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Lexiconic logophiles at one of Bahrain’s public girls’ schools came together virtually during the pandemic to create a Smart Dictionary.
The audio-visual guide for those hoping to improve their English has more than 9,000 entries and was created during the 2020-21 academic year.
The English Smart Dictionary Project was implemented by Wedad Al Madoob at the Al Safa Primary School for Girls.
The virtual lexicon showcases students’ skills in drawing, arts, short film production, animation and more to define words.
“I wanted to develop my students’ English language skills, and encourage them to connect the information they learn in class with their talents and creativity,” Wedad told GulfWeekly.
“9,000 activities to define more than 250 words were prepared by students. We called it ‘the smart dictionary’ because it differs from a traditional dictionary in explaining the meaning of words.
“For example, when we search for a specific word or sentence in the smart dictionary, you will find students explaining the meaning using their creative talents to define the word in a simple and attractive way.”
Approximately 91 students from Grade 5 participated, choosing to define words using their creative fortes, such as creative writing, acting, drawing, reading out loud, filmmaking and even Arabic calligraphy.
The project was co-ordinated on Padlet. It provides a real-time collaborative web platform in which users can upload, organise and share content on virtual bulletin boards called ‘padlets.’
The project assigned words to activities, like ‘Find Me’, ‘Read Me’, ‘Write me’ and more, and then students were invited to upload their work based on the kind of activity.
Some were as simple as finding illustrative photos for words, while activities like ‘Draw Me’ required students to hand-draw objects to best illustrate words.
Some activities called on students to teach or act out the meanings of words and then upload clips to the ‘Padlet’ platform.
Students used all tools available to them, including PowerPoint, Windows Movie Maker, PowToon to design their submissions.
“It was a fun way for us to stay connected with our teacher despite the pandemic,” added 10-year-old Layal Ebrahim Hujair who lives in A’Ali.
The school is working on collating the entries into a searchable dictionary and hopes to continue this activity in the coming academic year.
Wedad also hopes to create more projects to engage with parents and students, including a ‘Parents’ Academy’ and putting together a ‘Future English’ team to debate how the language is evolving.
“Projects like the smart dictionary employ many digital tools and various educational programmes, so students are encouraged to use the English language with ease and freedom,” she said.
“This increased motivation to learn and enhanced their academic performance. This dictionary is the culmination of students’ creativity and innovation.”
