English Language
Discover how Beacon Primary nurtures confident English users through storytelling, digital media, literature, and reading programmes designed to build strong communication skills.
G.L.O.W STELLAR
In Beacon, the learning of English is designed with the idea of Grow, Learn, Own and Wonder (GLOW). This is achieved through the school-based STELLAR (Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading) programme and packages that promote curiosity to enhance students’ growth and their acquisition of speaking, writing, and presenting skills.
GLOW is conducted in a media-rich environment that harnesses the affordances of technology to allow students to take ownership of their learning. Even at the lower primary, students learn to curate and present information using digital media platforms such as blogs and presentations slides. This culminates in students becoming effective and confident communicators, who are ready for the 21st century.
Digital Storytelling
Using Digital Storytelling (DST), Primary 1 and 2 students create and share their narratives with their classmates. Students plan out their stories during English lessons and craft out their own characters during Art lessons. The stories are then brought to life using animations and narration. Their masterpieces are then showcased in a gallery for their peers to enjoy and learn from.
Science in STELLAR (SiS)
Science in STELLAR (SiS) introduces and weaves the learning of Science into English lessons. Conducted from Primary 1 to 4, students learn about science concepts through thematic books taught in the respective levels. Students get to observe, discuss and conduct fun and simple experiments. These lessons develop students’ confidence and provide them with opportunities to work as a team to develop their communication and reasoning skills.
Readers' Delight
Raz-Kids
Raz-Kids is an online tiered reading platform. Aside from physical books, students in Beacon are also exposed to e-books. Here, emergent readers can listen to books being read to them while proficient readers go on to more advanced skills like retelling a story, reading books at an advanced level and completing quizzes tagged to the e-books. Students will constantly be delighted as the platform provides a wide range of genres and titles to choose from.
Beacon English Language Festival (BELF)
Beacon English Language Festival is a platform for students to experience the joy of learning English through a range of exciting activities that challenge them both in and out of the classroom. The festival lasts for a fortnight, during which students participate in word games such as Spelling Bee and Scrabble, just to name a few. They are also further engaged during library periods, where they are introduced to award-winning books and their authors.
Literature Appreciation Programme
Literature Appreciation Programme (LAP) aims to spark students’ interest in exploring literature texts through developing the students’ critical appreciation of text and promoting positive human experiences through various literary forms like poetry, drama and literature texts. Through these literary forms, our students develop a greater sense of self-awareness and sensitivity.
The following are texts that have been selected to engage the students:
Literature Appreciation Programme reading texts by level
Level | Text |
|---|---|
Primary 1 | Spider by David Metzenthen |
Primary 2 | Magic Finger by Roald Dahl |
Primary 3 | Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary |
Primary 4 | Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll |
Primary 5 | Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi |
At the end of each year, students put up a performance in a LAP Festival that consist of a Readers’ Theatre, a skit or even choral singing to showcase their talents and love for the various books they have read.
Storytelling Festival
The Beacon Storytelling Festival provides opportunities for our students to share their love for storytelling with their peers. Through their creativity and the skilful use of their voice, gestures and self-made props, our Primary 1 to 5 storytellers draw their audience into their stories. As the students listen to these stories, they also learn about moral values as depicted in Aesop’s fables and virtues in the fairy tales that are shared with them.
Literacy Support Programme
Learning Support Programme for English (LSE), School-based Dyslexia Remediation Programme (SDR) and Reading Remediation Programme (RRP) are specialised intervention programmes aimed at providing support to students who need additional help in literacy skills. LSE is conducted at Primary 1 and 2 while SDR and RRP are conducted at Primary 3 and 4.
Read with Me Programme
Read with Me is a reading programme aimed at building students’ reading fluency and promoting a positive attitude towards reading. Students practise their reading using STELLAR books and levelled readers from the Peter and Jane series. Conducted daily before school, each student is paired with a buddy who journeys with them as they achieve automaticity and fluency in word recognition.