One step further – integrating reading strategies into the curriculum

1. Gladys Wong (EDB) Iris Ng (Pui Tak Canossian Primary School) Germaine Wu (Pui Tak Canossian Primary School) One step further – integrating reading strategies into the curriculum February 28, 2008

2. Planning Implementation The E-P-I-E approach Evaluation

3. 3ERW1-Part 2A 3ERW1-Part 2B How well have our students performed in reading comprehension? 2008-TSA-ENG-P3 Locate specific information Inferencing

4. How well have our students performed in reading comprehension? 2008-TSA-ENG-P6 6ERW1-Part 4 Inferencing Inferencing

5. Students’ performance in TSA (reading)? P3 Students could identify some key words with the help of pictorial cues in a notice ….students were still not capable of identifying key words in longer texts such as stories. Students could identify the main ideas in a comic successfully…. They were still unable to identify main ideas embedded in longer texts such as a postcard. Students could make simple inference with straightforward contextual clues….students were still weak in making inferences in longer texts such as stories and postcards. (TSA report , 2008)

6. Students’ performance in TSA(reading)? P6 …students were, by and large, able to locate information in a chart and extract specific information from texts, …Their skills, however, did not extend to interpreting unfamiliar words or expressions in a context or extracting specific information from longer reading passages. Most students could interpret implied meaning in short, simple reading texts; however almost half the students had difficulty using inference skills to interpret the meaning of a text and deducing main ideas from supporting details. (TSA report , 2008)

7. What are our students’ main problems in reading comprehension? Problems in tackling questions requiring higher order thinking skills Problems in dealing with long texts Have not been ‘taught’ the skills limited vocab no idea as to where and how to look for clues Lack experience or knowledge to interpret and/or infer

8. ＋ Read more ＋ Teach students the required reading strategies What did schools do to tackle the problems? – curriculum level Include a variety of skill questions in daily worksheets and assessment papers Make sure we test what we teach Make sure students read rather than merely ‘look (at)’ or ‘see’ books Make sure we really ‘teach’ the strategies

9. Teacher designs reading comprehension questions • Students answer the questions • If the answer is correct, teacher interprets that students possess the required reading skill. • If the answer is incorrect, teacher explains how the answer can be arrived. ↓ What did schools do to tackle the problems? – learning & teaching Are the teacher aware of the reading skills the questions are testing? It’s possible that students get the right answer by chance. The explanation may not be practical for students because they often do not know where to start tackling the questions. Reading lesson = post-reading question-and-answer sessions (Durkin, 1978-79; Pressley, Wharton-McDonald, Hampston, & Echevarria, 1998) Teaching? Testing?

10. Pui Tak Canossian Primary School’s choice • The reality: • There are so many reading skills students need to learn. • The less able students give in when facing a long text. • Students are too used to direct lifting. • Problems in accommodating the reading skills training Start training the basic steps in tackling reading comprehension questions Design own reading materials – to provide a pedagogical context Begin by teaching the elementary reading skills Integrate reading skills training in the English curriculum

11. Integrate the reading skills training into the English curriculum A P4 example Speaking – discuss the itinerary Reading - Letters to and from the NET; textbook passages b Language forms & functions – use because to give reasons; use ‘would like to ask for and express preferences; add ‘ed’ and ‘ing’ to verbs to form adjectives Module 4 Fantastic Hong Kong Listening – conversation between NET and her brother Writing – reply letter to NET

12. 1st phase of training – walking on two legs Begin with the learning of the elementary reading skills Interpret the given information to solve problems Pronoun reference skills Locate specific information

13. 1st phase of training – walking on two legs Five Magic Steps 1. Read the questions carefully 2. Underline the key words 3. Go back to the passage and find the key words 4. Read one sentence backward and one sentence forward (i.e. the immediate context) 5. Check the MC options

14. Can you see the ‘magic’ of our training? • the steps are explicitly taught • students are required to practice and think aloud the steps • aim for habit formation

