My name is Mariana Ursu.

I graduated The Pedagogical College

"Alexandru cel Bun" from Călarăși town in 2001 and the Letters
Faculty of The State University from Tiraspol located in Chisinau
in 2008. I have been working as a teacher in the T. L. "Vasile
Alecsandri" from Călarăși for twelve years, all this time I have
been teaching English in the elementary classes. At the same time I
was employed part time at The Pedagogical College "Alexandru cel
Bun (studying years 1998-2001) and at the local Primary School
(studying year 2003-2004). The last three years, I also have been
teaching Romanian language and literature in the secondary level in
the same institution.
 Mă numesc Ursu Mariana, am absolvit Colegiul Pedagogic
”Alexandru cel Bun” din Orașul Călărași în 2001 și Facultatea de
Litere a Universităţii de Stat din Tiraspol cu sediul la Chișinău în
anul 2008. Activez în calitate de profesoară, în Liceul Teoretic
„Vasile Alecsandri”, din or. Călăraşi de unsprezece ani, răstimp în
care am predat ore de limbă engleză în ciclul primar. Concomitent
am fost angajată prin cumul la Colegiul Pedagogic ”Alexandru cel
Bun” (anii de studiu 1998-2001) și la Școala Primară locală (anul
de studiu 2003-2004). În ultimii trei ani de activitate predau și ore
de limba și literatura română în ciclul gimnazial în aceeași
instituție.
 A good teacher is like a candle - it
consumes itself to light the way for others.
For having good results in the educational process, I submitted
myself a number of requirements I try to keep:
•To be a model of performance for my students;
•To be always in step with all the changes and innovations in the
educational field and directly related to the subject that I teach
(English);
•To apply different modern motivational strategies in my teaching
practice;
•To take into account the interests, needs, particularities of students'
age and their level of training and development;
•To use modern technology at my lessons for a more effective
education.
Pentru a avea rezultate frumoase în procesul instructiv-
educativ, mi-am înaintat un șir de cerințe:
•Să fiu un model de personalitate cu variate performanțe
pentru elevi;
•Să fiu mereu în pas cu toate modificările și inovațiile ce
țin de sfera educațională și nemijlocit de obiectul pe care-l
predau (limba engleză);
•Să aplic diferite strategii motivaționale moderne în
practica mea de lucru;
•Să țin cont de interesele, necesitățile, particularitățile de
vîrstă ale elevilor, precum și de nivelul lor de pregătire și
dezvoltare;
•Să mînuiesc mijloacele tehnice moderne de instruire și să
le aplic în cadrul orelor.
Motto: “A teacher who is attempting
to teach without inspiring the

pupils with a
desire to learn
is
hammering on cold iron.” 
(Horace Mann)
MOTTO: „Un profesor care încearcă să
le cultive elevilor săi cunoștințe fără a le
trezi interesul de a învăța, se aseamănă
unui fierar ce bate fierul rece.”

(Horace Mann)
PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH THEME

“MODERN TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND

STRATEGIES IMPLIMENTATION
FOR INCREASING THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING
ENGLISH IN PRIMARY CLASSES”
 TEMA DE CERCETARE PROFESIONALĂ

” IMPLEMENTAREA TEHNICILOR ȘI STRATEGIILOR

DIDACTICE MODERNE PENTRU SPORIREA
MOTIVAȚIEI ÎNVĂȚĂRII ÎN CADRUL ORELOR DE DE
LIMBA ENGLEZĂ ÎN CICLUL PRIMAR ”
 I wanted to research this particular issue because I believe that
motivation is the key to success in school learning.
During teaching English for many years, I collided with the
following problems:
- "My students do not know how to learn. They don’t have initiative
and they don’t manifest curiosity”;
-"My students are not active. They are bored, restless and
uninterested.”
Looking for ways to solve these problems, I often asked myself
the following questions:
"Why some students are motivated to learn and the others are not?"
"What conditions influence students’ active attitude towards
learning?"
“What can I do to provide an effective learning?”
“How can my lessons motivate my students to learn?"
 Mi-am propus spre cercetare anume această temă, deoarece consider că
motivația învățării este cheia succesului școlar. Motivaţia este una dintre
condiţiile esenţiale care asigură dobîndirea de noi cunoştinţe.

Pe parcursul activităţi didactice m-am confruntat cu

următoarele probleme:
,,Elevii mei nu ştiu să înveţe. Efectuează cu greu sarcinile de învăţare, nu au
iniţiativă, nu manifestă curiozitate”;
,,Elevii mei nu sunt activi, nu se implică, nu participă la lecţii, deci, sunt
lipsiţi de interes”.

