Sound imitation (vocalised)
6.
Rhythm and Timing
Orchestrated rhythm and timing
7.
Demeanour :
Stance and bearing
8.
Penalty :
A total of 10 marks to be deducted if : sensitive issues touched,
attire infringements, extra time, below minimum stipulated time,
exclusions included, excessive movements.

Maximum Marks

V. Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

10
20
30

1, 2
1-4
16

3, 4
58
7 12

5, 6
9 12
13 18

7, 8
13 16
19 24

9, 10
17 20
25 - 30

Appendix PS L2-i

Just a Minute!
The Fast Talking Game
The Rules of the Game
1. Play the game in small groups.
2. You will need a dice or spinner, counters and a timer or stop watch.
To start the game you must throw a six. The first person to throw a six starts.
When you land on a square you must talk on that subject for one minute. You must not repeat yourself.

133

Failure to speak for one minute or moving away from the topic means you must forfeit a throw.

Appendix PS L2-i
1

2
My pet

4
My family

13

12

11

10
My hobby

Start
14

6
My
favourite
food
9

20
My
favourite
subject
23

21

My father
15
A game I
like

16

17

18
My
mother

19

28

27
My best
friend

26

25

24
My
siblings

134

22

29
My Hero

30

31
My
ambition

32

33

34
My home

35

42

41
My
favourite
teacher
44
My self

40

39

38

37

45

46
My
country

47

48

36
My
favourite
singer
49
Finish

43

Appendix PS L2 ii

START

3.

A good
friend

A pet

What I like
doing

My home

My family

7
My daughter
14
Yesterday

13
My
favourite
singer

12

11
Dont like eating

10
My working
place

15
My best
Friend

135

8
My self

Appendix PS L2-ii

16
The animal
that I hate
most

17

18
Dont like
eating

19.
Favourite TV
programme

20

21
My best day of
the week

22
My country

23
My uncle
30
A place you
would like to
visit

29

28
My mother

27
My father

26
My favourite
sport

25

24

25
Last night
32
FINISH!

31

30
Yesterday
evening..

29

28
I love to ..

27

26
Two weeks ago

136

English Language Society

Appendix PS L2-iv
Sample questions to be copied on cards:
(what questions)
What did you have for dinner last night?
What did you have for lunch today?
What is your favourite sport? Why?
What did you do last night?
What type of music do you like? Why?
What is your favourite game? Why?
What does your mother do?
What does your father do?
What is your favourite lesson at school? Why?
What did you do last Sunday?
What is your favourite television programme? Why?
What would you do if you could do anything in the world?
What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
(mixed questions)
What is your address in English?
What time do you usually get up?
Where did you go for your last holiday?
Where were you born?
Why are you studying English?
Which do you prefer, rainy or dry season, and why?
Which magazines do you like to read?

137

English Language Society

How many hours do you usually sleep at night?

Do you like shopping? Why?
How often do you go to the cinema?
What was the last movie you saw?
Would you like to travel to other countries? Why?
How many friends have you got and who are they?
(if clause)
If you could have a pet what would it be? Why?
If you had a million dollars what would you spend it on?
If you could meet any person in the world who would it be and why?
If you could change something about your school what would it be?
If you had to live in another country which one would you choose?
If you could do anything in the world what would you do?
If you could speak three languages well, what would they be?
If you were rich, what would you do?
If you had to spend a day alone at home, what would you do?
If everyone in the world suddenly disappeared, what would you do?
If you could choose how old you were, how old would you be and why?
If you could choose any meal you wanted, what would it be?
If you found RM100,000 what would you do?

138

English Language Society

Appendix DR L2-iii

Poison Box
Suggested tasks for students to perform:
1. You really need to answer natures call. However, the teacher in class does not allow you to go out. You
cannot sit comfortably anymore. All you are thinking of is TOILET, TOILET and TOILET. Express your
emotions.
2. After 25 years you discover that you have a twin sibling. Express your disbelief and mixed feelings.
3. Your classmate takes your diary and threatens to read it loudly in class. Persuade and later warn him or
her to return your diary.
4. There is a present on your desk given for your success in examination. It is written on a small card,
Congratulations! You deserve to be the best student, From Your Secret Admirer, Love You. Express
your surprise, confusion and happiness as well.
5. You are alone in your bedroom. You feel someone has touched your shoulder from behind. However,
when you turn around, there is nobody around. It happens three times while you are doing your revision.
Express your fear and worry.

