Types of questions for Primary 5 & 6 Stimulus-Based Conversation

There has been much talk about what types of Pictures and Questions will come out in the Stimulus-Based Conversations.

While Paper 2 seems to be well understood, the Paper 1 and Oral components still seem to be a struggle for some students. The random pictures given and the themes can seem to be disjointed and sometimes mind boggling to plan out a creative story. In addition, the threat of going out of point looms quite large with the new format when a student’s story based on the pictures is not in-line with the theme given.

The stimulus-based Conversation part of the oral can also be tricky. The general rule of the Picture should be a flyer (a picture and information) and the first question would be “Would you attend/sign up for this?”

However, this isn’t always the case. I have spoken to all my students and compiled some of the Pictures and Questions given to them in their SA1 oral. Some were lucky to get the flyer with the information. Others got a picture with just one line or none.

For example, one school gave a picture of a Pizza and the student was asked “What is your favourite food?”
Another had a sign that said I love Science and was asked “What is your favourite subject?”
Another still had a picture of a Facial Wash and was asked “Would you buy this?”

What is the point I am trying to make? Be prepared! If we are so lucky as to have a flyer with a lot of information, for the PSLE, be thankful! However, prepare your children for when there is none. During my classes, I know that my students are more than capable of answering questions that are based on information given.(We have done a lot of Oral Practices!) Thus, I always stretch them further by asking them questions that gets them to think outside of the box. In this way, they are prepared for any picture given and any question asked. The regular practice seems to have paid off. Most of the questions and topics (except for the facial wash) that came out for their SA1 we had already done!