How We Teach Secondary Comprehension at W@W
Understanding and processing information is one of the basic building blocks of being literate. It is vital, therefore, that secondary school students master comprehension skills to navigate the world around them. At W@W, our teachers are trained to help students deal with the various areas of English Paper 2 during their O Level exams. Students will have 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the entire paper, which consists of 4 different texts – some prose and others visual.
At W@W, students are given worksheets which are modelled after actual O Level comprehension papers. There are a total of 4 texts: a visual text, and short excerpt, a narrative text (usually a piece of literature), and a non-fiction, informative text. The various questions have different methods of answering – some questions involve selecting the correct answer from a range of choices (these questions contain MCQ elements) and short-answer questions. There is also a summary question where students need to identify the key points in a text. Students should answer these short-answer questions using their own words, avoiding lifting from the text.
1. Information Processing
Students need to be asking themselves questions when reading the comprehension paper. If there is nothing else a student takes home from reading this, they should at least remember one thing – when they are reading a passage, they need to ask themselves which information is NOT important. Students need to look at the source, tone, and keywords in the text. One skill that students need to hone is media literacy – when breaking down a particular visual text, they should focus on specific areas such as the heading/subheadings, image, and its context, along with any additional information. By paying attention to these details, students will not feel so lost when looking at a question for the first time, as they will immediately know where to look.
An important aspect of processing the information in a passage is the categorisation of information. When looking at an informative text, students need to ask themselves about the keywords and key content. They need to ask questions which they themselves have, as any potential ambiguity in the text will likely be used as a comprehension itself, requiring students to demonstrate skills of inference and critical reading. Students will know that the wordier texts they encounter in their comprehension paper require critical reading. Critical reading is a term thrown around frequently, but it is difficult to show a student how they should go about this. Well, at W@W – critical reading is made simple – it is all about asking questions – when students are reading the paper, they must ask questions and look for answers in the passage.
2. Question Answering
During class, there are many group activities which bring students closer together. Students sharing a table who would have been previously strangers will find themselves participating in groupwork. These activities allow them to interact. Often, when students are made to do groupwork, teachers will tell them not to waste time finding a group and group together with students near their immediate seating area. Following the group discussion, students will be made to go up to the whiteboard to write answers. This can be a very fun process, with students yelling these answers (that are occasionally funny) to the person writing on the whiteboard!
3. W@W Allows Students to Meet People From Different Backgrounds
By the time the student gets to the questions in a comprehension paper, they should have processed the text and asked themselves a lot of questions, finding the answers along the way. Ideally, good students will find that the comprehension questions are very similar to the questions they have asked themselves. Then, students need to identify the type of question – there are questions which are from a specific question type, and there are questions which are hybrid questions (a mix of question types). Every question will usually start with question requirements to be identified. Students need to use the key information in the passage and apply them to the question. The format depends on how many marks the question will yield.
How does W@W help secondary school students answer comprehension questions?
At W@W, we prepare secondary school students to face their comprehension paper in a highly structured manner. There are answer formats which help students write their answers, along with details and explanations. When a student uses these answer formats, what is originally an open-ended question turns into a simple exercise of filling in the blanks. W@W also helps students develop critical reading skills (reading between the lines to find deeper meaning) through practice – students will work on inference skills by having discussions in the classroom. One special aspect of W@W is that it does not encourage spoon-feeding information from teacher to student in the classroom. Instead, group discussions help students learn from one another.
Our team of dedicated W@W teachers know their students well – they are able to facilitate discussions and get them to ask the right questions. W@W teachers are trained to position the lesson in a way where they will take responses from students with good questions and use these to build upon why these are better questions. The Socratic method of going back and forth allows students to gain more exposure to different perspectives, thoughts, and ideas. With repetition and proper attention from the teachers to students, students will be able to benefit and practice the specific skills they need to excel at their English comprehension paper at the secondary level.
Attain Stellar Results With W@W!
English is a compulsory subject which all students must undertake. However, mastering the English language is not something which happens overnight – it takes consistent practice and effort to learn the nuances of the language. Students must read more and practice writing to gradually improve. Cramming for a language subject nearer to the exams is an impossible feat. After all, Rome was not built in a day! Attaining such a skill will have positive implications for not only your child’s education in school, but also employment prospects in future.
At WRITERS@WORK, we are committed to providing the smoothest learning experience for your child sitting for their English exams. With our carefully curated methods of teaching your child how to write well, your child will learn how to present their thoughts and arguments in a coherent and concise manner. W@W reinforces your child’s language skills and provides a strong foundation for their academic success, keeping up with all aspects of their progress both inside and outside of the classroom to nurture them holistically. For more information about how W@W makes a difference, feel free to explore our website and watch our YouTube videos!
If you are interested in our primary English tuition and secondary English tuition in Singapore, WRITERS@WORK has expanded to 9 convenient locations. To find the nearest location that suits your needs, please explore our options. If you have any inquiries regarding our range of programs or class schedules, please feel free to contact WRITERS@WORK!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
1. Which Tuition Centre is Good for English?
W@W is an excellent option to help your child prepare for their English Language classes at school at any level. W@W teaches students how to write compositions which are the basic building blocks for all communication, whether it be in school or outside in the workplace.
2. Why is It Important to Attend English Enrichment Classes?
Students will be able to develop important skills such as critical thinking which will serve them well in all areas of life. Students will learn how to incorporate critical thinking and analysis skills when they read comprehension passages and plan their ideas and arguments out for essays.
3. Is It Worth Getting an English Tutor?
If your child needs help in school, it could be worth considering getting an English tutor as English is a compulsory subject at school. English is used in all areas of life and learning how to read critically and write essays are highly important skills which should be learned early.
4. How Do Students Have Poor Writing Skills?
Students often have poor writing skills as they do not have the knowledge of good exam habits to practice. For example, many students often do not plan their essays, which lead to a poor writing habit of rambling, going off on irrelevant tangents, and forgetting to list all good arguments.
5. Who Creative Writing a Skill or a Talent?
Writing is a skill which can be trained. Anyone, regardless of whether they have a strong language ability or not, can be trained to write well given that they have a structure and are made aware of their writing habits which need to be changed. At W@W, we believe that every child can write – it is up to us to instil good writing habits to improve children’s skills for the better.
6. Why Do People Study Creative Writing?
Writing is an essential skill which is useful even when a child grows up to become a working adult. Communication is the basic foundation of any society, and people study how to write to better communicate their ideas to people. At school, academic performance is measured by how well students can communicate what they know in the context of an examination.
