Why ACTIVE English Works
Extensive teacher support to conduct lessons in a systematic, effective manner
Teacher’s Manual
The Scholastic ACTIVE English programme comes with a comprehensive teacher’s manual like no other. Scholastic ACTIVE English Teacher’s Manual presents easy to implement teaching suggestions and follows a structured instructional approach that helps teachers to plan, teach and assess in a systematic and effective manner.
The Teacher’s Manuals for ACTIVE English 1-5 feature units divided into 10-periods to help teachers plan and deliver curriculum easily within the academic calendar. Thumbnails of the Coursebook and Workbook pages for each lesson are given alongside teaching instructions for easy reference.
The Teacher’s Manuals for ACTIVE English 6-8 are less scaffolded, as these are for secondary school teachers. Each unit lays out the following:
- Learning objectives – these are laid out right at the start and provide the teacher with what they should know at the start, in a nutshell.
- Teaching strategies in general, followed by skill wise sections.
- Extension activities are also provided at the end to extend the learning beyond the textbook.
- Answers – These are listed alongside the question numbers, making it easy for the teacher to navigate. There are separate answer sections for the Coursebook and Workbook.
Here is an example of how each lesson is carefully laid out across 10 periods in Scholastic ACTIVE English 1-5 Teacher’s Manuals:
- The Scheme of Work is an overview of the unit by period, listing the skill focus, objectives, materials and resources. It guides the teacher to deliver lessons easily.
Introducing the Theme
1. As a warm-up activity, ask students a day before to get a sock from home that is not being used or a sock whose pair is lost. Show them how to make a fish from a used sock. (Stuff some filling inside the sock and put a rubber band as shown in the picture. Make two eyes with buttons or bindis and your fish is ready.)
2. Before you read: Ask students these questions in turns. Ensure that the responses include socks and shoes.
3. Play the audio of the complete poem. Ask students to keep their books closed and listen carefully.
Reading Aloud
1. Read the poem aloud. Discuss and explain the meaning of difficult words.
2. After every two stanzas ask a while-reading question.
3. Refer to the glossary to explain line. Explain that line refers to the wire or rope used for hanging washed clothes.
4. As a wrap-up activity, ask students how they reuse old socks or socks that do not match.
Reading for Understanding
1. Ask the following questions to recap learning:
• What is the name of the poem?
• What is the name of the poet?
2. Read each stanza.
• Stanza 1—Ask: Find two words that are opposites. Can socks find the child? What does it mean?
• Stanza 2 —Ask: Where does the child look for the socks?
• Stanza 3—Ask: When do we hang socks?
• Stanza 4—Ask: What will the child look for after he finds his socks? Do you think the child is careless? Why do you think so?
3. Have students recite the poem in groups.
4. After you read: Ask the questions and allow different students to express their views.
Reading Comprehension
1. The comprehension skill focus in this unit is finding information.
2. As a wrap-up activity, write the following sentences on the board. Ask students to rearrange them.
a. The child checks if the socks are hanging on the line.
b. The child goes upstairs and downstairs.
c. The child looks for the socks in the bathroom.
d. The child looks for the socks in the bedroom.
(Correct order: b, d, c, a)
Vocabulary
1. As a warm-up activity, draw the following diagram on the board. Ask students to say what clothes their father or mother wear and complete the diagram.
2. Ask them to draw similar diagrams for others.
3. Refer to the words and the matching illustration given on CB page 110. Read aloud the names of the clothes and let students repeat after you.
4. Try it out: Conduct as a pair activity. Students will think of an item of clothing and describe it. Their partners will guess the item.
5. As a wrap-up activity, ask the following riddle:
• I am the opposite of shorts,
Both men and women wear me.
Workbook
Review that all students have named the clothes correctly.
Grammar
1. As a warm-up activity, ask the following questions.
If the students are able to do the activity, they will stand and say: I can. If they are not able to do it, they will sit and say: I cannot.
• Can you drive a car?
• Can you write?
2. Follow the methodology of Show-Explain-Apply to teach grammar in context.
3. Read the examples given on CB page 111.
4. That can and cannot are helping verbs that show if someone is able or not able to do something.
5: Ask students to apply what they have learnt to the exercise on CB page 111.
6. Try it out: Conduct as a group activity. Ask students to get into groups and share their lists with each other and with the class. This activity builds the life skills of communication and teamwork.
7. As a wrap-up activity, ask students to write the names of all the things they can do within one minute. Use a stopwatch if possible.
Workbook
Review that all students have filled in the blanks with the correct helping verbs.
