Secondary Education Curriculum Guide
Booklet 6B
Reading to Learn: Towards Reading across the Curriculum
Prepared by
The Curriculum Development Council Recommended for use in schools by the Education Bureau
HKSARG 2017
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Chapter 6B Reading to Learn: Towards Reading across the Curriculum
This is Part B of Booklet 6, one of the 11 Booklets in the Secondary Education Curriculum Guide. Its contents are as follows:
Contents of Booklet 6B
6B.1 Background 2
6B.2 Purposes of the Booklet 3
6B.3 Objectives of Reading to Learn 4
6B.4 The Way Forward for Reading to Learn 4
6B.4.1 Learning to Read and Reading to Learn 5 6B.4.2 Towards Reading across the Curriculum 9 6B.5 A Whole-school Approach to Promoting Reading across the
Curriculum 11
6B.5.1 The Roles of Different Stakeholders 12 6B.5.2 Mechanism for Collaboration in Reading across the
Curriculum 17
6B.6 Effective Measures to Foster Reading to Learn 18
6B.6.1 Allocating Time for Reading 18
6B.6.2 Creating a Favourable Reading Environment and
Atmosphere 18
6B.6.3 Raising Students’ Reading Interests and Motivation 19 6B.6.4 Providing a Diversified Range of Appropriate Reading
Materials 20
6B.6.5 Providing Opportunities for Reading Strategy
Learning 21
6B.6.6 Making the Most of Technology 22 6B.6.7 Bringing in External Resources 22 6B.6.8 Strengthening Communication and Building a Culture
of Collaboration 23
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6B.7 Expectation on Students 23
6B.7.1 Expected Outcomes for Students 23 6B.7.2 Specific Reading Competencies in the Chinese
Language Education and English Language
Education KLAs 26
6B.7.3 Assessment of Reading Outcomes 27
6B.8 Support for Schools 28
Bibliography 29
6B.1 Background
Since the introduction of the curriculum reform in 2001, Reading to Learn has been actively promoted in schools. The following are some of the good practices widely adopted by schools to promote a reading atmosphere:
- Accord importance to reading in the school development plan;
- Adopt a whole-school approach and enlist parents’ support in promoting reading through home-school co-operation;
- Set aside a morning or afternoon reading session to enable students to read regularly;
- Guide students in developing reading strategies;
- Organise a diversified range of reading activities and reward schemes;
- Use a diversified range of appropriate reading materials;
- Entrust a teacher-librarian with promoting reading; and
- Take part in reading activities organised by the Education Bureau (EDB) and the community, such as “World Book Day Fest”, and paired reading talks and workshops.
In light of the promotion of reading in the curriculum reform and the concerted efforts of the Government, schools and parents in the past ten or more years, there has been significant improvement in Hong Kong students’ reading performance, which is evident in External School Reviews and international assessments such as the Programme for
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International Student Assessment (PISA). Nevertheless, the data has also indicated that there is still room for improvement in students’ motivation and engagement in reading. Effective strategies have to be adopted by schools for increasing students’ interest in reading.
Secondary schools have to build on the groundwork laid by primary schools for promoting Reading to Learn and further motivate students to read a wide range of materials with different themes and text types to broaden their knowledge base and enhance their reading skills. Interesting and meaningful reading activities can also be designed to help students appreciate the value of reading and make reading a lifelong habit. A step towards Reading across the Curriculum (RaC) can help students connect their learning experiences and improve their reading abilities.
Students with these learning experiences are better equipped to meet the academic demands at the senior secondary level.
In addition, by virtue of the rapid development of information technology and continuous extension of the frontiers of knowledge, using information technology to foster interactive learning is a growing trend, which makes digital literacy all the more important. We need to rise to the new challenge of making the most of digital media which provides students with a vast amount of information for effective learning.
The effort to promote Reading to Learn should be sustained in the years ahead, while more emphasis should be put on promoting RaC and effective use of technology.
6B.2 Purposes of the Booklet
To illustrate the rationale behind Reading to Learn and the way forward
To provide a summary of the effective measures adopted by schools to promote Reading to Learn
To give suggestions for setting RaC as a sustainable key task
To introduce strategies to assess students’ progress in Reading to Learn and RaC
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6B.3 Objectives of Reading to Learn
During the process of reading, students should be able to draw upon their prior knowledge, learning experiences and world knowledge so as to gain an in-depth understanding of a text and construct meaning. Through extensive reading, students can connect their experiences and knowledge and achieve the following:
Acquiring, constructing and applying flexibly the knowledge in different areas;
Enhancing the language abilities essential for communication, academic studies and intellectual development;
Developing metacognitive abilities to regulate the reading and learning process;
Unlocking potential and developing thinking and generic skills;
Cultivating a broad spectrum of interests and enhancing their taste and quality of life;
Cultivating their moral and affective qualities to strengthen their sense of responsibility towards self, family, society, the Motherland and the world;
Fostering open-mindedness to accommodate different opinions, views, values and cultures; and
Extending their understanding of life and rising to the challenges in life.
