Content and objectives

Main tasks

Part 1: Module introduction & goal setting

Values & Attitudes:

1. Understand the aims, design and content of their school-based NSS Short Stories Elective module
2. Understand how this school-based program will help them acquire skills needed in SBA and the HKDSE papers in reading, speaking and writing
3. Develop self-monitoring and self-help strategies to achieve the learning objectives of the module

Students completed and shared their learning contract about the actions they planned to take to help themselves achieve the learning objectives of the module.

Part 2: Different story types & extensive reading skills

Short stories & SBA/Speaking:

1. Identify genres of print/non-print fiction
2. Share experiences & preferences in reading
3. Provide supporting reasons for an opinion
4. Use appropriate signposting to introduce reasons and give examples
5. Improve communication strategies (e.g. eye-contact, loud & clear voice)

Vocabulary:

6. Name different story types
7. Describe feelings about a story/book using adjectives and phrases

Extensive reading:

8. Locate information from different parts of books to make informed book choice
9. Choose a book of appropriate interest & reading level for independent reading 

Attitude:

10. Develop a reading habit

Students chose a book from the library and conducted a presentation to explain the features and reasons that made it attractive to them.

Teacher introducing strategies for students to choose the right books for themselves

A student introducing a fiction to their peers in class

Part 3: Short stories appreciation and understanding key features: Traditional & fractured fairy tales

Reading:

1. Identify keywords to help make predictions
2. Make use of prior knowledge in predicting the plot
3. Infer word meaning from context

SBA/Speaking: 

4. Start and end a discussion with appropriate formulaic expressions
5. Participate in and initiate interaction by making suggestions, supporting and developing others’ views, disagreeing and offering alternatives
6. Sustain and extend a conversational exchange

Short stories:

7. Identify:
   1. the setting & characters of stories
   2. common features in fairy tales
   3. points of view & their impact on a story
8. Write a short story with:
   1. an awareness of the plot elements & the impact the point of view chosen has on it
   2. a twist to surprise the readers

Vocabulary:

9. Name the key elements in stories
10. Suggest common settings & characters in fairy tales

Students presented and wrote their group’s fractured fairy tale from the point of view of a character in their story.

Teacher drawing students’ focus on using keywords to help make predictions

A student presenting her group’s fractured fairy tale

Part 4: Short stories appreciation and understanding key features: Science fiction

Reading:

1. Make use of prior knowledge to understand the plot
2. Infer word meaning from context
3. Make predictions
4. Understand the connection between ideas by following pronoun references

Vocabulary:

5. Use vocabulary specific to the science fiction genre
6. Describe personality of characters with adjectives

Short stories:

7. Create a setting for a science fiction
8. Be aware of the techniques writers use to create convincing characters

SBA/Speaking:

9. Include an appropriate introduction & a conclusion in an oral presentations
10. Provide details that support an opinion
11. Use appropriate signposting to organise ideas in presentations
12. Present relevant ideas clearly with effective use of a note card
13. Sustain and extend a conversational exchange by referring to others’ ideas when agreeing and disagreeing with them during discussions

Students conducted a presentation on their favourite character in a Sci-fi movie.

Explicit teaching of inferring word meaning from context

Part 5: Short stories appreciation and understanding key features: Horror stories

Reading:

1. Identify the mood of literary works through recognising key words and making inferences
2. Infer word meaning from context
3. Make predictions

Vocabulary:

4. Describe settings and moods with appropriate adjectives
5. Use vocabulary specific to horror stories

Short stories/SBA/Speaking:

6. Give a brief summary of a story
7. Recognise tools writers use to create mood: strong verbs, imagery & dramatic images (similes, metaphors, personification)
8. Express opinions on writer’s effectiveness in creating the setting and mood in stories
9. Create the mood of a story using appropriate adjectives & imagery
10. Use similes, metaphors & personification in the description of a place/person

Students created and presented their module story.

Students expressing their opinions on a story they read in a discussion in class