Incorporating e-Learning into the Learning and Teaching of
Grammar at Primary Level
English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute Education Bureau
June 2019
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Time Focus 2:00-3:30pm • Warm-up
• An introduction to e-learning in the English classroom and the TPACK model
• Effective grammar learning and teaching
3:30-3:45pm Break
3:45-4:15pm 4:15-4:50pm
• School sharing –
HHCKLA Buddhist Wong Cho Sum School
• Hands-on: Designing effective tasks and activities to facilitate grammar learning and teaching using technology
4:50-5:00pm Q & A
Rundown of Today’s Programme
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Objectives
• To enhance teachers’ knowledge and understanding about the learning and teaching of grammar in context through the use of various e-learning resources in the primary English classroom
• To provide suggestions on how to incorporate e-learning resources to facilitate grammar learning and teaching
• To provide hands-on activities on how to design activities/tasks to enhance the learning and teaching of grammar
• To share school-based practices on the effective use of e- learning tools and resources to facilitate the learning and teaching of grammar
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In groups, discuss and share on the following:
1. How is e-learning implemented in your school?
(e.g. Do you use e-learning resources to supplement your teaching? What do you use? How often do you use them? When do you use them?) 2. What is your school’s practice in grammar teaching?
(e.g. What to teach? How to teach?)
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Warm-up
Literacy Development in the English Classroom
Lifelong learning
Challenges in the 21st
century
The ability to read and write effectively Literacy Development in the English Classroom
Promoting Language across the Curriculum
(LaC)
Promoting Reading across the Curriculum (RaC)
Communicative Functions for General Purposes
Rhetorical Functions for Academic Purposes
Equipping Students with New Literacy
Skills
5 Processing and creating
multimodal texts - audio
- visual - gestural - spatial - linguistic
Major Updates of the ELE KLACG (P1-S6)
6 Integrative Use of Generic Skills
e-Learning & Information Literacy
Values Education Literacy Development
Reading across the Curriculum Learning and Teaching of Text Grammar
ELE KLACG (P1-S6)(2017)
Extending from Assessment for Learning to Assessment as Learning
Catering for the Needs of SEN and Gifted Students in the Mainstream English Classroom
e-Learning refers to an open and flexible learning mode involving the use of the electronic media, including the use of digital resources and communication tools to achieve the learning objectives.
“Pedagogy empowered by digital technology"
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English Language Education KLA Curriculum Guide (P1-S6) 2017, Chapter 1, p.7
Content Knowledge (CK) Technological
Knowledge (TK)
Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(PCK)
Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) Technological
Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)
• Teaching grammar in context
• Exposing learners to authentic language use
• Adopting an inductive approach
• Engaging learners in communicating in the target grammar item and structure for various
communicative purposes
• Meaning-focused activities
• Structure of sentences and syntactic accuracy
• Expressing meaning through the use of grammar
• The impact of grammar on the coherence and structure of a text
• Relationship
between language and context
• Exposure to authentic texts in various modes of representation
• Collaborative problem-solving tasks
• Creation of multimodal texts
Technological Pedagogical Content
Knowledge (TPACK)
contexts 8
Learning and Teaching of Grammar with Technology
http://tpack.org
set the scene and activate students’ prior knowledge
become motivated and connect their own experiences
Providing a context
Teachers Students
expose students to some
language samples to illustrate the forms and use of the target grammar items and structures
gain ideas and notice some
repeated language patterns and how they are used
Learning and Teaching Grammar in Context
Input (content / language)
Learning through
games, activities &
exercises
design information gap activities for students to explore the use of the language items and structures in context and make use of the
exercises to provide opportunities for students to practise and
consolidate the items learnt
gain confidence and internalise the use of the grammar items and structures through the guided/controlled practice
Application
provide a new context for
students to apply the grammar knowledge learnt
apply the grammar knowledge in meaningful contexts, e.g. to solve problems, express views, or
communicate with others 9
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Exposure
Noticing and hypothesising (Re)structuring
Stages involved in the learning of grammar
• Noticing the structure and
being aware of the connections between form and meaning
• Structuring the grammar rule in mind
• Exposing students to the specific language patterns in texts
• Restructuring it and applying it in new contexts/using it naturally
Technology
Technology
Technology
Effective Strategies for Teaching Grammar
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Providing rich language exposure through classroom interaction and the use of spoken and
written texts
Engaging students with the texts or
situations provided meaningfully
Guiding students to notice and identify
the forms and functions of the target grammar
items and structures through
child-appropriate activities
Designing tasks and activities in which students could apply their
language resources and
knowledge of language form
• Noticing an aspect of form is the first stage of learning
• Attention to form is vital
• Learners need to be helped to notice grammatical patterns of the language
• Once noticed, they are more likely to become part of their interlanguage, their internal grammar
• Noticing is an active process: raise awareness of structure, notice connections between form and meaning
• Learners notice: they do not use or manipulate the language themselves at this stage
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Noticing is "an active process in which learners become
aware of structure".
L., Cameron (2001). “Teaching Languages to Young Learners”. Cambridge
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How can we guide students to notice patterns and identify
the form?
Noticing grammar in stories: categorising
• The spider is small.
