It is back to term 2 and back to studying and growing as a student. I hope you have enjoyed your holidays and recharged yourselves.
Just to get you started, this upcoming SA1 would include Oral, Listening, Composition and Situational Writing. It would be a full scale paper. You have completed your second composition assessment in class. In this topic, we looked at disappointment. As built on from the first composition, I went through planning of the different sections with you and we did focus writing. For focus writing this composition, I went through how to write a model conclusion.
For the conclusion, it is important to write about the solution to the problem, state the end feelings of the characters involved and lessons to be learnt. This would make your conclusion elaborate and clear. Involve the characters in the story and give a proper ending for each of them.
Good vocabulary words to use:
-Crestfallen (sad)
-Downcast (sad)
-Elated (happy)
-Exuberant (happy)
-This incident would forever be etched in my mind. (A good sentence to end off your story)
Spelling and Dictation will resume next week onwards with spelling on Monday and Dictation on Friday. I will inform you of changes if either day falls on a public holiday.
For yesterday, we started on Unit 4 "Ride On", a topic focusing on the the MRT as one of the public transports in Singapore. We did a KWL chart (similar to what we would be using for our comprehension open-ended). In case you want to view the video again, here it is.
It has been awhile since the blog has been updated. It was your CA week and now that it is over, we are busy going through your papers. Here is some pointers and feedback from the CA paper:
Feedback:
Sections that you have done well include Booklet A of Paper 1 as a whole.
Most are you are able to pass your grammar.
Comprehension cloze this time around was not too bad with a high number of passes.
Many of you are doing the pre-reading thinking :)
You still need to improve on your vocabulary, synthesis and comprehension open-ended.
Highlight the key words and draw the arrows for the clues.
Grammar Focus:
Verb Noun Verb rules --> The second verb is always present tense, plural form (in the base form).
Noticed the boy take a packet of sweets
Person whom Person --> We use the word whom when there is a person before and after the word.
The famous actor whom I idolised
One of, Either of, Neither of, Each, Every --> Singular
One of the girls is waiting
Either of them intends to join the restaurant
Lie (present)
Lay (past)
Lain (perfect tense)
Synthesis Focus:
Despite the fact that
Having verb (perfect tense)
Having ridden the bicycle,...................
Having done the work,..................
Neither.........nor...........
Either............or............
We always look at the second noun to determine is the verb is plural or singular.
Neither Jim nor the twins are
Either you or I am
You would have received a complimentary green pen from me for this term and a note (feedback) for you. Do let your parents take a look so you would know which section you need more focus on when you do your revision. Remember, do not give up and feel too sad about your results. You should aim to pass and do well for the next exam. If you feel that you have not put in effort for this term, now will be the time for you to start putting in the effort before it's too late. You all can do it. :)
Here are some questions to help you revise through for your paper next week.
Grammar: 1. Tommy saw the boy _________ the bag of money on the table. a) steal b) stole c) steals d) stolen
Answer: A
You have to apply the VNV rule (Verb-noun-Verb). The second verb is always in the present and plural form.
2) The pack of cards _________ to Mark. a) belong b) belongs
Answer: B
In this case, the word 'cards' might trick you. Even though cards is plural, the key noun here is the word pack. There is only one pack. Even though there are many cards in that one pack, we look at the word 'pack' only. Since pack is singular, we use the singular verb 'belongs'.
3) The patient _________ on the operation table as he awaited the doctor to arrive. a) lie b) lay c) laid d) lied
Answer: B
This is a very commonly asked question. When we talk about lying down somewhere, the present tense is 'lie'. The past tense is 'lay' and the perfect tense is 'lain'. Since the tenses here should be past tense due to the word 'awaited', we use the past tense 'lay'.
4) Neither of the kids __________ at home just now. a) is b) was c) are d) were
Answer: B
Neither means 'not one'. This is singular. The words 'just now' means that it is a past tense event. Thus, we look at the word 'was' as the answer.
