Dear Sunshines,

Your EL Paper is over...

so *breathe* :)

After much anxiety and nere-wrecking lessons,
You're done!
I hope I have managed to soothe your anxieties despite my pressurising you as well to study, study, study! :)


If you have tried your best,
I'm sure all of you have done your best,
We'll just have faith and hope for the best ok?


I believe in you Sunshines!

For now, just focus on doing your best for the rest of the subjects you have yet to sit for ok?


ALL THE BEST AND MAY YOU SHINE IN YOUR N LEVELS!


*SMILES*

Time Management Advice

This is my general advice for time management:

For Paper One:

You have a total of 1 hour 40mins for Paper One.


Section One:

50 mins : 10 to 15 minutes planning your essay and 35 to 40 minutes writing it according to your planning/draft.

PLAN IN POINT FORM, not full sentences.

Section Two:

40minutes : 10 minutes planning & 30 minutes to write.

You would have used up 90minutes.

Always leave 10minutes to read through your essays again, check for tense errors, spelling errors and so on.



MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST 10MINUTES BEFORE THE PAPER ENDS TO CHECK YOUR PAPER SO YOU WILL HAND IT IN WITH PEACE OF MIND. :)
Avoid ending just in time to submit the paper.


PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN WATCHES TO BE ABLE TO CHECK YOUR TIME BETTER RATHER THAN RELYING ON THE CLOCK IN THE HALL. TRUST ME, HAVING YOUR OWN WATCH IS MUCH EASIER AND LESS FRIGHTENING.
JUST SET YOU WATCH TO THE SAME TIME AS THE CLOCK IN THE HALL. :)



Time Management for Paper Two:

1) Cloze Passage: 10 to 15 minutes

2) Comprehension Questions: 35 minutes

3) Summary Question: 30 to 40minutes

Ensure that you have at least 5 to 10minutes to CHECK THROUGH YOUR ANSWERS BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PAPER OR RETURN TO THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE SKIPPED EARLIER.



REMEMBER: Do NOT ponder over ONE question for too long. If you find it difficult, skip it FIRST and go on to other questions. Make Sure you return to the questions you have skipped once you've completed up to the SUMMARY question.



I'VE GIVEN MY BEST AND I'VE IMPARTED ALL THE SKILLS I COULD THINK OF WITH YOU.
PLEASE READ YOUR NOTES, THE SAMPLE ESSAYS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THE I HAVE GIVEN YOU.
THIS IS YOUR REAL PAPER FOR TOMORROW SO PLEASE GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, IF NOT YOUR FUTURE. :)



I will be praying for the best for each and every one of my sunshine.

I believe that you can do it but you need to believe in yourself too. :)


Have faith, have confidence,

step into the hall to win the battle of examinations.

Step out and tell me you have conquered the paper, not the paper conquering you! :)



Lots of Love,
Miss Sunshine

Revision on Paper One


Section One:

1) PLEASE avoid writing argumentative because generally, that's not your strength. Remember the 4 aspects that are crucial for argumentative ( logical reasoning/common sense points, quotes/information from books/authors, statistics from newspapers, life examples from newspapers or other sources to support your argument in an essay). It will not be an easy task! AVOID Argumentative essays.


2) Remember the OCCRC for NARRATIVES (Orientation, Complication, Climax, Resolution and the optional, Coda).
For narratives, write mainly in PAST TENSE!
Start immediately with the action as you introduce the characters at the same time.
Do not have too many characters in your narratives.
Do NOT use too much dialogues.


3) Personal Recount - something that you have personally experienced and you are recounting it so write in the PAST TENSE too.


4) Avoid attempting one-word essays because you're generally quite weak in it too.


You do not have to necessarily always use difficult or impressive words in your essay for Section One. You can keep it simple if you're unsure of using impressive words. The important thing is to make sure your essay is not out of point and you write in the correct way (tense usage, stages of a narrative).



