Basic Vocabulary for Writing - Introduction

'Basic Vocabulary for Writing' is a resource targeted at helping pupils at the lower-middle primary levels or the weaker upper primary pupils.

A pupil who has just started independent writing or does not have a strong foundation in writing often find difficulties expressing their his / her ideas.

Most of the time, the pupil will use very simple description to try to overcome the problem. This is fine especially when he is a beginning writer (e.g. P1 or P2). 

However, as the child proceeds to higher levels, his simple description will appear pale in comparison to work written by the average and above-average writers.

Materials found in this section attempts to:

-Introduce common words, phrases or description suitable for use in specific writing topics (some of these material may overlap one another)

-Highlight and correct misconception often seen in pupils' work when writing certain topics

-Help improve on the common vocabulary provided in this section, so that pupils can enhance the descriptions in their composition after they grasp the basic.

I want to emphasize that this is an attempt.

In a classroom setting, I am able to see my pupils' responses and adjust the lessons accordingly. However, this is not possible on a blog.

As I gradually build up this section on my resources, do feedback to me if your child can understand or is able to use the resources as planned.

Let's all work through this together!

Opps...! I just noticed a grammar mistake and inappropriate choice of words. Erhm..."Nobody is perfect - That's why pencils have erasers!" - Anonymous

Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (2)

Some possible answers to the cloze passage exercise in 'Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (1)' are as follows:

1) rush / peak
2) plunged 
3) silence
4) speaking / talking / singing (cajole, comfort)
5) failure / outage
6) stifling / choking / suffocating (burning, scorching, unbearable) 
7) shone (used, light, lit, directed, projected)
8) smashed / shattered
9) ventilation (circulation, relief, comfort, hope)
10) groggy / dizzy / light-headed (tipsy)
11) pried / forced (pulled, pushed)
12) through (along)

If you would like to ask me alternative answers, please email me instead of posting as a comment as the discussion can get really long...My email address can be found at Important Terms and Conditions / Disclaimer / How to Submit.

Part Two

Now, let's apply what we've learnt to a possible question. It is difficult to post pictures here as there are some copyright issues I do not wish to tread on. So at the moment, lets just use an example from continuous writing.

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Mr Suresh was on his way to work on an MRT train. Suddenly, the train stopped and he found himself in total darkness.

Based on the above situation, write a composition of at least 150 words using the following points:

-How Mr Suresh felt

-What happened after that

-What happened in the end

You may reorder the points and / or include your own.

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Here is a possible composition using content from the selected reading materials:

    Mr Suresh stared at the scar on his right arm. He would never forget what happened that fateful day when he was trapped in an MRT train while on his way to work...

    Mr Suresh waved goodbye to his family and headed to the MRT station near his home to catch the train to work. As it was the morning rush hour, the carriages were packed to the brim. Mr Suresh was lucky to find a seat next to the fire extinguisher and quickly settled down and began reading the newspaper. 

    He was halfway through the papers when the train suddenly plunged into total darkness and grounded to a halt. For a moment, there was an eerie silence as no one dared to move or speak. Then, Mr Suresh heard a child's voice, "Mommy, I am scared!" The trapped commuters started talking to one another, trying to find an explanation to what was going on.

    The air conditioning had also stopped working and the stifling heat was beginning to feel unbearable. Beads of perspiration began trickling down Mr Suresh's temples. "I think I've got to do something before we all die of suffocation!" he thought to himself. "Can someone help me please? I need some light here!" he called out to the other commuters. The commuters used their mobile phones as torchlights and helped lit up part of the carriage. Mr Suresh found the fire extinguisher and with all his strength smashed it onto a carriage window. The window immediately shattered and a whiff of fresh air finally entered the carriage. Unfortunately, while breaking the window, one of the glass shrapnels pierced into his right arm. Mr Suresh cried out in pain as blood began oozing from the wound. A commuter tied a handkerchief around the wound but it was quickly soaked in blood. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. Just when Mr Suresh was about to faint, someone forced opened the train door. Help had finally arrived!

    The civil defence officers evacuated Mr Suresh and sent him to the nearest hospital while the other trapped commuter were led through the underground tunnels to the nearest train station.

    Mr Suresh was grateful that he was rescued at the nick of time. Although he still had nightmares about the incident, he still took the train to work. However, ever since, he always carried a torchlight with him, just in case.

Have you noticed that instead of using a lot of highly-impressive vocabulary, the composition has been written in English expected of an average (to above-average) upper primary student? (with the exception of some the underlined words, which may be words or phrases you can now pick up to add flavour to your writing)

Reading story books can help improve your vocabulary. However, do put in constant effort to look up the meaning of new words and try them out in your writing. Only with hard work can you eventually succeed in doing well in your writing.

With the above example, I conclude 'Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (2)' . 

I hope this segment will prove useful to some of you!

Updates to 'Selected Reading Material 1: A Robbery(1)'

Answers to one of the activities in 'Selected Reading Material 1: A Robbery(1)' has been added. If you had been interested to know the answer but were too shy to email me, I've add it towards the end of the post.

Hope you got the answers right! : )

Video Resources (2): A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown

As I was preparing 'Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown', I realized that most of us will have absolutely no idea what it was like to be trapped in the MRT carriages. So after browsing through many videos, I finally found one that has been properly edited and does not contain inappropriate language or is from a questionable source.

The only catch is that it is in Chinese but has good subtitles (Use 'Full-Screen' to see subtitles clearly). Do pause appropriately to catch the subtitles if necessary. However, do be take note that the video is meant as a visual stimulant to help writers visualize the content they can use for their composition. 