139

English Language Society

Appendix DR L3-iii
Suggested situations for the role-play:
1. There are two new Malaysian-born students in your class who came back from the United States
of America. They seem to be in need of help to adjust themselves to the new schooling
environment. Write a dialogue between the new students and the other classmates and present
them in a role-play.
2. You and your friends meet three foreign tourists at the bus stop near your school. They want to go
to some famous tourists spots in your state. Make suggestions about places that they should visit.
Write a dialogue between you and the tourists and present them in a role-play.
3. Your class is planning to have a class party. Half of the students prefer to organize the party at a
fast food outlet in town. On the other hand, another half of the class wants to have it at school.
Write a dialogue between the two groups of students and present them in a role-play.

Appendix PD L1-iii

140

English Language Society

15 facts and 15 opinions

Facts
1. The first pillar of Rukunegara is the belief in
God.
2. Maxis is a telecommunication company.
3. Ulan Bator is the capital city of Mongolia.
4. 10 milimetre equals to 1 centimeter.
5. Kuala Lumpur is the biggest city in Malaysia.
6. The word EXAMINATION has four vowels.
7. The hero of a James Bond movie is a British.
8. Australia is bigger than India.
9. Nelson Mandela is a freedom fighter from
South Africa.
10. Too much stress for a long period of time can
be hazardous to health.
11. Universiti Industri Selangor is a private
university.
12. The World Cup is the biggest football event.
13. The word Beautification is a noun.
14. Malaysia is a multi-racial country.
15. Malaysia is gearing towards achieving the
Vision 2020.

141

Opinions
1. RM100 is a lot of money.
2. Cambridge dictionaries are the best.
3. Kentucky Fried Chicken is more favoured by
most of the teenagers.
4. Change is a very difficult process for anybody.
5. Malaysian hibiscus is more beautiful than
imported tulip.
6. The Singaporeans are a group of people who
always work hard.
7. Love is blind.
8. Girls are smarter than boys in many aspects of
life.
9. Redang Island in Terengganu is a heaven for
holidaymakers.
10. Money has always been the root of all evils.
11. Television seriously causes children to become
more violent.
12. Driving a Mercedes Benz enhances your driving
skills.
13. The zodiac signs reveal the truth about our lives.
14. A person can have a more charming look with
plastic surgery.
15. Foreign universities are better than the local
universities.

English Language Society

Appendix PD L1-iv(a)
Cause and Effect Treasure Hunt
Notes:
1. Teacher must revise this proposal to suit ones actual school compound.
2. There must be a smooth flow of movement from location to location within the school compound.
Students should not be moving back and forth from location to location in a haywire flow.
3. Students safety must be given priority.
Suggested location / place / station
1

Location 1: School hall treasure hunt

starts and ends here
Inform students the first question can be
found somewhere in the school hall

Question (written on a manila card and pasted on a wall, pillar,

notice board, etc.)
Question 1
Cause: Two students are very lazy to do any revision before the
final examination.
Logical effect:
................................................
.
For the next question: Go to the ELS Society notice board at the
canteen.

Location 2:
ELS Notice Board

Question 2:
Logical cause:
..
.
Effect: Your father gets very angry with you.

142

English Language Society

For the next question: Go to the Pulau Mutiara gazebo (behind the
school canteen)
3

Location 3:
Pulau Mutiara Gazebo

Question 3:
Cause: Every citizen has total freedom of speech.
Logical effect:
......................................
..
For the next question: Go to the ground floor of Ibnu Sina Block.

Location 4: Ground floor of Ibnu Sina

Block

Question 4:
Logical cause:
...
...
Effect: More and more teenagers are involved in social ills.
For the next question: Go to the Herb Garden (opposite Ibnu Sina
Block.)

Location 5:
Herb Garden

Question 5:
Cause: A student learns ten new English words per day.
Logical effect: ...............
..

143

English Language Society

For the next question: Go to the Science Lab. 3 at Dato Wan Mat
Saman Block.
6

Location 6:
Science Lab. 3

Question 6:
Logical cause:
..
Effect: More foreign tourists visit our country, Malaysia.
For the next question: Go to the mural at Dato Wan Mat Saman
Block.

Location 7:
The mural at Dato Wan Mat Saman
Block.

Question 7:
Cause: Only those 20 years and above are allowed to take driving
license.
Logical effect: ..............

