P5 CURRICULUM BRIEFINGENGLISH LANGUAGE

Saturday, 16 February 2019

• Teaching and Learning at HGS

– Our approach and belief

– How your child is assessed

• What Parents/Guardians and Students can do at home to reinforce the learning

What We Would Like to Share With You:

Our Vision:

Every Haig Girl a confident, creative and effectivecommunicator.

OUR MISSION:To develop learners who are able to use the English Language effectively as a means to explore and understand the world, and as a tool to express themselves, thus contributing meaningfully to society.

Guiding Our Approach to Teaching and Learning

- Everyday assessment

- to check for pupils’ understanding through class discussions and the use of customised materials

- the information collected is used to plan lessons to improve the children’s learning

- Feedback given to students to feed the learning forward

1) Assessment of Language Learning

- Weighted and Non-weighted Assessments

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4

Term Task(0%)

Term Task(15%)

Term Task(15%)

SA2(70%)

Oral Presentation

Mini Test Situational Writing

Papers 1, 2, 3 & 4

1) Assessment of Learning

Examination Format (EL)Paper Component Item Type Marks Weighting Duration

1 Situational WritingContinuous Writing

OEOE

55 27.5% 1 h 10 min

2 Language Use - Grammar, Vocab MCQ- Vocab Cloze- Visual Text Compre- Grammar, CompreCloze-Synthesis &Transformation- Compre OE

OE & MCQ 95 47.5% 1 h 50 min

3 ListeningComprehension

MCQ 20 10% About 35 min

4 Oral Communication

- Reading & SBCOE 30 15% About 10 min

Total 200 100%

Examination Format (FEL)Paper Component Item Type Marks Weighting Duration

1 Situational WritingContinuous Writing

OEOE

40 26.7% 1 h 10 min

2 Language Use- Grammar, Vocab MCQ- Punctuation- Visual Text Compre- Editing, Form Filling- Synthesis- Compre Cloze / OE

OE & MCQ 60 40.0% 1 h 20 min

3 ListeningComprehension

MCQ 20 13.3% About 35 min

4 Oral Communication -

Reading & SBC

OE 30 20% About 10 min

Total 150 100%

1) Reading and Understanding- becoming a critical and creative thinker

What Do We Focus On at HGS? 5 Pillars

2) Writing Skills

- generating & organising ideas effectively

- revising and editing writing skilfully

3) Oracy skills

- becoming a confident and effective communicator

4) building Grammar and Vocabulary knowledge [to support Reading, Writing & Oracy].

And:

Most Importantly ,

5) Instilling a love for the language and

the curiosity to read, explore and respond

• In class, the students learn to:

1) Reading and Understanding a Text

– Think aloud and explain to herself the developments in a story

– Think deeply – The writer’s belief and intent

– Use clues in the passage to aid understanding

– Demonstrate Good judgment: Is an action is wise/right?

– Explain her ideas clearly and fully

How We Develop Our Students’ Reading SkillsComprehension: Annotation and Meaning-Making

How We Develop Our Students’ Reading SkillsFeedback to feed the learning forward (Comprehension)

He thought the newspapers would be too heavy for the writer’s small frame.

How We Develop Our Students’ Reading SkillsFeedback to feed the learning forward (Comprehension)

He only found out that his father had sold the bicycle when he got home.

How We Develop Our Students’ Reading SkillsFeedback to feed the learning forward (Comprehension)

He would be able to deliver the newspaper more quickly and it would be less tiring too.

How We Develop Our Students’ Reading SkillsComprehension Cloze: Identifying Meaning, Grammar and Contextual Clues

English Language

Paper 1 (Terms 3 & 4) Duration: 1h 10 min*

Continuous Writing - 3 pictures related to a given theme- Use at least one picture

- 2 guiding questions

Situational Writing - Informal or Formal letter/email

- Show good understanding of Purpose, Audience and Context

2) Writing

*Students are encouraged to spend not more than 15 min on Situational Writing.

Paper 1 (Terms 3 & 4): Duration: 1h 10 min*

Continuous Writing - 3 pictures presented in a series- with helping words provided

Situational Writing - Informal letter/email

- Show good understanding of Purpose, Audience and Context

Foundation English Language

*Students are encouraged to spend not more than 15 min on Situational Writing.

2) Writing

A Sample (2018 PSLE)

Task:

Imagine you are Peter, the prefect on duty.

Write an email to the Discipline Master of your school, Mr Tan, to inform him about the incident.

Situational Writing

Write a composition of at least 150 words about teamwork.The pictures are provided to help you think about this topic. Your composition should be based on one or more of these pictures. Consider the following points when you plan your composition:• How did the team members work

together?• What did the team members hope

to achieve?

