Content
Part 1 4 periods Part 2 42 periods
3. This module requires that students work in pairs and in small groups. Teachers will need to oversee that the groups are formed appropriately and that they stay on task
4. At the end of the module, students present a selection of their work in a form that is agreed upon between them and the teacher (e.g. a time capsule, an online publication or a newspaper-type publication). Students are also encouraged to reflect on and monitor their own learning progress, and teachers should provide them with feedback and assistance where necessary. For illustration purposes, this scheme of work is developed on the assumption that the final product is a time capsule. Please refer to the Remarks column for Part 1 for more information.
Suggestions on how to cater for students with different needs and paces of learning are indicated by
* in the Remarks column.
Sections which are marked with # in the Focus column contain activities which are either more
demanding or are intended to further enrich students' learning experience. Teachers should use
their discretion as to whether to include or skip these sections, or to replace them with other
appropriate learning activities, based on students' needs and abilities.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 1:
Module introduction
4 periods Lessons 1-4
Students are able to:
• discuss and articulate what popular culture
• demonstrate awareness of what process writing involves
• demonstrate awareness of what will be required for the time capsule
Students complete a popular culture survey.
(The results should be shared during the second period of the class.)
The teacher introduces to students the idea of time capsule and discuss with them what items could be included.
Students review the stages of process writing in order to understand that they will need to carry out a process writing approach in this module.
means
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
^A handout on a popular culture survey
^A handout on the stages of process writing
The module involves assessment of students' performance on the texts they produce for the time capsule as well as assessment carried out through observation of group discussions and presentations to the class.
Teachers need to emphasise at the beginning that the module involves close student interaction with text-types that focus on areas tied to popular culture (e.g. captions, advice columns, advertisements/commercials, reviews), and the creation of a time capsule that contains selected work produced for the module.
Teachers would need to let students know the rationale behind creating the time capsule – to reflect the popular culture of a particular moment and serve as a memory and validation of the students' lives. It also creates a unity amongst the different tasks and keeps students motivated, producing a significant product by the end of the module, as opposed to completing a series of disconnected tasks.
The text-types suggested in this scheme of work should be viewed as illustrations of what are considered suitable for this module. In the first few classes, teachers might want to discuss with students the types of texts to be included in the time capsule and how they may contribute to the collection of different texts they will read and discuss. Students could be referred to local newspapers (e.g. the Young Post
supplement of the South China Morning Post) for a variety of popular culture text-types. A number of these texts can also be found online. (For the first writing task, however, teachers may want to prepare a collection of texts in advance, as there might not be enough time for students to contribute much right away.)
Teachers may also consider adopting the process writing approach as an integral part of this module. As students produce each text, they should be encouraged to undertake a writing process that includes a number of stages. Some of these stages may need to be repeated. For example, after organising their ideas, they may realise that they have not focussed their ideas well enough and that they need to return to that stage of the process again.
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 2:
Examining and producing popular culture texts
42 periods Lessons 5-46
Collection of pictures with captions
6 periods Lessons 5-10
Students are able to:
• identify the content, language structures and features of captions
• produce a collection of photos based on a theme
• write captions that adhere to the typical characteristics of this
• present ideas coherently
Students read examples of photos with captions and identify what the captions say about the person/thing photographed.
Students familiarise themselves with the content, language structures and features of captions.
Students discuss and decide what theme their collection of images should cover and what images be selected for their collection.
Students take or collect pictures, write and edit their captions and give feedback to their group mates.
Students make a group presentation of their collection of photos, with each member talking about his/her contribution and the reasons behind his/her choice of photos for inclusion in the collection.
Comic strips 6 periods Lessons 11-16
Students are able to:
• identify the content, language structures and features of comic strips
• write texts in comic strips that adhere to the typical characteristics of this text-type
• express ideas coherently through written and oral presentations
In groups, students read examples of comic strips with speech bubbles/narration and identify what they tell about the event/story.
Students familiarise themselves with the content, language structures and features of comics.
Students collect and select comic strips and rewrite the speech bubbles/narration to create a new event/story. Students discuss to decide on the theme and plot of their comic strip.
Students make a group presentation of their comic strip, with each member talking about his/her contribution and the reasons behind his/her choice of comic and the new plot.
Students give feedback on the comic strips produced by other groups.
Columns (advice, horoscope, fashion, food, etc.)
8 periods Lessons 17-24
Students are able to:
• identify the content, features, language and structures of advice columns
• discuss what problems are representative of students' age group
• select, organise, and develop content in order to write advice-seeking and advice-giving letters
• write different types of
Students read and identify the characteristics of different types of columns. In groups, they create texts for an advice column and one other type of column of their own choice.
For the advice column:
• Students read advice columns and identify the kind of problems being dealt with.
• They go over the handout on writing advice columns and familiarise themselves with the features and language structures of advice columns.
text-type
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
A collection of photos with captions for students to study and examine
^A handout on writing captions
^A group presentation feedback form
Peer and/or teacher assessment of group presentation
The captions written can be added to the time capsule.
The photos should be about subjects that represent popular culture.
Teachers should remind students that the photos in the collection they compile should be thematically related in order to provide a context for discussion and presentation.
Pictures for the caption-writing activities can be sourced from newspapers and magazines (the online or print edition).
A collection of comic strips for students to read
A handout on writing comic strips
^A group presentation feedback form (used in Lessons 5-10)
Peer and/or teacher assessment of the comic strips
The comic strips can be added to the time capsule.
Teachers can help students to arrive at a common theme on which the plot of their comic strips should be based in order to provide a platform for discussion and make peer
assessment more manageable for students. As an
alternative, to encourage imagination and creativity, students can be asked to create any story with a theme.
Comic strips for classroom activities can be sourced from newspapers/magazines/comic books.
(*For the less able students, teachers may suggest certain themes for them to write their comic strips on, e.g. friendship, school life. They may also consider adopting themes that are being dealt with in other on-going English lessons.)
A collection of column texts for students to read
^A handout on writing advice columns
Peer and/or teacher assessment of discussion on what problems teenagers often encounter and what problems to include in the column
Peer and/or teacher assessment of the letters and the role-play
The advice columns can be added to the time capsule.
Local newspapers (e.g. the South China Morning Post's Young Post supplement) provide a source of teenage angst advice columns written in language suitable for most senior secondary students.
Other types of columns suggested in this scheme of work can be found in the lifestyle section of local
English-language newspapers (e.g. the South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Standard) and magazines (e.g. the Hong Kong Magazine and BC Magazine).
(*As far as other types of columns are concerned, the less able students are likely to need more explicit teaching of the features, vocabulary and language structures involved. The more able students could, on the other hand, be encouraged
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities column texts
• seek and give advice in a role-playing activity
• They then discuss and anticipate the kinds of problems that teenagers often encounter, and then decide on
scenarios that they can use to write an advice-seeking letter and an
advice-giving letter. This will involve note-taking.
• Students write and edit their advice-seeking and advice-giving letters and give feedback to their group mates.
• They role-play the advice-seeking/
advice-giving scenario.
For the other type of column (e.g. horoscope/
food column/fashion column):
• Students identify the content, features, vocabulary and language structures associated with it.
• They discuss and decide on the subject of their selected column.
• They write and edit texts for the column and give feedback to their group mates.
Advertisements and
commercials
10 periods Lessons 25-34
Students are able to:
• identify the content, strategies, language and stylistic features in advertising
• present the findings of an analysis
• produce an advertisement or a commercial
In groups, students examine the content, strategies, language and stylistic features of advertisements/commercials and present their analysis.
Out of class, students individually analyse an advertisement or a commercial.
In groups, students develop an advertisement or a commercial.They then present and/or perform their work to the class.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
to identify more independently such features, vocabulary and language structures.)
