Assessment of Lit in Riverside Secondary

As literature is not an examinable subject, even for the lower secondary students, skills taught in literature classes have to be geared towards those that can be used to answer comprehension questions or write essays. The deliverables (SA) for each term, however, are rather fun activities like haiku- and glog-creations. In a way, the more 'important' (comprehension answering) skills are not formally tested during Literature assessments. This could be good, thought, as students can exercise their creativity in literature lessons.

What this means for literature teachers here is that a good balance between encouraging creativity and the teaching of examinable skills have to be struck. Students have to be made aware that their literature lessons are not just play time, but that there are also important skills to be learned.

Assessment in Fairfield

In Fairfield, the assessments are a mix of formative and summative. The formative assessments are used more for checking to ensure if students have understood what was taught in class. Often times, the literature teachers make use of the class's google site and Facebook to generate discussion on a particular topic or get them to reflect on something. These assessments are marked but not used in the collation of marks for the report book.

Each term, they usually have 2 tests which are summative in nature and other modes of assessment (OMA).  For example, this term they are reading To Kill A Mockingbird (the play) for Secondary 2s and will have their tests by week 5. The OMA this term is a film project where students have to choose to film one out of the 3 scenes given to them. This is to allow the students room to explore drama which is usually impossible to do so in class. Furthermore, the Sec 2s only does TKMB for 1 term (shows how little time we have).

Assessment of Literature at Jurong West Secondary

For Secondary 2 Literature, there is one common test, one mock examination and mid-year examinations that the students need to sit for. These are for the summative assessment. For formative assessment, the students need to write essay style answers for questions that the teacher sets in their journal books.

For examinations and tests, the students need to answer 2 essay questions using the P.E.E.L format. I think that this is rather helpful for those students who might be taking up Literature as an O'level subject. The first question will be based on a passage, students will need to extract pieces of evidence from the passage given and answer the question based on the passage. The second questions will be based on a topic covered in class.

In terms of formative assessment, I have been giving my students worksheets to do for every lesson. I make sure that there is a class work and homework component for each lesson that I plan for. This is one way for me to assess if my students are learning and understand the concepts taught in class. I also gave them a March holiday assignment to assess if they have read the whole book.

As for the secondary 1 students, apart from common tests and examinations, they need to present a dramatised version of the text which is also examinable.

Assessment of Literature in Pasir Ris

The assessment of Lower Secondary Literature is very much based on formative assessment. Here, the students do not have mid year exams for Literature. This term, my lessons are used solely for SA1 project work rather than teaching content. The Secondary Two Express students are given a choice to either create a children's book or excerpts of a journal(something like 'Diary of Anne Frank')of a particular character, based on the text that they have read in Term 1. They willbe assessed based on their weekly blog reflections and also, the planning and the work process.Since the Literature class meets once a week, students will use the time to complete as much work as they can in class. For the past two weeks, the students were not exactly on task therefore, they usually will meet again after school. The project task requires a lot of work as students are expected to complete these things- the product, group blog, individual reflection and class presentation. To facilitate the grading process and to ensure that they complete the project by the end of practicum, I have provided them with a schedule that they can follow.

However, the project task for the Normal Academic students is simply, with more focus on the creative aspects. Using the Literature text as the basis, students are to select four events that interest them and then, they are expected to create a 3d model of the event. Basically, they have to createa diorama. They are given four weeks to complete this project. In addition, the students will have to write a 50-word reflection to rationalise their choice of scenes and why they have portrayed the scenes as such. I have not started the project with them but I have been asked to teach them how to build these 3D scenes. so far, I have only managed to create a simple scene. I am still looking for a way to teach them how to build these models.What I like about this project is that it is more hands-on and thus, it will appeal to the NA students(hopefully!).

Assessment of Literature in RGS

By allowing the students to bypass the ‘O’ Level examinations, the school gains quite a lot of freedom in setting its assessment modes for Literature (and for other disciplines as well). I have to stress that a lot of attention is actually paid to the concept of assessment (its purposes and types) in the school as a whole, to ensure that the objectives of an Integrated Programme (increased rigour in each specific discipline to stretch the potential of high-ability students) are met. (Even as a trainee, I have already had to attend department-wide workshops on formative assessments). In short, not participating in the ‘O’ Level examination seems to mean that teachers feel a need to be more thorough than ever in planning assessments, to ensure that students do get something out of their education in the programme.

For Literature, I have observed a vast range of assessment tools/modes, usually referred to using acronyms (the better to write an assessment-themed rap with). So far, I have noted these:

CBA: Class-Based Assessments, usually a series of short-answered test questions to check the students’ factual knowledge of the texts (i.e. to make sure they read their texts). I have already taken part in the setting, administering, and marking of such tests.

AA: Alternative Assessments, which tends to be something a little more ‘creative’, where they are tested on their understanding of the text (usually with a focus on characterization) using character journals (diary entries where students are asked to write using the voice of key characters in the text) or fakebook (something like this).

SA or PPA: Summative Assessment or Pen-and-Paper Assessment, rather close to what you might expect of a regular Literature exam. So far, one paper I’ve seen (helped to vet) looks pretty much identical to the regular passage-based question.

PT: Performance Task, where students are asked to perform, by presenting the evidence of their learning. I have not actually seen an example of this for the level (Year 3) I am teaching, but I know that the Year 2 task for Romeo and Juliet was for the students to put up a creative re-enactment of a specified scene from the play. The students were required to change the context of the play, while retaining aspects such as characterization and plot development. E.g. Take Romeo and Juliet to Bollywood, or make them merpeople (real examples). This can get rather elaborate, as the students have to propose a reworked script, sketch (and produce) their own costumes, and put up the selected scene.