15. Students’ attitude towards the training of magic steps Do you think the magic steps can help you tackle reading comprehension questions？ No. of students(% of students) YES 60 (95.23%) NO 3 (4.77%) Do you think you have mastered the magic steps？ Will you use the magic steps to help you tackle the reading comprehension questions in future？

16. Can the students get the correct answers using the magic steps? Teacher used questions to prompt students to think aloud the steps (magic steps) they employed to arrive at the answers

17. Teachers’ Reflections Students can get the correct answers easily for the elementary skills, e.g. locate specific information and pronoun reference skill The training is especially effective in building confidence among the average and less able students. Time consuming but worth devoting time to help students form the habit. The magic steps need to be further developed to help students tackle questions on more advanced reading skills, e.g. inference skills.

18. 2nd phase of training- how can we help our students to develop the higher order thinking skills Inference skills

19. Can our students infer? Who are these people? And what are their relations and relationship? He put down $10.00 at the window. The woman behind the window gave $4.00. The person next to him gave him $3.00, but he gave it back to her. So when they went inside, she bought him a large popcorn. Where were these people? What were they doing? To infer means to read between the lines and use personal experience and knowledge of the world to obtain more information and so form a better picture of the text we are reading.

20. Infer from daily life  Infer from comics  Infer from texts An intensive programme on inferencing skills Suggest five areas to help students infer: people (who), place / context (where), time (when), feeling (how) and ending (what happened) Encourage students to employ personal experience and knowledge of the world to make inferences. All inferences must be supported by evidence found in the pictures and/or texts

21. Infer from comics Part 1

22. Infer from comics

23. Infer from comics Time Students used personal experience and knowledge of the world to infer that the girls could be playing in the afternoon, in summer and on holidays Feeling Students, with support from the pictures, inferred that the girl was lonely (picture 1) and felt painful (picture 2) while the rest of the girls were happy and excited.

24. Infer from comics Part 2

25. Infer from comics Feeling With more information supplied in the speech bubbles, students changed their inferences. They first inferred that the girl was first lonely (picture 1) and felt painful (picture 2). But then they ‘changed’ the girl’s feeling to ‘fun and excited’.

26. Infer from texts A: I think we should bring some snacks to the picnic. B: Yes, I’ll buy potato chips and soft candies….. A: And lots and lots of chocolate … I like chocolate. B: Hey, they are not good for you. See, you are getting so fat!!!! A: You are fat! I’m not! B: But Miss Chan said you were fat yesterday. Fat girl! Fat girl! C: You two are fat! I will only write the healthy snacks I want to bring in the shopping list. D: Have you finished your discussion? Put up your hands if you need more time to discuss. Remember, no Chinese, please.

27. Infer from texts Guess support People (Who are they? What are they?) Infer using personal experience Infer using knowledge of punctuation marks Logical deduction from the text Time (When did the incident happen?) Infer using personal experience

28. Infer from texts Guess support Feeling (How did the people feel?) Interpret the lines and infer from knowledge of the world Logical deduction from the text using knowledge of the world Ending (What will happen?)

29. Infer from texts • X: Hello, how are you? You are new here. You have a nice skin colour. • Y: Oh, thank you. It is brown. But I am yellow inside. What about you? Do you always look that shocking red? I guess you should be green when you are young. • X: Oh, yes, you are right. I am red and round. That’s why people like to mix me in green salad. And they often boil me and you in soup. • Y: Yes, you are right. The cooks in the McDonald’s like to deep fry me and kids like eating me very much. • X: I see. … Do you think it is cold here! • Y: Yes. Because eggs, butter and meat need to stay in a cold place to keep fresh. • (The cook opened the door and took X and some green vegetables out.) • X: I go now. Bye! It’s nice talking to you. • Y: Bye.

30. Some tips to share • The integration of the teaching of reading strategies into the English curriculum does not happen in an accident but the success relies on the concerted effort of the all English teachers and good planning. • Classroom treatment is the key to success. This requires time, patience and good questioning techniques. • Reading skills training can begin earlier in the KS1.