Mls014

Nanyang Technological University, National Institute of Education Management and Leadership in Schools MLS014 Alternative Assessment for Project Based Learning Evelyn Wang Tih Hoon [email protected] Henry Park Primary School 26 February 2009 Patchwork Text Assessment for Writing a Personal Recount (Autobiography) at Primary 6 Rationale for using Patchwork Text Assessment While pupils are familiar with the structure of a narrative text, many of them do not know the purpose of writing an autobiography and its particular language features. By using the Patchwork Text Assessment, a supportive environment is created whereby pupils will learn the various writing elements progressively to help them complete their final assignment. The various tasks given will enable pupils to acquire the relevant theoretical knowledge so that they are able to make use of this set of prior knowledge to write their essay. At the same time, the pupils will also be able to interact with their peers and receive feedback from them regarding their ideas and organisation. With the feedback given, pupils will be encouraged to re-examine the information they have gathered before they begin their final task. Background of students Pupils would have completed the unit ‘This is My Life’ and have some knowledge regarding the life stories of Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth Choy and Pablo Picasso through reading the texts in the textbook, watching video clips of Elizabeth Choy on Youtube and accessing websites on the internet. They would have made some comparison between their childhood days and the way these three people had spent their childhood. They would also have some grammar practices with regards to the use of the past perfect tense and past perfect continuous tense to talk about events that have happened n the past.

Learning Outcomes At the end of this writing exercise, pupils will be able to: 1. recognize some of the features of autobiographical texts 2. understand how the purpose of a autobiographical text is achieved through text organization, grammar and vocabulary. 3. understand and identify grammatical items and structures relating to autobiographical texts Getting the pupils to write an autobiography also serves as a platform for pupils to think about their life as a primary school student before they move on to secondary school. It might also come in useful when the pupils have to attend interview sessions for Direct School Admission and are asked to cite examples or instances of their individual achievements and contributions.

1

2

Task 1. Read the extracts given and list the writers and the reason(s) why he/she wrote the text. 2. If you are to write an autobiography of your life, list the reason(s) why you would do so.

Brief description Individual work Pupils are to read the extracts from the autobiographies of Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth Choy and Pablo Picasso and deduce that in an autobiography, the writer and narrator is the same person. The writer tells his reader about his life and he may choose to tell his whole life or certain parts of his life. What the writer decides to tell depends on his purpose for writing the account. Pupils will have to decide the purpose of their autobiographical text when they are writing the introduction of their essay.

Read the extracts about Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth Choy and Pablo Picasso again and list 1. three events that the writer writes about and identify the tense that the writer uses; one of the events should include the description of an achievement for which he is proud of 2. the writer’s thoughts and feelings about the three events and identify the tense that the writer uses

Group work Pupils will be given a graphic organiser whereby they are to list the events, tenses used to describe the events as well as the writers’ thoughts and feelings about the events. From analysing the different tenses used, pupils are able to know that the 1. past tense is used to recount events that took place in the place 2. present tense is used to describe the writer’s thoughts and feelings at the time of writing

Task Complete the graphic organiser as you visualise the scenes that have happened in school and recall the sounds, smells and feelings you have experienced. Share your thoughts with a partner and include details that you may have forgotten.

Brief description Pair work Using their five senses, pupils are to recall experiences (pleasant or unpleasant) that they can remember vividly about their time spent in school and note the details in the graphic organiser provided.

4

Imagine that you are in secondary school and you are asked to share about your primary school life and to highlight one event that has a significant impact on your life, what would you say?

Pair work This session will help pupils to focus on the message that they would like to convey to their readers before they begin their writing. Pupils will need to decide if there is an event or a sequence of events which has influenced and changed their life.

5

Using the three photographs that you have brought, write about the events giving details about the people, places and things that you have encountered as well as the actions as they appear to you. You should also include any influence that the events have made in your life.

Individual work Pupils are to recall events based on the photographs that they have brought and provide details such as: • what happened • when it happened • where it happened • the people involved • how they felt about it then • how they feel about it now At the end of the session, some pupils will be asked to pick one event to share with the class.

6

Write an autobiographical text about your life in primary school. Photographs, illustrations and other visuals may be included to support your autobiographical text.

Individual work Pupils are to write their autobiographical text using the details that they have gathered from the previous tasks. They would have become more aware of the target audience that they are reaching and the extent which they have met the reader’s purpose in reading the text. They are encouraged to include visuals that will illustrate the points that they have made in the text.

3

Conclusion Based on the feedback given by Poey Yin and Marcia, changes have been made to the sequence of the tasks whereby pupils are asked to share one event that has a significant impact on their life with their partner before they write about three events based on the photographs they have brought to class. Taking into account Marica’s suggestion that the assignment should focus on only one important outcome, pupils are asked to share their experiences with a friend that they might meet in secondary school rather than what they would express during an DSA interview. Feedback from Poey Yin • The tasks are well-organised and each task builds up pupils’ skills in writing an autobiography progressively. Traditionally, essay writing is an assessment of learning. The focus is on the product rather than what the students learn from the process of writing. Given enough time, this Patchwork Assessment can help to overcome the shortcomings of conventional essay writing. •

There is a good mix of individual, pair and group work in the given tasks.

•

It would be useful to include the main objective/s or Learning Outcomes at the beginning as the Patchwork tasks must be aligned to learning outcomes.

•

I particularly like Task 2 as pupils need to analyse the extracts to discover for themselves how to use the appropriate tenses in different contexts in the same recount.

•

Task 4 is very well-structured. To add an element of ‘fun’, the teacher can ask one or two students to share ‘their events’ with the class.

•

Task 5 is quite similar to Task 4 in terms of content required. Task 4 also appears to be more complex than Task 5 as the student is expected to write about 3 events that have influenced his/her life whereas only one such event is required in Task 5.

•

Though the final task is the writing of an autobiography, the other tasks could have been varied to appeal more to students. All the tasks focus on either reading or writing only. Perhaps you can incorporate the viewing of a short video clip on the life of Elizabeth Choy or have pupils to interview a teacher who had taught him/her in previous years to find out if he/she had made any lasting impression on the teacher. Alternatively, students can also interview a close friend on this.

Feedback from Marcia

You may need to provide a Graphic Organizer for Task 2 because there are many things for the pupils to list – events, tenses, thoughts and feelings about the events. Secondly, I am wondering whether you would want to focus on just one important outcome – either the interview or the writing of the autobiography. Perhaps instead of writing the autobiography in Task 6, the pupil can reflect on the interview instead.