FA: Formative Assessment, which could be anything that we get students to do to test their understanding throughout the course of the unit. This could be somewhat formal (e.g. getting students to respond to close-reading questions in class) or really informal (exit cards, show of hands, etc.) 

Assessment of Literature in VJC

From what I know, in general, VJC employs mainly summative forms of assessment for Literature (tests and exams). However, individual tutors do ask the students to write reflections in their Literature journal, and the students are also tasked to compile a folder of all things related to the text they study. (Character analysis, Themes...) At regular intervals, the tutors will look through the journals and the folders. The journals help the students to articulate what they've been learning so far, and it helps as a tool to assess their writing skills as well.

In terms of formative assessment in weekly classes, students are often called upon to do dramatized readings of Othello. The thinking routine of "I see, I think , and I wonder" is also used frequently to draw out the students' learning points.

QCR523 2nd post: How is Literature assessed in SCGS?

There is a series of informal and formal assessments for the Sec 1s. In class, assessment for learning through group work and presentations is conducted. In-class work is, however, not graded. Take-home assignments, like the PEER format paragraphs and short essays that I've taught them, allow students to apply/practice the skills that are taught in class, so they act as assessment as learning. Formal assessments include class tests, level tests, and take-home essay assignments.

All handouts, notes, and worksheets are to be filed in neatly categorised files, such as writing portfolio, poetry portfolio, etc. Informal assessment also involves parents. Although filing is not graded anymore (it was in my time), the parents are involved in going through their files. On one hand, it is to allow parents to see what the teachers have been teaching in the term; on the other hand, it is to allow parents to assess the progress of their children's learning. Surveys are given out to the parents to gather their thoughts on the teachers' teaching/learning materials, their children's strengths and weaknesses, their children's needs in which areas of the subject. Parents are to assess their children's learning development and decide if they are learning at an appropriate pace.

Although I find this somewhat helpful because this process involves parents in their children's learning development and give them some say in shaping the lesson materials and skills to be taught/practised, I think such a practice also makes teaching (the profession) seem like customer service/care. Even so, I think this also serves to 'protect' teachers to some extent. With parents becoming demanding 'customers' that push blame or responsibility of educating their children to the teachers in the past 2 decades (approx.), this 'customer service' format of involving parents in shaping and commenting on the school's approach to educating their children forces parents to share responsibility with the teachers. I must admit that even after thinking through whatever I've just typed, I am still quite amused by the entire affair and the shifting nature of the teaching profession. It seems like teachers have to indirectly 'educate' parents on how to be parents. This is such an intriguing thought.

Essay assignments are usually 30% of the CA while major tests (level tests) take up 30-40% (depending on which term) and the remaining 30-40% constitutes of class tests and project/research-based assignments like the poetry portfolio and writing development file. There is usually at least one lit-based assignment and one EL-inclined assessment in each term because of the Language Arts programme.

Literature Assessment

Here in my school, literature assessments are mainly formative and they are not merely written but they also involved the use of ICT tools. The students' assessments are continual and accounts for and towards their overall grade for the subject. The same applies for all the levels. The assessment for the literature department is usually broken down and less of a class or common test but rather project or assignment based. This makes it a fairer assessment of the students in terms of their grasp of knowledge. Their summative assessment only comes in the form of mid-years.


For the lower secondary that I am teaching, students have both individual and group work. The assessments are spread throughout terms 1 and 2. Students are to independently complete characterisation for their text as the lessons move along and they are to also complete a scene summary after each scene of the play. They are also given two short essays that can be written or typed out. In their groups, they are to complete blog entries that answer the major questions that the department has posted on their e-learning portal. In addition, the groups are to also role play the scenes that are given to them and explain/teach the class about the scene. They will be assessed based on their role play and teaching.

QCR520 TG3 2011 2nd Post

Describe how Literature is being assessed in the school you have been posted to?

Literature assessment (for Sec 2) here in Macpherson secondary is done through formative assessments.

 In the first term, students were doing a small play production (only a few scenes due to time constraints) where they had to come up with a script and act out the script. The students were assessed based on their script and how they worked together and acted in their play. This would form a majority of their semester’s assessment.

What follows next in this term will be two in-class poetry tests over the course of the term (one seen, one unseen) where students are expected to complete a set of questions based on the poem.  This would also form part of their semester’s assessment. The students here do not have a literature examination for their mid-year examination.

Assessment in Boon Lay Secondary School

Assessment is still quite traditional for students at Boon Lay Secondary School. For the Secondary One students at Boon Lay Secondary School, students are involved in a program called HEARTS. There is cooperation between the English and Literature teachers for the Secondary One students to do a language arts program. They have a semestral assessment as well, while CA is tested continually throughout the year. For example, they are asked to write poems which will be counted into their CA marks.

For the Secondary Two students, they are doing The Clay Marble and this is tested for the SA as well. What is tested is the skills that they have to answer literature questions as well as familiarity with the text. They have also been asked to do a March holiday project based on one of the chapters of the text. The students are also given common tests to form part of their CA.

For the Secondary Three students that I am teaching elective literature to, this is the same thing as well with CA being formed of assignments and a major SA twice in the year. The students are assessed on the skills that they have learnt for unseen prose and poetry in the mid year exam.

#2 Assessment in NJC Junior High

In NJC Junior High the decision has been made to not teach Literature in the traditional manner characterized by close reading and rigour. This is not to say that teaching and textual analysis is fast and loose, but rather, that there is a greater humanistic focus- that literature should inform students of the human experience. To this end, assessment does include quizzes, essay writing, dramatized readings but also more unusual activities.

For example, secondary 4 students are to act out a mediation session after studying Kuo Pao Kun's Lao Jiu and Shakespeare's King Lear. In the session, students are to argue from their position with the end goal of coming to a compromise and agreement on the situation. The students are assigned external mentors (working professionals, like lawyers, engineers, family service center counselors) to help them with their analysis of certain conflicts. For example in a particular session, 2 students might represent the disgruntled siblings of Lao Jiu accusing the parents of the failure to raise Lao Jiu properly. 