6B.4 The Way Forward for Reading to Learn
To cope with the demands in the digital era and knowledge-based society, students are not only expected to have considerable experiences in and a passion for reading, but also skills to master Reading to Learn, which enhance one’s overall learning capacity. They also need to draw on and make effective use of the multimodal features of e-texts (i.e. sounds, images, videos) as well as the vast amount of information available on the Internet to enhance their understanding of texts and enjoyment of reading.
To equip students well for a dynamically-changing society, we have successfully helped students progress from Learning to Read to Reading to Learn. Various strategies for promoting Reading to Learn such as fostering a culture of reading have been adopted. To further promote reading in the school curriculum at large, it is opportune for secondary schools to extend it to RaC.
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6B.4.1 Learning to Read and Reading to Learn
Reading to Learn builds on Learning to Read and the latter is generally regarded as a means of achieving the former. Yet, the progress from Learning to Read to Reading to Learn is cumulative, rather than linear.
There is considerable overlap between Learning to Read and Reading to Learn, which can be developed in a parallel fashion even at the primary level. When students progress to secondary schools, their reading interests, needs and abilities may vary widely because of their different learning experiences and medium of instruction in schools. Schools can review and adjust the strategies for promoting reading based on students’ needs and previous reading experiences.
Through exposure to a variety of text types and texts of different levels of complexity and on a wide range of topics, students are expected to develop advanced reading skills for general and academic purposes. Activities stimulating critical and creative responses through oral, written and performative means (e.g. role plays, presentations, debates) could be introduced to encourage students to express personal views and communicate knowledge, values and beliefs.
It is advisable for schools to create opportunities for students to experience both Learning to Read and Reading to Learn, and devise a holistic plan to foster a strong reading culture. To this end, students could be encouraged to read texts on various themes and disciplines to extend knowledge and broaden perspectives, laying a firm foundation for self-directed learning.
Students could also be exposed to a wide variety of texts, both in and out of school, to develop their interest in reading.
Reflective Questions
What are the differences between self-directed learning and students’
learning by themselves? What roles do teachers play in them?
How much progress has your school made in promoting Reading to Learn? What is the way forward?
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To help secondary students reap the most benefits from Reading to Learn, we can, in addition to cultivating students’ reading interests, guide students to develop the habit of reading and thinking deep into the texts. In the process of reading, teachers can lead students to dig below the surface, move beyond the literal and find out the message conveyed by the writers through the texts. Teachers can also connect what they read with their personal experiences, learning experiences, as well as knowledge of global issues and events. Just as important is to model different strategies, such as making associations, comparisons and inferences to deepen their understanding of the text and generate new thoughts. Equipped with such reading strategies and habits, secondary students will be empowered to build knowledge and explore topics of interest to them by reading independently.
Figure 6B.1 Effective Reading – Making Connections
“Making Connections” is like building a bridge of knowledge (see Figure 6B.1). It helps students establish all kinds of links between prior and new knowledge while reading. Students can be asked to connect a text with the following for effective reading:
- Personal experiences
Students can be encouraged to relate their previous knowledge and experiences to the text in order to construct meaning.
Example: When reading the book The Art of Being Kind by Stefan Einhorn, students can be guided to draw on their personal experiences on the moral dilemmas they have faced and reflect on the actions taken. Extended discussions can be held for students to
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evaluate the strategies mentioned in the book and suggest other solutions.
- School learning
In the reading process, students can be provided with opportunities to recall or reorganise their learning experiences, with a view to synthesising knowledge across different disciplines and applying it to make inferences and solve problems. This not only reinforces and consolidates their subject knowledge but also extends their learning experiences.
Example 1: When reading biographies of famous people, students can be encouraged to connect the knowledge gained from the books with personalities they have come across in different subjects, such as the historical figures in History, well-known athletes in Physical Education and popular artists in Visual Arts. Students can be led to summarise their success factors, ponder on the way they overcame their difficulties and contemplate how they themselves can achieve success.
Example 2: When reading books related to environmental protection, students can be asked to connect what they have learnt from the books with the knowledge acquired in Geography and Science lessons so as to develop a better understanding of the content. They can then be asked to explore more deeply the themes of the books, and explain the reasons for and practise different ways of protecting the environment.
- Life events and global issues
Extensive reading helps enrich knowledge and broaden perspectives.
With the help of technology, students can access information from around the world conveniently. They can be encouraged to read both printed and electronic materials to widen their horizons. Connecting students’ reading experiences to the world stimulates their thinking and helps them gain insights into the dynamics of global issues.
Example: When reading the news about Malala Yousafzai, an activist for female education and a Nobel Prize winner, students can be asked to connect themselves to global issues such as rights to education and gender equality. They may then reflect on the issue of access to education for women in the local and global contexts.
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Teachers are advised to keep abreast of technological advances to guide students in Learning to Read in the information age. The growing popularity of electronic readers and texts with e-features such as the embedded hyperlinks for ease in navigation and search have brought about changes in students’ reading habits and formed a basis for developing their Reading to Learn abilities. While much importance has been attached to printed texts, teachers are encouraged to guide students on how to make sense of multimodal texts (i.e. with a combination of two or more communication modes such as videos, sounds and images) and respond to them critically, imaginatively and creatively for various purposes. Moreover, the vast amount of information available in the cyberspace underlies the call for learning opportunities to enhance students’ information literacy.
Students should be guided to develop the ability to search for, integrate, interpret and evaluate a wide range of online information, make appropriate judgement on the reliability of the sources and construct new knowledge.
Due emphasis should also be placed on the ethical use of information and respect for intellectual property. Taking into consideration the growing popularity of e-books and the use of information technology to foster interactive learning, we should step up the provision of e-resources, coupled with appropriate instructional practices, and reinforce parents’ role in facilitating e-reading.
Reflective Questions
What kind of learning and teaching activities can be conducted to scaffold students’ abilities to make connections while reading?
What are the criteria for recommending e-books to students?
How much has your school achieved in promoting e-reading? What more could be done to sustain the impact?
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6B.4.2 Towards Reading across the Curriculum
Building on the strengths, including the successful experience in promoting Reading to Learn through cultivating a whole-school reading atmosphere and fostering students’ reading interests and habits, schools are encouraged to attach importance to RaC. Through engaging in purposeful and meaningful reading, students are guided to connect reading texts related to various KLAs with their previous knowledge and life experiences. This approach to developing deep reading among secondary students empowers them to:
acquire and construct new knowledge while broadening their horizons and developing a broad spectrum of interests and abilities; and
extend ideas beyond texts to form new opinions and enhance language learning across different disciplines, leading to improved reading abilities and personal qualities (see Figure 6B.2).
Figure 6B.2 The Objectives of RaC
We can adopt the following strategies to lay the groundwork for promoting RaC:
Enhancing the reading atmosphere on campus
- Providing a favourable reading environment during and outside class
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time to cultivate students’ reading interests and habits;
- Planning a whole-school reading scheme or developing a school-based reading curriculum to enable students to read to learn systematically;
- Providing encouragement to help students gain a sense of achievement and become engaged in reading;
- Recommending quality reading materials to encourage students to read extensively, widen their reading horizons and raise their interest in reading;
- Creating contexts for students to learn, apply, reflect on, consolidate and internalise their reading skills and strategies; and
- Understanding students’ reading interests and habits and making the promotion of RaC an emphasis in the school’s development.
Fostering collaboration among teachers
- Schools can set up a mechanism of collaboration among KLAs to plan the directions for promoting RaC, and forge a consensus on the modes of cross-curricular collaboration (e.g. project learning), goals and expected learning outcomes.
- Different KLA/subject departments can collaborate and arrange a diversified range of reading activities and schemes for students to gain knowledge across disciplines, and apply reading skills and strategies to effectively process a variety of texts and connect their learning experience across KLAs. The following are commonly adopted by schools in promoting RaC:
Different subject departments discuss and decide on the reading skills and strategies to be taught collaboratively, e.g. questioning, skimming, analysing, comparing, summarising and synthesising.
Then, teachers of various subjects provide opportunities for students to learn and apply the reading skills and strategies in processing texts in their subject contexts.
Different subject departments collaborate and set a common theme for reading (which could be accompanied by a sub-theme).
Diversified reading materials are selected and purposeful tasks are designed based on the theme and learning objectives to strengthen students’ understanding of the theme.
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Implementing RaC through project learning provides opportunities for students to read extensively various types of texts, which usually cover the content of different KLAs or subjects. This also enables students to integrate different subject knowledge and construct new knowledge based on their in-depth understanding of the content, present the results of their investigation, as well as communicate ideas and express their personal views.
