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Can junior primary students go beyond sentence writing in English?
SKH Lui Ming Choi Memorial Primary School
We all want our students to be able to write fluently in English!
Challenges of our time :TSA
Territory-wide System Assessment 2007 Report
Challenges of our time :TSA
Territory-wide System Assessment 2007 Report
Problems we face in the school
Insufficient input
Poor student performance
Students were only ‘robots’ following the teachers’ instructions, in which both parties were not aware of the purpose of the writing tasks
Writing were merely isolated tasks done after each textbook chapters
Example : A P2 module
Key words: honest, helpful, hard-working, funny, polite, rude, tidy and untidy
Key structures:
__ waters the plants every Friday.
__ does not study
Use of Simple Present Tense (3rd person singular verbs)
Use of Simple Present Tense (3rd person singular verbs)
Write an invitation cardWrite an invitation card
Our try-out – the writing programme
Objectives: Write a coherent paragraph a) content - the basic structure that includes the day, the time, the activities done and the feeling
b) Language - Simple Present Tense, days of a week, how to tell the time and action verbs
Level: Primary Two
Module: My Day
Our plan – an integrated approach
Textbook
ReadersReading skills training
Speaking skills training
{INPUT
The writing programme
Vocabulary & language input
Readers
The Busy Giant Winnie and the Cat
Language input (1)
Winnie and the Cat
Match the pictures with the sentences. Fill in the blanks using the correct words
Vocab -
Days of a week
Pictures on w
hat Winnie fed the cat in
the first week
Language input (2)
vocabulary
Sentence structures that students would use in their writing
Sentence structures that students would use in their writing
Examples from a textbook chapter
Key words: get up, brush my teeth, wash my face, go to school, do my homework, have a bath, have a shower, go to bed, have breakfast/lunch/dinner
Key structures:
What time do you/we/I/they get up?
I/We/You/They get up at __ o’clock in the morning/afternoon/night.
What time does he/she get up?
He/She gets up at ____ in the morning/ afternoon/ night.
Reading skills training (1)
Locate specific information
Predict the logical development of the story
Reading skills training (2)
Read textbook p. 40 and circle the best answers.1. Who is the teacher of the English class? a. Eddy b. Candy c. Andy d. Cindy2. Jenny is seven years old. Which class can she join? a. Candy’s craft class b. Computer fun c. Eddy’s English class d. Chess class3. What can the children do in Candy’s craft class? a. eat candies b. make paper plane c. play with animals d. make paper animals
Locate specific information
Problem solving
From speaking to sentence making
Interviewing skills
- Open and close a conversation
- Ask questions and give appropriate responses to the questions
Sentence making
-Recycle the use of 3rd person singular verbs
- familiarize students with the sentence structures in the final production
Activities
The writing programme – model writing as input
5th May, 2007
On Sunday I have singing lessons at four fifteen in the afternoon. I like singing very much. I sing for two hours. After my singing lesson, I feel very tired so I go home and go to bed.
Mr. Smith’s Day
5th May, 2007
On Saturday I go shopping at eight o’ clock in the morning. I go shopping with my mother and sister. I buy some toys so I am very happy. My sister eats an ice cream. It is very yummy!
Miss Spooner’s Day
Reading input – expose students to coherent texts which carry a simple and clear structure and which they would model on in their own writing
When? (day) Main ideaSupportin
g details
feelingsMain idea Supporting details
The writing programme – introduce the structure of a coherent paragraph
Mr Smith’s dayFeeling
Happy
What
Time
1. go shopping with my mother and sister
2. buy some toys
3. my sister eats an ice cream
(5th May, 2007)
8:00 a.m.
DateSaturday
The writing programme – use a mind map to plan their writing
Date
My day
Feeling
What
1. __________________________
2. __________________________
3. __________________________
Time
Same structure with the model writing
The writing programme – use a mind map to plan their writing
Date
My day
Feeling
What
Tick 1 item.
□ 1. visit my grandma / aunt / friends
□ 2. go to the park
□ 3. have _____________ lessons
□ 4.____________________
Time
Cater for learner diversity
The writing programme – students write from their plans
My day__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NOT gap filling
NOT just writing
isolated sentences
NOT merely word
substitution
The writing programme – student work
Were these coherent paragraphs?
My Day
My Day
My Day
My Day
Our reflections
Were our P2 students able to come up with a coherent paragraph?
My day
On Sunday, I have dancing class with my sister at half past three in the afternoon. I go shopping with my family at five in the afternoon. I have drawing class at five thirty in the afternoon. I am very tired.
Student work from Class A
A coherent paragraph?
3 independent
activities done
in a day
Coherence can be thought of as how meanings and sequences of ideas relate to each other. Typical examples would be: general > particular; statement > example; problem > solution; question > answer; claim > counter-claim.
(<http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/bec/bec_preliminary/read_write/about/cohesion_coherence.htm>)
Coherence is crucial to effective writing, it is often considered an abstract, elusive, and controversial concept that is difficult to teach and difficult to learn.
(Connor, 1990 and Connor and Johns,1990)
rethink what text coherence means in a P2 English classroom
Peer lesson observation
Main idea > supporting details
Change the design of the task in another classroom
Students were asked to write on the activities
on ONE DAY
The ‘scope’ was narrowed down to activities done on ONE DAY in
ONE PLACE.
A coherent paragraph?
Any changes in the student work?
On Sundays, I have a party at four fifty in the morning. I play games and eats cakes. I have Tamama toys, Keroro toys, Giroro toys, Kururu toys and Dororo toys. I feel happy.
general (at the party) > specific (activities done in the party)
Our reflection
Were our P2 students aware of the basic structure of a coherent paragraph?
What did the teacher do in the video clip?
Do you think the students were made aware of the basic structure of a coherent paragraph?
Do you think it’s too early in P2 to arouse students’ awareness on text coherence?
Discussion
We teach and we learn
Teachers have different beliefs, past teaching experience and perception of their students’ abilities
Same starting point but different approaches: teacher diversity!
• Peer lesson observation enables
a better understanding of student learning in the writing process
We teach and we learn
Reading aloud of the model and shared writing pieces helped students WRITE!
Students got the opportunity to revisit the sentence patterns they needed for their own writing.
