skkn cấp tỉnh raising the students awareness of protecting the environment through the integrated reading topic environmental problems for the 10th students at thach thanh 4 high school

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<small>THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & TRAINING</small>

<b><small>THACH THANH IV HIGH SCHOOL</small></b>

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<b> I. INTRODUCTION1. Reasons for research</b>

With the aim of improving the quality of full education for the young, to meetthe human resources for the industrialization and modernization of thecountry, to meet the needs of learner, general education has been stronglyreformed according to century’s goals. They are learning to know, learning todo, learning to assert themselves, learning to live together. So the goal ofgeneral education has shifted from equipping the knowledge to the necessarycapability for the students.

In addition, the popular education method has also been innovated in order toraise the sense of initiative and creativeness of the students, which is suitablewith the characteristics of each class , students’ psychology and the age;strengthen the students’ groupwork and train the skill of applying theknowledge to the life to integrate the life skills for themselves. The contentof life skills education has been integrated in many subjects and othereducational activities. With the advantages of the subject, I find that theeducation of life skills through English is practical in the stage of theglobalization.

During the teaching process at Thach Thanh 4 High School, when applyingsome positive techniques in teaching English and integrating the life skillseducation for students, I realised that it is suitable with my students and the

<b>characteristics of the school. So, I bravely choose the topic “ Raising thestudents’ awareness of protecting the environment through theintegrated reading topic “Environmental Problems” for the 10<small>th</small> studentsat Thach thanh 4 High School by using some positive teachingtechniques.”</b>

<b>2. Purposes</b>

We have known that intergrating knowledge in solving a problem of lesson isessential, which make learners not only study and improve the knowledgefrom other subjects but also help them understand and solve the matter fastand perfectly. Intergrated knowledge of subjects such as: Geography, Physics,

<b>Biology, Chemistry, Civic education and life in Unit 9: Protecting theenvironment, English 10 provide them a brief information about the serious</b>

state of environment pollution and climate change. Morever, with the images,videos about the environment being destroyed, students are aware of theirduties in protecting the environment – the habitat of all species as well.Consequently, students learn life experiences and adjust their behavior. Inorder to do this, teachers must have appropriate teaching methods andtechniques to stimulate students' creative thinking and making their lecturesmore attractive.

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On the subject, I study and apply some positive teaching techniques to teach

<b>the integrated reading topic Environmental Problems for the class 10B1.</b>

Applied these techniques, I helped my students participate in the lectureactively and limit their laziness in groupworks .

As we known, species extinction, environment pollution and climate changeare urgent problems of the globe. The information of this theme is great, so I

<b>help students study the topic Environmental Problems in four parts in each</b>

paragraph: the reality, the causes, the consequences and the solutions.Besides, I give my students chances to discover the interest of the lesson bygiving each group a handout contained duties and doing the task 2 followingthe gameshow format “ Who wants to be a millionaire? As I mentionedabove, the lesson is so attracting that my students are all excited at doingresearch to get more information which is not mentioned in the passage.

Next, I apply four positive teaching techniques to teach this topic: the cloth technique in lead-in, the graft technique in practice, the mindmap inconsolidation and the questioning technique when giving the duties for thestudents.

table-Besides, I help students study some punishments in the Criminal Code of theSocialist Republic Of Vietnam for the environmental crime through someparticular violations in further practice to raise their awareness of protectingenvironment.

Lastly, I use the format of gameshow “ Who wants to be a millionaire?” toteach the task 3, which inspires the students.

<b>II. CONTENT1. Theoretical Background</b>

Normally, the teacher is considered to succeed in teaching reading skill whenhe/she helps students practise some new words, do all the tasks andunderstand the lesson in one or two periods. Each lesson relates to a theme, soit requires the teacher has both technique knowledge and understanding aboutthe places, people and events from the lessons. However, the teacher must not

<b>explain so much that makes the lesson excursive. Part III Reading in unit 9:Environmental Problems is an exciting lesson that have attracted me as I</b>

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love the nature but the nature are in danger. Everyday, I can see theenvironmental issues in the real life as well as on the television, radio ornewspapers. The humane race are affecting their habitat through almost theiractions such as cooking, using vehicles and water, etc. It is all due to the lackof serious awareness of many people. They think that what they do is small,not enough to harm the environment. Others argue that environmentalprotection is the responsibility of the governments. Therefore, as a teacher, Ialways want my students - the future owners of the country aware of theirresponsibility in protecting the environment and regulate their behavior bythemselves in order to have a healthy living environment.

