Act to know Interaction between assessment data and

Act to know: Interaction between assessment data and practical knowledge in “writing” classes Presented by SKH St Peter’s Primary School (AM & PM) T. W. G. Hs. Leo Tung-hai Lee Primary School 11 May 2005

What makes teachers change their instructional practice? Territory-wide assessment data The instructional decisions that have the greatest impact are made day to day in the classroom. Rick Stiggins (2004) ? ? ? A problem in the classroom

Interaction between assessment data and practical knowledge in ‘writing’ classes Episode 1 School: SKH St Peter’s Primary School (AM & PM) Teachers: 3 AM teachers + 3 PM teachers Level: P. 2

Evidence-based practice in local school context Operation in schools t ec l ef R Plan Obs erve t ec l ef R Re-plan Obs erve t ec l ef R t Ac Re-plan Obs erve t Ac Re-plan September October November Test December January First-term examination . . .

Collecting evidence (incl. analyzing student work, observing students’ responses/feedback, self-reflection etc. ) for collective reflection & critical inquiry Collective reflection & critical inquiry in each short term cycle: 1. Reflecting on territorywide assessment data and relating the data to the day-to-day problems in our classrooms Oct 04 A birthday present for Garfield (Module 1) Nov 04 4. Freeing ourselves My toy friend (Module 2) Monster (Module 2) Dec 04 2. Identifying students’ areas of weakness 3. Challenging the presumed practice Writing activities: Clown (Module 2) Poem (Module 3) Jan 05 What are they doing at home? (Module 3) Fancy-dress party (Post-exam activity)

Act to know: 1. Reflecting on territory-wide assessment data and relating the data to the day-to-day problems in our classrooms 1 2 How is our interpretation related to the day-to-day problems in our classrooms? How do we interpret the TSA papers? 3 What are our challenges?

Report on the Basic Competencies of Students in English Language (KS 1) Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (November 2004) General Comments on Writing Strengths: • Students wrote well when writing about their own likes as well as some personal experiences, such as good friends and school activities. • Some students could produce a piece of writing where use of imagination is required.

Weaknesses: • Although students might make mistakes in spelling words, in many cases, it did not always interfere with the communication of ideas. • Some students showed difficulty with sentence structures and verb forms. • Most students required more support on how to sequence their ideas and give more details.

TSA Paper for KS 1 (July 2004)

0: 5. 7% 1: 94. 3% 0: 28. 6% 1: 71. 4% 0: 22. 9% 1: 77. 1% 0: 2. 9% 1: 97. 1% 0: 8. 6% 1: 91. 4% 0: 85. 7% 1: 14. 3% 0: 68. 6% 1: 31. 4% 0: 80. 0% 1: 20. 0%

KS 1 – Writing BC • Writing and/or responding to short and simple texts with relevant information and ideas (including personal experiences and imaginative ideas) with the help of cues (IS, KS, ES) • Writing short and simple texts using a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices fairly appropriately with the help of cues despite some spelling and grammatical mistakes (KS)

1 How do the students react to models? 2 Do models facilitate or restrict students’ expression of ideas? I will buy Gogo for Garfield. It is brown. It is fat. It has got very big eyes. It has got a small mouth. It has got short hair.

Act to know: 2. Identifying students’ areas of weakness The students rely quite heavily on the models given by the teacher. How can they 2 How can we move away from modelled bridge the gap writing? between modelled writing and free Can writing? “experience” 1 3 help? But what is “experience”?

Act to know: 3. Challenging the presumed practice 1 I’ve tried this way in my class. It worked quite well. Based on this finding, let’s try an alternative way and look at the student work again. 3 Really? I feel that something is still lacking… 2

In this context, the alternative way seems to work better in terms of the students’ responses and the quality of their work. Why? 4 5 What is “experience”? How to connect personal experience to writing?

My name is Jenny. I am a cat. I am a girl. I am white. I have got big eyes. I have got a small mouth. I have got a small nose. I have got small ear. I have got a small tail. I am young. I am fat. I like to eat fish. I am happy.

Act to know: 4. Freeing ourselves 1 The students tend to pay more attention to language forms than expression of meaning. Why? Is it related to our teaching? 3 We are the students’ role models. We can’t just challenge our students. We should also challenge ourselves! 2 But I used to be like that… I was taught that way as a student and I have been teaching that way for a long time.

Shared writing -> group writing -> individual writing (Module 3) Activating previous knowledge Shared writing Connecting previous knowledge with new learning Encouraging active use of vocabulary Modelling writing skills

My name is Alan. I am a monster. I am a boy. I am old. I am forty years old. I have got small eyes, a big mouth and long ears. I am black. I am fat, short and clean. I like to eat children and hamburgers. I can eat but I can’t read and write. I am ugly.

