Have you heard? These pictures came out for 2024’s PSLE English Paper 1 (Continuous Writing) on 26 September 2024, with the topic “Trying Something New”.
To the delight of our 2024 TWC P6 students, this was a topic we covered with them in P5 and P6!
At TWC, to ensure our students are well-prepared for their exams, we focus on equipping them with the right skills, techniques and strategies to take on any composition topic. As we expose them to a wide range of topics, it is not surprising a similar topic appears in the PSLE English paper. When that happens, it is a bonus for our students!
Here’s our take on how we would teach our students to approach this topic with these three pictures.
HEAD Approach
Let’s break down the HEAD approach and see how our students use it to formulate a strong composition!
Highlight key words - a crucial first step that ensures students focus on answering the question accurately. Writing off topic is a costly mistake that will lead to a weak score, even if the plot and language are well executed.
For 2024’s topic, the key words would be ‘Trying’ and ‘New’. Together, these words prompt students that the ‘something’ must be brand new. In other words, it must be an activity the character is doing for the first time, not one they have done previously even if it was a long time ago.
Examine the prompting questions - these give clues regarding important points that students should cover in their story. For example, in TWC’s writing task on the same topic, the prompting questions were:
What did the character try for the first time?
What difficulties did the character encounter?
How did the character feel about the experience?
What did he/she learn?
When examining these questions, we can find several helpful hints regarding the plot. For example, we realise that we will need to introduce a difficulty or problem into the story. We should also write about the character’s emotions over the course of the story, and at the end, we should write about a lesson learnt. The prompting questions are thus important signposts for the story, and should be answered to ensure a well-considered exploration of the topic.
Analyse the pictures. The chosen picture must be meaningfully used; a passing mention of the picture is not sufficient. The picture should ideally be an integral part of the story, such that if it were to be removed, the story would not make sense any longer.
As such, students should carefully consider which picture would enable them to write a compelling story. This is a strategic decision that can have important consequences on the composition as a whole.
Let us look at the pictures given for 2024’s PSLE topic, ‘Trying Something New’: a CCA fair, a sandwich, and a tent. Which picture is the hardest to use for this topic?
For most students, it is the sandwich! It is challenging to write an engaging story involving eating or even making a particular kind of sandwich for the first time. A sandwich is a very common and static object that offers little scope for crafting an interesting plot that involves a problem, the character’s emotions, and a satisfying conclusion with meaningful reflections.
Students would be well advised to pick either the CCA fair picture or the tent picture, both of which offer potentially interesting scenarios for trying something new, with a clear setting provided and good plot points easier to achieve.
Develop plot and details. Finally, this is the stage when we start to plan out the plot with a five-point summary according to the parts of a story mountain.
As hinted in the prompting questions, students should not write a flat storyline just describing the process of trying a new activity. Rather, they should plan and write an exciting climax by including a difficulty or problem faced by the character, and describe how the character overcame it. Planning in accordance with the story mountain will ensure students write a composition with a strong and engaging plot, and this is the final step before beginning to write the story itself.
When students follow the HEAD approach, half the battle has already been won! They would have set themselves up to write a composition that keeps to the topic, answers the prompting questions, and uses the picture meaningfully, all with a strong and compelling plot. When students combine this with the writing techniques they have learnt with us, the end result is an engaging story that stands out from the crowd.
These expert tips were brought to you by our in-house Curriculum Team and Teaching Service Quality Team.
Experience Our Unmatched Curriculum
Looking for primary and secondary English and writing programmes that give your child the confidence to tackle any questions in their English papers? Find out more about our programmes to get your child exam-ready:
Early-Bird Promotion for 2025
Enjoy up to 5 free lessons (worth up to $475) when you join us in 2025. T&Cs apply.
Spots are limited! Enquire now to secure your child's spot.
Comments