Writing a

composition
Five steps to writing a
good composition

1. Look at the picture given/

Understand the topic.
2. Think of your own
experience
3. Plan your composition
4. Write your composition
5. Check your composition
Step 1: Look at the
picture
Ifa picture is given, look at it
and try to understand the
picture.
Step 1: Understand the
topic
Ifno picture is given to you but
only the topic, look at it and try
to understand what you are
asked to write about.

Topic: A flag – lowering

ceremony

Based on the topic, you are

asked to write about something
that happened during a flag –
Step 2: Think of your
own experience
Have something similar to
the picture happened to you
before?
What happened
When it happened
Who did what?
How was the
problem solved?

Step 3: Plan your
composition

Use a writing plan.

(Writing plan on the next slide)
Writing plan
(blank)
Setting
(Where did it take
Characters Introductio
place?) (Who are the n
(When did it take characters?)
place?)

Body
(What happened in the
story?)
(What was the problem?)

Ending
(How was the problem
solved?)
(What happened in the
end?)
Writing plan (with
answers)
Setting Characters
(Where did it take (Who are the
place?) Parade square Introductio
characters?)
(When did it take The lower primary n
place?) pupils
Flag – lowering
ceremony

Body
(What happened in the story?)
Tom was distracted by a bird. He told his friend, Jim, to look
at it.
(What was the problem?)
They did not sing the National Anthem.

Ending
(How was the problem solved?)
They were caught by the Discipline Master and were
punished.
(What happened in the end?)
They promised to show respect by singing the National
Anthem and not to be distracted again.
Step 4: Write your
composition
– Introduction
Write the introduction first.
This part of your composition
gives your reader some ideas
of what your composition is
about.
You can write about the
setting and introduce the
characters of your
composition here.
Step 4: Write your
composition
- Introduction
Sample introduction:

It was a fine Friday evening,

everyone in the Lower
Primary level was getting
ready for the flag – lowering
ceremony. Everyone was very
eager to go home to enjoy
their weekend.
Step 4: Write your
composition
– Body
This part of your composition
is where you elaborate and
tell your reader more
information of the problem.
You can try to use more
adjectives here.
Step 4: Write your
composition
– Body
Sample ‘Body of the story’:

Soon, Mr Tan gave the command and

everybody stood at attention to get
ready to begin the ceremony. While
they were singing the anthem, Tom
saw a bird flying above him. The bird
was flying to its nest on a tree beside
him. He quickly tapped John on the
shoulder. John was standing in front of
him. John looked up and saw the bird
too. The excited boys started to talk
about the bird. Their noisy discussion
soon caught Mr Tan’s attention.
Step 4: Write your
composition
– Ending

This part of your composition

tells your reader what
happened in the end and it
closes your story.
Step 4: Write your
composition
Sample–‘Ending’:
Ending

Mr Tan immediately stopped the

boys from talking. After the
National Anthem, he explained
to them that it was not
respectful to talk during the
National Anthem. He punished
them by asking them to sing the
anthem again. The boys were
sorry for their actions and
Step 5: Check your
composition
Read your composition and check for
mistakes.
Look out for these mistakes:
- spelling
- punctuation (commas, full stops and
capital letters for proper nouns)
- tenses
(If you are writing something that has
already happened, you should use
the
past tense.
Use present tense only if you are
writing
Final Composition
It was a fine Friday evening, everyone in the
Lower Primary level was getting ready for the flag –
lowering ceremony. Everyone was very eager to go
home to enjoy their weekend.

Soon, Mr Tan gave the command and

everybody stood at attention to get ready to begin the
ceremony. While they were singing the anthem, Tom
saw a bird flying above him. The bird was flying to its
nest on a tree beside him. He quickly tapped John on
the shoulder. John was standing in front of him. John
looked up and saw the bird too. The excited boys
started to talk about the bird. Their noisy discussion
soon caught Mr Tan’s attention.

Mr Tan immediately stopped the boys from

talking. After the National Anthem, he explained to
them that it was not respectful to talk during the