Composition Writing Skills

Dear all,

For P4, your composition is based upon 20 marks. 10 for content and 10 for language.

5 main skills that I will work on with you for every composition to bring out the best in you.

1. Planning frame 
Where we plan the details of the stories from the setting to the weather to the characters to the main plot to the problem and the conclusion.

2. Show not tell
Pointing out ways of telling and having you to rewrite you in a way that it is more of showing the emotions, feelings and explaining the actions.

3. Focused writing
We will work on different techniques of writing through focusing on a component like introduction, problem or conclusion.

4. Sample writing
To be good writers, you need to be able to put your shoes in the role of a marker. What to look out for and how good/not so good stories are. As such, I will give you a sample piece to try out as a marker before each writing.

5. Theme Work
We work on bringing out more ideas through more heads put together. With more knowledge and wealth of ideas through sharing, this will help u expand your ideas.

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Newspaper Articles of the Week

Dear all,

Here are the newspaper articles of the week.

 This week's featured articles are written by Benjamin, Anne, Benedict and Valerie.

Homework:
- Comprehension OE Exercise
(To do your Pre-reading exercise, highlight key words in the questions and make notes in your reading before doing the 5 questions)

Thank you,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

A Nasty Accident

Dear all,

We have embarked on the next unit - A Nasty Accident. Today, we learnt about predicting the story through the title and image. It is a powerful skill to activate your thinking further - to make sense of the story and arouse your curiousity. Thinking skills are always very important in order for us to make full use of our brain and be a better student.

We also learn about personal recounts in which the writer recalls about something personal that has happened to him.

In personal recounts, these are the following structures:

- Introduction / Orientation (Who, what, when, where)
- Main events (Describing the events that has taken place)
- Conclusion (Commenting on the writer's feelings or closing statement)

Personal recounts make use of past tense because you are recalling what had happened to you.

Examples of recounts would include:
-Interviews
-Diaries
-Autobiographies (Writing a life story of yourself)
-Biographies (Others writing a life story of yourself)
-Journals

Reminder:
Complete your Newspaper Article for discussion tomorrow.

Thank You,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Newspaper Articles of the Week

Dear all,

Here are some good articles of the week with the 3 main ideas, 2 vocabulary words and 1 image.
By the end of the year, I hope to put up everyone's work. :)

I am looking out more for your content rather than pinpointing your grammatical or spelling errors. As such, I am also assessing you when you share with your friends in class. Be confident speakers and articulate your ideas well across to your friends when sharing. This also aids your speaking/oral skills.

To re-emphasize again, reading newspapers is a good way to improve your English and world knowledge.

This week's featured works are by Jerlyn, Ashlee and Tiffani :)

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Grammar Rules / Comprehension OE skills

Dear all,

It's been awhile since the last updates. Here is a recap of the learning points we have covered since the last update.

Grammar rules

Synthesis structures
1. [ Action ] because [ Reason ]

'because' always tells you about a reason.

We study hard because we want to do well for our studies.

2. 'but' is used to show two difference in actions.

Comprehension OE Skills

1. Pre-Reading Activity 
- What I Know & What I Want To Know
- Read the questions and think about the story through the questions.
- Questions can reveal main characters, actions and problems.

2. Highlight they key words
- Look for 5W (What/which, when, where, who, why) and 1H (How)
- Check for tenses

3. Read the passage 
- Jot down notes along the way and look out for the areas to answer your questions.

I will be uploading some good newspaper articles weekly (from your works) for everyone to learn about the world news and the different styles of your friends' writings.

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

'Despite' 'In spite of' 'Prepositions'

Dear all,

It is the start of Week 2. Hope you have adjusted to school life.
Today's learning points:

We recap on prepositions and learnt about the synthesis structure of 'Despite' and 'In spite of'.

In spite of / Despite
Both are conjunctions that carry the same meaning. They have about the same meaning as 'even though' and 'although'. Both show two different actions in a sentence. They join them together.

The rule here for synthesis when you come across such structures is to add the words 'the fact that' after 'in spite of' and 'despite'

In spite of the fact that [Noun] [Verb] ......... , ................
Despite the fact that [Noun] [Verb] ........ , ................

Despite the fact that the girls are intelligent, they are not proud.

In spite of the fact that James is short, he can jump very high.

I taught you the skills of highlighting the key words and looking out for key words that would give you the answers. Do not forget about it. It may seem like a small action but this small action gives you the BIG ability to answer correctly.

Newspaper Articles Exercise

Every Monday would be our newspaper article exercise sharing and submission. This is to strengthen your reading and exposure to different text types. Newspaper articles are usually information reports that are factual.

Do look for an article from the 'World' or 'Home' section either from the newspapers or online news articles. Do approach me if you have difficulty in doing so.

We will use the '3...2...1' strategy of reflecting on the news articles.
- 3 main ideas
- 2 vocabulary words with the meaning
- 1 image/picture associated with the article

A picture speaks a thousand words. The ability to summarise your story or main idea through an image is a powerful one.

Homework:
- Grammar Exercise 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Week 1

Dear all,

A brief recap of Friday's lesson:

1. Spelling list was handed out for the term. Do go through the words. Do not just memorise the words. Make sure you understand the words too. This is important as you can then apply them to your writing and your tests.
Spelling and dictation test is held every Monday.

2. We focused mainly on Grammar for a start with the completion of Grammar worksheet 1.1. We discussed about the grammar rules and the first exercise focused on Modal verbs. Remember to always highlight the key words in your exercises and tests to help you be more careful in answering your questions.

3. Group points are up and running. This is to encourage you to work together and learn together. Team leaders are to take good care of your groups and help maintain discipline for your groups too. :)

Important reminders:
Remember to get ready your two exercise books and files by Monday, 12th January.

Have a good weekend,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Basic Grammar Rules

Dear all,

A little recap from today's lesson.

Nouns
Words that name things, ideas, people, places, events.
e.g Party, Teacher, Car, Books

Verbs
Action words
e.g Dance, Walk, Study, is, was, are, were 

Adjectives
Describe how things, people or places look or feel
e.g Happy, Confused, Busy, Hardworking, Kind-hearted

Adverbs
Describe manner, place and time in which actions take place (associated with verbs)
e.g Spinning quickly, Walk hurriedly, Sleeping soundly, Shouted happily

Determiners
Determine the quantity of nouns
e.g a, many, twenty, these, those, this, that

Prepositions
Talks about where something comes from, what position it is in relation to another, what time something is in relation to another event
e.g on the table, around the field, after school, during lesson

Conjunctions
Join words, sequences or two ideas/sentence together
e.g and, or, but, since, although,

Today, we learnt about modal verbs. Modal verbs are used to express intention, necessity, obligation, offer, permission, possibility, prohibition, question, request, suggestion. 

e.g can, could, may, might, shall, should, must, ought to, will, would

Here's a video you can watch for more explanation on Modal verbs.

Learning points for today:
Basic grammar rules and how to apply them

Reminders:
English files (Yellow and Red)
2 Exercise books (One for Newspaper Articles & One for English notes/writing)

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Introduction Post

Dear all,

Hope you have enjoyed your school life thus far. I am delighted to be your English teacher for 2015. As mentioned in class, you really need to work hard to get your basics right and set yourself up for the year. Do work hard and my target set for you is to have my 100% passes and Band 1s for English. We will work towards it.

Important reminders:

• Get ready 2 exercise books for English and your English files.
• Do bring your foolscap paper to class as we will need it for Dictation, Spelling and Composition writing. 

Tips to improve your English:

• The most important tip is to simply read and in reading, it means that you have to read novels, newspaper articles and world knowledge. Avoid just reading comics. Reading not only helps you to understand different perspectives (points of view of writing) but also helps you to brush up your grammar and vocabulary content. 
• Practise on grammar exercises (tenses and plural/singularity as one of the most important rules of grammar)
• Practise on vocabulary items (especially useful for vocab cloze, comprehension cloze, composition writing)
• Newspaper articles are very useful as most of the cloze passages in your exam papers are based on newspaper articles. 

As mentioned, I will definitely try to lighten your homework load. I believe in going through work with you in class and having you to understand what I teach than to keep pumping you with work. You need to understand the content I teach before you apply them to your work. 

Don't forget my rules for you and the routines I have set for you. Very importantly, I believe that you must have your character in place (motivation level and the passion for learning) before you will be able to improve and score well. Have a positive attitude and do not every give up. With great character, we can then learn better. As such, my 3 rules for you:

Rule #1 

WE ARE A FAMILY

This is top of my list for the fact that you will be together for the next 2 years. I have seen my P6 class stick together through thick and thin and graduated as a close unit. The camaraderie formed has helped them through the ups and downs. As such, team spirit is important. We work for one another and help one another. Likewise, I am in this with you and promise to take you guys through your studies and character building.

Rule #2

LISTEN ATTENTIVELY

In terms of respect, this rule is integral to establishing good communication between you and me. A teacher's lesson is measured by effective communication in delivering my message and lesson across to the students. Focus and understand in you classroom learning. Put all distractions aside and strive for excellence.

Rule #3

HAND UP ALL WORK ON TIME

In everything you do, it is 100% effort and nothing less. I understand that some days, we do get tired and would like to take short cuts in our lives but you have to always remember that, you need to put in your best effort if not you will not see results. There are no shortcuts in life. You need to work hard for your goals. Work given is important and helps you to grow and learn. I really seek your help to submit work on time so that I in turn can mark and pass them back to you on time.

Here's to a good year for all pupils and parents. :)

Dear Parents,

If you have any queries or feedback, do feel free to reach me through my email @ ong_yong_hui_nelson@moe.edu.sg

I look forward to working with all of you as you play an important role in your children's education and character building. Each and every child is important.

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong