A modular approach North Point Government Primary P.M. School 21 st February, 2004

Background 50th Anniversary small and old school building P.1 – evenly divide the pupils into 4 classes P.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) P.1 (5 teachers involved) P.1 & P.2 (10 teachers involved)

How to do? 1 st step: find out the vocabulary & language focus in each unit 2 nd step: group several units (with related focuses) into a module (the sequence may be changed) 3 rd step : reconfirm the vocabulary & language focuses  production level vs comprehension level

How to do? (cont ’ d) Decide the final product for each module integrate suitable readers/big books into the curriculum Tailor 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 handle Clear and explicit flow Easy reference for evaluation

Characteristics of our approach All designs are pupil-centred and authentic Textbook-based but not textbook bound Task-based approach Allow learning space for pupils Comments from pupils, parents & teachers  more participation of stakeholders High student ownership Integrate readers into curriculum

Achievement Improvement in 4 language skills Teachers ’ personal growth in teaching and curriculum planning Students enjoy the lesson Enable peer lesson observation

Problem Encountered Pupils have difficulties in recognizing the vocabulary and spelling

Advantages for our school We have a smart TA that helps us a lot in making the Small Books All colleagues are willing to cooperate & share Support from parents & principal

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

The End