Căutînd căi de rezolvare a acestor probleme, deseori mi-am

pus următoarele întrebări:
”De ce unii elevi sunt motivați să învețe, iar alții nu?”
”În ce condiţii se formează la elevi atitudinea activă faţă de învăţare?”;
,,Cum să-mi proiectez lecţiile pentru a-i motiva pe elevi să înveţe activ?”.
 Motivation includes all the reasons causing the
students to attend school and to learn.
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to
ensure students’ motivation.
I consider that for being able to motivate his
followers to study, the teacher must know
them very well, learn about their age
particularities, character and temperament and
discover their needs, desires and interests.
Motivaţia învăţării şcolare desemnează ansamblul factorilor interni
ai personalităţii elevului care-i determină, orientează, organizează
şi susţin eforturile în învăţare.

Cunoaşterea motivelor reale ale învăţării elevilor dă

posibilitatea cadrului didactic să intervină în mod adecvat şi
oportun pentru asigurarea succesului la învăţătură al fiecărui
elev.
 There are a variety of things I do to increase my
students’ motivation to learn:
a) I always start the lessons by giving my students a reason
to be motivated to listen and learn.

I like to think about the motivation of the lesson as

a kind of breakfast. If you eat a good breakfast you
will have energy all day and work effectively. If I
start the lesson with a good motivation my students
will have energy and will be interested and ready to
participate in the class activities.
 STRATEGII DE MOTIVARE
a) Încep întotdeauna lecţiile oferindu-le elevilor
mei un motiv de a fi interesați să asculte şi să
înveţe.
Îmi place să asociez motivaţia un micul dejun
englezesc. Englezii consideră dejunul cea mai
importantă masă a zilei. Un dejun bogat în calorii
asigură energie pentru toată ziua. Dacă lecţia
începe cu o bună motivaţie elevii vor avea energie
şi vor fi interesaţi, fiind gata să participe cu plăcere
la toate activităţile propuse.
 b) As I teach English in young classes I often begin
my lessons with a game.
“The box of surprises”
What is it? – the 2nd level

For this game I used a big golden box with pictures

of school things in it (pen, pencil, pencil box, eraser,
ruler, satchel, book, exercise book, etc). Each
student picked up a drawing from the box and made
up a sentence: “This is a satchel” or “This is a pen”.
b) Deoarece predau limba engleză în clasele
începătoare, joc didactic este o tehnică nelipsită de
la orele mele. Consider că este cea mai eficientă
tehnică de motivare a învățării la această vîrstă.
“Cutia de surprize"
Ce este aceasta? – clasa a II-a
Pentru acest joc am folosit o cutie mare aurie, în
care am pus cîteva imagini de rechezite şcolare (un
stilou, un creion, un penar, o riglă, o radieră, un
ghiozdan, o carte, un caiet, etc). Fiecare elev a
extras un desen din cutie şi a alcătuit o propoziţie:
"Acesta este un ghiozdan" sau "Acesta este un
stilou".
 “The seasons”
”The seasons” – the 2nd level
For this game I used four pictures each of them representing a season.
Under each picture there were three pockets. Twelve children in the class
received a card on which was written a month of the year, while others
received cards with the characteristics of each season (warm, hot, cool,
cold, bright, green, white, yellow). The task was to put the 12 months of
the year in the small pockets, depending on what season they belong to.
The 1st pupil said: “January is the 1st month of the year. January is a
winter month”. The 2nd pupil said: “February is the 2nd month of the
year. February is a winter month”. The other children had the task to
describe the seasons, using the characteristics on the cards. They made up
the following sentences: “Spring is a warm season” or “Summer is a hot
season”. The game involved the whole class, and its competitive nature
caused them great emotional experiences.
 Anotimpurile
”Lunile anului” – clasa a II-a
Pentru consolidarea cunoştinţelor legate de cele patru anotimpuri,
precum şi cu familiarizarea cu ordinea cronologică a lunilor anului,
după ce s-au predat lecţiile legate de cele patru anotimpuri, am
organizat jocul cu titlul ,,Anotimpurile”. Pentru acest joc am folosit
patru tablouri reprezentând fiecare cîte un anotimp. Sub fiecare
tablou erau trei buzunare. Doisprezece copii din clasă au primit cîte
un cartonaş pe care era trecută o lună a anului, iar ceilalţi au primit
cartonaşe cu caracteristicile fiecărui anotimp. Sarcina celor 12 era
aceea de a aşeza cronologic lunile anului în buzunăraşele fiecărui
tablou, în funcţie de anotimpul ce-l reprezintă. Ceilalţi copii au avut
ca sarcină să citească caracteristica trecută pe cartonaş şi să precizeze
cărui anotimp îi aparţine. Jocul antrenează întreaga clasă, iar
caracterul său competitiv le produce trăiri afective deosebite .
 “I say one, you say many”
”How many?” – the 2nd level
This game was based on illustrations. Each pupil chose a picture,
named the object on it and formed the plural of the respective noun:
one cat – two cats, one frog – eight frogs.
 “Jocul ,,Eu spun una, tu spui multe”
Cîte sunt? – clasa a II-a
Acest joc îi obişnuieşte pe elevi cu formarea corectă a singularului
şi pluralului substantivelor. În clasa a II-a acest joc l-am realizat pe
bază de ilustraţi, elevii spunînd pluralul anumitor obiecte prezentate
pe jetoane.
 ”Ball game”
”Round up” – the 2nd level
The pupils made a circle, I stayed in the middle. I passed the
ball to each student, asking a question. The pupils answered
the questions. The learner who gave a wrong answer sat down
at his/her place. The last pupil, who answered the most
questions, was the winner.
Questions Answers
What’s your name? My name is Ann.
How old are you? I am eight years old.
How are you? I’m fine, thank you.
Where are you from? I’m from Moldova.
What day is it today? It is Monday today.
What month is it? It’s February.
What season is it? It’s winter.
What’s your favourite season? My favourite season is summer.
When is your birthday? My birthday is in December.
 ”Jocul cu mingea”
”Recapitulare” – clasa a II-a
Elevii făcut un cerc, am stat în mijloc. Am trecut mingea la fiecare
elev, adresîndu-i-se o întrebare. Elevii au răspuns la întrebări.
Elevul care a dat un răspuns greşit, s-a aşezat la locul său. Ultimul
elev, care au răspuns la majoritatea întrebărilor, a fost cîştigătorul.
Întrebări Răspunsuri
Cum te numești? Mă numesc Ana.
Cîţi ani ai? Am opt ani.
Ce mai faci? Sunt bine, mulțumesc.
De unde eşti? Sunt din Republica Moldova.
Ce zi este azi? Azi este luni .
Ce luna este acum? Este februarie.
Ce anotimp este? E iarnă.
Care este anotimpul tău preferat? Anotimpul meu preferat este
Cînd este ziua ta de naştere? vara.
Ziua mea de naştere este în luna
decembrie.
 ”Magic hat”
”In the street”- the 3rd level

