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Experience Sharing fromCarmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School

Strategies for Cateringfor Learner Diversity in the

New Senior Secondary (NSS) English Language Curriculum:

Reflections and Thinking Forward

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Overview

Reflections on the first year of implementing the NSS curriculum at S4

Plans to cater for learner diversity

Conclusion

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Reflections on 2009/10Areas of progress

Exposure to Language Arts through1. the General English (GE) programme

at JS level2. English Reading lessons

Teachers’ capacity enhancement

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Progress 1: Exposure to Language Arts

Task-based Language Arts units in the GE programme at JS level (since 2006/07)

Level ThemeLanguage Arts

Covered

S1 SchoolFictionPoemsDrama

S2 LovePoemsSongs

Short Stories

S3 War and Peace

FictionSongsPoems

Short Stories

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English reading lessons

1. Intensive reading component (since 2006/07)

Level Language Arts Covered

S1Short Stories

DramaPoems

S2Print Fiction

Print Non-fictionPoems

S3Non-print Non-fiction

DramaRap

2. Literature sets (since 2008/09)

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Rationale behind the curriculum design

Students’ limited exposure to language arts in primary schools

Stretching the potentials of our students

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Major problems:

1. Teachers’ lack of experience in teaching language arts

2. Lack of resources

Curriculum implementation

Success factors:

1. Teachers’ interest and initiative2. Students’ interest and ability

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Progress 2: Teachers’ Capacity Enhancement

NSS-related courses

Teacher training by service providers

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Major Area for Improvement

Catering for learner diversity at

classroom level

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Current Measures to Cater for Learner Diversity

Split class arrangement

Plan for 2010/11Adopting a more structured approach in teaching practices to maximise benefits to students of all ability levels

Pulling out 12 students from the weakest class

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Approaches and Strategies to Be Adopted

Varying degree of teacher support and appropriate scaffolding (e.g. through tiered / graded activities; prompting and questioning)

Suitably challenging activities (e.g. open-ended questions, creative work)

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An Illustration from the Elective Module on Short Stories

Text: “The Dance”by Tara Millican

[page S12 of Learning English through Short Stories (Secondary 4-6): A Resource Package]

Summary of the StoryA girl sits nervously around the dance area, watching people dance.She anxiously hopes someone will invite her to dance. She is disappointed when a boy walks towards her but invites the girl sitting next to her instead.

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Learning Objectives and ActivitiesLearning Objectives:

To understand the main characterthrough interacting closely with the text

To understand the character’s thoughts and feelings through considering herappearance and behaviour

To express personal response to the character and the way she is created

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Learning Objectives and Activities

Activity:

Complete a graphic organiser on the character’s appearance/ behaviour, thoughts and feelings

Answer some open-ended questions to express personal views

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Strategies to Cater for Learner Diversity

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Strategy 1: Varying Degree of Teacher Support and Appropriate ScaffoldingI. Material Design

different activity sheets and/or learning tasks (with same learning objectives) designed for learners of different ability levels

Tiered / Graded activities

Varying degree of supportprovision of examples, clues and options

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Strategy 1: Varying Degree of Teacher Support and Appropriate ScaffoldingII. Teaching Process and Approaches

Simplifying or blocking outparts of the text if necessary

Dividing the text into chunks for students to read

Guided / Supported Reading

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Explaining difficult vocabulary or introducing relevant reading strategies (e.g. guessing meaning of words from context; identifying main ideas and skipping difficult vocabulary that do not affect understanding) where appropriate

Strategy 1: Varying Degree of Teacher Support and Appropriate Scaffolding

Guided / Supported Reading

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Strategy 1: Varying Degree of Teacher Support and Appropriate Scaffolding

Demonstrating how to select information to complete the graphic organiser with part of the story (e.g. Paragraph 1)

Guiding students to start considering how the character feels based on details of her appearance / behaviour

Guided / Supported Reading

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Strategy 1: Varying Degree of Teacher Support and Appropriate Scaffolding

Guided / Supported Reading

Deepening students’ understanding of the plot and character with the use of prompts and questions

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Examples of Prompts and Questions

For the Less advanced:What is the main character doing with her chair (Paragraph 1)? (Teacher might mime if necessary)

What are the others doing while the main character stays lonely and cold in her seat (Paragraph 1)?

What happens to her body? We are also told that there is _______ (something that looks like beads) on her forehead (Paragraph 4).

What does the main character say to herself (Paragraph 5)?

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Examples of Prompts and Questions

For the Average:Where is the main character in the story?

What is she doing while other people are dancing?

Does she feel comfortable and relaxed? Why or why not?

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Examples of Prompts and Questions

For the More advanced:

The main character undergoes a change in the story. What is this change and how does it add to our understanding of her as a character?

Do you find the main character interesting and life-like? Explain your answer.

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Note:

The graphic organiser should not be taken as a gap-fill exercise. Students should be guided through well-sequenced questions to see:

the connection between the three blocks (i.e. appearance and movements, thoughts and feelings)

how the writer uses details and descriptions to make the character vivid and interesting

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Strategy 2: Suitably Challenging Activities

Using activities to stretch students, helping them interact with the story and express their personal views (Experience Strand of English Language learning)

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Examples

Guided Questions and ReponsesSuitable for the less advanced students

If I were the main character, I would have the

same/different feelings because __________________

____________________________. What I will do next

is to _________________________________________

because ______________________________________

_____________________________________________.

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Open-ended / Free Response Questions

Suitable for average to more advanced students

How would you feel if you were the main character? Why?

If you were the main character, how would you handle the situation?

What advice would you give the main character if you were her best friend?

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Creative Work

Suitable for the more advanced students

Is the main character’s problem resolved at the end of the story? Continue the story with two more paragraphs to show what is going to happen to her.

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Conclusion

Appropriate scaffolding is important for all learners. It enables the less advanced students to interact with the story and understand the character, and the more advanced to achieve beyond the target objectives and connect what they have learnt to a wider context.

Activities for tapping students’ potential are necessary for all learners. Even the less advanced could also be suitably challenged by, for instance, open-ended questions that require them to express their personal views.

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The End