Page 1 - Spotlight Issue 38
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Qingshan Campus‧January 2022





                                                                                                                        Issue38








                                From Alphabet to Paragraph:
                                From Alphabet to Paragraph:
                                From Alphabet to Paragraph:
                                From Alphabet to Paragraph:
                     The Journey of Learning Writing at KCIS
                     The Journey of Learning Writing at KCIS
                     The Journey of Learning Writing at KCIS
                     The Journey of Learning Writing at KCIS
                                                                                                ~ Zachary Warmke
                                                                               Curriculum Coordinator, International Department
            Guided Education in Writing at KCIS

          The English curriculum at KCIS has been developed using modern scientific research in bilingual
       education. It balances the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Of these skills,
       writing is the most challenging. In this article, we will discuss our methods for guiding students to master
       English writing.
            Foundational Writing Skills
          Young students learn phonics. Phonics focuses on the relationship between letters and sounds. It
       is important for students to practice writing individual letters until they start to automatically understand
       the connection between letters and sounds. This takes time and practice, so we introduce new phonics
       structures over the first three years of school.

          Meanwhile, we steadily increase the difficulty level of our writing assignments.               From the Editor
                                                                                                         From the Editor
       By second grade, students should be able to write a complete sentence, including
       a capital letter and punctuation. In third grade, they should write several sentences.
                                                                                           Becoming
       By fourth grade, they make full paragraphs. Finally, by the time students are ready to   Becoming Accomplished Writers   Accomplished Writers
       graduate, we expect them to write multiple well-organized paragraphs independently.
          Achieving these goals takes planning and structure. Our curriculum involves                                  國際處主任 賴國宜
       many different parts, but the most important part for this is projects. Projects are how   For most students, writing is mainly worksheets,
       students can best express their writing skills.                                       tests, and assignments. However, at Kang Chiao,
            Guidance and Support                                                             writing is a powerful tool for learning and critical
                                                                                             thinking. Through writing, we make our thinking
          All of our projects involve research which leads to a                              visible. Our curriculum coordinator, Mr. Warmke
       meaningful writing task. These are designed with a guided                             explains how the English curriculum connects
       writing structure. We consider factors as being either top-                           reading to writing through project-based learning.
       down or bottom-up. Top-down factors are big ideas like                                Reading exposes students to new concepts and
       the theme of a project. Bottom-up factors are the details                             perspectives, expands their knowledge of language
       like writing prompts, templates, and research documents                               and illustrates models of excellent writing. The
       teachers use. Here are two examples that show how                                     process of project inquiry allows them to think
       teachers carefully guide students in different grades:                                critically and analytically. We believe that for
                                                                                             children, learning to write is a journey of learning
                                         In the second grade project A Walk in Nature,       to express themselves logically and concisely. So
                                      students research plants that live in our Nature       next time your child shares their writing with you,
                                      Study Area. They use a simple research organizer       keep on providing your encouragement and positive
                                      to take notes. Then teachers help students convert     feedback. It will motivate them to continue to learn
                                      their notes into complete sentences. Finally, they     and grow.
                                      help students organize sentences into thematic             ԄλٙᄳЪҦ̷ঐᏍпҢࡁ˸૶౸eᔊᆎٙ˙
                                      sections.  This method improves students’              όෂ༺ซجאઋชdΪϤdʔሞ݊ίኪאਗ਼Ըఱ
                                      compositions while also introducing them to editing    ุdՈ௪ϞࣖٙᄳЪঐɢd࿁ɛ͛ӊࡈචݬேϞଉ
                                      and revising skills.                                   Ⴣٙᅂᚤfੰ዗ٙߵႧሙ೻˸ਖ਼ᕚፄɝٙ˙όਗ਼ቡ
                                         In the sixth grade  Movie Review project,           ᛘၾᄳЪஹഐdҢࡁ޴ڦቡᛘ̙˸ڮආᄳЪdቡᛘ
                                      students can already write full paragraphs, so         ৰəᜫ܀ɿႩᗆ˰ޢdɰ੃ቮ܀ɿાԫձሞࠑٙႧ
                                      teachers don’t guide their writing directly. Instead,   ชdᎴԄٙ˖ኪЪۜһ౤Զ܀ɿ೯࢝ᄳЪҦ̷ٙቮ
                                      they teach students how well-organized paragraphs      ʱfਖ਼ᕚઞӺձ௴ிٙཀ೻d՘п܀ɿ೯࢝һ৷ᄴ
                                                                                             ϣٙܠϽঐɢdνʱؓeၝΥe൙Пʿ༕ᙑdਖ਼ᕚ
                                      make their writing better. Students share opinions     ઞӺ୦੻ٙٝᗆɰঐᔮబᄳЪٙʫ଄f͉ಂᒗሗሙ
                                      about any movie they choose, so they are motivated     ޼ଡ଼ڗMr. Warmkeᙕࠑ੽ο͎ٙኪ୦ՑݬໝᄳЪd
                                      to write a lot. Teachers help them make their writing   ҢࡁνОᏍпኪ͛ܔ࿴ߵ˖ᄳЪঐɢfɨϣ຅܀ɿ
                                      flow smoothly by teaching them about topic and         ၾઆʱԮՉЪۜࣛdሗ׬ഹఃࣀٙːઋਞၾdεഗ
                                      detail sentences. In this way, teachers do not give    ܀ɿོᎸၾ᝔ߕdԟึ݊˼ࡁᗴจᘱᚃኪ୦ٙ௰ɽ
                                      students a structure to follow, but rather teach them   ਗɢf
                                      how to create a better structure by themselves.
            Achieving Our Goals                                                                  ͉ಂҢࡁᒔᒗሗߵႧᚗሞٟʱԮ˼ࡁ௰ڐᚗሞ
                                                                                             ٙᕚͦ˜݊щᏐʪ஢13๋˸ɨٙՅഁԴٟ͜ʹద
          Other than projects, our students write for spelling and phonics homework,         ᜗™d˼ࡁਂəܘε޼Ӻd͍ˀ˙ே౤̈ܘλٙԈ
       grammar workbooks, and Language Arts Workbooks. All of these follow a guided          ༆dᚗሞఱ྅݊ᜫ᎘໘ਂ᜗዁d৅ᇖ੽ʔΝٙԉܓ
       writing structure so that students reach appropriate standards. Younger learners focus   ޶ܙԫઋdપᑥഗ࢕ڗձ܀ɿࡁί࢕ɓৎቡᛘd޶
       on mastering the basics so they can grow into accomplished experts by grade six.      ޶આᗎϓࡳɓ˙ٙሞᓃf
          We are proud of the progress our students make. Their work can be seen all             ኪಂуਗ਼ഐҼdज़၅הϞٙੰ዗࢕ࢬఫ৿̂ྼ
       around our school on teachers’ bulletin boards, in our theme wall displays, as digital   ౕҞdอϋҞᆀl
       presentations in the English Village, and more. It is amazing to see their growth while
       learning writing at Kang Chiao.
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