Briefing for Parents Qifa Primary School April 2014
To share with you:
Weighting & Duration of the papers
Selected Components (P5 & 6)
Sample Questions
Assessment & Marking
Preparation for PSLE – strategies / concerns
Components Weighting
Paper 1:
Writing
55 marks
(27.5%)
Paper 2:
Language Use and Comprehension
95 marks
(47.5%)
Paper 3:
Listening Comprehension
20 marks
(10%)
Paper 4:
Oral Communication
30 marks
(15%)
Paper 1
Writing
Duration: 1 hr 10 min
Paper 1 Marks
Part 1:
Situational Writing :
a. Content
b. Language ( presentation / context )
15 marks
6 marks
9 marks
Part 2:
Continuous Writing
(One of 2 given topics)
a. Content
b. Language / Presentation
40 marks
20 marks
20 marks
A situational context given Examples: • Pictures e.g. scenes of an accident • List of information e.g. Planner, Notes • Graphic Stimulus with information e.g. Advertisements, brochures
• A piece of narrative writing of at least 150 words.
• Based one of 2 topics:
• A picture • A situation
• Points given (Reorder, add other relevant points)
• e.g. What you and your friend did
• Content
- inadequate development of ideas
• Language
- Use of tenses - Structure / expression
• Vocabulary - Limited - Mundane, repeated
Writing in the Classroom : • Explicit instruction on the writing process
• Models of good writing
• Feedback from teachers
The Writing Process
Generate Ideas
Revise and Edit
Develop and Organise
Rapid writing Brainstorming CUBing – 5 W 1H
Clustering / Webbing Generalising Relating
Adding details Stretching ideas Reorganise ideas
Paper 4
Oral Communication
Preparation Time: 5 min
Components Marks
Reading 10
Picture Discussion 10
Conversation 10
Paper 3
Listening Comprehension
Duration: 40 – 50 min
Paper 2 Language Use
and Comprehension
Duration: 1 hr 50 min
Component Marks
Grammar & Vocabulary 50
Grammar MCQ 7 Qn x 1 mark
Grammar Cloze 10 Qn x 1 mark
Punctuation MCQ* 3 Qn x 1 mark
Synthesis/Transformation* 5 Qn x 2 marks
Editing for Spelling & Grammar* 10 Qn x 1 marks
Vocabulary MCQ 5 Qn x 1 mark
Vocabulary Cloze* 5 Qn x 1mark
Component Marks
Comprehension 45
Graphic Stimulus 5 Qn x 1 mark
Comprehension MCQ 5 Qn x 1 mark
Comprehension Open-ended 10 Qn x 2 mark
Comprehension Cloze 15 Qn x 1 mark
Comprehension : Common Errors
• giving incorrect answers ( pupils do not understand the questions )
• giving impartial answers
• tendency to give answers lacking evidence of
having referred to the passage
• not quoting correctly / transfer
Area of Weakness
Common problems faced by the pupils :
•Do I understand what I’ve just read?
•Do I know the main idea of the passage?
•Do I know what the writer is trying to communicate?
•Do I know the answer?
•Do I know how to ask questions while reading?
Visible Thinking in an English Language
classroom.
How do we make thinking
visible in EL teaching and
learning
Annotation
Visualisation
Teacher Modelling
Making connections when reading…
When one apply our background knowledge as we read, we guide students to make
connections between their experiences, their knowledge about the world and the text they read. Connecting what readers know to new
information is the core of learning and understanding.
Harvey and Goudvis
Annotating
Without allowing students to interact with the text in a meaningful way, we
miss the chance of allowing them to see the value of what they are reading and to form new ideas about who they are
and how they fit into the world on which we live.
Brown, Matthew, D
« I’ll have mine annotated, please: Helping students make connections with text »
Annotation : Why annotate?
When you annotate, you add in extra information by :
• asking yourself questions
• writing notes to help you understand
better
• draw arrows to make inference
What to annotate ?