Assessment of Literature in St. Marg's

For Sec 2's, assessment is a mix of formative and summative. For instance, we had a series of debates prior to the March holidays. Students were expected to fill in Peer Assessment Forms where they assessed their peer's performance and showed what they understood from the debates. There are projects that are a mix of formative and summative. For example, the Authentic Transfer Task where students were expected to demonstrate on understanding of the text (Much Ado) via costume design, music choice + write-up etc.

For Sec 3's and 4's, the focus is on exam preparation so assessment is mostly summative. So far, from what I've observed, students submit an essay every term. There are no other forms of assessment, apart from the major exams, outside of that.

Assessment of literature in Punggol Secondary School

The assessment of literature in Punggol Secondary School uses a combination of both formative and summative assessments. There will be 1 common test per term, whereby students will be tested on what they have learnt during the term. However, the questions in the common test are mostly short-answer questions about characterization, setting and plot. Students will only be tested on essay writing during the mid-year examination.

My CT places a large emphasis on formative assessments. She gives students assignments such as journal writing  (e.g. writing an entry from the perspective of a character in the novel), presentation of group work, sketching of a character, drama performance and writing creative pieces. One thing good about the assessment of literature in my school is that the marks for these assignments share equal weight as the common test for the CA results. However, marking such assignments is more difficult as it is more subjective. Therefore, one of the ways that my CT does is that she will make sure she tells the students the marks allocated for each component of the assignment and what she is looking out for before students embark on their work. In this way, students will know exactly what the teacher is looking out for and thus, it makes grading a little fairer.

Personally, I feel that the emphasis on formative assessments is a good decision made by the school. It stretches students’ creativity and it also helps them to like literature because the teacher does not always get them to focus on the written test.

Assessment of Literature in Unity Secondary School

At Unity Secondary School, Literature is mostly assessed by means of summative assessment. A student’s overall Literature grade is based on how well he/she has performed in his/her tests and examinations. For both CA1 and CA2, students were assessed based on how well they have understood the text as the questions demanded students’ application of the knowledge they have learnt in class. However, the school tries to integrate formative assessment in the form of Project Artifacts for the Secondary 2 Express/Normal Academic students. Students have to design and produce artifacts that are related to their Literature text and they are also required to exhibit and showcase their artifacts on Week 3 of Term 2. This project would take up 50% of the student’s CA2 grade. The upcoming Mid-Year Examination in May would be a form of summative assessment used to test students on their ability to analyze and interpret the text. Therefore, summative assessment accounts for a large percentage of a student’s final Literature grade.

Although think-pair share, group discussions and response logs are employed in Literature classes, students are generally not assessed while they are carrying out these activities. Hence, often times, Literature in Unity Secondary School is assessed through means of summative assessment.

Assessment of Literature in Peicai Secondary School

The Sec 1s did not have a common test in Term 1 because they have not learnt much other than script writing. The graded scripts that they have written in groups will contribute to their summative assessment. There are both formative and summative assessments. For formative assessment, there are homework, group work and also worksheets that they do in class. As mentioned in my earlier post, they will be tested on unseen prose for MYE so I am trying to get them to use PEE in their answers.

The Sec 2s and 4s had common tests last term. One Sec 2 teacher gave an Express class homework and she had so much trouble collecting homework from the students. Many of the students gave excuses such as they did not bring or did not do.

The students only have 1 hour of Literature a week so I can't really go in depth. I gave the Sec 1s a prose with a few questions to read and do as holiday homework so that I can save some time in class. The questions also served as a form of formative assessment to check if the students have read and understood the story.

Assessment of Literature in NCHS

The secondary 1 students taking the communicative arts (language arts) programme do not have a common test (summative test) in Term 1, but they have regular formative assessments that include narrative essay writing and drama. The school engaged an external vendor to introduce drama (Shakespeare's Macbeth) to the kids. They were divided into groups of 4 or 5 and had to perform some lines from Macbeth, and they were assessed on their performance. This would form a small per cent of their year-end grade. Both formative and summative assessments throughout the year would contribute towards their year-end grade (summative assessments would have higher weightage).

There are also both formative and summative assessments for the other levels. There will be common tests each term--these grades will form a certain per cent of their year-end grade. These tests include essay questions on unseen poetry and text-based questions on novels/ drama. Before the common tests, there will be practices/ practice tests that follow the same structure of the common tests. Grades for the practice tests will not affect the year-end grade. Worksheets also constitute formative assessments, and most of them do not affect the year-end grade as well.

It seems as if the school places so much emphasis on tests and exams that SOWs seem to revolve strictly around them (secondary 2-4), and it becomes difficult to factor in hands-on activities or activities that involve longer/ in-depth/ exploratory questioning and discussions. This is, of course, a subjective opinion; there may be many other things that are going on and I may be unaware of them.

Assessment of Literature in St. Patrick's School

The assessment of Literature in St. Patrick's School is a combination of both formative and summative modes. As mentioned, the Secondary 1 students have external drama vendors coming in to teach them about stage play and techniques. The boys are required to put up a play of one of the plays in the textbook for this coming week. They are required to either improvise or follow exactly on the play. So far, they have already gone through several informal assessments of their plays in class. The official assessment will be part of their CA2 marks. They also had a formative assessment where they had to make use of their knowledge of PEE/OEE in their essay writing for the examination questions on the same play. As for the secondary 2 students, the formative assessment will be based on the students' creation of books of poetry and poetry slams. The summative assessment was on unseen poetry where they also had to use the PEE/OEE method to write a piece of practical criticism. The secondary 3 students do not have much time to go through the formative assessments because most of them take Literature as combined humanities. As, the only assessment for them is summative assessment (term test). I feel that Literature in SPS can be further improved - by bringing them out for field trips and assess them on their observation skills outside the classroom to expand their potential and capacities.

