ENGAGING NORMAL (TECHNICAL) STUDENTS THROUGH RICH TEXTS

1. ENGAGING NORMAL (TECHNICAL) STUDENTS THROUGH RICH TEXTS Jeyalaxmy Ayaduray (ELIS) Caroline Patricia Thomas (Anderson Sec Sch) Zulfikar Ali Bin Said Akbar (DeyiSec Sch)

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • Background • N(T) Pedagogic Framework • Overview of Resource Package • Hands On • Q & A • Evaluation & Close

3. BACKGROUND • profile of students - reluctant readers - disengaged learners • “eye generation” - multi-sensory learning environments incorporating images, sounds and symbols • supplement textbook resources

4. EL SYLLABUS 2010 • Overarching aim of EL teaching and learning in Singapore - to develop “effective language use” • Emphasis of EL Syllabus 2010 N(T) - functional fluency • The EL Syllabus 2010 N(T) identifies specific SSAB/ Items and Structures that should be taught so that pupils can achieve the relevant Learning Outcomes (LO).

5. A PEDAGOGIC FRAMEWORK FOR EL N(T) STUDENTS a(i) Directed Reading/ Listening/ Viewing and Thinking Activity A continuum of learning 4 Post-unit Assessment (more formal, summative) 1 Pre-unit Assessment (needs analysis) 2 Shared Language Experience 3 Production/ Publication/ Representation a(ii) Experience-based Learning small group activities for differentiated learning, b Group/Pair Speaking/ Writing/ Representing To help build confidence before independent work c Guided Speaking/ Writing/ Representing Small group instruction with less proficient learners. Teacher scaffolds with appropriate language items and vocabulary and relevant structure for the types of texts. d Independent Speaking/ Writing/ Representing Explicit Teaching of phonics, vocabulary, and SSAB, items and structures Teacher’s Support and Scaffolding Ongoing Assessment and Feedback, Revisit and Reinforce SSAB, Items and Structures (CPDD, 2010)

6. WHAT ARE RICH TEXTS? • Literary and informational/ functional texts which are well-written and engaging. • Rich in content and concern themselves with a variety of ideas, issues, topics and themes. • Texts can be multimodal. (EL Syllabus 2010)

7. RESOURCES USED • YouTube videos / excerpts of films • Articles (online & print) • Magazines • Brochures

8. RESOURCE PACKAGE ON TRAVEL & HOLIDAYS – OVERVIEW OF A 2-WEEK PLAN

9. RESOURCE PACKAGE ON TRAVEL & HOLIDAYS – OVERVIEW OF A 2-WEEK PLAN

10. Lesson 1: Introduction to Travel and Holidays Duration: 60 mins Summary: In this lesson, students will be introduced to the theme of Travel and Holidays, where they are exposed to international tourism videos, and find out more about travel personalities.Objective: Students to share holiday experiences, and practise: listening and viewing speaking and representing

11. SAMPLE LESSON PLAN

12. SAMPLE WORKSHEET Name: ________________________________ ( ) Class: _______ Date: ___________ Read the following article on Travel Personalities and listen to the podcast. Match the character (A, B, C, D, E, or F) with his/her travel personality. Travel Personalities There are many kinds of travel personalities, and often we’re a bit of a mixture of them ourselves. Still, if you’re planning to journey somewhere it can be good to know what kind of traveller your companion is before you head off together. For instance, do they count every last cent or tend to splurge it all at once? Can they cope with changes to the schedule if the bus or train is late? Do they want to sleep out under the stars or stay in hotels? And finding out your own travel personality might help you in preparing for your next trip too. Do you seek places that are out of the way or prefer to tick off the must see sights of Europe? Do you plan your travel meticulously in advance, work it out as you go along, or prefer to join a guided tour? The Adventurer The adventurer likes “off the beaten” destinations and will often want to exert themselves physically while on holiday. They usually travel more places and more often than anyone else seeking adventure at every turn. In fact non-travel life can be rather boring for the adventurer, and they are always on the lookout for the next trip. The adventurer doesn’t follow rigid schedules, loathes tours and seeks freedom at all costs. They’re happy to sleep pretty much anywhere, love new cultures and people and often act impulsively. If you’re not of the same frame of mind you probably won’t seek the adventurer as a travel companion, but that probably suits the true adventurer quite well; they’re often very happy with their own company exploring new places. Character: ____

13. The Traveller The traveller is not usually a first timer. They’ve been around a bit and done a lot of the sights, but now they want something more. They might branch off into adventurer travel, or seek out opportunities to volunteer, work abroad or simply stay somewhere longer to really get a richer experience of the culture or place. They enjoy the travel part of the journeys they undertake as much as the destination. Character: ____ The Planner The planner will tend to have their itinerary mapped out on an Excel sheet before they depart with every hotel night, travel destination and experience accounted for and marked on a 24 hour time graph. This helps them prepare for travel and gives them a sense of control over unknown destinations. However, planners can get frustrated if the travel doesn’t go according to schedule and often don’t allow time for just sitting in a cafe, being impulsive or staying somewhere another night, if they really love it. They can make good travel companions if you don’t want the hassle of preparing the trip yourself, as you can count on the fact the planner has taken care of it. The planner can be a first time traveller, but they may also just like to be in control over every aspect of their itinerary. Character: ____

