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.