SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ
TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG
SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ
TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG
INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE
HOW TO ORGANIZE
PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK
INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE
EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR 10th
GRADE STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL
Người thực
hiện:
Phạm Thị
Ngọc
Yến
HOW TO ORGANIZE
PAIR
WORK
AND
GROUP
WORK
Chức vụ: Giáo viên
EFFECTIVELY
INthuộc
TEACHING
ENGLISH
FOR 10th
SKKN
lĩnh vực môn:
Tiếng Anh
GRADE STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL
THANH HOÁ NĂM 2019
Người thực hiện: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến
Chức vụ: Giáo viên
SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh
THANH HOÁ NĂM 2019
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Reason for choosing the topic
As we know, in traditional classroom, the teacher controls the class with
authority, there is no active role of students during teaching- learning process.
Therefore, the introduction of a new English textbook at high school in the last
few years has created some difficulties for teacher. This innovation demands a
move in the direction of a more learner- centered approach to teaching. The
main objective of teaching English is to have a communicative lesson.
However, in fact, the teacher- student interaction is very limited in the
classroom. Many teachers have troubles adapting their teaching and the new
textbook to their own students’ learning needs. These difficulties include the use
of group work and pair work.
As a teacher of English at high school, I myself always desire to find out and
apply the new methods of teaching in order to meet the educational goals. I have
been a teacher of English at high school for 26 years. From my own experiences,
I find that using pair work and group work is one of the teaching strategies of
collaborative language teaching which provides chances for communication and
interaction among students and between students and teacher. Language
classroom is the place where teacher and learners come together for interaction
and can learn in natural settings. The effective use of pair work and group work
in language class can provide a value experience to students and give them the
opportunity to practically experience the ideas presented and strengthen their
learning.
I have applied pair work and group work activities in teaching English at
high school, especially for 10th grade students of Ham Rong High School and
got satisfactory results. I, therefore, in this research, would like to share my own
experience in how to use and organize pair work and group work effectively in
teaching English procedure.
2. Aim of the study.
- To introduce pair work and group work and show the advantages and
disadvantages of working in pairs and groups.
- To suggest how to organize pair and group work effectively and how to
deal with initial problems that may arise.
2
- To show how pair work and group work can be used for various
classroom activities.
- To help teachers be confident in using pair and group work themselves.
3. Scope and research methodology
- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English to 10th grade students at
Ham Rong high school.
- Research methodology: making survey, reading reference books, applying in
teaching, observing and drawing out experiences.
II. MAIN CONTENT
1. Theoretical background
Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century.
Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing attempt in research on teaching
and learning and types and quantities of the relative amount of participation by
the teacher and students.
Group work and pair work started getting attention of educationists in the
1970s. During the 1980s and 1990s, the development of communicative
language teaching brought an important change in the role of students. Working
together is worthwhile as “pair work and group work immediately increase the
amount of students’ talking time” ( Harmer, 1991).
Researchers are convinced that the students who take the initiative in
learning learn more things and learn better than those who sit and passively wait
to be taught. They also claim that a teacher’s dominance in class makes it dull
and it kills the students’ interests.
I am myself of the view that students are more motivated to engage in
further communication when they have more opportunities to speak. Using pair
work and group work stimulates the learners’ experience of various types of
interaction and helps to generate a more relaxed and cooperative classroom
atmosphere. It is during group and pair work that a lot of real learning takes
place since the students can use language really to communicate with one
another.
2. Practical background
2.1. Definition of pair work
Pair work is learners working together in pairs. One of the main motivations to
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encourage pair work in the English language classroom is to increase the
opportunities for learners to use English in the class.
2.2. Definition of group work
Group work is defined as more than one person working together to
complete a task or assignment. In the classroom, group work can take many
forms, however, the goal remains the same--get students to interact with each
other and collaborate to complete a unified task. By doing so, we are getting
students to work with people they may never have chosen to work with. This
concept teaches diversity, communication, and compromise.
