CREATIVE WRITING

Primary school students face many challenges when it comes to the fast-paced nature of English writing in class. I Know English at Jurong aims to help alleviate that challenge with fun, creative and practical ways to improve writing. 
A Typical Day in Class
1st. 5 minutes: Children first line up outside the classroom and are ushered in by the teacher where they will be seated and take out their homework.

2nd. 15-20 Minutes: Students get a chance to discuss their homework with the teacher. The teacher encourages the students to ask questions or instructs the students on how to overcome mistakes made or evaluate if the student still doesn't fully understand the concepts presented. While the teacher helps others students finish any incomplete work or write in their daily journal.
3rd. 10 Minutes: Students do a quick review of the previous weeks learning points. They are assisted by the teacher if necessary.
4th. 10-20 Minutes: Students are introduced to a topic and its relevant vocabulary. Students are encouraged to ask questions and discuss what they know about the topic. From that point the teacher instructs the students on grammar, punctuation and comprehension depending on which order is most appropriate for the topic.

5th. 20-30 Minutes: Students plan and engage in developing a piece of writing and use the most appropriate structure to deliver the topic based on corresponding grammar, punctuation and understanding learned earlier in the lesson.  

6th. 5 Minutes: Students finish the class with a review of what was learned followed by packing up and lining up at the door to salute each other and the teacher.
Skills To Learn
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  • Creative Writing/Thinking: Students will learn how to think beyond the ordinary but also understand when their thoughts for writing are beyond creative and heading toward being unreasonable. 

  • Proper Tenses: Students will develop a strong understanding of how to establish tense from the beginning of their writing to be able to edit at later stages. 

  • Paragraph Structure: Students will progress toward writing proper paragraphs which include a topic sentence followed by details and finally a conclusion or transition sentence.

  • Punctuation: Students will explore and master the use of punctuation through teacher evaluation and observation of students' works. Direct instruction will be given individual as well as in a whole-class setting with multiple opportunities for students to show their learning.  

  • Detail-oriented Compositions: The best compositions use a natural voice full of adjectives, adverbs and a variety of literary devices: idioms, phrasal verbs, adverbial phrases and many more.

  • Logical Thought Sequences: Through studying daily routines, life cycles and other chronological events students can learn to master the sequential thought processes and not "jump around" from one idea to the next. We can show them how.