Countdown to PSLE

Dear all,

It's been a busy period with extensive revision and we are almost done with our revision papers. It is coming to the end of week 9.

So we are left with:
- 3 school days in week 10
- 4 days of supplementary lessons in Sept holidays
- 4 school days in week 1 term 4 before your listening (That four days will be intensive listening practice)
- 3 school days in week 2 term 4 before your written papers
- 2 extra Saturdays

16 more days of seeing you for lessons before you finish your PSLE. Time really flies.

I will look at penning down Science concepts and grammar rules all at one go in one big post some time during the weekend to help you summarize and revise through so look for that ultimate revision post.

There are no supplementary lessons next week because of subject review meetings, thus I will be conducting extra early lessons next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the morning from 6.50am - 7.15am to go through Grammar & Synthesis and 1 or 2 Science questions each day to help you revise. This is not compulsory, so make your way up to the classroom when you reach.

Thank you,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

Week 8

Dear all,

It's been a while since the last post. It's week 8 and we are less than a month away to your PSLE listening paper. Remember to bring along your Science MCQ paper and English revision paper next week for going through.

Homework for the weekend:

1. Science Revision Paper questions 31 - 35 only! 

Supplementary and remedial lessons will be on as usual until after PSLE. 

Key Points for English this week:

- Apart from 

- Except for 

- Unless (Positive statement), (Negative statement) 

- Should, Shall, Would, Will, Can, Could. May, Might --> The verb that follows is in the plural and present tense form. 

- If --> followed by past perfect tense. e.g If I had done this, If she has gone there..........

- The word both is plural form.

- For your direct to indirect speech, remember to change the past tenses like 'were', 'was', 'did' to past perfect tenses! Past perfect tenses always begin with the word 'had' and the 'perfect' tense 

Key Points for Science this week:

- Decomposition requires oxygen and moisture. 

- Rate of evaporation depends on temperature, amount of wind, level of humidity.

- Digestive juices are secreted at the mouth, stomach and small intestine. 

- Melting, evaporation, boiling, condensation and freezing does not involve a change in substance as they are all in their liquid (water) state. Only the states of water are changed - liquid, solid and gas. 

- The more the gravitational potential energy, the more the kinetic energy. 

- African violet reproduces from leaf cutting. 

- Pollination comes first followed by fertilization. 

- Balsam and saga seeds disperse by the action of explosive action. 

- Gas has no fixed shaped or volume but has mass.

- Solid has fixed shape, volume and has mass. 

- Liquid has no fixed shape but has a fixed volume and has mass. 

- Stomatas can be found on the upper and underside of the leaf. More can be found on the underside. When covered, it reduces the rate of transpiration. 

Thank You,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

PSLE Oral Model Tips

Dear all,

I am posting some last tips and model ways of discussing the pictures as found in your PSLE booklets. Take a look.

This picture depicts a scene at the neighbourhood park. It could be a weekend as there are families and children in the park. 

At the right hand side of the picture, there is a man sitting on the bench. He is dressed in a tracksuit and is eating a chicken drumstick. Beside him on the bench are some snacks. He seems to be enjoying eating his food. He looks elated as he is sharing his food with his daughter. Beside him is a girl who looks like his daughter. She seems elated too as she is holding a lollipop in one hand and reaching out the other hand to grab some more food. Both father and daughter seem to be hungry. However, I feel that they should not be snacking so much as it is unhealthy. They seem obese and should exercise. 

On the right hand side of the picture, there is a boy running on the tracks with his mother. They look shocked and worried looks are written on their faces as they stare at the man and his daughter eating greedily. They must be alarmed that they are so unhealthy. I think that both the son and his mother are doing the right thing by exercising in the park and keeping healthy. They could advise the man and his daughter about keeping fit.

At the top corner of the picture, there is a family of three having a picnic with food placed on a mat. They seem  elated as they enjoy the company of one another. The child is crawling about on the mat. I think that family time is important as family members come together to enjoy activities and the time spent together. 

In conclusion, a park is where people can exercise to keep fit and for families to spend some bonding time together.  

This picture depicts a scene at a clinic. It could be a weekend as there are many people and children at the clinic. They must be here to consult Dr John Lim, the doctor on duty in this clinic. 

At the right hand side of the picture, there is a lady carrying a handbag and her child in her arms. She is trying to stop two kids from fighting. They might be her kids. She is as angry as a bully as she does not want the two boys to make a scene at the clinic. In her arms, her little child also looks shocked as he witness his brother fighting over a toy car. I think that the lady should scold the two children and make them stop fighting immediately if not they will attract unwanted attention.

Beside the lady are two boys arguing over a toy car. The boy in the checkered shirt looks infuriated as he reaches out his hands to snatch the toy car back from his brother. I think that he wants the toy car badly but he should ask for peacefully rather than resorting to violence. The boy in the plain shirt looks panic-stricken as he is trying to prevent his brother from snatching away his toy car. He should also talk to his brother peacefully to prevent this fight from taking place.

In the middle of the picture, there is a girl sitting on the bench crying. She is crestfallen as her hand is injured and she seems to be in severe pain. There is a bandage on her hands. Her mother seems to be comforting her as she looks on with worry written on her face. She does not want to see her daughter cry. I think she is doing the correction action as a mother should take care of her daughter and comfort her in times of need. 

At the left hand side of the picture, there is a man paying a 50 dollar note to the cashier. He must have finished seeing the doctor and is now collecting his medicine after payment. He looks pleased at the elated cashier who is serving with a smile on her face. I think that all cashiers should be like her as it is important to serve with a smile to make the customers feel elated too. If I was the man, I would feel comforted and glad. 

This picture depicts a scene of a classroom. It is the English Storytelling Week. There are many pupils in the classroom with two children dressed up in costumes. Three pupils are presenting their story as four pupils are seated on the floor listening attentively. 

At the left hand side of the picture, there are four pupils listening to the story put up by pupils at the front of the classroom. They look elated with smiles on their faces. A boy is laughing to himself as he might have found the story amusing. Likewise, a girl seems to be clapping for the pupils presenting the story. All the pupils are attentive listeners. I think that they are doing the correct action as we should pay attention to others when they are talking and not disrupt their presentation. However, there are story books all over the floor and perhaps, the pupils should have tidied the books and placed them on the shelves neatly to prevent others from tripping over them.

At the right hand side of the picture, a boy in school uniform is reading from a storybook. He is trying to tell the story to the class as his two other classmates are acting out the story. The story could be about a rabbit and camping as there is a rabbit on display and a tent set up near the walls. The boy looks elated reading the story. I think that his attitude is positive and we should read loud and clear with expression to help others understand the story better. Beside him is a girl who is sitting on the floor with a rabbit in her arms. There is another boy with a cap who is dressed in long pants and shirt and carrying a bag. He looks elated while acting out his role in the story. He seems to be enjoying himself. The group has done a good job in telling the story as they are able to make the audience laugh and listen attentively

In conclusion, the classroom is a place for learning. We should listen attentively when others are talking and give our best effort when we are presenting our work. 

This picture depicts a scene in the classroom. It could be a change of lessons as there is no teacher in the classroom and pupils have taken the chance to move about the classroom to talk to one another. 

At the left hand side of the picture, there is a boy putting his hands into a fish bowl. He seems elated and mischievous at the same time as he tries to disturb the fish. Beside him, the girl and probably the owner of the fish looks panic-stricken and shocked. She must be feeling very worried about the boy harming the fish. I think that the boy should not be reaching his hands into the fish bowl as he might injure the fish and scare it. Furthermore, the fish might not belong to him. The girl might become infuriated and crestfallen. 

In the middle of the picture, there are three pupils. A boy with spectacles is standing up and he looks panic-stricken with his mouth wide open in horror. He is trying to stop his two other classmates from disturbing a pet rabbit. The pet rabbit might belong to him. A girl sitting down is trying to use a ruler to poke the rabbit through its cage. She looks mischievous and elated as she carries out her wrong act. She might injure the rabbit. She has not thought of the consequences and just wants to have fun. If I was there, I would stop her immediately. Beside her is a boy standing up and making funny faces to try scare the rabbit. He, too, looks elated and mischievous while trying to have fun. The rabbit probably looks scared. What the two naughty pupils are doing are wrong and they should be punished. 

At the right hand side of the picture, there is a boy sitting down and observing a tortoise crawling about in its tank. A girl is looking on at it with a smile. They are both filled with joy as they play with the tortoise. Both of them are doing the right action as they are not disturbing the tortoise and harming them. The rest of the naughty pupils should learn from them. 

A teacher is making his way into the classroom. He might get a shock upon seeing the students being not well-disciplined. He might scold the pupils for not sitting down to get ready and also punish those students who are abusing the animals. 