There is a tendency of teacher- dominated lesson and students usually get
bored with teacher- centered presentation. Teachers at high schools are in the
period of getting used to new English textbook. Pair work and group work didn’t
use to be organized in class, so a lot of us – teachers of English at high school –
get stuck in organizing pair work and group work effectively. Some teachers
haven’t been clearly aware of the roles of pair work and group work in teaching
and learning a foreign language. A few teacher reject the possibility of success
of pair and group work. They give different reasons for their belief, some of the
reasons are lack of resources, students use mother tongue during pair and group
work , discipline problem due to noise generated during pair and group work
activities and so on.
As a result, despite being an important part of collaborative teaching and
learning, pair and group work generally neglected in teaching English at high
school.
3. Solutions and methods for implementation
3.1. Solutions
Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their
both advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to these problems.
Moreover, they should find the ways to organize pair work and group work
activities effectively so that we can make use of their benefits and limit their
problems. In order to organize pair and group work well, teacher will need to do
the followings:
1. Select the activity.
2. Presentation.
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3. Prepare any physical materials for group work ahead of time.
4. Anticipate the size and the selection of groups.
5. Anticipate how students will be organized within the groups (tasks and
roles).
6. Control the class well.
7. Consider the timing of the group work.
8. Give feedback
Teachers should give some demonstrations for pair work and group work
activities and suggestions for some popular kinds of practice.
2. Method for implementation
Teacher should know well about what pair work and group work are, their both
advantages and disadvantages as well as solutions to their problems.
2.1. What are pair work and group work?
2.1.1. Pair work
The teacher divides the whole class into pairs. Every student works with his
or her partner and all the pairs work at the same time. The teacher walks around,
listens and intervenes little if necessary.
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2.1.2 Group work
Students work in small groups (of four or five) on tasks that entail interaction
conveying information, for example, or group decision making. All the groups
work at the same time. The teacher walks around listening, intervenes little if at
all.
3. Main advantages, problems and solution to the problems.
For certain types of activity, pair work and group work have a number of
advantages over working with the whole class together. Teachers should think
6
what the main advantages are, and also what problems might be involved in pair
work, group work and the solutions for these.
Here are some main advantages and problems:
Advantages
Problems
- More language practice
- More speaking time
- Students are more involved
- Students feel secure, confident
- Students help one another
- Give students the sense of achievement when
reaching a team goal.
- Noise arrangements
- Students make mistakes
- Lose control of the class
…………………………
………………………..
……………………….
3.1. Advantages
3.1.1. More language practice
Pair work and group work give students far more chance to speak English.
For example, students are given an exercise of making sentences (question &
answer), working in pair, each student makes as many sentences as they can. If
the exercise were done ‘round the class’, students would only say one sentence
each , and in a large class many students would say nothing at all.
3.1.2. More speaking time
Learners in a class that is divided into 9 groups of 5 or 22 pairs get six times
or fifteen times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization. –
3.1.3. Student are more involved
Some activities will probably be dominated by a few students and others
would lose interest if they are conducted with the whole class together. Working
in pairs or groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate
on the task.
3.1.4. Students feel confident
Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately than when they
are on show in front of the whole class. Pair work and group work can help shy
students who would never say anything in a whole class activity.
3.1.5. Students help each other:
Pair work and group work encourage students to share ideas and knowledge.
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In a reading activity, students can help each other to explore the meaning of a
text; in a discussion activity, students can give each other new ideas.
3.2. Disadvantages
3.2.1. Noise arrangements
Obviously pair work and group work in a large class will be noisy, and this
cannot be helped. But usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the
noise; it is more noticeable to the teacher standing at the side or to someone in
the next room . The noise created by pair work and group work is usually
“good” noise. “ Group work , by its nature, is designed to generate noise”
( Nunan and Lamb p.14, 1996). Students use English or engage in a learning
task. Teacher should stop the activity when most groups or pairs have finished or
prepare a “reserve” task to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than
expected.
