MODULE II – YEAR 2017

ENGLISH AT THE
PRIMARY LEVEL

Research Development and Consultancy Division

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
New Delhi
Year 2017
__________________________________________________________________________________

Published by:
Research Development and Consultancy Division (RDCD)
Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
Plot No. 35-36, Sector VI
Pushp Vihar, Saket
New Delhi-110017

Tel: (011) 29564831/33/37

E-mail: council@[Link]

© Copyright, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations

Introductory Note
The Curriculum for Preschool to Class VIII, developed by the Council for the Indian School
Certificate Examinations aims to bring about uniformity in the syllabi being transacted in
all schools affiliated to the Council and to ensure that the basic minimum standards are
maintained. In addition to providing guidelines to schools that are newly affiliated to the
Council, the curriculum also endeavours to provide a strong foundation at the elementary
level and to facilitate upward mobility so that children derive full benefit of the ICSE and
the ISC curriculum.

This Resource Material has been prepared to develop a better understanding on the CISCE
Curriculum. It will serve as a supplement to the Curriculum and act as a ready reference
material and guide for all stakeholders, including Subject Teachers, Master Trainers,
Academic Coordinators and Heads of Schools.

The Resource Material includes a set of documents, which provide a broad understanding
on the Curriculum, besides dealing with the teaching-learning strategies related to specific
subjects at the Primary and the Upper Primary levels. We have made a beginning by
preparing modules of Resource Material for selected subjects included in the Curriculum. It
is hoped that over time, we will be able to supplement this Resource Material by developing
subject specific modules on more subjects.

I would like to express my special gratitude to Prof. Manju Jain (Former Head, DEE,
NCERT), Prof. Sandhya Paranjpe (Senior Consultant), Prof. Anup Rajput (Head, DEE,
NCERT), Prof. Kirti Kapoor (DCS, NCERT), Prof. Dharamprakash (DEE, NCERT),
Dr. M.S. Dahiya (Senior Lecturer, Retired, SCERT, Delhi) and Dr. Satyavir Singh
(Principal, SNI College, Pilana, Baghpat) for their valuable contribution in developing this
Resource Material.

I would also like to acknowledge the teachers, from schools affiliated to the Council, who
have been an integral part of this exercise, whose inputs and feedback has helped shape this
document.

Last but not the least, I appreciate the efforts put in by Mrs. Shilpi Gupta, Deputy Head
(RDCD) in preparing this document along with her team of Dr. Manika Sharma,
Dr. M.K. Gandhi, Ms. Mansi Guleria and Mrs. Roshni George.

Gerry Arathoon

Chief Executive & Secretary

 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

MODULE II

Content Outline

Section 7:
Section 1:
Essential Tips
Overview
for Practitioners

Section 6: Section 2:
Recording and English
Reporting Curriculum in
practices context

Section 5:
Assessment of Section 3:
Learning and Features of ELT
reflection on curriculum
action

Section 4:
Exemplars in
English
 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Structure of the Module

1. Overview: Why, What and How to use this module?

2. English curriculum in context
3. English curriculum for primary classes (I to V)
3.1 Salient features of the English curriculum
3.2 Pedagogical practices in English classroom
3.3 What should an English classroom look like?
4. Exemplars in English
4.1 Need for exemplars
4.2 Planning for the teaching learning process
4.3 Exemplar I
4.4 Exemplar II
5. Assessment of learning and reflection on action
6. Recording and reporting in English learning
7. Essential tips for practitioners.

Expectations of this Module

After reading/using this module the user/teacher will be able to:

 understand the need and significance of this module.
 understand the nature, status and salient features of English Language
teaching.
 understand pedagogical processes involved in language teaching and
learning.
 discuss the need for exemplars in the curriculum and use them in practical
situations.
 relate and frame learning based tasks for assessment.
 understand some essential tips for using exemplars in a classroom
situation.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

An Outline Framework
Planning and Organisation of the teaching learning process

Pre-reading

Whole class activities, Brain storming with children and with peers

Selecting activities for Selecting material

vocabulary in context Discussing and sharing

- Grammar in
context
- LSRW

Pair work Group work

Assessment for/as learning

While reading

Reading with Comprehension

comprehension activities
- Pair work
Post-reading - Individual
work

Going beyond the text Working with Global

Writing
language Comprehension

Assessment for/as learning Assessment for/as learning

Assessment of learning
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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

1. An Overview
Why, What and How of this module

Why this module:

This module aims at providing an understanding on various aspects of the English Language
Teaching (ELT) curriculum such as its status in India in the multilingual context, salient
features, pedagogical processes for English Language teaching & learning and what makes an
ELT classroom a happy classroom. It also provides a broader understanding on various
components of the ELT curriculum such as learning outcomes, selection of the materials,
transactional processes and learning resources. To understand all the components of the
teaching learning process, a few exemplars have also been included.

What does this module include:

This module has seven sections. The first section provides an overview that explains about the
why, what and how of this module. Section 2 discusses about the status and nature of English
Language Teaching in context. Section 3 explains the salient features and pedagogical processes.
Section 4 focuses on exemplars which cover planning, implementation and assessment during
the teaching learning process. Section 5 deals with assessment and reflection on assessment of
learning (assessment after completion of theme/unit) and suggestive practices. Section 6 deals
with details of recording and reporting in ELT, Section 7 provides tips to practitioners/users.

How to use this module:

This module is meant for all stakeholders working at the primary level in general and for ELT
practitioners in particular. In each section of this module, some text assignments/activities have
been given. While reading/using each section, assignments are to be done. Two exemplars have
been given, which need to be used during training either in simulation or in actual classroom
situations. After using the exemplars, peer reflection should be taken which would help to
further improve the module.

Activity-1
Discuss in groups what benefits of this module can be envisaged
for teachers, administrators and master trainers.
Let us do Make a list.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

2. English Curriculum in Context

Nature and Status

English Language learning is a key area in school curriculum. It aims at developing proficiency for
effective communication and knowledge acquisition. It is central to children’s intellectual, social,
and emotional growth. We need to remember that each child is unique in her/his own way. Each
child has her/his unique likes, dislikes, interests, skills and behaviour. Since children are unique
individuals, they will learn and respond to learning situations in their own special way.