- Different subject departments can have different emphases when promoting RaC. For instance, the emphases of Science subjects are on enriching students’ science knowledge, encouraging risk-taking and fostering a spirit of exploration through reading books on popular science, whereas the emphases of Chinese Language are on providing support to understand the language features of books on popular science and cultivating in students a sense of benevolence to mankind and the environment.
(For suggestions on ways of engaging various stakeholders in promoting RaC, please refer to Section 6B.5 of this booklet.)
6B.5 A Whole-school Approach to Promoting “Reading across the Curriculum”
Schools generally adopt a whole-school approach to fostering a reading culture and providing students with adequate guidance at different stages of reading skills development to increase their lifelong learning capacity. To step up the promotion of Reading to Learn, schools are advised to make holistic plans to develop students’ reading strategies, strengthen the roles of different stakeholders and develop a flexible mechanism for collaboration so that students are provided with opportunities for engaging in RaC.
Reflective Question
What is the greatest challenge in promoting RaC in your school?
What are the feasible solutions?
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6B.5.1 The Roles of Different Stakeholders
Principals, vice principals, teacher-librarians, curriculum leaders and teachers play a vital role in promoting a reading culture, helping students connect their reading experiences across KLAs and subjects, and developing their self-learning capacity. Research studies have also indicated that the development of students’ reading interests and habits is influenced by their families. Hence, there is a need to strengthen home-school co-operation to cultivate in students an independent reading habit. The roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders are as follows.
6B.5.1.1 Principals/Vice Principals
Set Reading to Learn as a key task of the school and allocate human and financial resources to sustain the achievements made since the start of the Learning to Learn curriculum reform in 2001. A committee could be set up to plan the direction and measures for promoting Reading to Learn, and co-ordinate the input of different KLA/subject departments;
Clarify the roles and duties of each KLA/subject department in promoting Learning to Read and Reading to Learn;
Build a consensus among different KLA/subject departments on the expected learning outcomes for students’ reading development;
Keep abreast of the latest trend in reading, including the use of e-books in the implementation of the school-based reading curriculum;
Strengthen the teacher-librarian’s capacity to co-operate with teachers in organising and co-ordinating activities aimed at promoting RaC and various resource-based programmes, such as projects that aim to strengthen students’
literacy and independent learning skills;
Stay up-to-date with the latest trend in library services and facilitate the promotion of reading through effective use of information resources and technologies;
Take pleasure in reading and be a good role model for both teachers and students by actively sharing their reading experience and taking the lead in promoting reading activities in the school at large; and
Cultivate a reading culture and encourage sharing of reading experience
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among teachers.
6B.5.1.2 Subject Panel Heads
Regard promoting a reading culture, Reading to Learn and RaC as one of the major responsibilities of the subject panel through:
- taking the initiative in exploring and disseminating good practices in promoting Reading to Learn and facilitating RaC;
- collaborating with other KLA/subject departments and the library to promote RaC in the school;
- recommending a variety of quality reading materials to teachers and students for reference and use at different year levels; and
- deploying the panel members to organise meaningful reading activities for the KLA/subject or in collaboration with other KLAs/subjects.
Guide students in exploring topics of interest, setting reading goals, as well as monitoring and reflecting on their reading progress by asking them to keep a reading log and participate in reading circle discussions.
6B.5.1.3 Teacher-librarians
Work collaboratively with subject teachers in procuring library resources according to school-based curriculum focuses, strengthen the coherence between curricular and co-curricular reading, as well as design and organise a diversified range of pleasurable reading activities in collaboration with different KLA/subject departments;
Help students use the library and its resources in ways that are conducive to learning to learn by means of:
- providing access to information through different ways using technologies;
- organising books/e-resources by theme, subject and level of difficulty Reflective Question
How can you collaborate with other KLAs/subjects to promote reading in the school?
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to help students choose materials appropriate to their needs; and
- developing a variety of resource-based learning programmes to enhance students’ independent learning skills.
Understand students’ reading interests and experiences and purchase quality print and non-print resources for reading and viewing, including e-books and documentaries;
Work collaboratively with subject teachers in curriculum planning and teaching to support RaC, and promoting the use of a variety of information sources to facilitate learning and teaching;
Ensure the availability and accessibility of quality resources, for example, by enriching library resources in response to the latest development in reading and the curricula of different KLAs;
Provide KLA/subject departments with statistics/data about students’
reading interests and library reading activities to facilitate planning and development of reading programmes;
Improve the library service in the school to facilitate the implementation of reading-related learning activities by adopting flexible opening hours; and
Facilitate the development of information literacy and keep abreast of the latest development in curriculum and technology.
