Tutor My Tution Haven: P5/P6 English Tips

[My Tuition Haven]

Hi,


I was an ex-Primary school teacher who specialized in teaching PSLE English. Being a mum of two young children and a part-time private tutor, I enjoy discussing with other parents about the Singapore education system and sharing tips.

I thought it would be nice to share with other parents here some of my tips. Please do take note that these tips are from MY own personal experiences, working to improve my students' marks. They are by no means a foolproof method in increasing a student's grades. These are just tips.

Tip 1
Vocabulary.
Having a large vocabulary is extremely useful in all exam components - Writing/ Oral / and Vocab MCQ as well as Cloze/ Cloze passage

As I am a 'fan' of past year papers (as my P6 students last yr happily found out during their PSLE, that passages are sometimes 'recycled'), i take vocabulary words from those papers and create my lists. These lists are then given to my students on a weekly basis and they are tested the following week.
These lists are easy to make - parents or your child's tutor can do it at home and are a great help during the PSLE year.

This is an example below taken from RGPS Prelim 2011. RGPS is 'notorious' for their challenging Vocab sections, though Pei Chun's Prelim this yr was the hardest among all the 2011 papers.

Vocabulary List
P 6 RGPS Prelim 2011
1) appalled – shocked
2) disenchanted – not happy/ satisfied about something anymore
3) stoic – showing no emotion (when something bad is happening)
4) ad hoc – a) made or done without planning
\t\tb) formed/used for a special purpose
5) random – chosen/done without a particular plan/pattern
6) pragmatic – dealing with problems in a reasonable and logical way
7) idealistic – attitude of a person who believes that it is possible to live according to high standards of behaviour and honesty
elucidate – to make something that is hard to understand, clear and easy to understand
9) extradite – to send a person accused of a crime to another country for trial
10) daunted – to make someone afraid / less confident
11) exhilarated - to feel very happy and excited
12) concerted – done in a planned and deliberate way by many people
13) grave – critical
14) ecstatic – exuberant
15) shimmers – glistens
16) mirroring – mimicking
17) flaps - flutters

Next tip : Composition Writing

[Lbetter]

Hi


Do you mean that you extract these vocabulary from past years’ exam paper? Is there any vocabulary list from MOE for upper primary?

[My Tuition Haven]

Hi. Yes I take certain words from the Vocabulary MCQ and Vocabulary Cloze sections of the past years’ papers that i do with my students and create these lists. I feel that these words may come up again in other exam papers and are useful to file away and remember.


I believe that there are number of books for upper primary Vocabulary available at bookshops like Popular. However, personally, I prefer that I build the words and phrases with my students as we work together.

I hope that helps.

Thanks

[Lbetter]

You’re such a good teacher! I wish my DD could meet this kind of English in the near future.

[concern_mum]

Hi Yellow Belt,


My son english is weak, should i also forcus on the grammer? I am a bit lost at what i should forcus on when teaching english. Can i just let him do those top school past year english paper and forgo all the assessment book?

[My Tuition Haven]

Hi. It depends on which areas he is weak in. If it is grammar then it is good to get him to do grammar exercises (The MCQ ones, maybe from Longman) and at the same time have the Primary English book with him that explains the grammatical rules when he makes a mistake. He should try to memorise the rules.


If it is Comprehension Cloze and Comprehension OE, then practice makes perfect and the past year papers help. At the same time get him to read magazines such as Readers Digest and National Geographic.

If you can tell me which area he is weak in I can try to give you more tips. Thanks

[concern_mum]

thanks, i think i know what i should do now. he is weak in comprehension cloze and comprehension OE.

[hnghng]

My son P3 next year. Worry about his English. Just get 75% in P2 SA2.Weak in comprehension. Said can’t find the answer from the passage. How to help him. And he don’t like reading the story book. Please help.

[My Tuition Haven]

Hi. In lower primary, most of the comprehension answers can be found in the passage provided. Children should start from a young age to understand what they are reading. If he understands what the passage is about, then he will be able to answer the questions. Let him the read the comprehension passage on his own, then ask him questions about it. E.g. What is the first paragraph about? What do you think this sentence/word means? When you are satisfied with his answers, then he can attempt the questions. If you do this often, the child will learn to ask himself the questions as he reads the passage. It has worked with my P5/6 students.


As for reading books, it is essential that he starts to read magazines and books now as comprehension passages get more complex in upper primary. A suggestion would be to take him to a bookstore/library and let him choose materials that interest him. Have a half an hour reading time at home when he sits quietly and reads the material (magazine/book) that he has chosen. Then ask him casually about what the material is about so that you continue to encourage him to understand what he reads.

Hope my suggestions prove helpful to you in some way. Tks.

[cherubs]

Hi , how can I help my child who is weak in spelling, transformation ( under synthesis) and comprehension cloze?