Literature in St. Patrick's School

I am currently given Secondary 1-3 Express Literature at St. Patrick's School. In total, I have 6 classes of Literature to focus on during my Teaching Practice. 

In St. Patrick's School, the secondary 1 students were exposed to drama in the 1st term. The school brought in external drama vendors to teach the boys about stage play and techniques to make a play more interesting. The drama vendors did something very similar to our drama workshop - we made use of a certain object to portray other uses of it. For example, using a piece of cardboard as a handphone. It was generally very appealing to the boys because they got to express their ideas outside of the classroom. For the secondary 2 students, they were engaged in poetry. Their teachers have taught them the O-E-E or P-E-E method (point/observation-evidence-explanation/elaboration) to write a practical criticism piece. For the secondary 3, they also did poetry criticism in term 1, and they would be moving on to reading Telltale:11 Stories in term 2. 

Generally, St. Patrick's School does not have enough Literature teachers to cope with the cohort. They even used the AED educators to teach Literature to the lower secondary students. I'm hoping for a positive change to the area of interest because the boys are generally not interested in the field of Literature.


** I forgot to mention that there is a sizable amount of boys I need to "take care":
secondary 3: 82 boys
secondary 2: 80 boys
secondary 1: 40 boys

for English, it's another class of 39 boys.

can you imagine the number of boys i need to remember?

Assessment of Literature in Chung Cheng High (Main) School

There appears to be more emphasis on a summative approach to assessment rather than a formative one. For the lessons that I've seen so far (and the ones that I've conducted following a weekly plan given by the committee), there is usually a summative assessment on a particular area once it has been taught. For example, the students have been through lessons on essay writing before I joined the school and had a passage-based essay as part of their CA. They will be having lessons on an Unseen text soon (prose) and will have another component of their CA based on that before their mid year examinations. Their recent performance of a Sketch for The Outsiders will also be graded based on two areas: the actual performance itself (expressiveness, accurate depiction of characters, cooperation between group members etc.) and a written Group Reflection piece on the decisions they made for the sketch (why they chose a particular theme, what they were trying to convey to the audience etc.). However, most of the students did not quite understand the requirements for the Group Reflection and ended up writing their own personal feelings about it instead of the stated requirements. This sketch is also part of their continual assessement. In the event that the students have a valid reason for missing/being absent on the day of the test/assessment day, the weightage for the other components will be increased to make up for the one that was missed.

I am not so sure about the Secondary Ones but as stated earlier in my previous post, the Secondary Threes do have some kind of formative assessment. The teacher in charge mentioned that students' participation in additional activities and written work (taking part in school plays, journal entries) are also taken into account on top of the official modes of assessment in the school.

Assessment of Literature at Coral Secondary School

Formative assessment is conducted through completing homework assignments, worksheets, some group work (but not in every class). However, with the limited amount of time with them (2 hrs 15 min every two weeks), and the constant struggle to get students to submit their homework, formative assessment is not viewed as an ideal means of assessment. On a side note, I'm still trying to get students to even read their texts, and my lesson activities have to be based on getting them to read it in class so that they understand what I'm trying to teach. Formative assessment is a challenge, unless it assesses if students have read the text.

Summative assessment is still the primary means by which the school assesses students. I've observed that the varied teaching across classes has also led to varied instructions regarding tests. Different teachers expect different standards and responses for the test in their classes. As I was marking the test scripts for a Normal Academic class, I was asked to be more lenient; since most of them would not be taking Lit in upper secondary, it would be easier to just try to pass them. The mid-year exams will cover plot, character, themes based on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Assessment of Literature at Dunearn

For Secondary 2 students, there is a mixture of both formative and summative assessment. For this term, as we are doing drama, the students have to write 1-2 class tests (using the PEE structure) as well as having to act out a scene in the play (and they will be assessed for their tone, acting, language and expression). In term 1, they had to do 2 in-class tests as well as a poetry project where they have to analyse a chosen poem and present it to the class.

For Secondary 3 students, they have formative assessment such as group projects (example: the video project i mentioned in my previous entry) as well as essay assignment (homework) and in-class test. The formative assessments count towards their CA grade. There is a general shift from a mixture of both formative summative to a more focused exam preparation kind of assessment (more essays than projects) so as to prepare them for O level examinations eventually. 

How Nan Hua assesses Literature

The assessment of Secondary 2 Literature is a combination of formative and summative methods. Students will have at least 1 class test per term which requires them to write a combination of short essay-style answers and comprehension questions, and terms 2 and 3 will have students embarking on a research project and a performance project. Term 4 will focus more on essay-writing, to help students better gauge their ability to take Literature in Upper Secondary.
Secondary 3 students do not have official formative assessment, as the focus is on preparing them for the 'O' Level examinations. However, teachers have a lot of autonomy to implement formative assessments within their own classes, be it for class participation or diligence in doing and submitting work. These formative assessments will count towards students' CA grade. Tests and examinations are 'O' Level-style essay questions. In Term 1, students attempt the unseen component. The mid-year examination in Term 2 simulates an actual 'O' Level setting for students, with Unseen and set text (prose) being tested. Term 3 will see the students starting on their other set text (drama), and the end of year examination will be on all three components (unseen, set prose, set drama).

literature in SKSS

Unfortunately, there is no upper secondary literature offered in Seng Kang Secondary School, so I have to be contented with teaching literature to a class of Secondary Two students for now. From what I understand students are exposed to simple poetry and prose in Secondary One and taught basic literary devices such as personification and simile, which they revisit again at greater depth and breadth in Secondary Two. In Secondary Two they are taught basic skills on how to analyse an unseen poem, and assessed based on these skills: the format of the test is structured in a way that is more like comprehension, where there is a series of questions based on an unseen poem and students have to give short answers. However, it does differ from comprehension in that the questions asked are more specifically related to literature, for instance a student might be asked to identify a device used and explain what it shows about the theme etc. There is also a set text for Secondary Two students, which I will begin teaching immediately after the March holidays, and this year the school is intending to introduce "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" for the first time. On one hand, this means that there aren't many resources available as yet for teachers to utilise; on the other hand, however, it also implies that there will be more flexibility in terms of how the text is to be taught, which is a good thing. Unlike for English, where there is a scheme of work outlining what skills are to be taught every single week, for literature it seems like there is more freedom, and while there are set texts to be taught and certain timeframes within which to finish teaching these texts, everything else seems to be more or less up to the teacher to decide.

