Learning Reflections

I have learnt many things during my Language Arts lessons so far. Learning literature has been very interesting to me and has taught me certain things. I have learnt to organise my thoughts and put them down on paper in a neat manner, I feel this will help in any writing assignment as this allows the reader to have a clear idea of what I am writing about. Another thing that I feel that is useful is summary writing. Summary writing enables me to write a short paragraph which helps the reader find out about a book or passage quickly. What interested me most was the poems and the different techniques a poet could use to write a poem. Some poems are easy to understand while some need some thinking to find out what the reader is saying. I think it is fun to try to figure out what the poet is trying to say and write it in literature. These are some of the things that I found which made an impact on me. I hope to learn more interesting things during Language Arts lessons.

Youth Olympic Games

Today is the start of the very first day of the Youth Olympic Games! I am very excited about this event as it is the first Youth Olympics and it is going to be held in Singapore! I am very proud of Singapore as it is going to be hosting a very big global event! Hosting this global event will allow us, youths to experience new insights. The Youth Olympics brings many youths from around the world to participate in competitions, we are able to make new friends from different countires. I feel we are very lucky to get to host the first Youth Olympics Although most of us are not participants of the Youth Olympics, we will benefit alot from this event. I had heard about a boy, Wei Jie who is very enthusiastic about the Youth Olympics. He had been following the Olympic flame and taking photos of it as it was passed to different people since it had arrived in Singapore. The press had noticed that Wei Jie had been following the torch and there even was a newspaper article about him. I admire his anthusiasm very much, he now has the chance to carry the torch! I hope to be able to watch the different events!

National Day Holiday

The national day holiday was really nice! We had a long weekend which allowed us to take a break from the four tests last week! Yesterday which was Monday, there was the National day parade which was telecast on the television in the late afternoon. I found the celebration very exciting and fun. Every year I would always look forward to National day! I love the atmosphere during National day! I still could remember the year that I went to the National day parade rehearsal, it was the year 2008. I went to Marina Bay with my classmates to watch the rehearsal! It was really fun as I had never been to a live National day performance before. But of course all good things come to an end, I have to start preparing for the Humanities test which is this week after the long weekend!

LANGUAGE ARTS ONLINE LESSON: T3 Wk 5

Poem: Snapshotland

In Snapshotland everyone is happy all the time.
It is the promised land where people sit with flasks of tea
on smooth sand by a flat sea and smile and smile and smile.

The sun shines all day long and every day in Kodachrome
or sepia on sandboys and sandgirls who never
stop smiling from the time they first appear, with buckets,
in crisp, gingham pinafores and bonnets on the sea-shore.

Lovers stay in love forever; married couples never
grow tired of each other; everything is always just right.
The dolphins know exactly when to leap into the air
and stay there for the permanent delight of passengers
aboard the pleasure-boat which never passes out of sight.

Nobody in Snapshotland grows old unless they want to,
judging by the way they go on smiling so, in deck-chairs,
on the beach, or in old-fashioned gardens with lavender
and grandchildren here and there - and no one dies, ever.

Even if they don't appear later, the people are still
always there, smiling through the lavender and dolphins
and the buckets full of pebbles on the same sea-shore.

By
Sylvia Kantaris

Step1: Forget what the poem may or may not mean, or what it may be about.

Step 2: cameras, pictures. a unique place, a moment, flash, certain time.

Step 3: Read the poem once quickly, and then several times more slowly. Try to hear the poem aloud in your head. DO NOT recite the poem aloud in class; if you must hear it aloud, read it quietly to yourself.

Step 4:
Promised land
Kodachrome
Sepia
in crisp gingham pinafores and bonnets
all the time
forever
stay there
permanent delight
never passes out of side
always

Step 5: Every stanza has only one or two full stops.
There is alot of use of adjectives and adverbs.

Step 6: The words that describe never happening or happens the whole time
are "all the time", "forever", "stay there", "permanent", "never" and "always".

Step 7: Every sentence describes a place.

Step 8: The poem means that photos always depict a scene and the scene will never change. Photos will bring back memories.

Step 9:
a) Persona
b)The audience are people who like photos.
c)He is friendly and showing his liking to photos.
d)He is friendly to the audience, he wants eveyone to treasure the photos.
e) It wants to show the different scene and moments in photos such as happy moments.
f) It is to help me understand more about the poem.

Step 10:
I guess he hoped to tell everyone that photos were very precious as they could depict the wonderful moments of the past.

LA: Listening to sounds

I heard the owls hooting in the dark.
I heard the sheep bleating beyond the hill.
I heard the the wolves howling under the full moon.
I heard the sparrows chirping in the blossomed tree.
I heard the dogs wining in the corner.
I heard the horse neighing in stable.
I heard the bulls troting in the fields.
I heard the bees buzzing by the flowers.
I heard the frogs croaking on the lily pad.
I heard the mice squeaking from the mouse hole.
I heard the roosters cock-a-doodle-do the farm.
I heard the turkey cluck in the pen.
I heard the pigeons cooing over the hedge.
I heard the ducks quaking in the lake.
I heard the pigs oinking in barnyard.
I heard the cats purring on the couch.

