A Wrinkle in Time

Hi, long time no see. School has started. And for English, we're learning about science fiction this term. The literature book we're studying for 2009 and this term is "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. Sound familiar? If it's not, you can click my book blog to see my own personal reviews of the book: http://bookworm-club.wikispaces.com

It's about our second week doing AWIT (A wrinkle in time), and I've discovered lots and lots of hidden meaning beyond what you read on the surface. For example, the first sentence, "It was a dark and stormy night", was deliberately used by the author to allude to the Black Thing, or the tesseract.

Okay, if you haven't read the book, reading these reviews is a bad idea.

By the way, there is -shove- such thing -shove- as a tesseract.

I bet you don't get the joke, if you haven't even read Chapter 1 of the book.

That's all for today. Just an introduction. I'll be talking much more of the book soon.

Synonyms of Bored

Today I was bored, and hence today I don't have much to say. But since I'm bored, let's talk about the synonyms of "bored". First, do you even know what are synonyms?

Synonyms are essential in writing because synonyms are words which have very close meaning to a particular word. It is very important as without synonyms, the author would have to use the same word again and again.

Let's take "big" as an example. There are many synonyms, like "giant", "enormous". More advanced synonyms include "gargantuan", "colossal".

With that in mind, let's go on to investigate the synonyms of "bored" since I'm really bored. What can I use to describe my boredom?

I check the thesaurus, a dictionary of synonyms.

Synonyms of "boring":

arid

commonplace

dreary

dry

dull

flat

humdrum

monotonous

repetitive

tedious

tiresome

uneventful

unexciting

uninspiring

uninteresting

vapid

wearisome

wordy

Ok, this would be the end of this post. Before ending, I would like to say that I know that so far, this blog has been pretty *wordy and uneventful*, but that's only because it's the school holidays; have I told you? After school reopens, there will be so much to talk about. I'm just writing some *uninteresting* things now because I want to post one entry at least once a day.

Monsoon Season's here!

Today I'm entering a new topic of foreign words and phrases, and specifically, English words that were derived from Dutch. Here are some Dutch spelling rules to start with. By the way, I know I haven't mentioned that remenbering the spelling rules for each language of origin can help you in spelling a particular word:


Dutch Spelling Rules


Note that single 'e' in Dutch is often voiceless: "uh." me ze je te -


Double vowels are always long (linguists say 'free.') Note: There is no double 'i' in Dutch; it's always written as 'ie.' raad - reed - [ried] - rood - Ruud vaar - veer - [vier] - voor - vuur Note: Dutch vowels are even longer when followed by an 'r' -


A single vowel at the end of a word or syllable is always (pronounced) long. Linguists call this a 'free' vowel. Exception: Single 'e' at the end of a word is always 'voiceless': "uh." Note: Single 'i' at the end of a word is rare (only found in words of foreign origin); it's usually 'ie' ga - [de] - [die] - juli - zo - nu -


A single vowel followed by a consonant at the end of a word is always short. Linguists call this a 'covered' vowel. Exception: 'uw' is always long das - des - dis - dos - dus - [duw] - pat - pet - pit - pot - put -


Longer words are broken up in syllables.


If there's a single consonant between vowels, that consonant usually goes to the second syllable.
A syllable ending in a vowel is called 'open,' and that vowel will be free ('long.') manen: ma-nen - A syllable ending in a consonant is called 'closed.' A single vowel before that consonant will be covered ('short.') mannen: man-nen -


Note: Only at the end of a word is single 'e' always voiceless; as the last letter of a syllable that's not the last of a word, single 'e' will be either voiceless or long


banen -(ba-nen)
benen -(be-nen)
tienen -(tie-nen)
bonen -(bo-nen)
buren (bu-ren)
-

baren -(ba-ren)
beren -(be-ren)
bieren -(bie-ren)
boren -(bo-ren)
buren (bu-ren)
-
Two or more consonants are usually divided between syllables, so the vowel in the first syllable will be covered ('short.')
danken -(dan-ken)
denken -(den-ken)
zinken -(zin-ken)
bonken -(bon-ken)
dunken (dun-ken)


