All About English Composition
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Writing the second draft is only useful if the first draft has numerous mistakes, usually sentence structures or the story is not fully developed.
In this case, it should not be merely copying the first draft...efforts must be made by the teacher or tutor to help the child to further develop the story and edit the grammatical structures before proceding to write the second draft.. This is definitely not practised in many tuition centres. :roll:
If there are still many structural errors in the in second draft...perhaps there is a need to write the third draft.
Copying model compos is at best only ..HANDWRITING EXERCISES..in my opinion....
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[quote]Regarding memorising compos, my personal opinion, a good reader doesn't mean a good writer. Not every child has the 'gift' of writing easily. To memorise compo is a way to quickly build up some content. I am also not in favour of many 'beautiful' sentences as the whole story sounds very unnatural. To me, grammar & spelling must be perfect + a sound content. If child is not scoring >35/40, it is fine with me[/quote]
A good reader does not translate into a good writer because it depends on what the reader is reading and if the reader is reading intelligently and applying what he is reading into writing in the process.
So it is the same with memorising composition. The child must be able to apply what he or she has memorised and adapt it in his writing process.
Writing is a process...there are no short cuts
I'm afraid.
A child learns writing by writing itself.
Start young...mine learnt by writing short notes to daddy and mummy, writing birthday cards, thank you cards to aunties and uncles, journals when travelling and diaries....
If there is a need to model, make sure you model the masters of writing.
And write NATURALLY! :lol:
(reading and writing happen to be my fav topics :)) -
csc:
Writing the second draft is only useful if the first draft has numerous mistakes, usually sentence structures or the story is not fully developed.
In this case, it should not be merely copying the first draft...efforts must be made by the teacher or tutor to help the child to further develop the story and edit the grammatical structures before proceding to write the second draft.. This is definitely not practised in many tuition centres. :roll:
If there are still many structural errors in the in second draft...perhaps there is a need to write the third draft.
Copying model compos are at best only ..HANDWRITING EXERCISES..in my opinion....
What i wanted was for a teacher to sit with DD to explain where she went wrong. Not the grammar, spelling only. More importantly on the story flow.
The same plot but how a particular part could be improved, how something could be added to make it more interesting, how certain parts were redundant/or did not add to the story so could be removed, etc.
first draft to second draft to third should take the standard of compo up to a next level. A few compos like his makes a whole load of difference than just weekly wring a new compo.
I tried and tried but couldnt find a place where they did this. realised that only mommies could do this customised individual teaching :stupid: -
My 2 cents on compo writing ...
What I think are the main problem is in a group class the writing levels and approaches of the children may be so different in one group. Of course the a group of children add vibrancy and make the class less tedious.
Its is a good idea to read compos that the child is impressed with, read it a few times to get familiar with . The core idea is to get the intuitively absorb the techniques. So when they think of their own plot and twists they can build on them. It’s an added benefit that in the process they can make some of their phrases their own but should no be the sole purpose.
The problem is one needs a good arsenal of words and phrases which they are familiar with so that they can express the thoughts and ideas precisely. As a beginning one could note them down ( no not use a printed book but should be painstaking choose them as they encounter in their readings) and familiarize with their usage then try to make them their own by using them in their writing. I did like TLL's approach too.
WE learn by reading, others mistakes and of course by our mistakes.
Good grammar and basic words are the foundation. Good words and phrases and are excellent tools but the abstract part is the weaving of the story. The former should be used to make the latter not the other way around.
Even when the language is good, one of the mistakes DD used to do is
She often liked to use a metaphor and will follow it by another sentence which just explains the metaphor in normal words. Sometimes that can describe a feeling/expression in more than one way both of which are very appropriate and very good. Then she used both.
For small example -
1. My heart thumped loudly and I clutched my brother’s arm tightly with my sweaty palm.
2.I was petrified.
1 and 2 are the same.
1 shows that I was petrified.
2 says I was petrified.
First to show and then spell it out – that to me is an insult to the reader.
To me every sentence that has not added to the content/mood of the compo is redundant. ( and to me should be penalized but then this could be controversial :shock: …)
Another point that i noticed with some kids is their fascination with describing weather in the most glorious form.
