Home group tuition in Clementi Central

[lilbutmighty]

Dear Parents,

I am an ex-teacher who just left service in order to spend more time with my little one. As I love teaching and enjoy working with children very much, I would like to continue teaching and am holding group tuition classes in my own home. My knowledge of the primary school English syllabus is very current and I am familiar with the new English PSLE format that is implemented this year.

With 5 years of teaching experience in one of west side's top primary school, I have taught in mixed-ability and high-ability classrooms. From the results of my pupils, I have reason to believe that every child is capable of using strategies taught to find the knowledge, keep the knowledge and constantly improve from where they are. As a parent myself, I would want my child to be a life long learner with a hunger to learn and I would wish for the children in my classes to be so too. I am extremely patient and this contributes to learning taking place in a non-intimidating environment. In addition, the fact that I pay attention to ensure fun moments during lesson time enables my children in class to often become more motivated and inculcate a positive attitude towards learning.

Let me know if you would need help for your children in English at the primary level. I am currently conducting classes in the Clementi central area for the following:
- P3 group tuition (2 to 4 children in a class)
- P4 group tuition (2 to 4 children in a class)
- P5 group tuition (2 to 4 children in a class)
- Mixed group tuition: siblings/ cousins in different levels

If you wish to discuss any concerns about your child's learning progress with me or to find out more before deciding if you would like me to help your child, do drop me a message/call 8311 6157 or email me at enquiries@lilbutmightyenglish.com. Thank you!

 

[lilbutmighty]

CA1 is round the corner! Here is a breakdown of the new PSLE format for English. Parents, especially those with children in P5 and P6, do take note of the changes!


PSLE 2015 English Components
Paper 1
Situational Writing (15 marks)

• Formal or informal style in the forms of letter or email

Composition Writing – (40 marks) (New Format!)

• Only 1 Question
• A theme and 3 isolated pictures related to the topic will be given
• Pupils must write according to the theme and use at least 1 picture
• This encourages openness and creativity in interpretation of the topic

Paper 2
Booklet A (28 marks)

• MCQ
• Grammar, Vocabulary & Vocabulary Cloze
• Visual Text Comprehension (New!)

• Double-page spread of a visual text (graphic stimulus)
• 8 questions

Booklet B (67 marks)

• Open-ended
• Grammar Cloze, Editing, Comprehension Cloze, Sentence synthesis and transformation
• Open-ended Comprehension (New Format!)

• Presentation of questions in traditional and table form
• Tests skills such as sequencing & true/false justification

Paper 3
Listening Comprehension (20 marks)


Paper 4
Oral (30 marks)

• Reading Aloud (10 marks)
• Stimulus Based Question (20 marks) (New!)

• Main topic will be discussed based on visual stimulus:

Directly-linked to the topic
E.g. Look at the picture, which of these animals will you adopt?
Broadly-linked to the topic.
E.g. How can you advise your friends to be responsible pet owners?

• Stimulus may be any visual stimulus e.g. brochure, advertisement, poster etc.

 

[lilbutmighty]

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) has released the PSLE schedule for 2015.

For English, the examination dates are as follows, mark the dates in your calendar:
English Oral
Thursday, 20 August
& Friday, 21 August
Listening Comprehension
Friday, 18 September
Paper 1 (Compo) & Paper 2
Thursday, 01 October

Refer to the link to print out a copy of the schedule or visit SEAB's website to find out more about subject syllabus outline!
https://www.seab.gov.sg/…/examTim…/2015PSLEExamTimetable.pdf
https://www.seab.gov.sg/…/nationalExamina…/PSLE/syllabus.asp

 

[lilbutmighty]

Some comprehension cloze tips to share with everyone!

Before doing
Read through the passage once without filling in any blanks.
(Reading through helps to get a flow of the passage and to understand the content of the passage better. This is important for blanks that require words that maybe related to the topic of the cloze.)