Language learning does not necessarily take place only in the language classroom. It cuts across the
curriculum. The content of the language curriculum should be broad enough to encompass
children’s needs and interests. The activities need to be linked to life outside to create socio-cultural
contexts that would encourage children to participate actively in understanding and creating
appropriate communicative practices. It is to be viewed as a key element in curriculum. Children’s
language should be developed through meaningful experiences rather than mere drill. We need to
look at language learning as a whole and not as isolated activities.

Skills

Receptive Productive

Listening Reading Speaking Writing

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Objectives of teaching–learning of English for Classes I to V

The broad objectives of language teaching and learning are to develop:

(a) Developing listening: Children listen to verbal and non-verbal cues in a non-linear way to
comprehend and draw inferences.
(b) Developing speaking: Children develop effective communication skills and are able to hold
meaningful conversation in a variety of situations. They engage in discussions in a logical,
analytical and creative manner.
(c) Developing reading: Children develop the habit of independent reading and are able to
construct meaning by drawing inferences and relating the text to their previous knowledge. They
also develop the confidence of reading the text critically and ask questions while reading.
(d) Developing writing: Children develop the confidence to express thoughts effortlessly and in
an organized manner. They follow the process approach to writing that enables them to write for
a variety of purposes and situations, ranging from informal to formal.
(e) Enhancing creativity: Children develop creative expressions from their context.
(f) Enhancing sensitivity: Language classroom is the place where children develop sensitivity
towards their immediate physical and social environment, e.g., keeping the surrounding clean,
girls’ education, etc.

Activity-2
 Why do you think English needs to be taken up as a
whole and not as an isolated activity? Give two reasons.
Let us do  What do you are some of the features of whole language
approach?

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
3. English curriculum for Classes I to V

Salient features

An input rich comprehensible communicational environment is a prerequisite for any language

classroom. The two main goals of English language teaching are to communicate effectively and to
be able to use language to acquire knowledge. Some of the salient features of English teaching and
learning are:

Classes I & II

• To help children build a working proficiency in the language, with the focus on listening with
understanding and speaking (words, phrases, small sentences).
• To enable children to recite and sing poems, songs and rhymes and enact small plays or skits.
• To familiarize children with the language primarily through spoken input in meaningful
situations (teacher talk, listening to recorded material, etc.)
• To help them comprehend spoken and written input provided by the teacher (through
mother tongue, signs, visuals, pictures, sketches, gestures, single word questions and
answers).
• To help them become visually familiar with texts and word(s), their meaning, and
understand the letter(s) and sounds of the language.
• To help them associate meaning with pictures, written and printed language.
• To use drawing and painting as introduction to writing and relate these activities to oral
communication.

Classes III to V

• To build on children’ readiness for listening and speaking.

• To build on children' readiness for reading and writing.
• To provide print-rich environment to develop oral and written skills.
• To help children understand the printed texts in terms of headings, paragraphs and
horizontal lines.
• To enrich children' vocabulary in context’ mainly through telling, retelling and reading aloud
of stories/folktales in English.
• To use appropriate spoken and written language in meaningful contexts/situations.
• To give children an opportunity to listen to poems/stories and appreciate the rhythm and
music of rhymes.
• To enable children to relate words (poems and stories) with appropriate actions and thereby
provide understanding of the language.
• To familiarise children with the process of writing.

The language classroom is a place where contemporary concerns and issues can be included as the
curriculum ranges from non-literary to literary texts, from local to global, covering a wide range of
areas, like environmental issues, ‘cleanliness drive’, ‘save the girl child’, ‘educate the girl child’,
sustainable development, maintenance of resources, concern for animals and plants, human rights,

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
etc. The selection of material may draw upon the following and additional themes in an integrated
manner:
Self, family, home, friends, neighbourhood, environment, animals, plants, arts, sports, games,
travel, media, science and technology, health and hygiene, peace etc.

Integrating Language Teaching with other Areas

Our Neighbour
and
Community
Self, Family,
Our Country
Home, Friends

The World Animals and

around us Plants

Adventure & Health and

Imagination Hygiene

Themes

Physical
activities and Art & Culture
Sports

Science &
Transport
Technology

Peace &
Media
Harmony

The themes listed above will help the teacher contextualise learning experiences of children. Along
with this, different registers of language should be introduced to the children.
The choice of texts should also focus on myths, legends, and folktales in order to develop an
appreciation for socio-cultural and linguistic heritage in children. Translated texts from Indian
languages and the other languages of the world may be included in classroom teaching to encourage
children to experience the rich diversity of cultures.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Learning Outcomes:

For English, learning outcomes at the primary level have been given skill wise. These outcomes cover
different aspects of the child’s learning of language, i.e., reading, writing, listening, speaking,
grammar in context, vocabulary in context and creativity along with values, life skills, etc. These
learning outcomes are suggestive and may be developed according to the expected level of learning
for a particular class.

Transactional
Processes

Learning
Outcomes

Learning
Skill/area Resources

 The curricular components of ELT have been dealt with in three columns.
Suggested Learning
Suggested Areas/Content Suggested Transactional Processes
Resources
  

 In the first column the name of the skill/area has been mentioned. In column 2, suggested
transactional processes have been mentioned. These transactional processes have been
identified keeping in view the following:
 Age/ Class
 Nature of the text (poem/story/drama)
 Skills/areas
 Learning Outcomes
 Learning Resources

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical practices in English Classroom
• Learning language as a whole in natural settings and in a holistic manner has been
highlighted. The four skills –listening, speaking, reading and writing work better in the
company of each other.
• The purpose of English teaching is to enrich multilingualism among children and to allow
diverse languages to flourish in each other's company. Therefore, English is learnt best
if learnt along with and not at the cost of other languages.
• Creating Input-rich communicational environment: It is always important to provide
children with an input-rich-communicational environment to facilitate language
learning. These inputs include textbooks, learner chosen magazines, newspapers,
radio/audio cassettes, learner-chosen texts (of different genres) and other authentic
materials.
• Language cuts across the Curriculum. Every class is, at first, a language class and then a
subject class. It is not necessary that all the activities conducted in the English class be
based only on the English textbooks; textual material from the EVS or Mathematics
textbooks can be selected for organising and conducting activities.
• Vocabulary and Grammar should be learnt in context.

What should an English classroom look like?