QCR523 1st Post: Literature taught at SCGS.

SCGS offers the Language Arts programme to the lower secondary students and Full Literature / Elective Literature to the upper secondary students (Literature is compulsory at my school, so everyone takes Literature). I was assigned to join the lower secondary Language Arts team in my school's ELL department (for CS1: Literature) and I am currently teaching Secondary 1 LA. I have observed that LA is taught in a highly integrated manner. My department has developed a syllabus for the Sec 1s, split into 4 'modules'--1 for each term of the academic year--to designate a specific skill(s) and topical focus for each term. Term 1 (module 1) tries to bridge the gap between primary education and secondary syllabus with a module that goes easy on the students.

"Module 1: Moving Up; from Child to Teen" gets students to identify text types for different purposes, recognise formal register and tone, and practice different writing techniques to telling a story based on a collection of short excerpts. The lessons will guide students in descriptive writing tasks like narrative writing and a graded personal recount essay. Practices during lessons include informal comprehension tests that assessed students' ability to comprehend the writers' writing techniques and the intended effect/impact (this is a more Lit-based approach to setting comprehension exercises).

"Module 2: Hello, World! Subthemes: Nature, Culture & Family)" contained a selection of poetry and excerpts from novels/short stories. The aim is to get students to identify themes, develop personal response(s) to texts, explain/express what makes the texts interesting or effective in delivering their messages/central ideas. There is a comprehension test and a full-length narrative essay (Commonwealth essay) in the assessment component of this module. Classroom work involved the students in practicing the P.E.E paragraph format for writing a literary response to a text.

Because the term is affected by tournaments and the interruption of curriculum by the Outdoor Education Week (27 Feb - 2 Mar), the next part of the module, which focuses on character analysis, narrative skills (story plotting and narrative techniques), and evaluation of narrative technique, will continue after the March holidays. The assessment component includes a structured poetry test and a poetry writing portfolio to pick up from the previous focus on poem analysis. The lessons itself would prepare the students for full-fledged novel analysis in the remaining half of Term 2 and for a more 'practical criticism' reading of a literary text in Terms 3 and 4, where they will read Kira-Kira and Emily of Emerald Hill respectively.

On the whole, just by looking at the Scheme of Work for the entire year, I think the department tries hard to develop a rigorous syllabus that packs a lot of (Literature) foundation skills in a year's lessons in a progressive manner (spiral progression). Using the Understanding by Design (UbD) model, the department plans the Scheme of Work with specific goals (graded assignments/assessment and ungraded practice) in mind. It allows for a greater overlapping of EL skills and Literature skills in the teachers' development of the material (module packages 1-4). Appreciating literary techniques and devices also enhances students' writing abilities as they are taught to be consciously aware of these techniques in the text types they read for LA. I like how EL and Literature are mutually supportive in this LA programme. I am also very pleased that teachers are allowed to develop their own materials to supplement the module packages in their own lessons to suit their teaching needs (dependent on class profile etc) and styles.

Literature @ Fairfield Secondary School

Students in Fairfield start learning Literature as a subject only from Secondary 2 onwards so that students are not overwhelmed with too many subjects in Secondary 1. For my practicum, I 've been assigned a Secondary 2 class to teach, as such, I would know more about literature in lower secondary than that in upper secondary. In case you're curious, the Secondary 4 students are reading Tell Tales for their 'O' level text.

In Secondary 2, they begin the year studying about poetry and literary devices. The school prepared a poetry package (2 thick sets of worksheets) which the students have to bring and refer to for Literature lessons. Poems are easy to understand and relate to as those chosen were by Singaporean poets who discuss about life in Singapore. I have been unable to observe a lesson where Literature is taught in the past 3 weeks has Fairfield has been involved in the school organised Poetry Slam Competition, tests and error analysis for examination scripts. In Term 2, the Secondary 2 students will read the play version of To Kill A Mockingbird by Christopher Sergel where I will begin teaching. At the end of Term 2, students will produce a video where they will have to act out some scenes in the play. Students will also be going to watch plays to give them an idea of how plays are put up to aid them in their final project.

Overall, Fairfield follows the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework where having identified the needs of the students and a final deliverable at the end of each term, a scheme of work is produced with a goal in mind. Thereafter, the department will find resources and prepare lessons that will help the students reach the final goal.

Literature at St. Andrew's Secondary School

I observed the Secondary Three Literature class once and taught the next three lessons. The Sec Threes are currently doing prose, along with an introduction to The Chrysalids. As far as I can see with my guys, along with observations of the Secondary Four class, Literature is taught in a very explicit way as the boys have not read the text, and are in need of a lot of hand-holding to help them understand the concepts.

We try to help the class along by using examples and simulations into our lessons, so that the students can relate to the lesson with their current schema. The teacher I observed got the students (and she prepared them) to act out an extract of The Chrysalids and had the students observe the demeanour and behaviour of the actors involved (in accordance to the text), to make the text authentic to the students.