(Source, Frontline 《SMRT Worst Breakdown》with Subtitle 前线 《地铁大瘫痪》Pt1/2 - 23Dec2011, 154media, Youtube)

What to look out for:
1) Winding queues for the shuttle buses. taxis outside the train stations
2) Footage of situation in the train carriages
3) Footage of commuters walking in the underground tunnels to the nearest stations
4) Feelings of the commuters interviewed
5) What the authorities planned to do to prevent similar incidents from occurring again

This post supplements 'Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown'.

Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (1)

What is 'Selected Reading Material'?

Mentioned in my earlier post 'Tips for Struggling Writers', students who have problems expanding content are often told to "read more widely".

'Selected Reading Material' are carefully selected resources to help struggling readers widen their knowledge in areas often useful in composition writing. i.e. what happens during a robbery, accidents, kidnap etc.

After reading and using the resources, students will have more relevant ideas to use in their composition assignments & examination!

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Read the following passage and take note of the underlined content.

DO NOT skip reading.It is important for you to see how the underlined content is used in the news article.


A Train (MRT/Subway) Breakdown

Unfamiliar scenes of chaos and confusion unfolded on Thursday night in train stations across central Singapore after the MRT network suffered what is likely to be the worst breakdown in its 24-year operating history.

Just before 7 p.m., thousands of commuters riding home during the evening rush hour were plunged into total darkness as trains on the North-South Line suddenly lost power and ground to a halt.

Many people claimed that they waited up to an hour in the stifling heat of windowless carriages, where the air-conditioning had also failed, before eventually being rescued by SMRT staff. Some train windows were smashed to let in air.

Commuters then had to walk through the train tunnels to the nearest station in order to exit and find their way home.

In all, 11 stations from Marina Bay to Bishan were affected - the result of what SMRT called 'a power rail problem'.

As the extent of the problem became clear, SMRT shuttered the affected stations completely and commuters were advised to find alternative routes to their destinations.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force also dispatched ambulances and other emergency services to some stations.

"It was pretty much a traumatizing experience," said Oh Shu Fen, 23, who works in a bank. She was stuck in a train that stalled between the Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall stations.

"There were no lights and ventilation, and it got so dark that at one point of time, the only sources of light were from mobile phones."

A woman was reported to have fainted in the train as she had difficulties breathing. Civil Defense officers tried for ten minutes to revive her, but they were unsuccessful. She was immediately placed on a stretcher and evacuated after that.

Someone even smashed the train windows with a fire extinguisher to encourage some air circulation (ventilation). 

At about 9 p.m., some of the stations were reopened and a section of the train services was resumed. 

Meanwhile, SMRT raced to provide extra buses, which struggled to deal with stranded crowds who formed winding queues for buses and taxis.

As the buses were all packed to the brim, many commuters had to wait for hours before managing to get on a bus. Those who managed to get on a bus or taxi found their trips slowed by traffic congestion.

Frustrated commuters formed long queues at train stations to wait for fare refunds while others flooded online websites and forums and demanded explanations and apologies from the authorities for their traumatic experience.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused," said SMRT, in a statement issued at about 9 p.m. on Thursday night.

"Preliminary investigation shows that around 40m of the power rail had been damaged between the City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut stations.

"SMRT staff are now on-site attending to the fault. We will work round the clock to repair the damage, and hope to get the northbound train service for this stretch up by tomorrow morning."

Modified from 'Singapore's MRT Breakdown Chaos Leaves Thousands Stranded',  Ignatius Low, Straits Times Indonesia, 16 December 2011.

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Part One

After reading the above news article, try the following comprehension cloze. The exercise will help you use some of the words / phrases / content knowledge learnt from the above material.

    After a tiring evening at tuition class, I was relieved to be on the train back home. As it was the evening 1.__________________ hour, Father and I were lucky to get a seat in one of the crowded carriages. As he began to read, I started nodding off to sleep. 

    Suddenly, a loud noise jolted me from my dreams. The train had 2.___________ into total darkness and it slowly grounded to a halt. I rubbed my eyes and began to panic. For an instance, there was an eerie 3._________________ as no one dared to speak or move. Then, a child started to wail. As his mother began 4.__________________ to him softly, the other commuters started to stir too. 

    "James, are you alright?" Father asked while grabbing my hand in the pitch darkness. "Yes! What is going on?" I replied shakily. "I think there is a power 5._____________________," he suggested. The air-conditioning had stopped working too and the 6.____________________ heat was beginning to feel unbearable. I struggled to breathe as beads of perspiration began rolling down my temples. Suddenly there was a loud 'thud', followed by a scream! Some commuters used their mobile phones as torch lights and 7._________________ them at the direction of the commotion - A woman had collapsed on the carriage floor and a little girl was crying beside her. A beefy-looking man quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and 8.___________________ a few carriage windows while another commuter called the civil defence. I was thankful that the broken windows provided some 9.____________________as I, too, was beginning to feel breathless and 10.____________________ . We sat in the darkness helplessly for another fifteen minutes or so before help arrived. 

    The civil defence officers 11.__________________ open the doors and lit the carriages with bright lamps. After evacuating the woman who had fainted, the officers led us 12._____________________  the train tunnels to the nearest train station. I was so relieved to see bright lights and welcomed the cool, fresh air in the station. Father managed to contact his friend, who met us at a nearby car park before driving us home.

** Possible answers can be found in 'Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (2)!

Before we attempt to apply what we have learnt, I would like to suggest looking at the post: Video Resources (2) A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown. The video is an apt resource for supplementing this reading material.

As this post is getting too lengthy, I will continue on Selected Reading Material 3: A Train (MRT / Subway) Breakdown (2) Coming Soon! : )