Form Teachers’ Sharing

PSLE Preparation

Supportive home & school

• Let’s work together collaboratively to boost their emotional

strength & building SEL competences in students

• Self-awareness

– Being in tune with own thoughts, feelings & actions makes children better

learners https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-metacognition-in-classroom-marilyn-price-mitchell

–Being able keep track of what they’re doing and work out ways to make

things work better next time

– Questions asked by a child who displays self-awareness:

• What is my pet subject?

• How far am I from my target? What else can I do?

• What went on right about my exam preparation that I should do more

of it?

Supportive home & school

Self-management

– develop good habits. To be able to independently complete tasks & take

an active role in monitoring & reinforcing their own behaviours

– display of self-management

• report to school punctually

• be present on all school days even after PSLE (programmes planned)

• work towards targets and goals set

• have 9 to 10 hours of sleep per day

• submit work assigned punctually

• complete work assigned to the best of their ability

• practice self-control

Supportive home & school

Relationship management

– develop positive relationships with others

– Make talking about their feelings a natural part of your conversations

– Watch the following video clip to help students learn to cope with conflict

management between friends -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V4xo_Tx9yc

Social Awareness

– ability to understand & respond to the needs of others

– develop empathy for others

– show respect for others

Responsible Decision Making

– guide & encourage children to work out solutions to problems faced

– aware of possible consequences to actions

Supportive home & school

Affirm - Promote Growth Mindset

Help child view challenges & failures as opportunities to improve

• Affirm child’s positive qualities

– “You’re a very motivated learner. You’re so excited to learn much more

about the topics.”

• Use positive, uplifting messages

– “Day by day, you’ve made a steady progress in your learning. You’ll

achieve the target you’ve set for yourself in time to come.”

• Encourage child to persist in completing an activity despite difficulties

– “Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get

over them.” – unknown authors

• Help child discover new strategies to improve skills

– “Let us organize all your materials so that you are more in control.”

• Praise child for her mental strength

– “You’ve pressed on despite the difficulties you’ve faced.”

Standard

English Language

Sharing

SSR – Sustained Silent Reading (10 min)

Sharing of book read by teacher or some pupils

To promote reading for enjoyment and sharing of good books

SR – Supported Reading

(Narrative texts)

Reading for understanding

and enjoyment

Predicting and questioning

KWL – Know-Want to Know-Learnt (Non-fiction texts)

Helps readers relate a new topic to what they know

Anticipate what they will be reading about

Become involved in the text by having them look for information they want

to find

Follow-up activities

Vocabulary

Grammar items

Sentence manipulation

Writing Process

PSLE Format

English Language

Paper Components Marks Weighting Duration

1 Situational Writing

Continuous Writing

55 27.5% 1h 10 min

2 Language Use and

Comprehension

95 47.5% 1h 50 min

3 Listening Comprehension 20 10% Approx. 35 min

4 Reading Aloud

Stimulus-based

Conversation

30 15% Approx. 10 min

Total 200 100%

Situational Writing

Strategies• Be mindful of the Purpose, Audience and Context • Purpose: Why are you writing the task? Stated as

part of the question. Is the writer expressing her gratitude, to inform, or to appeal for help?

• Audience: Is the writer writing to someone of authority or to someone whom she is not familiar with?

• Context: Understand the flow of events in the situation• Tone: Using appropriate choice of words when addressing

the intended audienceExampleWrite a letter to the residents of your neighbourhood asking them to return your rabbit to you if they see it.

Paper 1 – Continuous Writing

Strategies

• Examine the question carefully

e.g. “Write a composition of at least 150 words about an

unfortunate day.” (theme)

• Use one or more of the 3 given pictures

• Spend

– 5 min on planning

– 40 minutes to write

– 5 min to check

• Expand main ideas with details

• Exploring more on the characters. Senses, Thoughts andFeelings, Actions and Behaviour

Comprehension

• Take time to read and really understand

• Need to read the text at least twice

• Make connection to the text using prior knowledge and linking ideas within the text

• Check using:

Tenses, Agreement, Punctuation and Spelling

Example

Do you think the author prefer to go out or stay at home?