Shared writing -> group writing -> individual writing (Post -exam activity) 1 Maximizing the input for students Modelling skills but not merely contents or formats 2 3 More risk-taking with the students

5 Concept map 4

6 Vivian At the fancy dress party Today, we have a fancy dress party in the school hall. We are very excited. I want to be a dancer. I have got long brown and black hair. I am tall and thin. I have got a crown. My dress is pink and yellow. I can sing and dance. I like eat cakes and grapes. I like to drink pear juice and grapes juice. Lucy want to be a dancer. She has got long green hair. She is short and thin. She has got a ball. Her shirt is orange. She can jump and play the ball. She like to eat pear and biscuits. She like to drink apple juice and cake. Jane want to be a drcider (designer). She has got long orange hair. She is short and thin. She has got a picture. Her trousers are yellow. She can paint a picture and sing. She like to eat sweets, lemon and grapes. She like to drink coke, pear juice and lemon juice. We play games, eat candies and take photos. We are very happy.

Collecting evidence for collective reflection & critical inquiry • Comparison within the same class • Whole class • More able / average / less able students • Individual students (writing portfolio) Self interpretation of the evidence collected Theoretical understanding • Comparison across different classes Courage Practical experience Collective reflection & critical inquiry Trust Openness

Under this context, what practical knowledge have we generated through collective reflection and critical inquiry to promote improvement in the identified areas of weakness? • Freeing ourselves from language forms before freeing the students • Modelling skills but not merely contents and formats • Challenging the presumed practice • Maximizing the input for the students when shifting the focus from language forms to expression of ideas • Promoting student learning through school-based curriculum development but “class-based” adaptation

Interaction between assessment data and practical knowledge in ‘writing’ classes Episode 2 School: T. W. G. Hs. Leo Tung-hai Lee Primary School Teachers: Six teachers (5 A-5 F), PSMCD & 2 panel heads Level: P. 5 Students: Streaming at P. 5, most students without parental support in English learning

Modular design • Use the topic “Public transport” in the textbook as context to write about a story that happened on a bus/the MTR/the LRT etc • Focus on particular writing skills like paragraphing & adding details Teaching and Learning Strategy • shared writing • brainstorming, use mind map to organise ideas • verbal correction • use the above strategies to practise 3 times on “seemingly different topics” like “On the bus, on the MTR, on the LRT, on the mini-bus etc”, introduce one skill at a time

1 st Practice

Brainstorm ideas in class 2 nd Practice Use mind map to organise ideas 1 st Paragraph 2 nd Paragraph -beginning of the story -main event / development 3 rd Paragraph -ending of the story

Shared writing 3 rd Practice Brainstorm ideas Adding details to the story Focus on the 2 nd Paragraph -describe 2 -3 groups of people

Number of Practices (5 B) 1 st piece 10 th Dec Shared writing 2 nd piece 16 th Dec 3 rd piece 3 rd Jan Using mind map to organise ideas Adding details 4 th piece 4 th Jan Homework 5 th piece 7 th Jan Pre-exam practice Exam 12 th Jan Examination

Teachers’ Initial Reflection Observation: • Students participated actively in shared writing and brainstorming • They could master particular writing skills like paragraphing and adding details Students’ Performance in the Exam: • They did quite well in the exam, even the weak ones could organize their ideas and express in simple words

Questions we were interested in: (1) Did the students memorize their own scripts and regurgitate them in the exam? (2) How much did the students learn in each practice? (3) Who could benefit most from this strategy? (4) Was 5 times better than 3 times? Students’ work (daily practices & exam paper) • Systematic collection of data (5 B) • Data analysis Evidence-based Reflection

Case 1: John Area of improvement: Content Simplified Version 2 nd Practice “On the LRT” I saw an old man. I gave him my seat. He was happy. 3 rd Practice “On the MTR” I saw an old man. I gave him my seat. He/She smoked. 4 th Practice “On the MTR” I saw an old man. I gave him the seat. He smoked. I told him not to smoke. 5 th Practice “On the LRT” I saw an old man. I gave him my seat. A young man took his seat. I was unhappy. Exam “On the LRT” I saw an old man. I gave him my seat. A young man took his seat. I was unhappy. I talked to the young man. The young man gave the seat to the old man

Case 1: John Area of improvement : Word level Choice of words Chair seat I lived reading Tense Were sleep I liked… were sleeping Verb I not help I could not help Adverb Therefore Possessive Friend home Punctuation Use of capital after open quotation mark suddenly friend’s home

Case 1: John Area of improvement: Attitude No. of words 2 nd Practice 124 words 3 rd Practice 103 words 4 th Practice 154 words 5 th Practice 148 words Exam 169 words

Case 1: John Area of improvement : Paragraph Level Unabridged Version When I get on the MTR, I saw a lot of people. I 4 th Practice liked by the MTR. Because traveling by MTR was fast. Some people were sleep. Some people read books. Therefore I saw the old man very unhappy. Exam When I got on the LRT, I saw a lot of people. Some people were reading. Some people were sleeping. Suddenly, I saw a old man he was unhappy.