<b>2. Realities before applying the research</b>

Thach Thanh 4 High School is a newly established school, located in themountainous areas of Thanh Hoa province. We have many dificulties whenwe carry out the renovation of teaching method. Most students are theMuong ethnicity minority. Their awareness and thought are not as quick asthe students of the same age in other areas. Morever, English is a specificsubject which is uneasy for students in mountainous areas, so our teachingand learning English have many difficulties. Teaching some reading topics, Inoticed that most of my students engaged in the lectures passively. Throughlearning, I found that they were interested in these topics but theirbackground knowledge on these topics was very limited. Besides, theinformation about these topics are not much, and the given exercises arefamiliar, such as "true or false", "answer the questions", “ complete thesentences with one or two word” …. Therefore, they do not attract thestudent's thought very much. Realised that, I myself always make manyquestions such as “ How to stimulate students' thought?”, “ How to attract thestudents in learning?”, “ How to make students gain the most knowledgeabout the topic and take out life experiences for themselves?”, so I havestudied and applied some positive techniques to teaching these intergratedreading topics and got some success.

<b>3. Solutions </b>

There are many positive teaching techniques, such as questioning technique,mindmap, grafting technique, table-cloth and KWL technique, etc. To applythese techniques effectively, the teacher must not only follow the specificprocesses of each technique but also it requires creative flexibility andpedagogic method. In the research, I will present the steps to implement fourpositive teaching techniques which I applied to teach the integrated reading

<b>topic Environmental Problems and give the lesson plan to illustrate.3.1 Questioning technique</b>

In teaching, the teacher’s question system plays an important role, which isone of the determinants to the quality of the students’ knowledge. Instead of

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presenting a lecture by reading and copying, the teacher have to prepare aquestion system. It motivates students think, discover knowledge, developslesson contents, and encourages them to brainstorm and discuss the content ofthe lesson logically. Furthermore, the question system is used to orient andguide students discover the essential things, the rules of phenomena, stimulatethe exploration, the curiosity, etc. During the conversation, the teacher is anorganizer, students are person exploring and creating new discoveriesactively. Besides, students gain the joy, excitement of explorers andconfidence when they find that they have contributed their opinions in theteacher’s conclusions. As a result, students both gain new knowledge andlearn the way to get it.

<b>Environmental Problems is an interesting topic. However, to make the</b>

lecture more interesting, I had to prepare a list of questions which canmotivate them think and participate in the lesson actively. When teaching the

<b>lead-in, if the teacher uses the closed-question " Do the human race interfere</b>

the nature? or “ Do the people destroy their habitat? ” , students only giveanswer "Yes, they do " or " No, they don’t" without brainstorming. With thisclosed-question form, teachers neither develop the students’ thought nororient the knowledge they need to acquire in the unit. Instead, I play a cartoonabout the people’s interference with the nature and use the opened-questionform “ What are people doing with the nature?” and ask them to discuss ingroups. Students’ discussion was very exciting. They gave many differrentanswers, such as “ People are killing the animals”, “ People are cutting down

<b>trees” and “People are polluting the air ”… Using opened-question, I will not</b>

only stimulate students’ thought, provide students many opportunities to sharepersonal ideas but also help students memorize and test their knowledge.

<b>3.2. Table-cloth technique</b>

Table-cloth technique is a collaborative learning organization that combinespersonal and group works. The goal of this technique is to stimulate, promotestudents’ engagement actively, enhance individual independence andresponsibility, and develop interaction between students.

For students, they will learn how to approach with different strategies andsolutions through this technique. Students will be trained in thinking,deciding, and solving problems. Furthermore, it helps to raise the relationshipbetween students, enhance collaboration, communication, share experiencesand respect each other. To apply this technique effectively, the teacher mustfollow its sequence of steps.

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First, the teacher givesstudents a question or task ,and divides the students intosmall groups. Each group willbe delivered an A0 paperdivided into smaller parts asshown:

Each member of the group sits in a position corresponding parts.

