Good luck for your English Paper tomorrow

Dear all,

All the best for your English papers tomorrow. A few more tips and recaps before you sit for the paper.

1. For situational writing, please remember the different formats from email, letter writing, note to report writing and letter of complaint/compliment. Remember to sign off appropriately. 
2. For composition, stick to simple words and sentence structures if you find that writing is a huge problem for you. Minimal mistakes is better than having lots of mistakes.  For those who have a problem developing stories, stick to picture compositions. Look at the characters and settings and elaborate on your ideas. Remember to give a main idea and the supporting details. 
3. There should at least be 4 paragraphs! (Introduction, 2 for main ideas and details and one for conclusion)
4. For your main paper, please use the PRE-READING THINKING ACTIVITY for your comprehension passages! You can use point forms to jot down what you know and what you want to know on a given space. Do not use the space on your comprehension open-ended question!
5. Highlight key words and draw arrows. 

All the best. You can search the blog using the search function on the right hand side for recaps on situational writing / composition tips / synthesis and transformation / pre-reading thinking activity skills. 

All the best!

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Week 8

Dear all,

It is week 8 and tomorrow, you begin your first paper. All the best for your Mathematics and please do well. For those who are struggling with the subject, make sure you pass the subject. Have faith and self belief. Highlight key words and do not rely too much on the calculator. Remember to work on your mental calculation and manual calculation.

A recap of today's learning points:

• We focused on Science, finishing up the corrections and going through of the Energy practice paper. 
• Tomorrow, we will focus on Situational Writing and Synthesis and Transformation for English Paper on Wednesday. 

We learnt about energy loss today as part of our new concept/knowledge. Here is a recap of energy loss. Energy loss occurs when excess forms of energy is being converted into besides the main source of energy. 

Example 1:

The main function of a lightbulb is to light up, thus the main energy is light energy. However, the electrical energy is converted into light energy + heat energy. As a result, the heat energy is taking away percentages of energy from the light energy. Energy is lost here in the form of heat energy. 

Example 2:

The main function of a vacuum cleaner is to use the suction power of the machine to get rid of dirt. Electrical energy (from the socket) is converted into sound energy + heat energy + kinetic energy. The main form of energy needed is the kinetic energy. But, energy is lost during the conversion in the form of sound energy + heat energy. 

Concept:

Energy can be lost during energy conversions. 

Reminders:

• Sign the parents' acknowledgement for the heritage tour
• those who have not passed up the files and science revision worksheet to submit tomorrow

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

End of week 7

Dear all,

As we come to the end of week 7, I would like to first start with my thoughts on the class progress.

As I have mentioned this week, 7 weeks have flown by so quickly and we are on to CA1 next week. Looking back on these few weeks, I am disappointed to say that our progress as a whole has taken one step backward. Comparing how you were last year as compared to this year, we were much better in our classroom discipline and class unity last year. In order to take the first few steps to do well for academics, character education is important. Class spirit and self-discipline are the key to enable quality work to be done and for you to be motivated. Without motivation, there is no desire to be disciplined and know what your goals are. Just like Diane Miller in the CA1 Practice paper comprehension open-ended passage, we need to strive for our goals and be the best we can. You need to know that PSLE is no small matter and is your first defining step in your future. What course you do and which school you go will perhaps make the first big impact in your life. 6 YEARS of schoolwork cannot be revised through in just 1 or 2 months. You have to really work hard this year. Every year is in fact, crucial.

 I will be clamping down hard on misconduct and if you are not motivating yourself enough, I will come after you to make sure you start now and work hard. Little actions like doing your corrections well, doing your best to remember the skills I teach you to answer questions and your own self-discipline are important parts of teaching and learning in the classroom. Do not disappoint me and the love ones around you as we are all having the belief and hopes that you will mature and do well for each and single examinations. 100% passes is still the goal I have held on from last year.

