Hands-on Activities: for Kindergarten-Rapunzel to Enhance Their Reading Skills for S.Y. 2018-2019

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The teachers, being the important figure in education, must be competent and knowledgeable in order to impart the knowledge they could give to their students. Being a teacher of Kindergarten-Rapunzel with 13 Males and 14 Females with a total number of 27 pupils, varied and vital roles played in the classroom. Teachers must recognize their individual differences and adjust instructions that best suit to the learners. Not all students are motivated by the same values, need, desires and wants. Motivating students to learn requires a very challenging role on the part of the teacher. It requires a variety of teaching styles or techniques just to capture students' interest. Every day we encounter them as part of the work that we are in. It is very necessary that we need to understand the need to be motivated in doing our work well, so as to have motivated learners in the classroom. Reading has always been an effective way for students to learn. But research is now showing that students learn and remember information better when there are given multiple aspects. Studies show that students learn best when learning is active when they are engaged in hands-on classroom games and activities, and involved in what they are learning.

METHODS

Children grasped ideas more easily and more effectively and maintain their interest in school when they are engaged in hands-on activities in school. The researcher used descriptive research design in this study. Observation, interviews and oral test in gathering data. Observation refers to what he/she sees taking place in the classroom based on the student's daily participation. Oral test/examination was administered after the strategies were applied. Interviews are done informally before, during and after classes, how effective hands-on activities for a deeper understanding of results to understand the observations made in kindergarten classrooms. Hands-on activities like alphabet hunt, word puzzles, alphabets sound, board activities, word recognition has a legitimate and important role in Kindergarten and was used to further children's learning especially in enhancing their reading skills. By using their observations teachers can stimulate children to think. The participants for this study, one teacher and 27 kindergarten pupils. The students were energized and eager to learn throughout the day.

RESULTS

Hands-on activities play an important aspect in the kindergarten curriculum. It enables them to learn through exploration, develop social and emotional skills, as well as help children develop physically and mentally that helped them enhance their reading skills. They are more eager to learn and easily recall the lessons being taught by the teacher because throughout the whole period they were able to play, enjoy, but most importantly they learned a lot. But still, there were slow learners that cannot adapt easily through this kind of strategy, some of them need more attention and should be given remedial classes for them to absorb and cope up from the lessons.

DISCUSSIONS

Hands-on activities have proven to be favorable and effective when teaching reading to kindergarten. The activities get the children involved and give them the opportunity to visualize the skill that is being taught. The visualization of the skill gives the student the ability to retrieve information from a mental picture that they have made. Hands-on activities for youngchildren was seen as important for learning and can provide a strong basis for later success at school. They support the development of socially competent learners, able to face challenges and create solutions. Teachers play an important role in students'life, knowing their individual differences is a great factor in order to teach them well. Helping students grow and succeed is the goal of every teacher. School as the second home for our children, teachers will do everything just to feed them with all the knowledge that they can give and make sure that the classroom is safe and conducive for learning. Many kids come to school excited about learning to read but it can be hard to maintain that momentum because not all students are motivated to learn. According to Janelle Cox (2018), teachers are always seeking for ways to boost their students' reading motivation. Research confirms that a child's motivation is the key factor in successful reading. The idea of hands-on activities to engage students in the process of active learning is not new. Over the past several years, educators have been increasingly incorporating various games/ hands-on activities into their teaching curriculum in an effort to create a fun and engaging learning environment for students. Although this can be verychallenging and time-consuming, interactive, collaborative and competitive games tend to motivate and encourage student participation in the learning process. Over the years, the format for classroom games has changed drastically. There are many more options that incorporate the use of technology and interactivity. Quinn and Iverson argued that students "need to be engaged more and to be put at the center of the learning experience to change from " ̃passive vessel' to " ̃active participant'" (as cited in Pannesse & Carlesi, 2007) From Ontario Ministry of Education Revised Kindergarten Program (pp.14-15, 2006), through learning-based play, children represent their knowledge and understanding of the world and apply new learning that they are