All About English Creative Writing

[singapore45]

Hi TAS,


Some schools do not provide a lot of composition for the students and we
cannot really look at their work and then when it comes to the exam, we cannot see their paper. How do we know if their composition is on the right track? My sister’s kids are P4 and P5 and both face this. You mentioned we can work with teachers but their teachers do not do much compositions and they just say they are doing quite well. What is ‘quite well’? We are quite frustrated as it seems that composition is the most neglected part of the teaching in school. Can you provide some insight to how to help them, some guidelines to know the std of their writing. They go for tuition but at the tuition, the emphasis is also not much on writing.

Will also really really appreciate if you could do a grammar wkshop before the SA2.

[Brenda10]

Hi TAS


If there is a grammar workshop for different level of pupils (P1 - P5) before SA2 will be good.. There will be 4 holidays (PSLE marking days 19- 22/10) ) just before the SA Exam. :lol:

[vonneee86]

singapore45:

Hi TAS,


Some schools do not provide a lot of composition for the students and we
cannot really look at their work and then when it comes to the exam, we cannot see their paper. How do we know if their composition is on the right track? My sister's kids are P4 and P5 and both face this. You mentioned we can work with teachers but their teachers do not do much compositions and they just say they are doing quite well. What is 'quite well'? We are quite frustrated as it seems that composition is the most neglected part of the teaching in school. Can you provide some insight to how to help them, some guidelines to know the std of their writing. They go for tuition but at the tuition, the emphasis is also not much on writing.

Will also really really appreciate if you could do a grammar wkshop before the SA2.

Hey, I have the same experience, I just moved here from the States and find that the schools here do not focus much on writing, I wonder why that is so. Writing is so important as communication is something that you need for life and if you can't write, it is hard to communicate with people especially in the corporate world.

I also agree about the grammar workshop, we used to learn it incidentally and so lack the skills to teach it in a more 'obvious' way. TAS, if you could help us out here, that would be

[Fongg]

Hi TAS,


Got a question about how to use ‘a’, ‘an’. I know ‘an’ is for the vowels but European is ‘a’ right? How to explain it?

TIA!!

[The Alternative Story]

Jellybeans100:

Hi TAS,


2) Could you put up the class schedule for the normal classes for Bukit timah
maybe in the forum, I have read your threads at the marketplace, could you put it up there as I want to see if I could squeeze in time to send my son there if you are not setting the East branch yet.

Hi Jellybeans100,

We have put up the class schedule for the classes at Bukit Timah
Shopping Centre.

It is available at this link:
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7586&start=20

In addition, if you are interested in an East location, we might have a
place soon (not guaranteed but quite possible), we have 2
tentative class timings that we have put up at the same link above.
If you could tell us your child's age and as long as we have 2
students of that age, we will start a class. However, all this is
still very tentative.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

singapore45:

Hi TAS,


Some schools do not provide a lot of composition for the students and we
cannot really look at their work and then when it comes to the exam, we cannot see their paper. How do we know if their composition is on the right track? My sister's kids are P4 and P5 and both face this. You mentioned we can work with teachers but their teachers do not do much compositions and they just say they are doing quite well. What is 'quite well'? We are quite frustrated as it seems that composition is the most neglected part of the teaching in school. Can you provide some insight to how to help them, some guidelines to know the std of their writing. They go for tuition but at the tuition, the emphasis is also not much on writing.

Will also really really appreciate if you could do a grammar wkshop before the SA2.

Hi Singapore45,

What you can do is the look at composition writing assessment books and
use it as a rough gauge to assess your sister's kids' writing. If the book
talks about using good vocabulary, you can look at the child's writing and
see if you see that, if the book talks about having good grammatical
structure, you can look at the child's writing and look out for that as well.

For the tuition, perhaps you could submit the child's writing and ask if
the teacher could read it and give some comments.

For the grammar workshop, we will try out best to have one before
SA2.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Brenda10:

Hi TAS


If there is a grammar workshop for different level of pupils (P1 - P5) before SA2 will be good.. There will be 4 holidays (PSLE marking days 19- 22/10) ) just before the SA Exam. :lol:

Hi Brenda10,

Sure, we will try to do so but no promises yet, we will let you know
if we do have one before SA2.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Fongg:

Hi TAS,


Got a question about how to use 'a', 'an'. I know 'an' is for the vowels but European is 'a' right? How to explain it?

