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
Challenges of our time TSA
4
Challenges of our time TSA
5
Problems we face in the school
6
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 action verbs
8
Our plan an integrated approach
9
Readers
The Busy Giant
Winnie and the Cat
10
Language input (1)
Pictures on what Winnie fed the cat in the first
week
Vocab - Days of a week
11
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 __ oclock 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
Reading skills training (1)
13
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
The writing programme model writing as input
Mr. Smiths 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 Spooners 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 Smiths day
Feeling Happy
Time
800 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
The writing programme student work
Were these coherent paragraphs?
21
Our reflections
Were our P2 students able to come up with a
coherent paragraph?
22
rethink what text coherence means in a P2 English
classroom
Main idea gt supporting details
23
Change the design of the task in another classroom
Students were asked to write on the activities on
ONE DAY
24
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 its too early in P2 to arouse
students awareness on text coherence?
27
We teach and we learn
Teachers have different beliefs, past teaching
experience and perception of their students
abilities
28
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!