Grant Scheme on Promoting Effective English Language Learning in Primary Schools (PEEGS) School-based Implementation Plan School Name: New Territories Women and Juveniles Welfare Association Limited Leung Sing Tak Primary School (English) Application No.: B (A) General information: 041 (for official use) 1. No. of English teachers in the regular staff establishment (excluding the Native-speaking English Teacher): 15 2. No. of approved classes in the 2017/18 school year: P.1 P.2 P.3 P.4 P.5 P.6 Total No. of approved classes 4 4 4 4 4 4 24 3. No. of operating classes in the 2017/18 school year: (if different from the number of approved classes) No. of operating classes P.1 P.2 P.3 P.4 P.5 P.6 Total 4. Programmes/projects implemented or support service(s) in relation to English Language curriculum received in the past five years: Name of programme/project/ support service Focus(es) of programme/project/ support service External support (if any) Primary Literacy Programme Reading and Writing (PLP-R/W) Learning to Learn English Language Programme (LLELP) P.1 to P.3 Strengthening learners reading and writing skills by engaging them in classroom reading and home reading, as well as follow-up supported writing P.4 and P.5 Developing learners language skills through engaging them in thematic and integrative language learning tasks NET Section of EDB The Hong Kong Council of Early Childhood Education and Services 1
Name of programme/project/ support service Focus(es) of programme/project/ support service External support (if any) Quality Education Fund Thematic Network E-learning Project P.4 Promoting language learning through the use of e-learning tools in the English subject The Chinese University of Hong Kong (B) SWOT Analysis related to the learning and teaching of English: Strengths 1. Our English Panel members are receptive to the education innovations that are beneficial to promoting teaching and learning effectiveness. 2. The English Panel members are accustomed to the strategic language teaching practice of co-planning, co-teaching, as well as the after-lesson evaluation of the co-designed lesson plans and on-site teaching. 3. The students are positive towards the team-taught lessons carried out by Native-speaking English Teachers (NETs) and the school English teachers. Weaknesses 1. Our English teachers of the senior s do not have sufficient exposure to western teaching approaches and knowledge advocated by Native-speaking English teachers, as only the junior students (Primary 1 to 3) had regular NET lessons under PLP-R/W, before the current academic year. 2. The senior students are lacking in an authentic environment to learn and use the target language items communicatively, especially in reading and writing. Opportunities 1. We always value the launching of English learning and teaching initiatives by various education organizations, since they are precious opportunities for the English Panel to bring about a breakthrough in students lukewarm learning attitude and narrowly satisfactory language learning performance. 2. With the collaborative effort of the English Panel members and the education organizations, our school has been benefiting by the EEGS and the non-profit English teaching project: The Quality Education Fund Thematic Network: the E-learning project (organized by the Chinese University) carried out in the past. We look forward to the new language enhancement opportunities granted by PEEGS. Threats 1. There is always a great diversity in learning ability in various s, especially in the senior s. What adds to our worries is that in the recent few years, this learner diversity has been widening, with the performance of the more able students persisting, but that of the less able students worsening. 2
(C) Measure(s) taken through the grant under the English Enhancement Grant Scheme for Primary Schools, if any: (More rows can be added, if needed.) Area(s) of Development Usage(s) of the grant Level Primary Literacy Programme-Reading and Writing (PLP-R/W) To hire a Classroom Assistant (CA) P1 to 3 Learning to Learn English Language Programme (LLELP) to promote the reading and writing competence of senior students and the teaching expertise of their teachers Promote literacy across the curriculum Promote reading and writing Procuring professional services to conduct a two-year training programme for teachers on: a) curriculum Support b) developing school-based curriculum package with listening sheets, parent resource package, teaching materials, resource CDs and TSA type assessment bank Procuring professional services to: a) conduct reading workshops for English Panel members b) develop classroom application strategies with lesson observation & post-observation feedback To purchase: a) printed readers b) reference books for teachers P4 and 5 P1 to 6 P2 to 6 3
