A WARM WELCOME TO ALL OUR PARENTS

1. A WARM WELCOME TO ALL OUR PARENTS

2. Teaching English in Bukit Panjang Primary School A Strong Foundation for Rich Language & Life

3. Overview Why change? • What we want for our children • Competencies for a world in flux What is changing for the better? • New ways to teach and learn • A revised syllabus & curriculum How will we move to a new level? • Aligning the teaching and assessment • Education for Life

4. WHY change? The Child & The World

5. What we want … All children should enjoy learning English, develop good language skills, be effective communicators and lifelong learners.

6. New skills for a changing world • Need to prepare our children for life and work in the 21st century • Develop students to be • Effective communicators • Confident, self-directed learners

7. 21st Century Competencies Framework • Core • R3ICH values • Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Integrity • Care • Harmony Key Messages April 2012 STELLAR Centre Character and Citizenship Education

8. 21st Century Competencies The outer ring of the framework represents the 21st Century Competencies necessary for the globalised world we live in. • Civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills • Contribute to society and nation • Develop a broader worldview and ability to deal with diversity • (culture, ideas and perspectives). • Critical and inventive thinking • Think critically, assess options and make sound decisions • Explore and think out of the box • Information and communication skills • Know what questions to ask and extract what is relevant and useful. • Be discerning and adopt ethical practices in cyberspace.

9. WHAT is changing for the better? New Ways to Teach & New Ways to Learn

10. Rich Language For All A Strong Foundation EL Syllabus 2010 • Emphasis on • Strengthening the foundation of language learning • Enriching the EL curriculum in our schools

11. STELLAR Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading Aims to move EL learners towards independence using authentic texts and learning activities that motivate and engage different learners

12. The STELLAR Vision • Children who • love reading and • have a strong foundation in the English Language

13. STELLAR Lessons Language Skills • Listening & Viewing • Speaking & Representing • Reading & Viewing • Writing & Representing STELLAR lessons develop …

14. STELLAR Lessons STELLAR lessons develop … • Social Skills • oral interaction among peers in non-threatening situations • working in partnership with other children • turn-taking & respect for others during class discussions

15. 1.Shared Reading Experiences Children read a storybook with the teacher and engage in discussion with teacher and peers. 2. Shared Writing Experiences 3. Language Use Activities in Learning Centres The teacher models writing using children’s language. Children engage in writing together and writing independently. The teacher prepares mini-lessons based on specific needs of children to prepare them for reading & writing activities, e.g. grammar, vocabulary, word recognition, decoding skills & spelling. What is a lower primary STELLAR lesson like?

16. Making the Transition From Lower to Upper Primary P1 - 3a  P3b, 4-6 Learning to Read  Reading to Learn Shared Reading  Silent Reading Big Books  Range of Text Types

17. Reading To Learn Writing As Process Differentiated Instruction The teacher modifies her teaching to cater to the specific needs of children to build their language skills. The teacher models the writing processes for different text types. Children engage in writing together and writing independently. What is an upper primary STELLAR lesson like? Teacher uses different strategies to help children read and understand different types of texts.

18. What is getting better? Children will have more opportunities to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills using a wide variety of different types of texts.

19. Rich Language For All A Strong Foundation Rich Texts

20. P4: Explanation

21. P5: Information Report

22. P6: Information Report

23. P6: Narrative

24. P6 EL: Argument

25. Rich Language For All A Strong Foundation Teaching Strategies

26. Ways to Teach Reading for Understanding Supported Reading K-W-L K = what I Know W = what I Want to know L = what I have Learnt Retelling 26

27. Reading for Understanding: Supported Reading • a strategy where a passage is chunked into smaller parts to help children to read • opportunities to make predictions, read silently, discuss ideas and difficult words 27

28. Reading for Understanding: K-W-L K = what I Know W = what I Want to know L = what I have Learnt A way to teach children how to read information texts. Children brainstorm, ask questions and read a text on their own to find out more about a topic. Ogle, Donna M. (1986). The Reading Teacher

29. Reading for Understanding: Retelling • Read silently • Retell the story to a friend A reading comprehension strategy using thinking skills. Children actively read to confirm their predictions and are given opportunity to share their ideas about a passage. Brown, H. & Cambourne, B. (1987). Read and Retell. Australia: Methuen Australia

30. Teaching Writing: Writing Process Cycle A step-by-step process where children learn to write as a class, in groups and then independently. Example: Individual Planning - Writing - Reviewing

31. Differentiated Instruction: Different Ways to Teach Ways to cater to the different learning needs of children. tasks passages Amount of support given Tomlinson, Carol A. (2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability Classrooms

32. What is getting better? Children will enjoy learning and learn better with the new EL curriculum that was implemented at P1 in 2010.

33. HOW will we move to a new level? Aligning Teaching and Assessment

34. HOW will we move to a new level? Assessment is part of learning and teaching. Children will be assessed on what they have been taught.

35. Our Assessment Philosophy • Assessment is part of the learning process, and must be closely aligned with learning objectives, content and teaching. • Both school-based assessment and national examinations play important and different roles in our education system. • A balanced assessment system should have both Assessment ‘for’ Learning as well as Assessment ‘of’ Learning.

36. Aligning Teaching and Assessment • Giving children greater scope for their own interpretation and personal response in speaking and writing • Greater attention paid to viewing skills with listening and reading

37. Assessment for Primary 4 from2013

38. P4 Assessment These are examples of changes in assessment to give students greater scope for interpretation and personal response. • EL Guided Writing • EL Visual Text Comprehension • EL Listening Comprehension • EL Oral Communication

39. Write a story of at least 120 words based on the pictures below. Give the story your own ending. You may use the words and phrases in the box. You are encouraged to include other relevant points to make your composition interesting. P4 Guided Writing:Picture Series • Format similar to the 4-picture composition but with the last frame left blank • Scope for different ways to end the story • Questions and helping words provided ? • Consider the following points when you plan • your composition: • When and where did the incident take place? • What happened before the incident? • Who was the victim? • Why did the culprit decide to carry out the act? • How was it done? • What happened in the end? • Helping words: • mobile phone • attractive • recess time • tempted • reported the matter • ordered a search • culprit

40. P4 Guided Writing: • Scope for different ways to sequence ideas and develop a storyline • Questions and helping words provided • Option for students to base their writing on one, two or all three pictures.

41. P4 Visual Text Comprehension: • Text which includes visuals • Viewing skills used when reading • Multiple-choice questions

42. P4 Listening Comprehension: • Show understanding by using listening and viewing skills ( )

43. P4 Oral Communication: • Use of a visual to focus on a familiar topic • To be engaged in a conversation

44. STANDARD ENGLISH LANGUAGE ~ EXAMINATION FORMAT

45. FOUNDATION ENGLISH LANGUAGE ~ EXAMINATION FORMAT

46. P5 EL/FEL Writing ~ Paper 1 Consists of 2 parts: Continuous Writing Situational Writing Tomlinson, Carol A. (2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability Classrooms

47. P5EL Writing ~ Paper 1 • Part 1 (Situational Writing): Candidates will be required to meet the demands of a given situational context. • Part 2 (Continuous Writing): Candidates will be required to write a composition of at least 150 words on one of two given topics: a piece of narrative writing based on a pictorial stimulus or an account of a given situation.

48. P5EL Paper 1: Continuous Writing (40m) • One topic, but with greater scope for writing from different perspectives • Visuals to provide ideas for various perspectives • Flexibility for candidates to write in any appropriate text type, in continuous prose • Assessment is on writing skills, not on text type

49. P5FEL Writing ~ Paper 1 • Part 1 (Situational Writing): Candidates will be required to write a short functional piece (e.g. a letter or an email) to suit the purpose, audience and context of a given situation. • Part 2 (Continuous Writing): Candidates will be required to write a composition of at least 120 words in continuous prose based on a series of pictures.

50. P5FEL Paper 1: Continuous Writing (30m) • Slight modification to the item – 4 frames instead of 3 • 1st frame  picture and helping words • 2nd frame  picture and helping words • 3rd frame  picture and helping words • 4th frame  a question mark