P3 SA2 composition planning & model

In this article, you will find few tips to help your child plan his/her P3 SA2 composition and a model on a Changed behaviour.

Initially unplanned, the 2020 P3 class was started as a way to accommodate the siblings of my older current or ex students. As the Covid-19 situation worsened in the first part of the year, I stopped taking in new students in this class due to the young age of the students. Thankfully, the situation has improved here in Singapore.

Looking back over the year, starting this class has been one of the best decisions of the year for me. This class has become a bright spark to my week! Curious, enthusiastic and hardworking, the students in my P3 class never fail to make me laugh with their humour. At times, they even outshine their older siblings with their eagerness to come up with more interesting plots in their compositions and work on higher level Paper 2 components.

Below is the composition we worked on last week.

How to plan your P3 SA2 composition?

The 3 pictures are important when planning out the story plot.

We use the Story Mountain and my P3 class has been taught how to plan for the Climax part of the story. Take a look at the pictures below.

Picture 1

Picture 1 is always the trigger for our stories. The P3 students will use this picture to decide if they will begin with the description of a setting, a character or dialogue.

For this composition, we decided on characterisation as an Introduction.

Picture 2

Picture 2, occupied most of the Problem and Climax of the planning. In the model below, my student decided to add in another problem in the Climax of the story by making the protagonist, John, forge his mother’s signature.

Picture 3

In the Solution part of the story, we focused on picture 3, the protagonist’s mother and her feelings when she found out what he had done.

Conclusion

Like all good stories, the protagonist has learnt a valuable lesson by the end of the story.

P3 Composition model on the theme of ‘A bad decision’

              Lazy. That was what John used to be. Every day after school, he would not do even one piece of homework. He felt that it was too boring. He would head to his bedroom after school to watch television or play video games.

His mother would always remind him, “John, go and do the test papers that I bought for you.”

John would always reply, ”Alright, I will do it later.”

But he never did. He just kept watching television until one day, when John learnt an important lesson.

              One day in class, John’s teacher was telling them that they would have a Paper 2 test the next day and reminded them on what to revise from their files. John was not listening as he was thinking about the latest game model. He wanted to buy it as he could afford it. It was sold at just $18 for one. He did not hear a single word that his teacher was saying about the test. The next day, his teacher gave out the tests. John did not know how to do many questions.

When he arrived home, his mother asked him,” How was the test? I heard from a friend of yours that there was a test today.”

John did not dare to tell his mum the truth so he said, “Oh, it was easy.”

              The next day when the teacher returned the test papers, John saw a huge, red ‘F’ on the front of the paper. He had failed the test! He wanted to burst into tears as he knew that his mother would not forgive him. He held the paper tightly in his hands as he placed it in his bag. When he reached home, his mother was taking an afternoon nap. He decided to do something very naughty in order not to get scolded by his mum. Since his teacher told him to get his parent to sign the test paper, John took out a document with his mother’s signature from her bag. He took out his test paper and copied step by step his mother’s signature. He then placed his mum’s document back in the right place and put his test paper back in his bag.

              The next day, he handed up the test paper to his teacher. His teacher found him acting suspiciously. After school, his teacher called his mother. Shocked, his mother said that she did not sign the test paper. They found out that he had forged his mother’s signature. When he arrived home, his mother was standing at the door angrily, waiting for him to come home from school. When he stepped through the door, she pulled John and scolded him harshly for forging her signature and failing his test. Ashamed, John apologised to his mother. She agreed to forgive him but under one condition. He could not watch television or play any video games after school. He had to complete all his homework and study when he arrived home from school. John agreed and from then on, he worked hard.

              This incident taught John a valuable lesson. He regretted his bad decisions and changed his behaviour. From his mistakes, he learnt to be hardworking and honest.