Next, the teacher asks students work individually in a few minutes,concentrate their thoughts on answering questions or tasks and write theirown opinions on suitable part of the A0 paper.

After, the students have to discuss in groups to give group’s mutualagreement and write them in the center of the A0-cloth-table. Withdisagreements, individuals can reserve and keep in the surrounding of thetable-cloth.

Finally, the teacher calls the representatives of the groups to present theirideas in front of the class. Other groups can give comments and feedbacks,the teacher concludes.

<b>In the “Environmental Problems” topic, I use the cloth-table tecnique in</b>

lead-in. I ask my students work in 4 groups and give each group an A0 paperwith the task:

“Watch the cartoon about the people’s interference with the nature andanswer the question “ What are people doing with the nature?”<b>. I find that</b>

most of my students participate in the lesson actively and discuss the questionenthusiastically. As a result, they gave many interesting answers.

In conclusion, table-cloth technique is a simple teaching one that is easy toimplement. It can be organized in all subjects, lessons, or grades like grouplearning. However, it can overcome the limitations of group learning, such assome passive members do not participate in group’s activities. It requires allmembers to work individually, think and write their own opinions beforegroup’s discussion. Since then, all members can participate in discussing andhave opportunity to share personal ideas and experiences, self-assess, andadjust their own perceptions.

<b>3.3. Grafting technique:</b>

Grafting technique is a technique that organizes jointly learning activitiesbetween individuals and groups. It is used to solve a complex tasks. It notonly stimulates the students’ active participation in groupwork but alsoenhances the role of the individuals in the collaboration.

To use this technique effectively, teachers and students must follow twostages illustrated in the following diagram:

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Stage 1: Intensive group.

Students are divided into small groups of 3 to 6 students. Each group isassigned a task to in-depth study a different content of learning. The groupshave to research and discussion. Each member must master the content of theassignment and be able to present the content to other groups. Each studentbecomes an in-depth field investigator in the stage 2.

Stage 2: Pieces group

After completing the task at the stage 1, students from different intensivegroups join together into new groups called pieces group. At this time, eachof the students in “intensive group” became "pieces" in the "pieces group".Students must assemble the array of knowledge into a "master picture". Thenthe teacher asks the students from the "intensive groups" in the "piecesgroups" represent their content.

Finally, the teacher gives pieces groups a new task. This task has synthesized,generalized the whole content that was learned from the intensive group.

<b>When teaching the reading topic Environmental Problems, I apply the</b>

grafting technique in teaching task 2. I divided the students into 4 groups andgive each group a task. Each group has to study their own paragraphs with 4factors: the reality, causes, the consequences and sollutions.

<b>Group 1: Study the paragraph A and find out the information, pictures or</b>

video to illustrate the content of the paragraph. `

<b>Group 3: Study the paragraph C and find out the information, pictures or</b>

videos to illustrate the content of the paragraph.

<b>Group 4: Study the paragraph D and find out the information, pictures or</b>

videos to illustrate the content of the paragraph.

Then I rearrange the groups. A new group consists at least one student in eachgroup in stage 1 to help them understand the lesson perfectly. Finally, I call arepresentative of each group to show their ideas in front of the class. Othergroup can give comments or feedback if they do not agree.

When using this technique, I find that my students are good at searching theinformation related to the topic. They give interesting information, pictures

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and videos about the environmental problems which are not mentioned in thepassage.

<b>3.4. Mindmap technique</b>

Mindmap is a thinking organization tool, the easiest way to transmitinformation into the brain and then send them out. At the same time, it is avery creative and effective means of recording the information.

Mindmap technique is a form of note that can use colors and images toexpand, deepen the ideas. Teachers who use the mind map in teaching willbring high efficiency, develop logical thought, and analytical capability.

Students will understand the lesson more, remember longer rather thanmemorize or learn by heart.

To apply the mind map technique to teaching, the teacher must follow foursteps.

Firstly, the teacher gives a picture or a keyword presented an idea, adefinition or a main content in the centre of the map.

Secondly, the picture or a keyword in the centre will be developed and linkedto pictures or keyword called the sub-topic level 1 by major branches.