In conclusion, this lesson might be about animals as pupils have brought along their pets for the lesson. However, we should not abuse the animals but treat them with care as they are living things too. 

• Talk about the characters (Describe appearance and actions) 
• What are they doing?
• Reasons for their actions.
• FEELINGS!!!! (How do they feel?)
• Why are they feeling that way?
• What they might do NEXT. 
• Your OPINION.

Oral Conversation Questions Model Answers 

PSLE booklet page 76:

Q. Tell us about a visit you made to a zoo or any other park

I have visited the Singapore Zoo before when I was in Primary 3. It was an exciting and fun experience as it was my first time visiting a zoo. I remembered that I went with my father, mother and little brother. We went there early in the morning to spend more time at the zoo. 

We visited many animals and their enclosures. The animal that most attracted me was the polar bear. Of all the animals, I like the polar bear the most and it was exciting seeing it for the first time. Unlike the other animals, the polar bear stays in an air-conditioned enclosure and it was having fun swimming around and moving about in the enclosure. 

The animals show was also interesting and it taught me that animals are special creatures who could do amazing stunts like flipping in the air and communicating with humans. I also learnt the importance of taking care of the animals so as to make sure they do not become extinct. 

Besides the animals, I also had fun spending time with my family. We even ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream for our snack which I enjoyed. 

In conclusion, I feel that visiting the zoo was a fun experience and given a chance, I would like to relive that experience once again and visit the zoo one more time to learn more about the animals. It also gives me a chance to spend quality time with my family. 

PSLE booklet page 72

Q. Tell me about how you keep yourself healthy

Keeping fit and healthy is important so we can live life to the fullest and we do not fall sick easily. In order to keep myself healthy, I will exercise regularly and eat healthily.

I exercise at least 3 times a week through my PE lessons. This term, we are practising the sport of basketball. In this sport, we learn how to bounce the ball, pass the ball and shoot the ball into the net. It is tiring but it enables me to run about and perspire. In this way, I know that I am really exercising. Apart from PE lessons, I will also try to run at my neighbourhood park once a week. I will run with my father as he enjoys running and I have someone to accompany me to exercise. My father often encourages me to exercise and he is my role model. 

Also, I will eat healthily. I will try to not snack so often, especially on potato chips, ice-cream, sweets, chocolates and oily food. My mom will regularly cook food like vegetables for our meals and will encourage me to eat more vegetables. However, I still cannot resist eating fried food at times. My father tells me it is alright to eat fried food once in a while as long as we drink plenty of water and exercise regularly. I will also try to avoid food that is too oily and fattening. 

In conclusion, I feel that it is important to eat healthily and also exercise regularly. These are important to ensure that we do not become obese and have the risks of getting illnesses and diseases like heart attack. 

Other pointers:

1. Note your reporting time and please report on time.
2. Take good care of your health and do not stress out
3. Read fluently for ALL sections!
4. Use the good vocabulary words being given to you.
5. Remember your team number, PSLE index number and your holding room to report to for the 730am batch. 
6. GOOD LUCK! I will be rooting and supporting you all the way! Please do well :) I have confidence in all of you! JIAYOU!

Good Vocabulary Words to replace simple words

Happy

- Elated

- Euphoric

- Jubilant 

- Filled with joy

Sad 

- Crestfallen

- Downcast 

- Glum

- Gloomy

Nervous 

- Anxiety filled him

- Seems like a cat on hot bricks 

- Jittery 

- Uptight 

Scared 

- Panic-stricken

- Horrified 

- Petrified 

Shocked 

- Astonished 

Worried 

- A worried look was written on his face.

Angry 

- Infuriated 

- Filled with fury

- As angry as a bull

Tired 

- Weary 

ALL THE BEST ONCE AGAIN AND PLEASE DO YOUR BEST FOR TOMORROW'S CHINESE AND THE FOLLOWING DAY'S ENGLISH :) It's the start of your PSLE and it really counts. 

Target: At least a 7 for each section to score 21/30 overall. 

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

PSLE Oral Week

Dear all,

As we move into week 7 and PSLE Oral week, do rest well for Thursday and Friday. Take note of your team number for both the days and your PSLE index number.

Tips for Oral:

Reading 

• Be fluent and smooth in your reading. Do not stutter or stop-start. Fluency and flow of your reading is important. Take time to read aloud (I do really mean read aloud but of course, not shouting) while you are preparing for that 5 minutes before the actual exam. 
• Break words up into syllables if you do not know how to pronounce. This will help you greatly rather than skipping a whole chunk of words. Try not to stutter or take too long pauses to read the word. Practise that word beforehand in your preparation. 
• Example: If I do not know how to pronounce the words debatable. Break it up into de - ba - ta - ble. This helps greatly so there are 4 portions or syllables to pronounce. 
• Read with EXPRESSION and STRESS on IMPORTANT words. 
• Do not read like a bullet train. Take time (0.5 - 1 sec) pauses in between punctuations. 

Picture Discussion

• Introduce with 'This picture depicts a scene of (place)'. It could be a weekday/weekend because ............................... There are (number) of characters in the picture. 
• Describe the people and their actions using the DIEO method. In order to help you, remember these key points such as:
• Who are the people?
• What are they doing? Elaborate! 
• How do they feel?
• Why do they feel that way?
• Your opinion of them.
• Conclude with 'In conclusion, from this picture, we can learn about .....................................'

Conversation

• Answer the question given to you first. 
• Describe about the event/actions/people involved. 
• How do you feel? Why do you feel that way?
• Give another example/event.
• Give a conclusion of lessons to be learnt. 

Once again, be fluent and use the correct language and grammar while you go through your picture discussion and conversation. These are important too! 

Tomorrow, I will be putting up some good words and phrases to be used to improve your language for Oral Exams. 

Breakdown of Prelim Exam Marks 

For English:

100% passes for Situational. Most of the marks are lost in terms of language. So focus on that to pull up your scores. You should always aim to get 5 or 6 out of 6 for the content. 

100% passes for Booklet A of paper 2 (Graphic stimulus - Compre MCQ). Improvement in Grammar MCQ with lots of drilling and practice done in this term. You still need to pull up your vocabulary mcq and cloze. 

Only 4/33 passed Booklet B. :( 

Comprehension OE is a section to look out for with many of you not putting the answers in your own words or not reading the question carefully. Key words have to be used. We will continue to focus on Comprehension OE this term. Now I am focusing on how to answer the questions and how to phrase in your own words. 

Grammar cloze - 100% passes

Editing - 24/33 passes 

Synthesis - 0 passes * (Another area for improvement)

Compre Cloze - 2/33 passes (With many of you in the 5-7 range out of 15)

For Science

33/34 passes for MCQ 

17/34 passes for Booklet B (Better improvement) 

Total: 30/34 passes. 

The focus is once again on acing your MCQ. Out of 60 marks, you should aim for 40 and above. That would be the safest range for at least a pass. To score an A, you definitely need to aim for 50 and above. 

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Happy National Day

Dear all,

It's week 5, National Day week. Tomorrow will be your celebrations and extra lessons in lieu of the upcoming PSLE Oral exams next week. Hang in there everyone! The end is near.

For tomorrow's celebrations:

• You can wear your sports shoes.
• Make sure your shorts is the school PE shorts.
• Wear a red t-shirt or a white t-shirt with mainly red wordings or colours.
• There will be food stalls selling food at the canteen.
• Celebrations will be until 10am and then your break is from 10am - 10.30am.
• Lessons will resume at 10.30am - 12.30pm.

We will focus on your oral skills tomorrow and go through the PSLE booklets. 

From the one on one oral practice so far, here are some main points being observed:

• Reading has to be filled with more expression and greater stress on the key words. 
• You guys are still not elaborating enough and interpreting the feelings of every character in the picture. Please describe what they are doing, why they are doing what they are doing and how they feel with reasons to support.
• Reading with fluency and smooth delivery is important. Some of you stutter through your speeches which will be marked down. It is important to piece together your ideas and speak smoothly. 

9 more days to PSLE Oral. 

It is time to really make a difference to your life! In a positive way. Enjoy your long weekends but please finish up your homework (practice 3) and revise for your oral. 

Sincerely,

Mr Nelson Ong

Notes for Science Prelim Paper

Dear all,

In addition to the notes I have asked you to take down during revision today, here are some extra notes I have found and uploaded for you. Take so time to go through.

Please remember to look through your files, workbooks and all the worksheets. Identify the topic and concepts when you attempt the questions. Ace your MCQ (60 marks) and it will definitely help you achieve a pass and beyond.

All the best in your revision. Look through the notes I have uploaded on the blog here. See you all on Monday for extra revision in the morning from 6.50am - 7.10am.

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong