We have completed our first lesson on Situational Writing. As mentioned, you do not write down all the information you have found. Instead, you need to be able to understand the information and then write down the answers to the 6 content points given. Answer straight to the point and avoid unnecessary details. Do not add in your own information and follow the information given to you. We will have more practice soon.
Today, we also went through composition writing.
As part of your assessment, we will be having the composition as class tests and done during class time. There will be a total of 2 composition writings for term 1 and another 2 for term 2. We will take the best 3 composition scores and average them as your overall assessment. So, do work hard and treat this seriously.
Prior to writing your composition, you have to be able to plan first. A proper planning would include jotting down notes for:
- Place
- Time
- Day
- Weather
- Characters
- Events
- Problems
- Solution / Conclusion
Place
We are talking about the location in which the story is taking place. The location is important as part of the setting. In some cases, you need to be very specific with the places the story is taking place in and to also describe the surroundings.
Example: If the story is about a pickpocket in a secluded park, you want to describe more about the park and the bushes and how the pickpocket hides behind the bushes and makes use of the surrounding to his advantage.
Time
Timing is important. You have to be logical here. If we are talking about a day in school, then perhaps the timing is usually in the morning, afternoon or evening perhaps.
Day
Whether it is a weekday or weekend is important. It should fit in logically with your story.
Weather
The weather is also important as part of your introduction and in some cases, as part of the development of your stories. If we are writing about typhoons and tsunamis, then you have to be very detailed about your description and the impact of the weather.
Characters
This is very important as characters make up a story. Every story has its main characters. As such, you need to really describe the character in terms of appearance, actions and most importantly, FEELINGS! Most of the time, the greatest problem is the lack of description of the feelings of a character. When I read a story, I want to be able to relate to the feelings of the characters. Do not just say that the character is happy. Go on and further elaborate on why he is happy and what he does when he is happy.
Events
Here, we talk about the main actions in the story. What is going on? Why is it happening? What is happening next?
Problems
The problems focuses on what went wrong. I am sure there will be instances in the story where problems will appear. If we talk about a robbery, the problem would then be in the form when the character is robbed. What happened to her when she was robbed? Was she injured? How did she feel? What was the impact on her?
Solution / Conclusion
With problems, there will be solutions. Who have solved the problems? How did they solve the problems? How did everyone feel in the end? What happened in the end?
With that, we will be going through very thoroughly on the composition topic to fully prepare for your composition writing test. Do not forget about the dictation test we will be having on Friday. Here are some videos about our first composition topic, 'Reunion'.
Reunion is always a happy occasion. What caused the separation? How did the people feel when they were separated? How did they reunite? How did they feel and what did they do upon reuniting?
This video is from Google India and it shows how two friends reunited.
Here, it would be more related to your composition. You can watch about how the victims reunited with their loved ones (at the 20min mark) in this real life story about a hotel's collapse in Singapore. Your parents might be familiar with this.
On an ending note, I want to talk about today with all of you once more. It has been 2 weeks and this 2 weeks have shown me that some of you are still not totally serious about your work. You do need to get adjusted to the fact that you are in Primary 5 now and it will get more difficult this year. The longer you take to adjust, the harder you will find it to be in terms of adapting to learning. As such, I really want everyone to focus and be on task. Complete your work and remember to bring your homework at all times. To see some of you not putting in effort and not completing my work or some of you constantly forgetting to bring my homework is really disappointing. I want to be able to mark all your work and return to you at the same time. 100% effort is really crucial. Why is it that my rule #2 is Do your best, pass up all work on time? This rule is important in every classroom learning and discipline. I am very particular about work as it allows me assess how much you have learnt. Have your learnt correctly? Do I need to reteach? Do I need to give you extra help? Every piece of work helps you to grow and increase your knowledge. Practice makes perfect. I do not give unreasonable homework which requires you to complete within such an unreasonably short amount of time. I do understand the amount of work that Mathematics will have as with the other subjects. If I can, I would rather spend quality time in class to go through your work and have you complete them. At times, due to the time constraints, we will need to assign you homework. So, I want you to see the importance of homework. It is not to torture you but to help you along. I really want to see improvement from all of you and for those who have been consistently putting in effort and working hard, continue to do so. I believe in all of you and I do not want to want to have to feel so disappointed again.
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong
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