Một số phương pháp dạy và học từ vựng cho học sinh lớp 5

THANH HOA DEPARMENT OF EDUCATION & TRAINNING.
THO XUÂN DEPARMENT OF EDUCATION & TRAINNING.

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

SOME METHODS FOR TEACHING AND
LEARNING VOCABULARY TO THE GRADE 5
STUDENTS

Person in charge : Lê Thị Thương
Position : Teacher
Organization : Trường Tiểu học Xuân Bái
The Field of Experience Initiative : Foreign language.

THANH HOA YEAR 2019
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STT
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Contents
1.Introduction.
1.1.Research ratiomale
1.2.Research purpose
1.3.Research object
1.4.Research method

2.The content of experience initiative
2.1.Rationale
2.2.Issues reality before applying Experience initiative
2.3.Solutions
Solution 1 : Choose new words to teach
Solution 2 : Factors to clarify when introducing new words
Solution 3 : Rechniques to teach words
Solution 4 : Types of exercises should be applied when
practicing vocabulary
Solution 5 : Apply language games in vocabulary teaching
2.4.Effection
3.Conclusion and recommendatios
3.1.Conclusion
3.2. Recommendatios

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Research rationale.
We all know that, in the era of informatics and technology, English is
widely spoken internationally and has become the second language of many
countries. Thanks for English, people all over the world can connect and become
more friendly to each other through facebook, zalo…. English is the language
with various vocabulary so learners and users often meet some difficulties in
learning and using fluently English.
Vocabulary is one of the most important elements in learning English. If
learners want to be good at English, in any skill: Listening, speaking, reading or
writing also they need to have rich vocabulary. In general, however, they are so
lazy in learning new words, so they often make mistakes in spelling, writing,
pronunciation, use words incorrectly and not followed by the right situation…
The problems above occur due to learners do not know how to learn
vocabulary in right ways, or maybe they come from the English teaching method
when teachers do not paying as much attention to teaching vocabulary as other
skills because they think that learners can do it well by them selves, so they
skipped it.
How do learners get vocabulary that they need and can use them in the
most effective way and make a suitable habit for learning vocabulary ? By the
experience in my teaching process and through research materials, I would like
to propose some methods of teaching and learning vocabulary for elementary

school students of grade 5 ... primary school, Tho Xuan Dist., Thanh Hoa
province.
1.2.Reseach purpse.
The objectives of this Research are to find out and summarize some
methods of teaching and learning vocabulary for grade 5 students at primary
schools ... better.
1.3. Reseach object.
Research object is the methods for vocabulary teaching and learning to
grade 5 students at primary school ... in Tho Xuan District.
1.4 Reseach method.
a.Theoretical research method.
b. Practical research method.
c.Appliep research method.
2.THE CONTENT OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
2.1. Rationale.
For English learners, vocabulary is considered the most important means,
it is the root of beginning to learn English. In any skill (listening - speaking reading - writing), they needrich vocabulary.Especially it is important for them
to know three factors when using the English words: form, meaning, and usage
(use in context).
2.2 Issues reality before applying Experience initiative:
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*Teacher Issues:
Almost teachers are enthusiastic for researching and providing suitable
teaching methods. However, some teachers do not pay attention to finding new
ways to teach vocabulary in every lesson. To make the lesson more interesting,
the teachers have to make pictures of illustration to help their students remember
the words easily and direct their attention to the topic or the focus of the lesson.
Thus teachers can find the talented students who have good skills in learning

English. On the contrary, teachers who do not prepare teaching materials
enough, their students learn mechanically and passively; they are not interested
in the lesson. Class time is still limited, taking time for students to memorize and
deepen vocabulary is slow.
Lack of facilities, visual equipment such as pictures, English teaching
rooms....
*Student Issues:
During school hours, students are excited because they are most interested
in learning English. On the other hand, there are some students who have
passive attitude when they are learning and not really positive in the class.
Others are too shy, afraid to ask teachers for help. Many students think that
English vocabulary is hard to remember and takes a lot of time because they
have not remembered new words in their heart and they also do not write
regularly or learn new lessons and forget the old ones because they have no
communicative environment to practice. Not all parents know how to teach
English vocabulary for their children at home and many parents do not care
about their children's learning.
In my teaching - grade 5 - experiences in school year (2016 – 2017). I
often check the student’s vocabulary in the following ways:
* Teacher guides students play some games to memorize vocabulary.
- Network
Ask students to work individually to find words related to the given topic.
For example:
January

Months of a year
March

April

February
March

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*Matching
For example:
1.
2.
3.
4.

