Learning and Teaching Process Impact on Learning
(Reading) Students are
provided with the opportunity to
enrich their knowledge about living things, i.e. a praying mantis; and
understand the use of the language item, i.e. using similes “as…as” /
“…like…” to make descriptions, in context.
Integrating the use of the e-version of an information text
“Big Bugs, ‘Bad’ Bugs” to extend students’ learning experience from a textbook unit of General English (G.E.):
G.E.
textbook unit
e-Book
“Big Bugs, ‘Bad’ Bugs”
Purpose To describe the body parts of animals
To describe the features of a praying mantis Language
item Similes “as…as” / “…like…”
Supporting students’ development of reading skills and strategies:
Making use of a graphic organiser to facilitate students’
understanding of the main ideas of the text, e.g.
Students are guided to identify and organise the main ideas of the text, i.e.
features of a praying mantis, using
graphic forms.
Highlighting to students the language focus of the text, i.e.
similes “as…as” / “…like…”, and guiding them to understand the use of the language item in context
Students are guided to understand the language function, i.e. to describe, and how the related language item, i.e.
similes “as…as” /
“…like…”, is used in context.
Drawing students’ attention to the letter-sound relationships of vocabulary such as “praying mantis”, “predator”, “lethal weapons”, to support students in reading aloud unfamiliar words
Students are guided to draw on their prior knowledge and decode unfamiliar words by using knowledge of letter-sound relationships.
Highlighting to students the e-feature “word explanation” to support students in understanding unfamiliar words such as
“camouflage”
Students are guided to make use of the e-feature “word
explanation” to work out the meaning of the unfamiliar word and concept
“camouflage” by referring to the word definition and pictorial clues provided.
Highlighting to students the e-feature “video clip” to support students in understanding the main ideas of the text
Students are guided to make use of the e-feature “video clip” to facilitate their understanding of the main ideas of the text, i.e. the special skills of a praying mantis including
“camouflage” and
“fighting skills”, by referring to the audio and visual clues of the video clips.
(Writing)
Providing students with the opportunity to apply the language item, i.e. similes “as…as” / “…like…”, in context
Engaging students in designing their own monster pet and
writing descriptions about it Students are
engaged in applying the language item in a new context and their understanding of the language function, i.e. to describe, and the related language item, i.e. similes
“as…as” /
“…like…”, is consolidated.
Its head is like a flower. Its feet are as hard as tree branches.
The monster is as cute as a dog.
It is like my friend who always plays with me.
Its eyes are like eggs.
Engaging students in creating an e-book about their written work on monster pets with the help of an app for creating interactive e-books
Students are motivated to
apply their creativity and information technology skills to create an e-book about their own monster pet; and
practise their speaking skills by recording their descriptions of the monster pet and make revision of their audio clips as appropriate.
Some of the activities have been tried out in Lock Tao Secondary School. We thank the school for sharing their experience.
We are grateful to CSI Literacy and Lift Education for their permission to reproduce the images of the interactive e-book “Big Bugs, ‘Bad’ Bugs” (2011) from the CSI Chapters series.
Integrating Technology in English Language Development - Engaging Every Student: “Sports Day” (Primary 4-6)
This example shows how teachers use technology to:
motivate and engage students in learning English;
guide students to develop reading skills through reading and viewing;
help students master the target language items through a task-based approach;
foster collaboration, critical thinking skills, creativity and problem solving skills among students; and
develop students’ positive values and attitudes.
Learning and Teaching Process: Impact on Learning Watching an online video clip
Students
are introduced to an online video clip about the sports day of a pig called “Peppa” and have to complete the task “Help Peppa find a partner for the relay race of the Sports Day” at the end;
watch the first part of the online video clip and answer / respond to the questions about the video clip on a social network platform before the English lesson;
complete an activity sheet in groups by
answering the comprehension and open-ended questions (e.g. What events did the animals take part in? If you are a sports coach, what is the most important thing in a competition?) while watching the second part of the online video clip;
participate in a class discussion and share their ideas with classmates;
Students
are provided with a meaningful purpose for reading and viewing the texts;
develop interest and some understanding of the theme
“sports” through the Flipped Classroom approach;
develop reading / viewing skills for working out the main idea, locating specific information and identifying supporting details in the story through the use of pictorial cues and contextual clues;
develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through participating in open-ended discussions;
participate in an online survey to express their views about one of the characters by casting a vote on the social network platform;
explain and give reasons for their choices by leaving comments on the platform;
respond to one another’s comments online;
watch the third part of the online video clip as an extended activity; and
respond to the question “Why did George cry after the event?”.
enrich their life experience, cultivate positive values and attitudes through thinking from multiple perspectives;
are provided with a clear purpose to communicate with their peers using the social network platform; and
nurture critical thinking skills and reasoning ability through explaining their opinions in an interactive way.
Reading a text in the textbook Students
study the photos of a blog on “Sports Day” and predict the content of the blog;
practise silent reading with teacher support to confirm their prediction;
locate specific information to fill in a fact sheet about the Sports Day; and
respond to some open-ended questions (e.g. If you could add one more event in the Sports Day, what would you add? Why?) by connecting to their personal experiences.
Students
develop the reading skills for making predictions about the text using the pictorials cues and the headings; and
develop critical thinking and problem solving skills by participating in open-ended discussions.
Learning about the forms and use of the target language items at text level
Students
focus on the highlighted sentences in the blog (e.g. “Are you fitter than Zoe?”, “You’re the fastest, Andy.”);
Students
are guided to notice the grammatical patterns of the target language items; and
work in groups and categorise the highlighted sentences in a table based on their forms;
explain and give reasons for the categorisation;
and
are introduced to the form and function of comparative and superlative adjectives with reference to the blog through colour coding (the forms of the adjectives are highlighted in different colours).
develop an awareness of the target language items and the meaning.
Practising and consolidating the forms and use of the target language items in context
Students
work in pairs and help a friend, Jamie, complete the photo captions by identifying the winners on the Sports Day; and
take turns to describe the appearance of the winners in the photos by using adjectives.
Students
develop collaboration and communication skills through participating in an information gap activity;
develop capabilities to use English to seek and provide information through the information gap activity; and
practise and consolidate the form and the use of the target language items by making comparison among winners on the Sports Day.
Using the target language items in a similar but new context
Students
are asked to extend the story of Peppa and help Peppa find a partner for the relay race;
work in groups and discuss the features of one of the four animals using a mind map;
brainstorm the reasons why the animals made the best partner for Peppa in a relay race;
choose one of the animals for Peppa’s team and write the reasons for choosing it;
post the reasons on the social network platform and present them in class; and
are provided with constructive feedback in terms of their creative ideas and appropriate elaboration.
Students
exhibit their critical thinking skills and creativity with the help of mind maps;
improve their speaking skills through expressing their ideas in groups and presenting them in class;
apply and consolidate their understanding of the use of the target language items in context;
and
develop reasoning ability through comparing and evaluating the features of the four animals.
Some of the activities were tried out in Xianggang Putonghua Yanxishe Primary School of Science and Creativity. We thank the school for sharing their experience.