In a black paper hat I put some cards on which

was written a mean of transport. On the board I
hang the images of the same means of transport.
Each pupil chose a word and matched it to the
appropriate picture.
 ”Pălăria magică”
”În stradă”- Clasa a III-a

Într-o pălărie neagră de hîrtie am pus nişte fișe

pe care erau scrise cîte un mijloc de transport.
Pe tablă am afișat imaginile aceloraşi mijloace
de transport. Fiecare elev a extras un cuvînt
din pălărie şi l-a cuplat cu imaginea
corespunzătoare.
 ”I like…”
Present Simple - the 3rd level
One child said: "I like dogs."
The second: "Alex likes dogs and I like cats."
The third: "Alex likes dogs, Ann likes cats and I like cars."
And so everyone had to say which are his/her preferences and those
before him. The game was fun. The next lesson we talked about
what pupils dislike. We played the same game using the negative
forms of the verb.
One child said: "I don’t like eggs."
The second: "Alex doesn’t like eggs and I don’t like milk."
The third: "Alex doesn’t like eggs, Ann doesn’t like milk and I don’t
like cabbage."
 "Îmi place ..."
Prezentul simplu – clasa a III-a
Un copil a spus: "Îmi plac cîinii."
Al doilea: “Lui Alex îi plac cîinii şi mie îmi plac pisicile."
Al treilea elev: " Lui Alex îi plac cîinii , Anei îi plac pisicile și mie
îmi plac mașinile."
Şi astfel încît toți elevii au spus care le sunt preferinţele personale
şi ale colegilor săi. Jocul a fost distractiv. Lecţia următoare, am
vorbit despre ceea ce le displace elevilor. Ne-am jucat acelasi joc
folosind formele negative ale verbului.
Un copil a spus: "Nu-mi plac ouăle."
Al doilea: “Lui Alex nu-i plac ouăle şi mie nu-mi place laptele."
Al treilea elev : " Lui Alex nu-i plac ouăle, Anei nu-i place laptele
şi mie nu-mi place varza."
 ”Guess what I’m doing”
Present Progressive - the 3rd level

