Week 3

Dear all,

Sorry for the absence in a while. It's been a busy few days. Here is a recap of everything that has happened thus far and the important reminders for you:

English

We have officially finished Unit 1 and are now moving on to Unit 2. On Monday, I gave back the composition pieces and went through your key mistakes. Generally, there is an improvement in writing with the given focus writing exercise so continue to work hard and make an effort to memorise the introduction model writing given to you so that you can apply and use for future writings.

The focus writing before writing the actual composition focused on introduction for this unit. A proper introduction is essential in composition writing and will set the tone for the story and as such, concentrate on the weather, time, place and characters.

Most of you who heeded my advice and used simple vocabulary words and sentences had an improvement in your language. Unless you are very certain of being able to write the correct sentence structure using key vocabulary words, always stick to simple words and this will aid you greatly in your language component.

You still need to improve on your content in terms of elaborating on the details instead of just listing general statements. I want to know the 'how' and the 'why' aspect of your general statement. Include the feelings of the characters and portray them as detailed as possible.

One new item added in this year is to get all of you to write out your composition corrections with the words being corrected for you once again. This will help you to learn as you write and aid you in your revision. I will be attaching the two best compositions for unit 1 behind your composition corrections as your reference too.

Moving on, we completed the pre-reading thinking activity for comprehension open-ended yesterday and went through the passage. Always remember to look through the comprehension questions first. Some of you asked me if there is time for you to list down your planning first and my answer is yes. From what I have noticed, all of you had much time to spare as you do finish your English papers much earlier. Like what I have said, would you rather finish it in quick time and get back poor results or spend more time and effort in planning and get back good results? Pick the 2nd option!

Here is a sample of what you have done and in the 'What I know' column, it helps you make meaning of the story through the questions. You will be able to find out statements from the questions that will tell you more about the story. With this prior knowledge, you will find understanding of the passage much clearer when you start reading the passage. It will also help you focus on where to gather information to answer the questions.

The results do prove that most of you have made an improvement in your scores for this comprehension open-ended as compared to unit 1. Keep it up!

Science

We finished up on potential energy and the key points for potential energy and kinetic energy are:

• Potential energy can be classified into gravitational potential energy, chemical energy and elastic potential energy. 
• The higher the object, the greater the gravitational potential energy and the greater the kinetic energy.
• When we measure the amount of energy, we use the words 'greater' or 'lower'.
• The greater the gravitational potential energy, the greater the kinetic energy. 
• Chemical potential energy can be stored in food (and water), fuels and batteries. They are then converted to other forms of energy.
• Elastic potential energy is dependent on the elasticity of the object. The greater the elastic potential energy, the greater the kinetic energy.

Do not neglect the experiment type of questions. We always start a topic by looking at the theory aspect (content of your textbook and through my explanation). We learn the concepts, key words, processes and key skills. Then, we move on to doing experiments to test the concepts and whether the experiments prove that the concepts are real. As such, experiments are extremely important in Science. You need to know how experiments work and what they are testing for. Do read up on experiments and identify the scientific logic and concepts behind them if you have time.

We also went through the Science in Everyday Experience worksheet. Science is all around us and in this worksheet, it focuses on using everyday scenarios to turn it into a science question. You need to be able to link real life examples to Science questions. If I am not testing you on experiment type questions, I can use real life examples to set a Science question. Draw the link and see the relevance to life.

Q1. People spread out the carrot cake that had just been fried to cool it.

This is an everyday occurrence in which it helps to cool our food for us to eat. The topic here is on heat and the concept is about heat travels from a hotter region to a cooler region. Using this concept and identifying the topic will help me better understand and answer the question. Science is not just what we learn in textbooks but also important in explaining everyday life occurrences. You also pick up life skills through Science.

Reminders

• Wear your school uniform on 29th Jan (Tue) for your smart card photo-taking.
• Bring your CNY decorations to decorate the classroom.
• Thursday - Dictation Unit 1 test
• Meet the parents on Saturday, 26th Jan - Take note of the times given to you
• Chingay Parade for P6s on the 2 Feb, Sat
• Bring some money to donate for our Sincerity and Charity Drive (Until Friday) * I am heartened to see so many of you donating today :) GOOD JOB!*

Happy Birthday to Yan Zhe!

Thank You,
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong