Two videos - Prep for PSLE Oral

Two videos that will help you be more familiar with the procedure for PSLE Examination from two local primary schools.

Composition (4) - from PSLE Booklet Page 17, Question 10

I know that you will enjoy and be entertained by these stories from as much as I did. 
These three compositions scored higher than 35 marks out of 40. Are you able to tell why? :)


[Mark Lim, 6I3] 

     It felt almost as if swords of guilt were stabbing at my heart as tears rolled down my cheek. The sobbing of my sister could be heard through the locked door of my room. The day was meant to be a joyous time of celebration, but I was now miserable. The day had started off great...

     Waking up with a spring in my step, I bounded out of bed and saw my parents cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I headed straight for them and they wished me a happy birthday. At that moment, Jane, my sister stepped into the kitchen. I immediately pulled her aside and begged my sister to tell me if I had received the  ‘iPhone’ present that I desired greatly. However, she just animatedly shushed me as my mother shot her a knowing smile.

     “Clean up your room quickly before your friends arrive at noon, Jack!” Yelled mother. Whining loudly, I had no choice but to do as told. Then I was struck with a brilliant idea. I would seize that opportunity to search every nook and cranny in the house while dragging my box of toys behind me as a disguised cover.

     Then, behind the shoe rack, there it was! Delicately wrapped with stunning flower paper and beautifully ornamented with a silver bow. Please let it be what I want. But to my disappointment, my ears pricked when I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. I instantly shoved it back into place and shot up, pretending to put the shoes in place. My father shot me a quizzical look but thankfully, I was saved of explanation as my mother called me in.

      We were gathering round the dining table so I could open my present before the guests arrived in three hours. Then Dad came in with that present which had nearly cost me.

     With my eyes covered, I pushed my hand inside and pulled out a huge item. Then with my eyes uncovered, I saw that it was a hamster cage. Gently, I pulled out the hamster and cradled it in my hands gingerly when suddenly, my sister let out a shriek of pain as she stubbed her foot against the table led. In my state of shock, I failed to hold on to the hamster properly and it slipped out of my hands and scampered off.

     I was fuming. All because of my annoying and careless sister, my birthday present had run off! I stood up and glared at her before storming off into my room, banging shut and locking it behind me.

     “Jack! It was an accident! She had no intention to do that!” yelled my mom. Through a crack in the door I saw my sobbing sister scanning the ground for the little critter. I felt so guilty. They rushed to close all the doors so it could not escape, when my sister ran out of my view towards the direction of the kitchen. When she came back, she crouched down with treats in her hand to try to entice and lure the hamster out of its hiding spot under the couch.

     At that moment, I flung the door open and darted towards my sister who was cupping the hamster gingerly in her hands nibbling on the pumpkin seed. I hung my head in shame and apologized for being so rash and for lashing out at them. I also promised them that I would not fly off the handle again. My sister then placed her hand on my shoulder and apologized profusely for startling me. I also thanked my parents for the wonderfully cute gift.

     I learnt that a handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains and that we are stronger working as a team.

[Dheeraj Jothilingam, 6I3] 

     The day that Mary had been waiting for had finally arrived. She had been keeping the secret for weeks now and it was killing her to keep it from her unsuspecting brother. She could not see the look on his face when he finally receives his present.

     Her older brother, Gary, has always had a big heart . He is probably the kindest person anyone has ever known and Mary idolises him a lot . He is very passionate about sports and especially basketball. To their dismay, he broke his leg when he represented his school to compete in the National Basketball Tournament and had to pull out from the tournament. He was defeated by his injury as the road to recovery was long and arduous. He had to undergo surgery to insert to hold his bones together and had to attend physiotherapy sessions to help him to regain his ability to walk again. Needless to say, he could not play sports for a long time.

     In the weeks that followed after the surgery, Gary became very withdrawn and they could see that he was very badly affected by the accident. His parents decided to give him a surprise to cheer him up. Mary was over the moon when she found out what they had planned. They had decided to get him a dog. He had been begging to have a pet for the longest time and Mary guessed her parents finally relented upon seeing how despondent he had been after the injury. She had accompanied her parents to select the puppy. They instructed her not to breathe a word about it to her brother. However, they could not take the puppy home yet as it was still feeding on its mother’s milk. They paid for the dog and made an appointment to come back and pick it up two weeks later.

     That fateful day finally arrived. Gary’s mother had accompanied him to his physiotherapy session while his father went to pick him up the delightful bundle of joy that was about to become a part of their family. Shortly after, his father returned with a huge box containing their pet. Gary’s mother and him returned home first. Gary’s mother tried to cheer him up by announcing that the physiotherapist had mentioned  he was doing well and would be able to do some light sports soon. Gary responded with a weak smile and was about to make to his room when Gary’s mother stopped him. She gestured him to sit on the couch and announced that they had a big surprise for him. By then Mary was bursting with excitement and was doing all she could to contain herself.

     Their father brought out a huge floral-printed box and placed it on the coffee table beside the couch. Their mother then told Gary that they had a gift for him but he had to guess what it was. She then used her hands to cover his eyes while their father opened the box for Gary to place his hand in. As Gary groped around in the box, Mary could see a smile slowly creep onto his face as he touched the soft fur of a dog. 

      “A dog!” Gary exclaimed in excitement. Their mother removed her hands from his face and Gary met his new pet. Gary was like a dog with two tails. He carried the dog out of box gingerly. The animal wagged its tail and liked his left hand, much to his delight. Gary turned and thanked his parents his parents for the wonderful gift and gave them a hug each.

     In the weeks that followed, two of them became fast friends. The puppy followed Gary wherever he went and we could tell that the dog he named Snoopy cheered him up tremendously. They could see the sparkle returning to Gary’s eyes and he started to pull himself together again. He made a speedy recovery and was back on the basketball court in no time. 

     There is a saying that ‘laughter is the best medicine’. For all the joy that Snoopy brought, he was indeed the best 'medicine' for Gary!

War Heroes

Relevant Links for Lesson

Class Discussion on TodaysMeet:
https://todaysmeet.com/warheroes

Brainstorming on Padlet:

http://padlet.com/wall/zsio28rccngr

Real Time Editing on Titan Pad:
Lim Bo Seng- http://titanpad.com/24dd6C7YAw
Elizabeth Choy - http://titanpad.com/PPSVIWfYpj
Lieutenant Adnan Saidi - http://titanpad.com/h18binsnGa

Information on War Heroes is available at:
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/Personalities.html

Picture Composition (3)

Tuning-in Question:
Have you ever done something you thought would be harmless but instead you have hurt someone badly?



For a picture composition such as the one below, it is important to have an introduction that would grab your reader's attention.

Looking at this picture, there are a few questions that comes to a viewer's mind. Take a few moments to think through and brainstorm your ideas before you begin writing.

Why does the culprit look shocked and guilty?
If so, what made him litter or throw the glass bottle down four storeys in the first place?
What do you think the passers-by would do?
What thoughts are running through the culprit's head? How does he feel on the inside?
What will happen next?
Will the culprit own up?
Will there be any consequences or punishment for the culprit if he does so?
What happens in the end?


Some examples of good ways to begin your composition. 

(1) DIALOGUE

              "Aiieeeeeeeeeee!" yelled Mr Gapret as a loud thud was heard, followed shortly by the sound of glass breaking. Mr Thiat's both hands clutched the top of his head tightly, trying hard to stem the flow of blood seeping down his forehead. 



(2) ACTION

             A few passers-by sprinted to the aid of a bleeding Mr Gapret, alarmed by the loud yell of pain followed by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. They gathered around Mr Gapret trying to survey the situation as he moaned in pain, clutching the top of his head. 
             "Are you alright, Sir?" an urgent voice of an middle-aged plump lady called out, worry ringing clear in her voice.  


* These two introduction styles help your reader launch immediately into the thick of the action! 

Useful Tips for a Presentation

I can understand perfectly well that it can be scary giving an oral presentation as part of an assessment for Continual Assessment 2, as I also had my fair share of presentations in the past as a student.

Therefore, I have gathered some tips to help you.

Here are some do's and don'ts, as well as examples of transition phrases that I think you would find useful. 
(They are adapted from learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/exam-speaking/oral-presentation)

Do:

• Plan and prepare in advance what you are going to say
• Write notes in point form (or words just to trigger your memory) on your cue cards
• Speak in a more formal language
• Use short, simple sentences to express your ideas (so that your listeners can understand you better)
• Speak slower than you think you should and include in a pause between each idea
• Speak clearly and audibly
• Practice your presentation. It would be good to time yourself to see if it fits within the 1-2 minute time frame
• If possible, have someone listen to you speak, or you can record yourself and play it back to yourself to look for areas for improvement. Is your friend able to understand you?
• Make your opinions VERY CLEAR and use the right transition phrases before it to signal that you are stating your thoughts/opinions (some examples of them are below)
• Look at the people listening to you. TALK to them, do not read off your cue cards

Don't:

• Write and then memorise your entire script by heart :(
• Write your script and read it to your audience
• Use informal language
• Slouch or have an sloppy body posture as if you cannot be bothered with your audience
• Only look at your cue cards, ignoring your listeners completely :(((

Useful language for presentations

(After you have greeted your teacher and classmates)
Explain what your presentation is about at the beginning:
I’m going to talk about ...
I’d like to talk about ...
The main focus of this presentation is ...

I will be speaking from the point of view of Dawan/Kwai/Dawan's father on ....

Use these transition phrases to order your ideas:

First of all, ...
Firstly, ...
Then, ...
Secondly, ...
Next, ...
Finally, ...
Lastly, ...
To sum up, ...
In conclusion, ...

Use these transition phrases to introduce your opinion

I think... / I don’t think ...
I believe... / I don’t believe ...
In my opinion,
For me,
Personally, I think ..

Use these transition phrases to add more ideas from the same point of view:

In addition, ...
What’s more, ...
Also, ...
In addition to this, ...

To introduce the opposite point of view you can use these words and expressions:

However, ...
On the other hand, ...
Then again, ...

I hope these tips will be useful to you! All the best, champions!

How To Use 'Despite'

Despite / In spite of

'Despite' or 'in spite of' have to be followed by a noun or noun phrase. 


For example:

She touched the kettle. I warned her.

• She touched the kettle despite my warning (to) her. OR
• She touched the kettle despite the fact that I warned her.

• She touched the kettle in spite of my warning (to) her. OR
• She touched the kettle in spite of the fact that I warned her.

    http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/despite

Smiling at Similes

Similes are lots of fun! Language is so interesting in the way it creatively allows us to express ourselves.

To recap, a simile is a figure of speech comparing one thing to another unlike thing using either "as... as..." or "... like...".

Here are the lyrics from Lenka's Song 'Everything At Once' which was featured as the song of the advertisement launching the new Windows 8. Let's see if you're able to spot all the similes here? Are you able to creatively come up with your own similes to a similar tune like hers?

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quite as a mouse, as big as a house

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad
As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale

All I wanna be, oh, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything, everything at once
Everything at once, oh, everything at once

warm as the sun, as silly as 
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice
As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
As stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be

All I wanna be, oh, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything, everything at once
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/everything-at-once-lyrics-lenka.html ]