On to recapping about the important points for today and this week:

English

We have officially finished the first 3 units and have done our filing. Parents, please go through and sign the content page for Units 2 and 3 and have your child to return back to me for acknowledgement on Monday, 25th February. Thank you. :)

For synthesis and transformation, I have spent time to go through the key skills for each specific structure. Especially for direct to indirect speech, I have given you the 3 golden rules that you NEED to remember! There is no point if I were to repeat time and time again but when I asked some of you today about the skills, you could not answer. Here it is again.

Example: Mother asked Shirley, "Have you reminded Father to come back home for dinner tonight?"

STEP 1: Look at the tense of the verb outside the direct speech. In this case here, the verb "asked' tells me that I need to change the tenses of the verbs inside the speech. (Present to past tense) (Past tense to past perfect tense) 

STEP 2: Look at the punctuation. Always remember that the subject comes first followed by the verb in a grammatically correct sentence. In this case here, "?" would mean that I need to rearrange the structure with the subject to come first followed by the verb. Subject is 'you' and verb is 'have reminded'.

STEP 3: Look at the speech and highlight the words to be changed. (You --> she) (have reminded --> had reminded) (tonight --> that night).

The answer should be: Mother asked Shirley if she had reminded Father to come back home for dinner that night.

Moving on to the grammar cloze, editing for spelling and grammar and comprehension cloze, we have all looked at the sources and saw that they are taken from the newspapers. You do need to read very widely, especially on newspapers and information text. Information texts describe objects or people and are informative.

They key for comprehension skill is to first, read the passage once through with the blanks. Then, highlight the key words. Can any of the answers be found? Draw the arrows, look out for tenses and whether it is singular or plural. Are there key grammatical structures such as verbs to be in the plural form, present tense after certain words? You need to take note. These are the essential skills. The other skill is for you to read and remember specific vocabulary words that are associated with newspaper articles and information texts content.

For comprehension open-ended, we went through the use of the pre-reading thinking activity each time. For today's passage, we can tell the story based on the questions themselves. By analysing the questions, you do not only copy out what is in the question but think deeper and really analyze. For example:

Q. What did Miller achieve at the 2007 World Transplant Games in Bangkok?

What I know

• Miller competed at the 2007 World Transplant Games in Bangkok.
• She was a competitor / athlete.
• She had a transplant before / injured before. 
• She won some awards / medals. 

This is how we break down the question and from here, we can really analyze the story. 

Q2. Explain fully who the person whose name was scrawled across the swimming cap was. 

What I know

• Miller was probably a swimmer. 
• There is a name of someone on her swimming cap.
• This person is of important and significance to be on her cap.
• It could be her organ donor / family members / someone who has helped her greatly. 

Based on the examples given to you, we can see that the story has developed from just 2 questions themselves. This is really a useful techniques and those who have used it for their practice paper tend to do better in terms of marks. Like what I have said, you cannot expect yourself to have a huge jump in marks so quickly. Practise and work hard and continue to use this strategy to help you for both the comprehension passages. For the comprehension open-ended, make use of the blank space at the last page or a space in Booklet A to jot down What I know (WIK) and What I want to know (WIWTK). You can use point forms. 

Science

The workbook has been cleared and returned. You can start revising and pay attention to those important questions I have highlighted to you. Look at your mistakes. Work on the way you answer questions. Are your answers too general and short? As proven last year, questions in the examinations may include what you learnt in your workbook, topical worksheets done in class and the practice papers. So please take the time to go through them. 

With the time constraint, English practice papers have been cleared first. We will complete filing for Science by Tuesday together with the energy worksheet and CA practice papers which are with me and will be marked. Start to revise on your workbook, textbook content and P3-P5 topics first. 

Items to pass up on Monday:

1. Parents' Signature for Unit 2 and 3 files for English
2. Science Revision 1 Worksheet 

Enjoy your weekend and work hard,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Week 7

Dear all,

Less than one more week to your first major assessment of the year. Are you studying hard enough? Study hard and study smart.

Here are the recap of the learning points thus far:

English

We went through present and past participle today and how they are used as adjectives (describing words). Present participle is done by adding the -ing to the back to the verb such as amazing, shocking, etc.

Past participle is done by changing the verb to a past or perfect tense.

Note the different between a verb in the participle form and the verb in the continuous form.

Example: The amazing boy is sprinting down the tracks in quick speed.

The word amazing is a participle because it becomes an adjective that describes the boy while the word sprinting is a verb in the continuous form as it shows the action taking place at that moment.

We went through Booklet A of your CA Practice paper and continued to use the Pre-reading thinking activity to plan and understand the comprehension MCQ. Remember to also use the elimination method for your vocabulary MCQs.

Recap of the some of the common grammar rules:

(Verb) (Subject) (Verb --> present tense, plural form)
e.g Father made him complete the work on time.

(Could/can)
(Shall/ should)
(Will/ would)
(Might/ may)
After all these words, the verb being used is in the present tense, plural form!

Science

We have officially completed the workbook for energy. Here is the video for today's main new topic on the Maglev Wind Turbine Power Station which makes use of the repulsion of magnets to reduce energy loss in the form of friction (heat).

Click on this link for further reading

• Energy can never be created or destroyed but only transferred from one form to another
• Solar energy comes from the sun. When there is no sufficient sunlight, solar energy cannot be transferred from the sun to the solar powered objects for work to be done. 
• Water is not a source of energy. MOVING water is a source of energy.
• When a ball is being thrown upwards before it drops down, kinetic energy decreases before rising. Gravitational potential energy increases before it decreases. 
• Iodine is brown colour in original form and turns blue-black under the presence of starch.
• Plants --> Worm --> Bird
• How does the plant become a source of energy for the bird? Remember that you need to state the words 'energy is transferred' The answer here should be "The plant is eaten by the worm and the worm then becomes a source of energy for the bird."

Homework

• Science CA Revision Practice Papers (MCQ and open-ended) TO BE PASSED UP BY THIS FRIDAY!!!

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

End of Week 6

Dear all,

One more week to go before your first assessment for the year arrives for you to gauge on how your progress is so far. Strive hard for your upcoming CA1 and do the best you can because it will show you how far you have come so far. Have your hard work pay off? Work hard and start revising through the grammar structure/worksheets for English so far. Revise through your P3-P5 science topics.

Here are the learning points of the day:

English:

We went through the model newspaper articles and journals and from today, we learn about the importance of learning. We need not be a Chinese just to celebrate Chinese New Year. From the article given, we learn that we should not be limit ourselves in life. Racial Harmony is important and we should understand and participate in any race's culture and tradition if we can.

Homework:

• CA1 2013 Practice Revision Paper to be submitted on Monday, 18/2
• Newspaper Article
• Journal Writing

Science:

We have officially completed the experiment exercises in our activity book and the only section to complete is the revision practice. We learn about the hydroelectric power station (generating electricity through moving water) and the wind turbine power station (generating electricity through moving air/wind).

Main concept: 

The greater the kinetic energy of the wind/water, the greater the amount of electrical energy generated. 

The kinetic energy from the moving water is converted to the kinetic energy in the turbine which causes the turbine to spin. 

The kinetic energy from the moving air/wind is converted to the kinetic energy in the wind turbine and causes the rotors to turn and spin. (Rotors are the blades of the windmill)

*Note the examples of the hydroelectric power station and wind turbine. These are two common examples that come out often in assessment questions.

Also, take note of the advantages and disadvantages of hydroelectric energy and using wind to generate electricity through the wind turbine.

Hydroelectric energy is unlimited and renewable. Water is easily available. It also does not cause pollution.

Using wind to generate electricity does not cause pollution and wind is an unlimited source of energy. 

Homework

• Science Energy Topical Worksheet to be submitted on Monday, 18/2

Have a good weekend!

