3 Determination
3 Creative
3 Diligence
3 Commitment
3 PersistenceThursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
P3 Music Day 2009
Our children showcased their creative dance on 6th October 2009 during curriculum time.
Their audience, the other P3 classes, were clearly impressed. They oohed and aahed at the stunts did during the dance.
Getting ready for the dance
'Action!'
The agile Hidayat doing his floor work
Jun Wei at his cartwheel moves
Floor work 2: Zafranshah and David
Looking relieved and happy after the dance
Great moves, children!
Alert: Veronica, Vishva and Jeeva
Dear children,
I've been trying to contact Vishva and Veronica's parents in vain for the past few days.
They need to come down to school to collect their Maths file, Composition books and Composition assignments so that Vishva and Veronica can revise for their coming SA2 examinations.
Can you help me alert them about this matter if you are able to contact them via other means?
Jeeva,
If you're reading this, please ask your parent to come to the General Office to collect your Maths file and Composition book and assignments too.
I'll be in school on Thursday and Friday from 8 am onwards. Do try to come before 12 pm.
Thank you.
I've been trying to contact Vishva and Veronica's parents in vain for the past few days.
They need to come down to school to collect their Maths file, Composition books and Composition assignments so that Vishva and Veronica can revise for their coming SA2 examinations.
Can you help me alert them about this matter if you are able to contact them via other means?
Jeeva,
If you're reading this, please ask your parent to come to the General Office to collect your Maths file and Composition book and assignments too.
I'll be in school on Thursday and Friday from 8 am onwards. Do try to come before 12 pm.
Thank you.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Composition-Writing
Today, I went through with the children the common mistakes in composition-writing.
Some key points are:
1) The beginning must be relevant to the story ie. don't start the story with a beautiful weather and have it followed by sentences like 'Mary is a playful girl'.
Weather+character description = unusual expression.
Either one of the above can be the beginning. Not both.
2) Paragraph your story.
If the scenarios take place at different places, or if the course of actions changes drastically, or if the paragraph is a long one, break it up.
Remember: it's easier for your reader to read your story if it's in smaller chunks.
3) Elaborate.
Always describe the 'how'.
eg. 1) She was over-confident.
Describe how she was over-confident.
eg. 2) She was punished.
Describe the punishment.
4) Describe.
It is not sufficient to simply describe the pictures or the events. You need to give life to the characters by describing how they feel for each event
Eg. He felt ashamed of what he had done and decided to apologise to his friends. ('The Selfish Boy')
Use adjectives to describe the characters.
Eg. She stared in horror with her big, round eyes. ('An Accident')
Use adverbs to describe the actions.
Eg. Her classmates were studying diligently. ('The Playful Girl')
5) Use better vocabulary
Instead of scolded, use 'reprimanded'.
Instead of got home, use 'reached home'.
Instead of got back, use 'received' / 'retrieved'.
Instead of told, use 'informed'.
Instead of said, use 'replied', 'answered', 'shouted', 'screamed' etc.
Instead of cried, use 'wept'.
Instead of caught, use 'apprehended'.
Instead of scared, use 'worried', 'anxious', 'nervous' or 'afraid'.
Instead of happy, use 'thrilled', 'delighted' etc.
6) Write the proper form of the word.
Eg. exam should be written as 'examination'.
Don't use words such as CA1, CA2, SA1 and SA2.
If you mean to say English CA1, simply write 'English test'.
7) Give names to the characters.
Eg. teacher - Mr Tan
8) Don't give unusual names eg. Marry, Josepher.
9) Don't go into the nitty-gritty.
Eg. 1) She scored 40/100.
You may write 'She failed her test badly.'
Eg. 2) Her test was from 7.30 am to 8.45 am.
You may write 'She would have the test in the morning.'
10) Don't write in numbers if they are one- or two-word numbers.
Eg. 1) 1 page should be 'one page'.
Eg. 2) 100 should be 'one hundred'.
11) Always write in past tense (except for the flashback beginning).
12) After writing, read your own composition as if you are a new reader and:
- check for spelling and grammatical mistakes eg. are all the verbs in past tense?
- see if you would understand what you mean for each sentence or word.
Reading your own composition is as important as writing it. Most people, including famous authors, do not publish their first piece of writing. They do many self-corrections or editing on their own writing before they publish it.
