English

Our Goal:

Every pupil a competent, confident & empathetic communicator with discernment in thought & creativity & clarity in expression

Our School-based Programmes:

1. Reading

The reading programmes aim to nurture the love of reading in our pupils. We provide pupils the exposure to a wide variety of genres and teach them skills to become avid and proficient readers.

1a. Reading Prog:

Objectives:

1. To expose pupils to different genres
2. To ensure comprehension of text read through follow up activities

Resources Used:

• Rigby Readers (P1&2)
• Story Time (P3)
• I magazine (P4)
• ACE magazine (P5&6)

1b. Extensive reading prog:

Objectives: 

1. To nurture a habit of reading in the pupils
2. To expose pupils to a variety of genres

Resources Used:

• Leisure Reading booklet (P1) – collection of short stories, riddles, poems and jokes
• NLB’s Reading Journal (P1 to 6) – a list of suggested reads by NLB which are tagged to the themes of STELLAR readers
• Suggested list of books by genres (P5&6) – a list of suggested books categorised by genres
• Drop Everything And Read aka DEAR Week where activities related to reading such as Readers’ Theatre and Book Characters Parade are conducted to encourage pupils to read widely

1c. Critical Reading Prog: Literature prog

Objectives:

1. To allow pupils to engage with a longer text
2. Expose pupils to good literary texts
3. Learn story telling techniques used by writers
4. Develop language skills through drama activities

Resources & Focus Areas:

LEVEL	LITERATURE TEXT	AREA OF FOCUS
P3	The BFG	plot development
P4	James and the Giant Peach	characterisation
P5	Holes	Literary technique – use of irony

2. Skills-based programmes

Throughout their six years in PHPPS, pupils are explicitly taught the 4 macro language skills. They are also given various opportunities to apply what they have learned thus making the learning process a joyful and meaningful one. Our EL skills-based programmes (eg. 5 MINDS lessons, Writing packages) focus not only on the learning of a language skill but applying it for a purpose.

2a. Writing:

P1 -2:

Objectives:

1. Explicitly teach sentence structures
2. Build sentences from word to sentence
3. Expand a topic sentence to a paragraph
4. Narrative structure – introduction, body and conclusion

P3 -4:

Objectives:

1. Reinforce the narrative structure – introduction, body and conclusion
2. Build content (ideas) and vocabulary using Show not Tell and Topic Blast strategies

P5 -6:

Objectives:

1. Deepen understanding of the narrative structure – 5 Elements of a narrative 
2. Teach strategies to hook a reader eg Story starters
3. Teach strategies to enhance characterisation eg TALES strategy
4. Teach strategies to expand the plot eg 3Cs & 3Ss strategies

2b. Howard Gardner’s 5 MINDS for the Future lessons

Howard Gardner’s 5 MINDS for the Future is adopted by PHPPS to better prepare our pupils for the volatile, uncertain, changing & ambiguous (VUCA) world. We use the 5 MINDS for the Future as a guiding principle when we craft our lessons.  Through these carefully crafted 5 MINDS lessons, we aim to equip pupils with the mind-set to be flexible in their thinking and to employ all tools and skill sets at their disposal. The 5 MINDS lessons are carried out in the Writing and Literature modules of the EL curriculum.

5 MINDS	Skills
Disciplined Mind	Skim for gist / main idea Scan for details Use contextual cues Sequence details
Synthesising Mind	Make inferences Distinguish between cause and effect, compare & contrast, identify fact vs opinion, make simple generalisations, draw conclusions Identify & compare themes & provide evidence to support points stated
Creating Mind	Respond to a text with reasons, judgment, personal interpretation
Respectful Mind	Able to see others’ viewpoints
Ethical Mind	Being objective, drawing conclusions after analysing all data Able to realise how one’s action has an impact on others

3. Harnessing ICT in EL learning

Learning is fun and engaging with the help of technology. At PHPPS, teachers harness ICT to facilitate learning and make English language learning an engaging experience. 

In the recent SLS Design Challenge organized by MOE, PHPPS was awarded “Quality Lesson Design” Award.