Q&A - PSLE English

[cutebabys]

Muffins:

cutebabys:

I almost wrote that it was the crackle of fire. In the end, I wrote that it was the whimper of a dog being abused.

Hi lalala, cutebabys (just asking, shouldn't cutebabys be spelt as cutebabies? :? ), and valerie,
Many people wrote about fires, bombs, and incidentally, a blind man whose walking stick was making the strange sound, I have heard. And many people said paper 2 was easy, especially the grammar cloze, cloze compre, and compre OE.

Well, it's a name, so nope. Yeah... The reason why I didn't write about a fire is that I couldn't think of a good way to end it. Paper 2 was quite easy.

[Aya]

I wrote that I heard the sniffles and sobs of what sounded like a baby. Is that okay? By the way, I wrote about a boy who got his toe stucked in the escalator. It was from a composition I had memorised sometime back. Will I be marked out of point? I sure am hoping not…

[Muffins]

Aya:

I wrote that I heard the sniffles and sobs of what sounded like a baby. Is that okay? By the way, I wrote about a boy who got his toe stucked in the escalator. It was from a composition I had memorised sometime back. Will I be marked out of point? I sure am hoping not...

Hi Aya, but would the screaming of the boy be a \"strange\" sound? They said that you heard a strange sound in the shop...

[chk707]

My son wrote the \"strange sound\" as a bomb/clock ticking away... I hope its okay.

[Muffins]

chk707:

My son wrote the \"strange sound\" as a bomb/clock ticking away... I hope its okay.

How much was his T-Score?

[Aya]

Muffins:

Aya:

I wrote that I heard the sniffles and sobs of what sounded like a baby. Is that okay? By the way, I wrote about a boy who got his toe stucked in the escalator. It was from a composition I had memorised sometime back. Will I be marked out of point? I sure am hoping not...

Hi Aya, but would the screaming of the boy be a \"strange\" sound? They said that you heard a strange sound in the shop...

I guess it was, because I scored an A* for English :celebrate:

[Muffins]

Aya:

Muffins:

[quote=\"Aya\"]I wrote that I heard the sniffles and sobs of what sounded like a baby. Is that okay? By the way, I wrote about a boy who got his toe stucked in the escalator. It was from a composition I had memorised sometime back. Will I be marked out of point? I sure am hoping not...

Hi Aya, but would the screaming of the boy be a \"strange\" sound? They said that you heard a strange sound in the shop...

I guess it was, because I scored an A* for English :celebrate:[/quote]CONGRATS, AYA! YOU MUST HAVE DESERVED IT. :celebrate: :celebrate: :celebrate: :celebrate: :celebrate:

[vksp]

Hi,


Is there an English composition marking scheme that lists what are the checkpoints to achieve certain marks - or perhaps a range of samples with their grades - to allow us to distinguish between a poor one from a good one, or from a good one to an even better one.

Cheers

[vksp]

ameryeducation:

As far as I am aware, there is a marking scheme, but it is \"supposed\" to be kept confidential by teachers. It is band-based marking with characteristics per band, with discretion given to teachers to award marks as they deem fit within each band. Due to its \"restricted\" nature, it is not available publicly.


But then again, I don't think students should learn writing based on knowledge of the marking scheme. Good writing is good writing, and any decent teacher will be able to differentiate good from bad.

It is about being aware of the mistakes which one can make, and about incremental steps to improve. A poor student cannot dream about improving quickly. Something step by step is necessary.

[The Alternative Story]

Hi vksp,


Like what ameryeducation has stated, it is supposed to be kept confidential by teachers.

However generally, these are the areas that the child should work on:

1) Sentence Structure

If the child is weak in this area, he should focus on getting simple sentence structures right

Eg: The flames were just behind them. They had to run as fast as they could.

They need to use the right tenses and know their subject-verb agreement.

If the child is already proficient in his basic sentence structure, then he needs to look into how to vary it.

Eg: Starting a sentence with 'ing' or having one-word sentences to punch in a certain action.

2) Vocabulary

The vocabulary must be appropriately used. This is where many students who memorize chunks of 'good' phrases go wrong. They try to squeeze in the phrases and sometimes either use them wrongly or put in too many phrases that the writing is over-the-top.

The child must know how to use the vocabulary for difference scenarios and how to apply the right vocabulary at the right part of the story.

3) Plot

Many times, the children are not sure how to develop a story and they are either too long-winded or most of the time, they do not develop the tension and they end in a sudden manner. Hence, the children must be taught how to stretch the tension in a story.

You can use scenes from movies, or extracts from storybooks to show them how the tension is stretched.

By the way, we are having a free workshop on creative writing for both parents and children. You could go to the marketplace forum to find out the details.

TAS (The Alternative Story)