For the next question: Go to Dataran Perpaduan.

Location 8:
Dataran Perpaduan

Question 8:
Logical cause: ..
.
Effect: Our flora and fauna are protected and preserved.

144

English Language Society

For the next question: Go to Terminal Wawasan.

9

Location 9:
Terminal Wawasan

Question 9:
Cause: Malaysians practise a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Logical effect: ..............
.
For the final question: Go back to the school hall.

10 Location 10:
School hall

Question 10: (To be put up some time after students left the hall to
go to the canteen for Question 2)
Logical cause:
.
Effect: My family and I are very proud of myself.

Notes:
1. Teacher may change the questions to suit students thinking ability and language proficiency.
2. More questions can be added for a longer treasure hunt. However, it is highly recommended that the treasure hunt should only
be carried out between 20 30 minutes. Remember, some time must be spent to evaluate and discuss students varied and
interesting answers / responses. Moreover, if the treasure hunt (running here and there) is carried out for a longer period of
time, students will be too tired to do a more important activity that is discussing and evaluating their answers.

145

English Language Society

Appendix PD L1-iv(b)
Treasure Hunt Worksheet
Name(s): .
..
.
..
Instructions:
1. Follow the instructions given to move from location to location.
2. Do not rush when you are looking for questions. Take care of your safety.
3. Write a logical cause or effect in the space provided.
Question

Logical cause or effect

Effect:

Cause:

Effect:

Cause:

Effect:

Cause:

146

English Language Society

Effect:

Cause:

Effect:

10

Cause:

147

English Language Society

Appendix PD L1-v
Debate Poison Box
List of suggested topics for students to come out with advantages and disadvantages:
Suggested advantages (A) and disadvantages (D) (only for teachers reference)
A: improve language, spend free time wisely
D: too much exposure to romance, may ignore other commitments
2
A: the more the merrier, able to help each other
D: more expenditure, crowded house
3
A: learn new culture, more chances to travel
D: higher cost, away from home homesickness
4 Working part-time
A: earn pocket money, gain some experience
D: may neglect studies, too tired feel sleepy in class
5 Having
a
wedding A: boost one image, grand and great atmosphere
reception at a five-star D: cost a lot o money, may be in debt
hotel
6 Going to a concert
A: get entertainment, release stress
D: too much noise, crowded, may get involved with a wrong company
7 Allowing teenagers to own A: much easier to go to school, save travel time
motorcycles
D: more road accidents, some may involve in illegal racing
8 Employing a maid at A: lesser workload at home, can spend more time to relax
home
D: less privacy, may create problems / social ills
9 Having co curricular A: learn many things, can spend time with friends
activities every Saturday
D: miss tuition classes, have lesser free time
10 Having an open-house A: strengthen friendship, promote unity among residents
during a festival
B: house gets overcrowded and dirty, have to entertain guests for several long
hours
1

Suggested topics
Reading three romance
novels every month.
Having a large / an
extended family
Studying overseas

148

English Language Society

Appendix PD L2-iii(a)
Mission Possible To Mars
CANDIDATES
Go through the list and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of every candidate. Finally, choose only 5
candidates to conduct intensive research and establish a settlement on the Mars.
Name: Muhammad Ezril b. Hasan
Age: 27
Status: Single
Occupation: Surgeon
Achievements: The youngest surgeon at a private
hospital. Earned his Phd at 26.
Others: Selfish and at times hypocrite. Aims to be the
best in everything he does no matter what it takes.

Name: Prof. Sharon Devi d/o Mohan Raaj

Age: 69
Status: Widow
Occupation: Professor of Astronomy
Achievements: Has been conducting research on
astronomy since 35 years ago. Published 8 books on
astronomy and space engineering.
Others: Able to communicate using sign language.
Very interested in UFO.

Name: Chia Kim Mei

Age: 22
Status: Single
Occupation: Engineering undergraduate
Achievements: Current CGPA: 3.98. Received 3 gold
awards in last years World Engineering Innovation
Contest held in Tokyo, Japan.
Others: Brave, energetic and happy-go-lucky young
woman.

Name: Jomuntin Lagadan

Age: 44
Status: Divorced
Occupation: Pilot with an airline
Achievements: Has 20 years of experience as a pilot.
Took part in MERCY Malaysias missions all over the
world.
Others: Good social skills, hot-tempered but very
hardworking.

