Friday 29 January 2016

28 and 29 Jan

Dear Parents,
On 28 Jan, the children were briefed about their group project on local sports heroes. They will be working in groups to role play interviews with these heroes. The group discussed the initial plans for the project.
On 29 Jan, the children learnt more about local sports heroes through video and discussions. They also had peer editing for their continuous writing - a memorable sports event.
The children also listened to the concluding story of 'Library Lion', followed by a word game.

On Monday- as I will be away on course, your child will be sitting for a class-based Assessment - booklet A of Paper 2 ( all MCQ questions).

Homework due Tuesday - Learning Sheets 2.1-2.4
Homework due Wednesday - final draft of continuous writing 2( memorable sports event)

Thank you.
Have a good day.
Ow Yeong


Wednesday 27 January 2016

27 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
I am back in school today. For the past 2 days during my absence, the children had completed their Unit 2 Worksheets, Spelling, journals and ook reviews. 

Today my focus was on comprehension skills. We had a guided lesson. We also started with a new Stellar reader - Late but not last. The children took turns to role play and read out the text. 
For homework due Friday, the children were to submit a mind map plan and a first draft for discussion on their continuous writing on a memorable sports event. We will also embark on a group project next week on local sports heroes so the children were asked to start their research in this area. 
Thank you.
Have a good day.
Ow Yeong

Thursday 21 January 2016

22 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,

Today we had the children listen to a story, followed by a lesson on comprehension skills. This was done on a guided basis. We will continue this on Monday as I do not wish to rush through as Comprehension skills are very important.

There is NO homework issued today as the children had been doing a lot of work this week in class.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Wednesday 20 January 2016

21 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
Today we had peer editing, for the children to comment, using the given rubrics on their buddies' writing. They are also to discuss with their friends as to how to further improve, based on what was learnt in class.

Their homework for today will be the final draft for the piece of writing on 'A frightening experience'. They are to staple the question paper, the mind map, the first draft, their friend's evaluation rubrics and their final draft together for submission tomorrow.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

20 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,

Today we learnt how to write a good composition. The children took down notes and then they worked with their peers to give comments on their friends' writing. Information learnt include:-
a) to write based on the given focus (which will be printed in bold letters) e.g. a frightening experience (the focus of the current piece of writing)
b) to look carefully as the given pictures and select one (and at most two) of the given pictures to use it and make sure it plays a huge part in the story
c) to SHOW and not TELL
d) To know different ways of starting a piece of writing e.g. Flashback, dialogues etc


Tomorrow we will continue our learning to know how to write well, and continue peer editing as well.

No homework issued today.

The children will submit a rewritten piece of writing on Friday. They will staple their question paper, mind map (planning), first draft, peer rubrics with comments, and a final draft and submit on Friday.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Monday 18 January 2016

18 Jan 2016 and 19 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
Today we had unseen dictation. We also shared a good piece of writing.
Then the children explored and did mind map on the first piece of continuous writing. They were advised to focus on one given picture or if they wish to, at most two, from the given three pictures. The children are to elaborate and develop more based on one or at most 2 pictures. This piece of writing will be due Wednesday so that the children will have enough time to write a good piece of writing.

For 19 Jan, I will be out for a meeting for part of my periods. The children will be doing their companion booklet 1 as a class-based assessment.

Thank you.
Have a good day.
Ow Yeong

Thursday 14 January 2016

Slides on Reported Speech


















15 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
Today we reviewed the homework worksheets. Homework collected - LS 1.1-1.5. The children also made notes when I have gone through.

I have also gone through some strategies and tips for answering questions base on the given stack of practice sheets. These practice sheets were given to expose your child to likely types of questions in the P5 test/exam. I will collect from them on Monday when they have completed them, or have re-checked them.

In my next post, I will put up the slides shown to the children on Reported Speech. The children are tasked to make their own notes on how to rewrite a reported speech in their learning log. I will be checking on Monday.

They were also asked to think about 3 pictures which may give rise to a frightening experience. They will be working on this to start a writing exercise on Monday.

- a picture of a masked robber wanting to enter a room/house
- a picture of a barking dog
- a picture of a boy crouching in a corner, looking frightened


Things to bring - homework for submission, clip board plus pen, and foolscap paper.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Wednesday 13 January 2016

14 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
Today I was called to look into an emergency matter. As such, the class had a relief and the children were given EL practice worksheets. They can bring back to complete but they have been told that they can circle up and leave those they are unable to do, till tomorrow,when we will go through in class.

For your understanding please. Thanks.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

13 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
Yesterday we had our lessons mainly on writing of reported (indirect) speech. It is very important for your child to be aware of how to do this. Thus we will be spending another lesson on this today. Your child learnt via specific instructions, peer discussion, videos and printed notes. The first part of the notes on reported speech was issued and we would be issuing the second part. The children were asked to jot down in their learning log what they had learnt about reported speech at the end of the week.  For the component of Synthesis and Transformation in Booklet B of the P5 Assessment, reported speech is one of the frequently tested items. We would also be issuing further homework on this.


Things to bring will be similar to yesterday.
No homework issued on 13 Jan for English, as they were to complete their LS 1.3 to 1.5 to be submitted on 14 Jan.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Tuesday 12 January 2016

12 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,

Today we reviewed the Homework worksheets (Learning Sheets 1.1 and 1.2) and had our lessons on Metaphors and Similes, as well as prepositional phrases. The children worked in groups, to list down some metaphors and similes learnt in class as well. The children were also introduced to reported speech. They were given a sheet of notes on reported speech (which I have gone through in class) and homework worksheets (Learning Sheets 1.3-1.5) were issued.

Homework (LS 1.3 -1.5) will be due on Thursday 14 Jan. It should be stapled behind the completed 1.1-1.2 worksheets. There will NOT be any homework issued tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the children were asked to check with me in class for me to answer any queries they may have on reported speech. We will continue our lesson on reported speech tomorrow.

Things to bring include foolscap, A4 size blank paper and colour markers.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Monday 11 January 2016

11 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,
For 11 Jan, the class reviewed the learning log on the steps to creating a mind map. Then we had Spelling for T1W2. The sentences given in the spelling list will help the children to describe the emotions which they could use in their composition writing later in the unit. The children also started to learn about metaphors and similes, Homework was to attempt Learning Sheet 1.1 and 1.2. The class will review this on 12 Jan. Things to bring include a sheet of A4 size blank paper and a sheet of foolscap paper.

P.S. The technique of mind mapping will be used later for the attempt of comprehension questions and composition writing.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong

Thursday 7 January 2016

Information on EL lessons for 5F and for EL Assessments

ž1. EL Lessons @ 5F : 
a) Work issued – balance of handwritten and typed work to be assigned ( both equally important) – emphasis – learning is fun, and there will be modules for skills training (Writing workshops, comprehension skills workshops, oral skills workshops etc) besides the normal learning units according to the STELLAR readers. 
b) Homework policy – to submit the very next day to be handed in for short assignments. Longer assignments will be given more time. Due date will be specifically stated.

c) English Blog for parents – Homework for the day , important English matters shared, tips to improve English, Assessment matters ( updated regularly –daily posting for ‘daily operations’, tips will be periodic. ) 

2. EL skills to be learnt this year: 
            a) Oral skills
     - stimulus-based conversation with elaboration (following the T.R.E.E.S. strategy - to be taught at a later date) 
    -žreading aloud with emphasis on

¡pronunciation – accuracy and clarity

¡fluency – pacing, intonation and expression                                     


b) Comprehension skills
¡construct meaning from visual texts and ask questions at different levels about texts read or viewed
¡interpret and integrate information from a variety of sources
¡use prior knowledge and contextual clues to make inferences
¡make predictions and generalisations
¡skim for main ideas and scan for details
¡compare and contrast ideas

c) Listening skills

-to be alert to information
-to understand, comprehend and process oral instructions and information 
      d) Writing skills
-Situational and Continuous writing
(Please note: Class writing assignments help to develop their skills in this area. There will be practice for both – non-exam oriented writing e.g. journals, creative writing, and projects, as well as the exam oriented writing practices. ) 

3. Assessment components for SA1 and SA2
Paper 1: Situational and Continuous Writing ( one each to be done) - 1 hour 10 mins    (55 marks) 
Paper 2: 1 hour 50 mins ( 95 marks) 
Booklet A : 

            Section


Marks

Comprehension
(Graphic Stimulus)



5

Grammar




7

Punctuation



3

Vocabulary



5
Vocabulary
Cloze



5
Comprehension
MCQ



5

Total




30

Booklet B: 
      

              Section

                   Marks

           Grammar Cloze 



10

           Editing for Spelling & Grammar

      



10

              Comprehension Cloze 




15

           Synthesis / Transformation



10

           

          Comprehension (Open-ended) 



20

 

           Total



65

Listening Comprehension (20 marks) 
Oral (Reading - 10 marks and Stimulus-based Conversation - 20 marks) - 30 marks 

Note: We are embarking on a ž2-year journey ( to peak during PSLE in 2017)
-Do protect your child from suffering ‘burnout’
-Focus on developing and strengthening foundation for English
ž-Practice for analysis, comparison, discussion, communication (oral and written) will   be more important than doing tons of assessments 
-There is a place for rote learning for Grammar…(but must be in context) 

P.S. Reading widely and frequently is still the most important and best way to improve one's command of English. 

      Thank you. I look forward to a wonderful partnership with you to guide your child this year. 

Ow Yeong 

6 Jan to 8 Jan 2016

Dear Parents,

On 6 January, I went through rules and routines with the class, and also issued the necessary files and forms. The children were tasked to complete an self-introduction worksheet at home (with the option of writing an addition letter / note to me at the back of the worksheet. The children were also given Term 1's spelling list. As we will be exploring different emotions and expressions this term, the spelling list does not include single words, but instead contain short sentences which can come in useful in helping one to describe emotions in various situations. This is part of our preparation for our writing component, in order to provide more exposure to your child to vary their expressions. Spelling will be on Mondays.

The children were asked to ensure that they had the following:-

Announcements on 6 Jan

a)Submission of Exercise books / Files
With Full name / Register Number / Class written on the cover
English Blue File  
Spelling Books
Journal - jotter book with lines (Properly wrapped and decorated)
Companion Booklets (all with name/register number/class for each booklet)
(Latest by Monday 11 Jan – all must be in)
c) Daily stationery: Green Pen, normal blue pen, pencil, eraser, highlighters (yellow, green, pink), ruler, stapler  (to be with your child)

(To be in the locker): small hole punch, foolscap paper, A4 size clip board with attached pen  

For 7 January, we started on the theme of fears and how to overcome fears via 2 interesting videos. We also had a quiz to learn the names of some phobia ( which your child has learnt that it meant irrational fear). Then we read the reader 'Heartbeats in the Dark'. The children then discussed what they had learnt from this story. 

For 8 January, we will revisit the same reader and focus on mind mapping. This strategy will be a useful tool for your child to enhance his comprehension and composition writing skills. We will continue to explore this skill and other skills or strategies, besides going through the normal curriculum. 

P.S. We will be posting more information about the components of English to be assessed in P5 in my next post. 

Thank you.
Have a wonderful day!
Ow Yeong 

Welcome to the English Blog for 5F

Dear Parents,

This is the English Blog set up for 5F.  I hope to share with you what your child has learnt in the English class, and what might be the useful resources and/or tips for English language learning for your child.  I hope that through this blog, you will be able to better understand what your child is learning in class for English.

This blog will be updated daily in terms of the English lessons conducted in class for your child. Other information (such as tips for improving English) will be posted periodically. However, as the blog was not accessible last week as you were not aware of its existence earlier, I will condense what was learnt in Term 1 Week 1 for you in a single blog post (in the next post).

I hope that through the use of this blog, we can foster a closer partnership, to work together to support and guide your child to develop to the best of his/her potential so that there is mastery of the English language.

I look forward to our partnership this year.
Thank you.

Ow Yeong(Dr)