Scheme of work for Focus Part 1 MASTERING THE BASICS Suggested Time Allocation Periods 1-2 (2 periods) Knowledge, skills & attitudes to be developed Suggested activities Teaching resources Suggested assessment activities Remarks Module Introduction & concept of short Overview of different text types of short Period 1-2 (2 periods) understanding of typical short Gain interest in the module Let students share and discover the concept and topics covered in short Create fun and interest in learning English through short Bring students to the school library Let students pick some of their favourite short from the library Introduce different types of short to students: e.g. romance, mystery, detective, suspense, fairy tale, folk tale, etc. from students choices Introduce vocabulary and jargons related to short learning through simple matching game Short story books Hand-out introducing vocabulary and jargons related to short learning Discuss with the class the notion of short Part 2 ANALYZING TEXTS Periods 3-36 (34 periods) Introduce the major features and organization of short Period 3-18 (16 periods) major features of short : Introduce different types of short e.g. romance, mystery, detective, suspense, fairy tale, folk tale, etc. Sample short of different types Group presentation of their analysis of the basic features and organization of 1
1. setting, 2. characterization, 3. point of narration, 4. plot, 5. theme structure of short : 1. introduction, 2. complication, and 3. resolution (ending) and how to make transitions between each part Develop analytical and presentation skills to analyse the basic features and organization of short to students After introduction, ask students in groups to analyse the basic features and organization of the short given by teacher Group presentation of the analysis of the basic features and organization of short Peer and teacher evaluation to groups presentation short Introduce language used, dialogues and punctuation in short Period 19-22 (4 periods) language, dialogues and punctuation used in short Analyse the language used, format of dialogues and punctuation by picking examples from introduced in previous lessons Sample short Storyboard Peer comment and evaluation on other group s storyboard Create dialogues for scenes from a short Develop collaborative and creative skills Let students appreciate the dramatic function of using dialogues in short by comparing a narrative version and another version with dialogues Divide a short story introduced in previous lessons scene by scene Ask students in groups to convert the narration into dialogues by using a storyboard 2
Invite groups to role-play their storyboard and let students appreciate the differences between narration and dialogues Appreciate the language art in short Period 23-30 (8 periods) understanding of Appreciate the language art of using in short Create sentences by using Develop collaborative and creative skills Analyse the basic features, characteristics, the dramatic and artistic function of in reading and writing a short story by highlighting some examples from the introduced before Ask students to give more examples of from different types of short or their favourite short Discuss with the class the different characteristics and functions of in various types of short Sample short Sample 1. metaphor and simile, from different types of short Peer and teacher comment on students creative writing Students in groups convert simple sentences or paragraphs into 3
Invite students to share and explain their work and ask others to comment on the creative work Introduce the cultural aspects of different short Period 31-36 (6 periods) Get a taste of different types of from different parts of the world Appreciate different styles of short from a wide variety of sources Understand and appreciate the culture and language use in other countries Develop self-learning and IT learning skills Before introducing the characteristics of different short around the world, invite students in groups to share their findings about the characteristics and examples of short of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA Summarize and highlight students findings to ensure students similarities and differences between short around that world Give students sample of short Students presentation of the characteristics and examples of short of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA Group competition as a formative assessment to ensure students different cultural aspects from the short around the world Before the lessons, ask students in groups to search the characteristics and examples of short of a specific country, e.g. Greece, UK, France, and USA Group competition: Ask students to identify the writer s nationality with reasons by referring to the characteristics introduced and discussed before Part 3 PRODUCTION OF SHORT STORIES Period 37-50 (14 periods) Write a story Period 37-42 (6 periods) Develop skills in drafting, revising, and editing an original short As a start of creating individual story writing, teacher introduces an online Online writing platform Peer and teacher evaluation on the story planning and Teacher can encourage students to continue their online 4
story independently and collaboratively Experience different means in gathering information Develop skills in organizing ideas in a logical sense Experience process writing: 1. brainstorming and planning 2. drafting 3. peer evaluation 4. editing collaborative writing platform to the class. Teacher begins the story and assigns students their roles with brief background information, e.g. personality. Students continue the story based on the background information given. Introduce to students their task of creating a short story of any type and cultural background for a three-minute storytelling section Show sample products (if any) to the class Ask students to search information about their theme on the internet, reference books, etc. Sample story writing Evaluation checklist the 1 st and 2 nd drafts Teacher comment on the final product collaborative writing after class or even after the course Teacher can make use of some good drafts and evaluation as models and demonstration to students during this learning process Students pair up to peer comment on their counterpart s planning and the first draft with the aid of an evaluation checklist Give comment and advice to every student s first draft After editing the first draft, ask students to form groups of four and peer comment on others second drafts with the aid of another evaluation checklist With teacher and peer s comment, students finalize 5
their short story and get ready for the final storytelling stage Introduce storytelling skills Period 43-45 (3 periods) understanding and skills of storytelling: 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features Experience discovery learning Prepare students for the final storytelling performance Introduce the basic skills involved in storytelling by showing to students several sample storytelling video clips Students in groups point out the characteristics of storytelling and the differences between reading aloud a text and telling a story Summarizes students sharing and discussion according to three major aspects in storytelling: 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features Cut sample storytelling video clips focused on: 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features Handout about 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features in storytelling Storytelling performance as a formative assessment Divide a story into sections and invite students to perform storytelling based on the skills introduced before Storytelling Period 46-50 (5 lessons) Experience English storytelling Practise storytelling by making use of appropriate 2. stress and intonation 3. paralinguistic features learned before Make use of previous learned knowledge to Invite each student to share the they created to the class Tape-record students performance for their own reference and evaluation Encourage peer comment on storyteller s performance as well as the story content with the aid of an evaluation checklist Tape-recording equipment Evaluation checklist Peer and teacher s evaluation For more able class, teacher can invite students to submit a self-reflection on their writing and storytelling performance 6
convey meaning to others Evaluate students storytelling performance at the end of the course Encourages students to share their individual and online collaborative writing to their schoolmates through podcasting or broadcasting in the school campus On-line reference materials: http://schools.wikia.com/wiki/main_page http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/ 7