Note: The constituting parts of compound words retain their original form.
kweepeer(kwee-peer)
theepot(thee-pot
tweedracht (twee-dracht)

A double consonant is pronounced the same as a single consonant, not longer or with a pause in between; the consonant is doubled only to indicate that the preceding single vowel is short.
grote grootte hete heette late haatte



bakken -(bak-ken)
bekken -(bek-ken)
bikken -(bik-ken)
bokken -(bok-ken)
bukken (buk-ken)

Remember that there are three (3) kinds of 'e' in Dutch: long, short and voiceless. veel vellen - een en 'n - heet het 't - The voiceless 'e' is found in prefixes be-, ge-, ver-, and in suffixes -e, -er and -en. and maybe in most unstressed syllables.



Thanks, http://homepage.mac.com/schuffelen/duspelling.html. You can visit this website to hear the pronunciations of some of the rules.



Here are the Dutch words for today:



kermis

monsoon

maelstrom

polder

soya

vendue

vrou

baas

kloof

poort

snoek

stoop

Boer

matje

riem

riempie

rijsttafel

spruit

witloof

kraak porselein

woonerf

Challenge you to look for the definitions of the word, can post them under comments! Check the Webster's Dictionary Third unabridged for the best answers, if you do have a copy!

Piles of Lists

It was actually quite last-minute preparation for my spelling competition, but I would like to share with you the lists I prepared which (possibly) helped me make it to the finals.

I borrowed a few books on spelling from the library, which basically just supplied me with more words, on top of those that were given to me by my father, my mother and my grandparents.

Below is the list of words I misspelt in a book called "Dictionary for Misspellers", a book which I bought from a book sale. I know, some of the words I misspelt below are out of carelessness. Just take your time to look.

Words from A-Z I spelled wrongly in “Dictionary for Misspellers”

A: accension (homonym of ascension), allopathy, appurtenance

B: ballistic, battalion, benefiting (only 1 ‘t’), besiege

C: carburettor, causerie, chow mein, circumference, cognizance, colicky, comptroller, cortege

D: dahlia, decelerate, decibel, deify, deign, demarcation, demurrage (pronounced di-mur-ij), depressant, desecrate, desiccate, diadem, diphtheria, diphthong, diptych (pronounced dip-tik), discotheque, dissension, domicile, dormouse, dulcet, dysentery

E: echelon, éclat (pronounced ey-kla), eclectic, efflorescence, effrontery, enamour, esprit (pronounced es-pree), exchequer, excise, expatriate

F: farce, fief, foundry, fricassee, fusillade

G: garrison, gauche (pronounced gohsh), gauge (pronounced geyj, homonym of gage), gendarme (pronounced zhan-darm), Gnostic, gnu, guarantor (pronounced gar-uhn-tawr), gymkhana

H: hackney, heterogeneity, heyday (‘e’ not ‘a’)

I: ignominious, immanent (not to be confused with ‘imminent’), imminence (‘e’ not ‘a’), impedance (‘a’ not ‘e’), implausible, impugn (pronounced im-pyoon), inadmissible (‘si’ not ‘sa’), inchoate (pronounced in-koh-it), incumbent (‘e’ not ‘a’), insouciant (pronounced in-soo-see-uhnt), insular, intelligentsia, inveigle, issuance, isthmus (pronounced is-muhs)

J: jalopy, jocund (pronounced jok-und), jugglery, junkie, juror (cannot be spelt ‘jurer’), justifiable, jettison

K: kerosene (cannot be spelt ‘kerosine’)

L: lacerate, lachrymose, lackadaisical, lackey, lacuna, laissez faire (pronounced les-ey fair), Lamaism, lambaste (pronounced lam-beyst), langsyne, lapel, lariat, larkspur, lascivious, lassitude, laudatory, leper (pronounced lap-per), lieu (pronounced loo, homonym of loo), liquefy, liqueur, lissome (pronounced lis-uhm), lorgnette (pronounced lawrn-yet), lucre, lyre (homonym of liar)

