Strategies

Primary 1 & Primary 2

Component	Tips to help your child
Reading	The reading habit is the best gift that you can give to your child. Visit the library with your child and select books of different genres. Read aloud with your child and to your child. Have your child read sections of a story aloud to you with expression.
Speaking	Listen to good models of speaking e.g. news readers, announcers on TV and radio Encourage your child to speak clearly Insist that your child makes and maintains eye contact with the audience
Listening	Listen to your child without interrupting him/her to show what a good listener does Have your child listen to a story or an article that you have read aloud and have him/her retell the gist/summary of it to you.
Writing	Encourage your child to write notes to you. Please ensure that letters are formed correctly and writing is neat. There must be a clear distinction between letters in the Upper and Lower cases.
Others	Insist that your child practices what the teacher has taught in terms of examination skills – e.g. highlighting of contextual clues.

Primary 3 & Primary 4

Component	Tips to help your child
Reading	Visit the library with your child and help him/her select books of different genres. Read aloud to your child. Have your child read sections of a story/book aloud to you with expression.
Speaking	Listen to good models of speaking e.g. news readers, announcers on TV and radio Encourage your child to speak clearly Insist that your child makes and maintains eye contact with the audience. While out shopping or eating, encourage your child to explain why he/she has made certain choices. This does not have to be for everything that your child does. Do not try to correct your child immediately if he/she makes a mistake. Instead how ask he/she can improve and make suggestions.
Listening	Listen to your child without interrupting him/her to show what a good listener does Have your child listen to a story or an article that you have read aloud and have him/her retell the gist/summary of it to you.
Writing	Please ensure that your child writes neatly. Encourage your child to keep a book of good phrases and words. As he/she come across these words through reading, they should copy them down into the book. This book should be used when they are writing a composition. Planning what is to be written is important. Encourage your child to always plan before they start writing.
Others	Insist that your child practices what the teacher has taught in terms of examination skills – e.g. highlighting of contextual clues. Only for EL For the Comprehension OE section, pupils are expected to practice the HBC way of addressing the questions by doing the following: Highlight the 5W1H (Why, When, Who, Where, What, How), Box the tense marker and Circle the key words.

Primary 5 & Primary 6

Component	Tips to help your child
Reading	Encourage your child to read the newspapers. Children who read anything and everything have lots to gain. The more your child reads the more knowledge he/she has to fall back on when required.
Speaking	Listen to good models of speaking e.g. news readers, announcers on TV and radio Encourage your child to speak clearly. Insist that your child makes and maintains eye contact with whoever he/she speaks to. Engage your child in conversation and ask for their opinion in discussions. While out shopping or eating, encourage your child to explain why he/she has made certain choices. However, this does not have to be for everything that your child does. Do not try to correct your child immediately if he/she makes a mistake when speaking. Instead how ask he/she can improve and make suggestions.
Listening	Listen to your child without interrupting him/her to show what a good listener does Listen to the news on TV and have your child retell the gist/summary of a news clip to you.
Writing	Please ensure that your child writes neatly. Encourage your child to keep a book of good phrases and words. As he/she come across these words through reading, they should copy them down into the book. This book should be used when they are writing a composition. Planning what is to be written is important. Encourage your child to always plan before they start writing.
Others	Only for EL Insist that your child practices what the teacher has taught in terms of examination skills – e.g. highlighting of contextual clues, checking for spelling, punctuation and tenses used in writing answers. For the Comprehension OE section, pupils are expected to practice the HBC way of addressing the questions by doing the following: Highlight the 5W1H (Why, When, Who, Where, What, How), Box the tense marker and Circle the key words.

Primary 1 & Primary 2

You may like to strengthen their numeral skills through the following:

• mental addition and subtraction for numbers within 20
• spell numbers in words
• learn multiplication tables by heart, through skip counting or through songs
• examples of multiplication songs from Youtube are
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0NloNxh4xE
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVyBQ5uTbo
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=662daELsnJk
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MVkqSP6bBE

With the increased usage of mobile devices, the following Mathematics apps are also suitable for your child and you may like to download them:

A* Times Table	The app is a fun way to practise the basic times table within a stipulated time. There are three levels for you to choose from. A score card is provided at the end of each practice.
My Math Flash Cards	The app can be used to master basic elementary math facts. It randomly generates flash cards covering the topic on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Interactive Telling Time Free	The app is suitable for pupils to learn how to tell time using animal and plant clocks. A very colourful and interactive app.

Primary 3 & Primary 4

You may like to strengthen their mathematics concepts through the following:

• clone questions which your child is weak in and get him/her to retry them
• learn multiplication tables (1 to 12) by heart, through skip counting You may also like to reinforce

The Four-Step Problem Solving Process with your child when they are attempting their sums.

With the increased usage of mobile devices, the following Mathematics apps are also suitable for your child and you may like to download them:

A* Times Table	The app is a fun way to practise the basic times table within a stipulated time. There are three levels for you to choose from. A score card is provided at the end of each practice.
Tangram HD	The app allows pupils to strength their spatial visualisation skills by challenging them to use seven pieces of shapes, called tans, to form various shapes.
Genius Kids	The app provides your child the opportunity to practise the four operations with speed and accuracy. Your child is challenged to solve the given number of questions within a time limit and they can advance up the levels as they clear each set of questions within the time frame given.
Fraction Circles	The app allows the pupils to visualise the fractions and it is a great tool to use when teaching comparison of fractions.

Primary 5 & Primary 6

You may like to strengthen their mathematics concepts through the following:

• clone questions which your child is weak in and get him/her to retry them

You may also like to reinforce The Four-Step Problem Solving Process with your child when they are attempting their sums.

Primary 3 to Primary 6

• If your child comes home and tells you about the Science activities he/she has done, lend him/her your listening ear. Generate more interests by encouraging him/her to find out more
• If your child asks you a question that you can’t answer, take the opportunity to find out the answer together. There are many reliable website on the internet i.e http://www.wikipedia.org/
• Encourage your child to read the science report in Saturday’s Straits Times newspapers
• You can explore with your child the activities and quizzes in Lead.com portal

Some tips to doing well for assessment

The assessment objectives of the syllabus are aligned to the three domains in the curriculum framework as shown below:

1. Assessment of Knowledge, Understanding and Application of Science Concepts
2. Assessment of Skills and Process
3. Assessment of Ethics and Attitudes

Pupils will be assessed on their understanding of:

• Scientific phenomena, facts, concepts and principles
• Scientific vocabulary, terminology and conventions
• Scientific instruments and apparatus including techniques and aspects of safety
• Scientific and technological applications

Applicable for both Sections A & B

• Read and highlight key words
• Observe and study given diagram, graph, table, etc
• Understand the context of the question
• Know which topic/s &/or concept/s is being tested

Applicable for Section A only

• Predict answer
• Read each option carefully
• Eliminate the unsuitable options
• Choose best answer
• Shade answer on OAS carefully and check for transfer error

What if there is more than one option?

• Read all options carefully
• Eliminate unsuitable options
• Check answer especially if there are a combination of options
• Answer should fit question

Applicable for Section B only

• Take note of marks awarded
• A word, a phrase, a sentence or a few sentences
• Apply the concept to a new situation

Common mistakes in pupils’ answers:

• Do not read the question carefully
• Lack an understanding of the question
• General / vague / incomplete answer
• Answer is non-scientific
• Answer is not given in the context of question (Stating general facts or concepts without reference to the question)
• Answer is too long and includes too many unnecessary details (½ mark will be deducted for each additional incorrect concept / answer)
• Unable to apply concept to a new situation
• Unable to link parts of question