The following websites can be consulted for other varieties of columns:
Horoscope
http://horoscopes.astrology.com/
http://www.mysudbury.ca/Kids/Fun/Horoscopes/
YahooligansHoroscope.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/teens/girls/horoscopes/
dailyhoroscopes/index.shtml
http://astrology.gurl.com/horoscopes/dailyteen.html Fashion columns
http://askmen.com/fashion/fashiontip/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3680538.stm http://www.be.young.dsl.pipex.com/fashion/
Food columns
http://www.stayinginshape.com/3osfcorp/libv/h02.shtml http://www.foodvenue.com/food_tips.asp
A collection of advertisements and commercials
^A handout on advertising
strategies, language and features
^A handout on analysing and developing advertisements/
commercials
^A group presentation feedback form (used in Lessons 5-10)
^An advertisement/
commercial feedback form
Peer and/or teacher assessment of students' group presentation Peer and/or teacher assessment of students' discussion in preparation for the written work/
performance
The written work produced and/or the videotape of the performance can be added to the time capsule.
Students should be encouraged to read/view a variety of advertisements/commercials in order to develop the ability to distinguish objective facts from subjective opinion and to write persuasively.
As for the final product for this section:
• Students who prefer to develop an advertisement can be encouraged to include in their draft any graphics that would help the advertisement to make a lasting impression.
• To emphasise oral production, students who choose to develop a commercial can be encouraged to go beyond writing the script by actually performing it. The
performance can be video-taped and the tape put into the time capsule.
(*The less able students could be asked to design/script an advertisement/a commercial based on a model. The more able students should be encouraged to explore and use the resources available to develop an advertisement/a
commercial more independently. They may even be encouraged to include in their advertisement/commercial an element of atmosphere, tone of voice or wordplay, e.g. puns, rhymes, jingles.)
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities
#Reviews (movie, TV show, music, video game)
12 periods Lessons 35-46
Students are able to:
• identify the content, features, language and structures typically found in movie/TV show/music/
video game reviews
• make judgements about movies/TV shows/
music/video games
• justify points of view in writing
• select, create, develop, and organise content for a movie/TV show/music/
video game review
• write a movie/TV show/
music/video game review
In groups, students read and discuss movie/TV show/music/video game reviews.
Students familiarise themselves with the content, features, language and structures typically found in movie/TV show/music/
video game reviews.
Students discuss and decide on what movies/TV shows/music/video games should be reviewed and what judgements to make.
Students write and edit their reviews and give feedback to their group mates.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks
A collection of reviews
^A handout on writing reviews
A group discussion feedback form
Peer and/or teacher assessment of students' discussion in preparation for the written work Peer and/or teacher assessment of the reviews
The reviews can be put into the time capsule.
Teachers might like to exercise their discretion as to whether students can use non-English materials (e.g. Chinese language films, Chinese language TV programmes, Cantonese pop music) as the basis of their reviews. In any case, the reviews have to be written in English.
The reviews can be individual work or group work.
(*For the less able students, the film review can focus on the basic ingredients, such as plot, theme and acting. The more able students may, on the other hand, be asked to write a more elaborate film review covering areas such as photography and sound effects.)
The following websites can be consulted for examples of reviews:
Film reviews
http://www.imdb.co.uk http://www.empireonline.co.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/archive.shtml?film_reviews http://www.filmunlimited.co.uk
http://www.hkfilms.com/?http://hkfilms.com/Reviews.shtml http://www.amazon.co.uk
TV show reviews http://pearl.tvb.com/
Music reviews
http://www.amazon.co.uk http://www.dotmusic.com http://www.tmfhk.com/
Video game reviews http://www.amazon.co.uk
http://www.ota2u.com/review.php?f_type=games http://www.gamerankings.com/
http://www3.cd-wow.com/news_3.php
Focus Suggested Time Allocation
Target Knowledge, Skills
and Attitudes Suggested Activities Part 3:
Compiling and presenting the time capsule
4 periods Lessons 47-50
Students are able to:
• work as a group to select texts to be included in the time capsule
• present the final product
• reflect on the module
Students select the items to be included in their time capsules.
Students present their time capsules to the class.
Students reflect on the module and share their insights and experience with classmates.
Teaching Resources
Suggested Student Work or Activities for Formative
Assessment
Remarks Assessment of the time
capsule produced by each group
Teachers might consider holding a display of the time capsules. Guests could also be invited to bring a sense of occasion/celebration to the end of the module.