GENERAL BACKGROUND

• We always  evaluate many things in real life such as people, situations, actions,stories. ideas etc. Skillful evaluating helps learners to make good decisions and to solve problems.  
• The evaluating skills involve analyzing information and using value judgement as well as reasoning skills.
• It is important that learners learn evaluating skills. Learners will be able to express their views and to state their opinions confidently when they are out of school, example when they are in the public.
• There are various items or topics that learners can learn how to evaluate skillfully in English lessons.
• Teachers may refer to DSKP English Language (Year 1 – 6) for more topics to teach evaluating skills.
• Evaluating skills can be applied to all four language skills, listening and speaking, reading and writing skills.
• Here are some examples of items that learners can learn how to evaluate skillfully in English lessons. They are:

1. Non-living things
2. Living things
3. People, their characters and their actions
4. Buildings
5. Situations, experiences
6. Stories, articles
7. Ideas, ways,systems

STEPS OF TEACHING EVALUATING SKILLS

Below are four steps of teaching evaluating skills. Learners should know the steps in skillfull evaluating.

STEP 1: Examine and understand the data or information. (A Problem Solving Task Question Type should be provided to each leader group). Different questions should be distributed to different groups.

STEP 2: Evaluate or judge whether the data or information whether is good or bad, is interesting or not, is useful or not, is reliable or not, has advantages and disadvantages, is creative or innovative etc.

STEP 3: Make a conclusion or give opinions

STEP 4: Group Presentation as well as Questioning and Answering sessions from learners.

AN ACTIVITY EXAMPLE FOR LOWER PRIMARY CLASS:

QUESTION TASK: A student jumps queue when buying food in the school canteen. What can you say about his action?

Step 1:  Learners sitting in groups examine and understand the data or information or question task as prepared by the teacher. The leader will lead the group and discuss the task. Example: The leader will ask questions and brainstorm it such as asks for meaning of jumps queue. They may guess the meaning or use dictionary.

Step 2:  Learners evaluate or judge the data or information. The group leader will discuss whether his action is good or bad and why? Learners are required to give examples such as Where do they have to queue?

Step 3: Learners make a conclusion or give an opinion. The leader leads their friends to make a conclusion or give opinion using a sentence structure such as I or We must not jump queue when I or We…….., or 

I or We must queue when I or we……….

Step 4: Every groups are required to present their outcomes. Teacher comments not more to negative but more to positive.

TEACHER’S ROLE: AS A FASCILITATOR ONLY, GIVING GUIDES WHENEVER NECESSARY

 GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS MAY BE USED FOR LEARNERS TO WRITE THEIR ANSWERS

ADDITIONAL ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES:

Below are some examples of additional enrichment activities for evaluating skills.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of watching television for long hours?
2. A group of students (boys and girls) always go out together at night.  What is your opinion?
3. Do you like to learn English? Why?

References: Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum: Developing Primary Learners’ Thinking Skils in the English Language Subject