TIA!!

Hi Fongg,

'European' starts with an 'E' but it has a 'You' sound to its starting,
just like 'Eurasian', 'Unicorn, 'Uniform', 'University'. You use 'a' and
not 'an' for all these words as they start with a sound that sounds
like the consonant - Y.

'Eraser'/'Egg'/'Umbrella' all have a starting sound like a vowel
(E/Eh/Uh), thus you will use 'an' for them.

TAS

[iamyoung]

The Alternative Story:

In addition, if you are interested in an East location, we might have a
place soon (not guaranteed but quite possible), we have 2
tentative class timings that we have put up at the same link above.
If you could tell us your child's age and as long as we have 2
students of that age, we will start a class. However, all this is
still very tentative.

TAS

Would you consider weekend morning classes? Have been waiting for ages
for your east branch, my PIL stay in the east and they help me to ferry my kids to tuition (I work during wkends too) they are only free in the morning for weekend, could you consider it?

[The Alternative Story]

jasmineong:

do you have any other examples of composition startings to share?

Hi Jasmine,

There are a few more composition startings that can be used:

1) Description of weather or place

Eg (1)- weather (relating to hearing a scream) :

-(a) The heat from the hot sun weighed me down as I trudged
home after school. Perspiration made my uniform stick like glue to
my back. I just could not wait to get out of the heat.

As I laboured on, suddenly, I heard a faint cry coming from a
nearby void deck. Too tired to do anything about it, I decided
to continue walking.

\"Help me!\" I could hear the cry again. This time, it sounded more
urgent. Despite the heat, I began to run towards the void deck.

- (b) As I walked home in the gathering darkness, I could see
elongated shadows dancing on the pavement ahead. The wind
started to blow and leaves rustled in accompanying harmony
to the wind. Shivering, I walked faster. The road ahead
seemed deserted. The scenes from the horror show I had just
seen began to play on my mind.

\"Arghh!\" a sudden shout pierced through the stillness of the night.

Turning around, I tried to peer into the darkness. There was no
one there. Where had that scream come from?

Eg (2) - place (relating to hearing a scream)

- The old deserted house stood at the end of the street. Its windows
were boarded up. Paint was peeling off the wooden frames of the
door. My friends and I opened the gate and walked in.

As we did so, it seemed as though the eerie silence of the house
had hemmed us in. We no longer heard the cries of the birds or the
traffic sounds from the main road. Looking at my friends'
faces, I knew they would laugh at me if I backed out.

Walking slowly, we began to venture in deeper. Tall grass
scratched our legs. The garden was overrun by weeds.
Creak..creak..the floorboards creaked underneath our
feet as we walked onto the porch. An old rocking chair
sat, forlorn and forgotten, in one corner of the porch.
Long strands of grey cobweb dangled from it. I tried not to
look at the chair, fearing that it would start to move.

\"Are you afraid?\" Lynn looked at me, a sneer on her face.

Shaking my head, I followed the rest as they opened the
main door. Dust notes floated in the air as we
stepped into the house. Furniture that must have once
looked grand still stood proudly in their place.

A grand piano, its wood eaten away at places, was
placed right in the middle of the room.

\"Heelllp!\" a soft cry seemed to come from upstairs.

Petrified, I clutched Lynn's hand.

Here, when you use descriptions of a place or weather to start
a composition, they introduce the reader to the world
of the writer- the writer struggling in the heat, the writer
entering a deserted house etc. It gives context and sets the
'atmosphere' in the story.

Point to note:
Some children memorize descriptions of weather and put it
into their compositions which is fine but there must be a link
to the story. Sometimes their weather descriptions have no
link to the story.

Eg:

- The sun rose majestically in the blue sky. Ducks from a
nearby pond quacked comically. The trees swayed gently
in the wind.

Ring! The bell rang for recess and I could finally get my food.

There is no reason to put in the description of the weather here
and the child will not get marks for the vocabulary used.
Hence, it is good to let your child know that the descriptions must
be tied into the story.

TAS