(D) Focus(es) of the school s proposed school-based English Language curriculum to be funded under PEEGS Proposed target area(s) of development (Please the appropriate box(es) below) Proposed usage(s) of the Grant (Please the appropriate box(es) below) (Please the appropriate box(es) below) (Please the appropriate box(es) below) Enrich the English language environment in school through - conducting more English language activities*; and - developing more quality English language learning resources for students* Purchase learning and teaching resources Employ a full-time* or part-time* teacher who is proficient in English 2018/19 school year 2019/20 school year P.1 P.2 P.3 P.4 (*Please delete as appropriate) Promote reading* or literacy* across the curriculum in respect of the updated English Language Curriculum (Primary) under Ongoing Renewal of the School Curriculum Focusing, Deepening and Sustaining (*Please delete as appropriate) Enhance e-learning in respect of the updated English Language Curriculum (Primary) under Ongoing Renewal of the School Curriculum Focusing, Deepening and Sustaining Cater for learner diversity with equal emphasis on more able and less able students in respect of the updated English Language Curriculum (Primary) under Ongoing Renewal of the School Curriculum Focusing, Deepening and Sustaining. Employ full-time* or part-time* teaching assistant (*Please delete as appropriate) Procure service for conducting English language activities P.5 P.6 Others, please specify (e.g. P1-3, P5-6): Strengthen assessment literacy in respect of the updated English Language Curriculum (Primary) under Ongoing Renewal of the School Curriculum Focusing, Deepening and Sustaining 4
(E) How to implement the proposed school-based English Language curriculum funded by PEEGS? Proposed school-based English Language curriculum Employing a full-time teacher who is proficient in English to work in collaboration with existing English language teachers in providing students with more opportunities to use English in authentic context for P.1 to P.6, as well as promoting literacy across the curriculum (LaC) and catering for learner diversity with equal emphasis on more able and less able students at P.3 and P.6 I. Purposes of employing the full-time teacher who is proficient in English The full-time teacher who is proficient in English is proposed to be recruited for enriching the English language environment in school at P.1 to P.6; as well as promoting literacy across the curriculum and catering for learner diversity with equal emphasis on more able and less able students at P.3 and P.6. II. Expected qualification of the full-time teacher The full-time teacher who is proficient in English is expected to possess the following: 1) Native-speaking English proficiency; 2) A TEFL/TESL qualification with at least certificate, or an equivalent course of study recognised by EDB; 3) A bachelor s degree in English is preferred; and 4) At least 4 years of primary teaching experience preferred. Through regular co-planning, co-teaching, lesson observation meetings, the school should ensure the existing English teachers would acquire new pedagogical methods to cater for learner diversity and the task-based learning strategy will be tried out for the more able students. Since the additional teacher is also expected to be an experienced native English teacher, the teachers would also be benefited from designing English teaching materials in authentic English context. P.1 to P.6 Promoting LaC and catering for learner diversity at P.3 and P.6: Co-planning, Co-teaching and Lesson observation all year round of 2018/19 P.4 and P.5 after-school classes: Sept 2018 to Jan 2019 (1 st term) Feb to June 2019 (2 nd term) Promoting LaC and catering for learner diversity at P.3 and P.6: 90% of P.3 students can retell the key messages of the PLP-R/W big books and small books for each module. They can finish the arranged learning tasks with the teacher s guidance. 6 sets (1 for each module) of P3 PLP-R/W adapted lesson plans, additional graded vocabulary cards, phonics and game cards will be produced for each module. For learning module in P.6, 8 sets of lesson Promoting LaC and catering for learner diversity at P.3 and P.6: The soft and hard copies of P.3 PLP-R/W modules and P.6 reading and writing plans, as well as the teaching and learning resources will become references for future co-planning and co-teaching. All teaching materials will be adapted and revised for the use in subsequent years. The additional teacher and the class English teachers will be invited to share the good practices and Promoting LaC and catering for learner diversity at P.3 and P.6: To monitor the progress of the initiative The English Panel Chair will attend each co-planning meeting and observe the lessons at least once per module or chapter. The class English teachers will carry out peer lesson observation once per module The additional teacher and class English teachers will reflect on the effectiveness of the co-designed lesson plans and resources during co-planning meetings. Students 5
III. Proposed school-based English Language curriculum Teaching duties of the full-time teacher A. The proposed additional full-time teacher (hereinafter as additional teacher) will co-teach with the existing English teachers in P.3 and P.6. For Primary 3, the additional teacher will co-teach PLP-R/W in P3 with the existing English teachers, as the EDB NET has to shoulder the responsibility for carrying out e-learning in the senior s, in addition to teaching PLP-R/W lessons to Primary 1 and 2 students. The additional teacher who is proficient in English would facilitate the implementation of new school-based initiatives in catering for learner diversity in the in-class teaching for P.3 and P.6 and the after-class lessons for more able and less able students for P.4 and P.5. With the support of the English Panel Chair and the existing English teachers, the additional teacher will carry out the new school-based curriculum initiatives to cater for learner diversity by: 1. Co-designing and co-developing: - For P.3 new graded materials (such as vocabulary cards, phonics and game cards) to cater for learner diversity in the PLPR-W programme - For P.6 in-class teaching of reading and writing, all materials such as reading task sheets, mind-maps and follow-up tasks will be graded and ability-based. - P.4-5 after-school classes for the more able and less able students, task-based learning materials and read to learn materials will be designed and produced. 