Primary 4 Composition Introductions

Every year, I encourage my P4 students to step away from their usual styles of introduction in their compositions and venture out to more interesting territory. The usual ‘Ring ring’ or ‘It was a hot day’ can and should be replaced by a more descriptive start.

Why is a well-written introduction important?

• It will pique the interest of the reader (teacher) and draw her into the story

In what ways can a writer begin a story?

• Set the scene
• Describe the setting (as seen in the composition below)
• Introduce the main character

Last week’s composition was based on the theme of A Pleasant Memory. The 3 pictures were a gift box/ a plane/ a scene of the beach.

I gave students the following instructions when planning their compositions:

• No birthday parties (the focus was on describing outdoor settings)
• Keep the plot to one day or to a part of a day (to make sure that they focused on fully describing each scene)
• Use the words and phrases (which I gave to my students) that evoked a sense of pleasantness in line with the theme given
• First paragraph should be a descriptive start to the setting

I was happy that nearly all my P4 students followed my instructions well and attempted to describe their settings!

The example below is a way to write a descriptive introduction focusing on the setting of a story:

The soft gentle sand sank a few inches under my feet as I stepped off the asphalt pavement. Gentle breeze blew, caressing my cheeks. The palm trees surrounding the area, swayed, rustled and danced to the tune of the wind. The hot blazing sun, only to be blocked occasionally by clouds, lit up the sparkling sand. Shells littered the shore, decorating them with a variety of colours. As I listened to the sound of the sea crashing onto the shore, I gazed intently at the sea, sparkling under the sun’s rays like a thousand diamonds. The shouts and screams of the elated children pierced the air as thinly as sharp knives slicing through meat. It was indeed heaven on earth.