While doing
1. For blanks that require a verb (e.g. clapped, were , has, did), always look for the Doer and the 'Tense' word (a verb e.g. is, were, kicked, had) or a time phrase (e.g. two years ago, Every week etc.).
This is to find out whether the verb should be singular/plural and present/past. If a tense word cannot be found within the sentence, look for it in the sentences before or after.

2. Look for contextual clues. Words that give you a hint on what the word might be based on the content or language present.
These keywords in the sentence may be
e.g. put __________ (out) a fire.

Once a year, the school publishes a magazine. The ____________
(annual) publication showcases pieces written by pupils.

3. Always read the entire sentence for each blank. Even if a long sentence has more than 1 blank, read the whole sentence to get the meaning in its entirety.

4. Look for the answer in the passage! There are times when the answer is actually given in the passage.

After
1. Read through the passage once more for fluency and to check tenses and singular/plural forms.



Remember NEVER to leave any blanks and just fill in with a reasonable guess. Blank = 0m immediately!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Term 1 is over and the March holidays are here! Take a breather with your children by going to the March Monster Mash at Gardens By The Bay, held from 13 to 22 March. There are quite a number of interesting activities involving Art and language. These are Finders Keepers' picks for language-related activities!

Interactive Storytelling: I'm A Fine Storyteller And So Are You!
14 - 15 Mar 2015, 21 - 22 Mar 2015 | 2:00 PM & 4:00 PM


Water Play Performance: Splash!
21 - 22 Mar 2015 | 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM

To find out more, check out the event link below, enjoy!

March Monster Mash Details

 

[lilbutmighty]

Creative Writing: Using emotions (e.g. anger, sorrow, joy) and expressive phrases

How do you get your child to use emotions and expressive phrases for the characters in a story? Lots of children find it challenging to use descriptive phrases to help their characters express their feelings. In the case of anger for instance, many children either use mundane words like "angry" or "furious" repeatedly or they use a cut and paste method of memorizing a whole chunk of description in their compositions without considering how appropriate what they have memorized is for the context of their compositions.

A quick tip for helping your child to have a balanced approach in describing emotions is this: Divide the descriptive phrases of feelings and emotions into 3 categories
1. Outside (what you can see) e.g. Upon hearing what happened, his face turned an ominous red.
2. Inside (what you cannot see inside of the character) e.g. He was boiling with rage.
3. Action (what the character does because of the emotion) e.g. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. OR In a fit of anger, he punched the wall.

The problem is that a lot of children do not see emotions in a composition as a symphony of the "outside", "inside" and "actions" happening together. Hence, instead of having your child memorize tens of phrases blindly, help him to see how description of emotions should be meaningful because when we feel (e.g. angry), these 3 areas respond together and are not separated from each other. Have your child imagine and remember sets of emotions consisting of the "outside", "inside" and "actions".
Having a mixture of what the character looks, feels and does will provide a nice balanced description of his emotions.

"How dare you betray me? I trusted you!" James bellowed, boiling with rage (inside). His hands were shaking uncontrollably(action) and his face turned an ominous red(outside). In a fit of anger, he punched the wall(action), leaving a fine crack on the white surface. Before Thomas could react, James grabbed him by the collar and threw a fist at him(action).

Try it with your kids and the list of descriptive phrases he/she has now!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Creative writing: Starting it right


If you are thinking about the introduction or beginning of a composition when you read the heading, you are wrong. Writing a composition begins from the point when you are reading the question. Only with understanding of the question requirements that we are on our way to success with the composition. With composition questions set in the new PSLE format in mind, here are some pointers on how to start your composition on the right foot:

1. Unpack the theme/topic.
If the topic is "A Mishap", what does the word "Mishap" mean? Or "Making a Difference", does it mean that something has changed? It will be helpful to make quick notes (Mishap --> unfortunate --> accident, OR difference --> no longer the same) on the topic so that you have a clear idea and will proceed to generate ideas that stay on topic.

