Postcards 3: Pop-up notes

All the pop-up screens from this PrimeTeach file have been copied here so that you can print them out easily.

Overview

Note:

This package of materials was developed in collaboration with the following teachers:

	Wong Yuen Ye from Po On Commercial Association Wan Ho Kan Primary School, School No, 2
	Fung Wing Yin from Po On Commercial Association Wan Ho Kan Primary School, School No, 2
	Lau Wai Ling from Sun Fong Chung Primary School AM

The materials were developed through a series of TeleNex workshops and have been piloted in Hong Kong primary classrooms. On the basis of feedback, materials have been modified and further developed by TELEC to accommodate a variety of teaching and learning styles.

Example:

Glossary:

The process of reviewing and making changes to a piece of writing is known as editing. We need to encourage students to develop the habit of reviewing and rewriting before they hand in their work to the teacher. One aspect of editing is proofreading, whereby students are encouraged to find and correct grammatical errors. Students need activities to help them develop their editing skills if they are to become independent and effective editors of their own work. It is important to focus students on an aspect of editing that relates to what has been taught in the lesson.

Example:

	It is a beautiful country, very green and peaceful.
	What an interesting country this is!

Example:

	Yesterday, I rode on an elephant and saw a Buddhist temple.
	I tried green curry, but it was too hot for me!
	I also went to see the famous tropical beaches.

Materials

Note:

You will need to make an enlarged version of the Postcard from Thailand. You can also display the postcard by copying it onto an overhead transparency and projecting it with an overhead projector, using a visualiser, or by scanning it as a PowerPoint slide and projecting it with an LCD projector.

Steps

Note:

These activities have been covered in greater depth in Postcards 1 and Postcards 2. It may be useful to read the steps in these activities if your students have not completed them earlier.

Key:

	ride	rode
	see	saw
	try	tried
	go	went

Note:

If you think your students will find it difficult to think of ideas, it may be a good idea to first complete the PrimeTeach package Visiting Hong Kong where students are introduced to a number of places to visit and things to do in Hong Kong.

Theory:

This is a way of helping students to brainstorm ideas. Write brief notes of the students' ideas in a random order on a large piece of paper. Since there is no need to give the ideas in a logical sequence or categorise them in any way, students are freed from worrying about the order of ideas or where to put them. The students' ideas can also be written on the board but a sheet of paper is often used and displayed on a notice board, thus freeing up board space for sentence writing etc.

Example:

Things to do	Things to see	Things to eat
go to Ocean Park	the Big Buddha on Lantau	congee
ride on the Peak Tram	fishing boats in Aberdeen harbour	dim sum
watch birds at Mai Po Wetlands	statues in Kowloon Park	fried rice

Example:

	Dear Cousin,		Best wishes from,
	Dear __(name)__,		Lots of love from,
	Greetings from __(country)__!		Love from,
	Hi __(name)___!		See you soon,

Example:

Greetings from Hong Kong!

I am staying with my cousin. We have had a lovely time! Yesterday we went to Lantau. We saw the Big Buddha statue and drank tea in the tea gardens. I ate in the floating restaurant in Aberdeen. I tried Dim Sum and loved it!

Looking forward to coming home soon,

Chris

Theory:

It is important to monitor students in order to gather information about their ability to use language skills. The teacher can note students' strengths and weaknesses. This data is part of formative assessment which informs future teaching and learning. Monitoring helps to identify problems that need to be dealt with on an individual basis. It also enables the teacher to make a note of problems that are common to many students. These problems can then be focused on during whole-class feedback.

Note:

It is easier to make comments and see errors in someone else's work than in one's own. Also, this kind of peer support gives students confidence and a feeling of independence when they are writing.

10.

Theory:

This is an important stage in the writing process. During this stage, students will be editing and proofreading their work. Editing means making changes to content. Proofreading means looking for errors of accuracy. Both are important stages that effective writers may go through several times before they feel their work is finished.

11.

Theory:

Give students a feeling of pride and satisfaction in what they have achieved in English by displaying their work in the classroom or in other places in the school. This will enhance students' motivation to learn English.

Grammar notes

For more information on using the present simple, look at the following in PrimeGram:

Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Time & tense: Present simple

For more information on using the past simple, look at the following in PrimeGram:

Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Time & tense: Past simple