M: Machiavellian, Madeira, maelstrom, malapropism, malleable, malediction, malefactor, malefic, mannequin, masseur (pronounced muh-sur), mastiff, matinee (pronounced mat-ney), mélange (pronounced mey-lahnzh), menses, mien (pronounced meen, homonym of mean), molecular (pronounced muh-lek-yuh-ler), morass

N: naïveté (nah-eev-tey), naphtha, nascent, nasturtium, newsstand, nonpareil, notoriety, novitiate, numbskull

O: obeisance, objet d’art (pronounced awb-zhe-dar), oblivion, obsolescence, occurrence, octogenarian, ohm, ohmmeter, ophthalmic, osier

P: padre (pronounced pah-drey), pagan (pey-guhn), Paleolithic, palisade, papier-mâché (pronounced pey-per-muh-shey), paradisiacal, pariah (pronounced puh-rahy-uh), paramountcy, paranoia, parochial, parody, parole, pastor, patriarch, patrician, patricide, paucity, pavilion, peaceable, pennant, pharaoh, philately, pilloried (pronounced pil-uh-reed), pipette, pique (homonym of peak, peek), plait (homonym of plate), plebeian, plebiscite, plenteous, pleurisy, poesy, Portuguese, progeny, proletariat, propeller, proprietary, psychedelic, puerile, purview, putrefy, pyorrhoea

Q: quagmire, quorum

R: rapprochement (pronounced rap-rohsh-mahn), rarefy, recommittal, reconnaissance, reconnoitre (pronounced ree-kuh-noi-ter), recoup (pronounced ri-koop, but coup: Koo), renege (pronounced ri-nig), reparable, repartee (pronounced rep-er-tee), requital, rhinoceros, rodeo, rollick, rubicund

S: Sabbath, saccharine, sacrament, sagacious, salutary, samovar, sanatorium, sangfroid (pronounced sahn-frwar), sarsaparilla, saturnine, satyr (pronounced sa-ter), sauté (pronounced soh-tey), scathe, sceptre, sciatica, scimitar, scourge, scurrilous, secede, sentinel, sentry (homonym of century), severance, shepherd, silicone, singe, singeing (not to be confused with ‘singing’), skein (pronounced skeyn), sovereignty (cannot be spelt ‘sovereignity’, pronounced sov-rin-tee), squalor (only 1 ‘l’), straitjacket, straitlaced, suitor (not ‘e’), supersede (‘s’ is not ‘c’), sycophant (pronounced sih-kuh-fuh-nt, sounds like ‘sick of ferns)

T: tableau (pronounced ta-bloh), taffeta, tandem, tannery, tartan, tassel (‘el’ not ‘le’), tawdry, temperance, tenement, tequila (pronounced teh-kee-lah), tetanus, titillate, tonneau (pronounced tuh-noh), tonsillitis, torpor, toupee (pronounced too-pey), trachoma, trammel, troupe (homonym of troop), trustee (homonym of trusty), turbid

U: upbraid, upheaval

V: vacillate, vacuity, Vaseline, vellum, veneer, Venetian, verdant, vernal, vestal, veto (only 1 ’e’), vicarious, vilify, vinyl, viscid, vitriol, voile, volte-face, voluntaryism, voluptuous

W: wainscot, wean, wherefore, wherewithal, writ

X: xanthous, xebec, xiphoid, xoanon, xystus

Y: yeoman, yodel, yokel

Z: zephyr, zinnia

So, not enough? Below is the list of my misspelt words from a Consolidated Word List taken from the Scripps official website. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a much bigger spelling bee, compared to our National Spelling Championship, because the finals of the competition has over a few hundred participants. If you look at http://www.spellingbee.com/, you will know that there are study resources specially provided for spelling participants to study, though the people who select words for the competition do not refer to these resources, according to the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Here it goes: (there were so many words I only managed to do it till letter D, but I'll only display till letter A)

A: abalienation, abattoir, abecedarius, aberrant, abhorrence, abidance, ablution, abscess, abscissa, abscondence, abseil, abstemious, abstruse, abysmal, acarology, accede, accentuate, accipiter, acclivity, accordion, accrescent (not to be confused with ‘acescent’), accrual, acetylene, achondrite, acicular, acolyte, acoustician, acrimonious, acuate, aculeate, adactylous, adherence, adiaphorism, adipose, adjunct, adminicle, admonitory, Adonis, advisory, advocaat, Aeschylean, affianced, affidavit, agellicism, agglomerate, agglutinate, aggrandizement, agiotage, agnostic, agoraphobia, agrarian, agriology, agronomy, ailanthus, akropodion, alacrity, albatross, albedo, aleatoric, aliferous, aliquot, allargando, allayment, allemande, alopecia, alpaca, alpenglow, altazimuth, altiplano, amadelphous, amalgam, amanuensis, ambuscade, amenable, amertoy, amortization, amygdaline, anabasis, anabibazon, analects, analemma, analgesic, analysand, anastrophe, anaudia, anemochore, anglaise, anhydride, anisete, ankh, anneal, anodyne, anomalous, anosmic, anschluss, antecedent, antecessor, antediluvian, anthroponymy, antilogy, antimacassar, apartheid, aperitif, aperture, aphelion, aphid, apiarian, apiculus, apocalypse, apocryphal, apogee, apolaustic, apoplexy, apostle, apothecary, apparatchik, appellation, appurtenance, apropos, apsidal, aqueduct, arabesque, arboreal, arbuscel, archangel, archivalia, arenaceous, aretalogy, argosy, aristoi, Armageddon, armaments, armistice, arpeggio, arrasene, artifice, artillerist, ascribable, aspartame, asphyxiant, astrogator, atelier, atrabilious, atrichia, attrition, aureity, Aurelian, auricle, auriferous, autobahn, autodidact, avalement, averred, aviator, avocet, avoirdupois, axiology, axunge, ayatollah, azotea

Today, I wanted to talk about something else, but I decided to finish off the topic about spelling bees before entering a fresh new topic.

So, to round this up, I would like to tell you (you should know already if you've been reading the news) that the 2009 Scripps Champion has recently been announced! She is none other than Kavya Shivashankar, a 13 year old girl from Kansas!

The 2009 Scripps national spelling bee started off with 293 spellers. After using her tremendous ability of spelling to breeze through the words thrown at her, she ended with a grand finale: the word "Laodicean".

The word which the second speller misspelt, I think, was "passacaglia", if I'm not wrong. But I'm surprised at how well they can spell, since this is the first year I've actually noted the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Congratulations!

National Spelling Championships

Today, in this post, I would like to introduce the Singapore's National Spelling Championships, organised by MOE. There are three rounds, the preliminaries, the semi-finals and the finals. If you read "The Straits Times: Home" newspaper on Thursday, 4/6/2009, then you would know that the champion was Daniel Tan from Nan Hua Primary School.

Breezing through the winning words "colossus" and "indemnity", Daniel Tan made it through 6 rounds before emerging as champion speller. As for me, I managed to get to the finals on 3/6/2009, but got eliminated at the 4th round when I stumbled over "parochial". I spelt it "perochial", and now, thinking about it, I feel that it is such a careless mistake!

The first three rounds had words that were easy for me: "Polyester", "discreet", and "clairvoyant". The word "clairvoyant" had not been in my vocabulary before. Had it not been for Nintendo DS game "Professor Layton and the Curious Village", I wouldn't have spelt it correctly. Phew for me!

Actually, as I think about oral spelling bees, I feel that it also depends on luck, because it depends on what word you get. If you get a word that is not in your vocabulary, you may misspell it. But, you may actually know the words other people get.

That applied to me. Having misspelt "parochial", I walked down the stage, and I heard in the next few rounds familiar words. "Ephemeral", "pharmaceutical" were words that were in my vocabulary but were misspelt by the remaining spellers on stage.

