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 20 th century Time: 70 mins Teaching aids: worksheets Pre-requisite knowledge: already learnt the roles of Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific Rim in the 20 th 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 20 th 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 Setting the context Teacher modelling and deconstructing Teacher and students constructing jointly Students constructing independently

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 Roles of HK economically culturally Politically

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 introduction body conclusion politically economically culturally

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