The school has agreed to a more LangLit approach, giving the lower secondary students poetry slam programmes and drama clinics conducted by the graduating drama club boys. The upper secondary boys get to go for a drama class that involves them getting into groups, writing their own scripts, rehearsing and then performing for their peers at the Arts House.

RGS Literature

For the teaching practicum period I’ve been assigned to teach Year 3 pupils in the Raffles Programme (a 6 year integrated programme culminating in the ‘A’ Levels). Currently, we are reading Lordof the Flies by William Golding, a somewhat surprising choice for a girls’ school.
The school as a whole utilizes the ‘Understanding by Design (UbD)’ model for curriculum planning. This model works by going ‘backwards’, by looking first at the outcomes to be achieved before setting assessment goals, designing lessons and selecting appropriate resources. The Lit Schemes of Work (SoW) that I have viewed will also generally link back to larger macro-conceptsthat govern academic disciplines in the Raffles Programme. For the current SoW the macro-concept selected is ‘models’, which means ‘tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events or classes of events, and that have explanatory power and communicate salient points to others’.

That said, Literature teaching and learning at Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) is not really vastly different from what I experienced (very briefly) in other schools. Group work and class-based discussions prevail, and factual knowledge of the text is demanded of the students, but not repeatedly harped upon. Instead, focus is placed on thematic concerns and close reading. One innovative (at least to me) methodology that we are moving into, starting next Term, is the use of ‘question generation’ activities to engage the students. This method follows from a fundamental belief that only those who ask the right questions gain knowledge, and thus the focus will shift from teachers’ questioning towards guiding the students to formulate (and evaluate the value of) their own sets of questions about the text. The teachers at the school believe that this will be workable and worthwhile given that the students are of high ability. 

Lit in Peicai Secondary

In Term 1, the Sec 1 students studied plays. They wrote their own scripts in groups and that will be their assessment for CA1. The students also had a chance to role-play their scripts in class. Before the end of the term, we started on setting. Next term, we will be doing unseen prose. The students will learn how to use PEE to answer questions on setting, characterization and plot. In Term 3, students will be doing Roald Dahl's The Witches.

For Sec 2 students, they did Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet. Not quite sure how it was taught. For next term, they will be doing unseen poetry. They will also apply PEE to poetry.

There are no Lit classes for Sec 3 students as the number of interested students is too low to form a class.

The Sec 4s are doing The Good Earth. My CT spent most of the time going through plot with them to prepare them for common test because some students have not finished reading the tested chapters.

How Literature is taught in VJC

VJ is currently teaching Paper 3's "The individual and the society", and I've been following the lectures and tutorials for Othello. The past few weeks were spent on introducing the overall theme, and it was only during this week that the teachers started to teach the text of Othello itself. During the tutorial slots, the tutors will mainly focus on the teaching of key scenes, using dramatization, discussions, and some form of structured worksheets.Currently, they are also adopting Project Zero's visible thinking routines as part of the lessons.

From what I know, there isn't a fixed SOW, but the teachers will have weekly meetings to decide how to go about teaching the text in upcoming terms. Most tutors have different ways of teaching the text, but for the later part of the year, the lessons will be based on a seminar style approach, where the students will take charge of doing research, and doing a presentation on particular aspects of the text.

Lit in St Andrew's Secondary School

I have not had the opportunity to observe that many Literature lessons in St Andrew's, only the ones taught my CTs, Sec 2s who are reading Animal Farm, and Sec 5s who are at the moment revising The Chrysalids. For the Sec 5's revision, there is no standard teaching method; the teacher chooses what to teach and how to teach it depending on the learning gaps identified from the previous lesson. The various revision methods include lectures, essay practice, mind mapping and class discussion. For the Sec 2s, there is a scheme of work that dictates that one chapter and a corresponding theme or literary technique is to be covered every three weeks, but this is not followed. The students in my CT's classes have been treated to a line-by-line approach, but I am aware that teachers in other classes, especially those teaching the lower end classes that do not read their books, have given their students re-enactments, jigsaws and poster decorating activities to complete, to force them “read” the text.

Describe how Literature is being taught in the school you are posted to for Teaching Practice?

At Unity Secondary School, Literature is only offered to the Lower Secondary Students (Secondary 1 and Secondary 2). The Secondary 1 students are not doing Literature this term. Instead, they will only be doing Literature in Term 3 whereby students will read the text “Emily of Emerald Hill”. As for the Secondary 2 students, they are currently studying the text “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I am assigned to teach Secondary 2 Literature—1 Express class and 1 Normal Academic class. It is a challenge to teach Literature in the school because many of the students have the mentality that they will not do Literature in Upper Secondary. Most of the students are also rather weak in their command of the English Language. In addition, some of the students do not like the subject and find it boring because they hate to read and write. For Literature lessons, the teachers will explain difficult concepts/themes and after which, students would be given worksheets/handouts to do so as to reinforce their learning.  In addition, to increase the students’ participation, students are given a project to complete over the March Holidays where they have to create artifacts based on the novel they are currently studying and they will also need to present their work through an exhibition after the March Holidays (Term 2 Week 2). It is definitely a challenging task to teach Literature to the Secondary 2 Normal Academic students because many of them do not like the subject and because they do not read the text, they face difficulty in understanding the novel.

Literature in Pasir Ris Secondary School

Hi!I'm currently teaching Literature to Secondary 2 classes. The students are using When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park. The text is a rather simple and therefore, it is used only in Term 1. As the school operates on an odd and even week time-tabling structure, the Sec 2 express classes have Literature for 2 periods per week (45 minutes for each period) while I meet the 2NA class for 1 period on odd weeks and 2 periods on even weeks. I was very impressed with the Express classes that I've been to as almost all of them have finished reading the book. The teacher gave them a Chapter Guide template that the students will have to complete as they read. And they completed that as well. However, the 2NA students are on the other extreme. This makes it more challenging to teach the 2NA class.