14. The Tourist The tourist tends to travel to popular destinations in order to tick off the sights. They will tend to stick to the beaten track and feel happiest amongst the droves all visiting the same places, and then boast about all the places they’ve been to afterwards. They’re likely also to buy t-shirts like “I love NY” and wear them proudly. The good thing about the tourist is they’re usually very happy doing this kind of travel. They’ve got nothing to prove and don’t look down at other tourists, although they may occasionally complain about the crowds. Character: ____ The Relaxer Relaxers don’t really care where they go on holiday they’ve just gone there to chill. These are the kind of people who have worked hard and just want to do nothing when they’re on holiday. They tend to book into a beach resort and not move for the rest of the week. They’ll go out to dinner, perhaps at the same place every night, drink cocktails, maybe go on a day tour, but would be just as happy to stay in bed all morning or sit by the pool or beach the rest of the day. In other words they won’t venture far or fast. If you want this kind of holiday they’re great people to hang out with, otherwise it can be hard to get them moving. Character: ____

15. Frugal Traveller The frugal traveller has saved every last penny to get on their trip and will happily skip a meal and stay in the cheapest places just to make the holiday last a bit longer. This is the kind of travel we’ve all had to do when we were students, but for some it does become a permanent mode of travel. It’s okay to travel with a frugal traveller if you have the same economics, otherwise the disparity can become noticeable. Character: ____ Adapted from http://www.travelwireasia.com/2012/12/what-kind-of-traveller-are-you-6-travel-personalities-unearthed/

16. Name: ________________________________ ( ) Class: _______ Date:___________ • Pre-viewing activity • List 3 things that you know about Australia • _________________________________ • _________________________________ • _________________________________ • Viewing activity • Watch the Tourism Australia video clip and list what you see according to the categories in the table below:

17. Post-viewing activity Have you been to Australia before? If your answer is Yes, would you like to go there again after watching this video? Why? If your answer is No, would you like to go there? Why?

18. WHO AM I AS A TRAVELLER? Individual Work • Listen to the podcast. • Identify the travel personalities and complete the worksheet. Pair Work • Take 2 mins each to share with your partner, your travel personality.

19. Assessment for Learning (AfL) • AfL is concerned with: - gatheringfeedback on learning and teaching, and - using the feedback to make learning more effective and teaching better suited for pupils’needs and abilities.

20. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING (AFL) FRAMEWORK PLAN ASSESSMENTS PROVIDE APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK OR ADVICE COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT PUPILS’ LEARNING MAKE PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENTS (CPDD, 2001)

21. MONITORING STUDENTS’ LEARNING • Feedback from multiple sources - teacher assessment (rubrics, observations, conferencing, questioning) - peer assessment (rubrics, checklists) - self - assessment (rubrics, checklists)

22. RUBRIC FOR PEER ASSESSMENT

23. TERM 3 : SAMPLE LESSON PLAN ON INSPIRATIONAL PERSONALITIES

24. POINTS OF DISCUSSION FOR DEBATE - RIHANNA

25. STUDENTS’ VOICES Enjoyed the debates as well as got to learn how to plan an itinerary for travel. Stories from inspirational characters was motivating. Enjoyed the activities on travel as I got to use ICT. I also learned about the background of famous people.

26. STUDENTS’ VOICES I enjoyed learning more about celebrities like Rihanna. It is different from the usual classroom lessons and I prefer it compared to merely doing classwork and worksheets. Overall, it was more fun to search for information on our own rather than being fed information by the teacher. It was fun to learn more about the lives of celebrities. I really enjoyed doing group work with friends. Learning from each other was more fun than just doing worksheets. We should do more projects like this, and less routine classwork.

27. TEACHERS’ VOICES When I was assigned to teach English to a Secondary 3 NT class, I found it to be very overwhelming initially. This was not due to classroom management issues. I was more worried about creating and conducting interesting and engaging lessons. I wanted to deliver lessonsthat not only could help the students do well in their exams but also provide them with authentic learning experiences that were applicable to their everyday lives. In a way , these lessons helped me to achieve my objectives. The students were very keen and enthusiastic as they could relate to the content that was taught. They also felt a greater sense of ownership of their learning. They were engaged in group discussions or independent work where they had to source for information. Fadzly Samsuri, EL Teacher

28. TEACHERS’ VOICES The use of Justin Bieber was appropriate because they all knew who he was and they enjoyed the video about the baby dropbox to a point that they wanted to keep watching it instead of going for their recess. Mrs. Loy (EL teacher) went through words and phrases that were new to the students and from my observation, in the retelling portion a number of them actually used those words and correctly too! They were very engaged when writing down what they remembered from the story. Some pairs even made it a friendly competition to see who had more details. Venessa Karasu (AED)

29. TEACHERS’ VOICES As a member in the planning committee, I enjoyed the creative and interesting suggestions given by the teachers in the committee as they were the ones directly involved in delivering the lesson prepared for the students. Hence, the ownership and responsibility to create lessons that were engaging for their respective students helped in the smooth planning and creating of resources. It was indeed heartwarming to know that all the teachers were indeed forthcoming in contributing to the development of the resources. Most importantly, our students enjoyed their learning experiences ! Carol (Senior Teacher)

30. TEACHERS’ VOICES Planning the lessons was an exciting task for me as it gave me the opportunity to utilise interesting material such as those that involve travelling and icons of popular culture, into lessons for our students. Observing the classes in progress and seeing how the students were enjoying the learning process also gave me a sense of satisfaction. I had benefited most from the interaction and collaboration with the teachers from other schools, who brought along their valuable experience and varied knowledge and skills sets to each meeting. Ali

31. References • Curriculum Planning & Development Division. (2001). Assessment Guidelines. Singapore: Ministry of Education. • Curriculum Planning & Development Division. (2010). English Language Syllabus 2010: Primary & secondary (Normal Technical). Singapore: Ministry of Education. • Curriculum Planning & Development Division. (2010). Guide to the English Language Syllabus 2010 (Normal Technical).Singapore: Ministry of Education. • Riddle, J. (2009). Engaging the eye generation: Visual literacy strategies for the K-5 classroom. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.