149

English Language Society

Name: Stehanie anak Lambak

Age: 33
Status: Single mother with six young children
Occupation: Bank manager
Achievements: A graduate from the Oxford University.
Earned her MBA from Cambridge University.
Represented Malaysia to the World Economy Forum in
New York, London and Paris.
Others: A computer expert. A great leader.

Name: Jasmeen Kaur d/o Gill Singh

Age: 19
Status: Single
Occupation: College student
Achievements: Reigning Miss Malaysia as well as
Miss Universe.
Others: Adventurous, smart, humorous, visionary.
Dreams to be the first person in the world to get
married in space and start a family there.

Name: Tan Sri Safuan bin Dato Firdaus

Age: 58
Status: Married
Occupation: Chief Executive Officer
Achievements: A billionaire. Owns a business empire.
Awarded CEO of the Year for six times.
Others: Has heart problems. Loved and respected by all
his employees. Very generous and caring.

Name: Leong Ban Hin

Age: 17
Status: Single
Occupation: Form 5 student
Achievements: Not much. But has a very high IQ.
Others: Creates numerous problems in his studies. A
genius but not interested in staying in school. Dreams
to become an astronaut. Very cooperative. A risk
taker.

150

English Language Society

Appendix PD L2-iii(b)
Relevant social conventions to be used in a discussion / debate:
To express an opinion:

To indicate a point:

Personally, I feel / think that

I believe / In my opinion,
As far as I can see,
I am positive that
If you ask me, I think

First, lets look at .

The most crucial factor is
The next factor we should look at is
We should also consider
It is important we take into account

To express agreement:

To express disagreement:

Exactly / Precisely / Certainly.

Thats very true / right.
I totally / absolutely agree
I couldnt agree with you more.
You are certainly right about that.

I dont think so.

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you.
From a different point of view,
Thats not acceptable / not reasonable.
Looking from a different point of view, ..

To express doubts:

To interrupt:

Thats true but

Yes, you could be right, but
I could see your point but
I see what you mean but
I agree with you to a point but

Excuse me,
Sorry to interrupt
Excuse me, may I say something?
Sorry for this interruption

151

English Language Society

To ask for others opinions:

To give suggestions:

What do you think?

Whats your opinion?
How do you feel about ?
What do you think about my suggestion?
Do you think we should ?

I suggest / propose that

It might be a good idea if we
Perhaps, we should
My suggestion is that
One suggestion that I could think of is

To initiate a discussion:

To end / conclude a discussion:

Lets begin with

Lets start our discussion by
To start our discussion, lets look at
The purpose of having this discussion is

In conclusion, / To sum up, / To recap

I would like to conclude by saying
From our discussion, it is clear that
I would like to stress / emphasize that

152

English Language Society

Appendix PD L2-v
A Man Called Future Husband
The list of candidates:
Choice of the Perfectionist Father
Name: Datuk Dr. Khalil bin Ibrahim
Age: 55
Status: Divorced
Occupation: Businessman
Background: Millionaire. Owns 11 companies, six are located overseas. Half of a year is
spent overseas. Has 4 children from the previous marriage. Hardworking, highly-disciplined.
Others: Has a Phd in Management. Loves golfing and car racing. An old friend of
Perfectionist Father.

Choice of the Fussy Mother

Name: Muhammad Zaki bin Daud
Age: 39
Status: Bachelor
Occupation: Clerk at Malaysian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Personalities: The eldest in the family still supporting his aging parents and 2 younger
siblings at local universities. Comes back to Malaysia once in two years. Loves foreign
countries has served at Malaysian embassies in New Delhi, Hanoi, Rome and Beijing.
Others: Very dedicated to his career. Caring. An excellent cook. Related to the family
cousin of Fussy Mother.

153

English Language Society

Choice of the Stubborn Daughter

Name: Dr. Shahrookh Khan Ali Khan
Age: 33
Status: Bachelor
Occupation: Doctor
Personalities: A Pakistani doctor who works at a local hospital on a five-year contract. Very
handsome looks like one of the Bollywood actors. Friendly, caring, helpful.
Others: Misses his country and family a lot. Has been working with the Stubborn Daughter,
Fiza, since two years ago. Attracted to Fiza too. Has gone out on a date with Fiza several
times.

