Preparation for Term 1 Week 5

Required Preparation

Please see the following links for the required preparation for next week's lesson. Some of the items require you to show evidence that you have done the preparation by the day before the lesson. So do read the instructions early.

Lesson 1

Click on the hyperlink above for the required preparation. There is something which requires a group choice. First-come-first-served.

Lesson 2

Read the material in the hyperlink above. Lesson will proceed under the assumption that you have read the material.

Lesson 3

Complete the materials from from Language Skills Lesson 1 (we did half of this in class) and Language Skills Lesson 2 on your own and prepare the exercises / practices.

Additional Homework

Please complete the post-inference lesson quiz found here. The quiz based on the additional reading article for this week's reading tasks found here. The deadline for this quiz is 2 Feb (Mon) 10pm. 

Reading Tasks

Please refer to the email sent earlier in the week which has been reproduced on the class subject blog found here. 

Admin matters

1) Requirement to upload your preparation

From next week onwards, your preparation for lessons should be ready latest by 10pm the night before the lesson, and the preparation file should be uploaded onto the respective folders. I will conduct random checks and I will record you as unprepared for lessons if I do not see your preparation there.

2) Access rights management 

To help your friends learn better, may I request that you exercise some access rights management for all your files and folders? For the files you upload on your personal electronic file and the files you upload for Homework Submission, you can restrict the editing rights to just me, the teachers in the folder and maybe just give the viewing rights to a few of your closest and most trusted friends. The rest of the class should be removed to avoid the temptation of plagiarism. 

3) Replying to my comments

I usually disable all notifications for comments on files I have commented on. If you want to respond to my comments and would like me to take a look and reply you, you need to alert me. However, please only do this after you have read through my consolidated feedback (in the case of reading tasks). 

T1W04 Reading Tasks

For reading tasks this week, please do Task 3 for the following articles

(1) The Perfect Essay

(2) The addition reading found here.

You do not have to do any tasks with the poem "The History Teacher". Neither do you have to attempt the questions that come with the reading articles. You just need to do Task 3. 

S4-08, you will receive the cohort-wide readings for this week from me in class. 

The usual deadlines and submission requirements apply.

Preparation for Term 1 Week 4

Preparation for lesson

First lesson with class

We will continue with the paraphrasing worksheet. In addition, please complete the worksheet on inference found here. Make a copy and place it in the Comprehension folder of your personal electronic file. You also have to complete a short 5 min pre-lesson quiz on inference found here before the lesson. The quiz will be graded. 

Second lesson with class

Complete the worksheet on Unpacking the text found here. Make a copy and place it in the Comprehension folder of your personal electronic file. 

Additional Homework on Editing

I have put up an Editing Exercise for your practice. Please find the exercise here. You are to complete the practice by Monday 26 Jan 2359h. The exercise will be graded. 

Reminder on Preparation for 100 min Lesson

You are reminded that you have to prepare for the 100 min lesson. The details of the required preparation were sent in an email earlier in the week. In case you missed it, you can click here. Bring your LDs for the 100 min lesson. 

Reminder on Reading Tasks this week

Details of the Reading Task this week were emailed and posted on the class subject blog here. 

Admin Reminders

1) If you are lost and cannot remember what homework was set, you can visit the class subject EL blog found here. All emails I send to you are also posted on the blog.

2) The EL blog is also a good navigational jump-page to help you get to the important folders on Google Drive you need. 

3) I also send Whatsapp broadcast reminders to everyone who has added my mobile number to your phone contacts. If you did not give me your mobile number earlier and you would like to be added to the broadcast reminder, please drop me a message. 

Reading Tasks for Term 1 Week 3

For this week's reading tasks, please do the following:

1) Do Task 2 for the article "Mind over Muscle". Apply the article to the following question:

Should girls and boys be given exactly the same type of education?

2) Draw a Mindmap (first part of Task 1 only, no need for point of view this time) for the article T1W3R3 found here. 

3) Do Task 2 for the article "Charlie Hebdo horror is not an attack on free speech". Apply the article to the following question:

Should the media be completely free?

(Hint: You may use the article in item 2 above to support you in this task as well)

Preparation for Term 1 Week 3

Lessons with the class

We will be doing revision for paraphrasing skills. Please make a copy of the file found here and place it in your personal electronic file under the folder "Comprehension". Attempt all the questions on your own. For the purpose of the lesson, you are required to use your own words as far as possible for every question even if the question did not say so. The materials will probably last us two lessons, which means it will run into Week 4. 

Reading Task submission

The instructions for the reading task this week has already been given in an earlier email found here. You are to submit your completed Reading Tasks for Week 2 in the respective folder found here. Please adhere to the guidelines and deadlines stated earlier. I will send a separate email regarding the feedback for Term 1 Week 1's reading task. 

Random Electronic File Check 

I will be conducting a random electronic file check from this weekend to the end of next week. 

For this week, you should have the following materials in your electronic file:

1) Your copy of the Holiday Homework Fun Pack Activity 2

2) Your preparation for the 100 min lesson this week

3) Photos / notes of work done during the 100 min lesson this week

4) The article for Term 1 Week 1's Reading Task on green spaces

5) A copy of the Link between Fallacies and Modes of Reasoning (for S4-08 only)

6) Your preparation for the feedback lesson for the diagnostic test as well as photos / notes of the work we did in class. 

7) Your copy of the handout for the Language Skills lesson we had. 

If you can't recall what you should have in your file last week, please refer to the email here. 

Please keep track of your work on your own. After this week, I will not be spoon-feeding you with reminders on what should be in your electronic files. 

Marking rubrics, notations and corrections

Dear students,

Please find the marking rubrics, the key to the marking notations I used as well as the format for corrections in the folder here. This folder is found under "01 Admin". 

Most of you will be expected to do your corrections on your own. You may make use of Grammarly to help you with your corrections. I will conduct random checks when I check your files (both electronic and the blue ring file). If you need help, please make arrangements to see me. 

For every assignment, a select group of students will be required to submit your corrections. If you are selected, you will receive a separate email from me.

Please note that corrections are important for your learning and you should do them diligently regardless of whether you have been selected to submit your corrections. Remember, practice does not make perfect; it makes permanent. And if you practice the wrong things, your mistakes will become permanent. 

Follow-up for T1W01 Reading Tasks and T1W02 Reading Tasks

Dear students,

T1W01 Reading Task issues

Thank you to those who followed the instructions and uploaded your work on time. And thank you Jeremiah from S4-08 for taking the initiative to organise things. Unfortunately, many of you did not follow the instructions closely enough. This is an important life skill because when you fail to follow instructions, 

(a) It can cost you your grades, your job or even your life. Even a small and seemingly unimportant detail might come back to haunt you.

(b) It affects the work of those around you. I thought through the instructions carefully to ensure that your submissions will not become to unmanageable for me. When you do not follow the instructions, you are actually giving me more work. 

Students with relatively minor infringements, I have accepted your work this time. Please make sure it doesn't happen again. Those with slightly more serious issues, I have parked you work under the "Rejected Work" folder here. Please rectify the problems and submit your work by Tue. 

T1W02 Reading Tasks

For this week, please do Reading Task 3 for both the articles distributed for your silent reading on Tue. This article here might help you sort out the difference between a claim (opinion) and reason / support (fact)