• The spider is hairy.
• The monkey is furry.
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•is + (adjective) •has + (noun)
• The spider has eight legs.
• The bat has wings.
• The parrot has sharp claws.
• The parrot has a beak.
Exploiting Repetition as a Literary Device
• “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? I see a red bird looking at me. Red Bird, Red Bird, What do you see? I see a yellow duck looking at me. Red Duck, Red Duck …
[Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do you See? by Eric Carle]
• “Oh NO! I can’t stand THIS.” So he got up and went to sleep in Baby Bear’s room…”Oh NO!” said Mr. Bear. “I can’t stand THIS.” So he got up and went to sleep in the living room…”Oh NO!” said Mr. Bear, “I can’t stand
THIS.” So he went off to sleep in the kitchen. “Oh NO,”…
[Peace At Last by Jill Murphy]
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• “My tie is a scarf for a cold giraffe, But look me up and down – I’m the smartest giant in town.”…“My tie is a scarf for a cold giraffe, My shirt’s on a boat as a sail for a goat, But look me up and down – I’m the smartest giant in town.”…”
“My tie is a scarf for a cold giraffe, My shirt’s on a boat as a sail for a goat, My shoe is a house for a little white mouse…”
[The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson]
• I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet.
They sent me a … He was too big. I sent him back. They sent me a …He was too tall. I sent him back. They sent me a … He was too fierce. I sent him back …
[Dear Zoo by Eric Carle]
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Focuses on form, meaning and use
Grammar at text level (not isolated sentences)
Language is contextualised (meaningful and
purposeful)
Opportunities for students to think, e.g. making choices
in form and thinking about the meaning communicated
through those forms Opportunities for
students to experience the process of noticing and hypothesising again
Opportunities for students to use the
language and for (re)structuring
(Re)structuring
activities
Suggestions:
• Design an ebook about the person I admire most
• Design a Lost poster
• Describe my teacher/ parent/
classmate
• Role-play between the monkey and an animal policeman
• Show and tell – my favourite toy
• …
18Can you suggest some (re)structuring activities
for the Monkey Puzzle?
Context
Authentic use of the item Communicative
function Context
Incorporating e-Learning into the Learning and Teaching of Grammar
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Exposure Noticing and
hypothesising (Re)structuring
Teaching grammar in context
Lesson Planning: An Example – Monkey Puzzle
Exposure
Noticing and hypothesising (Re)structuring
• Noticing grammar in the story by categorising/ colour coding
• Providing language exposure through reading the reader of Monkey Puzzle
• Restructuring & applying:
e.g. Write a Lost poster
E-book
App: Padlet
App: Book Creator
Technology:
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Lesson Objective: To use the simple present tense (e.g. is, has, etc.) to talk about what people/animals look like
Characteristics of Quality e-Learning Resources
Involving good models of English use
Supported by teaching approaches based on
sound pedagogical principles
Consisting of user-friendly design, and appropriate
graphics, sound and animation to increase students’ motivation and
support learning
Promoting the integrated use of language skills
Promoting interactive learning by encouraging
student input, allowing students to work at their
own pace and providing feedback to them
“…any use of technology needs to be integrated into your lessons, and it needs to support your language aims. There is clearly no point in using technology for technology’s sake.
Unless it enhances the lesson in some way, don’t use it.”
(Hockley, 2015)
English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6) (CDC, 2017), p.103
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E-
books
Epic
Free Kids Books
Oxford
Owl Bookflix
Storybird
Go to Electronic Resources e- Databases via the HKPL website
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(www.hkpl.gov.hk)
Starfall.com
Voting and interactive
tools
Kahoot
Mentimeter
Online Quiz Creator
Poll
Everywhere Socrative
Zeetings
Nearpod
Quizlet
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Templates / graphic organisers
Coggle Educreations
Popplet
Read Write Think
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ClassTools.net
Bubbl.us
Reference Tools
Flickr
Google images
Google translate
WolframAlpha
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learnersdictionary.com
Web
Blogger 2.0
Edmodo
Facebook Instructables
Youtube
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Creative tools
Book Creator
Draw and Tell
Explain Everything
Glogster
Make Beliefs
Comix
Puppet Pals 2
Story Jumper
Toondoo
Voki
Shadow Puppet
Edu
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Kids Safe Search Engines Ask Zacky
Kiddle
Kid Rex
Kidz Search
Safe Search
Kids
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Specific apps and
websites
Atlas (charts and
data)
My Hong Kong Guide
National Geographic
Kids
News-O- matic
Ocean Park
WWF
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Hands-on: Lesson Planning
In groups, study the textbook unit and design a learning task or activity to help students learn the target language item:
•What is the target language item?
•What are the teaching steps involved?
•What are the e-learning resources/tools that will be used to facilitate learning and teaching?
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Lesson Planning
Exposure
Noticing and hypothesising (Re)structuring
Technology:
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Lesson Objectives:
a
Considerations for Selecting Appropriate e-Learning Resources
the type of text and reading skills we want
to focus on
the interests of the students
the age, ability and readiness of the students
the readiness of the teacher
the school’s technology infrastructure
the budget of the school
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