1. HHCKLA Buddhist Wisdom Primary School
Promoting Learning to Read and Reading to Learn through incorporating Reading Workshops into the School-based English Language Curriculum in Primary Schools
HHCKLA Buddhist Wisdom Primary School
Hello, everybody. My name is Jane. I come from Buddhist Wisdom Primary School. This year I am the principal of the school. But last year I was the English Panel chair and I am very pleased to have this opportunity to share the experience of leading the English panel with all of you this afternoon.
As all of you are experienced English panel chairs, what I am going to share is just our actual experience.
Our school is situated in a public housing estate in Sheung Shui. Most of the students come from families with inadequate support in learning especially in English language learning. They lack the opportunities to use and to be immersed in English. That’s why the English subject teachers have to work very hard in order to help them with their English language learning.
Reading Fair 25th April 2009

2. What are we doing for reading?
General
English
Programme
Reading
Workshops
As what I have mentioned in the previous slide, we have reading workshops to enrich or supplement the G.E. Programme.

3. Teaching Strategies for Reading
Reading Workshops
Storytelling
Reading Aloud
Shared Reading
Supported Reading
Independent Reading
Teacher Support

4. Organising a series of Reading Workshops as a Reading Cycle
P.1-P.3
Shared Reading +
Supported
Reading
P.4-P.6
Supported Reading +
Independent
Reading
We have reading workshops in Primary 1-Primary 6. It is conducted on regular basis. From this slide, you can see that we have more shared reading at Key Stage 1 and there are more supported reading at Key Stage 2. By doing so, we can gradually reduce teacher support and increase student input in reading. We hope to develop students’ independence in reading, so that one day they can enjoy reading on their own and they can use reading as a means to learn i.e. read to learn.
In order to engage students in enjoyable and meaningful contexts, various reading activities and strategies are employed.
There are different teaching strategies but we focus on supported reading today.

5. Designing Reading Workshops - some considerations
Linking the GE Programme with the Reading Workshops
Identifying a theme
Ensuring a good coverage of Learning Targets and Objectives
Using appropriate learning tasks / activities

6. Designing Reading Workshops - some considerations
Choosing books for Reading Workshops
linkage between the books
linkage with school events
interesting topics
appropriate text types
relevance to the focus questions

7. We are Super! Reading Workshops Reading Cycle 1 1 session 5 sessions
Explore the text types & features and choose appropriate teaching strategies
“Cat and Dog at School”
Shared Reading
“Class Rules”
Reading Aloud
“Where is Miss Pool? ”
Supported Reading
1 session
5 sessions
3 sessions
Information Text
Narrative Text
Narrative Text
(Exposition)
(Story)
(Story)

8. Why do we use these 3 books?
Match the real classroom needs
- Medium of instruction
Match the textbook content
- greeting, politeness, classroom language
Provide appropriate contexts and richer content
- provide a platform for the application of language
- foster positive values and attitudes
Use a combination of teaching strategies
- Shared reading, reading aloud, supported reading
Expose pupils to a variety of text types

9. Helping children move from picture books to chapter books
Supporting students to handle the major elements of story
- Characters
- Setting
- Problems
Inputting vocabulary

10. Helping children move from picture books to chapter books
Picture walk
Questioning
Storytelling

11. From picture books to chapter books
Reading Workshops:
From picture books to chapter books
Helping children read chapter books
Pictures
Task-based activities
A combination of teaching strategies
 Provide support
 Sustain students’ motivation
to read on

12. Reading Cycle: Best friends
Integration of 4 language skills
- Reading
- Speaking
- Writing
- Listening
Developing learning skills/generic skills
Fostering positive values and attitudes

13. Read to learn Best Friends Learning more about the world  dogs
Needing a Friend
Because We are Friends
Dyslexia
Learning more about the world
 dogs
 sickness
 occupations
- Learning a variety of reading skills

14. Progression from KS1 to KS2:
Using different teaching strategies for reading:
- Requiring more student input
Using more complex texts
Developing a greater range of reading skills
Facilitating the interface between primary and secondary levels
- Developing a reading to learn culture
As rthe head of the English panel, on the one hand I have to think of the administrative arrangement – how to deploy the teachers and how to disseminate the good practices from one level to the other levels.
On the other hand, I have to consider the vertical coordination of the curriculum. I always bear in mind that there should be different emphases on the reading workshops in KS1 and KS2. Therefore I let my colleagues know that we have to help our ss to make progression in their reading skills. They should read more complex text-chapter boooks, develop a wider range of reading skills. Teachers should be aware that they should reduce teacher support when they are thinking of the teaching strategies.
And you can also see that we purposefully are preparing our ss to promote to secondary. As what you can see in the reading cycle, My best friend, the Needing a friend and Dyslexia, we try our best to equip them with higher order thinking skill and life-long learning skills. That is why we should cultivate a reading to learn culture in the senior forms. We should not always stay at the learning to read stage in KS1 because our ss are making progresses.

15. Enhance language proficiency
Learning to Read
Seek information
Acquire & apply knowledge
Enhance language proficiency
& Reading to Learn
Use a variety of
reading strategies
Develop thinking skills
We make use of the books in this Reading Cycle ‘My Best Friend’ to engage P6 ss in both Learning to read and Reading to learn and
Broadening horizons
Becoming lifelong learners ...

16. Other Reading Programmes
Further promoting a reading to learn culture outside class time
Catering for learner diversity
Booklover’s Club
CARE Programmes
Super Reader’s Club
Reading Mentorship programme

17. Whole-school Approach Reading Culture
Involving teachers, students, parents and volunteers
Book sharing by NET
Book sharing by English Ambassadors
Reading Aunt

18. Developing a Common Vision
Reading is fun. Reading is cool. Reading can open our eyes to the world. We are all booklovers.