All the students in the class received a card on

which was written an action. One pupil mimed
the action and the others had to guess what was
he or she doing.
“He is combing his hair.”
“She is getting up.”
“He is reading a book.”
The pupil who guessed the most actions was the
winner.
 "Ghicește ce fac eu"
Prezent Progressive – clasa a III-a
Toţi elevii din clasa primesc cîte o fișă pe care e
scrisă o acţiune. Un elev reprezintă acţiunea
prin mimică fără a pronunța cuvîntul şi ceilalți
trebuie să ghicească ce face el/ea.
"El citește o carte."
"Ea se trezeşte."
Elevul care a ghicit cele mai multe acţiuni este
cîştigătorul.
 “Say something more”
”At the post –office”- the 4th level
I wrote the word “a letter” on the blackboard. Every student added
one, two or three words on the way to get sentences of increasing
length.
Andy wrote a letter.
Andy wrote a letter to Val.
Andy wrote a letter to his brother, Val.
Andy wrote a letter about his school to his brother, Val.
Andy wrote a letter about his school and his classmates to his
brother, Val.
Andy wrote a letter about his school and his classmates to his
brother, Val, in the USA.
Andy wrote a letter about his school and his classmates to his
brother, Val, who is in the USA.
Andy wrote a letter about his school and his classmates to his
brother, Val, who is a student in the USA.
 “Mai spune ceva”
”La oficiul poștal”- clasa a IV-a
Eu am scris pe tablă cuvîntul "o scrisoare". Fiecare elev a mai
adăugat cuvinte unul, două sau trei cuvinte pentru a obţine
propoziții dezvoltate/fraze.
Andy a scris o scrisoare.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare lui Valeriu.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare fratelui său, Valeriu.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare cu privire la şcoală fratelui său, Valeriu.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare cu privire la şcoală şi colegii lui fratelui
său, Valeriu.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare cu privire la şcoală lui şi colegii lui
fratelui său, Valeriu, în Statele Unite ale Americii.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare cu privire la şcoală şi colegii lui fratelui
său, Valeriu, care este în Statele Unite ale Americii.
Andy i-a scris o scrisoare cu privire la şcoală şi colegii lui fratelui
său, Valeriu, care este student în Statele Unite ale Americii.
 “Simion says”
All the classes

The idea is simple: students must perform a

certain order. It starts with simple commands:
"Simon Says: Sit down!" and it comes
gradually to complex commands: "Simon
Says: Wash your hands and face!" The
commands may also be combined: "Simon
Says: Touch your nose and jump!”
 "Simion
spune"
Toate clasele

Ideea este simplă: elevii trebuie să îndeplinească

un anumit ordin. Se începe cu comenzi simple:
"Simon spune: Ia loc " şi se continuă treptat cu
comenzi mai complexe: "Simon spune : Spălaţi-
vă pe mîini şi pe faţă!" Comenzile pot fi,
deasemenea, combinate: "Simon spune : Atinge-
ți nasul şi sai!"
 Other games I practice
•vocabulary games
(Odd-man-out, Contains the series, Blackboard bingo,
Say in a word, How many words can you name?),
• thinking games
(Guess what it is, What can you do with...?)
• memory games
( Repeat the string of words, Write as many words you
remember)
 Alte jocuri

- jocuri de vocabular
(Găsește intrusul, Continuă seria, Spune într-un
cuvînt, Cîtde multe cuvinte poţi numi?),
- Jocuri logice
(Ghici ce este, Ce poti face cu ...?)
- jocuri de memorie
(Repetă şirul de cuvinte, Scrie cît de multe
cuvinte îți amintești)
c) I provide various activities and experiences
in the classroom. 
Brainstorming around a word
I write a generic word in the middle of the board and ask the students
to suggest all the words they associate with it. For example the
original word can be: CLOTHES, FURNITURE, FRUITS…
Categories
I ask the students to draw two, three or more columns on a paper
and give them a heading category for each. Then I dictate a series
of words which can fit into one of the categories.
Bedroom Kitchen Bathroom Living-room
bed table sink sofa
bedside table cupboard bath-tub armchair
wardrobe fridge chair
lamp carpet
 Find someone who
Teaching the use of “can” and “can’t” to the third form pupils, I
gave each student a card with statements such as: can ride a bike,
can’t speak German, can play the piano, can’t sing songs etc. They
moved around the classroom and asked each other questions (Can
you ride a bike? / Can you speak German? / Can you play the
piano?) until they found a person who could or couldn’t do these
actions. Then pupils reported to the class who can do these actions:
Nick can ride a bike. / Ann can play the piano. / John can’t sing
songs. / Mike can’t speak German.
 Crossword
I write a word in the middle of the board, for example “spring”. Then I think of a
word which shares one letter with the word on the board and give the children a
clue to my word. For example “it describes the weather in spring”. If someone
guesses “sunny”, he or she writes the word so that it crosses the first word and
shares a letter. The following clues can be: the first spring flower (snowdrop), the
colour of the snowdrop (white), a spring holiday (Easter), the colour of spring
(green). Ask pupils to think of a word that shares a letter with the first (spring) or
the last word (green) and to give to the class an appropriate clue for it. This activity
takes about 5 minutes.
SPRING
U
N
SNOWDROP
Y H
I
T G
EASTER
E
E
N
 Role playing

