A modular approach

North Point Government Primary P.M. School

21st February, 2004

Background50th Anniversarysmall and old school buildingP.1 – evenly divide the pupils into 4 classesP.2-6 – A, B classes with better standard, C-E classes with poor standard

Background (cont’d)Planned to start phonics teaching first (school decision) module planning (with support from EMB)2002-2003 P.1 (5 teachers involved)2003-2004 P.1 & P.2 (10 teachers involved)

How to do?1st step: find out the vocabulary & language focus in each unit2nd step: group several units (with related focuses) into a module (the sequence may be changed)3rd step : reconfirm the vocabulary & language focuses production level vs comprehension level

How to do? (cont’d)Decide the final product for each moduleintegrate suitable readers/big books into the curriculumTailor make supplementary exercises & amend workbooks (need to cancel some non-suitable exercises/pages)

How to do? (cont’d)Prepare suitable teaching aids (e.g. puppets, picture cards, sentence strips…)Decide suitable tasks for the pupils, e.g. buying & selling games, detective games, etc.Evaluate constantly. Amend flexibly. Alignment to teaching.

Why use Small Books?Easy to handleClear and explicit flowEasy reference for evaluation

Characteristics of our approach

All designs are pupil-centred and authenticTextbook-based but not textbook boundTask-based approachAllow learning space for pupilsComments from pupils, parents & teachers more participation of stakeholdersHigh student ownershipIntegrate readers into curriculum

AchievementImprovement in 4 language skillsTeachers’ personal growth in teaching and curriculum planningStudents enjoy the lessonEnable peer lesson observation

Problem EncounteredPupils have difficulties in recognizing the vocabulary and spelling

Advantages for our schoolWe have a smart TA that helps us a lot in making the Small BooksAll colleagues are willing to cooperate & shareSupport from parents & principal

Difficulties for our schoolTime consuming (for meetings, preparation & producing the small books)No suitable place for meetingNo teaching resources room difficult to store the teaching aids (big books…)Different streaming method in P.1 & P.2

The End