6B.5.1.4 Teachers
• Regard Reading to Learn as one of their responsibilities to help students learn better through:
- role-modelling of reading widely and effectively with reflections;
- encouraging students to read a wide range of Chinese and English reading materials, and providing them with relevant and interesting quality reading (including e-reading) materials;
- organising a diversified range of reading activities, such as book clubs, book recommendations and reading cafés, for students to share their reading experience and good practices regularly;
- developing students’ information literacy and critical thinking skills by providing opportunities for them to practise Internet search skills to locate necessary reading materials, guiding them to use the materials
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from multiple sources properly and engaging them in reading;
- guiding students to connect their reading to their previous knowledge and experience and understand, reflect on and evaluate materials they have read, and providing opportunities for them to discuss and exchange ideas after reading;
- providing timely feedback and encouragement based on students’
performance in reading; and
- enhancing students’ capacity for self-directed reading.
• [Language teachers] Understand students’ use of reading strategies through communicating with subject teachers and create contexts for students to apply the reading strategies they have learnt; and
• [Content subject teachers] Promote reading in their subjects by encouraging students to read more non-fiction texts including newspapers, magazines and pamphlets.
6B.5.1.5 Parents
• Serve as role models for their children by reading regularly at home;
• Set aside time for independent reading, e.g. half an hour every day;
• Create a home environment conducive to reading, e.g. displaying a variety of reading materials and providing a quiet and comfortable reading environment;
• Give children praise for their reading performance, and encourage them to read and share their reading experiences;
• Recognise reading, including reading e-books, as a form of homework assignment;
• Participate in reading activities organised by the school or the public to Reflective Questions
How can non-language subject teachers further promote Reading to Learn?
What is your role in promoting reading among students?
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learn how to help their children read better;
• Arrange family reading-related activities, e.g. library visits, bookshop visits and authors’ sharing;
• Co-operate with the school in motivating and guiding their children to read extensively to enrich their knowledge and imagination, and improve their language proficiency; and
• Read and explore issues with their children, and help them connect reading with real-life contexts.
6B.5.1.6 Students
• Discover where their reading interests lie and learn to find enjoyment from reading;
• Take the initiative to read extensively and independently;
• Form a reading habit and read persistently and consistently, e.g. setting aside regular reading time;
• Read texts of different contents and genres to broaden their reading interests and horizons, and connect knowledge of different realms to enhance the depth of reading;
• Develop a habit of keeping a reading journal to connect their reading to life experiences and reflect on the reading process;
• Set clear and individualised reading goals and regularly review their reading habits, interests, needs and progress;
• Think critically, discern with discrimination and distinguish facts from opinions when reading, in addition to comprehending the content of and information in the reading materials;
• Visit libraries and bookshops after school and take the initiative to participate in reading-related activities such as reading buddy programmes, reading clubs and library activities to establish a reading community and support other students in reading; and
• Share with others their reading experiences and recommend good books.
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6B.5.2 Mechanism for Collaboration in “Reading across the Curriculum”
To effectively implement RaC, principals, vice principals, subject panel heads and teacher-librarians can play a leading role in setting up a mechanism for collaboration through the following:
• Leading and uniting all the staff in the school to plan holistically for RaC.
The planning should be built on the learning and teaching needs and it is not necessary to restrict the collaboration to specific subjects. Nor is it mandatory to require all subjects to take part in the collaboration;
• Gathering views from different KLA/subject departments and forging a consensus on the direction for RaC, e.g.
- the curriculum development team, the academic committee or the reading committee of the school assesses the school’s needs and different subjects’ direction for development and, through communication, achieves a consensus among different KLA/subject departments in order to formulate the goals for RaC;
- teachers or KLA/subject departments are encouraged to communicate and collaborate with one another and formulate the goals of RaC based on students’ needs or teaching needs with assistance provided by the school’s curriculum development team.
• Co-ordinating the teaching staff for the implementation of a school-based reading scheme or curriculum;
• Setting up a task force to design a curriculum based on the reading goals formulated, co-ordinate efforts in promoting RaC and compile a reading list intended for teachers, students and parents;
• Promoting the effective use of the library and its resources to facilitate the planning and implementation of RaC;
• Seeking the support and co-operation of student bodies (e.g. Student Union/Association, English Club/Society) in organising reading-related activities (e.g. book fair, book talk, reading circle); and
• Reviewing regularly students’ reading effectiveness and providing feedback.