After, the main branches will be continued to branch out to images, topics level 2 related to the main branch.

sub-Finally, branching will be continued. The related definitions, content andproblem are interconnected to create a "master picture" describing the themein the centre clearly and completely.

There are many ways to organize the topic in the form of mind maps, such ashierarchical diagrams, network diagrams, sequence diagrams, relationaldiagrams, etc. The students can choose a suitable way to make the mindmapwith personal point of view and experience.

<b>In the reading topic “Environmental Problems”, I apply the mindmap</b>

technique to teach further practice. This task is also a test to access thestudying process of the students.

<b>3.5. Lesson plan to illustrate</b>

<b>As the research pays attention to give some new ways of teaching Part IIIReading in unit 9 English 10, I would like to present it in the form of a</b>

lesson plan which contains both the content and the interdisciplinaryknowledge inside. Here is the content.<b> </b>

<b>Warm up: </b>

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Teacher: show the video about the people’s interferences with the nature:( gives question:

“ What are people doing with the nature?”

I use the table-cloth technique to teach this task. I ask students work in groupsof four or five and give each group an A0 paper. Students write down theirown ideas in the surrounding of the paper. Then, they discuss and write themutual agreement in the centre of the paper. I call the representative of eachgroup give answer in front of the class. Other groups can give comments.

<i>Students: finish their groups’ A0 paper.</i>

Teacher: Feedbacks by showing the pictures on the screen and introduces: “The natural environment is the decisive factor for life on the Earth. Look at the pictures about things people are doing with the nature.

“ Human race is doing harm to it through their actions and habits day by day.They are destroying the forest, putting the rubbish, chemical pollutants intothe environment. Morever, they are hunting or capturing animals forrecreation or entertainment.These cause many bad consequences, such asclimate change, pollution, species extinction and so on. This means nature isthreatened. To know more about the reality, causes, consequences of

<b>environmental problems, we study Unit 9-Part III Reading: EnvironmentalProblems"</b>

Teacher: shows the passage on the screen.

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Teacher: asks students read individually and choose the best title for it.

<b>a. Environmental problems: What are they?</b>

<b>b. Environmental protection: How important is it?c. Environmental sollutions: How practical are they?</b>

Teacher: calls on students to give answer and feedbacks:

<b>a. Environmental problems: What are they?</b>

<b> Vocabulary:</b>

-Teacher gives vocabulary by asking students to look at the pictures on thescreen and guess the words or phrases together.

global warming (np) : /ˈɡləʊblˈwɔːmɪŋ/ consequence (n):/ˈkɒnsɪkw(ə)ns/

ice melting (np): / aɪsˈmeltɪŋ / heatwave (n): /ˈhiːtˌweɪv/

impact (n): /ˈɪm.pækt/ come out of: /kʌm aʊt əv /

come down: / kʌm daʊn / vehicle (n): / ˈvɪə.kəl

respiratory / rɪˈspɪrətəri / legal (adj): /ˈliɡəl/ – illegalbalance (n): /ˈbæləns/ upset (v): /ʌpˈset/

Teacher: Calls some students to read the words to check their pronunciation.

<b>Vocabulary checking </b>

Teacher: gives the students handouts

<b>Task 1: Complete these sentences with the words or phrases given in the box</b>

illegally ice melting heatwaves vehicles respiratory consequences impact come out of 1. The tiger is an endangered animal because people are destroying theirnatural habitat and hunting _______.

2. The smoke from the _______can cause ________diseases.

3. Floods, ________ and polar ______ are serious ______ of global warming.4. The loss of forests can have a negative ______ on the environment.

5. The waste gases which _______ vehicles, machines or factories cause airpollution.

Teacher: gives cues by showing the pictures and calls on two students to go tothe board and write down their answer.

Teacher:gives feedback:

<b>Task 2: Groupwork and presenting.</b>

To teach task 2, I applies the graft technique with two following steps:

<b>Step 1:</b> I establish 4 intensive groups and give each group a task. Each groupprepares this task at home in groups. All the members have to study, discuss

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to get so much information about the task that each of them can show itinfluently before other groups.

