All About English Creative Writing

[The Alternative Story]

Hi parents,


We received a PM asking about recommendations for
assessment books, these are some of the assessment books
that we have recommended before:

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

We have one secondary book to recommend as you can use some
questions that are relevant for primary 5/6.

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

[looneytunezz]

Hi TAS,


Can I ask you something? I just had my psle eng today and am not sure if my compo is out of point..my friends said it could be

I have sent you a pm, could help me to reply, thank you very very much

[jasmineong]

looneytunezz:

Hi TAS,


Can I ask you something? I just had my psle eng today and am not sure if my compo is out of point..my friends said it could be

I have sent you a pm, could help me to reply, thank you very very much

Oh dear, dont worry so much..maybe it will be ok cos compo is very subjective..just try to focus on maths tomorrow. Jia you! :celebrate:

[jasmineong]

The Alternative Story:

jasmineong:

TAS, I went to look for your other posts at other threads and found these postings by you that are commonly asked and commonly confusing to us parents..I post them here so it is easy reference for other parents and me to look through when we are in doubt, thanks for taking the time to post all these tips! :celebrate: I have categorized them, hope I have done it correctly.


-an, a (when 'an' should not be used even when the first letter is a vowel)
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=540

-\texamples of flashbacks
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=530

-\tLie, lay, lain, laid (when to use what)
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=520


-\tdiff between past tense and past continuous tense
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=500

-\twhom, who (when to use what)
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11809&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40

- past tense, past perfect tense
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11809&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

Hi Jasmine,

Thanks for compiling this, it is certainly very helpful We will
add in more here:

Diff between 'The majority of pupils' and 'The majority'
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2074&start=340

Synthesis qn: No sooner..
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&start=630

Diff between present perfect tense and present perfect
progressive tense
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2074&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=250

Some general synthesis questions
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2074&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=200

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2074&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=170

TAS

Thanks TAS, yeah, more good stuff!

[The Alternative Story]

looneytunezz:

Hi TAS,


Can I ask you something? I just had my psle eng today and am not sure if my compo is out of point..my friends said it could be

I have sent you a pm, could help me to reply, thank you very very much

Hi looneytunezz,

We have replied you, don't worry so much. Like what Jasmine says,
composition is very subjective, anyway you can read what we have
written in the PM. All the best for the rest of your papers!

TAS

[quirkymum]

Hi TAS,


Sorry but I am quite new here, have been following you for a while-erm your threads, not you in person and I was wondering where I can get more information on your classes.

[looneytunezz]

The Alternative Story:

Hi looneytunezz,

We have replied you, don't worry so much. Like what Jasmine says,
composition is very subjective, anyway you can read what we have
written in the PM. All the best for the rest of your papers!

TAS

THANK YOU TAS!! :thankyou:

[jeestan]

The Alternative Story:

Hi jeestan,

This piece of work is good The child's vocabulary is quite wide
and there is a flow to the story.

However, here are some pointers as to how he or she can improve:

1) Make the story flow more logical:

- When a burning paper touches a cupboard, it is not likely that
the whole cupboard can erupt in flames so quickly.

What the child could have written:

- I struck a match and threw it on some paper.
The paper began to burn merrily. Suddenly, the wind blew the
paper against some curtains. The curtains began to catch fire.
Horrified, I stood watching as the hungry flames leapt from the
curtains to the sofa. Soon, the sofa was on fire as well.

2) Vary the sentence structure:

- The child's sentences mostly start with a pronoun like 'we', 'I'
or a noun like 'The flames'. To make the story sound more
'natural' it will be good if she or he can vary the sentence
structure.

Example:

- Huge flames roared towards us. Trembling,
my brother and I stood in one corner, watching the flames
eat up everything in its path.Wham! The cupboard fell over
as the flames now engulfed the furniture.

\"Run!\" my brother hollered above the roar of the fire.

Here, you vary the sentence structure with a) 'ing' sentence
b) sound effect c) speech

3) Describe the 'fear' in increasing intensity

-My brother and I trembled with fear and we were white with
apprehension

This sentence sounds a bit repetitive. When you want to elaborate on
the fear, you should do it in increasing intensity. Here, both
the 'trembling' and the 'white with apprehension' are about of the
same intensity.

Example:

- Trembling with fear, I held onto my brother.
Whoosh! The flames came closer and closer. Tears ran unchecked
down my face and I curled up in a ball at the corner of the room,
unable to move. Sobbing, I could only think of one thing- I was going
to die.

\"Run!\" my brother hollered and pulled me to my feet.

Here, you can see that the character gets more and more afraid,
first she trembles, then she cries and starts to sob. She is
unable to do anything, she is too frightened, she simply
hides in one corner, waiting for the inevitable, which is her
death, until her brother's cry galvanizes her to action.

Hope this helps.

TAS

Thank you for your help. It is my nephew's work, he does well for his compo but somehow he can't get above 16/20.

[The Alternative Story]

quirkymum:

Hi TAS,


Sorry but I am quite new here, have been following you for a while-erm your threads, not you in person and I was wondering where I can get more information on your classes.

Hi quirkymum,

You can get the information here:
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7586&start=140

There is information on our holiday classes, the creative writing book
(that you asked us under the Creative Writing book by TAS thread),
and our 2011 classes at Bukit Timah and the East at the above link.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

looneytunezz:

THANK YOU TAS!! :thankyou:

No problem! All the best for your Maths tomorrow!