I can't remember now, the 1st and 2nd runner-up's names, but I know both were girls. I forgot the 2nd runner up's word, but I know the 1st runner up's word was "counterespionage", which she spelt correctly. By the way, the 1st runner up was from Bedok Green Primary, and the 2nd runner up was from Nan Hua Primary, like the champion speller.

Here are the definitions for each word I have mentioned above:

co·los·sus
n. pl. co·los·si (-ls) or co·los·sus·es
1. A huge statue.
2. Something likened to a huge statue, as in size or importance: a colossus of bureaucracy.
[Latin, from Greek kolossos.]

in·dem·ni·ty
n. pl. in·dem·ni·ties
1. Security against damage, loss, or injury.
2. A legal exemption from liability for damages.
3. Compensation for damage, loss, or injury suffered. See Synonyms at reparation.
[Middle English indempnite, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin indemnits, from Latin indemnis, uninjured; see indemnify.]

pa·ro·chi·al
adj.
1. Of, relating to, supported by, or located in a parish.
2. Of or relating to parochial schools.
3. Narrowly restricted in scope or outlook; provincial: parochial attitudes.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin parochilis, from parochia, diocese; see parish.]
pa·rochi·al·ism n.
pa·rochi·al·ist n.
pa·rochi·al·ly adv.

pol·y·es·ter
n.
1. Any of numerous synthetic polymers produced chiefly by reaction of dibasic acids with dihydric alcohols and used primarily as light, strong, weather-resistant resins in boat hulls, textile fibers, adhesives, and molded parts.
2. A wrinkle-resistant fabric of fibers made from any of these resins.
poly·ester adj.
poly·ester·i·fi·cation (--f-kshn) n.

dis·creet
adj.
1. Marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; circumspect.
2. Free from ostentation or pretension; modest.
[Middle English, from Old French discret, from Medieval Latin discrtus, from Latin, past participle of discernere, to separate, discern; see discern.]
dis·creetly adv.
dis·creetness n.

clair·voy·ant
adj.
1. Of or relating to clairvoyance.
2. Having the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses.
n.
A person, such as a medium, possessing the supposed power of clairvoyance.
[French : clair, clear (from Latin clrus; see kel-2 in Indo-European roots) + voyant, present participle of voir, to see (from Latin vidre; see weid- in Indo-European roots).]

e·phem·er·al
adj.
1. Lasting for a markedly brief time: "There remain some truths too ephemeral to be captured in the cold pages of a court transcript" Irving R. Kaufman.
2. Living or lasting only for a day, as certain plants or insects do.
n.
A markedly short-lived thing.
[From Greek ephmeros : ep-, epi-, epi- + hmer, day.]
e·phemer·ali·ty, e·phemer·al·ness n.
e·phemer·al·ly adv.

phar·ma·ceu·ti·cal
adj.
Of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists.
n.
A pharmaceutical product or preparation.
[From Late Latin pharmaceuticus, from Greek pharmakeutikos, from pharmakeuts, preparer of drugs, variant of pharmakeus, from pharmakon, drug.]
pharma·ceuti·cal·ly adv.

coun·ter·es·pi·o·nage
n.
Espionage undertaken to detect and counteract enemy espionage.

Thanks to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ for the definitions.

Here is the main information for the National Spelling Championships:

RATIONALE

The National Spelling Championship aims to develop a greater appreciation of the importance of spelling in literacy development among Primary 4, 5 and 6 pupils in Singapore.

The competition is designed to provide pupils with the opportunities to pit their spelling skills against one another by applying strategies to help them spell words both familiar and unfamiliar to them. In the process, pupils will gain an awareness of phonemes and syllabication while enriching their vocabulary through the study of prefixes, suffixes and root words.

FORMAT OF THE COMPETITION

QUALIFYING ROUND (PRELIMINARIES)

Participants are required to take a pen-and-paper test of about 60 minutes. 50 words will be read out to the pupils by a Pronouncer and the pupils will have to spell the words on paper. Each word is contextualised with an example so that the meaning and form of the word are clearly understood. The top 10% of the participants will be invited to take part in the semi-finals.

