PSLE.
The past 6 years of formal education prepared our children for this. DD1 said she only had 5 years of preparation because she totally wasted her P5 year (last year) by not trying at all. Though that boat has long sailed, a mother's best moment is when her child is able to self-reflect to enable herself to move forward towards greater things.
Much has been said with regards to the preparation for the PSLE Oral Examinations that will commence tomorrow. Many service providers have selflessly shared their tips and fantastic guidelines to all parents here, in KiasuParents.
The time has finally arrived. This, is it folks. The real deal.
In the spirit of sharing, I have some juice about how the marking criterias could be like. As with all examinations, apart from preparations and the actual performance, there is also this important thing called *grading*. Disclaimer : This is not to be deemed as the ultimate marking criteria but a mere gauge how your child may be scored for their oral examinations and for parents looking to see how or what factors can be improved on when it comes to the crunch. So, here's a peek.
READING ALOUD
Between 9-10 marks
* Pronunciation is consistently clear and good.
* Reading is expressive and smooth with no hesitations and pauses.
* Pitch and tone changes are suitable.
* Voice is loud and clear.
Between 7-8 marks
* Pronunciation is generally clear and good, with few minor errors in mispronunciations that do not affect understanding
* Delivery is smooth with hardly any hesitation.
* Pitch and tone undergo some changes.
Between 5-6 marks
* Pronunciation is generally clear and good with several noticeable errors.
* Delivery is generally smooth and there are some hesitations.
* Pitch and tone undergo slight changes.
Between 3-4 marks
* Pronunciation is somewhat difficult to understand with numerous serious errors.
* Delivery is generally unclear and there is a number of noticeable errors.
* Tone is mostly flat and monotonous.
Between 1-2 marks
* Pronunciation is very unclear with most words being mispronounced.
* Delivery is very slow and jerky and there is almost word by word pronunciation.
* Only monotone is used.
Additional tips :
* It is okay to correct yourself if you know a mistake has been made. Shows that you are conscious of your performance and your attempt to correct yourself will be deemed more admirable than say, skipping a difficult word entirely or pausing in between reading which may indirectly affect fluency and end up screwing up more words.
* Add stress to important words and take note to differentiate between the long and short vowels for example, be and bee.. or pill and peel.. (etc) Similarly for ending sounds in words. I still remember how one of my students from my Montessori Phonics session corrected my hubs when he asked, "Is that your dock?" (referring to her plush toy that she brought) She replied, "It's d-ohh-guh.. doggg... not dock, uncle. Yes, it is mine. Cute?"
* My DD's most obvious challenge especially in tense moments and in anxiety is to read too quickly until she needs to gasp to catch her breath or like choking on her saliva. Before the reading, take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, exhale and read fluently at a steady pace.
The past 6 years of formal education prepared our children for this. DD1 said she only had 5 years of preparation because she totally wasted her P5 year (last year) by not trying at all. Though that boat has long sailed, a mother's best moment is when her child is able to self-reflect to enable herself to move forward towards greater things.
Much has been said with regards to the preparation for the PSLE Oral Examinations that will commence tomorrow. Many service providers have selflessly shared their tips and fantastic guidelines to all parents here, in KiasuParents.
The time has finally arrived. This, is it folks. The real deal.
In the spirit of sharing, I have some juice about how the marking criterias could be like. As with all examinations, apart from preparations and the actual performance, there is also this important thing called *grading*. Disclaimer : This is not to be deemed as the ultimate marking criteria but a mere gauge how your child may be scored for their oral examinations and for parents looking to see how or what factors can be improved on when it comes to the crunch. So, here's a peek.
READING ALOUD
Between 9-10 marks
* Pronunciation is consistently clear and good.
* Reading is expressive and smooth with no hesitations and pauses.
* Pitch and tone changes are suitable.
* Voice is loud and clear.
Between 7-8 marks
* Pronunciation is generally clear and good, with few minor errors in mispronunciations that do not affect understanding
* Delivery is smooth with hardly any hesitation.
* Pitch and tone undergo some changes.
Between 5-6 marks
* Pronunciation is generally clear and good with several noticeable errors.
* Delivery is generally smooth and there are some hesitations.
* Pitch and tone undergo slight changes.
Between 3-4 marks
* Pronunciation is somewhat difficult to understand with numerous serious errors.
* Delivery is generally unclear and there is a number of noticeable errors.
* Tone is mostly flat and monotonous.
Between 1-2 marks
* Pronunciation is very unclear with most words being mispronounced.
* Delivery is very slow and jerky and there is almost word by word pronunciation.
* Only monotone is used.
Additional tips :
* It is okay to correct yourself if you know a mistake has been made. Shows that you are conscious of your performance and your attempt to correct yourself will be deemed more admirable than say, skipping a difficult word entirely or pausing in between reading which may indirectly affect fluency and end up screwing up more words.
* Add stress to important words and take note to differentiate between the long and short vowels for example, be and bee.. or pill and peel.. (etc) Similarly for ending sounds in words. I still remember how one of my students from my Montessori Phonics session corrected my hubs when he asked, "Is that your dock?" (referring to her plush toy that she brought) She replied, "It's d-ohh-guh.. doggg... not dock, uncle. Yes, it is mine. Cute?"
* My DD's most obvious challenge especially in tense moments and in anxiety is to read too quickly until she needs to gasp to catch her breath or like choking on her saliva. Before the reading, take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, exhale and read fluently at a steady pace.
Some schools continuously engage students in speaking good (and proper) English via the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) or Speak Good English Programme (SGEP). During these sessions, children are being put up to the challenge not only to speak in proper tenses and using correct grammar, there are also spelling challenges or spelling bee friendly competitions or pronunciation challenges. Dare you to dabble in one yourself with the ones below.
This was given to one of the schools. Remember... All schools are good schools.Example : Singapore
Correct pronunciation. Is it...
(a) Sin-ga-pore or (b) Sing-a-pore?
Indicate the correct pronunciation for these words.
1. Word : corrections
(a) ker-rek-shens or (b) kor-rek-shens?
2. Word : sword
(a) suword or (b) sord?
3. Word : presentation
(a) pree-zen-tay-shen or (b) prair-zen-tay-shen?
4. Word : mischievous
(a) mis-chee-vious or (b) mis-chi-vers?
5. Word : egg
(a) ehg/eig or (b) eg?
6. Word : society
(a) soh-sai-er-tee or (b) suh-sai-er-tee?
7. Word : character
(a) ker-rack-ter or (b) kair-rik-ter?
*Answers will be put up later for any tries posted up.*
These school initiatives are a couple of the many indirect ways that schools encourage children to speak with proper diction and ensure that even teachers are on the ball with regards to how they communicate with our students especially when Singlish is seemingly becoming the more consistent language amongst Singaporean children.... and adults.
With these initiatives in place, no teacher should be heard saying Wed-ness-day.
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