Don't be too surprised if your kid could give you the right answer to a grammer question but could not explain why the answer was chosen. Kids pick up the right words to use when they read and listen, without knowing that there are some underlying rules in using those words.
Going on further to instil in them grammatical rules can help firm up their foundation in the language.
Teach them singular and plural usage when dealing with words: "is" vs "are", "was" vs "were", "has" vs "have", and also the exceptional cases of "I", "You", and uncountable nouns like "sugar", "water", "rice", "hair", etc.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Tip 18: When to Ignore Singular/Plural Verb and Present/Past Tense
It's easy to ask kids to follow rules about singular and plural verbs and simple past and present tense.
However, we also need to tell them there are many instances where the "neutral" form has to be used when the verb is preceded by any of these words:
1) to
2) do/does/don't/does not
3) did/did not/didn't
4) can/cannot
5) could/could not/couldn't
6) will/will not/won't
7) would/would not/woudn't
8) shall/shan't/shall not
9) should/should not/shouldn't
10) must/mustn't/must not
11) another verb e.g She saw her "fall" down. e.g I let her "go" yesterday.
However, we also need to tell them there are many instances where the "neutral" form has to be used when the verb is preceded by any of these words:
1) to
2) do/does/don't/does not
3) did/did not/didn't
4) can/cannot
5) could/could not/couldn't
6) will/will not/won't
7) would/would not/woudn't
8) shall/shan't/shall not
9) should/should not/shouldn't
10) must/mustn't/must not
11) another verb e.g She saw her "fall" down. e.g I let her "go" yesterday.
Tip 17: Oral Skills
Besides telling our kids to read the oral passage clearly, pronouncing each word clearly, there are also a few other reminders:
1) Pause at commas and fullstops.
2) Pronounce "t" sound for words ending with "t".
3) Pronounce "s" sound for words ending with "s".
4) Pronounce "ed" sound for words ending with "ed".
5) Pronounce "th" sound for words starting with "th" e.g the, these, that, those, thing, think, etc.
6) Read with some appropriate expression/emotion in the voice.
1) Pause at commas and fullstops.
2) Pronounce "t" sound for words ending with "t".
3) Pronounce "s" sound for words ending with "s".
4) Pronounce "ed" sound for words ending with "ed".
5) Pronounce "th" sound for words starting with "th" e.g the, these, that, those, thing, think, etc.
6) Read with some appropriate expression/emotion in the voice.
Tip 16: Capital Letters
Kids are taught that captial letters are required for names, like Tom, Dick, or Harry. We can help by further elaborating on the different kinds of name, examples name of person (e.g Mrs Betty), building (e.g The Esplanade) , song (e.g Falling Leaves) , day (e.g Sunday), month (e.g March), movie (e.g Chicken Little), brand (e.g Google), street (e.g Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim), country (e.g England), school (e.g Loving Development Centre), room (e.g The Buzz), book (e.g The Little Red Dot) website (e.g Benefits of Honey), etc, etc, etc.
With enough examples of where they should use capital letters, they would become mindful of doing the right thing when writing any kind of names.
With enough examples of where they should use capital letters, they would become mindful of doing the right thing when writing any kind of names.
Tip 15: Idiomatic Expressions
P1 kids use plain language to express themselves most of the time. But in exams, they are expected to know the meanings of at least a few easy idiomatic expressions.
1) pink of health
2) see red
3) green fingers
4) sleep soundly
5) early birds
6) pass away
7) face turns as white as a sheet
8) rain cats and dogs
1) pink of health
2) see red
3) green fingers
4) sleep soundly
5) early birds
6) pass away
7) face turns as white as a sheet
8) rain cats and dogs
Tip 14: When to Use "a" and "an"
Kids at P1 are taught to use "an" instead of "a" when they see the word following it starts with "a", "e"," i", "o", or "u". That is, "an apple", "an elephant", "an ice-cream", "an orange", "an umbrella".
As they proceed to the next level, they have to realise that this rule is all about the vowel sounds of a,e,i,o,u, and not about the vowel letters. This explains why for words which start with an "i" vowel sound -- unicorn, university, usual, U-turn, united team, useful book are preceded by an "a" and not "an". Similarly, for words that start with an "a" vowel sound, like "hour", it is preceded by "an" and not "a". And "history" which starts with a non-vowel sound, follows after "a" and not "an".
As they proceed to the next level, they have to realise that this rule is all about the vowel sounds of a,e,i,o,u, and not about the vowel letters. This explains why for words which start with an "i" vowel sound -- unicorn, university, usual, U-turn, united team, useful book are preceded by an "a" and not "an". Similarly, for words that start with an "a" vowel sound, like "hour", it is preceded by "an" and not "a". And "history" which starts with a non-vowel sound, follows after "a" and not "an".
Tip 13: Special Verbs in Past Tense
A lot of words are simply added "ed" or "d" to indicate "past tense" (e.g walk --> walked, smile --> smiled). However there are also many words which deviate from this rule. P1 kids should know the spelling of the following words well:
1) catch --> caught
2) cut --> cut
3) let --> let
4) tell --> told
5) go --> went
6) eat --> ate
7) swim --> swam
8) cry --> cried
9) run --> ran
10) sleep --> slept
11) come --> came
12) see --> saw
13) sing --> sang
14) think --> thought
15) feed --> fed
16) write --> wrote
17) wake --> woke
18) put --> put
19) buy --> bought
20) bring --> brought
1) catch --> caught
2) cut --> cut
3) let --> let
4) tell --> told
5) go --> went
6) eat --> ate
7) swim --> swam
8) cry --> cried
9) run --> ran
10) sleep --> slept
11) come --> came
12) see --> saw
13) sing --> sang
14) think --> thought
15) feed --> fed
16) write --> wrote
17) wake --> woke
18) put --> put
19) buy --> bought
20) bring --> brought
Tip 12: Occupations
P1 kids are not expected to know all the occupations that exist in this world, but they should at least know the list below:
1) Police
2) Barber
3) Pilot
4) Hawker
5) Florist
6) Author
7) Dentist
8) Doctor
9) Firemen
10) Magician
11) Sailor
12) Cashier
13) Postman
14) Singer
15) Actress/Actor
16) Astronaut
17) Scientist
18) Dancer
19) Hairdressor/hairstylist
20) Librarian
21) Teacher
22) Artist
23) Lawyer
24) Businessman
1) Police
2) Barber
3) Pilot
4) Hawker
5) Florist
6) Author
7) Dentist
8) Doctor
9) Firemen
10) Magician
11) Sailor
12) Cashier
13) Postman
14) Singer
15) Actress/Actor
16) Astronaut
17) Scientist
18) Dancer
19) Hairdressor/hairstylist
20) Librarian
21) Teacher
22) Artist
23) Lawyer
24) Businessman
Tip 11: MCQs Caution
In attempting Multiple Choice Questions, I noticed that for choosing the correct tense - present or past, kids must read the entire sentence before choosing and putting down an answer. There have been a few instances where Jerrie would just read the first part of the sentence and decide that she already knew the answer.
E.g There ____ a bird on the branch. It has yellow feathers.
Straight after reading "a bird", Jerrie went for "is" as her answer, without realising that there was more story at the end of the sentence.
To avoid this kind of mistakes, help the kid to inculcate the habit of reading the full sentence before choosing an answer.
E.g There ____ a bird on the branch. It has yellow feathers.
Straight after reading "a bird", Jerrie went for "is" as her answer, without realising that there was more story at the end of the sentence.
To avoid this kind of mistakes, help the kid to inculcate the habit of reading the full sentence before choosing an answer.
Tip 10: Word Arrangement Caution
Arranging jumbled words to form a proper sentence is often not a big deal for P1 kids. But one caution: make sure that they can remember to finish off the sentence with either a full-stop or question mark.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tip 9: Mind Mapping in Tackling Comprehension
I learned about the method of mind-mapping when I was looking for ways to help Jerrie improve her comprehending skills. I don't know fully the mechanics of it, but what was taught to her has helped her tremendously.
1) Tell them mindmapping is about drawing pictures for what they read and understand about the passage. And it's a method that will help them understand and remember the story better.
2) Start with drawing pictures on paper and tell them to imagine that the paper is their brain, and they have to put those pictures in their brain. Let them see how on paper each picture is connected to other pictures.
3) Then progress to help them form pictures in their mind. Starting can be slow but as they practise more, they would be able to do it faster and more naturally.
By the time they have to tackle the questions, they would have established in their mind a colourful picture of the story that would help them answer more confidently and accuratley.
1) Tell them mindmapping is about drawing pictures for what they read and understand about the passage. And it's a method that will help them understand and remember the story better.
2) Start with drawing pictures on paper and tell them to imagine that the paper is their brain, and they have to put those pictures in their brain. Let them see how on paper each picture is connected to other pictures.
3) Then progress to help them form pictures in their mind. Starting can be slow but as they practise more, they would be able to do it faster and more naturally.
By the time they have to tackle the questions, they would have established in their mind a colourful picture of the story that would help them answer more confidently and accuratley.
Tip 8: Pitfalls in Answering Comprehension Questions
Comprehension questions are very new to P1 students, when answering them, there's a tendency to lift answers straight partly from the question and partly from the given passage. Here are a few very common pitfalls that kids encounter:
1) Using the correct tense when answering the question.
E.g When did she eat the ice-cream?
Without thinking much about grammar, some kids may give their answer as "She eat (or eats) the ice-cream after dinner time.", when they should write "She ate the ice-cream after dinner time."
Bring words like "did" to their attention and remind them repeatedly that answers have to be provided in the tense required.
2) Looking out for singular or plural use of verbs
E.g Whom does she like?
Following closely how the question is asked, kids may quickly write their answer as "She like Mary.", when it should be "She likes Mary".
Remind them as much as possible to be careful about the verbs with and without "s" and use them correctly when doing comprehension questions.
3) Lifting answers from passage
Kids sometimes think that as along as they have found the answer in the passage and reproduce it in the answer, how it is given is not important.
E.g Where did she go?
Some kids may lift the entire sentence from the passage and write "She went to to the market with her mother.", when only "She went to the market." is expected.
Teach them to answer intelligently; tell them comprehension is not about copying sentences from the passage but really understanding what is required and answering what is required.
Reiterate by giving this example to your kid: When I ask you, "What's your name", you will answer "My name is Jerrie.", and there is no need to say "My name is Jerrie and I like to play the piano."
1) Using the correct tense when answering the question.
E.g When did she eat the ice-cream?
Without thinking much about grammar, some kids may give their answer as "She eat (or eats) the ice-cream after dinner time.", when they should write "She ate the ice-cream after dinner time."
Bring words like "did" to their attention and remind them repeatedly that answers have to be provided in the tense required.
2) Looking out for singular or plural use of verbs
E.g Whom does she like?
Following closely how the question is asked, kids may quickly write their answer as "She like Mary.", when it should be "She likes Mary".
Remind them as much as possible to be careful about the verbs with and without "s" and use them correctly when doing comprehension questions.
3) Lifting answers from passage
Kids sometimes think that as along as they have found the answer in the passage and reproduce it in the answer, how it is given is not important.
E.g Where did she go?
Some kids may lift the entire sentence from the passage and write "She went to to the market with her mother.", when only "She went to the market." is expected.
Teach them to answer intelligently; tell them comprehension is not about copying sentences from the passage but really understanding what is required and answering what is required.
Reiterate by giving this example to your kid: When I ask you, "What's your name", you will answer "My name is Jerrie.", and there is no need to say "My name is Jerrie and I like to play the piano."
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tip 7: Writing English Expressions for First Timers
For P1 students, learning how to write short stories with 5 to 10 sentences with a given picture can be a challenge. It is not always easy to explain to them the importance of having a good opening for the story, enough body, and a proper ending.
I had to reinforce "a few rules" via repetitive reminders and practice for Jerrie:
1) story opening: Tell people where the place and main story the picture is showing. Make it interesting enough. These tips were proven to be effective when she improved her writing from "This is a park.", to "There are many children in the park." to "It''s a windy day. There are many people in the park."
2) story body: we should have about 5-8 sentences for this. Make story sound interesting by varying the start of each sentence. For instance, avoid using the same kind of sentences all the time, "Three children are ....", "Two children are..." "One girl is..." and try to write differently each time, "Two girls are...", "It is strange to see a few children....", "A few boys are..."There are many...." Also, always be mindful to be consistent in tense, i.e, if it's narrated in the past tense, use past tense from the beginning to the end, and if it's present tense, use present tense throughout the story.
3) story ending: Give it a nice wrap up, example "The children enjoy themselves very much", "It is a wonderful day for the children."
Key take-away: For children who are neither avid readers nor natural writers, guides and tips on "do's" and "dont's" and lots of practice can be very helpful.
I had to reinforce "a few rules" via repetitive reminders and practice for Jerrie:
1) story opening: Tell people where the place and main story the picture is showing. Make it interesting enough. These tips were proven to be effective when she improved her writing from "This is a park.", to "There are many children in the park." to "It''s a windy day. There are many people in the park."
2) story body: we should have about 5-8 sentences for this. Make story sound interesting by varying the start of each sentence. For instance, avoid using the same kind of sentences all the time, "Three children are ....", "Two children are..." "One girl is..." and try to write differently each time, "Two girls are...", "It is strange to see a few children....", "A few boys are..."There are many...." Also, always be mindful to be consistent in tense, i.e, if it's narrated in the past tense, use past tense from the beginning to the end, and if it's present tense, use present tense throughout the story.
3) story ending: Give it a nice wrap up, example "The children enjoy themselves very much", "It is a wonderful day for the children."
Key take-away: For children who are neither avid readers nor natural writers, guides and tips on "do's" and "dont's" and lots of practice can be very helpful.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tip 6: Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are words - "this, that, these, those". P1 kids are expected to know how to use each of the words correctly.
Jerrie took quite a few months to get the meanings of these four words engrained in her memory. When tested, she can now confidently explain them this way:
"this" is used to refer to "one item/person" and it is "right here"
"that" is also used to refer to "one item/person" and it is "over there"
"these" is used to refer to "more than one item/person" and it is "right here"
"those" is also used to refer to "more than one item/person" and it is "over there"
Jerrie took quite a few months to get the meanings of these four words engrained in her memory. When tested, she can now confidently explain them this way:
"this" is used to refer to "one item/person" and it is "right here"
"that" is also used to refer to "one item/person" and it is "over there"
"these" is used to refer to "more than one item/person" and it is "right here"
"those" is also used to refer to "more than one item/person" and it is "over there"
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tip 5: Young of Animals
Another list of names to refer to the young of animals which P1 children have to know:
1) young of goat is kid
2) young of goose is gosling
3) young of dog is puppy
4) young of cat is kitten
5) young of chicken is chick
6) young of horse is foal
7) young of tiger is cub
8) young of deer is fawn
9) young of cow is calf
10) young of duck is duckling
11) young of pig is piglet
1) young of goat is kid
2) young of goose is gosling
3) young of dog is puppy
4) young of cat is kitten
5) young of chicken is chick
6) young of horse is foal
7) young of tiger is cub
8) young of deer is fawn
9) young of cow is calf
10) young of duck is duckling
11) young of pig is piglet
Tip 4: Sounds Made by Animals
P1 students would be required to know the sounds made by these animals/things:
1) parrot squawks
2) cat purrs
3) dog barks
4) elephant trumpets
5) cow moos
6) donkey neighs
7) lion roars
8) monkey chatters
9) door creaks
10) wind howls
11) thunder roars
12) rain patters
13) teeth chatter
14) snake hisses
15) mouse squeaks
16) hen clucks
17) sheep bleats
18) bird chirps
19) pig grunts
1) parrot squawks
2) cat purrs
3) dog barks
4) elephant trumpets
5) cow moos
6) donkey neighs
7) lion roars
8) monkey chatters
9) door creaks
10) wind howls
11) thunder roars
12) rain patters
13) teeth chatter
14) snake hisses
15) mouse squeaks
16) hen clucks
17) sheep bleats
18) bird chirps
19) pig grunts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tip 3: Names of Places Animals Live
This is a list of "must-knows" on names of living places for animals that I have compiled for my P1 daughter Jerrie while I was coaching her.
1) pig lives in a sty
2) dog lives in a kennel
3) bee lives in a hive
4) bird lives in a nest
5) snail lives in a shell
6) spider lives in a web
7) rabbit lives in a burrow
1) pig lives in a sty
2) dog lives in a kennel
3) bee lives in a hive
4) bird lives in a nest
5) snail lives in a shell
6) spider lives in a web
7) rabbit lives in a burrow
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tip 2: Collective Nouns for P1
Here's a short list of collective nouns which will suffice for P1 pupils in Singapore.
1) A flock of birds
2) A swarm of bees
3) A pride of tigers
4) An army of ants
5) A pack of wolves
6) A bunch of bananas
7) A shoal of fish
8) A herb of cows
1) A flock of birds
2) A swarm of bees
3) A pride of tigers
4) An army of ants
5) A pack of wolves
6) A bunch of bananas
7) A shoal of fish
8) A herb of cows
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tip 1: Terms for Relationship
Terming relationships like "uncle, auntie, cousin, niece, nephew, mother's brother, aunt's husband, father's mother, mother's mother" can be complicated for kids, especially when the children here in Singapore call practically every adult women and men, regardless of age or relations, "aunties" and "uncles"! Hence, revealing to them that there are special names in relations can prove be quite a pain for them.
What I have and found to be effective in helping them to grasp these concepts: Make use of real people whom they know in their lives and make them refer to them, so, when asking "who's your mother's mother?", they have to first place her mother (me) in their brain, then think about whom I call mother", and the answer would be "grandmother"! Another example, for "aunt's husband", they need to first picture an aunt, and think about who their husband is, and how they call this person - "uncle".
Using real life references help.
What I have and found to be effective in helping them to grasp these concepts: Make use of real people whom they know in their lives and make them refer to them, so, when asking "who's your mother's mother?", they have to first place her mother (me) in their brain, then think about whom I call mother", and the answer would be "grandmother"! Another example, for "aunt's husband", they need to first picture an aunt, and think about who their husband is, and how they call this person - "uncle".
Using real life references help.
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