Learning material is important
for students as learning source. We can give the learning material by write it
down on whiteboard, display it on LCD in form of PowerPoint presentation, or of
print it out. Or, commonly, many teachers use a student worksheet (LKS) and/or
textbook as the learning material. But sometime we are not satisfied 100% with
the LKS and/or textbook; we need or want to create learning material by
ourselves. Sometime we need or want to combine materials and exercises from
some resources in one paper (one bundle of papers) which are accord with the
planned learning activities. Here are some things we must pay attention about
creating our own learning material.
Learning Material contains:
- · The clear name of each stage
There must be
stage name. Stage here can be meant the skills (e.g.: listening section,
speaking practice, etc), the activity stage (e.g.: elaboration, exploration,
and confirmation/ building knowledge of the field, modeling of text, joint
construction of text, and individual construction of text). You can manage the
stage based on your teaching style or teaching principle.
- · The explanation of the material
A learning
material should contain material explanation. For example: the material is about narrative text, so there must be an explanation about the generic structure of narrative, social function of narrative, etc. You can give brief explanation or
long and detail explanation. But it is suggested to write the brief but clear
explanation to avoid a boring learning material. If you think the students must
know the very specific, detail, or wider information about the material, you
can give longer explanation when you are delivering the material.
- · Example of the material
To give the
students an image of the material, we must put anor some example(s). Example(s)
can make students more understand the material. Give an interesting, unique, or
unusual example. It will make students pay their attention more and more to the
example and it may lead them to recognize and understand the material.
- · Exercises
Practice makes
perfect. That proverb represents the existence of exercises in learning
activities and also in a learning material. We give the students chances to
practice their knowledge through exercises in learning material. The forms of exercises
can be created as creative as you can, as long as they are get along with the
material and learning objectives. You can make multiple choice, essay,
short-answer test, crosswords, make a match, picture cued question, jumbled
words, or jumbled sentences, etc.
- · Pronunciation/ phonetic transcription
May be in the
class, we do not give pronunciation or phonetic transcription course in
specific time. But we can deliver a little by a little about pronunciation
and/or phonetic transcription from the selected vocabularies in the material.
We can display some vocabularies and the phonetic transcription in the
beginning or in the last part of the learning material. Usually some book
writers write it in the last section of the learning material.
A learning material should:
- § Be interesting
The content and
the appearance of learning material should be interesting. If we want the
students read the material enthusiastically, we must create an interesting
learning material. Then, how to make our learning material interesting to be
read?
First, the
content should be interesting. As I said before, the content should be
delivered briefly and clearly; and the samples should be unique and interesting
one. We can add some unique, funny, or wonderful facts or myths or joke related
to the material. We can give up-to-date texts or samples. Try to create some
variations of exercises form.
The appearance
of the learning material will affect the students’ willingness to read the
learning material. We must pay attention to the font size and style, the
alignment, the color (if the learning material is displayed in colorful pages),
etc. A vary and unique appearance also
can make students wonder and then read it. Insert some clip arts, shapes,
smartArts, or charts whenever it is proper. Be creative with the alignment. You
can use centre or align text right to raise the students’ interest to read it.
- § Suitable and appropriate for the age of the learners (contextual)
Both the content
and the appearance of the learning material should be contextual. The knowledge
we want to display will be accepted well by the students if we provide it
proper with their age.
Use proper
vocabularies and grammar by considering the age of the students. Use simple
sentences for students in elementary and junior high school. In junior high school age, we can use complex
sentences but use simple and common conjunction for junior high school
students. Provide suitable and appropriate samples for the age of the students.
There were some cases of which students were given improper sample texts. They
were elementary students, but the texts were about marriage problems, money
problems, etc. provide our next generation with the good ones, not the bad
ones.
The appearance
of the learning material should also be contextual. The use of font type and
size, color, and pictures should be adjusted with the students’ age. For
example: it is proper if texts using Comic Sans MS, size 14 is delivered for 4th
graders.
- § Put the SK (standard competence) and KD (basic competence)
When we create a
learning material, it should be based on SK and KD. The SK and KD we used
should be put in our learning material as a reference and control toward the
material. By putting SK and KD, the readers know whether the learning material
is in line with the SK and KD or not.
- § Prevent plagiarism by giving the source or modify it by ourselves.
We got our
knowledge from other sources. When we want to share it to other, it is better
to modify the way we say or deliver it in order to avoid plagiarism. We can
restate a theory or story using our sentence, explain it wider or explain it in
summary. For example: the review of Negeri 5 Menara novel, we can read other’s
review but we have to modify by ourselves if we do not want to be called
plagiarist. We can quote other source’s sentences exactly as it is, but we have
to write the source name. For example: we want to put someone’s review of
Negeri 5 Menara novel as it is, we should state the source’s name.
- § Include clear instructions
A learning
material can be said as a good learning material if it includes clear
instructions. Completing with clear instruction, with or without the existence
of the teacher, the students will get the instruction well without being
confused. A clear instruction commonly will use one order in one sentence. If
there is more than one action for an instruction or a problem (question), the
sequence of the action must be written one by one sentence. It is better if the
instruction is followed by an example.
Ready to create the learning material by ourselves? Cool!
Let’s do the best for our better next generation.