Beginnings of a story
I've given the children a list on ways to begin a story. These are the few methods I've taught the children as starters of a story:
1) Sound
2) Flashback (Reminder from the present)
3) Setting/Weather
Homework for the week:
i) Composition 'An Accident'
ii) Composition 'Lost in a Shopping Centre'
The two tasks are meant to allow children to have more practices on composition-writing as the first day of school is also their Paper One Examination. I've gone through a model composition on another 'accident' with them for more helping words, and to show them how a good piece of writing looks like.
All the best, children!
Some key points are:
1) The beginning must be relevant to the story ie. don't start the story with a beautiful weather and have it followed by sentences like 'Mary is a playful girl'.
Weather+character description = unusual expression.
Either one of the above can be the beginning. Not both.
2) Paragraph your story.
If the scenarios take place at different places, or if the course of actions changes drastically, or if the paragraph is a long one, break it up.
Remember: it's easier for your reader to read your story if it's in smaller chunks.
3) Elaborate.
Always describe the 'how'.
eg. 1) She was over-confident.
Describe how she was over-confident.
eg. 2) She was punished.
Describe the punishment.
4) Describe.
It is not sufficient to simply describe the pictures or the events. You need to give life to the characters by describing how they feel for each event
Eg. He felt ashamed of what he had done and decided to apologise to his friends. ('The Selfish Boy')
Use adjectives to describe the characters.
Eg. She stared in horror with her big, round eyes. ('An Accident')
Use adverbs to describe the actions.
Eg. Her classmates were studying diligently. ('The Playful Girl')
5) Use better vocabulary
Instead of scolded, use 'reprimanded'.
Instead of got home, use 'reached home'.
Instead of got back, use 'received' / 'retrieved'.
Instead of told, use 'informed'.
Instead of said, use 'replied', 'answered', 'shouted', 'screamed' etc.
Instead of cried, use 'wept'.
Instead of caught, use 'apprehended'.
Instead of scared, use 'worried', 'anxious', 'nervous' or 'afraid'.
Instead of happy, use 'thrilled', 'delighted' etc.
6) Write the proper form of the word.
Eg. exam should be written as 'examination'.
Don't use words such as CA1, CA2, SA1 and SA2.
If you mean to say English CA1, simply write 'English test'.
7) Give names to the characters.
Eg. teacher - Mr Tan
8) Don't give unusual names eg. Marry, Josepher.
9) Don't go into the nitty-gritty.
Eg. 1) She scored 40/100.
You may write 'She failed her test badly.'
Eg. 2) Her test was from 7.30 am to 8.45 am.
You may write 'She would have the test in the morning.'
10) Don't write in numbers if they are one- or two-word numbers.
Eg. 1) 1 page should be 'one page'.
Eg. 2) 100 should be 'one hundred'.
11) Always write in past tense (except for the flashback beginning).
12) After writing, read your own composition as if you are a new reader and:
- check for spelling and grammatical mistakes eg. are all the verbs in past tense?
- see if you would understand what you mean for each sentence or word.
Reading your own composition is as important as writing it. Most people, including famous authors, do not publish their first piece of writing. They do many self-corrections or editing on their own writing before they publish it.
Beginnings of a story
I've given the children a list on ways to begin a story. These are the few methods I've taught the children as starters of a story:
1) Sound
2) Flashback (Reminder from the present)
3) Setting/Weather
Homework for the week:
i) Composition 'An Accident'
ii) Composition 'Lost in a Shopping Centre'
The two tasks are meant to allow children to have more practices on composition-writing as the first day of school is also their Paper One Examination. I've gone through a model composition on another 'accident' with them for more helping words, and to show them how a good piece of writing looks like.
All the best, children!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
GEP Selection Test (Round 2)
Congratulations to Min Yi who got into the second round of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) Selection Test! Well done!
Besides her, 2 other children from 3 Persistence and 3 Diligence are going for the Selection Test next week.
Let's wish Min Yi all the best.
Besides her, 2 other children from 3 Persistence and 3 Diligence are going for the Selection Test next week.
Let's wish Min Yi all the best.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Dress Code for Class Photography
Dear children,
Please be in your smart and clean school uniform on Thursday, 15 October 2009, for the class photography.
I understand that you have PE lesson on Thursday. Up till now, no clear instructions have been given on the dress code. My suggestion is:
Come to school in your school uniform and keep a set of PE attire in your bag.
I've informed Mr Ashari that you'll be in your school uniform and he understands the rationale behind it.
So don't worry unduly.
Please be in your smart and clean school uniform on Thursday, 15 October 2009, for the class photography.
I understand that you have PE lesson on Thursday. Up till now, no clear instructions have been given on the dress code. My suggestion is:
Come to school in your school uniform and keep a set of PE attire in your bag.
I've informed Mr Ashari that you'll be in your school uniform and he understands the rationale behind it.
So don't worry unduly.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Jack and the Beanstalk & Oral Examination
Each RT group gets better as the children view and provide constructive feedback on their friends' performance. It is my wish that with Readers' Theatre, the awareness of an audience will be instilled in children whenever they read aloud - an important oral communication skill.
Oral Examination matter:
Oral Examination will be conducted over this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Reading
When going through Oral practices, I have informed the children the need to 'dramatise' a little ie. the rising tone for questions, the stress on significant words, the tones for different types of sentences or characters. Children are asked to read a passage and the rest of the class would give comments on how their friends perform. From the way I see it, more and more children are starting to have an awareness of their audience and are more conscious of their reading, rather than just getting all the words in the passage correctly read.
It will do the children good if their parents could get the children to read to them and give them feedback on their reading.
Picture Conversation
These are the steps in which children are taught to follow:
1. Start the conversation with 'This picture depicts a scenario in the (place).'
2. Mention that there are many people/children in that particular place.
3. Find a person in the picture to start with, preferably someone on the bottom-left corner of the picture, then move on to the nearest person next to the first person mentioned, until the whole picture is covered.
4. For each person, describe the action and give personal comments such as 'It is very inconsiderate/impolite/kind/helpful' etc and back them up with reasons eg. 'as it will pollute the environment/it is very dangerous/he might injure himself and the others'.
5. At the end of the conversation, wrap it up with 'In a nutshell, this picture shows the behaviour of some people in a (place)'.
Some children have difficulty giving comment for every person in the picture. I suggest children to target giving comment for at least 3 persons if it is not possible to give comment for all.
At the end of it all, it still depends very much on the picture given. I have shown children various pictures. Some pictures do not allow children to describe a lot ie. only one character is acting inconsiderately. My suggestion is to focus on the inconsiderate act and describe how the other characters are reacting, feeling and what they think.
Please remind your child:
1. NOT TO 'look into the future' and say what the character is going to do. FOCUS ON THE GIVEN PICTURE and the currect scenario.
2. NOT TO tell a story. The task is to describe what the people are doing in the picture, not to let the imagination go wild.
Children's Day
Our children were mesmerised by the Children's Day Concert on their Day, the yoyo performance especially. It was a pity I didn't have my camera with me that day. The whole hall of children were totally captivated by the yoyo 'professionals'. Their eyes were fixed, faces fascinated. If any parent is wondering what the hype is about, yoyo is all the fad now!
Some pictures of the children in the classroom showing their excitement when they received their gifts:
Sunday, October 4, 2009
P3 Music Day
Dear children,
We are going to have our Music Day which will showcase your Creative Dance on Tuesday, 6 October 2009.
Please be in your PE attire for the Dance.
I haven't seen your Dance and am looking forward to it! Be excited and dance your best!
We are going to have our Music Day which will showcase your Creative Dance on Tuesday, 6 October 2009.
Please be in your PE attire for the Dance.
I haven't seen your Dance and am looking forward to it! Be excited and dance your best!
Class photograph
Dear children,
We will have our class photograph taken on 15 October 2009 (Thursday) by a professional photographer.
Please come to school on that day, neatly and proudly dressed in school uniform and ensure that your hair is neat or short if need be.
No charges or payment will be collected from you as it is part of the $12 collected at the beginning of the year.
Do turn up in school for that day as it is my first professionally-taken class photograph with my form class. It'll be a shame if any one of you is missing from the picture.
We will have our class photograph taken on 15 October 2009 (Thursday) by a professional photographer.
Please come to school on that day, neatly and proudly dressed in school uniform and ensure that your hair is neat or short if need be.
No charges or payment will be collected from you as it is part of the $12 collected at the beginning of the year.
Do turn up in school for that day as it is my first professionally-taken class photograph with my form class. It'll be a shame if any one of you is missing from the picture.
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