| Background A careful analysis of student work led teachers at Tseung Kwan O Catholic Primary School to conclude that when their students were asked to write, they often displayed problems such as lack of elaboration, difficulty using the correct punctuation or a variety of saying verbs when using direct speech. These problems would become more evident when they were asked to write creative text types such as fables. The experience reported below describes how this group of teachers addressed the issues mentioned. |
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Objectives
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| Main focus |
Subsidiary focuses |
Writing
To enable the students to write a fable that displays the following features:
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correct punctuation when direct speech and dialogues are used |
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a reasonable range of saying verbs |
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a reasonable range of connectives to link up ideas |
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elaboration of main ideas |
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a moral that is clearly related to the message of the fable |
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Reading
To provide students with the opportunity to:
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use a variety of reading skills in order to read and comprehend a fable |
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identify the features of a fable |
Generic skills
To provide students with the opportunity to display:
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creativity |
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critical thinking |
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problem-solving skills |
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Implementation
| Textbook Unit |
Stories that teach |
Target language |
Language focus:
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Use adjectives to describe characters |
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Use comparatives and superlatives to make comparison |
Vocabulary:
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Adjectives describing characters |
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| Task |
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Lesson Plan
No. of lessons |
Objectives |
Activities / Tasks |
2 |
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Sequence events in a fable |
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Read aloud with expression |
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Ask Ss if they know any stories that teach people a lesson at the end of it. |
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Introduce the term ‘Fables’. |
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Read the title ‘Mousedeer and the Big Hole’ and look at the illustration. Ask Ss to make prediction about the story. |
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Read the story with Ss. While reading, make prediction and guess the meanings of unfamiliar words from context. |
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After reading, rearrange the sentences to show the correct order of the story. |
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Discuss the lesson of the story. |
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1 |
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Identify the format and features of a fable |
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Re-read the fable ‘Mousedeer and the Big Hole’ with Ss. |
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Recall the features of a story. |
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Tell Ss that a fable is a story with a lesson. A fable has all the parts of a story. |
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Divide Ss into groups of 4. Each group is given 2 sets of cards (one set for the parts of a story such as ‘title’, ‘setting’, etc. and the other set for the details e.g. ‘Mousedeer and the Big Hole’, ‘in the forest’, etc.) The 2 sets of cards are printed on different coloured paper. Ss match the cards. <cards for the matching game> |
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Check answers with Ss. |
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Give Ss another fable ‘The boy who cried wolf’. Ss work in groups and identify the different parts. <WS> |
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Check answers with Ss. |
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2 |
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Use adjectives to describe characters |
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Introduce adjectives to describe personality. |
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Give Ss a set of the adjective cards. Ask Ss to think about how to categorise the adjectives individually. They are expected to put the adjectives into 2 categories: positive & negative. They work in pairs to share what they think. Then invite some pairs of Ss to share what they think with the class (think-pair-share). |
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Provide feedback to Ss. |
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Recall the details of the fable ‘Mousedeer and the Big Hole’. |
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Ask Ss to think of other words to describe the characters. |
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Ss form groups of four and share what they think about the characters. |
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Ss write sentences to describe the two characters. |
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Invite some Ss to read aloud their sentences. |
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Give feedback to Ss. |
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2 |
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Use superlatives and comparatives to make comparison |
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Play an election game with Ss. Ask Ss to vote for the kindest/the tallest/the cleverest student of the class. |
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Introduce the concept of superlatives. |
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Preview the fable in the textbook. |
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Ask Ss to predict the story based on the title and the illustration. |
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Read the story with Ss. |
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Briefly discuss the different parts of the fable with Ss. |
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Have Ss underline all the superlatives in the fable. |
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Write the sentence: ‘The buffalo was clever but the fox was cleverer.’ |
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Write another sentence: ‘The buffalo was clever. The fox was cleverer, but the mousedeer was the cleverest.’ |
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Ask Ss to work out the function of the adjectives. |
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Ss work in groups of 4. Give each group some adjectives with comparatives and superlatives. Ask Ss to categorise them and justify why they categorise the adjectives in that way. |
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Categorise the adjectives in 3 groups (a. er/est b. more/most c. irregular, like good, better, best). Ask Ss to discuss and find out the rules for changing the adjectives. <comparative and superlative forms of adj. cards> |
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Invite some Ss to share what they think. Tell Ss the rule explicitly. |
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2 |
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Write the outline of a fable |
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Recall the parts of a fable with Ss. |
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Use ‘the Lion and the Mouse’ as an example. |
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Show Ss how to rewrite a fable. |
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Ss work in groups and write their story outline. Students are given a table showing the analysis of all the fables that they have read in this unit. Different story outlines are given to different classes to suit different abilities. The more able students can think of a new story on their own or they can refer to one of the fables that they have read in the table in order to get ideas for their own stories. The average/less able students can also choose to write their stories based on ‘the Lion and the Mouse’ or other stories.
Story outline for more able students
Story outline for average students
Story outline for less able students |
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Use the information on the story outline and share-write the story with Ss. |
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Ss write their story based on the information on their own story map. |
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Invite some groups to share their story and give feedback. Invite Ss to give feedback too. Pay attention to the moral. Check whether the story matches the moral. |
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2 |
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Add details e.g. adjectives and dialogues to the fable |
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At the end of the previous lesson, collect Ss’ group writing.Have their work typed and printed on A3 paper. Leave more spacing between lines. |
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Show Ss a ‘plain’ version of a fable. Demonstrate how to make it more interesting (e.g. by adding adjectives, feelings). |
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Ss add adjectives and feelings in their group writing. An adjective list is given for students’ reference. |
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Tell Ss how to write dialogue. |
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Invite Ss to suggest how to add dialogues in the class writing (e.g. the dialogues between the shark and the small fish). |
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Ss revise their work by adding dialogues. For weaker students, a list of possible dialogues is given, so they can choose from the list. |
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Ask Ss to check their work based on the checklist. Ss revise and edit their work. |
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Ss share their story. |
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Give feedback and invite other groups to give feedback. |
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Reflection
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Using the same graphic organiser for reading and writing fables was a good way to help students see the link between reading and writing. |
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Exposing students to a number of fables enabled them to generate more ideas. They could then use them in their writing. |
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Shared-writing was an effective way of scaffolding student writing. It was particularly important for less able students. |
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Having students revise and edit the fables in groups and give feedback to classmates helped students write with details and increase their awareness of mistakes. |
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Acknowledgements
Ms FUNG Mei Yin
Mr CHAN Ching Yuen
Mr CHAN Chi Keung
Mr CHUI Koon Sang
Ms POON Maleya
Ms WU Wing Yin
Tseung Kwan O Catholic Primary School
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