6 tips to teach your kids better English composition writing in 2022
If your child struggles with composition writing in primary school, follow these expert tips.
Composition writing is an important component of a child's ability to enjoy and excel in the English language. And it's even more important now, because the education system in Singapore is changing to have less reliance on exams. Teachers will now evaluate students using a variety of assessment methods, like class participation, quizzes, performance tasks and presentations. All these tasks involve composition skills. Here are some helpful hints from veteran educator Helen Marjan, who used to head Lorna Whiston Schools.
Encourage your child to read widely
Encourage your child to read a broad range of books and stories, on a wide variety of topics. Discuss the stories together and ask questions to get your child thinking about how writers use words to create certain effects. Children can be inspired to imitate the ideas they enjoy in books.
Find stories that open with a bang
Focus on finding stories and books that begin in an exciting way. An exciting beginning encourages your child to read more - and a strong beginning to a story is a key skill in composition. Ask your child questions like, "Why do you think the writer made the story start like this?" Explain that a story opening can be dramatic, an interesting introduction to the main characters, or an an explanation that draws the reader straight into the action.
Investigate story endings
We all know how it feels if we miss the ending of a story. An ending can take the form of a moral point, or it can sum up what has been learned through the story. A composition ending can also be a hint of what might happen in the future.
Show children how to flesh out the characters
Composition also includes being able to flesh out the characters. Ask your child to think in-depth about the characters in the story. Develop their personalities through vivid descriptions, dialogue, the names they are given and their actions and behaviours.
Ask your child to write a sentence differently
An important composition skills is being able to make a boring sentence more interesting. Ask your child to jazz up a dull sentence with adverbs, adjectives, lively vocabulary, and alternative verbs. Children and young people can note down “effective” words in a writing journal or vocabulary book.
Use a story planner
Think of the following key questions to help your child learn composition skills:
- Who – are the characters?
- Where – does the story take place?
- Why – are the characters there?
- When – does it happen? Time, weather, etc.
- What – happens to get the story going?
- How – will it be written? “I”, “She/He”, it is written in present or past tense?
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A version of this article first appeared in Young Parents. Updated March 2022