Preparing kids for P5 in 2011
-
janet_lee88:
This is a good idea. I did exactly this. I went straight for the P6 practices and skipped all the P5 ones. I based myself on the PSLE past year papers. I also used the book Comprehension Strategies by Learning Publishers to teach the skills.For Eng, I wonder if I should start him on P6 assessment book (compre OE and Synthesis) bcos these were the killer sections in his SA paper. He has been attending enrichment but there is no improvement and a drastic drop.
Do you have the PSLE Past Year papers? If not, it is a good idea to buy them. I refer to them often to evaluate the appropriateness of the various practices I want to give him. -
Chenonceau:
Yes, I bought the PSLE 2006-2010 recently. Printed out some questions and wrote answers for son to read b4 his SA.
This is a good idea. I did exactly this. I went straight for the P6 practices and skipped all the P5 ones. I based myself on the PSLE past year papers. I also used the book Comprehension Strategies by Learning Publishers to teach the skills.janet_lee88:
For Eng, I wonder if I should start him on P6 assessment book (compre OE and Synthesis) bcos these were the killer sections in his SA paper. He has been attending enrichment but there is no improvement and a drastic drop.
Do you have the PSLE Past Year papers? If not, it is a good idea to buy them. I refer to them often to evaluate the appropriateness of the various practices I want to give him.
So it looks like I should skip his P5 assessment for Eng and go straight into P6...the synthesis and compre OE scared the hell out of me. Thanks
, will put aside his P5...thought of getting him to finish up the present ones this June, but looks like it will be a waste of time since P5 syllabus for Eng is not really relevant.
-
pixiedust:
I'm at a loss in this area as well. English is spoken at home, in school, amongst relatives, shows on TV, etc...DS likes reading, but..... why is the comprehension level still not improving ? It's not just the spelling/grammar/writing style, it's comprehension. I suspect comprehension at the basic level is there, but the critical thinking component needs to be cultivated. Maybe I should design a competition where he asks the critical thinking questions, I'll answer and he gets a reward if I don't get it right. Kids always have this competitive streak with their parents
Peony, Champion - my ds reads a lot too, until his eye-sight is so bad and I had to hide his books. He reads for pleasure and the 'good effect' is really not coming out in his writing or OE comprehension. Agree, reads too fast - I think they are just captivated by the storyline and not fully digesting the grammar/spellling/writing style. My friends consoled me that it is still a better hobby and in the long run, it should still help.
Getting him to do more assessment books is not the right solution. I don't see any improvement to his comprehension skill. -
just a little more sharing on comprehension skills here…
I think part of good comprehension skills comes from a good solid foundation of general knowledge and personal experiences.
For example, just the other day, I was reading a newspaper article to DS. The article said "Drought in Central China causes energy shortage"
The inference should be made that there is a link between a lack of water and energy production, which leads to the conclusion that Central China produces hydro electricity and that there is a dam in place.
If one does not know electricty can be produced through wind, water, nuclear, coal, gas, etc…, one would not able to draw the conclusion. One also has to know that a dam is requird to generate hydro electricity.
The article later mentioned that water in the dam was released during emergencies to alleviate the drought. If one is clueless about hydro electricity, one will be surprised at why the articlce mentioned a dam all of a sudden. Of course, the question begging to be asked is "What the heck is a dam ?"
The article also mentioned that factories were affected by the drought. One needs to know that lack of water will affect the effectiveness of the dam, which in turn will reduce energy production, which in turn affects the factories because factories needs electricity to manufacture goods.
As adults, we know this intuitively, as a child, this chain of linkages is lost to them.
Another example, this time from a comprehension passage. This is about Tan Tock Seng’s biography, how he came from a poor family, came to Singapore to start his career and became a philanthropist. There was a lot of information on how he helped the poor. The question asked was WHY he helped the poor. If the chld doesn’t know the concept of empathy, he wouldn’t know how to answer the question. -
cimman:
Hi Cimman,just a little more sharing on comprehension skills here...
I think part of good comprehension skills comes from knowledge and personal experiences.
For example, just the other day, I was reading a newspaper article to DS. The article said \"Drought in Central China caused energy shortage\"
The inference should be made that there is a link between a lack of water and energy production, which leads to the conclusion that Central China produces hydro electricity and that there is a dam in place.
If one does not know electricty can be produced through wind, water, nuclear, coal, gas, etc...., one would not able to draw the conclusion. One also has to know that a dam is requird to generate hydro electricity.
The article later mentioned that water in the dam was released during emergencies to alleviate the drought. If one is clueless about hydro electricity, one will be surprised at why the articlce mentioned a dam all of a sudden. Of course, the question begging to be asked is \"What the heck is a dam ?\"
The article also mentioned that factories were affected by the drought. One needs to know that lack of water will affect the effectiveness of the dam, which in turn will reduce energy production, which in turn affects the factories because factories needs electricity to manufacture goods.
As adults, we know this intuitively, as a child, this chain of linkages is lost to them.
Another example, this time from a comprehension passage. This is about Tan Tock Seng's biography, how he came from a poor family, came to Singapore to start his career and became a philanthropist. There was a lot of information on how he helped the poor. The question asked was WHY he helped the poor. If the chld doesn't know the concept of empathy, he wouldn't know how to answer the question.
Thanks for the sharing and this is definitely a very :goodpost: ! :lovesite: ! :grphug:
Though my DD1 is only in P3 - but I am also equally worried for her Compre skills. The School has also noticed that students are very weak in this area and thus has been giving them a lot of reading notes and practices to help.
I am thankful that I can learn from all you parents here especially in the P5s where you all have gone thru much than I do! Appreciate very much :hugs: -
You’re welcome, Champion.
I just want to add that reading newspaper articles has it’s drawbacks as well.
There is this article about the Olympic Marathoner from Africa who died, presumably from suicide. He was caught by his wife in bed with another woman, possible cause of suicide.
Another article on the dead body of a maid disposed off in a HDB water tank.
There is this article on the IMF French chap who was charged with sexual assualt on a chamber maid.
I wouldn’t want to go into details on these articles with my child.
Newspaper reading has to be managed. -
Hi,
On the newspaper, I believe there is this Little Red Dot targetted for Pri kids. Think gotta order thru' schools. IRD has a few levels of difficulty, so good for both lower & upper pri.
Personally, I thought it is good.....now my job is to try inculcate the habit of reading news :oops: and hopefully, upgrade to ST next time. Also planning to 'blanko' some of the words so that can use as both informational news reading + assessment for Comprehension Cloze
Just fyi, think there should be another more chiem version for sec - What's Up / IN......not too sure. -
Hi Parents,
Do you have the marking scheme for Comprehension? IMHO, it's a useful pc of info to know.
Eg. for a 2 marks qn :
1) If both fact & language is correct, 2mks
2) If fact is correct but minor grammatical/spelling mistakes wh do not interfere with the meaning ( think up to 3 mistakes ) , 1.5 mks
3) Fact correct but major language error ( wh interferes with meaning), 1 mk
4) Fact correct but lifting word for word , 1mk
& so on ....
Think every school would have this, definitely by P6 the sch would have disseminate the info.
:celebrate: -
Glad to chance upon this thread becos ds is in p5 too n has just flung maths n Chinese. Failing Chinese or borderline pass was a regular feature but now even maths :roll: Sigh.
Haven't seen the paper but think should be the usual load of careless mistakes for Maths. DS says the paper seemed difficult when he was doing it but now that teacher has gone through, he found the questions doable. I am actually at a loss how to help him. I did make him practise past year SA1 exam papers n gone through them after marking but that didn't seem to have helped. So during the hols, should we be practising more papers to work on speed and accuracy or is doing these papers killing his interest in maths n hence the deterioration in marks? :?
DS is also a voracious reader but similarly the reading has not translated into good marks for compre n compo. Maybe he also reads too fast.
Yes I definitely agree that the reading of ST has to be managed due to the nature of the sometimes explicit details. Not so suitable for pri school children in my opinion. Just my 2 cents worth. -
Still anixously waiting for my DS’s results. He was sick the last two days and just return to school today. He missed his Higher Chinese SA1 exam, any idea how the school compute the results?
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