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Vocabulary Skills

Dear all,

Here are today's main learning points:

We concentrated on English today and we learnt about the key skills for answering vocabulary questions.
Firstly, read the vocabulary cloze first for understanding. Then look at the options and eliminate the options are not possible to be the answer. This is to help him go step by step and with greater focus narrow your possible answers. Fit in the best fit answer for the option. Remember, some words have the same meaning but they only fit into certain scenarios. So do not always assume!

Information texts and Newspaper reports are important! Please read through and expose yourself to such texts from now on. In the vocabulary practice, the topic was on the dolphin and there are certain key vocabulary words  that relate to the dolphin only such as colouration, echolocation, marine creatures, etc. The more you read and pick up such words, the better it stands you when you answer vocabulary questions or comprehension cloze.

Just to recap again on some grammar rules:

Adjective --> describing words, describe the action, movement, features and characteristics, etc.

example: fast, skinny, sad, worried, surprised, etc.

Adverb --> describes the manner of the verb. add on to the adjective.

example: quickly, hurriedly, easily, thoroughly, etc.

Verb --> action words, describes an action.

example: run, talk, eat, sleep, etc.

Noun --> Objects, Person, Place, etc.

example: Hougang neighbourhood, policeman, shirt, etc.

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Week 6

Dear all,

This is a short week and with the slow ease back into the school curriculum, let us go through some of the key points we have been through last week so far:

English:

We went through comprehension MCQ and used the strategy of the pre-reading thinking activity to help us understand the passage through the questions. 'What I know' and 'What I want to know'. For both comprehension open-ended and MCQ, this strategy is useful and helps us to break down the passage first through reading the questions and understanding the questions.

Always find time to write down 'What I know' and 'What I want to know' first before going through the passage. Do not be afraid of time wastage as this will definitely help you to score. It is also important to note that we need time to perfect and practise this skill. Do not expect that this strategy will definitely work instantly. We have had 3 practices so far based on the first 3 units for English. You need to also practise this skill as you carry out your own revision at home.

We went through phrasal verbs (verbs paired with a preposition) and this is a common item for grammar or vocabulary questions so you need to perfect this and have more practice on this aspect.

We also went through News Stimulus today and the comprehension cloze. The key idea for today's lesson was learning about high-risk occupations and the importance of these jobs of the society. The example cited in the news article was about mining and how miners risked their lives while providing valuable resources for the society. Without these miners who put their lives on the line in order to uncover resources, we will enjoy the resources we have today. As such, they are also paid highly. In the article, we explored the dangers of mining and how a mine explosion in China killed many victims.

Please read through newspaper articles and be updated with current knowledge and affairs as this will aid you greatly for comprehension cloze, grammar cloze, vocabulary cloze and editing for spelling and grammar.

For composition, the results for the second unit's continuous/scenario writing was not as ideal as compared to the first unit picture composition. Your strengths lie in picture composition. Many of you need to use guided pictures to give you a better focus so knowing yourself, choose the one which gives you better confidence and ability to do well.

For continuous writing, you have to be able to really analyze and break down the scenario before you write. Many of you are not using the main points of the questions and as such, write out of point. Also, many of you are still not elaborating and writing about the supporting details.

For example: The topic for this composition was "Once, you were treated unfairly by someone in your family. You were blamed for something which was actually not your fault."

The keywords are treated unfairly by someone in your family and blamed for something not your fault. You must focus on who the main characters are first. Some of you wrote about being blamed by friends instead. Some of you did not focus on being wrongly accused. There was no mention that someone had accused you and most importantly, HOW and WHY were you accused?

Another key skill for those with major spelling mistakes and find spelling difficult, stick to a usual group of words and keep practising these words over and over again so that you can use them for all compositions. Some of you used the introduction I have given to you as the focus writing for Unit 1 for this composition and that is good. Remember to edit and adapt what I have given to you! Do not just copy blindly. Use it for the specific scenarios.

