Implementation Strategies:

- Remind students to finish English Builder exercises during morning school assemblies.
- Allocate 5 marks of reading papers for English Builder performance. If students complete all the exercises satisfactorily, they will have a higher score.
- Checks students’ results regularly.

Integration with School Curriculum:

- Use English Builder to compliment school curriculum as self-access learning, where students do it in their free time at school or at home.
- Integrate English Builder passages into dictation exercises.

Comments on English Builder:

- The weekly progress reports are very handy for English teachers. Teachers are regularly provided statistics on each of their students’ progress for easy monitoring and follow-up.
- English Builder addresses learner diversity as students are assigned the level of difficulty that is most suitable for them.

What do students think about EB ?

“I think EB is a useful programme. I enjoy the English Builder listening, reading and vocabulary tasks. I love the vocabulary tasks most as I build my vocabulary from them. I use this vocabulary both in writing and reading. It is useful for our examination too.” - Anson (F. 4D)

“I like the usage section most because it helps me improve my writing skills. For example, the exercises in the usage section require us to use words in the correct part of speech. Grammatical mistakes in my compositions have been greatly reduced!” - Sam (F. 6A)

“English is an international language so it is very important to us. During my previous oral examinations, I often pronounced words incorrectly. The speaking section of English Builder helps me improve my pronunciation and speaking skills.” - Pinky (F. 4B)

“I think English Builder helps to improve my English. It helps us learn more vocabulary and it is also good for our writing.” - Tom (F. 3A)

“I think English Builder is good for us because there are articles on different topics. It widens our exposure to these topics.” - Maggie (F. 3A)

“I think English Builder is good for our writing because we learn new words in the listening part we can then practise using in our writing.” - Leanna (F. 2D)

“I think it is quite a user-friendly tool. The grammar training is very useful. “ - Lau Cheuk Lam (F. 1B)

“I think the text types and the topics of English Builder are wonderful. Students can explore cultures from different countries and learn about different text types, which can help them broaden their horizons.” – Miss Fong (English Panel)

Implementation Strategies:

- Treat English Builder as weekly homework.
- Show both the completion rate and the total scores of English Builder in students’ report cards so parents stay informed on their child’s progress.
- Encourage low achievers to redo lessons to achieve better scores.
- Present certificates and small prizes to outstanding students during morning assemblies.
- Set completion rate targets for students.

Comments on English Builder:

- The weekly progress report is very useful. The school prints out the reports for our English teachers every week so that they will know how well our students perform and then follow-up accordingly.
- There are a lot of text types and topics in English Builder that help increase students’ exposure.
- English Builder provides special certificates to motivate students to be outstanding. This service is excellent.

What do students think about EB ?

“In my opinion, English Builder is quite a good tool to improve our English. English Builder helps us improve our reading skills as well as our listening skills, through authentic native accents. " - Francis (a F.5 student)

“I think that English Builder helps me prepare for the exam. The reading part enhances my knowledge on different topics and equips me with better reading skills. I also like the Usage section.” - Susan (a F.5 student)

“I think English Builder is very useful for the exam. EB is useful for improving my listening skills as well as my grammar. The reading part is also useful for improving my vocabulary and reading skills.” - Ma Wai Yee (a F.5 student)

“I find the EB Classroom Teacher’s Resources resourceful and interactive. Some topics tie in with the school-based curriculum very well. This saves teachers a lot of time they would otherwise have to spend looking for videos, audios, reading articles, and other teaching materials. For example, last year we had an environmental protection theme so we used the EB teaching resource lessons on “Hybrid Cars” and “Earth Hour” in our classrooms.

Students like this approach because it is interesting and interactive. Since EB Teacher’s Resources are also based on EB topics, students also feel that their self-access learning is related to the school’s English subject learning.”– Miss Poon

Implementation Strategies:

- Announce the top achievers for each month and give them small prizes.
- Allocate 5%-10% of coursework marks to award students who complete English Builder. Instead of focusing on the scores, the school places emphasis on the completion rate since there are great individual differences between students.
- Set up an English Builder monthly review quiz.
- Offer bonus marks to students who achieve a certain coursework percentage.

Integration with School Curriculum:

- The school downloads lesson plans according to themes and then adapts the questions and listening materials as teaching texts. For example, there is a theme called “Natural Disasters” in F.2 so the school adapted the EB “Sichuan Earthquake” lesson for the theme. They made use of the audios for listening practice and then tailor-made exercises for students to complete.

Comments on English Builder:

- English Builder is a very good resource for teachers. It saves teachers a lot of time from adapting the current issues into their classroom teaching. Teachers can make use of the current local and global news in the lessons and download the lesson plans for their daily teaching.
- Students find English Builder inspiring and up-to-date. They find it interesting and motivating because they are not learning textbook English, but rather contextual English through relevant issues.
- Students also know they will see questions about EB lessons on their tests and exams so this further motivates them to try their best.

Wiseman in Macau

Wiseman has been commissioned by the Education & Youth Affairs Bureau as the only English learning programme provider for all primary and secondary schools in Macau for the school term of 2010-2011.