Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. Integrity, the
Foundation. People, our Focus. Learning, our Passion. Excellence,
our Pursuit Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. A WARM
WELCOME TO ALL OUR PARENTS
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Teaching English in Bukit Panjang Primary School A Strong
Foundation for Rich Language & Life
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Overview Why change? What we want for our children Competencies
for a world in flux What is changing for the better? New ways to
teach and learn A revised syllabus & curriculum How will we
move to a new level? Aligning the teaching and assessment Education
for Life
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WHY change? The Child & The World
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What we want All children should enjoy learning English,
develop good language skills, be effective communicators and
lifelong learners.
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New skills for a changing world Need to prepare our children
for life and work in the 21st century Develop students to be
Effective communicators Confident, self-directed learners
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Key Messages April 2012 STELLAR Centre 21 st Century
Competencies Framework Core R3ICH values Respect Responsibility
Resilience Integrity Care Harmony Character and Citizenship
Education
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21 st Century Competencies The outer ring of the framework
represents the 21 st Century Competencies necessary for the
globalised world we live in. Civic literacy, global awareness and
cross-cultural skills Contribute to society and nation Develop a
broader worldview and ability to deal with diversity (culture,
ideas and perspectives). Critical and inventive thinking Think
critically, assess options and make sound decisions Explore and
think out of the box Information and communication skills Know what
questions to ask and extract what is relevant and useful. Be
discerning and adopt ethical practices in cyberspace.
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WHAT is changing for the better? New Ways to Teach & New
Ways to Learn
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Emphasis on Strengthening the foundation of language learning
Enriching the EL curriculum in our schools EL Syllabus 2010
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Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading Aims to
move EL learners towards independence using authentic texts and
learning activities that motivate and engage different learners
STELLAR
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The STELLAR Vision Children who love reading and have a strong
foundation in the English Language
Social Skills oral interaction among peers in non-threatening
situations working in partnership with other children turn-taking
& respect for others during class discussions STELLAR lessons
develop
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What is a lower primary STELLAR lesson like? 15 1.Shared
Reading Experiences 2. Shared Writing Experiences 3. Language Use
Activities in Learning Centres Children read a storybook with the
teacher and engage in discussion with teacher and peers. The
teacher prepares mini-lessons based on specific needs of children
to prepare them for reading & writing activities, e.g. grammar,
vocabulary, word recognition, decoding skills & spelling. The
teacher models writing using childrens language. Children engage in
writing together and writing independently.
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Making the Transition P1 - 3a P3b, 4-6 Learning to Read Reading
to Learn Shared Reading Silent Reading Big Books Range of Text
Types From Lower to Upper Primary
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What is an upper primary STELLAR lesson like? 17 Reading To
Learn Writing As Process Differentiated Instruction The teacher
modifies her teaching to cater to the specific needs of children to
build their language skills. The teacher models the writing
processes for different text types. Children engage in writing
together and writing independently. Teacher uses different
strategies to help children read and understand different types of
texts.
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What is getting better? Children will have more opportunities
to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills
using a wide variety of different types of texts.
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Rich Texts
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P4: Explanation
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P5: Information Report
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P6: Information Report
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P6: Narrative
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P6 EL: Argument
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Teaching Strategies
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Ways to Teach Reading for Understanding 26 Supported Reading
Retelling K-W-L K= what I Know W = what I Want to know L= what I
have Learnt
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a strategy where a passage is chunked into smaller parts to
help children to read opportunities to make predictions, read
silently, discuss ideas and difficult words Adapted from Guided
Reading (Fountas & Pinnell) 27 Reading for Understanding:
Supported Reading
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K= what I Know W= what I Want to know L= what I have Learnt
Ogle, Donna M. (1986). The Reading Teacher Reading for
Understanding : K-W-L A way to teach children how to read
information texts. Children brainstorm, ask questions and read a
text on their own to find out more about a topic.
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Brown, H. & Cambourne, B. (1987). Read and Retell.
Australia: Methuen Australia Reading for Understanding: Retelling A
reading comprehension strategy using thinking skills. Children
actively read to confirm their predictions and are given
opportunity to share their ideas about a passage. Read silently
Retell the story to a friend
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Adapted from work by Robert Graves, and Flower and Hayes A
step-by-step process where children learn to write as a class, in
groups and then independently. Planning - Writing - Reviewing
Teaching Writing: Writing Process Cycle Reading Passage ClassGroup
Canoe Diary Diary entry about a class trip JournalDiary of my trip
Example: Individual
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Different Ways to Teach passages Amount of support given tasks
Tomlinson, Carol A. (2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In
Mixed-Ability Classrooms Differentiated Instruction : Ways to cater
to the different learning needs of children.
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What is getting better? Children will enjoy learning and learn
better with the new EL curriculum that was implemented at P1 in
2010.
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HOW will we move to a new level? Aligning Teaching and
Assessment
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HOW will we move to a new level? Assessment is part of learning
and teaching. Children will be assessed on what they have been
taught.
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Assessment is part of the learning process, and must be closely
aligned with learning objectives, content and teaching. Both
school-based assessment and national examinations play important
and different roles in our education system. A balanced assessment
system should have both Assessment for Learning as well as
Assessment of Learning. Our Assessment Philosophy
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Aligning Teaching and Assessment Giving children greater scope
for their own interpretation and personal response in speaking and
writing Greater attention paid to viewing skills with listening and
reading
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Assessment Assessmentfor Primary 4 from 2013
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P4 Assessment EL Guided Writing EL Visual Text Comprehension EL
Listening Comprehension EL Oral Communication These are examples of
changes in assessment to give students greater scope for
interpretation and personal response.
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P4 Guided Writing: Picture Series Format similar to the 4-
picture composition but with the last frame left blank Scope for
different ways to end the story Questions and helping words
provided Write a story of at least 120 words based on the pictures
below. Give the story your own ending. You may use the words and
phrases in the box. You are encouraged to include other relevant
points to make your composition interesting. Consider the following
points when you plan your composition: -When and where did the
incident take place? -What happened before the incident? -Who was
the victim? -Why did the culprit decide to carry out the act? -How
was it done? -What happened in the end? Helping words: mobile phone
attractive recess time tempted reported the matter ordered a search
culprit ?
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P4 Guided Writing: Scope for different ways to sequence ideas
and develop a storyline Questions and helping words provided Option
for students to base their writing on one, two or all three
pictures.
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P4 Visual Text Comprehension: Text whichincludesvisuals Viewing
skillsused whenreading Multiple-choicequestions
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P4 Listening Comprehension: Show understanding by using
listening and viewing skills ( )
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P4 Oral Communication: Use of a visual to focus on a familiar
topic To be engaged in a conversation
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Assessment Assessmentfor Primary 5 from 2014 Primary 6 from
2015
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Giving children greater scope for their own interpretation and
personal response in speaking and writing Greater attention paid to
viewing skills with listening and reading Aligning Teaching and
Assessment
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P6 Assessment P6 Assessment Revised Items EL Continuous Writing
EL Visual Text Comprehension EL Listening Comprehension EL Oral
Communication Viewing of PSLE specimen items via visualiser
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P6 Assessment P6 Assessment Revised Items FEL Continuous
Writing FEL Comprehension FEL Listening Comprehension FEL Oral
Communication Viewing of PSLE specimen items via visualiser
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. STANDARD ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ~ EXAMINATION FORMAT PAPERCOMPONENTMARKSWEIGHTINGDURATION
1 Situational Writing ------------------------ Continuous Writing
5527.5%1 hr 10 min 2 Language Use and Comprehension 9547.5%1 hr 50
min 3Listening Comprehension2010%About 35 min 4Oral
Communication3015% About 11 min (5 min preparation time; about 6
min examination time) Total200100%
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. FOUNDATION ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ~ EXAMINATION FORMAT PAPERCOMPONENTMARKSWEIGHTINGDURATION
1 Situational Writing ------------------------ Continuous Writing
4026.7%1 hr 10 min 2 Language Use and Comprehension 6040%1 hr 20
min 3 Listening Comprehension 2013.3%About 35 min 4Oral
Communication3020% About 10 min (5 min preparation time; about 5
min examination time) Total200100%
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. Consists of 2
parts: Situational Writing Continuous Writing Tomlinson, Carol A.
(2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability
Classrooms P5 EL/FEL Writing ~ Paper 1
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL Writing ~
Paper 1 Part 1 (Situational Writing): Candidates will be required
to meet the demands of a given situational context. Part 2
(Continuous Writing): Candidates will be required to write a
composition of at least 150 words on one of two given topics: a
piece of narrative writing based on a pictorial stimulus or an
account of a given situation.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL Paper 1:
Continuous Writing (40m) One topic, but with greater scope for
writing from different perspectives Visuals to provide ideas for
various perspectives Flexibility for candidates to write in any
appropriate text type, in continuous prose Assessment is on writing
skills, not on text type
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5FEL Writing ~
Paper 1 Part 1 (Situational Writing): Candidates will be required
to write a short functional piece (e.g. a letter or an email) to
suit the purpose, audience and context of a given situation. Part 2
(Continuous Writing): Candidates will be required to write a
composition of at least 120 words in continuous prose based on a
series of pictures.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5FEL Paper 1:
Continuous Writing (30m) Slight modification to the item 4 frames
instead of 3 1 st frame picture and helping words 2 nd frame
picture and helping words 3 rd frame picture and helping words 4 th
frame a question mark
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL / FEL Language
Use and Comprehension ~ Paper 2 Candidates will be assessed on
their ability to use language correctly and to comprehend graphic
and textual information. Visual Text Comprehension new component of
Paper 2 A merging of Graphic Stimulus and Comprehension MCQ
Comprehension O-E Varied question types with mark allocation
ranging from 1 to 4 per question
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL Listening
Comprehension ~ Paper 3 Not a common paper with Foundation English
Paper This paper comprises 20 multiple-choice questions which test
candidates ability to understand spoken English. The texts may be
in the form of news items, announcements, advertisements,
instructions, conversations, telephone conversations, speeches and
stories. Graphic representations will be used for the first seven
items. Each text will be read twice. Time will be given for pupils
to read the questions before each text is heard; options will not
be read out.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5FEL Listening
Comprehension ~ Paper 3 Not a common paper with Standard English
Paper This paper comprises 20 multiple-choice questions which test
candidates ability to understand spoken English. Graphic
Representations will be used for the first six items. The texts may
be in the form of announcements, advertisements, instructions,
explanations, conversations, speeches and stories. Time will be
given for pupils to read the questions before each text is heard;
options will not be read out.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL / FEL Oral
Communication ~ Paper 4 Candidates are assessed on their ability to
pronounce and articulate words clearly, as well as their ability to
read fluently with appropriate expression and rhythm. For
Stimulus-based Conversation, candidates are assessed on their
ability to give a personal response to a visual stimulus and engage
in a conversation on a relevant topic.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. P5EL / FEL Reading
Aloud & Stimulus-based Conversation ~ Paper 4 No change
Stimulus-based Conversation A merging of Picture Discussion and
Conversation The themes in the topics under this section will be
broadly linked to those in the reading passage
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. EL ASSESSMENT
CRITERIA - information for parents EL FEL
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Timeframe Teachers will have adequate time to prepare children.
First year of revised P6 examination: 2015
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In Summary: Your child will benefit from changes to the way
English is taught. Assessment changes are aligned with teaching.
Teachers will have ample time to prepare your child for these
changes.
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Copyright Ministry of Education, Singapore. STELLAR strategies
daily lessons in EL curriculum Teacher-prepared exercises to
supplement resources ICT-infused lessons Revision practices EL
activities in and around school Ask n Learn portal
http://www.bukitpanjangpri.moe.edu.sg/
http://www.bukitpanjangpri.moe.edu.sg/
http://lms.asknlearn.com/BPPS/web/startpage/I ndex.aspx
http://lms.asknlearn.com/BPPS/web/startpage/I ndex.aspx
http://www.stellarliteracy.sg/ How are we preparing our
pupils?
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Enriched Education For Life
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