2. Highlight the requirements of the question shown in the guiding questions.
Does the question ask for "you" to be a character in the story? (E.g. "What were you doing when the mishap took place?" vs "How did the mishap take place?" --> no character requirement)

3. Bearing the topic in mind, look at each picture and write down 3 to 5 words/ phrases about each picture.
These words or phrases (e.g. soup pot, boiling hot, burnt, unattended stove) serve two functions:
- It makes sure that the pupils are aware of what is provided to be used in the composition.
- It helps pupils to make a link between the topic and the pictures as they brainstorm.

4. Decide on the idea and circle the picture(s) that you will be using in your story.
(At least 1 picture needs to be used but if you would like to use more pictures and they are relevant to your your story, you may do so.) The first idea that comes to your head will probably be the first idea that goes into everyone's head. Explore the other ideas that you have come up with so that your story has an edge over what others are writing.

5. With an idea of your story in mind, do a check to see if you are indeed staying on topic by answering the guiding questions and writing down the main point beside it.

These 5 things should happen as you read your question and should take no longer than 3 minutes. Following this, a brief planning of your story should take place and you will be ready to put your great ideas into words!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Hello all, some general tips and common errors children make during the reading component of their oral examinations! General Tips a) Break a long word into syllabi. Read it repeatedly until fluent. responsibilities → /reh-spon-si-bi-li-teas/ b) Likewise, if you cannot read a word, BREAK IT DOWN INTO PARTS! Think of how each part is similar to other words you already know. Elegant → ele possibly sounds like elephant → /e-le-gant/ Unique → ique possibly sounds like antique → /an-tik/ Common Errors - ‘th’ sounds read as 't' sounds (three vs tree) - missing end sounds : ‘s’ (bags), ‘k’ (rock), ‘ed’/’t’ (liked) - “their” is not read as /day-ar/, it is read as /there/ - “the” before words beginning with vowel sound is read as /thee/ : the apple → /thee eh-pel/ the hour → /thee ao-wer/ (silent h, hence 'hour' sounds like it begins with the vowel 'o') the umbrella → /thee um-breh-la/ the bag → /thuh bag/ the university → /thuh you-ni-ver-suh-ti/ (u is pronounced "you" in this case, hence it does not sound like a vowel and /thee/ is not necessary.) The first step to change is awareness Highlight the errors to your children and make a change today!

 

[lilbutmighty]

"Who" versus "Whom"!?

This is one of the most common mistakes that pupils make in the Grammar MCQ and even in sentence synthesis. Let's first understand it before we talk about how to remember it!

Understanding:
Every sentence has a subject (Doer of the action) and an object (receiver of the action).
For example, I kicked the boy. "I" is the subject while "the boy" is the object.

We use "who" and "whom" depending on whether we are referring to the subject or object.
who --> Doer of action (subject)
whom --> Receiver of action (object)

Application:
This is the boy whom I kicked.
Here, the boy is the receiver of the kick (object) and hence "whom" is used.

The is the boy who kicked me.
Whereas here, the boy is the doer of the action, kick, (subject) and hence "who" is used.

Remembering:
A quick tip maybe for pupils to look at the word after the blank.

This is the boy _____ kicked me.
This is the boy _____ can/cannot dance.
This is the boy _____ does not like pizza.
*This is the boy _____ really does not like pizza. ("really" shows the extent that the boy does not like pizza. The action is still by the boy.)

If it is a verb (recognise a verb as an action word or any word that has past/present tense), most likely it is an action by "the boy" and the answer will be "who".

This is the boy _____ I kicked.

If it is any other word e.g. pronoun, most likely "the boy" is receiving the action, and hence the answer will be "whom".

Likewise in a question:

Whom did you kick?
I am asking about the receiver of the action, hence the answer should be "whom" and not "who".


Who kicked you?
Now, I am asking about the doer of the action. "Who" will make sense now.

Some find this tip helpful: Answering the question with "him" or "he".
Whom did you kick? --> I kicked him.
Who kicked you? --> He kicked me.
If your answer is "him", most often than not "whom" is used.
If your answer is with "he", most likely "who" is used.