5 W 1 H
WHO - CHARACTERS
WHAT - ITEMS, EVENTS…
WHEN - TIME, SETTING…
WHERE - SETTING, CONTEXT…
WHY - REASONS FOR EVENTS…
HOW - WAYS THINGS ARE DONE…
What to annotate ?
• Main point in each paragraph
• Connections within and between
paragraphs
• Definition of words, phrases ( in bold )
• Contextual clues
• Writer’s choice of words …
Refer to excerpt adapted from « Little Women » by Louisa May Alcott
The types of questions asked :
•Recall / Literal
•Inferential
•Application
A recall / literal question :
Who was Hannah ?
She was the Marches’ servant.
For answer, Meg began piling the bread into one big plate. Amy picked up the cream, whilst Jo and Beth brought napkins and a basket. In no time at all the good Samaritans were on their way. Hannah, who had been the Marches’ servant for years,
went too. They were soon in the miserable attic room where the poor family lived.
An inferential question :
What do you think the author means when she says “good Samaritans”?
She means those who help others in need.
For answer, Meg began piling the bread into one big plate. Amy picked up the cream, whilst Jo and Beth brought napkins and a basket. In no time at all the good Samaritans were on their way. Hannah, who had been the Marches’ servant for years, went too.
They were soon in the miserable attic room where the poor family lived. Hannah set about making a fire, while Mrs March made tea and gruel, comforted the mother and promised to help her sick baby.
An application / inference question :
“no stockings hung at the fire-place” but it was still a special Christmas to the family. What made it special
When Christmas morning dawned there were no stockings hung at the fire-place, but there were home-made presents to be given out and the Christmas breakfast to be prepared. As the girls ran downstairs to greet their mother, they were surprised to see her just coming in.
CUBing
C – circle the crux of the question ( 5W 1H )
• interrogative pronouns – ( WHO, WHAT,
WHY, WHEN, WHERE, HOW )
Example :
Who was Hannah?
How many children did the lady have?
CUBing
U - underline the verb
Example :
Why did the boys run away?
(ran)
Quote the sentence which tells you that she was a filial child. ( tells )
CUBing
B - bracket the possible answer found in the passage
Example : What birds did the fishermen do?
Soon all the fishing boats were a good distance away from the shore. The fishermen began to release their birds. ( Opening the basket, Koji felt under the half-raised lid. His hand found Ichi-ban, their number one cormorant, and eased it out. ) He felt a metal ring around Ichi-ban’s neck. Next, he fastened a cord around its breast and fastened
Adapted from PSLE booklet (1993-1997)
(1) Reading Skills
a) First reading - Read passage quickly to get the gist. Do not fill in the blanks. Activate prior
knowledge
b) Second reading – more deliberate. Read till end of each sentence and paragraph before filling in the word. Use contextual clues
c) Third reading – after filling in blanks. Check for clarity, logic and accuracy (meaning / form of word)
(1) Reading Skills
Jerry walked to school by himself because he liked to (1) ____about things on the way to school. Sometimes the things which he thought about were not important. However, today he was thinking about something that was very (2)_________.
d) Read forward and backward to pick up clues and ascertain the tense and form of word.
e) When unsure, read on – answer may be in rest of passage
think
important
(2) Reasoning Skills
•Identify connections between ideas, people and events in the passage •Use contextual clues
Snakes can swallow animals bigger than themselves. How are they (1) _____ to do so? Snakes (2) _______ greatly in thickness. Some are as thin as a cord but others may be as thick as a man’s
leg.
able
vary
(3) Micro-linguistic skills • Sentence structure and grammar clues & rules
->> Connectors/linkers eg. “but” -> contrast Snakes vary greatly in thickness. Some are as thin as a cord but others may be as (2) ____ as a man’s
leg.
Example:
Preparation for PSLE
• READ & LISTEN to good models
• Write , Speak
• Time Limit
• Build up competencies , skills
www.seab.gov.sg
www.moe.gov.sg
1. PSLE 2. Subject Information
1. Parents 2. Education System 3. Subject Syllabuses
PSLE BOOKLETS - Samples