School-based Curriculum Development (Primary) Section Journey on Learning in Action Changing Practice, Changing Minds 8th March, 2008 School-based Curriculum Development (Primary) Section Journey on Learning in Action Changing Practice, Changing Minds 8th March, 2008

Write Right Rubrics as criterion-referenced learning tools Write Right Rubrics as criterion-referenced learning tools Lok Wah Catholic Primary School

Background Our School Our students

Our TSA results were not satisfactory. What are we going to do? How can we help our students to improve? In 2005 Teachers’ concerns

General Comments on P.6 Student Performances SkillDescriptions Reading  Students ’ ability did not extend to interpreting unfamiliar words or expressions and identifying the main ideas in longer texts with more words.  Many students had difficulty in interpreting personification in riddles and making inferences in a play script. Writing  A small number of students demonstrated good imagination.  Many students had difficulties with verb forms, the use of cohesive devices and different sentence patterns. HKEAA (2005), TSA, 2005, Report on the Basic Competencies of Students in English Language Key Stages 1 and 2.

Where shall we start?

SBCD programme in 2005 Awareness of reading skills and BC descriptors ↓ Text analysis to help students deconstruct the reading texts ↓ Matching assessment to learning and teaching ↓ Reflections on teaching and learning in response to the assessment data

P.6 Student Performances in TSA 2006 Weaknesses in Reading Main ideas Unfamiliar words Inference skills Personification e.g. What is the main idea of the newspaper article? e.g. predicting the meaning of ‘folk tale’ e.g. inferring why turtles live in water from ‘I’ll be safe there.’ e.g. personification of stars as ‘Our twinkling lights shine…’

P.6 Student Performances in TSA 2006 Weaknesses in Writing Content insufficient elaboration on relevant ideas ideas are not clearly/coherently organised Content insufficient elaboration on relevant ideas ideas are not clearly/coherently organised Language limited range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, and cohesive devices weak in grammar and spelling Language limited range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, and cohesive devices weak in grammar and spelling

Student performances in writing Read David’s and help Ben write a reply to David.

Dear David, I’m happy to hear that you will visit Hong Kong. I can suggest an interesting day trip for you. First we will go to Repulse Bay. We will swim there. Next we will go to Cheung Chau. We will go windsurfing there. Then we will go to Wong Tai Sin. We will visit the temples there. After that we will go to Ocean Park. We will see the sea animals there. Finally, we will go to Tsim Sha Tsui. We will watch some performances there. Do you like the trip? Best wishes, Ben Where will you go? What will you do? insufficient elaboration on relevant ideas ?

You are Ben. Write a letter to Aunt Maggie to tell her what you had eaten. Guided questions: What did you eat? What was the taste? What colour was it? Where did it come from? Did you like it? Guided questions: What did you eat? What was the taste? What colour was it? Where did it come from? Did you like it?

Dear Aunt Maggie How are you? Last week, I went camping with my pen friend, Matthew and Susan. We ate a lot of delicious food in the camp. First, we tried hamburgers. They were salty. They were brown and yellow. They came from America. We liked hamburgers very much. Next, we tried pizza. It was spicy. It was yellow, red, green and white. It came from Italy. We liked pizza very much. Then, we tried spaghetti. It was sour. It was red. It came from Italy. We liked spaghetti very much. See you soon. Love Ben Write a letter to Aunt Maggie. Guided questions: What food did you eat? What was the taste of the food? What colour was the food? Where did it come from? Did you like it? limited range of sentence patterns ? insufficient elaboration on relevant ideas ?

You watched a play with your classmates. Write a diary about it.

8th January, 2008 Tuesday We went to the Hong Kong City Hall Today, I went to the Hong Kong City Hall to watch a play with my classmates. I went to Hong Kong City Hall with my classmates. But when we were at the entrance, I forgot to bring my ticket. So I called my mum to take my ticket to me. But Mum did not find my ticket at home, so I went to the entrance and bought another ticket. ‘Please give me a ticket, please,’ I said. Then, we went to the Hong Kong City Hall. The play was about a good teacher. At last, the ending was very surprising. We went home happily. ideas are not clearly/coherently organised

How can we help our students to improve? Teachers’ reflections Did we provide enough reading input to our students? Did we highlight the features in different text types?

SBCD programme in 2006 Text analysis Locate information and ideas ↓ From reading to writing: Introducing features in different text types ↓ Make use of organizers in the writing process How do we assess our students’ work? ↓ Setting assessment criteria in writing

ContentOrganization Ideas Coherence 50 LanguageGrammar Spelling Punctuation Format (if any) 40 Total90 Setting assessment criteria in writing

TSA Marking Scheme BC DescriptorScoring Guide Content Writing and/or responding to short and simple texts with relevant information and ideas (including personal experiences and imaginative ideas) with the help of cues (IS, KS, ES) 4  Provide interesting and imaginative ideas to the story with supporting details  The description is very clear and coherent. 3  Provide sufficient and relevant ideas to the story with supporting details.  The description is clear and coherent. 2  Provide some brief but reasonably clear and relevant ideas to the story but lack supporting details.  The description is quite clear and coherent. 1  Attempt to write a story by giving very limited information/ideas only. OR  Provide unclear or disconnected information/ideas that may confuse the reader. 0  Provide totally irrelevant ideas. OR  Practically make no attempt at all.

TSA Marking Scheme BC DescriptorScoring Guide Language Writing simple texts using a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, cohesive devices and verb forms fairly appropriately with the help of cues despite some spelling and grammatical mistakes (IS, KS, ES) 3  Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, cohesive devices and verb forms fairly appropriately with few/no grammatical and spelling mistakes. 2  Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, cohesive devices and verb forms fairly appropriately with some grammatical and spelling mistakes. OR  Use a small range of vocabulary and verb forms with few/no grammatical and spelling mistakes. 1  Use a very limited range of vocabulary and verb forms. OR  Make many grammatical and spelling mistakes. 0  Provide totally irrelevant ideas. OR  Practically make no attempt at all.

Can it be used practically as a marking tool?

Suggested performance indicators for assessing the composing skills for narrative writing (Content) Assessment criteria LOWMIDDLEHIGH Story structure (25 marks) (0-8 marks) No identifiable structure. Story structure unclear. Action & characters not developed or related. Essential details missing or confusing. Story lacks plot or plot is vague. (9-16 marks) Beginning, middle & end present but not always identifiable. Story problem presented but not completely developed. Some conversational or descriptive details included. Story has a plot but may not be well developed or entirely consistent. (17-25 marks) Identifiable beginning, middle & end. Characters introduced, problem presented, both well developed with conversational or descriptive detail. Story plot is well developed and consistent. Idea of story ending (15 marks) (0-5 marks) The idea of story ending is trite or uninteresting. Story ends abruptly or reaches no definable conclusion. (6-10 marks) The idea of story ending is interesting, but may lack freshness or imaginativeness. (11-15 marks) The idea of story ending is fresh or imaginative. Ending satisfying and effective.

Using rubrics as marking tools? Effectiveness? Worthiness? Teachers’ reflections