Will be sharing other common errors pupils make in grammar soon!:wong4:

 

[lilbutmighty]

Hello all! Some of you have given me feedback that you found the identifying of common grammatical errors useful for your child I would be sharing a few more common mistakes that pupils often fall prey to in the upcoming posts.

Common Grammatical Traps
1. who vs whom
2. if conditionals
3. subject verb agreement: neither...nor/ either... or
4. subject verb agreement: neither/either of
5. subject-verb agreement: 'of' (e.g. Three bags of sugar)
6. Clauses giving extra information (e.g. Ben, as well as his brothers, is happy.)
(there maybe more as we go along.)

Today, let's talk about 'If' Conditionals. (e.g. If it rains, we will cancel the match.)

Understanding:
There are three general types of 'If' conditionals.
1. The situation is open and still possible.
(present tense, present tense ~ will)
If it rains, we will cancel the match.
If my father calls, tell him I am not well.

2. The situation is unreal or unlikely (or even impossible).
(were*/ past tense + past tense ~ would)
If I were a millionaire, I would buy an ice cream parlor.
If she were the president, she would not let the people go hungry.
If Alice were coming, she would be here by now.


3. The situation is over but you are talking about how it could have been.
(past perfect tense + past tense ~ would have)
If you had told me earlier, we would not have eaten dinner on our own. (but you did not and we already did.)
If we had known the truth, we would have told you.

Application:

Basically, the tenses used throughout the sentence should be consistent. Hence, look out for the 'tense word' in the sentence.

If I find the ring, I will return it.
If I found the ring, I would return it.
If I had found the ring, I would have returned it.

Remembering:
Most pupils do not have difficulty getting the right answer once they can pick out the 'tense word' in the sentence. Below are 2 kinds of questions that require more caution:

1. Do take extra care if the past perfect tense (Third Conditional) is used as "would have" will need to follow usually.
If you had given me the keys, I would have been home earlier. (not I would be home earlier)

2. However, what often is tested and goes wrong is when an unreal or unlikely conditional question is tested.

If I _________ a bird, I would fly towards the sky.

Most pupils will recognise that the past tense needs to be used and seeing the pronoun 'I', they will often choose "was" as the answer.
However, due to this being an unreal or unlikely situation (i.e I can never be a bird), the answer is actually "were" and this exception is valid even for other singular pronouns e.g. Alice, she, he, it.

If I were a bird, I would fly towards the sky.
If he were a bird, he would fly towards the sky.


However, it is important to judge whether the situation is unreal/unlikely. For example, the statement below will have different impact when spoken by two different characters.

School boy : If I became president, there would not be any homework given in school. (Unlikely to happen, at least at the time of speaking)
Presidential candidate: If I become president, there will not be any homework given in school. (Likely to happen)

Due to the the presidential candidate's likelihood (or possibility) of becoming a president, his statement can take on the present tense.

Hope this highlights the common errors to you and your kids. Tips on "Neither... nor/ Either... or" questions next! :wong3:

 

[lilbutmighty]

By now, most schools would have already cleared the oral examinations for SA1. I am going to pause on the grammatical traps posts to talk about a helpful tip for composition writing today.

An All-rounded Character
Previously, I mentioned that in describing a character's emotions, it is important to talk about the Inside, Outside and Action taken by the character. However, emotions is only one aspect of character description and to create a character that readers can really visualise, the character needs to be TAMED.