Support your answer with information from the passage.

Reading Aloud

Strategies

• Clear pronunciation

*Be expressive according to the text

• Fluency: pausing at the right moment. No jerks or awkward

pauses

• Varying pitch

• Varying appropriate tone

Example

At that moment, Fandi realised that he was so absorbed in his

conversation that he had forgotten his manners. He quickly

stood up and offered his seat to the elderly woman.

Conversation

• Opinion (give own)

• Reasons (say why)

• Examples (relevant ones)

• Personal responses (from reading, watching movies, talking &

listening to others)

• Introduce ideas based on interaction, have eye contact

Example

What kinds of food do you enjoy eating, and do you think your diet

is a healthy one?

Additional prompt

What sorts of exercise do you like and why? (if not, why not?)

Possible topics common to

students’ experience

• School events

• Co-Curricular Activities

• Family

• Friends

• National events

• Community (neighbourhood)

• Personal (likes / dislikes)

Example:

Tell us about a lesson which you enjoyed very much.

• Explicit teaching of language skills and components during

supplementary lessons e.g. Writing, Synthesis and

Transformation, Comprehension

• Use of PSLE Questions or exam questions as exemplars to

illustrate the various strategies to answer questions, in

particular the open-ended questions.

• June Holiday Master classes

– Close the specific learning gaps before the Preliminary

Examinations

Key Strategies

Focus Intervention

Foundation

English Language

Sharing

SSR – Sustained Silent Reading (10 min)

Sharing of book read by teacher or some pupils

To promote reading for enjoyment and sharing of good books read.

SR – Supported Reading (Narrative texts)

Reading for understanding and enjoyment

Predicting and questioning

Reading strategies

Text types and features

KWL – Know-Want to Know-Learnt (Non-fiction texts)

Helps readers relate a new topic or information to what they already know

Anticipate what they will be reading about

Become involved in the text by having them look for information they want

to find.

Follow-up activities

Vocabulary words

Grammar items

Sentence manipulation

Whole-text study

Writing Process

Examination FormatPSLE Foundation English Language

Paper Components Marks Weighting Duration

1 Situational Writing

Continuous Writing

10

30

26.7% 1h 10 min

2 Language Use and

Comprehension

60 40% 1h 20 min

3 Listening Comprehension 20 13.3% Approx. 35 min

4 Reading Aloud

Stimulus-based

Conversation

30 20% Approx. 10 min

Total 150 100%

Situational Writing (about 15 min)

• Be mindful of the Purpose, Audience and Context

• Purpose: Why are you writing the task? Stated as part of the question. Is the writer expressing her gratitude, to inform, or to appeal for help?

• Audience: Is the writer writing to someone of authority or to someone whom she is not familiar with?

• Context: Understand the flow of events in the situation

• Tone: Using appropriate choice of words when addressing the intended audience

Example: You came across a poster. You know that your best friend, Sharon, who is 11 years old, loves to sing. Write an email to Sharon asking her to take part in the singing competition.

Paper 1 – Continuous Writing

Strategies

• Examine the question carefully

“Write a composition of at least 120 words based on a given situation

Example:

What happened in class one morning during a Science lesson (pictures

showing cockroach and students being frightened)

• Use all given pictures and create own ending

• Spend

– 10 min on planning

– 40 minutes to write

– 5 minutes to check

• Expand main ideas with details

• Exploring more on the characters. Senses,

Thoughts and Feeling, Action and Behaviour

Comprehension

• Take time to read and really understand

Need to read the text at least twice

• Make connection to the text using prior knowledge and linking ideas within the text

• Check using:

Tenses, Agreement, Punctuation and Spelling

Example:

1) Why had Kumar’s mood changed?