154

English Language Society

Appendix PD L3-i
Pros and Cons Relay
Suggested topics:
1. There should be no limit and control to the access of the internet among teenagers.
2. Parents must be punished for their childrens crime.
3. Schools should not have canteens every student must bring his or her own food and drinks to school.
4. The government must reduce foreign entertainment programmes in television.
5. Every citizen has the absolute right to total freedom of speech.
6. Malaysians should be discouraged from holidaying overseas.
7. School uniforms should be abolished.
8. Motorists should not pay tolls at all highways.
9. There should be an equal number of male and female students at all local universities (currently, most
local universities have more female students).
10. Scholarships should only be given to those with an excellent CGPA (3.7 above).

155

English Language Society

Appendix PD L3-ii(a)
W.A.R.!!! (We Argue and Refute!)
Suggested topics:
1. The passing mark for all subjects in the public examinations should be at least 50%.
2. Wealth of a nation is mainly rooted in its education.
3. City life is better than country life.
4. Teenagers should be allowed to make their own decisions.
5. It is better to promote tourism than industrialization.
6. Overemphasis on academic excellence kills creativity.
7. The retirement age should be at 65 for the public and private sectors.
8. Development is a threat to environment.
9. More foreign workers should be employed in our country.
10. Students with serious disciplinary problems should be punished by doing charity work.
Note: Teachers may add their own topics or may even ask their students to suggest some other topics.

156

English Language Society

Appendix PD L3-ii(b)
Sample Mahjong Paper for W.A.R!!!
Topic: Teachers clerical workload should be reduced.
Argument
(by the Affirmative)
Argument 1:
Teachers core
business is to teach.

Argument 2:
Much clerical
workload makes
teachers stressful.

Argument 3:
Spending too much
time on clerical
workload affects
teaching quality.

Refutation / Rebuttal
(by the Negative)

Refutation / Rebuttal
(by the Affirmative)

When teachers are only

doing 30% of clerical work,
teaching is still their core
business.

30% is for a small group of teachers, but

majority of teachers are doing about 50% of
clerical workload.

Do not blame on the

clerical workload but blame
it
on
the
teachers
themselves who do not
know how to manage
stress.

Yes, stress can be managed and teachers

know how to manage stress. The problem
is the clerical workload is done continuously
all year round. This is indeed stressful!

That is only a lame excuse.

Zero clerical workload does
not
guarantee
quality
teaching.

157

Zero clerical workload will surely guarantee

quality teaching as teachers can devote all
their free time to improve their teaching
strategies.

English Language Society

Appendix PD L3-iv
Lets Walk in Different Shoes
Suggested topics:
1. Besides Mathematics and Science, more subjects should be taught and learnt in English.
2. School holidays should be shortened.
3. There should be a night curfew for teenagers (Teenagers must be at home from 10.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.).
4. The duration of the National Service Programme should be extended to 5 months.
5. A single schooling session should be applied to all schools / School hours must be prolonged.
6. Only those who are 20 years and above are allowed to take driving license.
7. Police should be given the absolute right to conduct urine tests on anybody at any time to curb drug
abuse.
8. Parents should be held responsible for the crime committed by their children.
9. The number of public universities should be doubled to give more opportunities for tertiary education.
10. A wholesome individual is mainly shaped by the education system.

158

English Language Society

Note: Teachers may add their own topics or may even ask their students to suggest some other topics.
Appendix NIE-A
Scavenger Hunt
Items to be found
LIST A
1. Car advertisement
2. Malay leader / politician
3. An adjective that starts with M
4. A news report about business.
5. A famous male personality.
6. A word with 9 letters.
7. A job advertisement for engineers
8. A picture of a game
9. A compound word
10. A useful item for children

Items to be found
LIST B
1. Mobile phone advertisement
2. Chinese leader / politician
3. A verb that starts with S
4. A news report about crime
5. A famous female personality.
6. A word with 7 letters
7. A job advertisement for clerks
8. A cartoon strip
9. An adverb of manner
10. A useful item for women

159

Items to be found
LIST C
1. House advertisement
2. India leader / politician
3. A noun that starts with H
4. A news report about a road accident.
5. A smiling face.
6. A word with 12 letters
7. A job advertisement for accountants
8. A telephone number
9. A gerund
10. A useful item for elderly people.

English Language Society

Appendix NIE-B

NIE Relay
Items to be found in newspaper

Items to be found in newspaper

1. A business company
2. An amount of money
3. An adjective that starts with S
4. A news report about crime involving someone below 20

11. A footballer
12. A word with N as the last letter
13. A logo
14. A weather forecast

years old.
5. A famous sports personality.
15. A place to be visited
6. A word with 11 letters.
16. An occupation
7. A fax number
17. A passive verb
8. A conjunction
18. A picture of a Malaysian minister
9. An e-mail address
19. A movie poster
10. A city in Europe
20. An uncountable noun
Several groups can be formed. All groups will be using the same list.
Appendix OUTDOOR-A
Running Dictation
Text 1
The Langkawi Underwater World features the islands rich trove of marine life. Located at the popular Cenang
Beach, this aquarium features more than 5,000 types of aquatic life, exhibited in more than 100 tanks of different
sizes. The highlight is a giant tank housing large marine species such as sharks, stingrays and green turtles with

160

English Language Society

a 15-metre tunnel for visitors to walk through. Witness these magnificent underwater creatures being fed for an
enjoyable visit.
Text 2
Putrajaya, the new Federal Government Administrative Centre, is a modern city which embraces the concept of
an intelligent garden city and showcases the best of Malaysian architectural design in an environmentallyfriendly setting of beautifully landscaped lakes and parks. The prime areas in Putrajaya City are divided into
precincts and consists of government offices, as well as commercial, residential and recreational areas.
Text 3
Some people insist that plastic bags are environmentally bad. They claim that plastic bags mar the beauty of
public parks as well as choke the rivers and block the drains in major cities, causing severe flooding. Moreover,
animals ensnared in bags also suffer terribly. On the contrary, another group of people argue that actually plastic
bags should not be blamed for the polluted environment. Instead, bags are made to help people with their daily
activities. They strongly feel that plastic bags must not be banned just because some other people choose to
dispose of them improperly.

Appendix OUTDOOR-B

TREASURE HUNT
Check
Point
1

Questions to be answered in the answer

sheet
What is the name of the schools Senior
Assistant of Students Affairs? Next, go to
.(CP2)

Check Point Questions to be answered in the answer

sheet
9
Beauty is a noun; Beautiful is an adjective
what is the verb? Next go to .
(CP10)

161

English Language Society

3
4
5
6
7
8

Sally, please keeps quiet! I trying to

study. What are the mistakes in the two
sentences above? Next, go to
(CP3)
What is the smallest state in Malaysia?
Next go to . (CP4)

10

He should be here soon. Which word in

the sentence is an adverb of time? Next go
to . (CP11)

11

What is the root word for government?

Next, go to . (CP5)
What is the antonym for hygienic? Next
go to . (CP6)
How many members are there in our
English Language Society? Next go to
. (CP7)
What is our schools motto? Next go to
. (CP8)

12

Who is the third principal of this school?

Next go to . (CP9)

16

Write down the full name of our Afternoon

Supervisor. Next go to .
(CP12)
What happened in Malacca in 1511? Next
go to . (CP13)
How many districts are there in our state?
Next go to . (CP14)
How many consonants are there in the
word EXAMINATION? Next go to
. (CP15)
You should came to my party yesterday.
What is wrong with the sentence above?
Next go to . (CP16)
Who is the author of The Pencil? Next go
to the starting point. The Treasure Hunt is
over.

13
14
15

Appendix OUTDOOR-C

Blind Man
Station

Suggested tasks to be completed by the blindfolded student at each station

Hop forward three times using your right leg while raising up your left hand.

162

English Language Society

Step (both feet) on a newspaper on the floor. Then walk around the newspaper three times.

Take a magazine on a chair. Sit down on the chair and pretend reading the magazine for 20
seconds. Then, put it under the chair.
Sing the school song. Then, do a catwalk to Station 5 while clapping hands

4
5
6

(chair, desk, paper and pen provided) Sit down and write the full name of 3 group members
on a piece of paper using a pen on the desk.
Carry the chair provided at Station 5 and walk to the finishing line.

Notes:
1. The tasks can be modified accordingly either to simplify or make them more challenging.
2. The number of stations depends on the number of students taking part in the activity.
3. Form more groups if they are too many students taking part in this activity. Perhaps, more group members are
blindfolded.

Appendix OUTDOOR-D

SURVEY & REPORT

Survey topic: BREAKFAST
Respondent: .
Age

: . years

Class: .

163

English Language Society

Race

: .

Question
Do you take breakfast daily?
If no, why do you skip breakfast?

What do you normally take for breakfast?

Why?

What is your most favourite food for breakfast?

Why?

Response

164