Not literally tamed of course but the character needs to have

Thoughts (What is not spoken or spoken perhaps to self during a situation)
Action (What is done)
Manner (How an action is done)
Emotions (Inside, Outside and Action. This can overlap with Action above which means when you provide an action due to an emotion, you are killing two
birds with one stone!)
Dialogue (What is conversed with/spoken to someone else)

Here is an example of how a character (Dave) can be TAMED:

"What should I do now? Should I make a dash for the staircase or just wait until the coast is clear?" Dave tried his hardest to focus as the questions swam in his mind. Beads of perspiration were forming on his forehead and his heavy breathing sounded thunderous in that confined space. Rubbing his clammy palms against his trousers, Dave took a peek by pushing the closet door open gingerly. He could not be hiding in that closet forever. Those boys were bound to discover him sooner or later. With his heart beating wildly, he made up his mind. Just as he was about to take his one chance to escape, the closet doors flung open and a pudgy face with a sinister smile greeted him. "Well, well. Look whom I have found," chuckled Jim the bully in delight as he whistled to beckon his sidekicks over. Dave gulped in terror as he could only imagine what was about to happen to him.

The above only describes the character, Dave, and Dialogue was the only component not used. However, that component can be easily used in other parts of the composition. In fact, thoughts and dialogues are components which should be used in a light-handed manner as overuse may disrupt the flow of a story. My pupils find that this approach helps to paint a vivid image of a character's personality through a structured manner. For writers who are rich in content but lacking in character description, this is also helpful to beef up their characters easily.

If I was to identify the components for Jim the bully, it would be as follows:

"What should I do now? Should I make a dash for the staircase or just wait until the coast is clear?" Dave tried his hardest to focus as the questions swam in his mind. Beads of perspiration were forming on his forehead and his heavy breathing sounded thunderous in that confined space. Rubbing his clammy palms against his trousers, Dave took a peek by pushing the closet door open gingerly. He could not be hiding in that closet forever. Those boys were bound to discover him sooner or later. With his heart beating wildly, he made up his mind. Just as he was about to take his one chance to escape, the closet doors flung open and a pudgy face with a sinister smile greeted him. "Well, well. Look whom I have found," chuckled Jim the bully in delight as he whistled to beckon his sidekicks over. Dave gulped in terror as he could only imagine what was about to happen to him.

As with other strategies, practice makes perfect. It is important to keep practising to train the brain muscle so that this become more automated as you write along Keep calm and write on!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Just 1 or 2 more weeks and it will be the SA1 examinations for most schools! I believe lots of children(and parents) are probably trying to cramp in as much information and practice as they can now. Here are some last-minute tips I shared with my kids regarding the questions in the new format for comprehension. The questions below typically appear in a table form. The two types I am sharing about are the most commonly set table form questions but they require different thinking processes and strategies .


1. True/ False Questions with reason(Finding evidence to justify)

	True/ False	Reason
May was happy about the outcome of the competition.	False	?

Assuming it is a false statement, the answer for the reason will be "May had cried sorrowfully upon hearing that they won the second prize."
Take note that the answer should not be "May was unhappy about the outcome of the competition." Giving the opposite of the sentence without evidence to prove why it is false is usually not what the question is asking for.

Getting to the answer:
1. Tense words and keywords MUST still be highlighted to ensure your answer is grammatically sound. ("was")
2. Identify the main point that you are proving to be True or False in a question. (Was May happy or was she not? How are you going to prove it?)
3. Pick out the sentence(s) from the passage that is evidence to prove whether the question is True or False. (This sentence tells and proves why May was not happy.)
4. Take note not to lift the answer i.e. to copy a sentence from the passage from the first word to the full stop. Transferring part of a sentence is acceptable.
To avoid lifting: Change the sentence structure (Only if you are proficient enough, if not use the next two suggested ways), use pronouns to replace nouns or omit irrelevant descriptions in the sentence if necessary.



2. Cause/ Effect Questions
- Some children find it helpful to write "because" on top of the Cause column and "so" in the effect column. When the two are string together, it helps them to understand the question requirement more clearly.

E.g. (because...) (so...)

Character	Cause	Effect
The robber The policeman	? He saw a suspicious character.	He dropped his knife and raised up his hands. ?

(because) A policeman shouted for the robber to stop what he was doing at once, (so) he dropped his knife and raised up his hands.
(because) The policeman saw a suspicious character, (so) he followed the man wearing a hooded jacket.