5) Either Tommy or Peter ___________ to do the work. a) has b) have Answer: A
Either....... or......... and Neither ........... nor ............. We look a the second Noun, the noun after the words 'or' and 'nor'. Here, we look at 'Peter'. Peter is just one boy and therefore, singular form has to be used. We then use the word 'has'.
Homework:
Finish up all unfinished corrections in your files. Look through your synthesis and grammar. Revise through the grammar rules taught to you.
Tomorrow's morning lesson is as usual at 6.50am in the classroom. As mentioned, we are looking to focus on grammar and synthesis so as to drill and practice and help you remember as much as we can. :) Remember to not give up. English may contain alot of grammar specific rules but once you remember them and practise them each day, it will be stored and you will find it easier. You can do it!
We are now into our revision phase and we are revising through the test paper for last year in detail. So far, I have gone through Synthesis, Grammar and Vocabulary with you.Vocabulary is a section in which I can teach you new words and expose them to you. You do need to read too in order to pick up new words. It is a section that may not seem easy. You can help yourself by using the elimination methods to cross out options that are not logical. However, for synthesis and grammar, it is all about the grammar rules that you can apply. You do need to make a point to remember the rules here:
VNV rule (Verb noun Verb rule)
In this rule, the second verb is always in the Present tense and Plural form.
Example:
Father made the boy eat the cake.
made is the first verb. the boy is the noun. eat is the second verb. 'eat' is present tense and plural form.
verbs that end with 's' or 'es' are usually singular.
What is a singular verb or plural verb? We first need to look at the nouns to help determine.
Plural noun --> Plural verb
Singular noun --> Singular verb
The table has four legs. 'table' is singular. 'has' is singular too.
The tables have four legs each. 'tables' is plural. 'have' is plural too.
Unless (positive statement), (negative statement)
(negative statement) unless (positive statement)
Always remember that regardless of where the 'unless' is placed (be it at the start of the sentence or in the middle), it is always followed by a positive statement.
Example:
He will not do well for this test unless he puts in effort.
Unless he puts in effort, he will not do well for this test.
Either of, Neither of, None of, Every, Each, One of
These words are all in the singular form.
Example:
Either of the girls has to keep the items.
Neither of the boys is to touch the items.
Every boy is a student in this school.
Each kid is to take home a candy.
Either........or..........
Neither.......nor...........
We always look at the second verb (the verb after 'or' and 'nor' to determine if the verb that follows is singular of plural).
Example:
Neither the boys nor Peter is responsible for the crime.
Either you or I am to take charge of the project.
Person whom Person
Person who Verb
That is the boy whom Peter is friends with.
That is the boy who is a friend of Peter.
Lie (present tense)
Lay (past tense)
Laid (perfect tense)
These words refer to the action of laying on a bed or floor.
Reminder:
Bring your practice paper for going through tomorrow.
Tomorrow, there will be extra lessons in the morning from 6.50am - 7.20am. This will commence for tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to give you extra practice for your upcoming English paper on Wed. It is not compulsory. It will be in the classroom. This is to help you to revise through grammar and synthesis so that you can score well for these sections :)
As we are only about a week away from your CA, we will be finishing up the worksheets early next week and completing filing by the end of the week so that you can do your revision. For this weekend, I will be going through some basic Grammar Rules with you.
Basic Rule
The basic rule states that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb.
The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb.
Hint: Verbs do not form their plurals by adding an s as nouns do. In order to determine which verb is singular and which one is plural, think of which verb you would use with he or she and which verb you would use with they.
Example: talks, talk Which one is the singular form? Which word would you use with he? We say, "He talks." Therefore, talks is singular. We say, "They talk." Therefore, talk is plural.
Rule 1
Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb.
Example: My aunt or my uncleis arriving by train today
Rule 2
Two singular subjects connected by either/or or neither/nor require a singular verb as in Rule 1.
Examples: Neither Juan nor Carmenis available. Either Kiana or Caseyis helping today with stage decorations.
Rule 3
As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected byand.
Example: A car and a bikeare my means of transportation.
Rule 4
Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such as along with, as well as, besides, or not. Ignore these expressions when determining whether to use a singular or plural verb.
