Reading across the Curriculum:

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Brieﬁng Session @2 February 2021 Regional NET Coordinating Team

Native-speaking English Teacher Section, EDB

Reading across the Curriculum:

Reading for Breadth and Depth

(Project code: NT0921)

Collaborative Research and Development (“Seed”) Projects for the 2021/22 School Year

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Rundown

Why RaC in the English language classroom

What an RaC project unit looks like Project objectives

Q/A

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Why RaC in the English Language Classroom

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Common phenomena

Inadequate practice in making connections between learning and life experiences

https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/

465e3bc5-6394-4847-8463-fb9e30a47509

English seen as an academic subject

Reading experience limited to the textbook

Motivation to read mostly extrinsic, rather than intrinsic Reading for surface meaning

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Our approach

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to motivate students to read more and

read deeper with a critical eye to explore topics and

relate texts to their daily lives

https://search.creativecommons.org/photos /655bb1a5-a806-4532-8f2b-7dccb9904365

Broaden their knowledge base

Learn to read

Read critically

Appreciate the value of reading and its relevance to daily lives

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RaC in the curriculum documents

Reading across the Curriculum is…

❏ built on the strengths of “Reading to Learn” - one of the updated Four Key Tasks to enrich the school-based English Language curriculum;

❏ an approach that helps students

● relate their learnings and make connections to their daily lives

● establish cross-curricular links, develop their reading proficiency and enhance their interest in reading; and

❏ a platform for cross-curricular collaboration and in support for STEM education.

Curriculum Development Council. (2017). CDC English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 - Secondary 6)

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CDC. (2017). Booklet 6B: Reading to Learn: Towards Reading across the Curriculum. Senior Secondary Curriculum Guide.

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Project Objectives

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Project objectives

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https://search.creativecommons.org/photos /655bb1a5-a806-4532-8f2b-7dccb9904365

They are to:

● enhance English teachers’ understanding of RaC and ability to integrate it into the school-based curriculum;

● develop teachers’ ability to identify, select and use appropriate print and non-print texts of a variety of text types and themes to enhance students’ motivation and conﬁdence in English language learning;

● sharpen teachers’ skills in scaﬀolding their students’ reading, viewing, analysing and responding skills development;

● expand teachers’ ability to design suitable learning, teaching and assessment activities to support students’ reading skills development and to engage them in appreciating the value of cross-curricular reading; and

● develop teachers’ ability to identify opportunities for students to connect their learning in English lessons (e.g. reading strategies and knowledge of topics) to their experiences in real life or learning in other KLAs.

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Research question

❏ What pedagogy could be used in the English classroom to encourage students to read more and explore the

deeper meaning of texts?

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What a Target Project Unit Looks Like

(Co-developed with an RaC project school)

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Carefully selected and well sequenced authentic texts with cross-curricular links

Text 1

Text 2

Text

3 Texts

Text 4

A school sample

Topic

e.g. Healthy Eating

Lesson objectives

(Language/Skills/Values & attitudes)

Content links e.g. healthy eating, nutrients and cooking methods in I.S and H.E.

Language links e.g. procedural texts in I.S and H.E. (recipe and science experiment instructions)

Focus question

e.g. What should be considered when planning a healthy meal?

Meaningful tasks and assessment of/for/as learning

Application of the knowledge, Deeper reading of texts

Relate learnings and connect to daily lives

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Instructional purposes

❖ Broaden students’ knowledge base (From ‘food pyramid’

(familiar) to ‘MyPlate’ (new))

❖

Introduce infographics

❖

Provide language input (e.g. vocabulary of food groups; eat more/less/most/

moderately/a small amount/the least; use sparingly)

Examples of texts (1 & 2): Healthy eating models

13 Text 1

Text 2

Image of the Food Pyramid Source:

https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/90017.html

Image of MyPlate Source:

https://www.center4research.org/myplate-ne w-alternative-food-pyramid/#:~:text=%E2%8 0%9CMyPlate%E2%80%9D%20replaces%

20the%20familiar%20%E2%80%9C,dairy

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❖ Further broaden students’

knowledge base

❖ Provide opportunities for students to apply the knowledge, skills and language learnt

❖ Allow students to explore texts at their own reading levels and of their own Research task

Look up another healthy eating model. How can it be explained?

