PSLE Paper 1

Composition | Last-
Minute Tips
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
C R E AT I V E W R I T I N G & C O M P O
Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all our Muslim friends! (: Time flies
and we are about 7 days away from the PSLE English paper
now. I would like to start by just telling all our Primary 6 children
and parents how great a job you have been doing this year and
to hang in there just a little longer! By this time, what is most
important is really to keep the children healthy and not too
tensed up. Hence, make sure that the children have ample
rest so that their brains can really function to their
optimal abilities!

I have decided to do this post to provide some last-minute tips

for composition writing. For situational writing, we have touched
on some common Q&A and the step-by-step procedure in the
previous posts. The following 3 tips for composition writing were
chosen not because they will deliver any sort of miracle or help
your child bump up 10 marks instantly. Bearing in mind
that compositions are marked holistically and every mark
counts, I feel that the tips below are possible for children
to try out during this intense period and may be able to
fine tune their compositions, even if it is by a wee bit.
Therefore, sit tight as here are the three last-minute tips that I
have for composition writing in Paper 1.

1. Balance is key.
The five parts of a composition: Introduction, Build-up,
Problem, Solution and Conclusion should be proportionate in
a composition. A good composition, to begin with, should
always have a balance.
For a composition with a typical structure as above, each part
should be quite equal in length to the others. It is fine if the
build-up or problem is slightly longer as those are the
exciting parts of a story that help to develop the given
theme. However, it is a big no-no for the introduction to take up
an entire page and for the problem to only take up three lines.
Having only three lines for an introduction is also problematic as
it does not help the readers to have a clear sense of the setting
and background of the story to draw them in. Each part should
therefore be sufficiently developed to achieve the role
which they are supposed to play.

Last minute application:

For the remaining compositions that your child is writing, make

it an effort to first check whether the composition is
balanced by marking out the paragraphs in the different
parts. This has helped open the eyes of some of my children
and allowed them to see very clearly which is the part that they
need to extend.

2. Tell it like you are there.

As mentioned earlier, an introduction helps provide the setting
and background to a story. In fact, it is so important to give your
readers a sense of where they are as they read your story that I
advise my children to describe each new setting in their
story. For instance, the story might have started in a restaurant
and the character ended up at the hospital. Readers should be
able to see themselves in the restaurant and at the hospital.

See. Hear. Smell.

How do you describe the setting then? There is no harm in
memorising chunks of description from model compositions.
However, at this point, to memorise a chunk will probably be
stressful. Hence, it will probably be more fun (hopefully!) and
less stressful if your child is given the freedom to describe
what they see, hear and smell at each setting. Using the five
senses to describe a setting is not new and the three senses that
we use most often are our sense of sight, smell and
hearing. This comes in useful when the children are unable
to remember what they have memorised for a particular
setting or have thought of a great idea that requires a
setting that they have not used often. In addition, I am sure
the marker will find a description that is really based on
the child's experience to be something refreshing.

For instance, one of my pupils who was unsure of how to craft

her introduction for quite a while, recently decided to take this
approach and came up with a few main points for her setting.
Together, we came up with: (Can you guess where her setting
was at?)
See: A waitress, neatly dressed in a traditional Cheongsum that
was immaculately woven with silk, *led us to our table* with a
big smile on her face. At the corner of the eighty-seater
restaurant stood a large tank with big, fat groupers which were
unaware of their fate.

Hear: Porcelain utensils and bowls with golden flower motifs

went "Clink!" softly as waitresses cleaned and set up the tables
at top speed for the hungry diners who were next in the queue.

Smell: The heavenly aroma of roast duck wafted into my

nostrils, making me salivate instantly. *As I lay the crisp and
white napkin on my lap, my stomach gave a loud complain. I was
ready for dinner.*

If your answer is an expensive Chinese restaurant, the

description above has done its job in pulling you into the
setting.

Not all three senses need to be used and sometimes,

using what you see and what you hear can be enough.
What is important is that the child must remember to weave
the character into the setting (as marked with ** in the
example above) so that the description does not seem disjointed
from other important details in the paragraph such as the "who"
and "when".
Last minute application tip:

Play a relaxing game of describing the following settings with

your children when they take a breather. Let your child practise
writing out some descriptions and let them know that during the
examination, they can always do this if they really are unsure of
where to start. Some interesting settings may be:

1. restaurants (consider different cuisines?)

2. supermarkets or convenience stores
3. a bus stop
4. a park
5. a classroom or a corner of the school
6. a bedroom (What is the personality of its owner?)

Always consider first whether these places are supposed to be

crowded or quiet, depending on your storyline. (e.g. a picnic at a
park will be different form a robber at a park)

3. Some helpful, flexible vocabulary

for every composition.

Although we said that by this time, packing in long descriptive

phrases may be a challenge, reading up on some flexible
vocabulary that can be used for EVERY (if not most) composition
may not be a bad thing. Having one or two alternatives to the
usual words and expressions helps to add variety. Here is a list
for 5 type of words or situations that can be used in almost
every piece of writing. Your child may pick and choose the ones
which he or she feels are easier to remember and there should
really be no pressure to remember all of them.
Last minute application tip:
Try picking out about 2 words per category to apply. Remember
that it is important for the spelling to be accurate, on top them
being used in a grammatically sound manner. I love getting my
children to draw out phrases that they need to remember and
some of these certain are easy to imagine (e.g. like an arrow
from a bow) so draw away! It might be therapeutic for some of
your children too (: