All About English Creative Writing

[The Alternative Story]

Hi parents,


There was a question posted to us via email that we thought was
interesting and we would like to answer it here so that more
parents and children might benefit in case they have similar
queries like this:D

Qn: Read the passage carefully
-Qn a:Which is the subject?
-Qnb:The object is 'passage' Why is this so?

Ans: This sentence is an instruction, so the subject is
implied.

Another Eg: Go to school now!

This sentence is an order so the subject is implied as well.

It is implied that 'you' are the recipient of the instruction/order
When you read an instruction or order, it is implied that the
instruction or order is meant for the reader i.e 'you'

The subject is something that 'does' the action (verb),
and it is implied that the reader-'you' are the one to
'read' the passage, hence 'you' are the implied subject.

Qn 2: Why is the object 'passage'

Ans:

The object denotes something that 'receives' the action (verb).

-In 'Read the passage carefully' the verb is 'read' and
the thing that must be read is the 'passage', hence the object
is 'passage'.

TAS

[optimistforum]

Hi


Does this mean that a sentence must have subject-verb agreement, but not necessarily subject-object agreement? I guess if it is an instruction, then the subject is implied, i.e., "Go to bed, now!" - meaning "(You) Go to bed, now!"

[The Alternative Story]

[quote]Hi


Does this mean that a sentence must have subject-verb agreement, but not necessarily subject-object agreement? [/quote]Hi optimistforum,

A sentence must have a subject-verb agreement. For subject-object
agreements, it is not as clear cut.

I will divide the answer into 2 parts-
a) examples with subject-object agreement
b) examples with NO subject-object agreement

a) Below are some examples of subject-object agreements:

1) Singaporeans (subject) usually stay in HDB flats (object)

- different Singaporeans stay in different flats

2) Most teenagers (subject) have handphones (object)

- different teenagers have different handphones

(The subject and object are both in the plural form- there is subject
object agreement)

b) Below are examples of cases where there is no
subject-object agreement

1) Teenagers(subject) can drive a car(object) at 18

-In this case the subject is plural but the object is
singular, this is because this sentence means that the
teenagers can drive their own car when they are 18

2) Women (subject) can have a job (object) and bring up children (object) at the same time

-In this case, the subject is plural but one object is singular and the other is plural.
This is because the sentence means that women in general can
have a job (they hold down one job at a time) and yet have children (more than 1 child)

Hence, in short this means:

- If there is a subject-object agreement, the emphasis is on the different objects that the different subjects have

- If there is NO subject-object agreement, the emphasis is on the subjects
owning their OWN object.
[quote] I guess if it is an instruction, then the subject is implied, i.e., \"Go to bed, now!\" - meaning \"(You) Go to bed, now!\"[/quote]Yes the subject is implied and the subject is 'you'

TAS

[Joy]

Hi TAS


Do u have any Challenging English test papers to recommend for pri six student?(Other than past year school papers)

thanks alot.

regards
Joy

[The Alternative Story]

Joy:

Hi TAS


Do u have any Challenging English test papers to recommend for pri six student?(Other than past year school papers)

thanks alot.

regards
Joy

Hi Joy,

We come up with our own papers that compartmentalize different learning
points.

For example: for the comprehension cloze passage section,
we do a teaching on key words for accidents in newspaper reports/
environmental issues before giving the children the worksheets
on comprehension cloze passages that focus on these topics.

The children will then be using what they had learnt and they will also be taught how to use clues to get the answers.

The way our worksheets are structured is usually to give input to the child before expecting output.

It is a little difficult to explain what we mean, but in our next
creative writing workshop for parents, we can show
some samples of our worksheets for parents like yourself to
get a better idea. Having an idea of what kind of worksheets
they are, maybe you could source out for assessment books
that are like that.

We have not confirmed a date for our next creative writing workshop but
will let you know (if you are interested) when we do post it up on the forum.

We do know of a few assessment books that are quite good. But they do
not cover the full range of what is covered in English. However, if you are
interested, we could recommend some to you.

TAS

[Joy]

Hi TAS


Thanks for info.

Sure, would love to hear from u what are the good english assessment books from you.

Joy

The Alternative Story:

Joy:

Hi TAS

Do u have any Challenging English test papers to recommend for pri six student?(Other than past year school papers)

thanks alot.

regards
Joy

Hi Joy,

We come up with our own papers that compartmentalize different learning
points.

For example: for the comprehension cloze passage section,
we do a teaching on key words for accidents in newspaper reports/
environmental issues before giving the children the worksheets
on comprehension cloze passages that focus on these topics.

The children will then be using what they had learnt and they will also be taught how to use clues to get the answers.

The way our worksheets are structured is usually to give input to the child before expecting output.

It is a little difficult to explain what we mean, but in our next
creative writing workshop for parents, we can show
some samples of our worksheets for parents like yourself to
get a better idea. Having an idea of what kind of worksheets
they are, maybe you could source out for assessment books
that are like that.

We have not confirmed a date for our next creative writing workshop but
will let you know (if you are interested) when we do post it up on the forum.