2. The additional English teacher will co-teach with existing English class teachers and the English teachers in After-school extracurricular activity session for P.1-3 more able students: Sept 2018 to Jan 2019 (1 st term) Feb to June 2019 (2 nd term) After-school speaking workshops for P.6: February to March 2019 plans and accompanying teaching and new graded learning resources (e.g. teaching aids and writing tasks) will be produced (1 set for each module). On students performance: 70 percent of Primary 3 and 6 students will improve their confidence and skills in reading and writing. Reading and writing assessment results of over 40 percent of students at Primary 3 and 6 will improve by 20 percent in one year. On existing English teachers professional enhancement: challenges encountered in the P3 and P6 teaching. Lessons with specific activities will be videotaped for the sharing of good teaching practices among the teachers in the English panel. performance in formative and summative assessments will be discussed during co-planning Meetings 6
charge of the after-school classes to ensure a close collaboration with the whole English panel. of the initiatives: To ensure sustainability, effective knowledge transfer and continuous implementation of the proposed initiatives after the project period. An existing teacher will be selected as Seed teacher to spearhead each proposed initiative. Focuses of classroom teaching in P.3: 80 percent of the participating English teachers will have their reading and writing pedagogy refreshed, enhanced and gained experience in planning lessons in authentic English. The additional teacher will co-teach with existing English teachers six modules of PLP-R/W lessons, with reference to the Teacher s Guides provided in the PLP-R/W resource package. The existing teachers will take up at least half of the teaching. Additional teaching resources such as graded vocabulary cards and graded games cards will be made and used in class. Primary 3 PLP-R/W involves reading Big Books that touch on different Key Learning Areas (KLAs) in a variety of text types, and writing output of the same text types. In other words, it involves literacy across the curriculum. For instance, students are guided to complete writing a comic and a recount with the learning focuses of General Studies such as in the modules The Pirate and the Bun Festival and Green Earth Project Week. To cater for learner diversity, a variety of teaching strategies, with differentiated teaching and learning resources will be used in the following areas: In phonics learning, for example, the blending concept will be illustrated in three stages, which are in 7
increasing s of concreteness, to help students of varied comprehension power to understand the blending. Students will be supported with differentiated instructions and teaching strategies such as ability-grouping. During shared reading, the existing English teachers and the additional teacher can raise questions of various s of difficulty so that students can respond to them with reference to their language abilities. The less able students will be given straightforward questions such as What can you see? and What are the people doing? For the more able students, teachers will engage them with higher-order questions and allow them to express their views in comprehensible English. The guided reading and guided writing activities involve arrangements that cater to learner diversity. In guided reading, small storybooks with three s of difficulty are assigned to students according to their reading abilities. Students, in different ability-grouping, are guided to read the storybooks with the existing English teacher and the additional teacher. In the guided writing lessons, the existing English teacher and the additional teacher will first analyze students major writing mistakes which reflect their writing ability. Then students, being grouped according to the error types they made will be assigned to the class English teacher, the full-time teacher, or the Classroom Assistant (CA). Different writing tasks will be assigned while teachers will use different strategies to help students to write and complete their self-editing. Focuses of classroom teaching in P.6: The additional teacher will co-plan and co-teach the reading and writing sections arranged in each textbook chapter with the existing English teachers. 8
The core learning of P6 also involves reading texts with a variety of themes and text types. The reading texts are thematically linked to the core curriculum and those of other KLAs. Examples of topics like Save our Earth and Problems around the world from General Studies, as well as Noah s Space Ark from Bible Studies. Printed readers purchased using the English Enhancement Grant (EEGS) which are linked to the text types introduced will be used during or after the learning of the target language items. The books will then be read by the students at home. Reading records will be used to monitor students progress of reading. Students will be guided to complete a writing assignment with related theme and text type. The tentative modules, themes, text types and expected writing output are tabled as below: Modules/themes 1 st term Changes Text types and expected writing output Narrative and news reports Personal description (Write about one s dream job) Caring for others Language arts People and places around the world Informational reports and formal letters Formal letter writing (Write a letter to the principal about raising money for charity) Film reviews and book reports Write a film review or a book report Poems Write a poem about one s favourite festival 9