2) Why do many people call the Merlion ‘the lion-fish

of Singapore’?

Reading Aloud

Strategies

• Clear pronunciation

*Be expressive according to the text

• Fluency: pausing at the right moment. No jerks or awkward

pauses

• Varying pitch

• Varying appropriate tone

Example:

Yong Meng replied, “Perhaps we can make little gifts like key chains. This

way, we can save money and contribute more to the fund-raising. The

game is really fun. I’m sure it will be a great success!”

Stimulus-based Conversation

• Opinion (give own)

• Reasons (say why)

• Examples (relevant ones)

• Personal responses (from reading, watching movies, talking &

listening to others)

• Introduce ideas based on interaction and eye contact

Example:

Do you have a game that you enjoy playing? Tell us about it.

Additional prompt: How do you usually spend your free time?

Possible topics common to

students’ experience

• Classroom

• Co-Curricular Activities

• Family

• Friends

• National Day

• Community (neighbourhood)

• Personal (likes / dislikes)

Example:

Tell us about a time when someone helped you.

• Explicit teaching of language skills and components during

supplementary lessons e.g. Writing, Synthesis and

Transformation, Comprehension

• Use of PSLE Questions or exam questions as exemplars to

illustrate the various strategies to answer questions, in

particular the open-ended questions.

• June Holiday Master classes

– Close the specific learning gaps before the Preliminary

Examinations

Key Strategies

Focus Intervention

Mathematics Sharing

Mathematics Department

Vision and Mission

Vision

Appreciate the beauty of

Mathematics; Enjoy the

process of Problem-Solving

Mission

To foster students’ interest in

Mathematics and develop their

ability in mathematical

problem-solving

P6 Key

• Develop a good understanding of the numeracy

concepts and their connections

- Whole numbers, Decimals, Fractions, Ratio and Percentage

• Make connections between different topics

• Model drawing and Ratio method as key strategies

• Acquire proficiency in calculator skills

• Procedural fluency in approaching problems

• Develop confidence and perseverance in solving

problems

• From ‘Strategic’ to ‘Reflective’ Learners

• Exam preparation and management

PSLE FormatStandard Mathematics

• The table below shows the PSLE Format for Standard Mathematics.

• Our P5 SA1 and SA2 last year are of the same format as PSLE to ease them into

seating for PSLE.

• Our CA1, SA1 and Prelim this year will also be of the same format.

Accuracy in

calculation

Speed and time

management

Perseverance and

staying focused

PSLE FormatFoundation Mathematics

• The table below shows the PSLE Format for Foundation Mathematics.

• Our CA1, SA1 and Prelim this year will also be of the same format to ease them into

seating for PSLE.

Calculation Accuracy and Speed are

equally important for the Foundation paper

Choose a strategy

• Model drawing and Ratio Method

(Key approaches)

• Other heuristics (Progressive

learning across the levels)

3 Do 4 Check

1 Understand 2 Plan

O Is my Solution Reasonable?

O Can I Solve it Another Way?

Polya’s 4 Steps

Problem Solving

P6 Key StrategiesRevisiting P3 to P5 Topics

• Targeted supplementary lessons to revisit P3 to P5

topics concurrently to help the students recall and

strengthen the concepts and skills

• Align and connect P3 to P5 concepts to those learnt in

P6 to develop a deep understanding of Math concepts

so that students will be able to apply their skills and

knowledge more effectively to solve a variety of

problems

• Important to build their confidence and train their speed

and accuracy

P6 Key StrategiesMaintaining Rigour and Focused Intervention

• Using PSLE Booklet (2014 to 2016), we want to get the

students used to the exam format and maintain their

focus in exam settings

• Use of past years’ PSLE questions (2009 to 2013) in the

topical worksheets to provide sufficient exposure and

maintain rigour

• Our June holiday lessons will also focus on helping our

students to approach problems with similar constructs.

