Teaching English in

Coral Primary School

A Strong Foundation for Rich Language & Life

Overview

Why change?

What we want for our children

Competencies for a world in flux

What is changing for the better?

New ways to teach and learn

A revised syllabus & curriculum

How will we move to a new level?

Aligning the teaching and assessment

Education for Life

WHY change?

The Child

&

The World

What we want …

All children should enjoy learning

English, develop good language skills, be

effective communicators and lifelong

learners.

New skills for a changing world

Need to prepare our children for life and work in

the 21st century

Develop students to be

Effective communicators

Confident, self-directed learners

Key Messages April 2012

STELLAR Centre

21st Century Competencies Framework

Core

R3ICH values

•Respect

•Responsibility

•Resilience

•Integrity

•Care

•Harmony

Ch

ara

cte

r an

d C

itiz

en

sh

ip E

du

cati

on

21st Century Competencies

The outer ring of the framework represents the

21st Century Competencies necessary for the globalised

world we live in.

Civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills Contribute to society and nation

Develop a broader worldview and ability to deal with diversity

(culture, ideas and perspectives).

Critical and inventive thinking Think critically, assess options and make sound decisions

Explore and think out of the box

Information and communication skills Know what questions to ask and extract what is relevant and useful.

Be discerning and adopt ethical practices in cyberspace.

WHAT is changing for the better?

New Ways to Teach

&

New Ways to Learn

Emphasis on

•Strengthening the foundation of language learning

•Enriching the EL curriculum in our schools

EL Syllabus 2010

Strategies for English Language

Learning and Reading

Aims to move EL learners towards independence using authentic texts and learning activities that motivate and

engage different learners

STELLAR

The STELLAR Vision

Children who

love reading and

have a strong foundation in the English Language

Language Skills

Listening & Viewing

Speaking & Representing

Reading & Viewing

Writing & Representing

STELLAR lessons develop …

STELLAR Lessons

STELLAR Lessons

Social Skills

oral interaction among peers in non-threatening situations

working in partnership with other children

turn-taking & respect for others during class discussions

STELLAR lessons develop …

What is a lower primary STELLAR lesson like?

14

1.Shared Reading

Experiences

2. Shared Writing

Experiences

3. Language Use

Activities in Learning

Centres

Children read a storybook

with the teacher and

engage in discussion with

teacher and peers.

The teacher prepares mini-lessons

based on specific needs of children to

prepare them for reading & writing

activities, e.g. grammar, vocabulary,

word recognition, decoding skills &

spelling.

The teacher models writing

using children’s language.

Children engage in writing

together and writing

independently.

Making the Transition

P1 - 3a P3b, 4-6

Learning to Read Reading to Learn

Shared Reading Silent Reading

Big Books Range of Text Types

From Lower to Upper Primary

What is an upper primary STELLAR lesson like?

16

Reading To Learn

Writing

As Process

Differentiated Instruction

The teacher modifies her teaching to

cater to the specific needs of children

to build their language skills. The teacher models the

writing processes for

different text types.

Children engage in

writing together and

writing independently.

Teacher uses different

strategies to help children

read and understand

different types of texts.

W h a t i s g e t t i n g b e t t e r ?

Children will have more opportunities

to develop their listening, speaking,

reading and writing skills using a

wide variety of different types of texts.

Rich Texts

P4: Explanation

P5: Information

Report

P6: Narrative

P6 EL: Argument

Teaching

Strategies

Ways to Teach Reading for Understanding

24

Retelling

K-W-L

K = what I Know

W = what I Want to know

L = what I have Learnt

Adapted from Guided Reading (Fountas & Pinnell)

a strategy where a passage is chunked into smaller parts to help children to read

opportunities to make predictions, read silently, discuss ideas and difficult words

25

Reading for Understanding: Supported Reading

K = what I Know

W = what I Want to know

L = what I have Learnt

Ogle, Donna M. (1986). The Reading Teacher

Reading for Understanding:

K-W-L

A way to teach children how to read information

texts. Children brainstorm, ask questions and read a

text on their own to find out more about a topic.

Brown, H. & Cambourne, B. (1987). Read and Retell. Australia:

Methuen Australia

Reading for Understanding:

Retelling

A reading comprehension strategy using thinking

skills.

Children actively read to confirm their predictions

and are given opportunity to share their ideas about a

passage.

Read silently

Retell the story to a friend

Adapted from work by Robert Graves, and Flower and Hayes

A step-by-step process where children

learn to write as a class, in groups and

then independently.

P l a n n i n g - W r i t i n g - R e v i e w i n g

Teaching Writing: Writing Process Cycle

Reading

Passage

Class

Group

Canoe Diary

Diary entry about

a class trip

Journal

Diary of my trip

Example

:

Individual

Different Ways to Teach

passages Amount of

support given

tasks

Tomlinson, Carol A. (2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability Classrooms

Differentiated Instruction:

Ways to cater to the different learning

needs of children.

W h a t i s g e t t i n g b e t t e r ?

Children will enjoy learning and

learn better with the new

EL curriculum that was

implemented at P1 in 2010.

HOW will we move to a new level?

Aligning Teaching

and

Assessment

View Full Video

Assessment is part of learning and

teaching. Children will be assessed

on what they have been taught.

HOW will we move to a new level?

Assessment is part of the learning process, and must be closely aligned with learning objectives, content and teaching.

Both school-based assessment and national examinations play important and different roles in our education system.

A balanced assessment system should have both Assessment ‘for’ Learning as well as Assessment ‘of’ Learning.

Our Assessment Philosophy

Aligning Teaching and Assessment

Giving children greater scope for their own interpretation and personal response in speaking and writing

Greater attention paid to viewing skills with listening and reading

Assessment

for

Primary 4 from 2013

P4 Assessment

EL Guided Writing

EL Visual Text Comprehension

EL Listening Comprehension

EL Oral Communication

These are examples of changes in assessment

to give students greater scope for interpretation and

personal response.

P4 Guided Writing:

Picture Series

• Format similar to the 4-

picture composition but

with the last frame left

blank

• Scope for different

ways to end the story

• Questions and helping

words provided

•

P4 Guided Writing:

• Scope for different ways

to sequence ideas and

develop a storyline

• Questions and helping

words provided

• Option for students to

base their writing on one,

two or all three pictures.

•

P4 Visual Text Comprehension:

• Text which

includes visuals

• Viewing skills

used when

reading

• Multiple-choice

questions

P4 Listening

Comprehension:

• Show

understanding

by using

listening and

viewing skills

( )

P4 Oral

Communication:

• Use of a visual to

focus on a

familiar topic

• To be engaged in

a conversation

In Summary:

Your child will benefit from changes to the

way English is taught.

Assessment changes are aligned with

teaching.

Teachers will have ample time to prepare

your child for these changes.

Education For Life

Enriched

Copyright © Ministry of Education, Singapore.

Thank you