Reading in English - How to motivate and engage your students

1. Reading in English - How to motivate and engage your students 29 May 2006 Chinese University of Hong Kong B6, Ho Tim Building 5.00 - 7:00 pm

2. Motivating and engaging low proficiency students Gertrude Tinker Sachs Georgia State University

3. Overview • Handouts – what are they about? • Where are we in our thinking? Understanding why – articulating why – theories that inform our views and actions • Strategies and approaches • About taking action and being proactive

4. Handouts – are they useful? Let’s have a look – pre-reading

5. Cooperative Learning What it is not. Shoulder partners and eyeball partners – number off please

6. Let’s start with you • School level • How would you describe your learners? • How would you describe yourself as a teacher? • Please put your name and school on the paper and turn in.

7. Where do I stand? How do I view Hong Kong teachers?

8. Major findings from research • Children acquire the foundations of literacy within their native language and culture (Cummins, 1989; Wells, 1986; Wong-Fillmore, 1991) • There is a social nature to literacy learning (au & Mason, 1981; Heath, 1983; Scriber & Cole, 1981; Vygotsky, 1978)

9. Major Findings • Background knowledge plays a significant role in meaning making (Bruner, 1996, Goodman, 1992; Langer, 1984) • Reading and writing are interrelated (Clay, 1979; Harste et al, 1984)

10. Major Findings • Becoming literate in a second language takes time 5-7 years depending on the individual, strength of native literacy, type of second language instruction, and status of the second language (pg.23) • Perez, B. (1998). Language, literacy and biliteracy. In B. Perez (Ed), Sociocultural contexts of language and literacy, pp21 -48. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

11. Creating Classroom Contexts Non-linear thinking • promoting risk-taking, problem solving, • Offering their own ideas about text • Open classroom for the flow of ideas • Meaningful literacy learning connected to the real world • Thinking about thinking - metacognition

12. Classroom Contexts • Scaffolding linguistic and background knowledge – connecting to what they know and have experienced • Asking decontextualised questions will limit use of linguistic code; ask what do you think… • Adopt an interactive stance in your teaching

13. Classroom Contexts • Set a purpose • Students read their drafts to other students • Respond to stories read by their teacher • Respond to prompts • Create some prompts from current affairs in HK, the region, around the world

14. Reader response strategies • What is my purpose • Why did the author write this text – what did s/he teach me • What parts to I like best/least/why • Does the text remind me of another text – similar/different • What would I have changed if I had written it? • Are there parts I don’t understand – what can I do about it?

15. Reference • Kucer 1995, Guiding bilingual students “through” the literacy process. Language Arts, 72, 23.

16. Response – Read Pair Square • Hong Kong is full of people • Ah Wah Poems by Mike Murphy Activity – work with slide 14 - RRT

17. Reciprocal Teaching • What is it? • Lesson observation – Grade 2 accelerated students in a small group • Review handouts • Key elements – predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarizing • teacher modelling, student leadership and responsibility, articulating processes

18. Metacognition • Understanding why we use certain strategies • Articulating how we do things • Working to reduce our weaknesses and increase our strengths by understanding what experts do • TEACHER MODELLING is the KEY!!

19. Reciprocal Teaching - Superfoods Select your role– predictor, questioner, clarifier, summarizer Read your helpful bookmarks first

20. Literature Circles • What is it? • DVD observation – who are these learners, what are they doing, how are the activities structured? • Article • Look at the Highwayman Notes – read quickly • Let’s look at the poem

21. Extensive Reading • Bring me three gifts – Doris Jones Yang • Article – pre, during and post reading, writing, speaking, listening, visualising activities • Interaction in the ERS lesson. Guidelines June 2003, 25 (1). Transforming extensive reading. • May 2001, Horizons in Education, 43.

22. Dragon Boat Festival • Activity – see next set of slides • Culturally responsive teaching • What activities can you get your students to do? • What did you learn?

23. Shared reading experiences • Modeling reading and motivating students • Listening to texts read well and forming discussion groups • Repeated reading, radio reading, choral reading • Readers’ Theatre • DVD –Ivy Sun’s Coffee or Tea Drama • Article forthcoming - TESOL publications

24. Follow-up activities • Oral response – discussion, think-pair-share, oral reading • Written response – writing to a prompt, open-ended writing, journal writing, poetry writing • Visual response – creating a drawing/picture, induced imagery • Physical response – physical tableau, pantomime, dance and movement

25. Motivating students • How do we do it? • Discuss • Round Robin – quiet voices • Lucky Draw

26. Purposeful Teaching • Connecting to self • Connecting to text • Connecting to others • HK/Atlanta connections

27. Meaningful Teaching • Low achieving students – what is your belief? • What can we do? • What ideas can we use from this workshop? • Numbered heads

28. Spirit-Centred Teaching • Our beliefs govern our teaching • Our attitudes govern our teaching • We work with our like-minded peers to be spirit-centered teachers who seek to make a difference despite the mandated difficulties • Open-mindedness • Always receptive to professional development

29. It’s a profound joy to be back with you – thank you! • Gertrude Tinker Sachs • Middle Secondary Education Instructional Technology Department • Georgia State university P.O.Box 3978 Atlanta, GA 30302-3978 USA gtinkersachs@gsu.edu

30. Workshop Feedback • Thank you!!!