Science:

You need to be very familiar with the energy conversions. Identify the stages and how many arrows are needed. Then, look at each stage and see if there are more than 1 energy at that stage.

Sources are energy are objects in which the type of energy gets its energy from.
Example: Fuels, Sun, Food, Electricity, etc.

To end off this post, here are some last few words:

• Do not forget to finish up your homework of Vocabulary Cloze and MCQ to be submitted tomorrow.
• Dear parents, I do apologize if I have not been prompt in  replying your queries and messages as it has been an extremely busy few weeks so far. I will find the time to reply and send some of your child's feedback and progress through the email or phone in the next few weeks.
• This is week 6 and week 8 will be your CA1. Please study hard!

Enjoy the photos of the Chingay Parade for P6.

Thank you,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Happy Chinese New Year

Dear all,

Back from the long Chinese New Year weekend, I hoped that you all had a good break. This blog has also been on a break too. Remember your homework for tomorrow:

1. Newspaper article
2. Journal writing
3. Comprehension cloze worksheet
4. Science energy conversion worksheet

See you all tomorrow then.

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Synthesis and Energy

Dear all,

As we reach the mid week mark, lets' recap on what have been covered so far.

English:

We are on to our Unit 3 Supplementary worksheets. We have covered the comprehension open-ended passage with the pre-reading thinking activity once again by going through the questions first and thinking critically about the story through the questions.

We learnt from the passage not to judge a book by its cover. Through our experience do we then really understand how the world is.

For synthesis, here are the key points:

• For 'however' structures, remember that you can substitute the word 'however' with 'no matter how' so it becomes much clearer for you. Do not change the tenses as this is not direct to indirect speech. After the word 'however', it is accompanied by the adjective - subject - verb.
• E.g However naughty John may be, he is kind-hearted by nature. 

Science:

We went through the experiment on hot air rising and how the candle could make a spiral spin with the fans switched off and windows closed. The concept here is on hot air rises, cool air sinks. The heat from the flame heats up the surrounding air and pushes the moving air upwards, spinning the spiral. 

Energy conversion:

Chemical energy (in candle) --> Heat and light energy (in the flame) --> Kinetic energy (in the moving air and turning spiral)

Whenever we fill in energy conversions, please take note of this key skill:

1. Identify the number of stages 
2. Note how many arrows I must use (arrows to show the transformation to the next stage)
3. Note if there are 2 of more types of energy produced at one stage. (I must use the + sign to indicate)
4. Have I written the correct spelling of the forms of energy? Do I need to write 'potential' beside certain words for the energy?

We also carried out the Nichrome wire experiment in which I showed you how a Nichrome wire (when electricity passes through it) could heat up and slice through certain objects. 

The wire glowed and the item which the Nichrome wire cut through heated up (receives heat).

We are halfway through the last topic of the 'Energy' syllabus. We are right on schedule to finish up our syllabus by next week and start on your revision in week 7. 

Today, we learnt about the sources of energy and the term is defined as where the energy can be obtained or gotten from. 

There are 4 main sources and they are the sun, moving water, moving air and fuel. 

We know that for the sun, moving water and air, they cannot be used up. (True statement)

For the sun, it has solar energy and this solar energy consists of light and heat energy. Solar panels can be used to trap the light and heat energy to power up electricity or to carry out other forms of energy for work to be done. The sun is the main source of energy and can directly or indirectly affect us. 

For the moving water, we touched on the uses of hydroelectric power stations which make use of moving water to generate electricity. One such form is the use of dams, turbines and generators. In this case here, the energy conversion is:

Potential energy (water from the high point of the dams) --> Kinetic energy (Moving water downards and spinning the turbine) --> Electrical energy (generator generates electricity)

Another example is the use of waves power stations in which the downward and upward movement of the waves have kinetic energy to be converted to electrical energy. 