A
Surf the
Go to
Clean the
do

B
a.
b.
c.
d.

house
karate
Internet
cinemar

Call a student go to the board and match the words in column A with
phrase word in column B to make the meaningful words.
Jumbler words.
For example:
I give some words that are disordered letters, then ask students to
rearrange them into meaningful words. Then ask some students read their words
in front of the class.
dctor = doctor
urnes = nurse
arrmfe = farmer
pstmoan = postman
But after these tests, the quality of the result is not high, only
approximately.
Survey results before and after applying with 32 students of Grade
5A:
Rank
Beffore applying
Excelent
9 students = 28,1 %
Completed
19 students = 59,4 %
Uncompleted
4 students = 12,5 %
2.3. Solutions.
In an English lesson, most lessons have a section "Vocabulary
Introduction". In order to achieve high results, students must know how to
pronounce and how to use the words. In that way, teachers need to select skills
that are appropriate for each word so that students are easy to understand,
remember and use. Through the teaching and researching process, I would like
to offer some methods of teaching and learning common English vocabulary that

I think students are interested in learning and being able to make high efficiency.
Solution 1 : Choose new words to teach
Normally, new words appear in a lesson. But not all new words are taught
equally. To choose suitable new words to teach, each teacher must consider the
following issues:
a. Active and passive vocabulary.
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- Active words are words that students understand, recognize and use in
written and communication.
- Passive words are words that students only understand and recognize
when listening and reading.
How to teach and introduce these two types of words are different.
*Active words are related to all four skills: listening, speaking, reading and
writing, need to take many times to introduce and practice more, especially the
way how to use. With passive words, can only stop at the recognition level, no
need to practice. Therefore teachers need to know and decide which words are
active and which words are passive.
Example:
- Unit 8 – What are you reading ? B4,5,6,7 (English grade 5) teachers
must determine:
- Active vocabulary:
go -> went
sit -> sat
talk -> talked
buy -> bought
take -> took
-Passive vocabulary:
sunny, hot, souvenir shop, great

b. Have students already known thosenew words ?
In order not to waste time, teacher must always ensure that the words he
teaches are words need to teach –the new words for students who do not know.
Solution 2 : Factors to clarify when introducing new words
When introducing vocabulary, it is necessary to specify 3 basic elements
of language: form, semantics (meaning), usage (use in context).
When introducing new words if the words are only written and defined as
in the dictionary, they do not guarantee students how to use them in
communication in English, especially with active words. Students need to know
how to pronounce not only single words but also to recognize and use those
words in a series of words and especially know the meaning and usage in
particular contexts. So the factors that need to be clarified when introducing new
words are expressed through:
2.1. Spelling
2.2. Pronunciation
2.3. Lexical meaning
2.4. Grammatical form
2.5. Use in context
Solution 3 : Techniques to teach words
a. Drawing pictures
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Teachers can guide students to draw simple pictures, so that they can
remember new words longer. Hereby, students will be very easy to learn and
easy to remember the new words they have just learned.
For example:
 a bike ;  a car ;  a clock ;
 a book
b. Use visual aids (realia)

Teachers can use objects in class or bring to class, pictures, diagrams or
draw directly on the board.
Example : apply for –
Unit 11 –lesson 1 (1, 2, 3)
- A sore throat : (action)
- A stomachache : (situation)
- Ride a bike : ( picture)
Unit 15 - lesson 1( 1, 2, 3)
Pilot : (situation)
Write : (action)
Architect : ( picture)
c. Use situation
Teachers can use real-world situations in class or outside the classroom to
indicate the meaning of the word.
Unit 19 : Which place would you like ? lesson 2( 1,2,3)
For example: When recommending the word "teacher", the teacher can
point to himself and say: I am a teacher.
d. Give example
After some new words are learned in class, teachers can guide students to
practice simple sentences with those words at home. Then students will give
them to teachers to check, and from that teachers know what difficulties
studentshave in using new words to take prompt guidance. With this method,
students can use the new words in the right way and teach them how to use
English grammar better.
For example:
Unit 18: What will the weather be like tomorrow ? lesson 1 ( 1,2,3)
-Teacher give following words:
Cold, snowy, hot, sunny, warm, stormy, cool, cloudy.
Unit 18: What will the weather be like tomorrow ? lesson 2 ( 1,2,3)
Teacher give following words:

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
- Students can give some examples such as:
- I like spring.
- It’s very hot in summer.
- What is the weather like in autumn ?
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- My father doesn’t like winter.
e. Use body language
Teachers can use their body language to introduce new words and ask
students to guess the meaning of them. By this way, students can remember new
words easily and longer.
For example: When introducing new word hot, teachers can hold a
notebook as a fan and fans constantly and say that "I’m very hot, I’m very hot."
f. Translate into mother tongue
For some difficult new words, teachers can translate them into their mother
tongue.
For example:
- It takes about …: mât khoảng bao nhiêu …
- Place : địa danh
- Fly back : bay về
- Return : quay trở lại
Solution 4: Types of exercises should be applied when practicing
vocabulary
a. Give antonyms
Teachersor studentscan give a word or group of words and ask the other
students to give the antonym to these words.
By this method, students can remind the new words they have learned, and they
can remember those new words one more.