Getting to the answer:
1. string the two parts together with "because" and "so".
(because) _____________________, (so) he dropped his knife and raised up his hands.
(because) The policeman saw a suspicious character, (so) ________________________.
2. Find the statements given in the question and scan the sentences around it to locate the answer.
3. Take note not to lift.

This strategy of stringing the answer and the given statements together has helped my pupils to understand better what to look for and also to check whether they are answering the question at the end.

Ultimately, the same caution of not lifting the answer applies for all comprehension questions except those that require pupils to quote (Which sentence/ phrase tells you...). Bear in mind too, to answer in full sentences for such questions because like what I always told my kids, the markers can penalise you for incomplete sentences but they cannot do so if you use complete sentences (that are grammatically accurate of course!). Good luck! :wong29:

 

[lilbutmighty]

Hello all! Some last minute tips on how to deal with the following Common Grammatical Traps that often pop up during the examinations and in PSLE.

Common Grammatical Traps
1. who vs whom
Who is for doer while whom is used for the receiver of the action.
Look at the word after the blank:
This is the boy ___________ (who) broke the plate.
This is the boy ___________(whom) I saw just now.

broke --> verb --> who
I --> not a verb --> whom

2. if conditionals
Look for tense words (verbs like has, is, kicked) and follow through the tense pattern.

If I find the ring, I will return it.
If I found the ring, I would return it.
If I had found the ring, I would have returned it.

Take note of impossible/unlikely situations. The verb "were" is to be used regardless of singular or plural subject:
If I were a bird, I would fly.
If she were the principal, I would cancel all lessons.

3. subject-verb agreement: 'of' (e.g. Three bags of sugar)The question you need to ask yourself is, "What am I counting? The bags or the sugar?"
Whenever you encounter a question with "of",
1. box up "of"
2. look at the word before it.

Three bags of sugar are carried to the car.
A few bottles of milk were broken yesterday.
None of the children is injured.

A few more tips on tackling grammar errors coming up tomorrow!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Here are 3 more tips on tackling the grammatical traps!

4. subject verb agreement: neither/ either of
Following the rule for questions with of:
1. Box up 'of'
2. Look at 'neither' (which means none) and 'either' (which means one)
3. Hence the answer will always be singular

Neither of the horses is ill.
Neither of the twins wants the cake.
Either of the boys has the keys.

5. subject verb agreement: neither...nor/ either... or
I often ask my children whether they see the word "of" used with neither and either. If they do not, then we will look at the noun/pronoun before the blank to determine the answer.

Neither the boys nor Jane is at the fair.
Neither Jane nor the boys are at the fair.
Either you or your parents were driving yesterday.
Either Wendy or I am helping out tomorrow.

6. Clauses giving extra information (e.g. Ben, as well as his brothers, is happy.)
Do not be confused by these extra information! simply cancel away the extra bits and your answer will be clear as crystal.

Ben, as well as his brothers, goes to school every day.
Mr and Mrs Tan, together with their son, were cooking for the party.
My brother, along with his classmates, is at the park now.

Simple tips that will make a big difference all the best!

 

[lilbutmighty]

Fun and Authentic Learning Activities for this holiday!
The children have worked hard for their examinations and it is time to take a breather. Many parents express to me that they do not see how their children can learn English while they take a break from school. Here are two fun English ideas that you can try

1. Excuse me, here is my order.
The next time you are at a restaurant with your child, carry out this role-playing activity of ordering from the menu. Have your child bring along a small notebook to jot down new vocabulary and to take down the "orders" like a waiter. This activity allows children to pick up new vocabulary, practise spelling and use their oral communication skills, all of which are useful in our real world.

Many restaurants offer their menus online now so you maybe able to go through the menu with your child before going to the restaurant. If not, look through the menu together with your child and go through certain terms which maybe new vocabulary (e.g. poached, salmon, complimentary, dessert, dozen) and have your child jot them down if possible. After understanding the menus, parents may wish to assume the role of a customer first ("I would like to make an order." and begin ordering.) to model how to make an order while your child can be the waiter ("May I take your order, please?"). Many children (Even your twelve-year-olds!) love the idea of being the "adult" and being trusted to make orders so offer your children the opportunity to make a real order as an incentive!