DEADLY IMPORTANT:

REMEMBER TO WRITE THE ESSAY QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN ON YOUR FOOLSCAP PAPER on the left-side column! IF NOT, THE EXAMINER WILL TAKE IT THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN ESSAY TOPIC ONE.


Section 2:

1) PLEASE memorise your FORMAL LETTER, INFORMAL LETTER AND REPORT FORMATS!! KNOW IT BY HEART!!

Please read the sample model essays i have provided for you.

2)Remember:

ELABORATE on the bulleted points. You do not have to elaborate on ALL bulleted points. Read the bulleted points, think and ask yourself WHICH of these bulleted points will need more elaboration than the others? Try to elaborate on at least 3 out of 5 bulleted points in detail!


DO NOT FORGET the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION you need to include in your Section 2.
IT IS COMPULSORY to add your own information that's logical and related to the situation and this additional information should not fall under any of the bulleted points!


3) DO NOT USE DIALOGUES (NOT AT ALL) IN YOUR SECTION 2.

Come to me and ask me for explanation anytime tomorrow.



I WILL BE IN SCHOOL FROM 12PM ONWARDS AND AM PREPARED TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU TO CLEAR ANY DOUBTS YOU HAVE.
FIND ME AT THE STAFFROOM ANYTIME AFTER 12PM.

30MINUTES TO BE SET ASIDE FOR EACH STUDENT WHO SEEKS MY HELP TOMORROW.
SO TOMORROW, PLEASE GET ALL YOUR QUESTIONS FOR ME READY BECAUSE TOMORROW WILL SIMPLY BE CONSULTATION TIME TO CLEAR ANY DOUBTS YOU HAVE BEFORE YOU SIT FOR YOUR PAPER!



Lotsa love and prayers,
Miss Sunshine

A few more days to the REAL exam sunshines!


Yesterday was a learning outing with some of you only.
I really appreciate those who came down to revise EL with me and hope you've learnt or understood the aspects that you had doubts better now. :)

Thank you all 14 who came yesterday :)
Cheryl, Sarah, Shi Yan, Ayu, Muy Kim, Aaron, Ali, Husnul, Thahir, Leslie, Jin Siang, Roem, Zhi Keong, Irfan.
They were tested on the 3 formats of situational writing (Informal Letter, Formal Letter and Report).
Explanation on what elaborating on the bulleted points for Paper 1 Section 2 means.
Explanation on what ADDITIONAL information means for Paper 1 Section 2.
Comprehension Summary Skills and we went through BPGHS summary section together.
I hope you have had a better understanding? :)


Thank you for the hilarious moments, snapping photos and your bubbly, crazy talks amidst the revision. :)
However, we can improve on the noise level yeah? ;)
And Thank You for the magic tricks taught by Jin Siang and Husnul. :)
Thanks for all the disturbing magic tricks you boys did which left me wondering how did you manage to do all that.. hahaha!

Please don't forget to send me the pictures. Thank you!



This blog will be used for further revision and tips, advice and all ok?


I have some sample model essays to be shared amongst you.
Especially for the weaker ones,
please get the soft copy from me if you see me on msn anytime tonight or tomorrow and read through.
I have some instructions for you as you read the essays ok?


I will be in school on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I'm setting aside 30minutes individual session for these 2 days for those who'd like to meet me and ask me questions on Paper 1 or Paper 2.
We can go through papers and you can ask me on anything you're unsure of.
To cater to the whole class,
the approximate time for each sunshine is 30minutes to 1 hour if time permits.


If you feel you need the extra help, i'm going to be in school on Tuesday and Wednesday from 12pm onwards ok?


More things coming up on this blog!


So keep checking and update those who are not checking please!

I'm going to reinforce some important points to take note for your Paper One:

Section One:

1) Write MAINLY in the PAST TENSE

2) AVOID writing too much dialogue - you're NOT writing a script. You must show your ability to WRITE A STORY with BEAUTIFUL SENTENCES.

3) NAME ALL the characters in your story - try to have at least 2 to 3 characters and NOT more than that because you might confuse yourself as you write the story.

4) DO NOT end with "it was just a dream" or without a CLOSURE to your story by writing ".....".
5) If you want to use the flashback technique, ENSURE THAT YOU BRING THE CHARACTER BACK TO THE 'ORIGINAL' STATE WHEN YOU END YOU STORY. Please do NOT use this technique if you're unsure.

6)EVERY paragraph should not EXCEED 8 LINES. Start a new paragraph for a new character that appears or something new that happens. THAT IS WHY YOU NEED TO PLAN YOUR WORK!

7) Try to write between the word limit. DO NOT AIM FOR THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF WORDS OR EXCEED THE NUMBER OF WORDS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.


Section 2:

1) Identify ALL tasks -
what are you supposed to do for this section? Write a Report? Letter?
What type of information are you supposed to put into the paper?

PRIORITIZE the tasks: if there's more than one thing you should do in your paper, what are the MAIN/most important task and what follows next? - this refers to the BULLETED POINTS. Which bulleted point(s) would require you to prioritize? Which bulleted point would require more focus and elaboration?

2) Identify your audience -
WHO are you writing to?
Language and TONE must be appropriate. DO NOT write in unacceptable language, SINGLISH, or get too emotional in your writing. YOU MUST KNOW WHO YOU ARE WRITING TO.

For Letters,
Formal letters: You cannot use exclamation marks in your FORMAL WRITING.
You CAN use exclamation marks for INFORMAL LETTERS.
Understand?

For Report,
make sure you write WHAT YOU WITNESSED (what you saw exactly) and pen it down in a proper way using appropriate language.
PLEASE READ the samples given to you.

3) IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ADD IN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELEVANT TO YOUR LETTER OR REPORT BECAUSE MARKS WILL BE AWARDED FOR IT.
YOU MUST EXPAND AND ELABORATE ON THE 5 BULLETED POINTS BUT ALSO ADD IN EXTRA INFORMATION ON YOUR OWN WHICH SUITS THE TASK TO EARN MORE MARKS. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS.

4) Remember the 1 husband and 5 wives questions for section 2.





ALL IN ALL,

REMEMBER TO PLAN YOUR WRITING.
THOSE WHO WRITE ON THE SPOT WITHOUT PLANNING TEND TO GO OUT OF POINT OR WILL NOT WRITE IN A SMOOTH AND LINKED STYLE WHICH WILL COST YOU YOUR MARKS.


JUST TAKE 10 MINUTES TO PLAN IN POINT FORM THE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE ABOUT AND HOW THE FLOW IS GOING TO BE.


PLEASE PLAN!


All the best in your PRELIMS.
DO YOUR BEST.
This will measure your preparation for N Levels.

I will not be around after school from 12th to 25th August because i'm down for O levels invigilation.
:((((((
I'm feeling very very very worried about this.
We have to make sure every single period in school will be used well and not wasted on me trying to grab the attention of those who are talking and not paying attention ok?
Please make use of the blog to ask me questions.

All the best and Good Luck my dear Sunshines.
I'll always be praying for the best for you and I want to see all of you excel.


Love,
Miss Sunshine

4A1,

I just want to tell you how very proud I am of you for being able to identfy and answer most of the essay topics correctly when you were being tested during the mass lecture just now...

Kudos to the rest of the students from 4A2, 4A3 and 4A4 too if you managed to identify correctly! :)

To my 4A1,

you did well.. :)

I'm happy that you remembered the topics and found it familiar because i set you an assignment on it once remember? :)

Check your files.
I've returned your essays to you on this. :)

Love,
Miss NF

Look at the baby blues comic strip and spot the child's error.. :)



Next,

just read this and see the potential debater in the little girl..
Have a good laugh!



That's it!
Feel free to contribute your thoughts on the above 2 comic strips!

Love,
Miss sunshine