An English classroom should be child centered and a happy classroom
where children would get opportunities:
 To observe, explore, question, do activities, share experiences in
the learning process.
 To do activities on listening, speaking, reading, writing, creativity,
critical thinking
 To do a variety of activities ranging from cognitive (head), affective
(heart/emotions) and conative (hands/ manipulative).
 To construct their own knowledge by using their own experiences and a variety of learning
resources inside and outside the classroom.
 To work individually, in small and large groups, as per the need of the activities/ tasks.
 To reflect on their own work and on peer group/ others’ work (Assessment as learning).
 To appreciate others’ work and learn to respect others’ point of view.

Activity-3
 Write any two salient features of English learning which
can go across the curriculum?
Let us do  Why is there a need to go beyond the text?

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
4. Exemplars in English

Need for exemplar

 The underlying idea for exemplars is to apprise practitioners on

how to translate the curriculum into practice in the classroom.
 It would help teachers to understand the different components of
the teaching-learning processes in a sequential manner.
 It would help them understand how to develop learning outcomes
of the selected texts/areas/skills.

Planning for teaching-learning process

Organizing activities and tasks

What do we mean by ‘tasks’? Why do

we need tasks?

Children learn by doing.

Children learn by making mistakes.
Children learn by creating situations.
Children learn in context.

How can understanding be built

through a variety of tasks? What is the
relation between ‘tasks’ and
‘syllabus’?

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Learning through activities/tasks

Learning Context

Eagerness to Challenge
Level
know/inquisitive

Participation of all/active Inclination – Interest - Pleasure

Questioning –Thinking - Mental agility

Pleasure of learning Activity/task Solution/ Discovery

Suggestions:
 A kind and sensitive approach should
Points to consider:
be adopted.
 Whether the learning context is  Children should be encouraged to
appropriate; participate.
 Whether it involves all (participants/  Do not immediately accept or reject
children); answers with words or facial
 Whether children are taking an expressions - let the class reach some
interest; consensus on whether the answer is
 Whether the pedagogical processes acceptable or not.
are clear;  Children can be seated in a circle in the
 Whether the language is appropriate classroom, for greater participation.
as per the level of the children;  While using group-work:
 Whether the task leads to language − Each member of the group should
learning; be involved in the discussion.
 Whether it is apt for the class and − One of the children in the group
number of children. can act as the group leader and
group leaders may be chosen by
rotation on different occasions.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
The teacher should conduct the activities which not only promote language learning but also
reinforce it. The activities which help us in teaching English in contextual and meaningful way are
as follows:

Group work
Role Play
Pair work

Debate Discussion Assignments

Projects Portfolios
Oral and written
compositions

Before conducting such activities, you should be absolutely clear about the following fundamental
issues:

What How
It is usually the following items which are expected to be taken
up through the tasks/activities as mentioned above.
- Listening
What language content do - Speaking
you want to teach? - Reading
- Writing
- Vocabulary in context
- Grammar in context
What language skills do you You may take up one or two skills together and develop them
want to develop in your through pair work, group work, debate, discussion etc.
children - listening, Reading and writing skills should be taken up as a whole class
speaking, reading and activity first and then individually.
writing?

What competence do you We should take up language items in such a way that their
want to develop in your forms as well as meanings are put across to children in socially
children through these appropriate and acceptable contexts/situations in order to
activities? enable them to construct linguistically correct and appropriate
Linguistic competence sentences and communicate appropriately what they have
Communicative competence decided to communicate in the context.

How do you want to teach as Conduct pair work, group work, discussions, role plays, etc. to
the language content? help the children to learn the language content.
How do you identify the text
and develop the basic Identify/select as per the syllabus and then develop the specific
language skills? language skills of children in a holistic manner.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
What How

What resources are

available with you in order You may use CDs, radio, charts, word and picture cards, etc. for
to do what you have decided conducting pair work, group work, discussion, debate, role
to do in class? play. The audio aids would help you in establishing audio
images and visual aids in establishing visual images in the
blackboard minds of the children. This would provide them with both audio
TLMs visual stimuli and help them to come up with desirable
audio aids responses.
visual aids
audio-visual aids
print rich materials
What roles do you want the
children to perform before,
during and after the activity
you are going to conduct in
the class? Children may be motivated to play a host of roles to be able to
Children as active listeners learn the language, both at the receptive and the productive
Children as passive listeners levels. The class should be on the whole learning centred.
Children as speakers
Children as active readers
Children as passive readers
Children as active writers
What is going to be your role
in the class?
teacher as listener
teacher as speaker You may have to play the roles of listener, speaker, reader,
teacher as reader writer, etc. depending on the objective of the task at hand.
teacher as writer
teacher as monitor
teacher as facilitator
teacher as participant
teacher as guide
teacher as overseer

Activity-4

How can tasks/activities be developed holistically? Give

Let us do examples.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
4.3 Exemplar 1 Class II
Theme: Self and the Surroundings
Topic: The Swing

The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside –

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
– Robert Louis Stevenson

For the teacher:

This poem is about a child who is playing on a swing. She is happy
and is enjoying the scenery around her. Looking at objects from
the top gives her a feeling of being on top of the world. This poem
has many inbuilt learning points e.g. colours, our immediate
surroundings, adjectives and singular/plural. These can be taught
in context. After completing the poem, you can go beyond the text
for example, you can talk about Amusement parks where there
are a variety of swings. Make sure that listening, speaking,
reading, writing and vocabulary and grammar are developed in
context.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Transactional Process
Learning Outcomes Strategies Classroom interaction
Children will be able to: Before reciting the poem, ask children to
Pre-reading name the games/ activities that they like to
listen to the poem, play. Write the names of the games/
enjoy and recite; Brainstorming sports/activities on the blackboard/chart
read the poem with paper that children state.
comprehension;
Resources required:
speak about the
A picture of the swing
Football
idea of the poem;
Another short poem by
connect main idea Games Snake & Ladder
R. L Stevenson. (A Good
with life outside;
Boy) Ludo
develop vocabulary Comprehension
in context such as questions (by the teacher
words related to and by the students) Invite children to categorise these into indoor
games, parks, Peer Discussion and outdoor games.
colours, Class Discussion, etc. Indoor games Outdoor games
environment;
use grammar in
context (colours,
Ask children whether they play on a swing.
opposites, Encourage them to share their experiences.
adjectives, You may begin with sharing your experience
collective nouns). of riding a swing. This will boost the
confidence of the children to respond. You
may pose the following questions:
Have you ever sat on a swing?
Do you like to go up in the swing?
How do you feel when the swing goes up and
comes down?
What do you see when the swing goes up?

Write the adjectives on the blackboard/chart

paper that children are using to describe their
feelings. You may write a few adjectives that
form a part of the poem that will also help
children comprehend the poem.

Scared
Swing Happy
Excited
Scream

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Assessment for Learning

While doing the above activities a lot of listening and speaking will take place. This is the
time for assessment for learning. If some children are not able to express themselves, you
may give them a simpler topic to talk about, for example: the game that they like to play.

Strategies Classroom interaction

While reading Model reading by the teacher.
Read the poem aloud with proper stress, tone,
intonation, actions, expressions and props
etc.
Ask children to recite the poem either in pairs
or as a group recitation.
For the teacher:
Encourage children to read the poem on their
You might have to explain own.
the meaning of the words for Discuss the ideas/expressions given in the
example, countryside and poem. For example:
cattle. Use pictures to  Feeling happy
explain the meaning  Looking at garden, rivers, trees and
cattle.
Suggested Activities:
You may ask the following questions based
on the children’s comprehension:
 Was the child happy going up in the
swing?
 What did the child see from the swing?
 Write down the colours of the following:
Name of the Name of the
items colours
Garden
Roof
Sky
Rose

Assessment for Learning

Pose more questions/ give activities to the children to assess their understanding of the
poem. Children should be able to read the poem on their own and do the activities.
Children who are not able to read the poem on their own can be given only one stanza to
begin with, engage in some activity and gradually help them to read the whole poem with
comprehension.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Assessment as Learning

You can give the following checklist to children to assess themselves.

Self-assessment checklist

YES  NO 
1. I can name five things that make me happy.

2. I can name five things that make me sad

3. I like indoor games
4. I like playing outdoor games
Strategies Classroom interaction
Post reading WRITING
Ask children to draw a rainbow and write the
seven colours of it.
Draw a picture of swing in a park where there
are trees, birds etc., colour it and label it.
VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR IN
CONTEXT
For the teacher:
Opposites
Explain the concept of The swing goes up. The swing comes down.
opposites to the children and
give more examples and Come Go
pictures. Add more words over under
from the classroom
situation. Collective nouns
A group of cows-cattle,
A group of elephants-herd,
A group of ants-colony
You may add more examples and show
pictures.

Assessment for Learning

Writing and Grammar activities will help you assess whether the children are able to
connect the pictures with words. If some children are not able to do so, you may provide
them with the words.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Assessment as Learning

You can give the following checklist to the children to assess themselves:

YES NO
I know the colours of the Rainbow. 
I know their spellings. 
I know the opposites of slow, up, come, over 
I can recite the poems with actions. 
I can list five things that make me happy. 
Strategies Classroom interaction

Going beyond the Show children pictures of an Amusement

text park and the different types of rides.
Ask children to identify the names of the
swings and you write the names on the
blackboard/chart.
Ask children to pick up their favourite ride
and talk / describe their experience about it.
You can connect it with the concern for the
environment for example:
Write the following on a chart paper with
pictures so that children read it and repeat it.
This will help them remember.
 Keep the park clean
 Throw wrappers/ papers etc. in the bin.
 Water the plants regularly
 Keep the environment green.

Assessment for Learning

By connecting learning to the world outside you inculcate values such as cleanliness and
keeping the environment clean and observe children whether they are putting waste
papers, wrappers, etc. in the bin and keeping the class clean.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
4.4 Exemplar 2 Class V
Theme: Self and the Surroundings
Topic: Who did Patrick’s Homework

Who did Patrick’s Homework?

For complete story, refer to

Handout

For the teacher:

This story is about a child named Patrick who does not like to do
his homework. One day Patrick saves an elf. In return the elf
promises him to grant a wish for saving his life. Patrick asks him
to do all his homework and feels happy about his luck. The elf
pretends that he needs help and makes Patrick work hard and
read more books till the homework is completed. Very beautifully
the writer tells that in this world magical results can be reaped
only with hard work and only ‘Hard work is the key to success.’

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Transactional Process
Learning Outcomes Strategies Classroom interaction
Children will be able Begin the class by asking children to list all that
to: they like to do or have to do at home after their
Pre-reading school. Let them speak by turns the tasks they do
locate details in at home. Make a list of all the activities on the
the text. board. Homework is sure to be one of the
(Reading Resources/material activities that they detail.
comprehension); required:
infer the central Picture of an Elf
idea of the text Picture of a cat
and connect to Sketch pens Play with Watch TV
the real world Blackboard friends
situations; Chalk
Discourse questions After
narrate a simple the
experience; (by the teacher and by
school
the students)
write a small Do
Peer Discussion
paragraph; homework Help Mom
Class Discussion, etc.
respond to
simple
instruction / • Now you can organise a debate in groups
details while whether they like to do homework or not.
listening. (Speaking activity)
use language and
vocabulary in Simultaneously assess the children on their
different speaking ability and keep/maintain a
contexts. record.

• Ask them to imagine that one day when they

reach home, they find a fairy in their room who
offers to do one of the tasks they have to do at
home every day. You may then ask them which
one of the tasks they would like the fairy to do
for them and why.

This activity can be taken up as pair work.

(Speaking activity)
Their answers will bring the class close to the
story ‘Who did Patrick’s Homework?’ Tell them
that the story is about Patrick who hates to do his
homework. You can tell the children that an elf is
a male fairy. Born in folk lore or children’s
literature, fairies are little creatures that often
creep into houses at night. In return for food or
for some such thing, they leave gold or money.
Good fairies help people in distress.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Encourage children to share with each other their
concept of fairies. This will create an
environment for the story of a fairy they are going
to read. You may narrate the whole story to the
children with actions, expressions and props.
Ask children to imagine what an elf would look
like. Ask children to draw the picture of an elf
and write its description. Share with your partner
and talk about it.

Assessment for Learning

The objective of the pre-reading tasks/activities is to develop children's speaking skills
and to make them familiar with the lesson and new words. The activity encompasses
skills like ‘thinking’ and ‘listening’ skills too. You can assess the children's thinking and
speaking skills and how they co-relate the ideas, express their likes and dislikes
coherently, logically and confidently. If some children are unable to participate,
encourage them to speak in their mother tongue.

This information gathered by you may be used for assessment for learning. For example:
if some children do not participate in the class discussion you may record, 'Rekha can
speak in her home language but needs practice/opportunities to speak in English.

Assessment as Learning
You can provide a checklist to children to assess themselves on the following points after the
pre-reading activities.

YES NO
1. Able to listen and interact with peers and thereby get  
different types of information.
2. Able to converse with peers and teachers.  
3. Able to express likes and dislikes.  
Strategies Classroom interaction
While reading Do model reading in chunks and ask
comprehension questions with each chunk.
Encourage the children to do the silent reading of
the story and find out for themselves who does
Patrick’s homework.
Invite children to read Para 1 to 4 and answer the
following questions:
• Why didn’t Patrick do his homework?
• Why did the elf look like a doll?
• How was the elf dressed?
• What did the elf offer to grant if Patrick
saved him from the cat?

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
• On what condition did Patrick agree to
save the elf?
Once they have gone through Para 5-8, the
For the teacher: following questions can be further asked:
• Why did the elf need Patrick's help at every
While reading the text, you can step while doing his homework?
divide the text into manageable • Make a list of all the jobs that Patrick had
chunks for better to do for the elf while he was doing his
comprehension. This would homework.
also help you with assessment Example
for learning of children about 1 had to bring a dictionary.
the comprehension of the text. 2 _____________________________

3 _____________________________
After Para 8 to 12 have been read, ask the
following questions for a comprehension check:
• Did Patrick have an easy time leaving his
homework to the elf?
• Why were Patrick's parents and friends
surprised?
• What is the secret between you and the writer
of the story?

For the teacher:

While-reading exercises focus on the development and assessment of the comprehension level
of the children. For this purpose, a number of questions such as true-false, gap-filling, sentence
completion, web-charts, tables, MCQs, match the column and sequencing etc. can be asked. This
wide variety ensures that each child in a heterogeneous group gets ample opportunities to
participate. These activities can be done as peer work/group work. Ask children do the activities
together, peer assessment takes place simultaneously.

Assessment for Learning

You will be able to assess whether the children:

• enjoy listening to rhyming words.

• read the texts with ease and understanding.
• understand the central idea.
• follow the sequence of ideas and events in the text.
• understand the importance of silent reading.
This provides you with criteria for assessment for learning. If some children are
struggling with reading you may record for example, 'Rahul cannot read fluently. He
needs practice.'

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Strategies Classroom interaction

Post reading You may ask the following questions as post

reading activity. These are inferential
questions. This would help you with
assessment for learning of the text as a
whole.
• The elf accepted Patrick's condition but
how did he show his anger?
• Why was Patrick weary and tired at the end
of 35 days?
• Patrick got A's at the end of the term. Who
should get the credit? Give reasons for your
answer.
Though the story does not highlight the moral
dimension of the deal between Patrick and the elf
and exploits the situation light-heartedly, you
may use it to bring home to the children the value
of helping others without any condition thereby
developing social personal qualities among
children.
You may ask the following questions. These are
open-ended questions where along with other
skills, thinking skills, life skills can also be
assessed.
• Do you think Patrick was right in setting a
condition for saving the elf?
• What would you do if you were in a similar
situation?
• Should we take advantage of people in
trouble?
Working with Language
You would have noticed that the story is written
For the teacher: in an informal, conversational style. Use it for
teaching the natural way of conversation. Tell
Encourage the children to them that in spoken English when they ask, order
use a dictionary. Teach or request somebody to do anything, they don’t
them how to consult a have to use ‘you are asked or ordered or
dictionary. requested’. It looks rather clumsy, unless it is
used for the sake of emphasis.
1. They can use the imperative form. Imperative
sentences begin with a verb but do not end
with a question mark. Look at the example.
Here are two sentences saying the same thing
in different ways.
Example:
• You are asked to get me a dictionary.
• Get me a dictionary.

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Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
You can ask the children which one they feel
sounds better? The second one, isn’t it? It is
short, crisp and informal. Ask them to rewrite the
rest of the sentences in the same manner. (You
may add more)
• You are asked to bring some fruits from
the market.
• You are asked to call a doctor.
• You are asked to make some tea for me.
• You are requested to water the plants.
• You are ordered to march in a line.
2. The writer has spelt ‘breeches’ as britches’ to
rhyme it with witches. The story has a unique
style of folklore. Though it is written in prose,
it is interspersed with rhyming lines. Read
these aloud after you have finished the story
and let the children notice and enjoy the lyrical
quality of the prose in the story.
(i) Don’t give me back to that cat.
I’ll grant you a wish
I promise you that.
(ii) “Help me! Help me!”he’d say.
And Patrick would have to help
In whatever way
Now ask the children to pick out more such lines
from the story.
Writing Activity
Grammar in Context: Given below are some
words that express feelings:

Delighted, glad, pained, screamed, rejoiced,

furious, grieved, shouted, sad, cried, howled,
pleased, etc.

You can ask the children to express their feelings

with the help of the given words in the following
situations: (They can use more than one word for
each situation and the same word can be used in
other situations also).
• You misplaced your notebook.
• You get a gift that you have long wanted.
• You see a blind person being pushed
around by the crowd.
• You have lost your ball.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Assessment as Learning
You can give the following Checklist to children for self-assessment:
Checklist
To a great extent To some extent Very less
Used the idea properly

Flow in ideas

Grammar usage is
appropriate 
Strategies Classroom interaction
Speaking
You can give this activity to develop children’s
communicative competency. In spoken English
we often do not say full sentences.
For example,
‘Home work—Too boring, he played
hockey and basketball and Nintendo instead.’
If we don’t skip some words the sentence would
read like this:
He did not like to do homework because he found
it very boring. Instead of it he liked to play
hockey and basketball and Nintendo.
The focus is lost in the length of the sentences.
The communication is quicker when certain
words are dropped and the sentences shorter.
But the meaning remains clear because the
context explains everything.
You must note that such shortening is done only
in a context. If this technique is applied where the
context is missing, you might be misunderstood
or may not be understood at all.

For example, when the teacher is not in the class

and the children are making a noise somebody
shouts ‘teacher’, the class, at once, understands
that the teacher is coming. It is the context, which
does the rest of the talking in such sentences.
You may ask the children to express their likes
and dislikes to each other in short, quick and
conversational style. They can make use of the
clues:
hot cold
sour sweet
long short
dull interesting
expensive cheap

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Assessment for Learning

When children are doing these activities, you are making observations and assessing them for
their communicative competency. You can record this for future reference.

Strategies Classroom interaction

• Look at the expression that the author uses to
describe wrinkles on the little man’s face.

‘Wrinkled like a dish cloth thrown in the hamper.’

The novelty of the comparison is very interesting.
You may use the example to tell the children that
language is not repetition of what they have
learnt in the class or outside. They can create
their own expressions. It is fun to play with
words. Encourage them to coin new phrases to
express themselves. Help them play with word.
Give them some situations and let them coin new
phrases. For example: give some conventional
comparisons and ask children to give some
interesting and new comparisons:
• as fast as the wind — as fast as an email
• as tall as an oak - as cold as ice
• as high as a mountain - as quick as an
arrow

Describing words can create vivid pictures. It is

an important skill to learn to select appropriate
describing words. Help your children acquire the
skill. You can ask them to describe one of the
following. They may use the words given below in
the box:
• a guest in your house
• your new neighbour
• your grandmother
• your friend
tall, tiny, short, dwarf, stout, huge, fat, plump,
pot-bellied, roly-poly, obese, broad, strong,
weak, thin, slim, skinny, bony, lean, lanky,
slender, bold, mild, cowardly, kind, gentle,
rough, rude, pleasant, cheerful, cruel, coarse,
gruff, crude, impolite, sweet, beautiful, ugly.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Assessment for Learning

The learning situations created by you will help the children with language development.
While doing the activities you can assess the children for their use of language/words. You
can conduct these activities as pair work or group work to ensure everyone’s participation.
If some children are not doing, it means that some kind of scaffolding is needed. You can
use other children as a resource to help children who are below the level.

Assessment as Learning
Now ask children to assess each other on the use of vocabulary in context

Peer Assessment-Checklist

Described___________

Used 5 words from the Used 10 words from the Used more than 10
box box words from the box

Strategies Classroom interaction

Going beyond the Here is a situation from the story for role-play:
text All the children now know that this story is of a
boy who does not like doing his homework and
the elf makes him do his work by pretending that
he (the elf) is doing his work. Now the question
is, whether we should make our children do
homework or should they learn and do all their
work in school itself?
Children, parents, teachers and educationists
have their own opinions and beliefs about
homework. Let us bring them together to debate
on the issue of homework through a role play.
You can divide the class into groups of four and
allot roles based on the following
1 Jenny, a student of class IV
2 One of Jenny's parents
3 Mrs. Basu, Jenny's class teacher
4 Mr. William, a Principal
You ask the children to hold a discussion with the
group members and develop the dialogues for the
different roles. You may give clues/ideas to the
children for each role. Encourage them to come

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
out with creative expression. They enact their
part and assess other groups.
Through role-play you have used all the skills—
reading, listening, speaking, writing and
thinking. While preparing the dialogues, the
children were listening to the other group
members and speaking. While enacting, they
were listening to others as well as speaking their
own parts.
Thereafter, you can ask the children to present
their views in the form of a written paragraph.
Assess them for writing keeping in view the
process approach to writing. This can become
part of their portfolio.

Assessment for Learning

Post reading exercises aim at connecting learning
to real-life situations. These enable the children to
go beyond the text. Activities like role play provide
you with the opportunity to assess children on
inter-personal qualities as well. When each group
of children performs in front of the class, ask the
children to assess the performance (the technique
of group assessment). Give the children the
criteria for assessment such as, dialogues,
presentation etc.

After the completion of the lesson you may assess them on the following criteria for assessment
of learning,
• They speak and write about themselves.
• They infer meaning and understand the text.
• They relate the ideas to their personal experience.
• They respond in English to specific contextual questions.
• They use critical thinking to go beyond the text.
• They listen to dialogues, conversations and narration with understanding.
• They participate in debate, class discussion and role-play.
• They speak/explain the cartoon given at the end of the lesson.
The data collected by you can be used for reporting purpose.

Activity-5
 Prepare at least five activities on which you would like to
assess children for listening, speaking, reading, writing
Let us do and critical thinking from this story.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
5. Assessment of learning and reflection on action
Assessment is a continuous and ongoing process. It goes hand in hand with the teaching and
learning process. Assessment helps us to know the progress children have made and to use this
knowledge to develop the children’ proficiency rather than just giving grades or marks.

Assessment of children based on paper pencil tests focuses largely on what the children have learnt
by rote-memorization. This often does not give us a complete picture of the children’s performance.
As teachers, we need to assess children for a range of tasks/activities which also include creative
writing/ expression, role play, story-telling, project work, etc. This will enable us to assess them in
a holistic manner and help in providing constructive feedback.

Understanding Language Assessment

It is important to note that assessment is not
just about giving marks but giving insights.
Points to ponder over:
We need to remember that no single
assessment tool or method is capable of Language assessment is not only related to the
providing information about a child’s performance of the child with respect to a
progress and learning in different areas of particular syllabus. It should be based on assessing
language development. Assessment on a daily the language proficiency of the children.
basis helps in interacting with children.
Learning can also be assessed through routine
Continuously assessing them in situations
activities and exercises in the classroom.
both inside and outside the classroom helps in
assessment for learning. Periodic assessment The types of questions that are prepared and used
which may be take place once in every 3 to 4 for assessment need not be restricted to those
months helps teachers to check and reflect on found in the textbooks.
the information collected. This however,
should not be only in the form of a paper Individual and group activities can be designed to
pencil test/exam but should be based on enable the children to reflect on and assess their
different assessment practices such as picture learning experiences.
reading, oral test, projects, portfolio, etc.

Assessment should be primarily based on:

 Observation – the teacher’s observations and assessment of the children’s work through a
variety of assignments/tasks. Individual assessment may focus on individual work and
accomplishments.
 Oral presentations — answering questions, picture reading, storytelling, reading aloud,
describing things, actions, etc.,
 Written work – writing tasks such as paragraph writing, letter writing, process description.
 Portfolio – a collection of written tasks of the child over a period of time, rather than a single
writing sample. This shows the stages of writing and can help the children reflect upon their
work and hence improve it.
 Group work – discussions, debates, making projects, role play, etc.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Types of Assessment

Individual Assessment:
Focus on one child at a
time when she / he is
doing an activity or task.

Group assessment: The

learning and progress of a
group of children working on
Peer a task together with the
assessment: Types of objective of completing it.
One child This method is found to be
assessing the Assessment more useful for assessing
social skills, co-operative
other. learning processes and other
value related dimensions of a
child’s behaviour.

Self assessment: A child’s

evaluation of her/ his
own work.

Assessing Listening and Speaking

Different types of activities/tasks can be used for assessing the skills of listening and speaking. These
tasks/activities can be conducted formally and informally while children are engaged in the
classroom work.

The teacher can informally assess their performance while they participate in different activities by
conducting question-answer sessions during:

 tasks/activities,
 group work,
 pair work,
 role play, etc.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Assessing Reading
Reading skills should also be assessed continuously. You can use various types of passages like those
listed below.

A story From a newspaper, a local folk tale, etc.

Time table Based on a railway/bus time-table, school time-table, weather chart
Instructions How to perform an activity like planting a tree, drawing some object
Small poem Based on themes like self, community, environment, etc.

Keep in mind that the selection should be based on children’ interest, age and their cognitive level.

Types of questions that can be prepared for assessing reading can be:

 Comprehension and inferential questions

 Gap filling
 Completion type
 Word attack questions
 Table completion-type questions
The questions should not require lengthy writing. For classroom use, quick tests of comprehension
can be made using true/false, match the following type of questions, but these should not be used in
examinations as children can guess the answers.

Assessing Writing
The process approach to writing needs to be followed. Assessment for writing takes place from the
first draft to the final draft. Encourage children to follow the process approach to writing to inculcate
the habit of self-assessment, i.e. assessment as learning. Class work and assignments/home-
work involving written work should also be used to assess children’ writing ability. Writing tasks
should be accompanied by hints/guidance so that children know what they are supposed to write. It
is important that a proper context is provided for the task. A writing task can be based on:

 a verbal stimulus
 a visual stimulus

While assessing children’s written work, there are three aspects that need to be focussed on:
content, accuracy and fluency.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Types of Questions and Tasks
The following tasks/activities could be used quite effectively to assess different language skills:

True / False

This type of question is mainly used to assess reading and listening comprehension. It can also be
used to test grammar and vocabulary. A true/false question can be given as a question instead of a
statement, and children write their answer in a yes or no.

Match the following

This kind of exercise mainly tests vocabulary.

Multiple Choice

A multiple-choice question consists of a stem and a number of options (called distracters), from
which the children have to select the right one.

Multiple-choice questions can test grammar, vocabulary, and reading and listening comprehension.
Children can be asked to give the answer in one word/sentence.

Gap filling

Children fill a gap to complete the sentence. Gap-filling questions are useful for testing vocabulary
and grammar. They can also be assessed for listening for specific words.

Transformation

Here children are required to change a sentence according to the instructions. Transformation
questions usually assess the children’ ability to transform grammatical structures and
understanding of grammar or grammatical constructions (forms).

Rewriting
Children are required to rewrite a given sentence after making necessary changes as instructed, but
without changing the basic meaning of the sentence.

This is helpful in finding what a child knows or doesn’t know.

Translation
Translation can be used in a variety of productive ways, particularly in multilingual classrooms.
When a child understands two or more languages, translation may be used as assessment. Children
can be asked to translate sentences or passages to or from English.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
Open ended questions

Open-ended questions are generally asked after listening or reading activities to assess
comprehension. They can also be used to assess oral/speaking and writing skills. Open-ended
questions can have multiple answers. Children may answer these in their own way. If they are based
on a text, the situation in the text is used as a take-off point and children can write answers according
to their individual thinking and experience.

The Cloze Procedure

The Cloze procedure is a well-established test of language proficiency. It has also been found to be
very effective for testing grammar, vocabulary and intensive reading. A cloze test can also be based
on articles, prepositions, verbs etc.

In a Cloze test, children are given a text in which every nth word has been deleted. The child is asked
to complete the text by filling in the deleted words.

Making a Cloze test is very easy. Take a passage which will be interesting and challenging. Keep the
first and last sentence intact. Start counting words from the second sentence. Delete every 7th word.
Keep the length of the blank constant. Children should not be able to guess from the blank whether
a small or a big word is to be filled in.

Dictation

Dictation is one of the most widely used assessment tools in a language classroom. However, are you
aware that the present-day dictation is significantly different from the traditional dictation test
which was mainly to test spellings? The modern dictation can also test, to some extent, punctuation
and listening, comprehension as well as writing, reading and grammar as chunks of language as
opposed to single words are given for dictation.

A useful source for dictations at all levels is the class textbook itself. Dictations must be selected
according to children’s abilities, and the usage and style should be similar to what the children are
expected to produce on their own in the course, both verbally and in writing.

Assessing children’s work

Throughout the term, the teacher should periodically collect the children’ notebooks to evaluate the
kinds of errors being made. While evaluating the teachers must differentiate between
comprehension errors and spelling errors. Comprehension errors include both phonological
mistakes and grammatical mistakes. A phonological mistake would be spelling the word physics as
fysics; a grammatical mistake would be transcribing Yesterday he worked as Yesterday he work.
Spelling errors would be like accommodation/acomodation. By doing this the teacher gets an
insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the children and she can help them accordingly.

Teaching for successful learning cannot occur without high quality assessment. Assessment,
therefore, needs to be integrated with the process of teaching and learning. The greater the
integration, the better will be the outcomes of learning. In order to undertake holistic assessment,
all aspects of learning need to be given due recognition by the teacher. Though the methods may

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vary, teachers should regularly observe the progress of children; this will help them in maintaining
a profile for each child, which can help in reflecting upon, giving feedback, planning and
implementing measures to enrich and enhance children’ learning.

6. Recording and Reporting in English language

Recording and Reporting are essential parts of assessment process. School based formats are
commonly used to record and report the progress of a child. However, these may not reflect the
actual teaching-learning process for providing inputs for improving child’s learning.
Recording

The information to be recorded helps in assessment for learning.

