1. School case (2) Introduction S.K.H. Leung Kwai Yee Secondary School May 2006

2. Project T itle Language arts portfolio: a way to foster English language learning and learner independence in the junior secondary curriculum Level: S3 Duration: Oct 2005– May 2006

3. Focus Areas Language arts Reading Speaking Listening Writing Critical thinking Creative writing Organization Learner diversity Motivation

4. Background: to address the learning needs of students Many students are unmotivated to learn English outside classroom. Reading English literary texts is not popularized among students.

5. Background: to align with the programme plan To maximise Form 1 to Form 3 students’ exposure to various forms of language arts. To provide students with more opportunities to use English in their lessons. To foster self-directed English learning among students.

6. Background: to make use of the school resources Plentiful resources for enhancing English teaching and learning at school Plenty of room and opportunities to help students improve their English standard External resources: language learning support and other types of funding

7. Objectives of LA Portfolio To cultivate students’ English reading habits through extensive reading of texts of language arts To enhance students’ reading comprehension and interpretative skills To enhance students’ speaking and writing skills through oral/written presentations

8. To help students develop independent learning through personal decision making on the maintenance of a learning portfolio To develop students’ interaction and self- reflection skills through peer sharing and critique of artifacts of portfolio.

9. To enable students to gain pleasure and enjoyment from reading and viewing literary /creative texts To provide useful information and evidence for teachers to keep track of students’ progress in learning.

10. LA Portfolio Tasks Read a number of short texts of poetry, song lyrics, stories, drama scripts and give responses in the form of reflection or other creative responses like drawing comics File and record the text read and the responses made Present and introduce the content /the artifact to the peers for sharing in class Choose the best 3 pieces of evidence to show the teacher Write a reflection report on the learning experience

11. poetry, song lyrics, stories, drama scripts Product Reflections Group production Presentation/ Sharing Input The Process

12. Implementation Plan Teacher introduces some major types of literary texts to students in daily teaching (genre awareness/ input from teacher) Set tasks, activities, questions for students to familiarize with the necessary concepts and the format of portfolio entries.

13. Introduce language arts portfolio as an assignment Students start their reading and writing activities Have students present their portfolio entries/ artifacts to peers in groups every two weeks ( group interaction skills)

14. Teacher collects the portfolio and give feedback to students’ work (formative assessment for learning) Students to reflect on their learning in the form of a report (written or audio recording) (independent learning)

15. Required Content of the Portfolio Duration: keep the portfolio for 5 months No. of reading texts : one text for each week Total no. of texts: 20 Individual response: 3 Group response: see below A student may have his/her portfolio entries/ responses as: individual / peers ratio: 4/2; 5/1; 6/0

16. Modes of Assessment Summative : As part of the continuous assessment : 10% Formative: Verbal feedback in class presentation Written feedback on entries in regular checking of portfolios

17. Coming up ….