Gladys
Wong
Iris Ng
(Pui Tak
Canossian
Primary
School)
(EDB)
Germaine
Wu
(Pui Tak
Canossian
Primary School)
One step further – integrating
reading strategies into the
curriculum
February 28, 2008
The E-P-I-E approach
Planning
Evaluation
Implementation
How well have our students
performed in reading comprehension?
2008-TSA-ENG-P3
3ERW1-Part 2A
3ERW1-Part 2B
Locate specific information
A
*B
C
D
U
HK
1.9%
72.2%
23.4%
1.7%
0.8%
A
B
*C
D
U
HK
20.9%
7.4%
40.6%
30.4%
0.8%
Inferencing
How well have our students
performed in reading comprehension?
2008-TSA-ENG-P6
6ERW1-Part 4
Inferencing
A
B
C
*D
U
HK
17.6%
16.5%
26.1%
39.2%
0.6%
HK
Inferencing
A
B
*C
D
U
18.7%
22.8%
31.7%
26.6%
0.2%
P3
Students’ performance in TSA
(reading)?
Students could identify some key words with the help of pictorial
cues in a notice ….students were still not capable of identifying
key words in longer texts such as stories.
Students could identify the main ideas in a comic successfully….
They were still unable to identify main ideas embedded in longer
texts such as a postcard.
Students could make simple inference with straightforward
contextual clues….students were still weak in making inferences
in longer texts such as stories and postcards.
(TSA report , 2008)
P6
Students’ performance in
TSA(reading)?
…students were, by and large, able to locate information in a chart
and extract specific information from texts, …Their skills,
however, did not extend to interpreting unfamiliar words or
expressions in a context or extracting specific information from
longer reading passages.
Most students could interpret implied meaning in short, simple
reading texts; however almost half the students had difficulty
using inference skills to interpret the meaning of a text and
deducing main ideas from supporting details.
(TSA report , 2008)
What are our students’ main
problems in reading comprehension?
Problems in
dealing with
long texts
limited vocab
no idea as to where
and how to look for
clues
Problems in
tackling questions
requiring higher
order thinking
skills
Have not been ‘taught’
the skills
Lack experience or
knowledge to interpret
and/or infer
What did schools do to tackle the
problems? – curriculum level
Include a variety of skill
questions in daily
worksheets and assessment
papers
Read more
Make sure we test what we teach
Make sure students read rather than
merely ‘look (at)’ or ‘see’ books
Teach students the
required reading
strategies
Make sure we really ‘teach’ the
strategies
What did schools do to tackle the
problems? – learning & teaching
1. Teacher designs reading
comprehension questions
Are the teacher aware of the reading
skills the questions are testing?
2. Students answer the
questions
3. If the answer is correct,
teacher interprets that
students possess the
required reading skill.
It’s possible that students get
the right answer by chance.
4. If the answer is incorrect,
teacher explains how the
answer can be arrived.
The explanation may not be practical for
students because they often do not know
where to start tackling the questions.
Reading lesson = post-reading question-andanswer sessions
(Durkin, 1978-79; Pressley, Wharton-McDonald, Hampston, &
Echevarria, 1998)
Pui Tak Canossian Primary
School’s choice
The reality:
-There are so many reading
skills students need to learn.
-The less able students give
in when facing a long text.
-Students are too used to
direct lifting.
-Problems in accommodating
the reading skills training
Start training the basic steps in
tackling reading comprehension
questions
Design own reading materials – to
provide a pedagogical context
Begin by teaching the elementary
reading skills
Integrate reading skills training in the
English curriculum
Integrate the reading skills training
into the English curriculum
A P4 example
Reading - Letters
to and from the
NET; textbook b
passages
Listening –
conversation
between NET and
her brother
Speaking – discuss
the itinerary
Module 4
Fantastic Hong Kong
Writing – reply letter
to NET
Language forms &
functions – use
because to give
reasons; use ‘would
like to ask for and
express preferences;
add ‘ed’ and ‘ing’ to
verbs to form
adjectives
1st phase of training – walking on two legs
Bloom’s Taxonomy (the Cognitive Domain)
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Locate
Synthesis
specific
information
Evaluation
Recall data or information
Understand the meaning, translation,
interpolation, and interpretation of
instructions and problems
Use a concept in a new situation or
unprompted use of an abstraction
Separates material or concepts into
component parts so that its organizational
the given
structure may be Interpret
understood
Pronoun
Build a structure or pattern
from diverse
information
to solve
reference
elements with emphasis on creating a new
problems
meaning or structure
skills
Judgments about the value of ideas or
materials
1st phase of training – walking on two legs
1. Read the questions carefully
2. Underline the key words
3. Go back to the passage and find the
key words
4. Read one sentence backward and
one sentence forward (i.e. the
immediate context)
5. Check the MC options
Can you see the ‘magic’ of our
training?



the steps
are explicitly
taught
students are
required to
practice and
think aloud
the steps
aim for habit
formation
Students’ attitude towards the
training of magic steps
Do you think the magic
steps can help you tackle
reading comprehension
questions？
Do you think you have
mastered the magic steps？
Will you use the magic
steps to help you tackle the
reading comprehension
questions in future？
No. of students(% of students)
YES
60 (95.23%)
NO
3 (4.77%)
No. of students(% of students)
YES
45 (71.422%)
NO
18 (25.58%)
No. of students(% of students)
YES 53 (84.12%)
NO
10 (15.88%)
Can the students get the correct
answers using the magic steps?
Teacher used
questions to
prompt students
to think aloud the
steps (magic
steps) they
employed to arrive
at the answers
Teachers’ Reflections
Students can get the correct answers easily for the
elementary skills, e.g. locate specific information and pronoun
reference skill
The training is especially effective in building confidence
among the average and less able students.
Time consuming but worth devoting time to help students
form the habit.
The magic steps need to be further developed to help
students tackle questions on more advanced reading skills,
e.g. inference skills.
-
2nd phase of training
how can we help our students to develop
the higher order thinking skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy (the cognitive domain)
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Recall data or information
Understand the meaning, translation,
interpolation, and interpretation of
instructions and problems
Use a concept in a new situation or
unprompted use of an abstraction
Separates material or concepts into
component parts so that its organizational
structure may be understood
Build a structure or pattern from diverse
elements with emphasis on creating a new
meaning or structure
Judgments about the value of ideas or
materials
Inference
skills
Can our students infer?
Who are these people? And what
are their relations and relationship?
He put down $10.00 at the window. The woman
behind the window gave $4.00. The person next to
him gave him $3.00, but he gave it back to her. So
when they went inside, she bought him a large
popcorn.
Where were
these people?
What were
they doing?
To infer means to read between the lines and use personal
experience and knowledge of the world to obtain more
information and so form a better picture of the text we are
reading.
An intensive programme on
inferencing skills
Infer from daily life

Infer from comics

Infer from texts
Suggest five areas to help students
infer: people (who), place / context
(where), time (when), feeling (how)
and ending (what happened)
Encourage students to employ personal
experience and knowledge of the world
to make inferences.
All inferences must be supported by
evidence found in the pictures and/or
texts
Infer from comics
Part 1
Infer from comics
Infer from comics
Time
Students used personal experience and knowledge of the
world to infer that the girls could be playing in the
afternoon, in summer and on holidays
Feeling
Students, with support from the pictures, inferred that
the girl was lonely (picture 1) and felt painful (picture 2)
while the rest of the girls were happy and excited.
Infer from comics
Part 2
Infer from comics
Feeling
With more information supplied in the speech bubbles,
students changed their inferences. They first inferred
that the girl was first lonely (picture 1) and felt painful
(picture 2). But then they ‘changed’ the girl’s feeling to
‘fun and excited’.
Infer from texts
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:
C:
D:
I think we should bring some snacks to the picnic.
Yes, I’ll buy potato chips and soft candies…..
And lots and lots of chocolate … I like chocolate.
Hey, they are not good for you. See, you are getting so fat!!!!
You are fat! I’m not!
But Miss Chan said you were fat yesterday. Fat girl! Fat girl!
You two are fat! I will only write the healthy snacks I want to
bring in the shopping list.
Have you finished your discussion? Put up your hands if you
need more time to discuss. Remember, no Chinese, please.
people
place
time
feeling ending
Infer from texts
People
(Who are
they? What
are they?)
Time
(When did
the incident
happen?)
Guess
support
Infer using personal
experience
Infer using
knowledge of
punctuation marks
Logical
deduction from
the text
Infer using
personal
experience
Infer from texts
Feeling
(How did the
people feel?)
Ending
(What will
happen?)
Guess
support
Interpret the lines
and infer from
knowledge of the
world
Logical
deduction
from the text
using
knowledge of
the world
Infer from texts
X: Hello, how are you? You are new here. You have a nice skin colour.
Y: Oh, thank you. It is brown. But I am yellow inside. What about you? Do you
always look that shocking red? I guess you should be green when you are young.
X: Oh, yes, you are right. I am red and round. That’s why people like to mix me in
green salad. And they often boil me and you in soup.
Y: Yes, you are right. The cooks in the McDonald’s like to deep fry me and kids like
eating me very much.
X: I see. … Do you think it is cold here!
Y: Yes. Because eggs, butter and meat need to stay in a cold place to keep fresh.
(The cook opened the door and took X and some green vegetables out.)
X: I go now. Bye! It’s nice talking to you.
Y: Bye.
Question
% of ss getting
the correct
answer
1
2
3
4
5
86.6%
73.3%
80%
83.3%
76.6%
Some tips to share

The integration of the teaching of reading
strategies into the English curriculum does not
happen in an accident but the success relies on
the concerted effort of the all English teachers
and good planning.

Classroom treatment is the key to success. This
requires time, patience and good questioning
techniques.

Reading skills training can begin earlier in the
KS1.