Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove)

Using readers as the organizing focus for curriculum planning

New Welcome to English Bk 4A Module 1 : Me and my friendsreaders Unit 1 Getting to know you*N-O Spells NO! Unit 2 Good manners Unit 3 Getting fitter (Students write about their Katie, give advice to her and compare themselves with her. Students find out about their family and friends and make comparisons.) Module 2 :Me and my family Unit 4 Record holders *This is my family Unit 5 About my family *Berenstain Bear & too much pressure Unit 6 Every day Unit 7 Lazy Lizzie (Students complete a project on ‘ This is my family ’. Students do a radio play for a scene in ‘ Berenstain Bear ’ ) Module 3:Food and drink Unit 8 Shopping for food Unit 9 Cooking class (This is for self-study as students are very familiar with the module. Students make a dictionary on food.) ‘ Reading to learn ’ culture & rich learning experiences --- +language arts materials Curriculum planning & organization --- thematic modules for integrated work

Module: Me and my family Unit 5: ‘About my family’ Focus: using adverbs of frequency, comparatives & superlatives to describe family members

My father (a given piece of writing for students to model on) Expected product: Modeled writing from workbook R & W How do we mark this piece of work? What are we looking for?

My mother I think my mother is the kindest person in my family. She always helps people. She usually helps with my homework too. (Student A) My sister I think my sister is the most helpful person in the family. She always helps people. She often helps me do my homework too. (Student B) Expected product Modeled writing Students ’ work---the best … - Most words and ideas from the given lists - Standard length and content

My mother I think my mother is the most hard-working person in the family. She always do es the housework. She usually cooks the dinner to for us too. (Student C) My brother I think my brother is the funniest person in the family. He always plays tricks. He often tells me funny jokes with me. (Student D) Expected product Modeled writing Students ’ work---the not so good ones with more mistakes … How big is the difference? What can we expect?

This is my family by GINA and MERCER MAYER Golden Books Publishng Company, Inc. Evidence of learning attitude, writing style, content, feelings, presentation, skills language …… This is my family By GINA & MERCER MAYER

Follow-up task book -develop reading & writing skills, vocabulary repertoire and application of language learnt -develop positive attitudes & values & appreciation for story

Reflection on learning-teaching Reflection on learning-teaching use of various strategies: task-book reading aloud dictation sharing oral presentation…… consolidation sharing support

This is my family Lots of adjectives describing people: active, warm, fun, funny, special, cute, naughty, busy, tired, happy, cheerful, sad, miserable, angry, lucky, lazy, polite, lovely, troublesome, noisy, boring, nice, clever, smart, dynamic, hard-working, careless, careful, silent, neat, greedy, depressing, tired, sleepy, angry, rude, curious, stupid, na ï ve, kind, loving, caring, friendly, helpful, afraid, hardhearted, scared, tricky, serious, stubborn, simple, unreliable, has responsibility, awkward, fierce, lonely, pretty, good-looking, beautiful, handsome, ugly, disapproving, exhausted, interested, problem, strange, shy, dirty, different, good, fat, thin, strong, weak, young, old, Biggest likes: family, baby, sister, toys, pets, doing homework, be a good critter Biggest dislikes: sister hurts my toys, baby cries, help dad do housework, housework, cat Father ’ s job: officer, office worker, manager, clerk, computer operator, boss, owner of factory, writer, typewriter (typist), the story no speak What I love her (mother) most: take care of us, sit up with me when I ’ m sick, make me feel better when I hurt myself, her personality, tolerant, make us cakes Sister ’ s job: student, go to school, no job This is my family Lots of adjectives describing people: active, warm, fun, funny, special, cute, naughty, busy, tired, happy, cheerful, sad, miserable, angry, lucky, lazy, polite, lovely, troublesome, noisy, boring, nice, clever, smart, dynamic, hard-working, careless, careful, silent, neat, greedy, depressing, tired, sleepy, angry, rude, curious, stupid, na ï ve, kind, loving, caring, friendly, helpful, afraid, hardhearted, scared, tricky, serious, stubborn, simple, unreliable, has responsibility, awkward, fierce, lonely, pretty, good-looking, beautiful, handsome, ugly, disapproving, exhausted, interested, problem, strange, shy, dirty, different, good, fat, thin, strong, weak, young, old, Biggest likes: family, baby, sister, toys, pets, doing homework, be a good critter Biggest dislikes: sister hurts my toys, baby cries, help dad do housework, housework, cat Father ’ s job: officer, office worker, manager, clerk, computer operator, boss, owner of factory, writer, typewriter (typist), the story no speak What I love her (mother) most: take care of us, sit up with me when I ’ m sick, make me feel better when I hurt myself, her personality, tolerant, make us cakes Sister ’ s job: student, go to school, no job Summary of vocabulary used & ideas expressed Open-ended tasks diversities: language, skills & attitudes Not to mention the project … Assessment for learning: teachers ’ feedback

Students’ project on ‘My family’ The best work from the same student in the first piece of modeled writing

What evidence of learning can we gather from our students’ projects? How do students perform in general?

Differences between students’ work in modeled writing and project on ‘My family’ design of worksheet/task requirements of conventional worksheet vs project work input & support length, attitude content, feelings, style language use (patterns, vocabulary …..) skills Factors leading to the differences

Do we assess and analyse students’ projects in a different way? How and why?

Very positive attitude taken from Critter

Attitude/ values towards family (copying + enrichment) Strong personal feelings

Strong personal feelings with a sense of humour Writing style

Authentic / purposeful use of target language : ‘ always, sometimes, never ’

What evidence of learning can we find from weaker students’ work? How do we interpret their learning?

Projects from weaker students Simpler sentences and ideas …..

Use of isolated sentences

Use of mind-map and fact file

Feedback on student learning

Catering for learner diversity & promoting learner independence ‘ variation in style and presentation ’

Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove) Assessment Form for English Projects

Impact of reader

Strong personal touch

Impact of reader

Reflection on Reflection on curriculum planning the use of readers the beauty of integration from reading to writing