2 nd term Language arts Taking care of the Earth Changes Connecting with other people Fables and riddles Write a story or some riddles Poems and plays Write a poem or a play emphasising the importance of saving endangered animals Personal recounts Write about some memorable experiences Songs and messages Write a farewell speech. During co-teaching, the existing English teachers and the additional teacher will guide students to plan and write each piece by following the process writing procedures, that involve brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. First, the teachers will demonstrate how to follow the five process writing procedures by finishing a piece of class writing. During the process, the teachers will stimulate students to brainstorm ideas on the topic. Then, they will guide students to write sentences. In this way, students will be shown how to use the target sentence structures, language items and text type features from the text they have read. Second, the teachers will instruct students to divide into groups and to write on a topic. In the course of group writing, members in each group have to work collaboratively and follow the five process writing procedures as illustrated during the completion of the class 10
writing. Finally, individual students have to write on a similar topic by themselves. With the class writing and group writing experiences, average students can follow the five process writing procedure and finish their individual writing. To cater for learner diversity, the following strategies will be adopted: 1) Input: The proposed additional teacher and the existing English teachers can address the different reading needs of the more able students and less able students through adopting reading materials of varied s of difficulty, carrying out flexible reading teaching strategies and assigning ability-based follow-up reading tasks. Regarding the adoption of differentiated reading materials, the more able readers can read more multi-modal texts and EEGS readers, whereas the less able students can read the shortened version collaboratively designed by the existing English teacher and the additional teacher. 2) Preparation: Before the reading lessons, the teachers (the proposed additional teacher and the existing English teachers) will ask all students to look up the meanings of vocabulary items, comment on their favourite characters or note down the key issue(s) of the text. Weak learners will be provided with content and language support. 3) Grouping: In class, students will be grouped accordingly to their abilities. The more able students will be guided to locate the details of the key events of the text by discussing with 11
fellow students. The story map of a narrative text or a mind map with guiding questions will be designed for more able students for their discussion. The less able students will be supported by the teachers to understand the key events of the text through guided reading approach. The story map for a narrative text or the mind map, with graded gap-filling exercises involving the description of the text will be designed to support the less able students. 4) Tasks: Follow-up tasks will be graded and ability-based. The more able students will be asked to work on creative tasks which involve high-order thinking skills, such as book reports, predicting the ending of a story, or their personal opinions on main ideas of the reading text. The less able students will be required to write on one aspect of the reading text, such as their feelings towards the major characters or the text. A worksheet with writing framework/template will be designed to support the less able students. Frequency of the co-teaching and co-planning meetings The co-teaching lessons will be carried out from the start of the new school year to the week before the final examination in early June. Co-planning meeting will be held once for every chapter. During co-planning, the existing English teachers will take on a leading role in the design of the materials. All deliverables, include lesson plans, teaching aids and graded learning materials in lessons and activities will be the collaborative work of the existing English teachers and 12