SEMI-FINALS

Participants will be invited to take their seats on the stage and they will take turns to spell aloud words read to them by a Pronouncer. Participants can ask relevant questions to help them with the spelling.
A new word will be given to each participant to be spelled aloud each time. A participant who spells the word incorrectly or is unable to spell the given word within a time limit of 30 seconds will be eliminated. The words will become increasingly difficult with each new round such that only 20 finalists will remain at the end of the final round (note that there is no fixed number of rounds at the Semi-finals or Finals as this is dependent on the number of pupils eliminated at the end of each round). If fewer than 20 pupils qualify after the final round, the group of pupils who are eliminated in the previous round will undergo a new round. At this round, the elimination process will start all over again until the target number of pupils is attained.

FINALS

The format of the finals will be similar to that of the semi-finals. The participants will be eliminated at each round of the competition until one speller emerges as the champion. The Champion Speller will be awarded a trophy and $300 in cash vouchers while the 1st and 2nd runner up will receive a trophy each and $200 and $100 in cash vouchers respectively. The other 17 finalists will each receive $25 in cash vouchers

Sorry, readers of the blog, so far there are no pictures for everything, soon I'll post some pictures up to make it more interesting. My apologies for the time being.

Aah! I've found the news article for the National Spelling Championship, which, by the way, was held at the annual Language Arts Festival aimed to improve the language skills of students:

Language Arts Festival a hit
By Amanda Tan

DANIEL Tan, 12, breezed through the spelling of 'colossus' and 'indemnity', emerging as champion at the second National Spelling Championships (NSC).

He took two hours to bag top spot yesterday, during one event of the third annual Language Arts Festival.

The Primary 6 pupil from Nan Hua Primary School beat 23 others from 21 schools, and credited his win to 'hard work' - that is, spending two hours a week for the past three months memorising more than 20 pages of words used in a previous competition, which he culled from the Internet.
Associate Editor of The Straits Times Bertha Henson, who was the guest of honour at the NSC, was impressed.

'I thought they were quite good,' she said. 'A lot of the words were quite tough. I wouldn't think a primary school kid would be able to grapple with that.'

Other highlights at the festival, organised by the Ministry of Education's Gifted Education Branch, included game booths and workshops on storytelling, poetry and creative writing.

There was also an essay writing competition called INKPressions! and an Inter-school Debate Championship, as well as a media literacy workshop conducted by The Straits Times' Little Red Dot journalist Malini Kaseenathan.

The session gave pupils an insight into the interviewing and writing techniques used in newspaper reporting.

Marcus Choo, 10, a Henry Park Primary School pupil, said he had found it 'fun'.

'It was very interesting learning the basics on how to become a journalist,' he said.

The day-long event, aimed mainly at Primary 4 pupils who are exceptionally proficient in English, this year drew an estimated 1,200 pupils from more than 140 schools.

Madam Elaine Yee, a gifted education officer, said that through the event, pupils could 'learn from the professionals in the field'.

Parents interested in getting their children's schools to subscribe to Little Red Dot or IN should direct teachers to call Candy Chew on 6319-2306 or e-mail cirschool@sph.com.sg for more information.

Finally, a picture of Daniel Tan (from the Straits Times):

My thanks to http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090604-146111.html

for the article and the picture!

Here are some books on spelling you may be interested in: (Call no.s are Singapore National Library's)

Spelling, by John ButterworthPublisher : Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999.Call No. : J 428.1 BUT

Spelling and grammar, by Audrey DalyPublisher : Loughborough : Ladybird, [1997].Call No. : J 428.1 DAL

I can spell! series, by Rod CampbellPublisher : London : Campbell Books, 1994.Call No. : JP 428 CAM

I can spell! : with consonants b c d f g h, by Rod CampbellPublisher : London : Campbell Books, 1994.Call No. : JP 428 CAM

100 words every high school freshman should know, by the editors of the American heritage dictionariesPublisher : Boston : Houghton Mifflin, c2004.Call No. : 428.1 ONE

Painless spelling, by Mary Elizabeth PodhaizerPublisher : Hauppauge, NY : Barron’s Educational Series, 1998.Call No. : 372.632 POD

Let's end this for today! Thanks for reading!