3.2.2. Students make mistakes
During a pair or group activity, the teacher cannot control all the language
used, and should not try to do so. When doing controlled language practice in
pairs or groups, the number of mistakes can be reduced by giving enough
preparation, the activity can be done with the whole class first, and pair work
used for final stage. Checking afterwards is also important. The teacher can ask
some pairs or groups what they said , and then correct mistakes if necessary.
3.2.3. Difficult to control class
The teacher has less control over what students are doing in pair work and
group work than in normal class. To stop activities getting out control, it is
important to give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when to
stop. Give them clearly defined tasks which do not continue for too long.
Teacher should set up a routine so that students accept the idea of working in
pairs or groups, and know exactly what to do.
3.3. Steps used to organize pair work and group work activities effectively
in the classroom:
3.3.1. Select the activity
An activity that is best suited for group work may meet the following criteria
such as the activity which has multiple tasks that can be shared among group
members or a single task, such as generating ideas, that benefit from the
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participation of all individuals within a group. The activity involves problem
solving and discussion and examples of activities that may be suited for group
work are investigations of materials (newspapers, scientific specimens) and
development of ideas or arguments.
3.3.2. Presentation.
It is advisable to give the instructions before giving out materials of dividing
the class into groups; and a preliminary rehearsal or ‘dry run’ of a sample of the
activity with the full class can help to clarify things. If your students have
already done similar activities, you will be able to shorten the process, giving
only brief guide lines; It is mainly the first time of doing something with a class
that such care needs to be invested in instructing.
Try to foresee what language will be needed, and have a preliminary quick
review of appropriate grammar or vocabulary. Finally before giving the sign to
start tell the class what the arrangements are for stopping: If there is a time limit,
or a set signal for stopping, say what it is; if the groups simply stop when they
have finished, then tell them what they will have to do next. It is wise to have a
reserve task planned to occupy members of groups who finish earlier than
expected.
3.3.3. Preparation of materials
The teacher will need to personally collect, or organize students to collect,
physical specimens for investigation. For example, if the teacher anticipates
doing a lesson on the role of the media, she or he might ask the students to bring
into class examples of newspapers and magazines. There should be materials
sufficient for each group.
3.3.4. Size and selection of group.
Group size normally ranges between 3-5 students. Group size can sometimes
go larger, although groups larger than 8 do not ensure that everyone will
participate. Since groups often report their work back to the whole class,
teachers also take into account the total number of groups within the class.
Group membership can be determined in different ways. A random selection
might be done by "counting off" with students (go around the room
systematically having students count 1, 2, 3, etc., with each numbers
representing a group) or selecting groups on the basis of birth date.
9
In a nonrandom selection, groups will be selected based on the teachers'
prior knowledge. Usually, groups are selected to maximize diversity within the
group, since diversity enhances learning. Such groups often have a balance of
girls and boys, and students with differing ability levels. Teachers can also use
their best judgment about personality mixes that would enhance the work of the
group. Sometimes groups are organized only for one activity. Other times,
teachers use the same small groups for a series of activities, so that students get
used to working with one another.
If the tables and chairs cannot be moved for group work, then students can
form groups by turning around in seats to face the children behind.
3.3.5. Organize students within the group.
A laissez-faire approach to group work would be that the teacher give a
general assignment to the group -- like organize a research project on 'qualities
of good leaders' -- and the students are left to organize themselves.
A highly structured approach would be that the teacher assigns a specific
role to each group member. Depending upon the task, the roles might include
'materials handler', 'scribe', 'reporter to the large group' and so on. A semistructured approach might be that the teacher recommend certain roles, but
leaves it to the group to assign roles.
A more structured approach, with rotation of tasks within a group, is often
used with younger children. A less structured approach can be used with
students with experience in group work or for simple tasks that do not require
that students take on different roles.
3.3.6. Control the class during students’ working time
Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute
or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful. If you do decide
to intervene, your contribution may take the form of providing general approval
and support; helping students who are having difficultly; keeping the students
using the target language (in many cases your mere presence will ensure this).
Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students
are over dominant and others silent.