For example :
turn right >< turn left
short >< long
hot

>< cold

b. Give synonyms
Teacher can ask students to remind the new words they have learned by
giving synonyms to those words.
For example:
to play football = to play soccer
to learn = to study
a bike = a bicycle
c. Learn by logic starting from the last letter of the previous word
This method helps students remember the new words they have learned
before. It will help students systemize the vocabulary they have learned, and
students can remember more new words.
For example:
nice - eye - egg - girl - learn - notebook - key - yellow …
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d. Learning by topic (Theme)
This method not only can help students systemize the new words they
have learned, but consolidate and remember them better.
For example
Food
pork
fish

vegetable
meat
rice

Drink
orange juice
water
milk
soda
lemon juice

e. Give infinitive words
Teacher or students give aninfinitive word then teacher asks students to
develop the word into new meaningful words. This method can help students
develop thinking skills and develop infinitive words. After that, students will get
a more basic vocabulary.
For example:
Teach - Teacher
Drive - Driver
Work - Worker
f. Practice new words as daily routines
Teachers should guide students to take a little bit of time about 20-30
minutes to learn new words every day rather than spend more time studying all
day but not effective. By this way, students can review some certain words many
times, thereby will help them remember longer.
i. Write new words (each student must have a notebook to write new
words)
With the above learning methods, it is only applicable for students with a
sense of self-study, and for some students who are nothard working at home,
teachers will be difficult to control. So this method requires students to write

new words of each lesson from 5-10 lines and memorize them, then give
notebooks to teachers to check and score. By this way, teachers can control
students 'learning at home throughfixing new word errors, although it takes
teachers lot of time, but the results are very positive.
Solution 5 : Apply language games in vocabulary teaching
Applying a number of language games by integrating into the lessons not
only creates a comfortable, exciting, engaging to students, but also makes the
lesson more lively and effective, and get a natural relationship in communication
between teachers and students.
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In the lessons, I regularly apply the following games to introduce
vocabulary and check their vocabulary learning.
a. Bingo.
For example:
Apply for – Unit 11: What’s the weather with you? Lesson 1 ( 1,2,3)
-Teacher write some single or phrase words on the board related to health:
- a headache
- sore throat
- a cough
- a toothache
- fever
- matter.
- Students write 4 words on their notebooks
- Teacher read the words on the board in different orders.
- Students listen to the teacher reading and tick the words they hear from
the teacher.
- If any student tick 4 words completely, saying “Bingo”
- Teacher will ask her or him to read 4 those words.

b. Guessing from context
For example:
- Ask students to observe the picture and listen to the teacher reading.
- Read the sentences under each picture: “My name’s Mai. I’m from
Vietnam ; My name’s Alan. I’m from Singapore; My name’s Linda. I’m from
England ; My name’s Peter. I’m from the America …”
-Ask students to guess the meaning of the word “from” in each sentence
and translate it into Vietnamese to see if the meaning of the word is logical with
the sentences.
c. Jumbler words.
For example:
Apply for – Unit 10: What will the weather be like? Lesson 2 : 1,2,3 page
54
- Teacher writes 4 disordered words about the seasonson the board
1.
singpr
= Spring ;
2.umsrem
= summer
3.
nmtauu
= autumn;
4. terniw
= winter
- Ask students rearrange the order of those words
- Ask 2 – 3 of them to give their answers
d. Networks
For example:
Apply for – Unit 13: What do you do in your free time? Lesson 2: 1,2,3
Page 2

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Go skating
Activities

Go swimming

go camping

go fishing

- Ask students to work individually to find information about the given
topic and compare the results with his/her pair.
- Ask 2- 3 students to give answers before class.
e. Rub out and remember
This method is often used after teaching new words to check if students
remember the words. This method can apply for all lessons.
Example:
Apply for - Unit 18: What will be the weather be like tomorrow ? Lesson
2: 1,2,3 - page 54
- After introducing the new words of the seasons (Spring, Summer,
Winter, Autumn) and the weather (hot, cold, warm, cool), teachers erase the
words taught in a disordered way.
- Teachers point to Vietnamese words and ask students to read the words
in English, and repeat this action until erase all the words on the board. The
result is students have memorized the new words.
f. "Simon says"
Example:

