Q&A - PSLE Chinese

[cheonginging]

Good morning. May I know any suggestion topics for Prelim oral? Thanks in advance.

[chenlaoshi]

cheonginging\" post_id=\"2030724\" time=\"1626395624\" user_id=\"182742:

Good morning. May I know any suggestion topics for Prelim oral? Thanks in advance.

The themes are related to moral values and school related activities. It's the details of the videos that changes. For example, for the topic of showing consideration for others (懂得为别人着想）one year can be about seat hogging, few years later can be blasting music while on public transport. Thus, for preparation, the focus should be on nouns, verbs, adjectives related to topics and places, as well as to practice on elaboration of points/views.

Meanwhile, topics that has been tested in this year's prelim include:
- 责任感 (+ 注意卫生/保持环境清洁； cleaning up the mess created after meal)
- 安全意识 (climbing railing, dashing around in public places)

[cheonginging]

Thank you for your sharing.


The themes are related to moral values and school related activities. It’s the details of the videos that changes. For example, for the topic of showing consideration for others (懂得为别人着想）one year can be about seat hogging, few years later can be blasting music while on public transport. Thus, for preparation, the focus should be on nouns, verbs, adjectives related to topics and places, as well as to practice on elaboration of points/views.

Meanwhile, topics that has been tested in this year’s prelim include:
- 责任感 (+ 注意卫生/保持环境清洁； cleaning up the mess created after meal)
- 安全意识 (climbing railing, dashing around in public places)
[/quote]

[horisono]

Well for my prelim oral it was nothing about morals and values at all. Instead, the video was about:


A family went to an event for a day that comprised of many activities (rock-climbing, kids marathon, and more). I spent the whole week preparing for the oral and they decide to test out of the box. I was kind of shocked, to be honest, but again, that’s probably something PSLE Chinese oral would test on as you know, it’s full of unpleasant surprises and kind of scary.

[chenlaoshi]

horisono\" post_id=\"2031313\" time=\"1626872184\" user_id=\"193664:

Well for my prelim oral it was nothing about morals and values at all. Instead, the video was about:

A family went to an event for a day that comprised of many activities (rock-climbing, kids marathon, and more). I spent the whole week preparing for the oral and they decide to test out of the box. I was kind of shocked, to be honest, but again, that's probably something PSLE Chinese oral would test on as you know, it's full of unpleasant surprises and kind of scary.

Sounds like 家庭凝聚力 related - not entirely unexpected. Challenge might be on verbs/nouns like 攀岩 for rock-climbing and 马拉松 for marathon.

Besides moral value, social related topics (personal, friends, family, neighbourhood, school life related) are https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=25131&p=2016646&hilit=chenlaoshi#p2016611 too .

All the best for your prelims & PSLE! :rahrah:

[cheonginging]

May I ask: for the oral, if the video doesn’t show the location clearly, for example, there are two segments in the video, one is showing kids climbing railing, another segment showing kids stepping puddles on the floor, how to tell the location?


Besides, Any suggestion to tell location if it is not clear whether outdoor or indoor?

Thanks in advance.

[manorway]

Hi all!! I have some questions to ask regarding PSLE Compo.


Is it better to make kids learn to write the characters or let them depend on e-dictionary in compo exam? I wonder if checking dictionary will waste a lot of time for slow writers.

This is more out of my curiosity. Since PSLE compo is 50 min, then why do teachers give 40 min in Pr 3 and 4? I was told not all schools give kids 50 min to write compo in Pri 5 too.

I wonder if it is better to let kids just write as long as they like or should we restrict their writing to 40 or 50 min. Please share from experience which is better for your kids or students.

Thanks.

[zac's mum]

manorway\" post_id=\"2032192\" time=\"1627573686\" user_id=\"9303:

Hi all!! I have some questions to ask regarding PSLE Compo.

Is it better to make kids learn to write the characters or let them depend on e-dictionary in compo exam? I wonder if checking dictionary will waste a lot of time for slow writers.

This is more out of my curiosity. Since PSLE compo is 50 min, then why do teachers give 40 min in Pr 3 and 4? I was told not all schools give kids 50 min to write compo in Pri 5 too.