Case 2: Michelle Simplified Version 2 nd Practice “On the minibus” 3 rd Practice “On the bus” I saw a child. I played with her. She thanked me. 4 th Practice “On the LRT” A lady was uncomfortable. I gave her some water. She thanked me. 5 th Practice “On the bus” I saw a boy. I played with him. He recognized me to be his friend in P. 1. Exam “On the bus” I saw a girl. I played with her. She said goodbye to me. The driver drove very fast. I asked him to slow down. He thanked me.

Case 2: Michelle Area of improvement : Word Level Tense . . are read newspaper and sleeping were sleeping I read, he say he said

Case 2: Michelle Area of improvement: Attitude No. of words 2 nd Practice 99 words 3 rd Practice 145 words 4 th Practice 142 words 5 th Practice Exam 144 words 112 words

Teachers’ Reflection • Low achievers (e. g John & Phobe) can benefit more from such strategies, especially in terms of accuracy • High achievers (e. g. Michelle) cannot benefit as much as low achievers from such strategies, not much improvement in terms of accuracy, show signs of boredom (careless mistakes) e. g. 1 st Practice: “I played and talked with her. ” 5 th Practice(Pre-exam practice): “I played to him and talked to him. ” • Review on the number of practices

Modular design • Use the topic “The day I was born” in the textbook as context to write a story on honesty • Focus on a particular writing skill – using speech bubbles to show the inner struggle of a character Teaching and Learning Strategy • storytelling + shared “writing”+ brainstorming (constructed the story verbally) • verbal correction • practise 3 times using “seemingly different topics” – use Mrs Goldberg’s story to practise the skill, group writing & individual work

Teaching and Learning Strategy • storytelling + shared “writing”+ brainstorming (constructed the story verbally)

Grace, Amy & Anna Tom and David are good friends. Last Sunday they went to the library, they wanted to borrowed the books. When David went to the toilet, he saw a handbag on the floor and then he opened the handbag, he saw a lot of sweets, and some cash under the sweets. He thought, ‘If I take the cash and the sweets, I can become rich and I can eat the sweets, ’ When David was stealing, Tom saw it. Tom thought, ‘I will not stop him because we can be rich. ’ he thought again, ‘No! No we can’t take this handbag. When we told the handbag, all people will thought we were dishonest people, at that time did not has any people play with we. And then, they told the handbag to the police station, any people said they are good boy.

Tom and David are good friend. Amy Yesterday, they went to the restaurant and they wanted to have the lunch. David saw a big bag under the table. He opened the bag he saw a lot of mobilephones. He thought, ‘Tomorrow is my father birthday, if I take the mobilephones, I can gave my father. ’ When David was stealing, Tom saw it. He thought, ’I will not stop him, so he will gave me one mobilephone. ’ he thought again, ‘If I will not stop him, he will be a dishonest person, so I want to help him. ’ Tom said, ‘You can’t take it because it is not your. ’ At last, Tom and David took the bag to the police station, the police said, ‘You are good boy. ’

Tom and David are good friends. Grace Last Sunday, Tom and David went to the library and borrowed books. When David went to opened the story book. He could saw three beautiful stamps in the story book. David thought, ‘My friend, Tom’s hobby is collecting stamps. If I take the stamps. He will very happy. ’ When David was stealing, Tom saw it. He thought, ‘I will not stop him because my hobby is collecting stamps. If I take it, I have a lot of stamps. ’ ‘No! If I not stop him, he will be a dishonest person. I will be greedy. Therefore, He can’t take the stamps. ’ thought Tom again. Tom went to told David don’t took the stamps but David didn’t listened to hi. Tom was angry and unhappy. David saw Tom was unhappy, so he took three beautiful stamps to the librarian. At last, they went away happily.

Tom and David is good friends. Last Monday, They went to they school. Anna In the recess, they played under a big tree. Suddenly, David saw a handbag near b big rock. And then he went to the bag and opened it. It was a lot of money and toys. At that time, David thought, ’If I took the money, I chould be a rush boy and I chould took the toys to my friend look. ’ When David was stealing the handbag, Tom saw it. Tom thought, ‘I will not stop him. We will rush and we can brought many things too. ’ ‘No! We chould not took the money. When we took the money, we will be dishonest person. Therefore we chould not took the money, ’ he thought again. And then Tom told David we should took the money to the teacher. At that time, They took the money to they classteacher.

Tom and David are good friends. Grace Last Sunday, Tom and David went to the library and borrowed books. When David went to opened the story book. He could saw three beautiful stamps in the story book. David thought, ‘My friend, Tom’s hobby is collecting stamps. If I take the stamps. He will very happy. ’ When David was stealing, Tom saw it. He thought, ‘I will not stop him because my hobby is collecting stamps. If I take it, I have a lot of stamps. ’ ‘No! If I not stop him, he will be a dishonest person. I will be greedy. Therefore, He can’t take the stamps. ’ thought Tom again. Tom went to told David don’t took the stamps but David didn’t listened to hi. Tom was angry and unhappy. David saw Tom was unhappy, so he took three beautiful stamps to the librarian. At last, they went away happily.