The Literature Department has prepared a set of resources (basically, worksheets) for the entire term. It is up to the teacher to decide which activities they would want to use for their class. And for the past two weeks, I've been tasked to teach them to write a paragraph using Point-Evidence-Explanation(incorporate Link in E?). Students do not have to sit for a Literature paper for the MYE and to make up for this, students are required to do a project on the text. They are given two choices; to do a picture book of the text (with rhyming texts and all) or to create a journal of one of the characters in the text.

I have not observed any other Literature lessons. But the Secondary 1 students are reading Roald Dahl's The Witches. The school does not offer Literature to the current Sec 3 batch due to lack of Lit teachers.

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Describe how Literature is being taught in the school you are posted to for Teaching Practice?


I'm currently in St. Margaret's Secondary School. At lower secondary level, English Literature and English Language are combined and taught as the Language Arts Programme (LAP). In this programme, students experience the text through a series of projects where they complete "authentic" tasks such as travel brochures, costume design, creative writing (scripting a chatshow, writing a letter or diary entry from a character's perspective), debates with reference to the text. They are instructed to use PEEL to structure their writing assignments. However, the programme assumes that the students are naturally strong in English so weaker students continue to repeat grammar mistakes which upper secondary English teachers have problems rectifying. In LAP, there is also an emphasis on CME. Students are taught to relate events in the book to various values in life such as loyalty, care, self-respect, honesty etc. LAP takes place over 12 periods every week.

Upper secondary literature is taught exclusively by two or three teachers as there is only one literature class per upper sec level. The girls are quite vocal so the lesson is mostly lively and interactive. From the lesson I’ve observed, the teacher begins the lesson with a line in the text as an entry point for the rest of the lesson. The girls respond and then the teacher gives them a model answer. There is an emphasis on essay writing in the second half of the year for the Secondary 4s – so that they can consolidate their thoughts and work on their essay writing skills. Not sure about Lit at upper sec but I think there are about 5 periods a week..

Literature in Boon Lay Secondary School

I am currently teaching Literature to Secondary One Express and Normal Academic students, as well as Literature for Secondary Two Normal Academic. The students are using The Clay Marble for their text. I am also teaching Secondary Three Literature Elective. There is only 1 pure Literature class for Secondary Four, and none for Secondary Three. Generally the students here have a very weak command of English, so often I have to explain the vocabulary used in the poems and texts in detail first before actually being able to go on to the themes. My CT spends a lot of effort on going through the terms first using the visualizer before talking about the themes. Not too much group work is done in his classes as well, but rather there is more use of videos to let the students get an idea of what the texts are about. As the students’ command of English is quite weak, more time also has to be spent to explain literary terms to them. On the bright side, the upper secondary students who take literature choose to do so, and therefore they are more interested in learning what me and my CT have to offer.

Literature in Chung Cheng High (Main)

English Literature is offered at all four levels at Chung Cheng High and I am currently helping out with the Secondary Twos for English Literature.

Secondary One
The chosen text for Secondary One is The Clay Marble. There are three assignments in total for the entire year. Last year there were two written assignments and one project assignment. There is more emphasis on project assignments this year so the new system now has one written assignment and two project-based assignments. One of the teachers teaching Secondary One literature mentioned that this would help both students and teachers. The students are able to process more of the text when they have hands on activities and this also helps to reduce the teachers' workload. As far as I can tell, one of the projects includes a list of 9 activities to choose from. Some of these include designing a book cover for the text (and then explaining why it was created as such), conducting interviews with people and classmates as part of a 'talk show' programme or performing a short skit. This particular assignment has students working in groups.

Secondary Two
Secondary Twos are working with The Outsiders. They follow a system with alternating weeks for tutorials (odd weeks) and lectures (even weeks). Half of the entire cohort will attend the first lecture of the week and the second half will attend the second lecture. The lectures are used mostly to deliver content while tutorials are used for students and teachers to clarify concepts and techniques. This system came about with maximizing time for both teachers and students. Teachers take turns to conduct the lectures with each teacher taking a single week each to prevent a single teacher from being overloaded with work. Secondary Twos have both written and performance tasks (they are doing a sketch of the text at the moment).

Secondary Three & Four
Not too clear on the Lit syllabus for the Upper Secondary students but they are doing Romeo & Juliet, Things Fall Apart and unseen poetry for 'O' Levels. From what I know, they study two texts simultaneously; two different teachers for the two texts who come in once a week each and these two teachers will come in a third time to do unseen together with the class. Students are assessed using the usual methods such as essays, passage-based questions, exams etc. but are also graded (to a small extent, around 10%?) based on other means like journals, dramatizations and even poetry writing where they will organize a Poetry Slam for students.

Literature in Punggol Secondary School

Due to the lack of literature teachers (there is only 1 lit major in my school and that is my CT), my school is only offering literature to Secondary 1 students in semester 1 and Secondary 2 students in semester 2. They are considering of offering literature as ‘O’ level subject in 2014 as the current secondary 1 students are displaying a lot of potential and as well as due to lack of other humanities teachers. (:p)

The current Sec 1s are very outspoken and they enjoy literature lessons as it involves a lot of group work. My CT creates a safe environment for them to speak up. She uses a lot of questionings to get ideas from students. The students also do a lot of projects/research and presentations. They are also taught of the “PEEL” structure to write a paragraph instead of only answering literature test questions like comprehension questions.

There are 3 periods (50 minutes) allocated to literature each week and they follow the common structure of teaching novel, poems and drama. The Sec 1s are reading Sing to the Dawn this semester and the Sec 2s will be reading The Clay Marble.

Literature in Macpherson Secondary

In  Macpherson Secondary, Literature is taught twice a week, 40 minutes for each period. As such, there's not much time in teaching. After a quick survey, I find that the students here do not enjoy reading much (or at all). Generally, they prefer watching films and reading comics, so I might have to weave in those texts into my literature lessons somehow.