Creative Writing Portfolio

To start off this blog, I shall mention about the creative writing portfolio organised by MOE (Ministry of Education). Oh right, if you didn't know, this is Singapore.

The creative writing portfolio, as introduced to my class by my english teacher, Mrs Koh, is a portfolio in which students interested in writing submit four of their best writing pieces, plus a reflection for each piece. They hand it in to the teacher, and only some portfolios will be chosen. The deadline is 8th June 2009.

I will share with you my writing pieces after 8th June, so no plagiarism can be allowed!

Attached here are the instructions for the creative writing portfolio (i.e. what you should include, application form, etc.).

If you are interested, quickly call or email your english teacher (in singapore) to ask them about it. But if you think it's too late, forget about it.


About the Programme

Our Philosophy and Purpose

We believe that pupils who are verbally able at the Primary level could be encouraged to
take up creative writing seriously to enhance their literary understanding and improve their
writing ability. Through creative writing, they could not only engage in an intellectual play of
words to make meaning of their own experiences and relationships with others but also
acquire habits of mind essential to their growth as critical and creative writers.

The Creative Arts Programme (Primary), or CAP (Pri), aims to nurture young writers at
the Primary 5 level by offering them guidance in the art of creative writing, appropriate
exposure to related performing arts and raise their awareness about publishing in
Singapore. It also seeks to help them appreciate the connection between the literary and
performing arts.

Central to this programme is the valuable learning experience from professionals in the
various arts disciplines. Pupils would have the opportunity to meet published writers who
could offer them advice to hone their craft as well as meet like-minded individuals who are
passionate about the arts. We believe that for these young writers, the programme can
be a start to their being a caring and inquiring community of writers and artists.

Organisation and Structure of CAP (Pri)

The CAP (Pri) is initiated by the Gifted Education Branch, Ministry of Education,
Singapore. Pupils admitted to the programme will be offered a 4-day literary adventure
in the form of a seminar during the September holidays (7 to 10 Sep 09).

The seminar comprises the following:
• Writing workshops with published writers and peer critique with literary peers
• Hands-on sessions with arts practitioners to experiment with art forms

Application and Selection

Eligibility

The CAP (Pri) is targeted at Primary 5 pupils. Primary 5 pupils who have an interest in
creative writing (in English) and an aptitude for it could apply for the programme.
Application Procedures
The medium of instruction of this programme is English. To apply for the programme,
pupils must submit
􀂾 2 copies of their English creative writing portfolio. (See page 4 for portfolio
requirements.)
􀂾 1 copy of the application form. (See pages 6 & 7.)
􀂾 1 copy of the undertaking form. (See page 8.)

The portfolio, application and undertaking forms must reach the following address by 5 pm,
8 Jun 09:

Creative Arts Programme (Primary)
Gifted Education Branch
Ministry of Education
51 Grange Road
Blk 1, #01-09
Singapore 249564

Selection

Selection for the seminar is based strictly on merit. Participants will be admitted to the
programme based on the following criteria:

1. Form: Meaningful use of literary form
2. Content: Development of ideas and originality of thought
3. Language: Meaningful use of language
4. Style: Authenticity of voice
5. Self-Reflection: Depth of reflection

Please see page 9 for the Creative Writing Portfolio rubric. Pupils who are guilty of
plagiarism will be disqualified from the Seminar.
The results of the application will be sent to schools by 21 Aug 09.

About the Portfolio

A creative writing portfolio is an authentic form of assessment of a student writer’s maturity of
thought and literary style. In developing the portfolio, the student writer is encouraged to be
self-directed in learning and responsible for his/her own growth.
A good creative writing portfolio is a meaningful collection of the student writer’s works.
There should be evidence of the authenticity of voice, flexibility in the crafting of ideas,
originality in giving insights into personal experiences and relationships with others, and
lastly, thoughtfulness in self-reflection.

