THRASS ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE,
PART 1, NYANGA, ZIMBABWE,
JULY 27-28, 2009

Part 1: THRASS SING-A-LONG for classes. Part 2: TEACHING THRASS for the whole school.

Fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I wish the programme is spread to all our districts. The programme is going to positively influence the teaching of English in all our schools.

A very valuable workshop. It will help to improve English language results, particularly the reading and writing skills. It teaches children the right skills at an early age. I hope THRASS will be introduced to all schools in Nyanga district. THRASSing was a fantastic experience!

Fantastic. I have learnt how to teach handwriting, reading and spelling! The participatory method was used and participants were give time to interact.

A great opportunity for teachers to learn in a very educative atmosphere – one that enabled teachers to revisit their teaching approaches, not only in English but for all the subjects. This is great! THRASS has a good place in the Zimbabwe education system and the Nyanga teachers will take the lead!

Educative and highlighted problems faced by most Zimbabwean teachers in teaching English. Solutions have also been given by the presenters, Hilary and Alan, through their brilliant presentations. Use of the picturechart and the Phoneme Machine were a blessing to the participants since these have assisted us to grasp the real teaching of English. The workshop was long overdue. More of such workshops are expected, especially to all those who have not attended this one.

Interesting and very helpful. We enjoyed all the sessions and we learnt so many things that we did not know.

THRASS is definitely an effective technological and methodological innovation to the teaching of reading. The songs are essential in memory retention and consolidation. Classroom teachers can substitute some songs and rhythms to fit their cultural appetites. The single barrier to its full application is unavailability of electricity in some schools. Otherwise the charts and oral presentation made my learning simple and interesting.

Very helpful. The lessons were very interesting and carried out in a free and friendly atmosphere. There was much learning. I salute you!

Very educative because it really trains teachers to teach English. The methodology is really helpful since pupils can grasp it easily if implemented. It also develops sensory skills and it caters for individual differences. It also has lots of activities which brings a good teacher-pupil interactive.

Very educative because the THRASS methodology is easy to understand and it encompasses a lot of activities. It is better than other programmes because it enhances the learner to know and make words using the different keygraphemes and does not restrict them to making words without knowing the sounds.

The course focused on what is key to teaching English, using the English language map. The resources are very usable and backed up with lots of help for both the teacher and pupils. THRASS does have a place in Zimbabwean schools and can be blended with those other correct methods of teaching reading that are currently in use. A very good presentation indeed by both Alan and Hilary.

Very interesting. It made me grow mentally and spiritually! It gave me more confidence in my teaching. I really enjoyed the workshop. THRASS is going to make our pupils enjoy learning better.

This has been eye-opening and thought provoking. I liked the way our thought patterns were moved from viewing spelling (and reading) as alphabetic based to phonic based. The incorporation of all the language skills is wonderful. It was not just learning, it was play as well and I said ‘Hey, if I can enjoy Sing-A-Long this much, how much more will my young child?’ The way the resources are put together isn’t just professional but user-friendly as well. I feel raring to go with THRASS. I am glad I was part of this and look forward to working with THRASS for the good of Zim.

Excellent, educative and interesting. Wonderful!

Good and educative. Alan and Hilary were friendly and had great knowledge.

A very useful approach to teaching handwriting, reading and spelling. The approach is very relevant to our Zimbabwean situation in schools. In future we would be happy to see practical demonstrations with real primary school learners. My school is going to implement the programme as soon as I train the teachers. It was a worthwhile experience to be part of the two day workshop.

Good programme. Teachers should work hard for children to benefit and help with their articulation.

Very excellent. Very helpful, very educative and very impressive. I benefited a lot. I am very sure this will help the children a lot.

Really educative. If implemented in schools, children would improve greatly in reading, spelling, listening and writing. They will improve greatly for exams. We have learnt key components for teaching English.

Very good. I wish I could have more courses on THRASS and exchange visits internationally. I feel all schools should join in and start on the good work. Thank you Alan, Hilary and THRASS!

A good time and very useful. I have gained a lot of knowledge. It was fantastic. Come again to see our implementation.

We have been helped to name letters, pronounce the 44 phonemes and separate the phonemes in words. We have learnt that some graphemes are not on the picturechart. This will improve my teaching of English words.

Helped us a lot in learning how to teach correct phonemes and correcting ourselves in pronunciation and teaching methods – giving us confidence. The songs helped us to have lively lessons in our schools. Our pupils now have a reading map which will help them to give the correct phonemes and to also spell words correctly.

A marathon of a course! It enlightened me on how best to tackle THRASS in a real classroom. It was interesting throughout, with the section on the consonants being quite easy. I felt the vowel section needed more time, practice and accuracy from the teachers. A good workshop, all in all.

Very meaningful, educative and informative. The hands-on-approach was really good. The videos were also very good.

Very educational. I learnt a lot of new teaching methods. THRASS can help a lot of our pupils understand and read English well.

Very fruitful. I got a lot of assistance in the sounds and spellings. It will be a great help in the teaching of pupils. I like THRASS so much.

Educative and good.

We benefited a lot. The programme has a lot of things that can help pupils learn to read, write and spell English words.

I learned a lot. I wish I had known about THRASS before. I can see the future of our children bright. I wish this programme could start in colleges where the teachers can be trained and have knowledge of the THRASS method. It could be wonderful if all children in Zimbabwe could speak with one voice, the THRASS method of teaching.

I have been thinking that I was good, before the course. Maybe “Yes” I was, but now I am a lot better. I believe I am going to be a very good THRASS teacher from now on. I have learnt a lot more teaching ideas an strategies. I shall struggle to become one of the best THRASS teachers!

Excellent. I really enjoyed singing the songs and learning all of the keygraphemes, the sounds and watching the interactive book.

The workshop was a great success. It generated more light than heat in our learning. This workshop is in the right direction towards the development of reading as a culture.

Enlightened me on the approaches to make children learn English as a second language. I now know the phonemes and graphemes as well as the jobs played by the letters.

Really interesting. I have discovered that I was a bit lost in my teaching of English. This course is going to make many children good in their reading, spelling and handwriting.

Very interesting. THRASS is going to help our Zimbabwean child. I think our children are going to improve their English writing. If well implemented, I think the pass rate will improve.

So helpful, in such a way that we have learnt a lot, especially the sounds. This will enable us to be better teachers. Children are going to improve much in reading and spellings.

Interesting. I learnt that music can really make lessons exciting. I also learnt how to pronounce certain English words that I couldn’t. Before the workshop I used to teach letter sounds but I then learnt that the letters are players on stage waiting to play different roles. This was quite an eye opener to me and everyone. Lot of thanks to Detective Alan Davies and Mrs Davies!

Very educative. I enjoyed it. If well implemented, it is going to benefit the children. It was good.

Very helpful. It was an eye opener to proper reading skills.

Really very good. I have benefited from the workshop, especially to pronounce words. I have been equipped with different teaching methods which I will do with the children.

I have really enjoyed this workshop. I have learnt a lot and this programme is going to improve my teaching of English.

This course was so fruitful because teaching English as a second language was confusing, now we have a starting point. The practical lessons from other schools gave us confidence, with or without enough materials.

This has really helped me. I have learnt a lot of things. I will now be able to teach my learners about graphs, digraphs, trigraphs and quadgraphs. My teaching will be more effective than before.

Taught me so many things I didn’t know as an English teacher. I am so happy that I will now go and teach my learners the correct English language and to all my fellow teachers. THRASS is a good programme and it will improve the pronunciation and reading of the English language in Africa.

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