I think the structure for Sec 1 and Sec 2 are about the same - a focus on drama, poetry and novel. I understand the Sec 1s are doing Charlotte's Web. The Sec 2s are doing Mdm Doubtfire. They do not offer Literature for upper secondary classes.

I'm attached to the Sec 2 classes for literature. So, they’re doing Mdm Doubtfire now. Unfortunately, the text did not come in time and from what I understand, they had to rely on an audiobook version for most of the term. What I found interesting was how the students are assessed for this text. This was done through a portfolio over the course of 4 weeks where they would have to create a script based on several chapters of the text and finally, dramatize the script. Right now it's the assessment period, so I'm just watching the students write up and act out their scripts.

In the next term, they will be doing poetry with a focus on the theme of war and conflict, as a lead in to their next text (The Clay Marble). I think the focus here is getting the students to understand the poems. This basically means that the teacher will be going through the poem with them and get the students to uncover meaning from the poem. I understand that they have been exposed to literary devices (similes, metaphors, irony etc.) before but I am told to revisit and remind students of these devices once in a while during my lessons.

Literature in Jurong West Secondary School

I will be teaching literature to 3 seconday two express classes. The Sec 2s are doing The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the Sec 1s are doing Charlotte's Web and the Sec 3s are doing Telltale: 11 Stories.

The secondary one students are doing a dramatised piece of the text. I think they are having fun doing that. As for the sec 2s, they have started writing in essay style format (P.E.E.L and all), which is very impressive. After the end of term two, the students will be reading Little Ironies. There are only 2 periods (60 minutes) dedicated to literature every week.

This is the first year that the school is offering literature as an O'level subject to secondary 3 students. I have not observed any upper sec lit classes. I heard that it is a small cohort of less than 20 students.

How Literature is being taught in NHHS

The English Department in Nan Hua High School is keen to encourage more students to take Literature in Upper Secondary. Secondary 2 students deal with Shakespeare for 3 lessons (55 minutes per lesson) every 2 weeks (the school operates on a 2-week cycle). Each Upper Secondary Literature class has 6 lessons per cycle, with 2 for set texts and 1 for Unseen each week. A teacher who teaches set text does not teach Unseen, and vice versa. Specialisation helps teachers to concentrate on preparing students for each 'O' Level paper.
Students are introduced to essay-writing skills in Secondary 1. The PEDAL structure (Point, Evidence, Device, Analysis, Link) is reinforced every lesson. A typical lesson would start with the teacher going through the text to help students, who tend to be weaker in English due to their Chinese-speaking family backgrounds, understand the content before letting them apply the PEDAL structure to answer structured questions. After students are done with their PEDAL exercises, the teacher will get individuals to present their answers in full sentences on the whiteboard, to simulate an actual essay-writing experience. Teachers use students' mistakes to teach the class, and an open and safe environment is created.

State of Literature in Practicum School

The secondary 1 students in NCHS are embarking on the school's new language arts programme, and are studying the novel Malgudi Schooldays by R K Narayan. The programme follows a modular system where each module sees specific English Language skills being taught through literature/ creative writing. This is as much as I know right now, as I will only be more involved in the curriculum during or after the March holidays. The previous batch of secondary 1 students used the textbook Flights of Fancy: A Journey through Poetry, Prose and Drama. Teachers focused on teaching close reading, characterisation, plot and themes through prose, and taught them the PEEL technique in answering questions.

The secondary 2 students focused on unseen poetry in the first term of 2012. As there are only 3 single-periods allocated to Literature every 2 weeks, the students were only exposed to 2 poems before their common test on unseen poetry at the end of the first term--some said they felt unprepared and didn't know what was going on--they understand and can identify poetic techniques, but they do not know how to approach a poem and how to answer questions. The 2 poems are: William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and Nissim Ezekiel's "Night of the Scorpion". The common test required them to analyse Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est".

They will be focusing on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for the rest of the year. There is a coordinator who sourced for and collated online resources, and who drew up an SOW. These resources are shared with all Literature teachers, but teachers are given the autonomy to pick and choose what to teach and what resources to use during lessons. All teachers are also to come up with a one-page worksheet for every 3 chapters, which will be used across the level. There is a blog where teachers can upload resources and students can post questions--it has just started and there is currently only one post by a teacher there.

The upper secondary students are studying Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Journey's End. From what I've heard, there is only a small cohort of less than 20 students studying Literature at upper secondary level.

Most students at NCHS are inclined towards Korean pop culture, and English Literature bores them. Still, some are very insightful and contribute meaningful answers during class discussions. Although they get excited when learning about the historical context and background of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas , many of them do not have the patience to sit through the first 10 chapters. They need much visual and audio stimulation.

The State of Literature at Coral Secondary School

Upper secondary: 1 Sec 4 core Lit class (11 students), 1 Sec 4 elective Lit class, and 1 Sec 3 core Lit class (9 students). Reasons for such a small group: lack of interest, not a practical subject, too hard to do. Texts: The Crucible and The Chrysalids. There is only one teacher teaching the upper secondary Lit cohort, and the small group makes learning conducive.

Lower secondary: Sec 1s are currently engaged in Reader's Theatre with an external vendor, while the Sec 2s are studying Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I am involved in teaching the Sec 2s. For term 1, they have covered the plot and the character of Mrs. Frisby. Next term, they will cover themes like animal experimentation and agrarian life. The way the text is taught varies across the classes. There are only 3 periods (2hr 15min) every two weeks, which is very little.

It is going to be a challenge to teach Lit as the Sec 2 students are mostly disinterested and some of them have not even started reading the text. Many of them see no use in studying for it since they are not going to be taking it at upper secondary anyway.