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6B.6 Effective Measures to Foster Reading to Learn
The following measures can be adopted to foster Reading to Learn:
6B.6.1 Allocating Time for Reading
To help students develop reading interests and habits, schools have to:
• ensure that reading skills and strategies are explicitly taught during language lessons and reinforced through application across subjects;
• introduce buddy reading programmes where junior secondary (JS) students read with their senior secondary (SS) counterparts;
• arrange a flexible library schedule based on students’ needs and the library capacity, so that subject teachers can take students to the library during lesson time or co-teach with the teacher-librarian, or students can make use of the relevant resources to engage in meaningful reading activities; and
• make use of the lesson time allocated to cross-KLA activities at the JS level and Other Learning Experiences (OLE) at the senior secondary level, which accounts for 8% and 10-15% of the total lesson time respectively, to develop a reading culture in school. Timetabled periods can be designated for reading (e.g. 30 minutes for Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Sustained Silent Reading (SSR)) to help students form a reading habit and encourage independent reading.
6B.6.2 Creating a Favourable Reading Environment and Atmosphere
Reading ethos can be nurtured through teachers and the principal/vice principal acting as role models. To encourage students to read anytime and anywhere, schools have to provide:
• a cozy and well-equipped library with access to the Internet for online reading;
• reading corners with comfortable seats and a quiet environment;
• facilities to engage students in e-reading anytime and anywhere;
• a wide variety of reading materials accessible to students and parents in different areas of the school, e.g. classrooms, student activity rooms, playgrounds;
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• space around the school for the display of students’ work as well as posters, signs, notices, charts and words of wisdom from famous personalities; and
• a wide range of reading-related activities, e.g. storytelling competitions, reader’s theatre, reading circles, talks by authors, theme-based book exhibitions, online chatroom/social platform for sharing reading experiences.
6B.6.3 Raising Students’ Reading Interests and Motivation
• Enhance students’ reading interests and motivation through acknowledging their reading achievements, and through recording their reading performances and achievements in their report cards or Student Learning Profiles (SLP);
• Trigger students’ intrinsic motivation to read by providing them with adequate opportunities to share and exchange their feelings and ideas gained through the reading process by oral, artistic, written and dramatic means, and to share and exchange ideas on an individual or a group basis, e.g.
reading interflow between teachers and students, book chats among students to share the fun and enjoyment of reading;
• Arrange for a diversified range of reading activities during and outside class time, e.g. book clubs, thematic reading, visits by authors, book recommendations on the Campus TV;
• Choose or recommend appropriate reading materials based on students’
cognitive development;
• Involve students in the selection of library books and the compilation of a list of books to procure;
• Train SS students to be Reading Ambassadors to share with JS students their experiences in reading and the fun derived from it, so as to develop their sense of responsibility and confidence; and
• Give affirmative and constructive feedback on students’ responses to reading materials in order to raise their reading motivation and sustain their drive to read.
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6B.6.4 Providing a Diversified Range of Appropriate Reading Materials
• Create a text-rich environment with ample materials relevant to the school curriculum and appropriate to students’ different cognitive levels, language abilities and interests;
• Provide for students a list for both academic and leisure reading to recommend a wide array of books, articles, leaflets, magazines, journals and websites which are of particular interest to students;
• Make plans for optimising the use of reading resources and available funds;
• Set selection criteria with due regard to the quality of texts and choose reading materials that are well-written and of high quality;
• Allow students to choose reading materials that they like while encouraging them to review and express opinions on the reading materials in terms of quality and usefulness;
• Introduce to the classroom a variety of reading materials to ensure a balance of literary and information-based reading for extending students’ reading horizons; and
• Choose suitable reading materials based on students’ gender, personalities and life experiences to cater for their different reading needs and to raise their interest in reading. For example, schools are encouraged to select a variety of reading materials for students, taking into consideration their cognitive development.
Reflective Question
In the selection of reading materials and organisation of reading activities, does your school cater for learner diversity (e.g. the differences in the reading interests of boys and girls, the learning needs of different students)?
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6B.6.5 Providing Opportunities for Reading Strategy Learning
• Provide students with guidance on reading in a range of subject areas so as to enable students to master different reading strategies:
- Students need to reach a certain level of language ability to read effectively. Chinese Language and English Language teachers can collaborate with the teacher-librarian in teaching reading strategies and enhancing students’ skills in searching for information on the Internet during language lessons and library periods.
- Books related to content subjects, e.g. Mathematics and Science, often contain technical terms and concepts. Students need relevant prior knowledge to enhance their reading effectiveness. Content subject teachers should, therefore, equip students with the related knowledge and reading strategies.
Setting Different Reading Objectives in Different Subjects
It is the responsibility of teachers to provide students with guidance on reading. Through communication and collaboration, different subject departments can set different reading strategies as the learning objectives to help students develop their reading-to-learn abilities:
• In Chinese Language and English Language, students can be guided to learn or apply different strategies to enhance their reading comprehension (e.g. working out the meaning of unfamiliar words, making connections and locating topic sentences).