3.3.7. Time the group work.
The teacher should anticipate student questions about timing, the task
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results, sharing with the whole group, and so on. After giving clear instructions
to the students, the teacher should be available to answer questions, but not
interfere with the groups' activities. It is common in many classrooms that a
small group activity constitutes 20 minutes of a 40 minute-period, with 10
minutes allowed for sharing small group work with the whole class.
3.3.8. Give feedback
A feedback session usually takes place in the context of full-class interaction
after the end of the group work. Feedback on the tasks may take many forms
such as giving the right solution, if there is one, listening to and evaluating
suggestions, pooling ideas on the board, displaying the materials the groups/
pairs have produced. The main objective here is to express appreciation of the
effort that has been invested and its results. Feedback on language may be
integrated into this discussion of the task, or provide the focus of a separate class
session later.
4. Some demonstrations for pair work and group work activities
1. UNIT 1 - PART B: SPEAKING
Task 2 and Task 3. Talk about Quan’s activities, using the pictures below and
then tell your classmates about your daily routine.
- Asks students to work in pairs to describe about Quan’s activities( base on the
pictures) , then ask and answer about their daily routine at that time.
T: Look at picture a, what does Quan do at 14:00?
S: He gets up after taking a short nap.
T: What do you usually do at 14:00?
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S: I usually do my homework.
- Teacher suggests some phrases if necessary: to get up, to read books, to watch
TV, to go to school, to play football, to go home, to have a shower, to go to the
stadium,…
- Teacher asks students to fill the information in the following table. (Give each
pair a handout)
Using the pictures in your textbook, describe Quan’s daily activities and find
the same information about your partner.
At
14:00
14:15
16:30
17:00
17:15
18:30
18:45
19:00
20:00
Quan usually…..
Your partner usually…….
- After 5 minutes, asks some pairs to practise in front of class.
2. UNIT 3 –PART B: SPEAKING
Task 2. Imagine you are a journalist. Use the cues below to interview a
classmate about his/ her background or that of a person he/ she knows well.
Change the roles when you have finished.
- For weaker students, teacher should give them a handout to make it easier.
INTERVIEW FORM
Order Items
1
Greeting
Hello./ Good morning.
2
Date of birth
When were you born?
3
Place of birth
Where were you born?
4
Home
Where are you living now ?/ Where do you live?
5
Parents
Information
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6
7
8
9
10
11
Can you tell me about your parents? (name/ age/
occupation,…)
Brother(s)/ Sister(s)
How many brothers/ sisters have you got?
Primary school/ Secondary school
What’s the name of your primary school /
secondary school?
Schoolwork
How do you work at school?
Favourite subject(s)
What subject(s) do you like best?
Experience
Were you a member of any clubs?
11/ Thanking
Thank you very much.
3. UNIT 3 - PART B: SPEAKING
Consolidation
- To consolidate the lesson, teacher gives a picture of My Tam singer ( Students
look at the picture while listening a song sung by My Tam). As a result, students
can both consolidate the lesson, know how to ask, answer and complete the
sentences and have happy learning atmosphere.
1. Name/ Phan Thi My Tam.
2. She/ singer.
3. She/ be born/ January 16th , 1981.
4. She/ be born/ Da Nang.
5. There/ be/ 8 members/ her family.
6. She/ be/ famous singer/ Vietnam.
Here is the result I got after students’ discussing in pairs:
1. Name/ Phan Thi My Tam.
S1: What is her full name?
S2: Her full name is Phan Thi My Tam.
2. She/ singer.
S1: What is her job?
S2: She is a singer.
3. She/ be born/ January 16th , 1981.
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S1: When was she born?
S2: She was born on January 16th, 1981.
4. She/ be born/ Da Nang.
S1: Where was she born?
S2: She was born in Da Nang.
5. There/ be/ 8 members/ her family.
S1: How many members are there in her family?
S2: There are 8 members in her family.
6. She/ be/ famous singer/ Vietnam.
S1: Is she a famous singer in Vietnam?