2. Away on a Holiday
If you are booking a holiday or planning a trip, give your children a chance to practise some visual comprehension skills and build up vocabulary by asking them to choose a tour package for the family.

Lots of tour agencies have ready brochures at their stores or you can also find itineraries of various packages from tour agencies such as Chan Brothers (Singapore Online Tour Packages - ChanBrothers.com). Set some criteria for your child such as asking them to find out 5 different tourist spots that the tour includes or the available dates of the tour. This allows children to have a real motivation for reading and aids them to hone their visual text comprehension skills required for Paper 2.


I hope you and your children will have some fun doing the above while learning some new skills!

 

[lilbutmighty]

In my earlier post on doing comprehension questions presented in the table form, I talked about the necessity to ensure that there is no lifting and the answer is grammatically accurate. Today, I am going to introduce TAPS, a rather common method used for checking of answers to open-ended questions in comprehension.
TAPS stands for:

Tenses
Answer
Punctuation
Spelling

How can TAPS be used to check the answers in comprehension?

Tense

First and foremost, the child should have already circled and identified the tense used in the question. (e.g. Where did Alice see the cat?) With awareness of the tense, look through the answer to see that all verbs are used in the correct tense. This is especially important when the answer from the passage had been in the form of a direct speech or when the answer is required pupils to give their own opinions on an incident.

Answer

There are two parts to checking the answer.
1) Did you lift an answer?
An answer is considered to have been lifted if it was copied and pasted from the first word to the full stop with no change at all. Lifting is an immediate 0 mark unless the questions requires a sentence or phrase to be given.

2) Did you answer the question?
"Tom's mother made pizza that night. "
If this is the answer, what would the question have possibly been? "What did Tom's mother cook that night?" Actually, the original question was, "What did Tom had for dinner?" and the answer should be "Tom had pizza for dinner." The answer above is a classic example of how a child knows where the answer is but is not answering the question.
Pupils need to check whether they have crafted their answers such that they had answered the question. One way to do that is for pupils to cover the questions and based on their answers, come up with a question during checking. If the question they came up with match that given, then there is a good chance the child has answered the question. This is a skill that needs to be practised repeatedly under guidance and will aid pupils when they have acquired it.

Punctuation

You will be surprised to know that one of the most common punctuation errors is the omission of full stop at the end. Be cautious and put that full stop at the end of the sentence. It costs 1/2 mark each time and a few missing dots will come at a high price. Other punctuation errors include missing upper case and also commas for very long sentences.

Spelling

This is an easy one to check and precisely because it is easy to check, children often assume they are right and do not put in the effort to refer to the passage for the words. Every effort pays off, please make it a point to spend that extra few minutes to check the spelling against the words in the passage!

Out of the four elements, I would think that only "answer" requires practice and skill to be accurate. The other three elements just require caution and the right attitude. Try out this systematic method of checking your work today by writing down TAPS beside your answer after checking each element.

 

[lilbutmighty]

Creative Writing: Varied Sentence Starters

Hi all! I think it will be timely to discuss a way for children to improve on the language component of their composition writing, in particular, having variety in sentence structure. Having descriptive phrases and rich vocabulary is important but constructing interesting sentences is vital in achieving a good score for language too.
One way to construct sentences with variety is to use different ways to start a sentence. Here are five different ways to begin a sentence.

Ways to start a sentence

1) Start a sentence with a noun(Subject/ Object)

[HR][/HR]
The little boy/ He/ Davidkissed his mother goodbye quickly before going to school.
Mother was kissed by David before he left for school.

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A quick recapitulation on what a Subject and an Object of a sentence are. Subject is the doer of an action while the Object is the receiver of an action. This is the most common way children start their sentence as they will be inclined to list down details of what was done by the characters or done to the characters. What they end up with are numerous sentences beginning with nouns and pronouns. Yawn.
Take a look at your child's composition. If he/she has sentences which start this way all the time, it is time to read on.


