Tips for Struggling Writers (in primary school)

*As this post is meant for parents of struggling writers and for struggling writers themselves, use of language has been adjusted accordingly. 

For the BASICS of Writing a Composition, please click here

Besides children who have special learning needs, there are usually two main reasons why Singaporean students struggle to write:

The children have difficulty constructing sentences which express the desired meaning (Language Limitation)

Some pupils are full of ideas. They are able to talk about their ideas and express their thoughts out loud. However, when asked to write them down, these students struggle to construct a full sentence. They have problems deciding which tenses to use and how to spell certain words.

Tips & Suggestions:

1) Start simple

Start with a simple sentence.

E.g. Mary was walking to school.

Add some details  -  talk about how she was walking.

E.g. Mary was walking sadly to school.

Add another simple sentence - why was she walking that way.

E.g. Mary was walking sadly to school. Her mother was sick.

Add some details - talk about why she was sick.

E.g. Mary was walking sadly to school. Her mother was sick. She was running a high fever.

As you can see, there is a basic pattern here.

Start a simple sentence, add some details. Add some more details.

If possible, you can join two of the sentences with a simple connector 

e.g. 'and', 'as / because', 'but'.

E.g. Mary was walking sadly to school as her mother was sick

OR

Her mother was sick and she was running a fever.

2) English, not Singlish

Singaporeans love to speak Singlish. I do too, especially when the situation is not too serious.

"Come on lah, why you like that? Teacher also can speak Singlish what. Play play only what?"

I bet many students out there can beat me hands down in Singlish! 

Unfortunately, Singlish is not acceptable in an English examination.

-Parents really need to set a good example. The parents' support for their child is the best help ever. If parents speak Singlish, the children will naturally follow!

-Try to watch the English news. It really helps.

-If your child speaks loads of Singlish while you don't, you can try recording yourself reading for your child to listen to. It can be a story, part of a story or the comprehension passage you want your child to attempt. Nowadays, handphones come with pretty good voice recorders OR you can easily download an app which does the job fine! Your child can always replay it (as compared to you having to read it again and again & AGAIN!)

If your child struggles to read too, this helps them pick up words and sentences which will come in useful when they are writing!

The children do not know what to write in their compositions  

(Content Limitation)

There are pupils who are able to construct sentences and come from English-speaking homes. However, they usually only manage to obtain a pass in their writing exercises. Some of these pupils are just not interested (one of my pupils in the best class told me he was just too lazy to write). Others just do not know what to write about!

Tips & Suggestions

1) Reading model compositions

For students who are weak in making their composition more interesting, reading what their peers write can be very helpful. I do not mean they should copy, but they can get some ideas to add on to their work if related topics appear in their homework or in the examination.

E.g. For a question related to any accidents, I will very likely see something like this in a very average composition:

...Tommy fell down and he broke his leg. A passerby saw what had happened and quickly called the ambulance. In a few minutes, the ambulance came. Tommy was sent to the hospital and he had an operation. Tommy's parents rushed to the hospital. They were very worried. After a few hours, the doctor came out from the emergency room and told them that Tommy was alright. Tommy's parents heaved a sigh of relief.

An above-average pupil may write something like this:

...Tommy lost his balance and fell from his bicycle. He screamed in pain when the heavy metal bicycle frame crashed onto his right leg, fracturing it. A passerby saw what had happened and quickly called the ambulance. She knelt down beside him and tried to calm the shocked boy while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. In a few minutes, the ambulance arrived. After checking Tommy's blood pressure, the paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher and soon, he was on his way to the hospital.

          At the hospital, the doctor examined his injuries and decided that Tommy needed an operation. The hospital staff informed his parents and they rushed over immediately after receiving the bad news. After a few hours, the doctor finally came out of the operating theatre and announced that Tommy was going to be alright. Tommy's parents heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the doctor profusely.

I've tried to change very little of the original passage. Instead, I added more (expanded on the) content (underlined words). These words / phrases / sentences can also be used when writing about other forms of accidents. A weaker pupil can pick up these words / phrases / sentences and use them in a different writing assignment!

That's NOT copying! Really!

2) Reading Widely

Now I know you've heard this before. I've also seen this suggestion in other websites or guidebooks. However, if I want to focus on helping a struggling writer, then he or she must read a large variety of selected material.

Some teachers help their pupils look out for such reading material and some parents cut out articles and get their child to talk about it or comment about them in writing.

These reading material can be from magazines, the newspaper, even a pamphlet. Topics can be about burglary, robbery, caring for the environment, change in weather, accidents, murder, fire, abuse (animal, human, child, elderly etc). 

Sufficient chances to read about and discuss about the content of the reading material can really widen your child's understanding about what is going on around him or her.

With this knowledge, struggling writer should be able to add more details to build up their composition. They will also be able to expand their vocabulary and this will proof helpful when attempting comprehension cloze passages!

*As this post is meant for parents of struggling writers and for struggling writers themselves, use of language has been adjusted accordingly.

I hope my ideas will be helpful to you and your child! 

Do look out for my next post for writers of above-average ability! 

Feel free to email me if you'd like some more information! 

FREE. No charges, definitely! : )