Authors and page count
Level 1: Katherine Bilsborough, Steve Bilsborough, Jo Cummins, Barbara Mackay, Teresa Payman, Susannah Reed, Jo Ross and Hayley Thomas. 92 pp.
Level 2: Katherine Bilsborough, Steve Bilsborough, Jo Cummins, Barbara Mackay, Teresa Payman and Susannah Reed. 92 pp.
Level 3: Katherine Bilsborough and Steve Bilsborough. 79 pp.
Level 4: Carolyn Wright, Bridget Kelly, Katherine Bilsborough and Steve Bilsborough. 79 pp.
Level 5: Katherine Bilsborough, Steve Bilsborough, Bridget Kelly and Clare Hogg. 71 pp.
I trained as a language teacher for secondary education at the University of East Anglia, England, over 30 years ago, and have been teaching ever since. Around 17 years ago, I started evening classes in a private little language school, where my colleague and I teach English to students ranging from 6 to 80 years old. We usually prepare our own material, which is why I can appreciate the huge amount of work and effort that has gone into designing this course.
The new Oxford series, Planet Pop, for the six levels of primary school. aims at reinforcing what pupils have learnt at school, or simply help them learn more English in a fun way. It looks very appealing, both on paper and on the web, with vibrant colours, a futuristic look, clear language, modern characters young learners can relate to (the first star is a boy who likes social media, and whose superpower is speed typing), and videos of extremely catchy songs to introduce and practise every topic. As a matter of fact, I virtually found myself singing the tunes several days on; the songwriters have really done an excellent job there!
Indeed, afternoon or extra-curricular classes need to offer something different from school, especially for primary school pupils. I remember, nostalgically I must admit, using the OUP series Get Set Go by Cathy Lawday and Liz Driscoll. It was wonderfully clear; each unit focused on a particular topic, whether it was vocabulary or grammar, straight to the point, without distractions, marvellously reinforced by the workbook exercises and games. Most units introduced the topic with a little comic, and the kids absolutely loved listening to it, then reading it out loud themselves: special sound effects included.
Now, although times have changed, the Planet Pop series gives me a similar feeling. The pages of the workbook are not overloaded with information that may take the pupils’ attention away. Again, like its big brother Get Set Go, everything is nice and clear; each skill practised.
For each level of Planet Pop in the web version (very similar activities in the paper version), each unit of the Activity Book consists of four sections: ‘Music Video’, 'Vocabulary Rap’, ‘Grammar Tutorial’, and ‘Karaoke’ plus an extra two sections for the youngest learners in Levels 1 and 2: ‘Conversation practice,’ and ‘Pronunciation guide’. For them, the ‘Conversation practice’ is a little conversation that acts as an introduction to the unit topic, including the most important key words. This can be quite handy when teachers want to act out a dialogue where they have to play two roles, as sometimes pupils may not understand who is who. ‘Pronunciation Guide’ shows a DJ teaching a little robot to pronounce the key words by repeating after him, just like what the little learners will be expected to do.
Then, at all levels, the vocabulary is practised with a variety of games and activities involving all the skills, before watching the star of the show, the icing on the cake: the ‘Music Video’. By this time the children will be familiar with the words, so they should enjoy recognising them, and the cool, modern singing and dancing that will make those words really stick in their heads, and the teacher’s! Finally, the ‘Karaoke’ is wonderful fun, especially for those learners who are interested in actually knowing what they are saying instead of simply reproducing nice sounds...
For instance, for Level 1, Unit 1, the first song is about greetings: subtitles are optional, but easy words and easy choreography to reproduce in class, even with little space! The choreography is not just about moving about: it includes gestures that will enable the pupils to guess the meaning of what they hear. I liked the option of slowing down the video to make the lyrics more understandable, but also the option of speeding it up!
Once the song is clear and memorised, the pupils would possibly be happy to sing it a little faster! Then, the first activity is ideal to make the learners feel confident as they only have to tick which three people appeared in the video. Easy peasy, no previous knowledge of English needed. Then they watch the song again, this time with subtitles, and those who are using a tablet have to choose the missing word among three possibilities in the lyrics. If they didn’t manage the first time, they get another opportunity before moving on to the next activity, which allows them to achieve more little stars for a job well done. I thought that was nice, as not everybody understands what they have to do the very first time, and need a little more time to adapt. I noticed some nice positive praising too, as even if they click on the right word after getting all the other options wrong, they still get half a little star! For little perfectionists, there is also an option of playing again to improve their results. The last screen shows the learner’s final performance in the three activities: it is always nice to see you have done well!
The series of exercises can be done on a tablet or on paper with the Video Activity Book. I imagine most children will be happy to type on a tablet, but I do know some pupils (and parents) prefer the paper version. For them, I liked the option ‘How do you feel’, which asks them to reflect, even if it is just a quick thought, on how well they have grasped what they have just worked on. I also liked the option for ‘Fast finishers’. Although we aim at forming similar ability groups, some children are often keener than others, and finish the work in no time, so I felt relief when I saw that the Planet Pop team had thought about them! From the first level of the series to the sixth one, the ‘Fast finishers’ extra section (several per unit) will be devoured by the high flyers, who I can imagine will only be too happy to push their imagination and skills that bit further, with some more and more challenging tasks, while the slower ones will not get frustrated as they will have complied with the main task everybody has to do. At a higher level, this extra writing task may act as really good preparation for the A1 tests, or even for the KET.
On the teachers’ side, the Teacher’s Book is really well organised, with a little picture of the corresponding activity book page, a lesson plan overview next to it for a quick look, then below a detailed description explaining how to use all the material with dearly beloved flashcards as well. All laid out on one page. I really value that. I remember, as a young teacher, it was sometimes rather daunting to prepare fun, but educational classes, so I think young teachers (or also tired experienced ones!) will appreciate this support.
As expected, the suitability of the level is well-studied and perfectly appropriate. I have seen some textbooks teaching words or phrases like ‘juggle’ before ‘play football/tennis’ for example, but that is not the case here. No nonsense–practical, everyday words, gradually building up from simple and common for everyday survival, to more sophisticated as the children get older, and broaden their own vocabulary.
I can perfectly imagine our pupils following Levels 1 and 2. Levels 3 and 4 may be more challenging for them, but nothing impossible with a little guidance. I liked the discreet introduction to prepositional verbs in Level 4 using animals. Levels 5 and 6 are obviously even more demanding with longer texts and sentences.
All in all, I feel that the Planet Pop series will give the students really good preparation for the Starters, Movers and Flyers exams, and certainly a wonderful basis for the KET exam too. Maybe for the fast finishers, a sample exam of the corresponding course level could be added at the back of the Level 6 book, although maybe that would not match the spirit of the course which focuses on learning a little differently, through fun activities.
I must say that, although we have been working on our own material for years, Planet Pop has been growing on me since I started having a closer look at it. I think it would be the perfect time-saver. It ensures all the important points of vocabulary, grammar, speaking, writing, listening and reading are covered while the videos and songs allow for an educational break in the lesson and make it fun!
Reviewed by
Delphine Fayaud
Freelance teacher
El Espinar, Segovia
