All About English Creative Writing

[The Alternative Story]

jeestan:

Hi TAS,


Can you please help me to see how to improve this piece of writing by my son? He is in P2, his teacher says his writing is a good but I feel it is a bit too simplistic, is this all right for a P2?

- One day, I went to the beach with my parents. We played in the sand and build a very big sandcastle. I collected some seashells and placed them on top of the sandcastle. I was very excited when I saw my beautiful sandcastle. After that, it was time to go home and I went home with my parents. I smiled and gave my parents a hug as we walked off. I was so happy that they brought me to the beach. It is my favourite place.

Thank you.

Hi jeestan,

Your son seems to be able to write in clear, simple sentences without making any grammar or spelling mistakes.

There is only one small grammar mistake- '...and build a very big
sandcastle'.

It should be '...and built a very big sandcastle'.

It seems that your son's basics is good. For most P2s, this would be
quite good. However, if you want to build on that and make the
writing more interesting, this is what you can do:

[u]1) Teach him to 'show' the scene and feelings of the
character rather than 'tell' it.

Tell: One day, I went to the beach with my parents.

Show: A slight breeze blew and the sun shone brightly as my
parents and I went to the beach. I could smell the sea even as
I ran down to the sand.

Tell: I was very excited

Show: Jumping up and down in excitement, I dragged my
parents to see my sandcastle.

2) Vary his sentence structure

Instead of starting with a pronoun ('I') all the time, he can
start his sentences with verbs, adverbs and adjectives.

Starting with a verb:

- Running on the sand, I watched the seagulls take off into the sky.

Starting with an adverb:

- Happily, I started to build my sandcastle.

Starting with an adjective:

- Excited, I ran to my parents and told them that I had seen a
crab scuttling on the sand.

In order for your son's writing to be less simplistic, you could
introduce more vocabulary to him. You could also get him to read
more.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

jasmineong:

Hi TAS,


DS's form teacher told him that 'gray' was the wrong spelling, it means the surname of some pple or something like that. She said 'grey' is correct. So ok, then today, his maths teacher said cannot spell as 'grey'. Now, must spell as 'gray'? Aiyo...what is it? I thought it was 'grey'? Can help here? Thanks!

Hi Jasmine,

'Gray' is the American spelling and 'Grey' is the British spelling. Your
child should use the British spelling as this is what we use in the
Singapore education system.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Hi parents,


For some of you who have asked through pm about our holiday
programmes, we have posted it up and you can go to these links for
more information:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7586&start=40

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14020

TAS

[iamyoung]

Hi TAS,


Can I suggest something? For the creative writing book, perhaps you could sell it online? I would like to buy it and if it is sold online, it is more
convenient? More people can buy also as some of us parents may not be free to go down to the centre to pick it up as we do not live nearby. Just a suggestion.

[vonneee86]

Hey TAS,


I stay in Indonesia, I do come back regularly to visit my parents and will
bring my child here to study eventually. But right now, there is a lack of
good educational material in Indonesia so I always try to buy back lots when I am here. But iamyoung's suggestion is a good one. It especially makes it convenient for parents like me based overseas to get your books. I have some friends here who also follow KSP and your twitter. Could you put your book online for sale? It would really help us. :lol:

[The Alternative Story]

Hi iamyoung and vonneee86,


Currently, we have no plans to sell it online.

Perhaps, we will do so when our official website is out by
this year end.

TAS

[MLJ]

Hi TAS,


What age group is your writing book suitable for? Do we have to pre-order with you or something?

[Herbie]

Hi TAS, I hv the following qn.

the boy took some money fr the drawer. His mother walked in.
ans: No soomer had the boy taken some money from the drawer, his mother walked in.

my cousin and __ went swimming at the Wild Park.
ans is me or I
please advise. Tx

[jeestan]

HI TAS,


Thanks for your input on writing for my child. It gives me a lot of ideas now. If there is a need to pre-order your writing book, I would like to put in my order.

[The Alternative Story]

MLJ:

Hi TAS,


What age group is your writing book suitable for? Do we have to pre-order with you or something?

Hi MLJ,

It is suitable for high ability Pri 1 and 2s and for Pri 3 all the way to Pri 6.
For the first round, we may not be printing that many books so you
can pre-order with us first if you are want to get it within these
few weeks.

TAS