We do know of a few assessment books that are quite good. But they do
not cover the full range of what is covered in English. However, if you are
interested, we could recommend some to you.

TAS

[Herbie]

Hi TAS


I have to S&T qn which need yr help.

1. Muthu tried very hard to reason with Mrs Tan but she refused to listen to him.
Ans; No matter

No matter how hard Muthu tried to reason, Mrs Tan refused to listen to him.

2. Mr Yong last saw his neighbour fifteen years ago.
______ since __________________.

Mr Yong had not seen his neighbour since fifteen years ago.


Kindly assist.

Please kindly provide info on active and passive voice too.

Many thanks!

[The Alternative Story]

Joy:

Hi TAS


Thanks for info.

Sure, would love to hear from u what are the good english assessment books from you.

Joy

Hi Joy,

These are some of the books that we find good. For the primary school
books, the questions may not be very challenging. However, the
questions are classified according to different categories which
makes learning easier for the kids.

Primary School Books:

1) Practice Makes Perfect: Vocabulary MCQ
by Kit Lee (EPH publishing)

2) Practice Makes Perfect: Grammar MCQ
by Kit Lee (EPH publishing)

3) The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Comprehension
by Shaheed Salim

All these are primary 6 books. ( I assumed you are asking for
upper primary kids)

We have one secondary book to recommend as you can use some
questions that are relevant for primary 6.

This book also classifies the questions. It also teaches the
vocabulary questions well. They get the children to identify
the root form of the word and also to identify which
part of speech (noun, verb etc) the word belongs to. This
helps the children to figure out the meaning of the vocabulary
words.

Secondary book:

1) Distinction in English Lower Secondary Comprehension
by Marife Cruz Yap

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

[quote]Hi TAS


I have to S&T qn which need yr help.

1. Muthu tried very hard to reason with Mrs Tan but she refused to listen to him.
Ans; No matter ________________________

No matter how hard Muthu tried to reason, Mrs Tan refused to listen to him.[/quote]Hi Herbie,

The answer is almost there, however, with one change:

- No matter how hard Muthu tried to reason with Mrs Tan, she
refused to listen to him.

(You need to put 'with Mrs Tan' in front, then it will be clear who Muthu
is trying to reason with)
[quote]2. Mr Yong last saw his neighbour fifteen years ago.
______________________________ since __________________.

Mr Yong had not seen his neighbour since fifteen years ago.[/quote]The answer should be:

- Mr Yong has not seen his neighbour since fifteen years ago.

It should be present perfect tense and not past perfect tense as Mr Yong
saw his neighbour 15 years ago BUT has not seen him ever since-
it is implied that he has not seen him till today.
[quote]Please kindly provide info on active and passive voice too.

Many thanks![/quote]Active voice: The subject is the one 'doing' the action

Eg: The girl (subject) ate the burger.

The girl was the 'doer' of the action - ate.

Passive voice: The subject has an action done to it/him/her.

Eg: The burger (subject) was eaten.

The burger had the action of being eaten done to it, it was
the 'target' of the action and not the 'doer' of the action.

Active voice:
(Present tense)
-I eat the burgers today

(Past tense)
- I ate a burger

(Present continuous tense)
- I am eating a burger

(Past continuous tense)
- I was eating a burger

(Present perfect tense)
- I have eaten a burger

(Past perfect tense)
- I had eaten a burger

Passive voice:
(Present tense)
- The burgers are eaten (by me) today

(Past tense)
-The burger was eaten

(Present continuous)
- The burger is being eaten

(Past continuous)
- The burger was being eaten

(Present perfect)
- The burger has been eaten

(Past perfect)
- The burger had been eaten

TAS

[Joy]

Hi TAS


Thanks.I have [qu1) Distinction in English Lower Secondary Comprehension
by Marife Cruz Yap and she has been reading it.

Check with you, is there a good close passage books that u can recommend?

We had done the Practice Makes Perfect close passage last year.thanks

rgds
Joy

ote=\"The Alternative Story\"]

Joy:

Hi TAS

Thanks for info.

Sure, would love to hear from u what are the good english assessment books from you.

Joy

Hi Joy,

These are some of the books that we find good. For the primary school
books, the questions may not be very challenging. However, the
questions are classified according to different categories which
makes learning easier for the kids.

Primary School Books:

1) Practice Makes Perfect: Vocabulary MCQ
by Kit Lee (EPH publishing)

2) Practice Makes Perfect: Grammar MCQ
by Kit Lee (EPH publishing)

3) The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Comprehension
by Shaheed Salim

All these are primary 6 books. ( I assumed you are asking for
upper primary kids)

We have one secondary book to recommend as you can use some
questions that are relevant for primary 6.

This book also classifies the questions. It also teaches the
vocabulary questions well. They get the children to identify
the root form of the word and also to identify which
part of speech (noun, verb etc) the word belongs to. This
helps the children to figure out the meaning of the vocabulary
words.

Secondary book:

1) Distinction in English Lower Secondary Comprehension
by Marife Cruz Yap

TAS[/quote]