It's my students' EL paper tomorrow. I'm both excited and worried for them.

Good luck kiddos! Read the passages carefully and make sure you answer the questions to the point! For summary, do remember to pick out at least 15 points first before you even attempt to write and make sure the points you picked up relates to the summary question. Exclude examples in your summary. Use conjunctions such as "and", "therefore", "hence", "Furthermore" etc to link up your points.

For Paper I, some of you do for a flair for writing narratives. For these people who like to write narratives, remember not to write the first story that comes into your mind. Trust me, this is likely to be the story that most people would have thought of too. Instead, you should tweak your storyline and try to include a "surprise" element in it. Make it interesting for readers to read. That should get you some credit. Lastly, narratives should be written in past tense. Check tenses after writing.

For some of you who like to write expository essays, make sure you have a good concept of the topic of discussion. Be MATURE too. Don't attempt to write about a topic which you are not familiar with. Make sure you have points to elaborate about the topic in the essay. A good expository essay should have 3 solid points to talk about. These points should be developed further with strong examples to show the validity of these points. Round up your discussion in the end by summarising whatever that you have discussed. Expository essays should be written in present tense.

For argumentative essays, make sure you present a MATURE point of view too. 3 solid points to argue with lots of constructive examples to back up your arguments. Remember you are arguing about a topic and you want your readers to believe in what you are writing. Therefore, persuasive language has to be used. It will be more convincing to the reader if you stick to one point of view instead of saying you agree to certain extent and disagree to certain extent. If you agree to the statement, give 3 points to say why you agree and elaborate. Likewise if you choose to disagree. Argumentative essays should be written in present tense too.

Alright, that's all from this naggy teacher!

Remember, do it once, do it well! I have confidence in you. Do me proud kiddos!