Examples of tasks (for Texts 1 & 2): Healthy eating models and food groups

Image of the Australian Guide to

Healthy Eating Source:

https://www.eatforh ealth.gov.au/guideli nes/australian-guid e-healthy-eating

Possible healthy eating models submitted by the students:

Image of the Dietary guidelines for

Japanese

Source:

http://www.fao.org/

nutrition/education/

food-dietary-guideli nes/regions/countri es/Japan/en

Image of a simple version of Eat a Rainbow (There are a few

versions.) Source:

https://www.sustainweb.org/re sources/images/eating/Icaneat arainbow_Guernsey.png

Note:

Students look up a generic healthy eating model (e.g. ‘eat the rainbow’), or one of a

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❖ Provide opportunities for students to connect their learning experiences to their daily lives and apply the knowledge, skills and language learnt

15 Application task

Pre-lesson

Post-lesson:

Did you have a healthy diet on that day? Use one of the healthy eating models to help you explain.

Examples of tasks (for Texts 1 & 2): Healthy eating models and food groups

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❖

Engage students in critical reading of texts and raise their awareness of how readers can be inﬂuenced by the language used in a text

❖ Encourage student voices

❖ Provide opportunities for students to connect their learning experiences Critical reading discussions

● What is the source of each text?

● Do you think that the information given is reliable?

Why/Why not?

● What is the purpose of the text?

● According to the websites, which healthy eating model seems better? Why do you think so? (Ss analyse the language used: persuasive writing techniques, e.g.

comparing/contrasting, quoting recent research)

Examples of tasks (for Texts 1 & 2): Healthy eating models and food groups

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❖

Revisit previous learning from other subjects concerned

❖

Provide background reading for the ﬁnal tasks

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Examples of texts (3 & 4) and tasks: Nutrients and cooking methods

Opportunity for cross-curricular

collaboration

Video of How The Six Basic Nutrients Aﬀect Your Body Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=inEPlZZ_SfA

Text 3 Text 4

Online article Easy Cooking Methods Source:

https://www.kids-cooking-activities.com /easy-cooking-methods.html

Flip the classroom to allow students to revisit the background reading at

their own pace

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❖

Broaden students’ knowledge base

❖

Provide background reading for the ﬁnal tasks

❖

Optional: Explore multiple perspectives, an element of critical reading

Examples of texts (5 & 6): Nutrients and cooking methods

Text 5

Online article How Cooking Aﬀects the Nutrient Content of Foods Source:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/c ooking-nutrient-content#cooking-amp- nutrients

Text 6

Video How Does Cooking Aﬀect Nutrition in Food? (What The Science Says) Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoV VNX74E6Y

vs.

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❖ Provide opportunities for students to connect their learning experiences to their daily lives and apply the knowledge, skills and language learnt

19 Application task

Which nutrient(s) did you eat most/least on that day? Was there a dish whose nutrients might have been damaged to a large extent because of the cooking method? How could it be improved to better retain the nutrients?

Examples of tasks (for Texts 3 - 5) and tasks: Nutrients and cooking methods

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Examples of texts (7 - 10) and tasks: Diets for speciﬁc groups of people

Nutrients vegetarians

could be missing

Healthy Foods for Construction Common

Eating Problems in

Eating Well Helps Teens Manage Stress

❖ Further broaden students’

knowledge base

❖

Provide opportunities for students to collaborate, and share the information learnt

Jigsaw reading

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Text 1

Text 2

Text

3 Texts

Text 4

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A school sample

Topic

e.g. Healthy Eating

Language links e.g. procedural textS in I.S and H.E. (recipe and science experiment instructions)

Focus question

Final tasks and assessment of/for/as learning e.g.

(1) Recipe writing

(2) Cooking demonstration with oral presentation

Gradual release of responsibility

Multiple readings/viewings of text

Final tasks and assessment of/for/as learning e.g.

(1) Sample recipes + Answer to the focus question ➨ Recipe writing

(2) YouTube cooking channels + Presentation template ➨ Cooking demonstration with oral presentation

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Text 1

Text 2

Text

3 Texts

Text 4

Unit framework

Topic

e.g. Healthy Eating

Language links e.g. procedural texts in I.S and H.E. (recipe and science experiment instructions)

Final tasks and assessment of/for/as learning

e.g. Gradual release of responsibility

Multiple readings/viewings of text

Focus question

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Features

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❖ Expansion of students’ knowledge base

❖ Opportunities for students to connect their learning experiences and apply the knowledge, skills and language learnt

❖ Foundational literacy with (entry level) critical reading

❖ Multimodal texts and tasks

❖ Diﬀerentiation and student choice

❖ Flexible scope of topic/unit

❖ Opportunity for cross-curricular collaboration

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Thank you!

Chris XAVIER

Regional NET Coordinator 3549 8364

chrisxavier@edb.gov.hk

Eva CHIU

Curriculum Development Oﬃcer 3549 8359

evachiu@edb.gov.hk

Regional NET Coordinating Team Native-speaking English Teacher Section, EDB