In the fourth level, talking about shopping, the

children played the roles of the shop assistent
and the buyer. This is an example of dialogue:
‾Good morning!
‾Good morning! Can I help you?
‾Yes, please. I’d like some flour.
‾How much flour would you like?
‾2 kilos, please. How much is it?
‾It’s 10 lei.
‾Here is the money. Thank you. Goodbye!
‾Goodbye!
 Listening activities
In the 2nd form, after I taught my students the colours and the clothes,
I gave every pupil a work sheet . I asked pupils to colour the clothes
in different colours:
Colour the dress red.
Colour the blouse yellow.
Colour the skirt black.
Colour the shirt blue.
Colour the hat brown.
Then they worked in pairs
asking and answering
questions :
Questions Answers
- What colour is the dress? - The dress is red.
- What colour is the blouse? - The blouse is yellow.
- What colour is the skirt? - The skirt is black.
In the 3rd form I read a text about The Browns and asked the pupils
to listen it and to draw The Browns’ family tree on a sheet of paper.

“Hello! My name is Cindy. I don’t have sisters and

brothers. My father’s name is Phil and my mother’s
name is Kate. My mother has a brother. His name is
Bob. He is my uncle. My aunt’s name is Susan. My
aunt and uncle have two children, a son and a
daughter. They are my cousins. Their names are Lyn
and Billy. My grandparents’ names are Anne and
George. I love my family.”
 Continue the sentences
The students’ task was to listen and continue the following
sentences using The Brown`s family tree:
1. Anne is Bob’s ……………………
2. George is Kate's ………………..
3. Bob is Kate’s ……………………
4. Lyn is Billy’s …………………….
5. Cindy is Billy’s …………………
6. Phil is Lyn’s …………………….
7. Susan is Cindy’s ………………
8. Anne is Lyn’s …………………..
9. George is Billy’s ………………
10. Anne is George's ………….
11. George is Anne's …………
 Replace the pictures with the words
In the 3rd level, this activity helped me to check the means of transport
the students have learned during the lesson “In the street”.
This is Tania. She has a big . She can draw

. Her little sister can ride a

and her brother can ride a

.
Her mother can drive a and her father can drive a

.
 Other activities I practice
•silent dictation (I show a picture and pupils spell the appropriate
word),
• draw the object (I say a word and pupils draw the appropriate
drawing),
•jumbled words (unscramble the letters in a word),
•find the differences,
• picture discussion,
•chain story,
•timeline (arrange the events in chronological order),
•word search (a grid of letters with words hidden in it),
•spelling bee,
•jumbled sentences,
• cutting down texts,
•Matching activities.
d) I use technology to teach my students in an
enjoyable way.
For example in the 2nd form the pupils sang many songs at
different lessons: What is you name? (Round up after the 1st
module), Alouette (About me), Twinkle, twinkle traffic lights (In
the street), Five little ducks (How old are you?), One, two buckle
my shoe (How many).
I also use computer in the classroom. It allows me using various
visual aids during my lessons. For example I used a video clip
named “Traffic lights” in the 3rd form at the topic “In the street”
and “We wish you a Merry Christmas” in the 4th form. Sometimes
I use computer to introduce the new words. I practice Power Point
lessons too. Computer has a tremendous upside. It’s a great teaching
and motivational tool.
e) I try to make a connection between skills, effort,
and performance.

I always encourage my pupil to study. I want my pupils to

believe that they have control over their learning.  I prove them
that if they develop their skills and put forth effort, they can be
more successful in their learning.  Frequent comments like
these help them to make this connection:
“You can do it.  If you use your study skills and don’t give up,
you will get it!”
“If you improve your vocabulary you will speak English
correctly.”

) I always provide immediate feedback.

“Give someone a fish and they will
eat for a day, teach someone to fish
and they will eat for a lifetime.”
(Clay P. Bedford)
”Îl poți învăța pe un elev o lecție
pe zi, dar dacă îl educi să învețe
din curiozitate și plăcere, el va
continua să învețe toată viața ”.
(Clay P. Bedford)