<b>Group 1: Study the paragraph A about the global warming.Group 2: Study the paragraph B about deforestation.</b>

<b>Group 3: Study the paragraph C about air pollution.</b>

<b>Group 4: Study the paragraph D about endangered animals. </b>

<b>Step 2:</b> After reading the passage, I ask the students to perform the "piecesgroup" stage. Members of new groups must discuss, collect the information,documents, and pictures or videos about their environmental issue todemonstrate what content will be presented in the "pieces group". Each“pieces group” apoints a member to represent their ideas .

Teacher: Calls on the representative of group 1 to go to the board and give illustration.

Student: The represent of group 1- Nguyen Tam An shows the slides and introduces:

“ Paragraph A is about Global warming. What is global warming?

“ It is a phenomenon of climate change characterized by a general increase in average temperatures of the Earth, which modifies the weather balances and ecosystems for a long time. It is one of the biggest issues facing humans today.” “ In fact, the average temperature of the

planet has increased by 0.8 degreeCelcius compared to the end of the 19<small>th</small>century. Each of the last three decadeshas been warmer than all previousdecades since the beginning of thestatistical survey in 1850.

At the pace of current CO2 emissions,scientists expect an increase of between1.5° and 5.3°C in average temperatureby 2100. If no action is taken, it wouldhave harmful consequences to humanityand the biosphere.”

<small>She continues: “ Have you ever asked yourself the question: What causes global warming? Lookat the picture”</small>

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“Global warming occurs when carbondioxide and other air pollutants collect inthe atmosphere and absorb sunlight andsolar radiation that have bounced off theearth’s surface. Normally this radiationwould escape into space, but thesepollutants, which can last for years tocenturies in the atmosphere, trap the heatand cause the planet to get hotter.

These heat-trapping pollutants-especially carbon dioxide, methane, nitrousoxide, water vapor, and synthetic fluorinated gases-are known as greenhousegases, and their impact is called the greenhouse effect.”

She continues introducing about the greenhouse effect by showing thepicture:

“The increase in greenhouse gases is linked to human activities. The scientistsbelieve that human activities are very likely the main cause of globalwarming since the mid-twentieth century, mostly because of :

BURNING FOSSIL FUELThe massive use of fossil fuels isobviously the first source ofglobal warming, as burning coal,oil and gas produces carbondioxide-the most importantgreenhouse gas in the atmosphereas well as nitrous oxide.

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DEFORESTATION

The exploitation of forests has amajor role in climate change. Treeshelp regulate the climate by absorbingCO2 from the atmosphere. When theyare cut down, this positive effect islost and the carbon stored in the treesis released into the atmosphere.

WASTE DISPOSAL

Waste management methods likelandfills and incineration emitgreenhouse and toxic gases -including methane - that are releasedinto the atmosphere, soil andwaterways, contributing to theincrease of the greenhouse effect.

Modern life is highly dependent onthe mining and metallurgicalindustry. Metals and minerals arethe raw materials used in theconstruction, transportation andmanufacturing of goods. Fromextraction to delivery, this marketaccounts for 5% of all greenhousegas emissions.

Finally, overconsumption also plays amajor role in climate change. In fact, it isresponsible for the overexploitation ofnatural resources and emissions frominternational freight transport, which bothcontribute to global warming.”

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“ Global warming can have serious consequences. As the Earth’s temperaturerises, the ice in the poles is melting, which causes the increase in the sea level

In Vietnam, research has shown that the average sea level rises about 2.8 mmper year. If the earth continues warmer, it is expected the sea level rises tomaximum of one metre by 2100 and there is at least 40% of the MekongDelta and 10 – 12% of the area of land will be disappeared.

Compared with the satellite images taken 10 years ago, the coast in theMekong Delta has been dented by about 200m to 240m. Mangroveforest arenearly disappeared. The coastal erosion phenomenon is taken place in mostof the coastal provinces of our country.”

“Global warming can also cause extreme weather events like heatwaves,drought or obnormal storms. There used to be about 12 storms a year, whichoften took place from April to November. Nowadays, there are more 12storms in a year and they are often more complicated.

The storm which caused the most damage is 5<small>th</small> one called Linda. It happenedfrom 31st October to 3<small>rd </small>November 1997.”

“ Another consequence of global warming is heatwaves. It is a period ofabnormally hot weather, often defined with reference to a relative temperaturethreshold, lasting from two days to months without the wind.

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