Workshops for Pupils
On-site workshop
Duration: 3.0 hours
Target audience: Upper Primary Pupils
1 PSLE Preparation Series: Narrative Writing, The CRT Way
- inform pupils the elements that make up Character accountability, Realism and Topic focus (CRT)
- show pupils how The CRT Way helps in the development of content in their stories.
- show pupils how they could better deliver the content of their stories through language and organisation.
2 PSLE Preparation Series: Situational Writing
- inform pupils what the structural and linguistic features of selected text types and text forms are.
- teach pupils how to use language appropriately and effectively to address audiences in different contexts for different purposes.
- show pupils how to construct functionally realistic texts that will help them score full marks in this component of the PSLE English Language Paper.
3 PSLE Preparation Series: Comprehension
- inform pupils what core comprehension strategies are and how each strategy helps in the comprehension of a text.
- teach pupils how to use metacognitive strategies to unpack an unseen text.
- show pupils how seemingly easy questions are to be read and answered.
4 PSLE Preparation Series: Synthesis and Transformation
- inform pupils what a sentence is and what sentence construction entails.
- share with pupils the underpinning grammatical rules that govern some commonly-assessed sentence structures.
- show pupils how they can apply their knowledge of grammar and grammatical rules to synthesise and transform sentences.
5 PSLE Preparation Series: Oral Examination
- inform pupils the nature and demands of each of the two components of the Oral Examination.
- show pupils how they can better manage each of the components through the use of a structural framework.
- demonstrate the techniques of holding a conversation and engaging the examiner in one.
Workshops for Teachers
School-based workshop
Duration: 3.0 hours
Target audience: Primary 4 to 6 teachers
1 Teaching Writing Right
Teachers often profess that they do not know how to teach writing right. Pupils moan that they do not know what to write and how to write. Genre theorists maintain that there must be explicit teaching of information and language in the classroom. Only when these emphases are in place will pupils be able to write effectively.
How do we explicitly teach information and language to pupils?
2 Teaching Situational Writing
Teachers need to know what and how authentic situational writing tasks can be designed for explicit instruction and to be able to plan appropriate contextualised follow-up writing practice in the classroom. They need to understand how the elements of a given situation and its context determine the selection and organisation of meaning in the delivery of an intended text.
3 Teaching Comprehension
Too many teachers believe that having pupils practise Comprehension is teaching Comprehension. Too many teachers, also, think that assessing Comprehension is teaching Comprehension. Consequently, there is a lack of explicit Comprehension instruction in the classroom because Comprehension practice and Comprehension assessment are mistakenly assumed to teach Comprehension.
How do we explicitly teach Comprehension to pupils?
4 Teaching Synthesis and Transformation
Contrary to popular belief, synthesis and transformation can be taught. This workshop offers insights into the fundamentals of sentence construction which is critical to synthesis and transformation. It aims to share with teachers how commonly-assessed structures can be managed when pupils have an informed knowledge of grammar and key grammatical rules, and taught their application.
5 First Aid in English Course
This workshop reinforces teachers' knowledge of grammar and syntax so that they can better manage their language use in the different aspects of written communication required in their professional work. It also demonstrates what simple and accurate writing is and how it is to be done to good effect with correct grammar and smooth sentence fluency.
Workshops for Parents
On-site workshop
Duration: 3.0hours
Target audience: Parents
1 Coaching Narrative Writing, The CRT Way
This workshop informs parents the elements of CRT for content development and for language and organisation and how these elements could be better managed to create more engaging and well-developed narratives.
2 Coaching Situational Writing
This workshop offers insights into the nature and demands of the different writing tasks called for in Situational Writing. It equips parents with the relevant know-how to help their children score full marks in this component with relative ease.
3 Coaching Comprehension
This workshop offers insights into what core comprehension strategies are and how they are used to unpack texts metacognitively. It informs parents of the different types of comprehension questions asked and how these questions are to be read and answered.
4 Coaching Synthesis and Transformation
This workshop offers insights into the fundamentals of sentence construction which is critical to synthesis and transformation. It aims to share with parents, too, how commonly-assessed structures can be managed with an informed knowledge of grammatical rules.
5 Coaching for Oral Examination
This workshop offers insights into the nature and demands of the two components of the examination, namely Reading Aloud and Stimulus based Conversation in the revised Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE ) EL papers. It aims to share with parents the relevant know-how to help their children score well in each component.
6 Think English is Easy?
This talk offers insights into the English Language curriculum taught in school today and how parents can better facilitate their children's English Language learning journey and guide them towards more satisfying results in the revised Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) EL papers.