What to Include

1. Four of a pupil’s best creative writing pieces. There must be at least one poem
and one short story among the pieces chosen. These pieces must be chosen by the
pupil, with advice from the teacher. Teachers may want to use the rubric on page 9
to guide their pupils in the selection of their creative writing pieces.
2. A reflection note for each piece of writing selected. Each reflection note should
contain the reasons for including that piece of work and how that piece reflects
growth as a writer. Some examples are:
􀂃 "This piece demonstrated how I have effectively used foreshadowing by… "
􀂃 "I chose these pieces because they show my first attempts at writing about...The
challenges I faced were…I managed to overcome them by…"
􀂃 "After I discovered the importance of using precise words in writing a composition,
I tried to improve a story I had done previously using more precise language.
This piece is a result of that effort. The changes made in this draft were…"
􀂃 "Unlike my first draft, this 2nd draft was meant to make this story original, not
based on a book. Thus, I decided to create my own beginning…"
3. A story based on the Creative Writing Assignment (See page 5.)
4. In summary, the portfolio should contain four creative writing pieces, the reflection
notes for these four pieces and the story based on the Creative Writing Assignment.

Creative Writing Assignment 2009

Write a short story of at least 250 words based on the following situation:
Imagine you are a lizard in a primary school
in Singapore. Write down your feelings,
thoughts and experiences.
You are strongly encouraged to type out your story using the following format:
􀂃 Arial
􀂃 Font Size 12
􀂃 Double spacing
􀂃 Margin of 1 inch from the left, right, top and bottom
Please remember to indicate the number of words at the end of your story.

Application Form

CAP (PRI) 2009

SECTION A
*Please put a tick (√) in the appropriate box.
Name: ______________________________________ NRIC No.: _________________
School: ________________________ Class: ____________
Gender*: 􀂉 Male 􀂉 Female
Home Address: _____________________________________________________________
Contact No.: ___________________________
E-mail Address: _________________________
Parent’s Name: ________________________________
Parent’s Contact No.: ___________________________
Teacher’s Name: ______________________________
Teacher’s Contact No.: __________________________
Teacher’s E-mail Address: ________________________________
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE EVENT THAT YOU ARE SELECTED:
Food Requirements: 􀂉 Chinese 􀂉 Halal 􀂉 Vegetarian
Medical Allergies/Conditions (if any): ___________________________________

Application Form

CAP (PRI) 2009
SECTION B
1. Why do you wish to join the CAP (Pri) and what do you want to learn from it?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. In your opinion, what are the responsibilities of a CAP (Pri) participant?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
I understand that my application comprising ALL of the following must reach GE Branch by
5 pm, 8 Jun 09, for my application to be considered by the CAP (Pri) Organising Committee:
a) 2 hard copies of the portfolios (These portfolios will NOT be returned to me.)
b) 1 copy of the application form
c) 1 copy of the undertaking form
This means that I will need to submit my CAP (Pri) application to my teachers before 8 Jun
09.
Name & Signature of Applicant: ______________________ Date: ____________

Letter of Undertaking
CAP (PRI) 2009

NAME OF PUPIL AS IN NRIC: ____________________________ IC NO. :_____________
SCHOOL: _________________________________ CLASS:_____________
Personal Undertaking by Applicant:
I understand the CAP (Pri) involves my total commitment and I agree to make every effort to
attend all the sessions of the seminar from 7 to 10 Sep 09. I confirm that I will not be involved
in any other programmes or co-curricular activities or commitments from 7 to 10 Sep 09.
I verify that all the works submitted in my CAP application are my own. If I am found guilty of
plagiarism, my application will be rejected and I will be disqualified.
______________________________
Signature of Applicant & Date

Endorsement by Parent/Guardian:
I verify that my son/daughter/ward has no other commitments from 7 to 10 Sep 09 and will be
able to take part in all sessions of the CAP (Pri) during these four days.
__________________________ _______________________________
Name of Parent/Guardian Signature of Parent/Guardian & Date