Can junior primary students go beyond sentence writing in English?

1. Can junior primary students go beyond sentence writing in English? SKH Lui Ming Choi Memorial Primary School

2. We all want our students to be able to write fluently in English!

3. Territory-wide System Assessment 2007 Report Challenges of our time :TSA

4. Territory-wide System Assessment 2007 Report Challenges of our time :TSA

5. Writing were merely isolated tasks done after each textbook chapters Poor student performance Insufficient input Students were only ‘robots’ following the teachers’ instructions, in which both parties were not aware of the purpose of the writing tasks Problems we face in the school

6. Write an invitation card 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)

7. Our try-out – the writing programme Level: Primary Two Module: My Day 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 actionverbs

8. Vocabulary & language input INPUT Textbook { Reading skills training Readers Speaking skills training The writing programme Our plan – an integrated approach

9. Readers The Busy Giant Winnie and the Cat

10. Winnie and the Cat Match the pictures with the sentences. Fill in the blanks using the correct words Language input (1) Pictures on what Winnie fed the cat in the first week Vocab - Days of a week

11. vocabulary Sentence structures that students would use in their writing Language input (2) 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. Sentence structures that students would use in their writing

12. Predict the logical development of the story Locate specific information Reading skills training (1)

13. 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. Cindy 2. 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 class 3. 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 Reading skills training (2)

14. From speaking to sentence making Interviewing skills - Open and close a conversation - Ask questions and give appropriate responses to the questions Activities • Sentence making • Recycle the use of 3rd person singular verbs • familiarize students with the sentence structures in the final production

15. Supporting details Main idea When? (day) Supporting details feelings Main idea The writing programme – model writing as input 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 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. Reading input – expose students to coherent texts which carry a simple and clear structure and which they would model on in their own writing

16. The writing programme – introduce the structure of a coherent paragraph Date Saturday (5th May, 2007) Mr Smith’s day Feeling Happy Time 8:00 a.m. What 1. go shopping with my mother and sister 2. buy some toys 3. my sister eats an ice cream

17. The writing programme – use a mind map to plan their writing Time Date Feeling My day What • __________________________ • __________________________ • __________________________ Same structure with the model writing

18. The writing programme – use a mind map to plan their writing Date Time Feeling My day What Tick  1 item. □ 1. visit my grandma / aunt / friends □ 2. go to the park □ 3. have _____________ lessons □ 4.____________________ Cater for learner diversity

19. The writing programme – students write from their plans My day ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ NOT just writing isolated sentences NOT gap filling NOT merely word substitution

20. My Day My Day My Day My Day The writing programme – student work Were these coherent paragraphs?

21. 3 independent activities done in a day Student work from Class A 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. A coherent paragraph? Our reflections Were our P2 students able to come up with a coherent paragraph?

22. Peer lesson observation • 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) 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>) rethink what text coherence means in a P2 English classroom Main idea > supporting details

23. The ‘scope’ was narrowed down to activities done on ONE DAY in ONE PLACE. Change the design of the task in another classroom Students were asked to write on the activities on ONE DAY

24. general (at the party) > specific (activities done in the party) 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.

25. Our reflection Were our P2 students aware of the basic structure of a coherent paragraph?

26. Discussion 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?

27. Same starting point but different approaches: teacher diversity! We teach and we learn Teachers have different beliefs, past teaching experience and perception of their students’ abilities

28. Students got the opportunity to revisit the sentence patterns they needed for their own writing. We teach and we learn • Peer lesson observation enables a better understanding of student learning in the writing process Reading aloud of the model and shared writing pieces helped students WRITE!