the additional teacher. The existing English teachers will collaborate with the additional teacher through bi-weekly co-planning, co-teaching in lessons. IV. After-school classes for enriching English language environment at school The additional teacher will be responsible to conduct after-school activities which aim at enhancing the English language environment at schools. Students are selected based on their different abilities and learning needs. To ensure collaboration between the proposed additional teacher and the existing English teachers, co-planning and co-teaching will be conducted. The English Panel Chair will provide professional support in meetings for the additional teacher. To encourage full participation of the selected students, those who attend every after-school lesson will be awarded a certificate at the end of each term, whereas the parents of the absentees without prior notice to the additional teacher or class English teacher will be contacted to clarify the reasons for their absence. A. Teaching after-school lessons for P.4 and P.5 more able students with an integrative task approach Objectives and focuses: Each one-hour lesson aims at providing an integrative language use for the more able students through guiding them to finish learning tasks which are thematically linked to the core General English curriculum. Each learning task directs students to fulfill a specific purpose and create an end-product as consolidation. Consider one of the core learning themes Travelling in Hong Kong. In the regular English lessons, the class P.4 and P.5 after-school classes: On Students Performance - Around 20 percent of students at Primary 4 to 5 have more opportunities to interact with the additional teacher during the year. Their confidence in English speaking P.4 and P.5 after-school classes: The soft and hard copies of the teaching plans, and the accompanying teaching and learning resources will be used as references for future co-planning and co-teaching of the after-school P.4 and P.5 after-school classes: To monitor progress of the initiative The English Panel Chair will attend each co-planning meeting and observe the lessons regularly. The class English 13
English teacher goes over with students the activities tourists can do such as Watch birds and Visit the Big Buddha, as well as sentence structures, such as On the first day, we will visit Mai Po. During the lesson, students will be guided to discuss in groups how to plan a one-day trip in Hong Kong. Each group has to design a travel plan and present it to the whole class. A template of the travelling plan will be designed to support the students to write the plan. Around four 1-hour after-school lessons will be devoted to the completion of a task. Selection of students and the arrangement details: Around 20 capable students will be invited to join the class in each of the two school terms. For the first term, students who get the highest average scores among all P3/P4 students in the English subject assessments in the previous school year will be chosen. For the second term, students who got the highest average scores in the English subject assessments carried out in the first term will be chosen. The comments of their class English teachers in the new school year will be considered in the confirmation of the class lists. The class will be carried out once a week after school, starting from the third week of each term to the end of the term. About 12 lessons will be carried out in each school term. Collaboration between the proposed additional teacher and existing English teachers Before the lessons, the teachers of Primary 4 and 5 will meet with the proposed additional teacher. Together, they will design appropriate learning tasks and understand students learning progress. Then, the existing English and reading is enhanced. - 100% of the more able students can complete around 5 language learning tasks related to the themes of the core learning in groups under teachers supervision. - 80% of the less able students can apply the target reading techniques in reading different text types under the supervision of teachers. - Over 80 percent of students of the more able students participating in the after-school class will improve their reading and writing assessment results by 20 percent in a school term. - Over 50 percent of less-able students class. All teaching materials will be adapted and revised for the use in subsequent years. The additional teacher and participating teachers will share about the good practices and challenges encountered in the after-school teaching. teachers will observe the after-school lessons at least once for each learning task. The additional teacher and class English teachers will reflect on the effectiveness of the co-designed lesson plans and resources during co-planning meetings. Students performance in formative and summative assessments will be discussed during co-planning meetings. Questionnaires can be administered to collect feedback from teachers, students, and parents. 14
teachers will co-teach with the proposed additional teacher. One co-planning meeting for the additional teacher, the existing English teacher and the English Panel Chair will be held on alternate weeks to discuss the design of the next task and to evaluate the effectiveness of the ongoing tasks. Professional support on the design of lesson plans and tasks will be given to the additional teacher by the English Panel Chair. B. Teaching after-school lessons for P4 and P5 less able students with the learn to read approach Objectives and focuses of the after-school enhancement lesson: Each one-hour lesson aims at strengthening the students basic reading skills through engaging them in reading a variety of texts. All content of the lesson will be thematically linked to the regular GE curriculum. The existing English teacher and the additional teacher will first draw the students attention to the key vocabulary items in the text. Then, students will be guided to write the vocabulary items in their book of word banks, or post word cards on the classroom walls to build a word tree. Then the teachers will elaborate on the features of the targeted text types. After that, the teachers will