Preparing for the NSS Language Arts Electives

1. Preparing for the NSS Language Arts Electives NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College

2. Popular Culture Poems and Songs Short Stories Drama Language Arts Elective Modules Learning English through……

3. Poems and Songs Knowledge Different types of poems (eg haiku, acrostic, shape poem, sonnet) Poetic features (eg rhyme, rhythm, simile, metaphor, alliteration) Skills Appreciating, responding, Creating, performing Popular Culture Knowledge Pop culture text types (movies, advertisements, comic strips) Features of those text types (language, style, format , target audience, use of images) Skills Responding, creating Presentation skills Cultural knowledge Generic skills Drama Knowledge • Features of a drama script or screenplay • Drama vocabulary (audience, stage, costumes) Skills • Acting skills:- showing feeling with voice, gesture, movement • Team interaction • Writing a script or screenplay Fiction / Short Stories Knowledge • Story elements (eg plot, characters) • Major features (openings, closings, dialogue, creating mood) Skills • Analysing and appreciating stories • Storytelling • Writing stories or completing a given beginning or outline • Character analysis Values and attitudes

4. What are the challenges of the NSS language arts electives? Teachers • lack of expertise or confidence • lack of experience in choosing texts • management of time and other resources • lack of skills and experience • little exposure to authentic imaginative texts • How to start? • How to integrate language arts texts? • How to assess students? Only an “expert” can teach language arts! I never studied Literature in college! Students Language arts texts are too difficult for my students! They can’t write a sentence - how can they write a poem? Curriculum Do we need Literature lessons in S1-3? We can’t spare the time! How do I set the exam?

5. Integrating language arts into the S1-3 curriculum How is your school preparing for the challenges? Curriculum • How to start? • How to integrate language arts texts? • How to assess students? Students • lack of skills and experience • lack of exposure to these texts NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College

6. Lui Kwok Pat Fong College • School background • CMI school • Students are creative and talented but….. • their achievement in English doesn’t match that in other subjects, so….. • enriching the English environment is a high priority for the school

7. How is your school preparing for the challenges? Curriculum • How to start? • How to integrate language arts texts? • How to assess students?

8. How did you start planning the curriculum? Choices Reasons Starting from S1 catches students when they are more open-minded One unit at each level from S1 to S3 was chosen for integrating language arts texts and activities More manageable, and making use of textbook materials Language items from the textbook were combined with language arts texts and skills Some of these units are integrated with the extra-curricular programme • Maximise impact of • teachers’ efforts. • More relevant for • students

9. How were the text types integrated across levels?

10. How did you make connections with the informal curriculum? Extra curricular programme S2 unit is also the project for this level Project work Classroom teaching S1 unit is within the classroom S3 unit is a project and leads to an inter-class competition for English Week

11. S1 Unit on Christmas How did you plan each unit? Cultural knowledge

12. Students also complete a story map with chapter summaries S1 “A Christmas Carol” Activities focus on story elements and describing characters.

13. rhyming poem acrostic shape poem S1 Poems and Songs Students learn about different poetic forms

14. S2 Unit on Superheroes Cultural knowledge Generic skills

15. Spiderman making judgements about characters personal response Students view some clips and make comments about the characters. They review vocabulary for superpowers

16. Students learn the features of comic strips……….

17. …..and trading cards. They create and present their own versions

18. S3 Unit on Healthy Eating Values and attitudes Generic skills An inter-class competition is held in English Week.

19. Features of jingles and slogans Advertising strategies

20. Teachers made use of rubrics shared with students Peer evaluation of presentations was also used Students did self-evaluation How did you assess the students? S3 project assessment rubric S2 peer evaluation S1 self evaluation

21. How is your school preparing for the challenges? Students • lack of skills and experience • lack of exposure to these texts

22. Have students developed language arts knowledge, skills and experience? Students have gained….. experience of a variety of language arts text types knowledge of the features of these text types. relevant skills What other skills have they learned? Generic skills: communication creativity collaboration Language arts texts are too difficult for my students! They lack skills and experience!

23. Language arts texts are too difficult for my students! They can’t write a sentence - how can they write a poem? Can students cope with language arts texts and activities? Students benefit from.. • activities which are motivating and interesting • scaffolding for language support • examples to help generate ideas • choice of how to present the final product

24. Teacher Development & Resource Management SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College How is your school preparing for the challenges? Curriculum  How to start  How to integrate language arts texts  How to assess students Students  lack of skills and experience  think language arts are “irrelevant” Teachers  lack of expertise or confidence  lack of experience in choosing texts  management of time and resources NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College

25. SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College  CMI school  Students: standard is average to below average and lack motivation  English Ts: lack expertise and experience in teaching LA but well aware of the challenges ahead  Move to a new school campus in 2006  more space and better facilities  Application for 3m EEG

26. How did your school decide to work on language arts?

27.     

