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 ]

Oral (Updated July 2014)

Tips for Oral

(1)   Reading Aloud

 1a) Fluency

• Chunking of meaningful units
• Appropriate pauses
• No jerky, hesitant delivery

      Appropriate pauses

• Comma, conjunction: Short pause
• Full-stop: Long pause
• Ending of paragraph: Longer pause – 3 sec

1b) Articulation

• Clear pronunciation of words
• Beginning & ending sounds
• Stress & unstressed syllables
• Sentence stress
• “up-tone” or “down-tone” at the end of sentences

1c) Expression

• Vary your tone & pitch to express feelings
• Dramatic use of voice especially when there are speech marks or dialogues.

Dictation (4)

There is an interesting article from breakingnewsenglish.com on the Rio+20 Summit that took place last year in June:

U.N. Pessimism at Rio+20 Earth Summit (21st June, 2012)

     As Brazil's president welcomed world leaders to the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cast doubts on the three-day event. A pre-summit draft document that is to serve as a blueprint for Earth's sustainability has been criticised as being too weak by the U.N chief. He said in the opening meeting: "Let me be frank. Our efforts have not lived up to the measure of the challenge….Nature does not wait….Nature does not negotiate with human beings." Rio+20 is so named because it has been 20 years since the last Earth Summit, which did lead to historic environmental decisions and promises, although not all were kept. Unlike Rio+20, the 1992 event was the result of years of discussion.

     Many of the delegates who attended the opening on Wednesday said three days was far too short to sort out the Earth's most important problems. Some lamented the absence of leaders like the USA's Barack Obama and Germany's Angela Merkel, saying their nonattendance sends out a message they aren't overly worried about sustainability. World leaders are perhaps more concerned with their re-election prospects and their country's current economic problems than the future of the planet. Ban Ki-moon told the assembly: "Rio+20 is not an end, but a beginning. It is time for all of us to think globally and long-term….The world is waiting to see if our words will translate into action, as we know they must."

Situational Writing (WS 3)

Situational Writing Sample

LOST PET AT CLEMENTI ESTATE 

This is my pet cat, Snowy. She has white fur, a pair of pretty green eyes and wears a bell on a red ribbon around her neck. She also has a lame hind leg and cannot wander far on her own.

I have been desperately looking for her since her disappearance two days ago. I am very certain she is still around this estate.

If you see her, please contact me (Mrs Jennifer Chan) at 6475 3000 as my 5-year-old daughter is not taking Snowy’s disappearance well.

A reward would be given to anyone who finds Snowy.

YOUR TASK

You were passing Clementi Estate yesterday when you spotted a cat fitting Snowy’s description. You decided to contact Mrs Jennifer Chan. 

Write an email to your best friend, Cynthia. 

In your email, include the following information:

-       what the notice is about

-       description of Snowy

-       what you would like to do

-       why you would like to do that (provide 2 reasons)

-       ask Cynthia to accompany you to see Mrs Jennifer Chan

Just for laughs

Something funny to start off your weekend with.
All credits to engrish.com

Now you come in.

Photo courtesy of Sushi Shibata.
Found at sushi restaurant in Dana Point, CA. 

I push therefore I am...

Remember to contact the abandonment division when you throw these pens away!

'because' versus 'because of'

because

• It is a conjunction/connector which is used to introduce a cause or reason
• Therefore, it is used at the beginning of a clause, before a subject + verb (VERB PHRASE)
• It connects subordinating clauses to the main clause of a sentence (refer to previous post on clauses)  

Examples:  

                  Zhi Ming went to bed because he was tired.

                  We were late because it was raining.

                  Fandi was absent in school for two days because he caught a flu.

                 *Note that the subordinate 'because' clause can go after or before the main clause

Other acceptable examples:

                  Because he was tired, Zhi Ming went to bed 

                  Because it was raining, we were late.

                  Because he caught a flu, Fandi was absent in school for two days.

because of

• It means on account of; by reason of
• It is a two-word preposition, and NOT a conjunction
• Therefore, it is used before a NOUN or PRONOUN (NOUN PHRASE)

Examples:  

                  Zhi Ming went to bed because of his tiredness.

                  We were late because of the rain.

                  Fandi was absent in school for two days because of a flu he caught.

Situational Writing for Primary School

Content (6 marks)

- achieve the content marks for the 5+1 listed points

- does not have to be in chronological order so long ideas flow in a coherent/smooth and logical manner

Language (9 marks)

Language 

- Are your sentences grammatical? (tense, subject-verb agreement, sentence structure)

- Is your writing punctuated well? 

- Are your words spelt correctly?

Organisation 

- Are you able to sequence and link your ideas well?

Context 

- Are you able to demonstrate, through writing, that you are understand and are aware of the purpose, audience and context?

Understanding CONTEXT

• There is always a PURPOSE behind every piece of writing. For example, when a writer composes a letter to the residents of her block about her missing rabbit, the purpose or goal is to persuade others to help her look out for her pet. Similarly, in a report, the writer may need to persuade a someone in authority to take action to improve something.

• Therefore it is important to consider the P-A-C of your writing task as follows:
• Purpose (WHY the text is being written, the goals of your writing)
• Audience (WHO will read your writing, what is the RELATIONSHIP with the reading audience)
• Context (WHAT is the background of or situation/circumstances of task)

To put it in a table format

P-A-C	Key Question	Specific Details
Purpose	Why am I writing this?	·      To announce? ·      To inform? ·      To report? ·      To complain? ·      To inquire?
Audience	Who am I addressing?	·      Is my audience someone important? ·      Relationship – Is my audience someone of higher authority or is she/he my peer? ·      Have I greeted my audience appropriately?
Context	What is the situation/circumstances? What genre should it be in?	·      Am I using the right tone? ·      What style? Informal or formal? ·      Have I written an appropriate closing? ·      Does the format of my writing suit the requirement of the type of writing required?

TIPS for ensuring your 15 marks 

STEP 1:          Read the question, paying close attention to ‘Your Task’.

STEP 2:          Identify the text form, purpose and audience.

Determine if it is to be a formal piece of writing or an informal one. (This will play a large role in the language that you choose to use as you will be able to portray the correct TONE through language choice).

STEP 3:          Look at the pointers.

Using your highlighter, highlight the relevant information from the stimulus that will enable you to ‘answer’ those questions.

STEP 4:          Begin to write.

STEP 5:          Check your work. Ensure that the greeting and sign-off are accurate.

As you read, number each point that answers a question. In total, you should have numbered 1 – 6. If you are short, it means that you have missed out a point. In addition, this strategy will enable the marker to identify your points quickly.

Clauses

Clauses are building blocks of sentences. It always include a VERB.

There are two types of clauses: main and subordinate clauses.

Main Clause

A main clause is a group of words which is, or could be, a sentence on its own.

Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause is a clause which could not form a complete sentence on its own.

Conjunctions/connectors (because, although, after, if, ...) and relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which and that) do not introduce main clauses. So you can be pretty sure that it is a subordinate clause.

She was eating a bowl of 'laksa'.

[main clause]

 

He danced in the street	because he was feeling happy.
[main clause]	[subordinate clause]

 

There is a good explanation from Oxford Dictionaries which you may refer to for more examples here.