We believe that speaking, listening, reading and writing are an essential part of all activities in the curriculum. Our stimulating learning environments and high quality resources are effective tools in engaging students so they are able to express their ideas within a range of contexts, catering for a variety of learning styles. We want all children to develop a love of reading, read regularly and have the ability to write confidently and fluently.
Coursebook
Living Oxford English, a new primary English coursebook series, is taught at ELCHK Lutheran School. The course aims to raise learners’ global awareness, nurture their creativity, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, as well as foster innovation as required in the 21st century. The course features extended creative writing tasks which engage learners’ imagination and develop their creativity.
RWI
The synthetic phonics programme we use from Primary 1 through to Primary 3 is Read Write Inc (RWI). It is a rigorous and dynamic teaching programme, proven to create fluent, enthusiastic readers, confident speakers and willing writers.
Reading
At ELCHK Lutheran School, we are determined that every child will learn to read. Shared reading, guided reading and readers are integral parts of our school curriculum.
Primary 1: Shared Reading
The aim of introducing the shared reading is to build a community of readers. It provides opportunities for teachers modelling and active student participation. Oxford Reading Series featuring fiction and non-fiction books will be introduced in the coming academic year to provide our students various opportunities to engage in expressive, meaningful and fluent reading.
Oxford Fiction Series:
Tina and Friends is a series designed to appeal to young learners of English. Starring Tina, Ben and their friends and families, the series enable children to experience thrilling adventures and explore the world around them. With interesting and educational stories, with attractive illustrations and engaging activities, it helps children to develop a love of reading skills.
Oxford Non- Fiction Series
Oxford Reading Tree inFact collection is appealing and promotes enquiry-based approach. The books focus on themes such as animals, recycling, discoveries, space, food, the monarchy, famous people, dinosaurs, comic strips, bodily features and functions, art, history, and travel. Different text types are, therefore, well covered with a fascinating mix of personal accounts, lyrical writing and biographies.
Primary 2: Guided Reading
There are many benefits to our new guided reading program. Students will improve their word reading accuracy by applying decoding skills taught in RWI lessons, improve comprehension skills by implementing solid reading strategies with follow up tasks, and have the opportunity to learn grammar in real authentic contexts over a variety of fiction (stories, picture books, poems) and non-fiction text types. In a wider context we hope that this also helps encourage the students own reading for pleasure to help them understand more about themselves and the world we live in today.
Primary 3 and 4: Readers
The readers are linked to the wider curriculum, will take our students on a journey of discovery as they read across both fiction and non-fiction. The readers are curriculum-linked by a Science, Geography, History or Art topic, with rich and varied text to develop comprehension skills.
Activities carried out by the English Teachers:
• Explore the World Week
In March of the second term, we held a school-wide program promoting diversity, respect and unity, all valuable life skills for the 21st Century. Students studied other countries and their cultures and work was showcased on information boards in the school hall. The culmination of the weeks work was a stage-show performance of each country that included drama, dance, geography, history and interactive games.
• Fun Fridays
To foster students’ interest in English, Fun Fridays are held twice a month. Students practice their reading and speaking skills through interactive games. Lots of engaging games and activities have been designed for the students with different learning styles. English games are as versatile as they are fun. They are an essential component of the learning experience.