WRITING
3. Complex sentence structures
4.
Different types of registers/ genres
In both comprehension & production
How can RWaC help alleviate these problems?
An integrating perspective of RWaC
Integrated use of graphic organisers to provide language support at word, phrase, sentence, paragraph and text levels:
Vocabulary building
- Developing mind maps
(1) Generating a list of vocabulary in the same lexical fields
(2) Completing/redeveloping the mind map
(3) How do we sharpen our students’ skills in using mind-mapping or other graphic organisers?
land uses
commercial
residential
e.g. housing estates
e.g.
shopping malls
Other examples of graphic organisers:
12
Helping students express their ideas with language support
progressing from word to sentence or even text level
Main clause, connectives subordinate clause
The candle goes out because the oxygen in the gas jar is used up.
Conditional/ If clause,
(indicating the cause/ condition)
Main clause (indicating the
result/consequence) If there is too much cholesterol in the
blood,
it may deposit on the inner wall of the blood vessels.
Explaining
Conditional (serving the function of explanation)
Sentence-patterns building
- Developing “sentence-making tables”
General noun (a class)
Verb phrase (adverbs)
Number Nouns (referring to groups)
The food substances
are (normally) classified into
seven types.
Classifying
Name of the example
Verb phrase (adverbs)
Noun General noun (the
group that it belongs)
Vinegar is an example of food preservatives.
Exemplifying
Specific term is/ means/
refers to …
General
noun (a class)
Defining relative clause
Ingestion is the process which takes food into the alimentary canal through our mouth.
Defining
Sentence-making tables task: Can you suggest a sentence-making table for ‘Defining’?
Also A is B.
B is called A.
A refers to B.
…
E.g. Timelines for recount texts: to show the
chronological order of events & perhaps their relationship
Can be of different levels of “complexity”
for students with
different ability levels
e.g. only time + events;
time + events + description
e.g. fill in the blank activities; students’
creating their own timeline
1890’s: Expansionist policy of the Meiji government
1894-95: The Sino-Japanese War
- Cause: Liuqiu Affair (1874) - Result: China was defeated;
Japan’s international position was raised
- BUT: Still unable to win equality with the West (e.g.
1895: Triple Intervention)
1904-05: The Russo-Japanese War - Cause: Rivalry in Korea &
Manchuria
- Result: Russia was defeated;
Japan’s could win equality with the West
1914-18: The First World War - Result: Japan tool over
German leasehold in
Shandong and the German colonies in the north Pacific;
forced China to accept the Twenty-one Demands
1919: The Paris Peace Conference - Japan’s war-time gains in China
and the north Pacific were confirmed; the Western Powers respected Japan’s opinions - Japan’s world power status was
recognised 1921-22: The Washington
Conference
- To discuss the problems
brought by Japan’s expansion - Signed some important
agreements and treaties related to Japan
- Japan’s world power status was further strengthened
Text rhetorical structure building by means of different forms of summary graphic organisers
Graphic organisers as
“tasks”!!!
From Reading to Writing Example 1
READING
To read an information report
WRITING
To write a letter to the editor
Level: junior secondary
Theme / Topic: gambling (Liberal Studies) teen problems (English) Genre: information report letter to the editor
RWaC Extension Task: Comprehension and Analysis of Texts
Genre: Letters to the editor
Stage1: Reading comprehension task with items targeting specific reading strategies covered in EDB’s ELE KLA CG and/or tested in HKDSE (esp those higher order ones)
E.g. Read Extension Text 1. How has the Education Bureau’s attitude towards home-schooling changed over the years?
Give evidence from the text to prove it.
E.g. Read Extension Text 2. Decide whether each of the following statement is True, False, or Not Given:
The writer thinks home-schooling should be banned completely.
The writer thinks schools are safer places than homes for children.
The writer thinks child abuse cases are common in Hong Kong.
RWaC Extension Task: Comprehension and Analysis of Texts
Stage 2: Comparing and contrasting texts
Read and compare Text 1 and Text 2. What do they share in common? What are the differences among them? List as many points in the table below as you can. You may find the following prompting questions useful:
Do the two texts…
focus on the same topic? target the same group of
readers? adopt a subjective or objective tone? belong to the same text type?
Similarities among the three texts:
Differences among the three texts:
Text 1 Text 2
Extension Text 1:
Extension Text 2:
Same topic
Same target readers Different genres
Different purposes of writing
Different language styles/formalities Arguments supported by
evidence
What are the grammar
patterns suggesting these?
RWaC Extension Task: Comprehension and Analysis of Texts
Stage 3: Writing a letter to the editor
With reference to the rhetorical structure and language features of letters to the editor analysed, write a letter to the editor in response to either Extension Text 1 or
Extension Text 2. Express and justify your view on home-schooling in Hong Kong.
Potential for developing positive values on the part of the students?
Again, when we go through these suggested activities
Think from the teachers’ perspective:
-What is the activity design?
-What is the purpose of the activity?
-Is there any visible pedagogy to be used with this activity? What do I have to be
explicit?
-How to connect or apply this activity in my daily teaching?
Think from your students’ perspective:
-What do my students have to do?
-Is this activity at the right level for my students?
-How will my students respond to this activity?
Activity Design Purpose Visible pedagogy
Connection
Applying the Reading to Writing Approach to an alternative module
For gifted students / senior form students
Outline of the alternative module:
Reading
Reading an information report
Writing
Writing “personal opinions” in a letter to the editor
Speaking and listening
“Drama-in-education”
From Reading to Writing Example 2
READING
To read a descriptive text
WRITING
To write a recount
Level: junior secondary
Theme / Topic: natural hazards (Geography) natural hazards (English) Genre: information report recount
Materials developed by Dr. Tracy Cheung and Dr Simon Chan, with contributions from Prof. Angel Lin, Dr. Lo Yuen Yi
Discussion and reflection
What do you think of the suggested activities?
Have you identified any strategies / skills used?
Do you think you can apply some of these strategies / skills? Why or why not?
Think from the teachers’
perspective:
-What is the activity design?
-What is the purpose of the activity?
-Is there any visible pedagogy to be used with this activity? What
do I have to be explicit?
-How to connect or apply this activity in my daily teaching?
Think from your students’ perspective:
-What do my students have to do?
-Is this activity at the right level for my
students?
-How will my students respond to this
activity?
Activity Design Purpose Visible pedagogy
Connection
Disclaimer
The material developers and facilitators do not own the respective copyright of the extracts of texts and videos shown. The respective copyrights are owned by the
respective publishers credited in the materials.
Professional Development Programme:
Enriching and Extending Students’
Learning Experiences through Reading and Writing across the Curriculum at the
Secondary Level
Session 4
Dr Simon Chan
ssychan@hku.hk Organised by the INSTEP, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong and
commissioned by the Education Bureau, The Government of the HKSAR
Mini practice
(group discussion & presentation)
Facilitating professional dialogues and reflection in the programme
Examples and demonstrations
Discussions and reflections
Action plans
Sharing and mini-presentations
Mini group presentation (Part A)
• First, form groups of 4-5.
• Next, work with your group mates and design either a lesson plan or a longer term action plan for implementing RWaC.
You have approximately15 minutes to design your plan.
You can use any passages in the examples on our handouts.
Your own ideas are also more than welcome.
You have to plan what to teach and how to teach it.
• Then, each group will have 5 minutes to present your lesson outline to other groups. Other participants please give
constructive feedback.
a suggested planning template to help you brainstorm ideas
a suggested action plan template to help you brainstorm ideas
Other reference materials
Reading skills and strategies in the English Language curriculum in Hong Kong
Writing skills and strategies in the English Language curriculum in Hong Kong
Text types covered in the English Language curriculum in Hong Kong
Some textbook text examples to choose from
Some recommendations for useful references on RWaC
Summary of the Programme
What we have discussed in the workshop
Session 1 to 3 focus on the following issues:
An overview of students’ development of reading and writing skills
The role of reading and writing across the curriculum with reference to the school-based MOI plans in secondary schools
How to motivate students to engage in sustained reading and writing activities
How to promote development of positive values and higher order thinking skills through RWaC
Introduction to genres and fiction and non-fiction text types
Understanding the rhetorical structure of different text types
Selecting texts and genres for reading and writing the curriculum
Considerations when designing reading and writing tasks for RaC and WaC
Introducing the Reading-to-Write Cycle: how to connect reading to writing in the curriculum
Demonstrating the process of how to organize and compose texts of different structures using selected information or data
Modelling teacher talk in Reading-to-Write lessons – mentoring strategies to unpack and re-pack difficult texts
Exploring ways to provide quality feedback to help students improve their written work and design follow-up activities to address the problems identified
Session 4 focus on the following issue(s):
Providing participants with opportunities to design appropriate tasks and activities to help students develop their skills in selecting, extracting, summarising and interpreting relevant information, ideas and views from multiple texts of different types, as well as a possible action plan for them to try out ideas they learnt in the workshop
Disclaimer
The material developers and facilitators do not own the copyrights of the text excerpts shown. The respective copyrights are owned by the respective publishers
credited in the materials.