Grammar
1. As a warm-up activity, write the following song on the board.
This toy belongs to me
It is my toy.
If it belongs to you
It is your toy.
If it belongs to him
It is his toy.
2. Follow the methodology of Show-Explain-Apply to teach grammar in context.
3. Read the examples given on CB page 112.
4. That we use my, your, his, her, its, their and our before nouns to show that something belongs to someone or something. Refer to the song written on the board and explain how these words are used to show who owns the toy.
5. Ask students to apply what they have learnt to the exercise given on CB page 112. Review that all students have filled in the correct possessive adjectives in the sentences.
Workbook pages 50–51
Review that all students have filled in the blanks correctly.
Spelling
1. As a warm-up activity, write the following poem on the board. Recite it in a chorus to any tune.
Plurals of the words that end with o
Plurals of the words that
end with o, o-o-o, o-o-o
Plurals of the words that end with o
Let’s learn all of them.
2. Read the words given in the table on CB
page 113.
Explain that we add -es to some nouns that end with an o, to make them plural.
3. Say the words aloud and ask students to repeat after you.
4. Conduct the following activity to reinforce learning.
• Write the following words and their plurals on the board:
radio – radios; tomato – tomatoes
• Ask students to repeat the rule they have learnt for making plurals of the words that end with o.
• Refer to the word radios and ask them if they can tell why the plural of radio does not end with -es.
• Ask students to tell which letter comes before o in radio and which letter comes before o in tomato.
• Point out to them that if the word has a vowel before the final o, we just add -s to make it plural.
Listening
1. As a warm-up activity, show the flash cards one by one and ask students to name the item of clothing.
2. Play the audio of the listening text given below.
- Number 1. Raj is wearing a blue T-shirt.
- Number 2. Shelly is wearing a red dress.
- Number 3. Manpreet is wearing blue shorts.
- Number 4. Adil is wearing black shoes.
- Number 5. Josie is wearing a yellow sari.
3. Direct students to listen attentively and select the correct picture as described in the audio.
4. Play the audio once again and have student’s peer-check the answers.
Speaking
1. Read aloud the dialogues given on CB page 115.
2. Try it out: Conduct as a pair activity. Each student will hide an item of clothing and describe it to their partner.
Writing
1. As a warm-up activity, ask students to refer to CB page 114 and describe what the people are wearing and the colour of their clothes.
2. Conduct the following activity:
• Write the words duck, cluck and truck on the board.
• Write the following rhyme on the board below these words.
A duck in a truck
Saying cluck cluck.
• Ask students to name similar-sounding words from the rhyme. Explain that these are called rhyming words and they are used while writing poems. Explain that this is a nonsense poem.
• Place the flash cards face down. Ask students to come forward in pairs. Each pair will turn over a flash card and write a short nonsense poem on a sheet of paper using the words.
Writing
1. As a warm-up activity, ask students to read the poem on CB page 116.
2. Ask them to underline the rhyming words. Remind them that these words are used to write poems.
3. Ask students to complete the exercise given on
CB page 116 in pairs. Invite student pairs to take turns to recite the poem they have composed. Some
examples of rhymes are given below:
I can’t find my tie
Said Supreet with a sigh.
I can’t find my coat
Is it on the boat?
4. As a wrap-up activity, ask students to draw a picture of the person they like the most and describe his or her clothes in four sentences.
Workbook
Review to check that students have answered correctly.
Review
1. Ask students to revise the concepts taught in the unit and tick the boxes.
2. Encourage them to use the blanks to note down any additional points they have learnt.
Project Work
1. Project work may be carried out in groups or pairs.
The students should be informed about the project work a week in advance.
2. Ask students to collect pictures or draw clothes that people wear in any two countries and describe them to the class.
3. This value-based activity helps to build respect for diversity.
Teacher Workshops
Scholastic takes its commitment to every single teacher very seriously, and brings you personalised workshops for teachers that are excellent opportunities for professional development and gives them the confidence they need to conduct classes with confidence and success. There are also Resource people always available to answer teachers’ queries.
Implementation support/ Professional Development
Scholastic offers a range of initiatives and programmes to support the phased implementation of Scholastic ACTIVE English.
- Content-driven professional development modules are available to provide an introduction to the content and methodologies of teaching English. During the workshops teachers are presented with opportunities to engage in activities that illustrate changes in teaching approaches.
User schools are offered the following activities for effective implementation of Scholastic ACTIVE English:
- Familiarization workshops
- Demo lessons
- Professional Development workshops
- Additional structured programmes are available to provide practical, affordable and convenient training in literacy, leadership and instructional excellence.
