Spelling Lists for Semester 2 Week 16

A touch of the whimsical is a lovely way
to start the day.   :)

A Composition A Week

Hero to the Rescue!

‘Yay! It’s finally two o’clock in the afternoon!’ I shouted happily. I had stayed back to do my work. On the surface, I was working diligently. But the truth was that I was waiting for the notorious bullies to leave. Finally the coast was clear.

The notorious bullies had been extorting money from me to buy cigarettes. When I reached my void deck, my heart sank. The notorious bullies, Jack and James, were infamous for their bad deeds. Today, they were waiting for me to show up. I was about to run away when they spotted me.

‘Hey Shortie! Do not even think of escaping!’ they yelled while running towards me. They managed to catch me after a while. ‘I’m penniless!’ I said. Jack replied, with his fist up, ‘Really? You better pay up! NOW!’ I then closed my eyes, hoping for the best as his fist aimed for my face.

After three intense seconds, I opened my eyes and saw Tom, the strongest boy in the class. Tom was a transfer student from Hwa Chong Primary School. It turned out that he was passing by. After seeing Tom, Jack and James ran away like the hounds of hell were chasing after them.

I thanked Tom and asked him to be my friend as everyone was scared of him and did not want to be his friend. Tom then asked whether I wanted to go to his house and play Battlefield 3 on his brand new Playstation 3. I then called my mum and asked her if she would allow me to go to Tom’s house. She agreed and I followed Tom back to his house. That afternoon, Tom treated me to snacks and when I had to leave to go for  my tuition, he even got his father to send me. On the way there, I wondered, ‘Tom is a really good friend. But why no one wants to be his friend?’

Remy Lew (P4)

Catholic High

Writing & Giving Speeches

It's an oft-heard complaint that our education system emphasises too much on written tests and tends to neglect the oratorical skills of our children.


Many a times I've heard ex-colleagues and old friends from school who are still in the corporate world talk about how the eloquent get ahead in the rat race because, let's face it, out there in the real world form is as important as substance. If you look and sound impressive, you've got a head start.


Hence the latest MOE syllabus for secondary school English includes speech-writing and public speaking as core skills that pupils should pick up.


In the same spirit, I've got our Secondary 2 and Secondary 3 pupils to prepare and give a 3-minute speech. Some took it earnestly and prepared a polished speech whilst others were more light-hearted and injected some impromptu humour into their presentations. I am fine with either approach as long as the pupils learn something and have a chance to practise their public-speaking skills.


The theme for the speeches: The Singaporean Identity. The pupils were free to pick any topic that touches on Singaporean culture, psyche, way of life, etc.


Their efforts have been captured on film for the reader's pleasure and the students' viewing so that they could observe themselves on camera and see how they could improve their presentations.


So lights out, curtain up and drum rolls please...

Spelling Lists for Semester 2 Week 15

Advanced Composition

1. Hordes of shoppers thronged the attractively-lit and -decorated shops.
2. muzak
3. wandered aimlessly
4. a sweet temptation
5. It seemed only the victim was unaware of his impending fate.
6. guilt-stricken
7. instinctively
8. fretted



Intermediate Composition

1. indifferent
2. deliberately
3. A wave of fury swept over him.
4. clenched his fists
5. bellowed
6. abruptly
7. inconsiderate
8. tirade

Cookies For A Third Time by Grace Song

Here is the last instalment of the Cookies series:

More Cookies by Tan Wen Xin

I was supposed to put up a composition a week on this blog but procrastination and some health issues got in the way of the schedule and the truth of the matter is that I'm very bad when it comes to keeping to a schedule. Also, there are times when there are no outstanding pieces that speak to me.


To make up for the drought, I'll be putting up more compositions this week.


I'm able to put up more compositions this week because the pupils did a great job last week and there were quite a few pieces that I found satisfactory. Good work should be published, right?


Now, please sit back and enjoy the second instalment of Cookies.

'Cookies' - Teo Yee Shuen

The children did some pretty good in the Writing classes the previous week so I thought I would share some of the better pieces.