WRITERS AT WORK Curriculum: Unlocking the Benefits of Structured Curriculum for Learning English in Singapore

By WR!TERS@WORK

As a W@W Teacher, you will soon be familiar with the demands of the W@W Curriculum. The W@W curriculum is designed to help its students master the required skills in time for their final exams. Usually, students are not aware of how to study, or how to plan to study. As teachers, it is our responsibility to plan, considering the students’ schedules for exams and other important deadlines, and remind students to study with the materials they have been given. With time and a teacher’s guidance, students will surely be able to attain excellent results for English!

1. Setting Tone and Expectations

Most parents send their children to W@W for improvement in their writing skills, or academic excellence. It goes without saying that different parents have different expectations for their child’s performance. Before starting out with a new student, teachers should ask to see previous exam scripts or in-class tests to see how the student has been doing. Then, teachers will have a better sense of how to teach these students and guide them towards improvement, as knowing where the child wants to go and how far he/she is from getting there is half the battle.

Teachers should also look at the entire year’s curriculum to help students start revising. At times, students do not know how to revise. They will look at the mass of material they need to go through, and some of them may feel overwhelmed and defeated. However, when students attend lessons week after week, read the Model Compositions, and try to emulate them when doing their own drafts, they will be able to have a head start on revising well before the exams begin.

2. Covering All Aspects of the W@W Curriculum

An integral part of the W@W Curriculum is how to gain valuable exam skills, such as writing fast. Writing fast requires good muscle memory – this means the student needs to practice writing a lot. This is done in class, where the teacher at W@W will teach for an hour and 10 minutes, leaving the remaining time in the lesson for writing. Students will learn how to write a lot and write fast during the lesson, having to complete the composition during class itself.

Another valuable exam skill which students need to learn is to write down what they think. W@W teachers are supposed to help them with generating ideas (this is done via the Plot Curve) and the phrases learnt each week are meant to help students gain a richer vocabulary. Eventually, students will be able to string all these phrases together in a coherent and concise manner.

The  student will need to do the heavy lifting themselves during the exam, by making sense of the phrases and putting them together in a logical manner. One way of facilitating this is to get students to read through Model Compositions before they leave the classroom, so they have an example of good writing to emulate. Later, before their exams, they can re-read their drafts and these Model Compositions to have a good example of what they need to achieve in the exam.

3. The importance of the Second Draft

One of the important things a W@W needs to do is emphasise that learning must be consolidated properly. When students bring home their compositions to write, some students may choose to write a paragraph a day. This is not an advisable way to consolidate their learning, as the essay will be fragmented and the marker is likely to spot logical inconsistencies and hangups in the writing. Writing a second draft of the essay should be taken seriously, as it is one of the ways W@W ensures that its students improve academically. Doing the second draft allows for the opportunity to correct oneself and learn how to write. If the student has not used the phrases properly the first time round, the second draft will be the time when the student gets to correct it. W@W teachers should encourage students that it is not tedious to do a second draft – rather, they should motivate their students and remind them of the importance of making corrections.

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 WR!TERS@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, WR!TERS@WORK has expanded to 8 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 WR!TERS@WORK!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

1. What Do You Learn in English Writing Class?

Firstly, W@W teaches students how to break down the question to understand what is being asked of the student. Learning what the question wants is just as important as learning how to answer it. Next, students will learn how to use the Plot Curve to craft logical and coherent plots, and interesting, well-developed characters, all the while learning key phrases which broaden their vocabulary. Students will use ideas from all the lessons taught at W@W in the exam.

2. How Can I Improve My Child’s Creative Writing Skills?

Reading model compositions is one way to improve a child’s creative writing skills. After all, children cannot write about what they do not know. By reading how good essays are written and attempting to imitate them, children will pick up sentence mechanics and vocabulary they can use in their own exams. Reading more will also give students ideas about the various contexts they can write an essay about as they will be able to broaden their horizon of experiences.

3. Why is It Important to Take Writing Classes?

Writing is the most difficult literacy skill to be taught because it is a combination of many different skills. Students need to be logical and creative when writing to create a coherent plot while remembering how to use the correct sentence mechanics. Additionally, a wide range of vocabulary suited to the context must be used to create the correct imagery and tone.

4. What Age Do Kids Start Creative Writing?

Children may begin creative writing in primary school. In Singapore, children are required to do Situational Writing and Composition for their PSLE exams, which take place in Primary 6. Children may begin with simple prompts and first learn how to craft basic sentences, then move on to telling a story with a coherent plot which has a source of tension and then a resolution.