The concepts here are: 

• the greater the gravitational potential energy, the greater the kinetic energy.
• the greater the kinetic energy, the more electrical energy it can be converted into.

Take note of page 32! Highly important page!

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

End of Week 4 + CHINGAY

Dear all,

As we come to the end of week 4, lets' recap on the main points of the week and for today:

English

I went through the grammar item of 'past perfect tense' and how to use them. Important points to note are:

• When we have two events in a sentence, identify the before and after event. If both events took place in the past, the 'BEFORE' event will have its verb in the past perfect tense while the 'AFTER' event will have its verb in the past tense.
• example: John had brushed his teeth before he went to sleep last night. 
• John has brushed his teeth --> Before event
• He went to sleep --> After event

There are also some key words we will use for perfect tenses. Here are the key words.

• has, had, have (verb that comes after these words will be used as the perfect tense)
• e.g has taken charge of the project, had eaten his food, have gone home.
• could have, should have, would have (verb that comes are these words will be used as the perfect tense too)
• Had he not, Have they not, Has he not (verb that comes are these words will be used as the perfect tense too)

Main idea of a paragraph or passage is the general statements being given. (usually in the first or second sentence of a passage or paragraph)

Supporting ideas are specific examples to support the main idea (general statement).

Knowing about main ideas and supporting ideas are important as they help you identify the key points of a passage for comprehension open ended and mcq. Also, they are important for composition writing in which you have to elaborate on your content.

Science

I would like to recap on go through the lesson on energy conversion. It is rather new to you and may take some time for you to master the energy conversions.

Firstly, when we look at a particular scenario, it is always good to visualize and split the scenario into different stages first. Draw it out if you must.

When you put down the energy conversions, look at the system of the object itself only. Don't bring in other systems to mix with the item. Let me make this clearer for you.

Example:
State the energy conversions when a circuit is closed and the bulb lights up.

1. The first stage of energy starts from the batteries.
2. The second stage is when the switch is closed and electricity flows through the circuit.
3. The third stage is when the bulb lights up and heat is also produced.

In total, there are three stages. We then fill in the energy conversion. This is the most important part. We use ARROWS (--->) to indicate a change in the stage! We use (+) signs to indicate any other forms of energy that are produced in that stage.

In this case, Chemical energy (in the batteries) ---> Electrical energy (when electricity flows through the closed circuit) ---> Light energy (in the bulb) + Heat energy (in the bulb)

---> indicates a change to the next stage
+ indicates another form of energy that is also produced at that same stage

REMEMBER THE ARROWS AND PLUS SIGNS!
Note that we did not bring in factors like your hand moving and closing the switch so you do not need to add that in and add in kinetic energy. Look solely at the objects themselves only!!!

• We also learnt about how electricity is produced. Electricity is produced in power stations from the heating of water from fuels (chemical energy in the fuel). Hot air rises from the water (kinetic energy) as they are boiled into steam. This steam is moving air which spins the turbine. The turbines spins and convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy. 

• We also learnt about hydroelectricity and how it is produced. Electricity is produced in the hydroelectricity dam power stations. The dam stops the flow of water from the rivers, seas or waterfalls and make use of the moving air from a height to flow downwards into the turbine, spinning the turbine. The turbine is linked to the generators and then converts the kinetic energy to electrical energy. 

Remember that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another.

Reminders

• Please report to the hall by 3.30 pm tomorrow for CHINGAY Parade. Bring along your water bottle, thermometer and light snacks. 
• Dinner will be provided for you but please have your lunch on your own first. 
• Be safe as you make your way to school please! Watch out for cars and be careful crossing the roads if you are making your way here on your own. 
• Enjoy yourselves and have fun tomorrow :)

Homework

• Cut out the spiral and paste it onto a hard cover for next week's Science experiment lesson.
• Complete your composition homework if you have not and submit next Monday
• Complete your journal writing and newspaper article by Monday and submit it all up on Monday.

Thank You,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong