Exemplar 1: RaC with the use of English textbook texts
3. What does ‘two plus three’ (line 26) refer to? What does it mean to ‘remember two
plus three’?
Reading skills targeted:
• read written language in meaningful chunks
• work out the meaning of an unknown word or
expression by using visual clues, context and knowledge of the world [What clues are there to guess the
meaning of the phrase?]
• understand intention, attitudes and feelings conveyed in a text by recognising features such as the choice and use of language [What does the writer want to do with the use of the expression? Look at the second part of the sentence “… and you will become healthy”] 34
4. Why does the writer present the different food in the form of the ‘food pyramid’?
Reading skills targeted:
• skim a text to obtain a general impression and the gist or main ideas [Which section to be
skimmed?]
• identify details that support the gist or main ideas [What details can we use to infer?]
• work out the meaning of an unknown word or expression by using visual clues, context and
knowledge of the world [Any features of the text can help us here? E.g. pictures?] 35
5. The heading of the text ‘Eat smart, eat healthy’
suggests that the text mainly talks about…
A. eating delicious food B. looking smart
C. doing healthy exercises D. choosing the right food
Reading skills targeted:
• skim a text to obtain a general impression and the gist or main ideas [Any clues for skimming through the text quickly?]
• recognise the format and language features of a variety of text types [How about the sub-headings and
pictures typically found in the leaflet text type?]
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Step 3 (Post-reading):
Engaging the students with a new task in which they recycle their understanding of the content of the textbook text as well as the grammar and vocabulary items they have noticed/the teacher has highlighted during the reading process
RaC across subjects (Example 1 of Part 2 above)
RaC and Reading to write
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An extension to the reading task:
Goal:
• Setting and achieving aims of the writing component of the GE Programme for the school-based English Language curriculum to ensure the development of students’ literacy skills, critical thinking and creativity Means:
• Strategic and complementary use of authentic information texts with reference to students’
learning needs and interests
• Integrating content and language from various
sources of input, using graphic organisers to gather, brainstorm and organise information
Task: You are working in small groups to make some recommendations on some healthy snacks to be sold at the
school’s tuck shop. Read the ‘food labels’ of some snacks and decide which to recommend based on their
health value.
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“Reading
some food labels”
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From Reading to Writing:
Which is healthy/ier?
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Writing some
suggestions for a healthy diet
A Graphic Organiser
“Making suggestions” (oral practice of suggestions written)
- To David? For Ourselves?
For our Class/Schoolmates?
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I should eat less
chocolate because it contains a lot of sugar.
We should eat oatmeal because it contains a lot of dietary fibre.
Tips for developing reading to write tasks:
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• Teachers can use questioning, feedback and graphic organisers to help students process and write information texts.
– Reading different information texts as “input”:
• “Eat Smart, Eat Healthy”
• Different food labels
– Asking them questions to better understand the
“content” of the information texts
– Using graphic organisers to draft / organise ideas for the writing task
Tips for developing reading to write tasks
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• It is important to show students how to use
appropriate formats, conventions and language features in writing information texts
– Writing task: Give suggestions to your friends on buying healthier snacks (chocolate, instant oatmeal, sweet corn).
• Language features:
– The tuck shop should sell ________________. / You should eat ____________.
– You need ___________________.
– More advanced structure: You’d better buy / should eat / need _______________________because ______________________.
Food for thoughts:
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• How can we plan an RaC teaching unit with textbook texts and theme-related information texts in the GE programme and Reading Workshops?
– Material selection
• How can we make good use of the texts to set meaningful reading and writing tasks, i.e. using reading as input for writing?
– Material adaptation
• The end products for RaC activities could be diversified as long as they provide opportunity for students to recycle what they have learnt across KLAs, i.e. apart from writing tasks, the products could be oral presentations,
production of multimodal texts, projects, performance tasks (e.g. dramas and role-play) and so on.
An Overview of ‘Genre and Purpose’
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Text / Activity Text-type Purpose
“Healthy Lunch”
food labels
“Making suggestions”
leaflet
(information report)
to give information
labels
(information report / description)
to give information about food
suggestion to suggest / advise
Selecting textbook materials for RaC
• The topic “healthy diet / lifestyle” is a very popular topic among primary schools /
teachers.
• It offers an entry point for integrating reading activities into the school-based curriculum as well as other KLAs.
• There is a range of extra resources / materials / aids available under this theme.
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Adapting textbook materials for RaC
• The text is chosen not just for its teaching value.
It can demonstrate how some “far-from-perfect”
materials can be adapted for use in the classroom using an RaC approach.
• Many of the available textbooks contain examples of
narratives. Although narratives are common and can be used as a good starting point, students also need to
broaden their exposure to non-fiction texts.
• By including RaC texts and activities, teachers can provide their students with a more balanced ‘language diet’.
• This also allows English teachers to start with something we are (more) familiar with / have to teach and cover, while still engaging students in reading across text-types
and topics. 49