2) Start a sentence with Adverbs

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Quickly, David kissed his mother goodbye before going to school.
Tearfully, Jan apologised for her mistake.

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Adverbs are words that describe verbs (action words). Examples are adverbs are anxiously, immediately, playfully. As children may find adverbs familiar and easier to grasp, this is a good way to begin injecting variety to your child's sentences.


3) Start a sentence with an adverbial phrase (time, manner, place)


Time: Before going to school, David kissed his mother goodbye quickly.
Manner: All of a sudden, a child dashed across the road.
Place: In the pouring rain, the boy shivered as he walked home without an umbrella.

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Like an adverb, an adverbial phase describes the action. Have your child think about the when, how and where of the sentence and they will find it easier to introduce this sentence structure to their compositions.

There are a few more sentence starts that I have shared on my blog/website. If you like what is shared,do feel free to visit http://lilbutmightyenglish.com/ to read on

 

[lilbutmighty]

[h=1]3 Sentence Starters Using Emotions[/h]I understand that different children organise and absorb information differently. Hence, I have decided to put up another post on using different sentence starters but this time, focusing on sentence starters that inject emotions. There are three ways which are outlined below and they do overlap with what I mentioned in the previous post. However, do bear in mind our focus on using emotions to guide the building of sentence starters here. We are trying to help the children to expand on their sentence starters in different ways instead of prescribing only one way for all.
[h=2]1) Start with a feeling (past participle/ adjective)[/h]Saddened by the news, she headed home.
Overjoyed with my results, my father decided to reward me.
Angered by the boys' misbehaviour, she screamed for them to come forward.
Infuriated, she slapped her daughter across her face.
[h=2]2) Start with a feeling (noun)[/h]Horror filled her when she realised she had made a terrible mistake.
Surprise overwhelmed the children when they found out they had won the competition.
Fear coursed through her veins when she realised she was trapped.
[h=2]3) Start with a feeling (To...)[/h]To her horror, she realised she had made a terrible mistake.
To the children's surprise, they had won the competition.
To my disappointment, Joey did not tell me the truth.


Although 1 and 2 may overlap with other sentence starter types in the previous post, I thought it is worth highlighting them explicitly as they are easy to remember and to apply. Moreover, when you start your sentences this way, you are introducing variety as well as emotions to your characters. Killing two birds with one stone!


Practise these sentence starters one at a time so that the practice is focused and sticks better. It may be useful to make a list of emotions in their noun form too e.g. sorrow, anger, surprise, disappointment, jubilance to be used with 2 and 3. Discuss with your child on which ones he or she would like to see in his or her composition the next few times and be very deliberate in practising them. When that sentence starter has been mastered, move on to the next sentence starter that your child wish to master after he or she has got the hang of the first one. Remember, it takes time and practice to perfect a skill.


Start re-starting those sentences today!

For more English tips and ideas, drop by Lil' but Mighty English Primary Tuition!

 

[lilbutmighty]

New Tip on Building up your Vocabulary!

This week, we seek to look at how we can help your child to expand his/her vocabulary.
Reading is the most effective way of doing so but why do some children appear to be reading a lot but yet, have a rather limited vocabulary bank?
To begin, today's post will highlight three important points about reading to build vocabulary. Find out more here!

We hope you and your child will find these tips easy to digest and apply. Do share with us your child's progress or any questions you have by leaving a comment

 

[lilbutmighty]

New Tips on how to Record (and Remember) New Vocabulary!

Hooray, your child is reading materials that are pitched at his/her level and is learning a number of new words. How can these new vocabulary be recorded in a meaningful manner that grows the curiosity of your child in learning new words and aids him/her in remembering them? Are there no other ways which new words can be recorded other than writing their definitions in a notebook? Find out more here!
We hope you and your child will find these tips easy to digest and apply. Do share with us your child's progress or any questions you have by leaving a comment.