EXPLORING WAYS FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS

Holy Family Canossian College

Margaret Liang

Basic information

Subject: S4 History Topic: Roles of Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific

Rim in the 20th century Time: 70 mins Teaching aids: worksheets

Pre-requisite knowledge: already learnt the roles of Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific Rim in the 20th century

Objectives

Able to write a well-organized essay* with three parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion

In each paragraph, able to present the ideas in three stages: a generalizing remark foregrounding the main ideas of the paragraph (topic sentence), elaboration in the form of examples, and a concluding remark.

* The word essay is commonly used in the Hong Kong context as an umbrella term for writings in different ‘genres’

Essay Questions

1. What major roles did Hong Kong play in the Asia-Pacific Rim in the 20th century? (15 marks)

2. Explain the internal and external factors leading Hong Kong to play such roles in the Asia-Pacific Rim. (15 marks)

The teaching-learning-cycle

Stage One : Setting the context ( covered in the previous lesson as background information for the essay )Stage Two a. Deconstruction stage

Steps: In groups, students work on a concept map Write main ideas in point form

Teacher models language for students

Modelling language structures

E.g. change abbreviated language from notes into complete sentences

Hong Kong as a bridge between China and the rest of the world

Hong Kong was a bridge between China and

the rest of the world Hong Kong for regional organizations Hong Kong was an ideal place for setting up

regional organizations because of its freedom and many favourable conditions

Structure of an essay

Similar to a hamburger which should consist of three parts

Structure of the taxonomic report genre

Genre: taxonomic report: describing the way things are/were e.g. economically, socially, culturally

Politically CulturallyEconomically

Roles of Hong Kong

. Modelling and deconstruction of the body

Discussion among students under teacher’s guidance:

how to elaborate the key idea of each paragraph

For example: First role Heading : Politically,

Model text:Hong Kong was a bridge between China and the rest of the world. For example, when the Korean War broke out in 1950, western countries imposed an embargo on China and isolated her. Under these circumstances, the mainland used Hong Kong as a medium of communication with the west.

1. Cut up the text into different strips. Jumble them. Distribute one set of strips to one group of students

2. In groups, students organize the strips into the correct order.

3. Ask students why the topic sentence (Hong Kong was a bridge between China and

the rest of the world.) should come first, and why the rest of the paragraph should follow this way. ( 1. topic sentence, 2. elaboration in the form of examples, 3 concluding remark)

• Second role: • Heading: Economically• Teacher models sentence structures for this

paragraph, reducing the language support gradually

For example: Hong Kong as a base for foreign investment

in China Hong Kong was a base for foreign

investment in China Hong Kong as a centre for managing funds Hong Kong was chosen as a centre for

managing their funds and finance.

Stage Three Joint construction

Teacher elicits ideas from students with probing questions and constructs the second paragraph titled ‘Economically’ together with the students. The whole text is written on the blackboard.

Examples of probing questions: What is the topic sentence going to be? What example(s) can you give to elaborate

the topic sentence? What can you conclude about the economic

role of HK?

Stage Four: Independent construction

Students construct the last role titled ‘culturally’ independently

Consolidation A similar writing task is given on the following

essay question: Explain the internal and external factors

leading Hong Kong to play such roles in the Asia-Pacific Rim. (15 marks)

Using the strategies in Slide 6,9,14 encourage students to

1. Brainstorm by using the concept map (Slide 6)

2. Change notes into complete sentences (Slide 6)

3. Decide on the taxonomy (Slide 9, Slide 18)4. Think of the topic sentence for each

paragraph (Slide 14)5. Think of the reasons to include (Slide 14)6. Think of a concluding remark for this

paragraph (Slide 14)

Factors

Internal External

Students can write the essay at home individually after being supported in this way.

THANK YOU