I wonder if it is better to let kids just write as long as they like or should we restrict their writing to 40 or 50 min. Please share from experience which is better for your kids or students.

Thanks.

DS is in P5 this year. His school gave 50min to write the zuowen.

Typically, for all subjects, the kids do not tackle PSLE format until they reach P5 (when it is suddenly thrust upon them, to varying degrees of shock - so it’s good that you’re doing your research).

During DS’ prep for his P5 Compo exam, I consulted chenlaoshi & I recall the max deduction of points for wrong words is 0.5 x 8 = 4 marks. DS’ weakness was recognizing which Chinese character to pick from the e-dictionary (his verbal/auditory grasp of Chinese is good). So from the bigger point of view, I decided that if he is able to write a coherent >100 word zuowen, he knows how to write the majority of the basic filler words grammatically, using hanyu pinyin for “don’t know” 汉字 to inform the marker of the content, we can afford to lose the 4 marks since the content marks will be fulfilled. It didn’t make sense for him to waste time checking the e-dictionary when it was 50/50 chance of picking the correct character.

[chenlaoshi]

cheonginging\" post_id=\"2032149\" time=\"1627547471\" user_id=\"182742:

May I ask: for the oral, if the video doesn’t show the location clearly, for example, there are two segments in the video, one is showing kids climbing railing, another segment showing kids stepping puddles on the floor, how to tell the location?

Besides, Any suggestion to tell location if it is not clear whether outdoor or indoor?

Thanks in advance.

In oral video, the locations are usually quite visible/obvious.

(If I'm not mistaken - based on what I have heard, not seen , the one with railing is bus stop/bus interchange and the other one is hawker centre.)

However, if the student is unsure or does not not know how to express in CL, then he/she should focus more on the description of the incident (what's happening, who did what, reaction and feelings involved etc.). After all, the 1st question, which is related to video content will involve narration of incident (usually as supporting claim), followed by student's opinion/critique.

Sorry, I don't quite get the outdoor/indoor query.

[chenlaoshi]

manorway\" post_id=\"2032192\" time=\"1627573686\" user_id=\"9303:

Hi all!! I have some questions to ask regarding PSLE Compo.

Is it better to make kids learn to write the characters or let them depend on e-dictionary in compo exam? I wonder if checking dictionary will waste a lot of time for slow writers.
Generally speaking, it's definitely better for the students to be able to write CL characters without relying on dictionary so as to save time that's needed in checking dictionary. Besides, it will also help them in components like comprehension, for questions in which they need to express their views or explain the reasons in detail.

Ideally, use of dictionary is to minimize errors (checking on words that student is unsure of how to write) and/or maximize the use of descriptive phrases - prioritize learning/memorizing and leaving the writing part to referencing of dictionary (e.g. for more complicated words like 颤颤巍巍 i.e. trembling)

This is more out of my curiosity. Since PSLE compo is 50 min, then why do teachers give 40 min in Pr 3 and 4? I was told not all schools give kids 50 min to write compo in Pri 5 too.
I presume this is referring to in school writing?

For Pri 3 and 4, there are only 4 pictures and the last picture is drawn, whereas for Pri 5 and 6, there are 5 pictures and the last picture is a question mark.

Since students tend to find it a challenge to complete the entire compo writing in 50 mins + Pri 3 and 4's content is more straightforward than Pri 5 and 6 (partly for factors stated above), some teachers might shorten the timing so that when the students transit to 6 pic compo, they will be able to manage their time better.

Regarding shorten writing time allocated for Pri 5 and 6, one of the reason is, before the students start writing, the teacher would have guided the class and discussed the theme and potential story plots with them. Taking into consideration such planning process will take up some time in the 50 mins allocated in exam, the teacher may reduce writing time allocated to the students to mimic compo writing situation in exam.

I wonder if it is better to let kids just write as long as they like or should we restrict their writing to 40 or 50 min. Please share from experience which is better for your kids or students.
During self practice or for homework, the focus should be on writing a complete story (even at the expense of exceeding time limit).

Time management part should be worked on once the student has little/no problem delivering a complete story that adheres to the theme & content of the given pictures and with cohesion from picture to picture transitions.

Thanks.