• In Science, students can be provided with opportunities to apply their reading strategies to comprehend a science text with the aid of diagrams or annotations, organise the vocabulary learnt using their knowledge of word formation and develop their logical thinking.
• In Integrated Humanities, students can be encouraged to read a wide range of materials, including newspapers, magazines and online information, so as to enrich their knowledge and enhance their comprehension skills and multidimensional thinking skills.
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• Create situations for students to reinforce and deepen their application of the reading strategies learnt during the learning process;
• Arrange reading activities through cross-curricular collaboration, so as to enable students to apply the reading strategies learnt in different KLAs and raise their reading effectiveness; and
• Strengthen students’ use of metacognitive reading strategies by developing their ability to select appropriate reading strategies and providing opportunities for them to set reading goals (e.g. setting the number or types of books to be read in a designated period of time) as well as monitor and evaluate their own reading progress (e.g. keeping a journal, using a KWL chart) so that they can become independent readers.
6B.6.6 Making the Most of Technology
• Provide students with hands-on experience to apply technology in learning, including the use of information technology to search for, select and synthesise information;
• Make the most of digital resources and mobile devices to conduct e-reading;
and
• Set up an e-reading platform for students to engage in reading outside school hours and to share their reading experiences with teachers and parents.
6B.6.7 Bringing in External Resources
• Enlist the support of parents in reading activities at school (e.g. conducting sharing on reading tips and experiences, recommending good books, volunteering in reading activities);
• Make use of community resources (e.g. inviting experts from tertiary institutions and professional associations/organisations to conduct training workshops for teachers, students and parents or to be a partner in promoting reading); and
• Make use of the wide range of services offered by public libraries, e.g. block loan service, library guided tours and electronic resources such as e-books and e-database, and encourage students to participate in the activities organised by public libraries, including the Reading Programme for Children and Youth, Hong Kong Public Libraries Reading Clubs and the Hong Kong Literature Festival.
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6B.6.8 Strengthening Communication and Building a Culture of Collaboration
• Make use of different channels of communication, e.g. regular sharing sessions on pedagogy and professional development days, to enable all subject teachers and the teacher-librarian to deliberate on the direction for the whole-school approach to the promotion of reading, and to build consensus to facilitate planning for collaboration; and
• Understand the content, teaching progress and limitations of different subjects through daily exchanges and conversations to explore the need for and feasibility of collaboration, and work out an entry point for cross-curricular collaboration to promote RaC.
6B.7 Expectations on Students
Schools are encouraged to derive a good understanding of how students are progressing towards the intended learning outcomes for reading and what students’
strengths and weaknesses are so as to provide timely and suitable guidance. The table in Section 6B.7.1 illustrates the expected outcomes for students at different stages of reading skills development. Students at the secondary level should be equipped with metacognitive reading strategies, which enable them to think critically about and monitor their reading progress.
6B.7.1 Expected Outcomes for Students
While the majority of secondary students should not be “Beginner Readers”, their reading abilities may vary considerably. With continuous guidance and support, all students are expected to develop gradually from “Emergent Readers” into “Proficient Readers”.
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Areas Beginner Reader Emergent Reader Proficient Reader
Skills and Strategies Learning to
Read and Reading to Learn
Emphasis on Learning to Read
Emphasis on Reading to Learn
Clues used Early attempts to use pictorial and
graphophonic clues for comprehension (English Language in particular)
More integrated use of a variety of clues, including visual, contextual, lexical, syntactic and semantic clues for comprehension
Depth of processing
Reading on the lines (literal reading), reading between the lines
(inferential) and reading beyond the lines
(evaluative), with more emphasis on reading on the lines
Reading on the lines (literal reading), reading between the lines (inferential) and reading beyond the lines (evaluative), with more emphasis on reading between and beyond the lines
Range of text types
Exposure to a smaller range of text types with simpler content and shorter texts, such as rhymes, stories and fables
Exposure to a wider range of text types, including both fiction and non-fiction of an increasing length and
complexity
Use of a variety of reading materials, including literary texts, online encyclopaedias, newspapers and magazines, technical manuals, etc.
