In my previous post, I have focused on the theoretical aspects of building vocabulary. I discussed the various aspects of understanding words and why they are important. It is definitely going to be tough for a child to immediately remember so many different aspects of one word. In this post, I am going to focus on a very practical topic – how to create a vocabulary book that helps your child and is practical to use. I am going to
by Mrs Elaine Loh Many children understand the basic rules of subject-verb agreement in English. The basic rule is pretty simple: singular subjects should always be paired with singular verbs (verbs ending with ‘s’) and plural subjects are paired with plural verbs (plural verbs do not end with ‘s’). An example of the basic rule is given below:
All of us have used question tags in our communication with others. Question tags are often used to confirm if something is true or not and are used to encourage a reply. The rule for questions tags seems simple enough. You are aware of the basic rule, aren’t you? The previous statement is an example of a question tag.
By Mrs Elaine Loh It’s the June school holiday and from here on, things will be moving pretty quickly for pupils sitting for the PSLE. Today, I will be giving you tips for the reading aloud component of the PSLE Oral exam which is applicable for children in the other levels as well. The reading aloud component is the most overlooked component in the PSLE oral exam. Many parents encourage their children to practise the Stimulus-based Oral component more than
By Ms Thanam Muthusamy When it comes to argumentative writing, many students in RGC moan and groan. To some, argumentative writing is an unthinkable task. Some of them have told me that they have been discouraged to attempt argumentative writing because “it is a difficult genre” and were under the impression that if one is not good in writing, it is best not to attempt it. They do not know where to start nor what to write about. How does
by Mrs Elaine Loh In my last blogpost, I talked about the structure of the stimulus-based oral conversation component and how your child can prepare for it. In this post, I will talk about the main problem children face when it comes to the PSLE oral examination and how you can help your child overcome it.
by Mrs Elaine Loh The PSLE Oral Examination is the first language component your child will be tested on as part of the English Language paper. Hence, I have written this article to help you guide your child as he prepares for it. The PSLE Oral component has two parts: the reading component and the Stimulus Based Oral (SBO) conversation component. This is the part of the examination that most children find daunting for one or more of the following reasons: Speaking to a
Welcome back to Part 4 of the ‘How to Ace Your Editing’ blogs. In our previous blogs, we covered three different common errors: Tenses, Word Forms and Pronouns. Today, we will be covering how to detect and correct the ‘Connector’ error. WHAT IS A CONNECTOR? Let’s get a basic understanding what a connector is. A connector is not recognised as one of the parts of speech; rather, it describes the function of two different parts of speech that play the
by Mrs Elaine Loh Everyone loves a good story. Everyone loves telling stories. Telling stories is what makes us human. As a child, I loved writing and I still do. As a teacher, I believe every child can be nurtured into a future writer even if writing isn’t exactly your child’s forte. There are no shortcuts to writing a good story but there are writing techniques that when applied effectively, help make for a truly outstanding story, one that will
The Editing section of the secondary English paper requires students to pick out 8 errors and correct them from a short passage. It is worth 10 marks, and compared to the rest of paper 1, which consists of two essays of over 300 words, it seems well worth the effort. Afterall, it only requires eight corrections and two ticks. Unfortunately, many students find it difficult. They struggle to score more than 6 marks and when asked, they reply that the