4. UNIT 7 - PART A: READING
Warm –up: Jumbled words
- Teacher writes some jumbled words about popular programs on TV, asks
students to work in groups of 3 to rearrange the words as soon as possible, then
practise reading aloud the words.
1. milf -> film
2. prosts -> sports
3. sumic -> music
4. coraton -> cartoon
5. cormuteandy -> documentary
- After 2 mimutes, call 3 students of the fastest group to write down on the board
at the same time and give them marks for their work.
UNIT 7 - PART D: WRITING
- Most of the students are afraid of writing a paragraph because of some reasons
such as poor vocabulary source, bad grammartical stuctures…Thus, to make this
task easier, teacher can design the task by choosing one of the mass media “The
Internet”.
- Asks students to work in groups of 4 and gives each group a handout:
Task 3: Write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of one of
the mass media discussed in Task 2.
1. Nobody can deny the benefits/ Internet/ our life today.
2. However, the Internet/ own advantages/ disadvantages.
3. It/ make/ life easier/ enjoyable.
4. It/ broaden/ knowledge/ understanding.
5. It/ provide/ quick access/ information/ entertainment.
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6. It/ be/ good way/ study.
7. Besides the advantages above, it/ time/ money.
8. It/ harm/ eyes.
- Asks students to discuss in their groups, then write their answers on the paper,
and correct one another themselves.
- Teacher goes round the class to guide and suggest if necessary.
- Teacher corrects some typical mistakes in front of the class and gives correct
answer.
1. Nobody can deny the benefits of the Internet in our life today.
2. However, the Internet has its own advantages and disadvantages.
3. It makes our life easier and enjoyable.
4. It broadens our knowledge and understanding.
5. It provides quick access to information and entertainment.
6. It is a good way to study.
7. Besides the advantages above, it costs our time and money.
8. It harms our eyes.
UNIT 10 – PART B: SPEAKING
Task 3: Work in groups. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of zoos of
the new kind. Use the given words or phrases
- To make it easier, teacher can redesign the task by asking students to complete
the sentences using the given words and phrases. After working in groups of 4,
the representatives will read aloud a complete sentence.
Advantages
1/ I’d like / talk / about / advantages.
-> I’d like to talk about the advantages.
2/ They / be / good conditions.
-> They are in good conditions.
3/ They / have / better food.
-> They may have better food.
4/ They / develop / better / natural environment.
-> They may develop better in their natural environment.
Disadvantages
1/ I’d like / talk / about / disadvantages.
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-> I’d like to talk about the disadvantages.
2/ We / spend / a lot / money / on / reconstruct / animals’ natural environment.
-> We may spend a lot of money on reconstructions of the animals’ natural
environment.
3/ Keepers/ have/ dangers when they take care/ wild animals.
-> Keepers may have the dangers when they take care of wild animals.
- Teacher goes round and help if necessary.
UNIT 11 – PART E: LANGUAGE FOCUS
Conditional sentence type 3
- To review the conditional type 3, teacher can organize the game like this:
+ One student starts with a conditional sentence type 3. For example,
I hadn’t gone out, I would have done more homework.
+ After that, the second student makes another conditional sentence type 3 with
the if- clause is from the main- clause of the first student’s sentence. For
example,
If I had done more homework, I would have passed my exam.
+ The next students will continue the game by doing similarly.
- Students can play the game in groups of five. Any student can’t make a correct
sentence will lose the game.
d. Suggestion for some popular kinds of practice.
Pairwork and groupwork are not “teaching methods”, but ways of organizing
the class. They can be used for many different kinds of activity, and are naturally
more suitable for some activities than for others. Before deciding what kind of
activity will be used teacher should answer the following questions:
- Could you use pairwork or groupwork for part of the activity?
- If so, exactly what would students do in pairs or groups?
- What would you need to do before the pair /group stage?
- Is there anything you would do after it?
- Is there anything you would do after it?
Here are suggestions for some popular kinds of practice:
*Pattern practice:
This can be done in pairs when practicing the structures . Any controlled oral
practice can be done first with the whole class, and then in pairs.
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* Practising short dialogues:
Acting out short dialogues can very easily be done in pairs, with little chance
of making mistakes. It can be done first with pairs of students in front of the
class and then with all students working in pairs at the same time.
* Reading a text and answering questions:
Students can discuss questions in pairs or groups and then read the text or
they can read the text silently and then ask and answer questions in pairs or
groups. This is a good way of involving the whole class in answering questions.
* Short-writing exercises:
Student can sit in groups and decide together what to write. One student acts
as “secretary”. This can be difficult to organise but in a large class it has the
advantages that students correct each others’mistakes and the teacher only has a
few papers to mark at the end.
Pair work can be used for correcting written work (eg: homework)-students
sit in pairs and correct what their partner has written.
* Discussions:
With more advanced class, discussions can be conducted in group. It is
important to define the discussion clearly and to ask each group to report their
conclusions afterwards.
* Grammar exercises:
Student can do grammar exercises orally in pairs; the teacher goes throught
the answers afterwards with the who class and students write the exercises for
homework. This is more interesting and productive than students doing
exercises alone, in silence.
III. RESULT AFTER APPLYING THE STUDY
After a year applying pair work and group work activities in teaching English
at Ham Rong high school, I have got some satisfactory results. Most of my
students have become more interested in learning English and of course their
ability to use English in communication has been improved step by step.
Moreover, their learning results in English subject has got better (as detailed in
the following tables)
- At the beginning of the school year
Students
Excellent-good
Average
Weak (bad)
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10 A9
10 A11
20%
15%
55%
50%
25%
35%
Average
55%
55%
Weak (bad)
10%
15%
- At the end of the school year:
Students
10 A9
10 A11
Excellent-good
35%
30%
IV. CONCLUSION
Obviously, small groups or pairs of students working together is a highly
effective and essential strategy for teaching English. It can improve motivation
and contribute to a feeling of cooperation and warmth on the class. However, it
is concluded that pair work and group work are best used when they are not the
only classroom interaction pattern, but when they are combined with other
strategies. Besides pair and group work, students can also complete activities
individually and as a class. Mixing up the structure of the activities will keep
classes interesting. Therefore, teacher had better plan the lessons to include
teacher-centered work, individual work and pair work as well as group work.
Surely, this study can not avoid having limitations and making mistakes. Yet
I hope it will be helpful for teaching English at high school and suitable for
communicative teaching approach.
XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ
TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ
Thanh Hóa, ngày 10 tháng 5 năm 2019
Tôi xin cam đoan đây là SKKN của mình viết,
không sao chép nội dung của người khác.
(Ký và ghi rõ họ tên)
Phạm Thi Ngọc Yến
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REFERENCE
1. English 10 - Education Publishing House- 2006
Hoang Van Van (chief editor)
2. Teaching training materials- Education Publishing House- 2006
Hoang Van Van (chief editor)
3. Preparation for high school graduation and university entrance exam Education Publishing House- 2006 - Nguyen Hai Chau (chief editor)
4. Some types of English tests 10 – Education Publishing House
Do Tuan Minh (chief editor)
5. A course in language teaching – Penny Ur
19
DANH MỤC
CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP
LOẠI CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN
Họ và tên tác giả: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến
Chức vụ và đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên Trường THPT Hàm Rồng.
TT
1.
Tên đề tài SKKN
“Tiếng Anh trong các hoạt
Cấp đánh Kết quả
giá xếp loại đánh giá
(Phòng, Sở, xếp loại
Tỉnh...)
(A, B,
hoặc C)
Sở
B
Năm học
đánh giá xếp
loại
2011 – 2012
động ngoại khóa đối với học
2.
3.
sinh bậc THPT”.
“ How to teach Speaking
Skill effectively to tenth
grade students at Ham
Rong High School”.
“ Some techniques used to
Sở
B
2014 – 2015
Sở
C
2016 – 2017
teach Listening skill to 10th
grade students at Ham
Rong High School”.
20