 Welcome, everyone. We hope you've been enjoying the course so far. For the following weeks, we've made some videos for you to watch. So take a moment to watch these videos before coming to class each week. At the end of each video, we will give you a task. And so be prepared to share your thoughts or your work in class. From this week onwards, we will be teaching you how to write your story. How to tell your story. And how to teach your story. As you'll see, the story you create is the core of your teaching kit. And that is what we'll be focusing on today. By the end of this video, you will know how to write a good story. Have you ever wondered why we require our students to write a story and plan a reading workshop around the story? It's because we believe in the value of teaching children to read. Through teaching your story, you should aim to help your students develop key reading skills which are extremely important at an early stage of learning. One of these skills is to help students construct meaning and concepts from a story. So you need to make sure that the message you wish to convey is easy for them to understand. How? Well, we have two tips for you. When you start drafting ideas for your story, you should first consider the student's age, background and interest. Then decide on the message and values you wish to present in your story. Now let's follow these two tips step by step. You will all need to form groups and choose two of the following levels. Then write a story for each of your chosen levels. So let's say your group chooses to write stories for P1 to 2 and P5 to 6 students. You need to consider their age, background and interest. Remember, do bear in mind the socioeconomic situation of your service point as it also influences your students' interest. After understanding your target group, you should determine a suitable message for them. Looking at the following themes, which ones are suitable for your target group? So to sum up the first two tips, remember to always start your story with the meaningful message that is not too difficult or abstract for your target group. Aside from the message, the plot and characters also play an essential part in helping students construct meaning and concepts. Tip number three is to create a relatable plot and characters. When you create your characters and the setting of the story, again bear in mind the socioeconomic situation of your service point. Creating more relatable characters would help engage your students. Okay, you've decided on a message that is suitable for your students' age groups and drafted up a plot and characters that would attract their interest. The next step is to start writing. One of our goals of teaching reading is to help students understand basic conventions of English. And so you will need to evaluate your students' language level. That's our tip number four. Tip number five is the sentence structures and vocabulary you use in the story must be appropriate for their level. Sometimes, no matter how simple the sentence structures and vocabulary are, students with lower proficiency still won't be able to understand simple words. And so our last tip is that you need to carefully design the font size, colors and graphics. This means that even though the sentence structure and vocabulary of this line seems very simple and appropriate for P1 to P2 students, they still might not understand meaning. However, if you're able to illustrate every line in your story using vivid colors and clear text, there is a greater possibility that the students will be able to understand your lines better. And please remember that there might be a mismatch between the student's age and language level, and so please note down everything your teacher tells you about the service point. For example, some P3 to 4 students might not even know the word walk. So again, visuals can help. So by teaching reading, you're actually teaching students so much more. You're introducing them to new vocabulary and sentence structures. But what's more important is that you are teaching them moral and cultural values. And that is why we believe in the importance of teaching reading and why you will have to write a story this semester. To consolidate what we've talked about so far, please read the story of the Slow Bear provided in the link below this video. Now, let's say this story is written for P3 or P4 students. Prepare to comment on the suitability of the message, the characters, the vocabulary and the sentence structure. This week, you should also start drafting ideas for your own story. Remember to follow our six tips. We'll be giving you more detailed instructions in class. So, see you in class. Bye!