Support from teachers and parents
Reading with guidance and support from teachers and parents (through reading to students and reading with students)
Learning to read
independently (i.e. reading by students) with diminishing level of support from teachers and parents and, at the same time, adopting appropriate strategies and pace in
response to different reading texts and tasks
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Metacognition Setting up reading goals with guidance from teachers and parents
Application of metacognitive skills to monitor reading progress
Demonstration of learning outcomes
Expressing and sharing of reading experiences in ways that reflect growth in thinking and understanding
Mainly relaying the content, e.g. retelling stories, drawing pictures
Demonstrate learning not only through relaying the content, but also through explaining concepts and procedures (e.g.
giving a summary or doing a demonstration), evaluating texts (e.g. making a book recommendation or a commentary), synthesising ideas (e.g. taking part in a debate or a discussion forum), and exercising creativity (e.g.
staging a musical play or a drama performance) Being able to connect life
experiences and prior knowledge, and to express personal feelings towards the content of texts
Being able to connect life experiences, learning experiences and social or global issues and incidents, and to form personal views towards texts
Attitude, Motivation and Habit Choosing books Choice of books mainly
made by students with guidance from parents and teachers
Choice of books made by students
Motivation Reading for praise and rewards and broadening knowledge
Self-motivated reading with the desire to gain skills and enjoy reading
Participation in reading
activities
Participation in reading activities arranged by parents or teachers
Voluntary participation in a wide variety of quality reading activities
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Reading habit Engagement in reading at designated time
Engagement in reading at all times
Source of reading materials
Reading materials at the more immediate
environments of home and school libraries
Use of public libraries, Internet resources and other resources available in the community
Reading span Reading for a short time span sporadically
Sustained reading on a regular basis
6B.7.2 Specific Reading Competencies in the Chinese Language Education and English Language Education KLAs
• In both the Chinese Language and English Language curricula, “basic competencies” in the reading domain represent only part of the essential reading skills that secondary students should acquire in relation to the learning targets and objectives set out in the curriculum document for Key Stage 3.
• The “Territory-wide System Assessment” report at Secondary 3 provides information about students’ strengths and weaknesses against specific basic competencies, and helps schools enhance their plans on learning and teaching.
• To facilitate the development of students’ reading skills, schools may also like to make reference to the “Learning Progression Framework for Reading” and related learning and teaching resources. The “Learning Progression Framework for Reading”, which consists of eight attainment milestones of Learning Outcomes, outlines the reading performance (including abilities, strategies, interests, attitudes and habits) and progress of students as they work towards the Learning Targets and Objectives set out in the P1 to S6 curricula. Besides, schools can refer to the
“Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework” to provide scaffolds for non-Chinese speaking students to learn how to read Chinese texts effectively.
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6B.7.3 Assessment of Reading Outcomes
Assessment helps inform teachers as to how much students have learnt, and motivate students to learn when feedback on how to improve is provided.
Students could be given opportunities to reflect on and share their reading experiences with others in various forms of assessment, e.g.
• Ask students to retell the main ideas of a text or make predictions about the plot development in a text. This enables teachers to assess students’
understanding of what they have read, as well as their logical thinking and imagination.
• Get students to discuss and share their views about the issues raised in a text and express their own attitudes and values through teacher-student conferences or reading circles. Students can also be required to complete assignments to demonstrate their abilities to read and process information, and to exhibit their learning.
• Require students to keep reading logs which may contain such items as reading records, reading assignments, ratings of reading materials and reflections, and feedback from teachers, peers and parents. These reading logs enable teachers to find out about students’ reading habits and progress, and to diagnose their reading problems.
• Set questionnaires to find out students’ reading habits at school and at home, and their attitudes towards reading.
• Keep records of students’ participation in reading activities. This provides useful information about students’ reading motivation and interests.
• Examine the class and/or school library loan records, which provide insights into the quantity and types of reading materials borrowed.
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6B.8 Support for Schools
The EDB provides the following online resources to help schools and teachers promote Reading to Learn and RaC:
Annual seminars, workshops and sharing sessions organised for teachers and teacher-librarians;
School Library Services and relevant learning and teaching resources:
http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/resource-support/
sch-lib-services/index.html
Resources on Reading to Learn:
http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/4-key-tasks/readin g-to-learn/index.html
EDB One-stop Portal for Learning and Teaching Resources:
http://www.hkedcity.net/edbosp/
“Seed” Projects on Reading to Learn and Reading across the Curriculum:
https://cd.edb.gov.hk/seed/chi/seed.asp
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Websites
EDB One-stop Portal for Learning & Teaching Resources http://www.hkedcity.net/edbosp/
EDB: Reading to Learn
http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/4-key-tasks/reading-to-lear n/index.html
EDB: School Library Services
http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/resource-support/sch-lib-se rvices/index.html
OECD: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) http://www.pisa.oecd.org
Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong Centre:
“Programme for International Student Assessment”
http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~hkcisa/
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