• Through these formative assessments and summative

assessments like CA1 and SA1, we will be able to

diagnose and identify the students’ areas of weaknesses

for focused intervention

Science Sharing

Science Syllabus 2014

(Standard Science)

THEMES LOWER BLOCK (P3 & P4) UPPER BLOCK (P5 & P6)

DIVERSITY Diversity of living and non-living things

Diversity of materials

CYCLES Cycles in plants and animals

Cycles in matter and water (matter)

Cycles in plants and animals

Cycles in matter and water (water cycle)

SYSTEMS Plant system

Human system

(digestive)

Plant system (respiratory and circulatory systems)

Human system (respiratory and circulatory system)

Cell system

Electrical system

INTERACTIONS Interaction of forces (Magnets) 1. Interaction of forces

2. Interaction within the environment

ENERGY Energy forms and uses

(Light and Heat)3. Energy forms and uses

(photosynthesis)

4. Energy conversion

Science Syllabus 2014

(Foundation Science )

THEMES LOWER BLOCK (P3 & P4) UPPER BLOCK (P5 & P6)

DIVERSITY Diversity of living and non-living things

Diversity of materials

CYCLES Cycles in plants and animals

Cycles in matter and water (matter)

Cycles in plants and animals

Cycles in matter and water (water cycle)

SYSTEMS Plant system

Human system

(digestive)

Plant system (respiratory and circulatory

systems)

Human system (respiratory and circulatory

system)

Electrical system

INTERACTIONS Interaction of forces (Magnets) Interaction of forces (Frictional

force, gravitational force)

Interaction within the environment

ENERGY Energy forms and uses (Light and

Heat)Energy forms and uses

(photosynthesis)

2017 PSLE - New Format

Question

Type

Number of

questions

Subtotal Total Duration

Standard

Science

Multiple

choice

Open-ended

28

12-13

56

44

100 1h 45 min

Foundation

Science

Multiple

choice

Structured

Open-ended

18

6-7

5-6

36

14

20

70 1h 15 min

P6 Key focus

Explicit Teaching of Process Skills

• Observing

• Classifying

• Using apparatus and equipment

• Comparing

• Communicating

• Inferring

• Formulating Hypothesis

• Predicting

• Analysing

• Generating Possibilities

• Evaluating

Higher order thinking

questions which are

common in PSLE will be

taught

Support provided to your child

in the preparation for PSLE

• Explicit teaching of process skills during supplementary

lessons

• Use of PSLE Questions or exam questions as exemplars

to illustrate the various strategies and/or techniques to

answer Science questions, in particular the open-ended

questions.

• June Holiday Master classes

– Close the specific learning gaps before the Preliminary

Examinations

Process

skills taught

explicitly

Steps to follow

in answering

procedural

questions

Sample Question

used to guide the

students in

answering

process skills

questions

explicitly

Practical Laboratory Work

• To arouse students’

curiosity and to guide them

to understand the concepts

through hands-on and

collaborative work

• To promote scientific

thinking through hands-on

practices

13/02/2017 44

ARA Strategy

A

R

A

nalyse

ecall

pply

Read and understand

Study diagram

Underline keywords

concepts

Observe, Concepts,

Evidence*, Compare*

(OCEC)

Apply through the use of OCEC*

Explain how such a system is able to lower the temperature of the surrounding

air. Give a reason for your answer.

The mist increases the amount of water droplets in the air. [Observe from the

picture and question stem] Thus, the water droplets gain heat faster from the

surroundings and evaporate faster, [Concept], removing heat faster from the

surrounding air. [Evidence from “lower the temperature”] Thus, the temperature

decreases.

Parental support in

Science Learning

• Developing a habit of annotating and identifying

scientific terms in the question stem is important.

Parents can highlight this as revision is carried out

at home.

• Some studies have found that everyday parent-child

conversations can contribute to supporting

children’s scientific understanding as meaningful

parent-child interactions are a possible mechanism

for cognitive change.