The weather should be described only if it is directly relevant to the plot or it helps add to the mood of the plot. The second part is more tricky and should be used only if the child can grasp that nuance of it.
Primary schools is over. And i dont intend to get involved with Sec school.
For Sec school- i will be a kind of consultant- give some ideas and back off - no sitting down, monitor progress etc. Underqualified for A level english, sigh! -
I have a nephew whose parents are Chinese-educated. He does not attend any writing classes. I was surprised when I chanced upon his essays…his style is unique and natural and ideas are original and creative.
But he reads very widely (not trash) …and that’s how he picks up his writing skills and ideas…definitely not by memory work or handwriting exercises. -
csc:
I have a nephew whose parents are Chinese-educated. He does not attend any writing classes. I was surprised when I chanced upon his essays...his style is unique and natural and ideas are original and creative.
Wow, wonder how these kids do that. My DD is rather weak in her writing and I am trying ways to help her improve.csc:
Csc, may I know what's your definition of trash? Thanks.But he reads very widely (not trash) ....and that's how he picks up his writing skills and ideas....definitely not by memory work or handwriting exercises.
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Beats me too. But my nephew is really a voracious reader and reads all kinds of books...his grammar and vocabulary are average but the ideas are good.
Sorry...i can't mention it here lah...because what is trash to me may not be trash to others lor.
I can mention some good reads - Roald Dahl's books (start with the simple and thin one first)
- books by Anthony Horowitz
- classics like Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, Animal Farm, Watership Down etc..
- books by Enid Blyton (the secret sevens, the five-find outers..etc)
- Hardy Boys' series, Nancy Drew,
- Alfred Hitchcock (three investigators) My son will read all my old, yellow and tattered books.
One day.. he chanced upon my Adrian Mole's books (actually the content not very suitable for his age then) but he enjoyed the humour of the story and went on to read all the books written by him.
- a little out of topic here, supposed to be on writing ...sorry -
csc:
Thanks csc... yes I intend to get Anthony Horowitz's books for DD to read as I've heard so much about his books on KSP forum.Beats me too. But my nephew is really a voracious reader and reads all kinds of books...his grammar and vocabulary are average but the ideas are good.
Sorry...i can't mention it here lah...because what is trash to me may not be trash to others lor.
I can mention some good reads - Roald Dahl's books (start with the simple and thin one first)
- books by Anthony Horowitz
- classics like Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, Animal Farm, Watership Down etc..
- books by Enid Blyton (the secret sevens, the five-find outers..etc)
- Hardy Boys' series, Nancy Drew,
- Alfred Hitchcock (three investigators) My son will read all my old, yellow and tattered books.
One day.. he chanced upon my Adrian Mole's books (actually the content not very suitable for his age then) but he enjoyed the humour of the story and went on to read all the books written by him.
- a little out of topic here, supposed to be on writing ...sorry
Oh yes, I love Alfred Hitchcock, Secret Seven, Famous Five and Nancy Drew's series... my all time favourite. I wonder if they do sell Alfred Hitchcock's books, as I don't seem to recall seeing them at the bookstores.
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A friend of mine has a child who was a voracious reader and could write very well all on his own. However of late, I understand that his compo is getting shorter and shorter (the marks have fallen as a result too). Apparently, his teacher makes him correct his mistakes by re-writing the entire compo. So the child ends up reducing the length of his compo so he wouldn’t have to rewrite so much.
From this, I do think that forcing a child to write and re-write may not be such a great idea. I personally would hate it and treat it as a torture rather than a lesson.
On TAS, DS1 is now with TAS. So far happy becos they do cover grammar and vocab in a far more effective way that I can. For a couple of weeks now, DS1 has got dictation - this is probably the essay memorising bit. But he usually has to do half the essay (I think 6-10 sentences). Not perturbed by this and will wait and see how things go - he’s only in P1, he won’t be at that creative writing stage as yet. In all, DS1 is still happy to go for class each week. -
[quote]If there is a need to model, make sure you model the masters of writing.
[/quote]Roald Dahi is one great master. Just pay attention to how he described Sophie's meeting with the giant without ever identifying the creature until much later. (taken from BFG )- This is one skill of developing suspense. :lol:
On a side note, I do feel a little sad that the art of writing has been reduced to using 'good phrases' and copying compositions by some of such tuition centres.
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