• The information/data collected during the teaching-learning process is for teacher’s own record
and is used to improve children’s learning and to provide feedback. The focus of this assessment
is to improve children’s learning (assessment for learning). The teacher compares a child’s
progress with his/her previous performance. This can be seen/ observed while doing all the class
activities such as oral, aural and written tasks, projects and portfolio.
• The second kind of information is related with the data collected after completion of a
theme/chapter/unit. This is reported by the teacher at the end of a quarter/term/session, and is
called assessment of learning based on the learning outcomes identified by the teacher.
Recording should bring out a comprehensive picture of children’s development. Thus, the record
of a child’s progress should be maintained in a qualitative manner and not in quantitative terms
only (marks). Anecdotal records are important features of both recording and reporting.
Let us take the example of writing: You can comment on children’s progress and development
as writers depending on the task such as: children’s pleasure and involvement in writing both
narrative and non-narrative pieces; confidence; the range of vocabulary; variety of writing in all
areas of the curriculum; individual or collaborative writing; the influence of reading on
children’s writing; growth in understanding of the written language, its conventions and
spellings. Teachers can adopt peer-assessment and self-assessment as techniques for evaluating
writing.

For example, Siddhartha makes spelling mistakes but is able to identify

the mistakes when told. He enjoys writing short stories.

Activity-6
 How will you record the child’s performance for different
aspects of language learning such as vocabulary,
Let us do grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing?
 Create a page for your reflective diary.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice

Reporting process

The information to be reported is part of the assessment of learning. In other words, the progress of
the child needs to be reported to the parents in a way that it is easily understood by them.
• Reporting is one of the activities of child’s learning process. After completion of a
chapter/unit/theme a teacher must assess children keeping in view the learning outcomes and
keep this data as a record. Schools generally conduct assessment (assessment of learning) once
in a quarter or on a half-yearly basis, by using paper-pencil tests. A variety of ways of assessment
must be used to assess the progress. Oral, aural and written tasks, projects, and portfolio need
to be included in this process.
• Very often, the child’s progress is reported in the form of ‘grades’ such as ‘A’, ‘B’, ’C’ without
giving any remarks/descriptions/feedback which neither communicates to children about their
strengths or areas of interest nor communicates to parents/elders about the progress of the
child.
• While preparing a report the teacher needs to communicate and share the feedback with the
child and parents. This aspect is important and needs to be done carefully and in a constructive
and positive manner. Anecdotal remarks should become part of the reporting process.

Points to remember while recording and reporting:

 Prepare a child’s profile for recording and reporting

 Assessment is a part of teaching and learning process.
 Make a special effort to write qualitative description of the child’s work along with her /his
learning level.
 Keep samples of a child’s work in a portfolio and assess them.
 Make a conscious effort to note down important observations, incidents, strengths of children.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: English Curriculum in Practice
7. Essential tips for practitioners

Language learning is essentially meaning making

 Make your class learning centred
 Make the class contextual
 Create an input rich communicational environment
 Move from easy to difficult, simple to complex, known to unknown
 Follow the whole language approach
 Always begin your class as a whole class activity and then do group work, pair work and
individual work.
 Use play /activities as the basis/strategy for learning
 Follow age appropriate pedagogy
 Involve all the children.
 Try to design activities that involves all the senses that
are essential for learning Always Remember
 The themes which have been given in the curriculum All children are not good in the art
are suggestive in nature, one can add/select other of questioning; some children
themes as per the need and context of the children. might not be good in framing
 Follow across the curriculum approach, linking questions or their questions might
language teaching with other curricular areas. be irrelevant. Do not encourage
 Always remember that in primary classes, the focus of other children to laugh or
learning is not on coverage of stories/poems but on comment when such situations
language learning. arise, as this would discourage
 Children’s learning experiences should be used to them and damage their confidence
create the environment for brainstorming/
discussion.
 Brainstorming can be done to capture the main/key
concepts, vocabulary and grammar in context for the
children to be able to understand the given text.
 Allow children to talk/discuss while doing activities.
 Be flexible in your approach. If any strategies does not work, switch to the next one.
 Be practical in your planning.
 Ask questions during interaction with children and provide opportunities for them to raise
questions. Try to encourage them to ask, explore, discuss in the class. Questioning not only
develops confidence in children but also develops analytical and critical thinking.

The successful implementation of classroom transaction is one which involves all children in
the classroom activities. It however, does not mean that all children should be kept engaged
in similar work. Heterogeneity in learning levels is inevitable. In order to give attention to all
children in the class, multilevel grouping may be used.
Multilevel grouping is that setting which engages children of different learning levels. This
grouping may include 5-6 children in small group settings. This would help you in many ways:
 Provide space for children to learn at their own pace.
 Pair learning and group learning would be encouraged
 You (teacher) would get time to monitor groups rather than pay attention to every child
 This would facilitate self-learning, self-assessment and peer assessment.

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Assessment during teaching learning process (assessment for learning) is an essential component
of transactional process. This assessment needs to be used as a developmental and diagnostic
strategy for learning. While developing any concept, you need to follow certain strategies such as
organising discussion, role play, debate, picture reading, etc. After employing these strategies, it is
pertinent to know whether the children have understood or not, therefore, during this process,
questions may be asked, work sheets and assignments can be given. All these would be check-points
to know the level of learning. Such assessment helps in the following ways:
 To identify gaps in learning
 To provide timely inputs/intervention
 To modify your teaching learning plan/strategies
 To identify strengths of children
 To perform assessment for learning
 To do recording
 To make checklists/rubrics, teacher reflection
 To use anecdotal record
 To maintain portfolios
 To help children prepare projects

Summing Up
Let us recapitulate what we have shared so far.

We need to teach English keeping in view the multilinguality of our country. A

comprehensible input rich curriculum lays the foundation for spontaneous language growth,
and different language skills develop simultaneously in communicative socio-cultural
contexts rather than in any linear order as reflected in the traditional LSRW approaches.
Children can receive meaningful language inputs that is appropriate to their age, context and
interest and through a variety and range of English-learning contexts. Language classroom
is a place where children get an opportunity to develop their creativity and can be sensitised
to their immediate physical and social environment, Assessment needs to become a part and
parcel of the teaching learning process.

Let us share best Practices

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