Apply - Unit 4: Did you go to the party? Lesson 2: 1, 2, 3 - page 20
- Teachers read some action verbs (had nice food and drink, play hide –
and- seek, chatted with friends, watched cartoons). Students follow the teacher's
orders if teachers start with the phrase: "Simon says"
- For example, if the teacher says: "Simon says: sing a song" students will
have to sing. But if teachers just say "sing a song" students will do not have to
follow that order.
- Teachers can organize games in group. If the group has the least students
make mistakes, they will be the winner.
i. Slaps the board
For example :
Apply for – Unit 15: What would you like to be in the future?
Lesson 1: 1,2,3 – page 30
-Write the words of occupation on the board:
Pilot.
Doctor.
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architect.
Writer.
-Ask 2 groups of student go on the board (about 4 students for each
group)
-Ask them stand far from to the board in the same distance.
-Teachers read out loud those words.
-When teachers read out loud a word, each pair of students in the 2 groups
run up to the board and put on that word.
-The first student who puts his/her hand on the word, he/she will get 1
point.
-Which group scores more points, they will be the winner.

j. What and where
- This method is often used after teaching new words to check students to
remember the word or not. It can apply for all lessons.
For example:
Apply to - Unit 7: What are you reading? Lesson 2: (1,2,3): page 54)
- After introducing some words (hard-working, kind, clever, gentle???)
- Draw circles on the board.
- Ask students to read the words in the circle once again.
- Teachers erase the words in the circle one by one.Before erasing, the
students have to read the words again. After erasing, teachers point to the empty
circle and ask students to read again.
- Teachers repeat this activity until students remember all the new words.
- Finally, teachers ask students write these words in the correct circles.
The language game using methods above are very easy to apply and interesting
for students.
The lessons that I applied these methods are just some of the illustrations,
which can be applied to many other lessons not only in 5 but in all grades.
2.4. Effection.
Before applying these methods, the results and effectiveness of learning
English vocabulary of students are still limited, even there have many students
do not remember much new words, or remember incorrectly, unclearly, even
write very slowly and too badly. Through teaching and guiding students to learn
and practice vocabulary according to the above methods for elementary school
students in Grade 5 … combining with teaching directly in the classroom, and
guiding students in other classes, the results are quite satisfactory.
Survey results before and after applying with 32 students of Grade
5A:
Rank
Bffore applying
After applying

Excelent
9 students = 28,1 %
17 students = 53,1 %
Completed
19 students = 59,4 %
15 students = 46,9 %
Uncompleted
4 students = 12,5 %
0 students = 0 %
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UNIT 2: I ALWAYS GET UP EARLY. HOW ABOUT YOU ?
Lesson 1: Part 1-2-3
I. Objectives:
1. Knowledge:
- By the end of the lesson Ps will be able to :
Ask and answer questions about someone’s daily routine, using What do
you do ...?
I always/usually/often/sometimes. . .
Pronounce two-syllable words with the stress on the first : 'always,
'usually,'often and'sometimes.
2. Skills:
- Develop Ps speaking and listening skills
3. Language focus:
- Sentence Partners: What do you do in the morning ?
I always brush my teeth
- Vocabulary: Always, ………
II. Teaching aids:
1. Teacher’s: student’s and teacher’s book, pictures, cassette.

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Teacher’s activities
I.Warm up:Let’s sing :The wheelson the bus.
. New lesson:
1. Look, listen and repeat.
- Have the class look at the pictures.
Introduce the story by pointing at each
character and elicit their answers to the
questions:
Who’s this? What’she doing?
Who’she talking with online?
What does he do in the morning?
What does he do after school/ in the
afternoon?
- Teach some vocabulary:
+ brush my teeth(action): đánhrăng.
+do morning exercise (body language):
tập thể dục
+ Always( synonymous) : luôn luôn.
+ Usually (situation): thông thường
+ Often( synonymous): thường xuyên.
+ Sometimes( picture) : thỉnh thoảng
• Rub out and remember
teachers erase the words taught in a
disordered way.
- Teachers point to Vietnamese words.
- ask students to read the words in English