ask the students questions which require them to use different reading techniques to respond. The reading techniques to be covered include: 1) reading aloud, 2) locating specific information, 3) working out the meanings of unfamiliar words, 4) understanding the feelings and intentions of the author participating in the after-school class will improve their reading assessment results in a school term. On resource materials: - Around 5 resource packages for the 5 learning tasks for the more able students at Primary 4 to 5 will be developed by the existing English teachers and the additional teacher. They include Powerpoint slides and other multimodal resources. - Around 8 reading tasks for the less able students at Primary 4 to 5 will be developed by the existing English teachers and the additional teacher. They include multimodal 15
by reading between lines; and 5) predicting the development of a narrative text. Activities such as role-playing, jazz chants, mimicking will be included to boost students interest in learning. resources such as newspaper and magazine articles and tasks sheets. Selection of students and the arrangement details: Around 15 less able students will be invited to join the class in each of the two school terms. For the first term, students who get the marginally pass average scores (from 50 to 60 marks) in the English subject assessments carried out in the previous school year will be chosen. For the second term, students who get the marginally pass average scores (from 50 to 60 marks) in the first term will be chosen. The comments of their class English teachers in the new school year will be considered in the confirmation of the class lists. The class will be carried out once a week after school, on a different day from the class for the more able students. It will start from the third week of each term to the end of the term. About 12 lessons will be carried out in each school term. On existing English teachers professional enhancement: - 100 percent of the participating English teachers will acquire task-based learning strategies per year. - 100 percent of the participating English teachers will apply task-based learning at Primary 4 to 5 per year. Collaboration between the proposed additional teacher and existing English teachers Before the lessons, the Primary 4 and 5 English teachers and the proposed additional teacher will discuss the less able students language learning performance and design the types of reading enhancement tasks or exercises to be set. The reading tasks will involve texts consisting of less difficult vocabulary items than those in the regular English lessons. The Primary 4 and 5 English teachers will co-teach with the proposed additional teacher. 16
Co-planning meeting will be held once on alternate weeks. The additional teacher and the existing English teachers will discuss the reading texts to be adopted, design teaching and learning tasks and evaluate the effectiveness of the target reading skills. For effective knowledge transfer, an English teacher from P.4-5 will be arranged as the seed teacher to support the additional teacher in the planning of the learning-to-read activities and conduct every activity session with the additional teacher. Also, the English Panel Chair will attend the co-planning meetings to provide professional support to the additional teacher. C. Conducting after-school extra-curricular activity session to coach P.1-3 more able students to be English Allstars (English Ambassadors) Objectives and focuses: Each one-hour lesson aims at coaching the more able students in P.1-3 to be English ambassadors of the school by engaging them in integrative language use (speaking, listening, reading and writing) activities. Students will practise their four language skills and critical thinking through activities to be held during the lessons. In the first term, the participating students will be guided to write on daily life topics and their writing productions will be published in the English Allstars Magazine. In the second term, students will be supervised to act out a short drama and their performance will be shared with all s of students during the after-exam periods before the summer holidays. Participating students will also be trained to be the leaders of games or stall activities to be conducted during special school events, such as the English Week and the English Fun Day. 17 After-school extracurricular activity session for P.1-3 more able students: On Students Performance - Around 90% of English Allstars can interact with others in speaking and writing using understandable words. - Around 100% of the English Allstars can help teachers carry out English co-curricular activities under their supervision. On the activity After-school extracurricular activity session for P.1-3 more able students: The soft and hard copies of the activity plans, as well as the details of the learning tasks and accompanying resources will be used as references for the organization of future English Allstars Group. All teaching materials will be adapted and revised for the use in subsequent After-school extracurricular activity session for P.1-3 more able students: To monitor the progress of the initiative The English Panel Chair will attend each Co-planning Meeting and observe the English Allstars activity sessions regularly. The additional teacher and the supporting English teachers will reflect on the effectiveness of the co-designed activity plans,