Examples: The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly. Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her shaking.
Rule 5
The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, andsomebody are singular and require singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of.
Examples: Each of the girls sings well. Every one of the cakes is gone.
NOTE:Everyone is one word when it means everybody. Every one is two words when the meaning is each one.
Rule 6
When either and neither are subjects, they always take singular verbs.
Examples: Neither of them is available to speak right now. Either of us is capable of doing the job.
Rule 7
Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time.
Examples:Ten dollarsis a high price to pay. Five yearsis the maximum sentence for that offense.
Homework:
Vocabulary Practice 2.1 and 2.2 (Look for the meanings of words you are unsure and complete the 10 MCQ questions)
CA Revision Practice Paper
As promised, I have managed to find some videos on the topic of ants which we had done for the comprehension open-ended passage. Remember that you do not have to just look at comprehension open-ended passages as just your piece of work only. From the work you do in class, there are also facts and new knowledge to be learnt. This is the wonder of learning. If you just simply look at every piece of work in class as a torture and something you hate, you will not be able to think positively and make improvements. Learn to appreciate and see the positives out of your learning in school. :) Be positive and work hard.
My apologies for the break in not updating. It has been a busy week on my side too. We are about to finish up on Unit 2 and 3 soon. I have given out the CA practice paper to you and given you ample time to complete the paper before next Monday. It has be to pass up next Monday so that I can mark through and go through with you. We will be doing filing soon so that you can revise through your work for the 3 units.
For this week, we focused on Comprehension Open-ended, Comprehension Cloze, Visual Text Information, Synthesis and Transformation and Situational Writing.
For today, I went through in detail about your comprehension open-ended questions. The second comprehension open-ended exercise was not that well done. Some mistakes to point out:
Always identify for the tenses in the question first. Many of the questions would require you to answer in the past tense which many of you are not doing. You still disregard the importance of tenses. Past tense and Present tense are hugely important!!!
Always highlight the key words in the question first. The 'Why' Questions would always require you to give a reason.
Your answers are not specific enough. If it is a 2 mark question, it usually involved 2 parts to the answers. Most of you answered only 1 part.
A phrase is part of a sentence. When you list your phrase down, check that it cannot be used as a sentence.
When you are asked to quote or write down the phrase, word or sentence, make sure that you write down word for word, spelling for spelling and punctuation for punctuation. You must follow exactly as in the passage.
We also finished up on our Synthesis and Transformation Practice. For Synthesis, there is alot of focus on the grammar rules that you have to know. Let us do an important recap:
In the sentence structure, "Having......................." A verb is after the word 'Having' and the verb is always in the perfect form.
Having taken the file, I proceeded to pass it to Mr Tan.
In the sentence structure, "Despite" and "In spite of" ..................... We can use the words 'the fact that' after 'Despite' and 'In spite of' to complete the sentence.
In spite of the fact that he trained hard, he did not perform well for the competition.
Despite the fact that it was extremely sunny in the morning, it rained heavily in the afternoon.
In the sentence structure, ........................ whose ....................... Before the word 'whose', it is a person/people. After the word 'whose', it is a noun (item) belonging to the person.
Daniel whose wallet was stolen had reported the matter to the police.
In the sentence structure, ............. prefers................ We always use the rule 'Prefer ........ to ........"
Prefer (Verb in the -ing form) to (Verb in the -ing form)
Tom prefers walking to jogging.
Ali prefers cooking at home to eating out at hawker centres.
In the sentence structure, ................ rather.................... We always use the rule "Rather ........ than ........."
Rather (Verb) than (Verb)
I would rather study than play.
I would rather revise for my examinations than go out and play with my friends.
Half of the term has passed by. Two more weeks before you begin your CA. Remember to start revising through, especially for your Maths and Science. You should have started revising through past year topics. Today, we finished up on Grammar practices. We went through idioms and grammar practice.
Homework for the day:
Comprehension Practice 2.1 and 2.2
Please take seriousness in your homework and really put in effort.
For comprehension cloze, do not forget to read for understanding, then highlight key words and check for tenses/singular/plural.