- repeat this action until erase all the words on
the board. The result is students have
memorized the new words.
2. Point and say
- Tell the class that they are going to
practise asking and answering questions
about someone’s dailyroutines,using
What do you do in the morning ?
-Ialways brush my teeth.
- Have pupils look at the pictures. Teach
them how to read the words and phrases
under each picture.
Askthemtopayattentiontothepronunciationofth
ewords:'always,'usually,'oftenand sometimes.
- Point at each picture and ask the question
What do you do ...?for pupils to answer
chorally, using the information under the
picture.
- Have them practise asking and answering
the questions in pairs. Then invite one or
two
pairs
to
speak
to
check
theirperformance.
3. Let’s talk
Tell the class that they are going to practice
fur their by askin gand answering questions

abouts omeone’sdaily routines.Get pupils to

Students’ activities
- Let’s sing aloud.
- Listen
- Look at the pictures and
answer the T’s questions
- Listen and copy
Listen and anwer individual.
+ Listen and repeat
+ individual
+ brush my teeth(action):
đánh răng.
+do morning exercise
(body language: tập thể
dục…
- Listen and repeat
- read aloud class
- indidual.
- read aloud.
- memorized
- 2 students write on the
board.
- Listen to the teacher
- Listen and repeat
What do you do in the
morning ?
- I always brush my
teeth.
- Work in pairs

- Listen to the teacher
-Look at the pictures.

- Work in pairs ask and
anwers the picture.
- Listen to the teacher
-Look at the pictures.

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3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1. Conclusion:
It is important to identify teaching and guidance method for students to
learn English vocabulary effectively are very important because vocabulary is
considered the root of other English skills (listening, speaking, reading, and
writing).
If English teachersapply the methods that I have introduced in this project,
I think all students who have not completed or completed slowly can develop
their English vocabulary. They have the ability to choose, organize sentences
correctly and clearly,applythem in the right situation. Thereby helping them have
more confidence, more flexible application, faster reflexes in daily English
communication.
Flexibility in choosing new words to teach, paying more attention to
teaching pronunciation, stress, and semantics of new words.
- Should regularly give language games into the lessons, because through
the language games students not onlycan remember new words right in the
classroom but make excitement in learning English and create positive for
students .
- A very important thing in teaching English new words is to teach them

how new words use.
- Perseverance and patience. Especially for teachers who teach in primary
schools, students’ writing in Vietnamese still have some mistakes. Therefore,
when they write in English, it is even more difficult to read.
- Learning English vocabulary not only is learning by hart but also learn
the pronunciation and accent of words.
- Students have to know how to use words in the right context, right
position.
- To have a rich vocabulary, it takes students time and perseve rance.
- Students need to be active in communication, should use English when
ever possible.
These methods can apply to all teachers and students at all levels from Primary,
Secondary, High school to University. Since at any level, any lesson of English
subjects, most of them have got introduction of vocabulary and students must
learn vocabulary.
3.2. Recommen dations.
In order to achieve more efficiency in teaching and learning English in
general and learning vocabulary in particular, I look forward to the attention and
in vest ment of government at all levels:
- Build more functional rooms with projectors system for teaching and
learning English in each Primary school.
- Create a source of funding so that students can have out door- activities
with rich contents so that each lesson can bring a true efficiency.
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These are some of my experiences during the process of teaching students
to learn and practice English vocabulary.
Because of limited experience, I look forward to receiving suggestions
from the School Board and colleagues.

I sincerely thank you!

Confirmation of School
Board

Đỗ Đình Mậu

Tho Xuan,ngày 27 tháng 5 năm 2019
Performing Authority.
I assure that this is my Experience Idea,
do not copy the content of the others!

Lê Thị Thương

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REFERENCES
1. Adrian Doff (1995). Teach English: A training Course for Teacher.
Cambridge and University Press. The British Council.
2. Dao Ngoc Loc and group of authors. Some issues of innovating
teaching methods of secondary school English. Education publisher.
3. Nguyen Hanh Dung. English teaching method in high school.
Education publisher.
4. Nguyen Van Loi and the author group (2002). English textbook 5.
Education Publisher.
5. Department of Education and Secondary Development Program (2010).
Teacher's training materials: Teaching, assessing and assessing according
tostandard of knowledge and skills in general education program. Education
publisher

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DANH MỤC
CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI
CẤP PHÒNG GD&ĐT, CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ
LÊN

Họ và tên tác giả:

Lê Thị Thương .

Chức vụ và đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh - Trường Tiểu học Xuân Bái .

TT

Tên đề tài SKKN
Some methods for teaching and

1

learning vocabulary to the grade 5

Cấp đánh giá
xếp loại (Phòng,
Sở, Tỉnh...)
Phòng GD
&ĐT Thọ Xuân

Kết quả
đánh giá
xếp loại (A,
B, hoặc C)
B

Năm học đánh giá
xếp loại
2018 - 2019

students.

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