28. What strategies for teacher development did your school use? • Setting Target(s) Who to do What, Why and When Blue Print & Road Map 2. Building up teachers’ confidence Moving from more familiar to less familiar text types Begin with short stories and add other text types (e.g. drama) gradually Start at S1 and build up year by year • Doing it on a manageable scale  Developing some Ts first who will be trainers for others Involve teachers who are more ready

29. 3.Building up teachers’ capacity to teach LA ~ reviewing the teaching of stories Skills focus - Reading skills like prediction and making inferences Teaching of comprehension and vocabulary Language arts skills and knowledge - Story elements - Story features Teaching of cultural knowledge

30. 4. Learning to choose teaching materials • Level of interest • Level of difficulty • What teaching opportunities avail - language - language arts skills and knowledge - cultural knowledge * What we want students to learn and what objectives we want to achieve

31. Hand in hand, heart to heart, let’s face the NSS challenges ahead 5. Working as a team  collective wisdom and mutual support 6. Collaborating with LLSS  co-planning, lesson demonstration, lesson observation

32. How is your school preparing for the challenges? Teachers  lack of expertise or confidence  lack of experience in choosing texts  management of time and resources  

33. What resources do you have? Community     

34. Teachers  lack of expertise or confidence  lack of experience in choosing texts  management of time and resources curriculum leaders Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

35. Thank you! The End

36. S3 project assessment rubric The packaging is attractive and carefully done. The design is suitable for the target audience. The packaging gives additional information about the product

37. S2 peer evaluation

38. S1 self evaluation form

39. and write their own poems in the form they choose rhyming poem shape poem acrostic S1 Students’ work

40. “No Sweat” slogan and movie “Yellow Power” slogan and movie “No Sweat” storyboard S3 students’ work

41. Trading cards

44. 1 3 2 • Next door there lives a rich man who counts his money all night. ‘I must count my money,’ he says. ‘One, two, three, four, five, …’ • He makes shoes all day, and he sings while he works. • This story is about a shoemaker who lives in a little, old house. He is very poor, but very happy 4 5 6 • ‘Please stop singing. I can’t sleep. Here is a bag of money if you stop’. • ‘Thank you,’ says the shoemaker. • In the morning he goes to bed. But he can’t sleep because the shoemaker sings all day. So, he goes to see the shoemaker. • The shoemaker worries about the money all night. ‘I must hide it under the bed,’ he says. • He goes to bed, but he can’t sleep.

45. 7 9 8 • ‘I must hide the money on the cupboard,’ he says. • He goes to bed, but he can’t sleep. • ‘I must hide the money behind the chair,’ he says. • He goes to bed but he can’t sleep. • ‘I must hide the money in the fridge,’ he says. • He goes to bed, but he can’t sleep. • easy and interesting • - language: present tense, modal “must” • and prepositions of location • - values and attitude • - LA: story map 10 11 12 • The shoemaker is very unhappy. He stops singing. He stops making shoes. • He can’t sleep. • The shoemaker is poor again. He makes shoes all day and he sings while he works. But … he is very happy! • ‘I must give the money back to the rich man,’ he says.

46. The mayor was a fat, proud man but today he was very scared and small. PP: Will you pay mea thousand piecesof gold ? M: If you get rid of the rats, I will pay youfifty thousand piecesof gold. The Pied Piper of Hamelin Reader’s Theatre which involves dramatic reading of the lines of different characters Drama script (new text type) Preparation for drama work next year Easier to manage (focus on saying the lines rather than acting) Making inferences Generic skills PP: Mayor, keep your promise or you will feel sorry. N: The Piper smiled and then he left. M: well, that’s the end of it. N: But do you think that’s really the end? Values & attitudes Making predictions

47. * Jig-saw reading  construct the scenario (communication) * Language  “How + adjective” (expression of feelings) * Values & attitudes ? ? ?

48.  Blues composed by the NET (Song with rhymes)  Aboriginal Dreamtime (Cultural knowledge)  Vocabulary learning  Generic skills (Creativity)

49. Release teachers to attend them Arrange time for them to share what they have learned Free seminars, courses and workshops offered by the EMB, tertiary institutions