Estimated reading time: 1.5minutes
1. Use no more than 10 minutes to plan.
a. Students are given 70 minutes to finish the 2 essays.
b. Situational Composition (15 marks) and Continuous Composition (40 marks).
c. Use the last 5 minutes to check for spelling and grammar errors.
2. Plan for one problem and one solution, keep the plot realistic and simple.
a. Think about the 5 ‘Ws’ and 1 H.
b. Who, When, Where, What, Why and How.
3. Use familiar plot options and expressions.
a. The plot should be something that one have gone through before or similar.
b. Else one that have practiced in writing before
c. For expression wise instead of simply saying happy, think about teaching the child to see it in 3 segments.
i. Outside (what one can see) e.g. Upon hearing the news, his face lit up.
ii. Inside (what one can’t see) e.g. He felt elated that he have gotten first in his English composition test.
iii. Action (what the character does) e.g. He pumped his fist up in the air for joy.
4. Vary word choices, sentence lengths and structures.
a. Be rich in your vocabulary
b. For structures to draw the reader in start with using dialogue or an interesting sentence.
i. “Hurry up mum, I’m going to be late for school on the first day!” I exclaimed in jubilant. I stayed up late last night…
ii. “Last night I dreamt I went to Sentosa again.”
5. When unsure revisit the composition topic.