Task 1

1.0 Introduction
As most teachers know, the language used and taught in a classroom has significant
implications, and its effects can reach far beyond the classroom context (Hannaford,
2012). In the 21st century primary ESL classroom, the chalk and talk method alone,
will not be sufficient in getting the pupils to pay attention to what is being taught. The
presence of salient technology has raised pupils expectation of lessons in
classrooms. As a primary ESL teacher of the 21st century, it will only be an added
advantage to the teacher to be able to manipulate technology during her lessons.
1.1 Developing childrens language use.
Authentic video material designed for its entertainment value rather than language
teaching is a rich and exciting source of video software for instruction in English as a
second language (ESL) in the form of a video instead of merely reading out aloud
(Stempleski, 1987). An entertainment based authentic video material that can be
used in a Year 4 primary ESL classroom is Ice Age 3 ; Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
Social learning theory explains that children imitate the words and language
patterns they hear by watching and listening to the models, caregivers, and family
members in their life (Bandura, 1989). Acquiring speech and language skills develop
best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent exposure to the
speech and language of others (Speech and Language Developmental Milestones,
2010). As far as pupils are concerned, they are listening to the language spoken by
the natives and the presence of the subtitles will indirectly accelerate their reading
pace. The aftermath will be pupils acquiring new vocabulary and progressing in
terms of pronunciation, enunciation, rhythm and stress. The usage of simple
sentence structure and diction further makes it suitable for Year 4 pupils viewing
purposes.
Subsequently, referring to Malaysia as a country with is hot and humid
throughout the year; it is a wise decision to choose this story. There are two separate
settings in this story namely; the ice age and the underworld wherein the dinosaurs
live. For the matter of fact, this story will definitely attract young ESL learners
attention. Both the settings are in the past. Most of the animals in this story are

mostly creatures that have extinct. This will be a good opportunity for the pupils to
actually see how those animals looked like. For instance, there are the saber tooth
tiger and mammoths in the ice age setting. As for the underworld, it is full of
dinosaurs. Dinosaurs lived a few million years ago. A few common species of
dinosaurs have been brought to live in this particular setting. The integration of
Science and English takes place when pupils watch this movie due to the presence
of the dinosaurs world (Science) and the types of dinosaurs (Science and English)
that exist in this story.
1.2 Developing aesthetic values.
Aesthetic value is the value that an object, event or state of affairs (most
paradigmatically an art work or the natural environment) possesses in virtue of its
capacity to elicit pleasure (positive value) or displeasure (negative value) when
appreciated or experienced aesthetically (Meskin, 2013).
Conveniently, this movie will inculcate a sense of appreciating artists who do
the animation. Living in the 21st century wherein pupils are interested in multimediarelated things, this movie develops a sense of wanting to become an animator. In
view of this, pupils will develop curiosity in wanting to come up with their own video
whereby they are the actors or better still direct their own short play.
Although every adult has certain standards of aesthetic value, a danger exists
that they will attempt to teach those standards directly to children. If this happens the
values taught will be merely conventional and verbal (Leddy, 2013). Undoubtedly,
there are quite a number of moral values in this movie for the pupils to notice by
themselves. For instance, friends have got each others' back and the suffering a
mother goes through to give birth to a child. There are two types of relationship that
is emphasized in this story namely; friendship and family. It is portrayed that family
does not mean, you need to be blood-related. For instance, friends who are not
biologically related can be your family as long as they stick by through thick and thin.
In hindsight, pupils develop self-confidence when they are asked to perform
plays and asked to present in front of the class. They develop public speaking skills
and even get the opportunity to get over their stage fright. They will also eventually

be able to plan, organise and produce creative works for enjoyment. They tend to
polish their acting skills when they participate in plays and dramas.
1.3 Conclusion
Language development is also important as it gives children a way of expressing
their anger or frustration with words instead of using physical means, such as kicks,
punches or temper tantrums (Vickers). Pupils get to write out a play that portrays
their lives, tell a story to vent out their disappointment or simply participate in a
drama and act out the role they are unable to carry out in their daily lives. This will
develop their language use and aesthetic values consequently.

ACTIVITY 1

Year

Proficiency level

Intermediate

School type

Urban

Learning Standard :
4.3.1 Able to plan, produce and participate in a performance with guidance based
on literary works.
Focus

Language Arts

Duration

60 minutes

Learning Outcomes :
By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:
a)

identify all the characters in Ice Age 3; Dawn of the Dinosaurs correctly.

b)

identify at least 4 characteristics of the characters in Ice Age 3 correctly.

Materials

1.

Video entitled, Ice Age 3 ; Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

2.

4 thumb drives.

3.

Pictures and sound clips of Ice Age 3.

Procedures
1.

Pupils are asked to watch a video entitled, Ice Age 3; Dawn of the Dinosaurs
(5 minutes).

2.

Teacher flashes the family tree of the characters based on the video clip they
watched earlier.

3.

Pupils are given worksheets of the family tree to be filled in.

4.

Pupils are asked to get into four groups.

5.

Each group is given one thumb drive.

6.

Pupils are asked to come up with a video on the characteristics of the

characters in Ice Age 3 ; Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

7.

Pupils are instructed to utilise the pictures and sound clips provided in the
thumb drives to come up with a 2 - 3 minutes presentation using Microsoft
Power Point. Pupils are allowed to download media from the Internet.

8.

Pupils are asked to present their work after 30 minutes.

9.

Teacher provides feedback on pupils work.

10.

Pupils are asked to save and transfer their work into the thumb drives given to
them previously to be passed up at the end of class.

ACTIVITY 2
Year

Proficiency level

Intermediate

School type

Rural

Learning Standard :
4.1.1 Able to sing songs and recite jazz chants and poems with correct stress,
pronunciation, rhythm, intonation. .
Focus

Language Arts

Learning Outcomes :
By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:
a)

assemble the puzzles given correctly.

b)

identify the characters on the picture puzzles correctly.

c)

perform the new nursery rhyme with correct stress, pronunciation, rhythm,
intonation.

Materials

1.

Video entitled, Ice Age 3 ; Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

2.

Picture puzzles of characters in Ice Age 3.

Procedures

1.

Pupils are shown a short video taken from Ice Age 3.

2.

Pupils are asked to identify the names of the characters in the video.

3.

Teacher flashes the lyrics of Hickory Dickory Dock.

4.

Pupils are put into four groups.

5.

Each group is given one envelope consisting of a picture puzzle of one

character from the video shown previously.

6.

Pupils are asked to replace the animal in the nursery rhyme with the
characters that they have put together when they assemble the puzzle.

7.

Pupils are instructed to practice the nursery rhyme with their new Ice Age
character.

8.

Pupils are asked to come in front of the class and perform the nursery shyme
they practiced earlier.

Bibliography
Carol A. Pope, J. N. (n.d.). Preparing Tomorrow's English Language Arts Teachers
Today: Principles and Practices for Infusing Technology. Retrieved from
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education:
http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/currentissues/english/article1.htm
Hannaford, W. (2012, June 15). Language Use in the Classroom. Retrieved March
1, 2015, from USC Rossier Online: http://rossieronline.usc.edu/language-use-inthe-classroom/
Leddy, T. (2013). "Dewey's Aesthetics" Aesthetics and Dewey's Theory of
Education. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dewey-aesthetics/supplement.html
Meskin, L. P. (2013). Unedited draft of entry on Aesthetic Value forthcoming in. In
Encylopedia of Quality of Life Research (Springer 2013).
Principles of Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/teaching.html
Sandra Crosser, P. (2008). Enhancing the Language Development of Young
Children. Retrieved 2015, from Early Childhood News:
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?
ArticleID=119
Speech and Language Developmental Milestones. (2010, September). Retrieved
2015, from National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
(NIDCD) : https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/speechandlanguage.aspx
Stempleski, S. (1987). Short Takes: Using Authentic. 21st IATEFL/VVLE
International Conference (p. 17). Westende: EDRS.
Vickers, J. (n.d.). Importance of Language Development in Preschoolers.
Retrieved from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/about_6736003_importancelanguage-development-preschoolers.html

Activity 1
Complete Mannys family tree.

Activity 2

Hickory Dickory dock

_______ went up the clock
The clock struck ___ ,
_____ went down,
Hickory Dickory Dock,
Tick-tock, Tick-tock.