To stimulate students learning, the activities in each English Allstars period will focus on a theme and require the students to finish a task in groups. For instance, students will be asked to think up some rules for carrying out activities. First, a youtube video about a naughty class will be shown. Students are then guided to suggest what rules are required to resume the order for effective classroom learning. Then, students are asked to discuss in groups what rules are necessary for the English Allstars Activity Group. After that, each group has to design a poster showing the rules. All the posters will be displayed in the English Room and the group designing the best poster will be awarded. Selection of students and the arrangement details: Around 20 more able students who are confident in interacting with others in English will be invited to join the Allstar activity. The selection of students will mainly be based on the recommendation of their class English teachers. The class will be carried out once a week after school, on a day different from those for the classes for the more able students and less able students. It will start from the third week of the first term to the end of the school year. About 20 1-hour activity periods will be carried out in the whole school year. Collaboration between the full-time teacher and the existing English teachers: Co-planning meeting will be held on alternative weeks. For effective knowledge transfer, an English teacher from P.1-3 will be arranged as the seed teacher to support the full-time teacher in the planning of the integrative language use activities and conduct every activity session with the additional teacher. Also, the pack An activity pack, including an activity plan, accompanied with multimodal resources, for each activity period will be developed by the existing English teacher and the additional English teacher On the school supporting English teacher s professional enhancement: 100% of participating teachers will apply the activity running strategies used in the English Allstars activity sessions in teaching routine lessons. years. To create the sense of achievement for the English Allstars and inform teachers of the students contribution, their onsite or videotaped speaking performance, as well as their good writing work will be published in school. learning tasks and resources during co-planning meetings. 18
English Panel Chair will attend the co-planning meetings to provide professional support to the additional teacher. D. Conducting after-school speaking workshops for Primary 6 students to enhance their speaking skills and interpersonal skills Objectives and focuses: About two to four one-hour workshops will be held to enhance P6 students capabilities in using English during conversations, especially in interview settings confidently. During the workshops, the participating students will be engaged in simulated interview activities. Their communication skills and question answering skills will be strengthened. In the first two workshops, students will be coached on handling individual face-to-face interviews. Possible questions about the students characters, interests, families and school learning will be discussed. Pairs of students will be arranged to role play as the interviewers and interviewees, asking each other questions, such as Where do you live?, What do you like doing during the weekends? and Which subject do you like best? before responding to the teacher interviewers questions. In the second two workshops, students will be coached to handle group interviews. They will be put into groups of four, being guided to initiate questions on the assigned topic and respond to them. The possible topics are How can we protect the environment in Hong Kong?, How can we eat healthily? and How can we plan our weekend activities? Collaboration between the additional teacher and the existing English teachers: For effective knowledge transfer, a teacher in charge will After-school speaking workshops for P.6: On the Participating P6 students 80% of the students can answer the teacher interviewers daily life questions and interact with other candidates during the individual and group interviews pretty confidently and fluently. - On the resource materials Two sets of PowerPoint slides, one on elaborating the skills for individual interview, and one on group interviews, and an additional set of written notes reminding students how to prepare for the interviews will After-school speaking workshops for P.6: The PowerPoint Slides and written notes developed can be used as references for future Interview Workshops. All teaching materials will be adapted and revised for the use in subsequent years. After-school speaking workshops for P.6: To monitor the progress of the initiative The English Panel Chair will attend each speaking workshop and support the full-time teacher whenever necessary. The full-time teacher and the supporting English teacher will be invited to present about the activity plan and details of the speaking workshops, as well as the performance of the students. 19
be the seed teacher to work closely with the full-time teacher on the design of suitable communicative and speaking activities. A co-planning meeting will be held before each workshop to design the activities and the resources. The English Panel Chair or the seed teacher will co-conduct the designed activities with the additional teacher in each workshop. be produced by the existing English teacher and the additional teacher. 20