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.