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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