A Sample (2018 PSLE)Continuous Writing

We teach them to achieve the HGS Writing Goals:

– write a story that the reader find believable and can relate to

– use techniques to sustain the reader’s interest

– use techniques that allow the reader to imagine that they were at the scene

– make the reader feel for the characters

– make the reader embrace values such as honesty, courage, care and concern

How We Develop Our Students’ Writing Skills

How We Develop Our Students’ Writing Skills

We use Model Texts (Teachers’ writing; Eureka 3)

To teach:

1) Writing Techniques

2) Useful descriptions through:

Text Analysis

Use of humour

Use of a backstory

Use of humour / dropping a hint / exaggerations

How We Develop Our Students’ Writing Skills

How We Develop

Our Students’ Writing

Skills

How We Develop

Our Students’ Writing

Skills

Marking Symbol What It Means

B Believable Plot

JB Juicy Baits!

MC Magnetic Characters

Rf Be Reflective

Describe:FE, BL, RAFT Facial Expressions

Body LanguageAction & ReactionThoughts & Feelings

Parallel Writing Exercises

How We Develop Our Students’ Writing Skills

What students can do at home to develop

their writing

skills

What students can do at home to develop

their writing

skills

What students can do at home to develop

their writing

skillsParallel Writing Exercises

• Promoting Reading

- Class Library (Teachers & students donate good books for sharing)

- Book Sharing by teachers

- Book Sharing by Students

- ASAW (A Story a Week) – Deep Discussion & Reflection of Social Issues and Inspiring events

What else do we do to develop students’ reading and writing skills?

3) Oracy:

A good speaker is one who demonstrates substance (critical and creative thinking) through her speech.

Good Speaker ≠ Can Speak Clearly + Confidently

A Good Speaker is:

1) Learned: has good knowledge of what goes on around her (general knowledge) and knows why things happen (critical and mature thinking) the way they do.

3) Oracy:

A Good Speaker is also:

2) Reflective:

constantly thinking about what she has learnt and how she can help make someone’s life better

3) Impressive:

able to engage others with her intelligent responses.

Exposure to Good Spoken EL:

• Radio programmes

• TV programmes

• Good speakers – Oral Presentation on specific topics (e.g. YouTube)

Regular Practices & Reviews:

• Mconline : Reading Aloud and Stimulus -Based Conversation

• Record and Review (Self, Peer & Knowledgeable Adults)

• ‘3-minute Babble’ – on any topic

• Good collection of ideas & useful vocabulary (A4 sized Vocab Book*)

What students can do at home to develop their oracy

skills

Keeping a Good Collection of Ideas & Vocabulary (Vocab Book)

Some Examples of Themes:

• Healthy lifestyle (Physical, Mental, Social, Psychological)

• Relationships & Interactions with family/friends/ neighbours

• Civic-mindedness (Good/bad behaviours in public places)

• Hobbies/passion

What students can do at home to develop

their oracyskills

Oral Examinations (Term 4):

Reading Aloud

– Reading a given text with good Pronunciation, Expression and Fluency

Stimulus-Based Conversation

– Converse with reflective and well-worded responses to a given stimulus

- Demonstrate the ability to think on her feet

Assessment of Oracy Skills

Questions:

• Does this banner make you want to join this school? Why/Why not?

• What would you consider when choosing a school?

• How would you try to make friends in a new school?

- Sample of a Stimulus-Based Conversation

Assessment of Oracy Skills

Weighted Assessment (Terms 2, 3 & 4):

Listening Comprehension:

- To listen to texts and demonstrate the ability to comprehend information and make inferences

Paper 2:

- To make accurate interpretation of clues (semantic, syntactic & contextual) to answer questions.

4) Listening Comprehension & Paper 2

4) Listening Comprehension & Paper 2

Paper 2 (Terms 2 & 4) (English)

Booklet A (MCQ): Booklet B (Written):

Grammar Grammar Cloze

Vocabulary Editing

Vocabulary Cloze Comprehension Cloze

Visual Text Comprehension Synthesis and Transformation

(Multiple-choice Questions) Open-Ended Comprehension

Pupils will be given regular practices to ensure that they are familiar with the assessment expectations and criteria for success.

Paper 2 (Terms 2, 3 & 4) (Foundation English)

Booklet A (MCQ): Booklet B (Written):

Grammar Form Filling

Punctuation Editing for Grammar & Spelling

Vocabulary Comprehension Cloze

Visual Text Comprehension Synthesis

(Multiple-choice Questions) Open-Ended Comprehension

Pupils will be given regular practices to ensure that they are familiar with the assessment expectations and criteria for success.

4) Listening Comprehension & Paper 2

• Uncountable -> singular• Past tense

• Plural• Proximity (near)

• Pairing of preposition with nouns

Examination Skills for Paper 2

– By reinforcing the skills taught in school.

– By providing a rich language environment at home

– By monitoring your child’s reading habits to ensure that she is reading widely

– By engaging her in meaningful talk

How You Can Help Your Child/Ward at Home

Thank you for joining us on this journey to develop your child/ward.

Mrs Esther Tan (HOD Englishesther_e_tzy_kwei@moe.edu.sg

School Office Tel: 63440293

Please feel free to contact:

5C: Mrs Lisa Yap 5G: Ms Farizah5H: Ms Isabel Han5J: Ms Lim Mei Shan5K: Mrs Nikki Lin & Mrs Shirley Koh