LA Assignment: Poem

Life is like a journey,
that one makes in a car.
Sometimes you travel on a highway,
Sometimes on a lonely path.

The speed of one's car is ever changing,
It can be fast; it can be slow.
At times your car is plaqued by a punctured tire,
At times an engine failure.
It's up to you to fix it, and get a move on again.

Everyone drives a different car,
You decide the car you drive.
Some people take the fast lane,
Some people take the slow one.

Whether one drives a horse-carriage,
Or a Ferrari or a Lamborghini.
In the end, the car completely breaks down.
And the journey ends.

While everyone has the same destination,
your journey may well be different than mine.

LA lesson: Poetry

Yesterday, during Language Arts lesson, we learnt about poetry. We went through similes and metaphors and how they were used in poems. I wasn't very sure about what was the difference between similes and metaphors were before, but now after the explanation of similes and metaphors I am know the difference. Metaphors are a comparison of two things while simlies use "like" and "as". Let me give you an example of a simile, "His face was as pale as a ghost." I guess using similes and metaphors aren't that hard but I'll try not to overuse them. Our teacher gave us us a handout that allowed us to view more examples of similes and metaphors. I found the page titled "Funniest similes written by high school students" rather awesome. I had a good laugh reading the similes! The page after that was metaphor poems. We had to read the poem and guess what the poet was talking about. This exercise was fun as I had to think hard to guess what the poet was talking about. Our teacher left us with an assignment over the weekend. It is a complusory blogpost. We had to write a poem about about life and post it on our blog. I hope I will enjoy composing this poem!

home learning writing task

I Never forgot

I never forgot,

how my life in primary school was.
I never expected so much change
in expectations and environment.

During my days
as a primary schooler,
there was fun, joy and of course
challenges.

My friends and I were very bonded,
we played games together
and were always there for each other,

through good times and bad.

In no time the exams approached...

Just before the exams, the class
would dish out their subject notes with zest,
trying hard to cram last few things
at the eleventh hour.

After the exams, everyone would
go wild and there would be
huge wide smiles on their faces.
This was the best part of my primary school life.

When the exam results were announced,
some cried tears of relief,
some regret, some anger.
And this was why many never looked
forward to this moment, never.

Soon the students learnt their lessons
and continued with their life,
looking back at their experiences
promising not to repeat them.

These memories, I never forgot,
I looked back in awe,
even though where I am now
is much different from before.

home learning, Lesson 1: Figurative language

My Dad, Your Dad

My dad's fatter than your dad,
Yes, my dad's fatter than yours:
If he eats any more he won't fit in the house,
He'll have to live out of doors.

Yes, but my dad's balder than your dad,
My dad's balder, OK,
He's only got two hairs left on his head
And both are turning grey.

Ah, but my dad's thicker than your dad,
My dad's thicker, all right.
He has to look at his watch to see
If it's noon or the middle of the night.

Yes, but my dad's more boring than your dad.
If he ever starts counting sheep
When he can't get to sleep at night, he finds
It's the sheep that go to sleep.

But my dad doesn't mind your dad.
Mine quite likes yours too.
I suppose they don't always think much of US!
That's true, I suppose, that's true.

By: Kit Wright

1.Figurative language is used in this poem using exaggeration. The poet using exaggeration alot in this poem. There is exaggeration in almost every stanza. Here is an example of the many times the poet using exaggeration, "won't fit in the house". The poet chooses to using exaggeration in the poem to show the two persons feelings and to show that they are competitive. The poet wants to let the readers feel the intense argument between the two people on whose dad is "better".

2. I like this poem very much as it brings out the readers imagination. The poem is also very hilarious and will make me laugh at times. The poem demonstrates the way people argue with humor and how competitive people can be. It too demonstrates the part a dad plays in their childrens lives, if a dad of child is not "special" or "better" than other dads. The child will feel that he himself is not special. These are the reasons why this is my favourite poem! :)

What we did today in LA lesson

Today in LA lesson, our teacher printed the summaries of the chapters one to eight. The summaries highlighted the important events in that chapter so that we could have a overview of the chapter. There summaries will be very useful to us. I feel that this could really help us in the literature test which will be in week ten. We can always refer to these summaries to get the main point of the chapter. I appreciate our LA teacher's effort to print thirty-four copies of these summaries for our whole class! :)

Today's assembly in school

I found today's assembly very enjoyable and enriching. The pianst, Chisato Kusunoki was very amazing! I found the pieces she played was extremely soothing and nice. Her playing definitely awed me and I really want to learn more about classical music as well experience more of this genre of music. As I was listening to Kunsunoki play her pieces, it brought me back to the past where I was still learning piano. In the past, I went for piano lessons weekly but sometimes I just could not play some pieces properly, this frustrated me. After I started getting involved in more sports activities, I decided to stop learning the piano. So far, I have not really touched the piano for the past 3 years. The way Kunsunoki played was very graceful and she was able to parts of the piece so quickly that I could not believe how she was able to do it. I was thinking of how much effort and practice she must have done to be at the standard she is at now. She must have played the piano for at least two hours everyday! I guess when someone is passionate about something, they will put in their heart and soul to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves.

Our first urbanization lesson

I found our first urbanization lesson very productive. We split into groups and discussed the effects of urbanization. There were three questions on the worksheet we were given and had to fill in the blanks with what we think were the effects of urbanization. There were three sections, air effects, water effects and soil effects. The second question was about the social effects on the villagers and Bombayites, again we had to list them out and write them in the blanks.The third question was about the effects of light pollution, using the information from an article attached behind the worksheets. After the discussion, some groups were chosen to present what they have discussed. Guess what? Our group was chosen! As the group leader, I had to present our discussion to the class! I had to explain the reasons why my group had decided to put this down as an effect. Overall, this lesson is very fun and I got to learn more about urbanization and its effects. The discussion was very good tool to let us find out more about urbanization. I felt the presentation that I did also allowed the information sink in more easily, so I guess I was at an advantage. Being the group leader certainly has its advantages! :)

Urbanization lesson preparation

Our LA teacher posted a message on EMB to ask us to be ready for the urbanization lesson that will be conducted. We were asked to read different parts of the book, Village by the Sea, according to the groups we were put in. There are three types of groups, "straight ahead", "uphill" and "mountain". We were sorted into these groups according to the amount of knowledge we had on urbanization. I am in the group, "uphill", which most of my classmates are in. I have to read Sayyid Ali Sahib's speech which is in the Village by the Sea. I am sure this topic is going to be an interesting one and I hope to be able have more knowledge on urbanization after these lessons.

LA assignment (village by the sea)

I am going to list down the things you need for the preparation of the dishes, Jalebi and Chapthi.
Preparation for jalebi
You will need 2 cups of flour,1/2 table spoon fo baking powder,1 cup of yogurt,a few saffron threads,1 cups of sugar , 2 drops of orange food colouring, 1/4 table spoon of green cardamom seeds powder, 2 table spoons of rose water and vegetable oil for frying.
Preparation for chapathi
You will need 1 cups of sifted whole wheat flour, 4 cups of warm water, 1 cup of melted ghee and 2 table spoon of salt.

Now I am going to compare chapathi and roti prata, as well as jalebi and you tiao, then I am going to find their differences.

The differences between chapathi and roti prata
The chapathi is usually plain and when eaten, it is torn off and is used to carry meat or vegetables, while roti prata can be served plain of with flavours such as eggs, onions or garlic, and they are usually dipped in curry for more taste.
The differences between jalebi and you tiao
The jalebi can be served either cold or warm, while the you tiao is usually served warm. The you tiao can be sweet or salty while the jalebi is usually sweet.

Recipe for jalebi
Using the above ingredients for jalebi, I am going to tell you the steps to make jalebi. First mix the flour, baking powder and yogurt into a batter and keep for 24 hours to ferment. After that pour the batter into a ketchup despensing bottle. Then to make sugar syrup, melt the sugar with rose water and boil to get a thread consistency. After that is done, turn off the fire and add some saffron strands and caradamom and stir it well. Then heat the oil in a deep wok-like dish. Now, hold the ketchup dispenser over the hot oil and squeeze the batter into the oil into a wiggly, randomly coiled circle. Squeeze out several at a time. Finally fry till light golden and then remove and put directly into the sugar syrup.

Recipe for chapathi
First of all, we will prepare dough by mixing together ½ a cup of water with 1 table spoon of ghee and just enough wheat flour.Then knead it well and keep it aside for 45 minutes. After that, take some dough and make small balls which is the size of half a tennis ball. Next, dust them with wheat flour and roll them into chapatis on a rolling board.Then get ready the chapati tawa and keep it on flame, roast both sides of chapati on the tawa. Lastly if you would like to add ghee on top of the chapathi, you may do so.

Week 4's assignment

This week we are supposed to refer to the post on our language arts facebook group and do the following assignments as told. I have decided on doing the assignment which is assigned to the naturalists. We have to do research on the preparation on chapathi and jalebi and find the difference between some foods.

The reason to the princess's choice

The princess choose to kill her lover as she did not want herself to do silly things if she became too jealous. If she had let her lover live, she would regret it in the end as the pain watching her lover with another lady would hurt her dearly. It was for the best.

End of term post

This is the end of the term, and I had alot of fun with school activities! I hope to participate in more activities such as CIP and other games! I found the first term of Hwa Chong exciting and hope to have a term like this next term!

Interview about crime and punishment

Crime and punishment is akin to Newton’s Law which says “Action and Reaction are opposite and equal”. Whatever crime is done, punishment is meted out. The actual punishment should commensurate with the severity of the crime. The most appropriate punishment should be one that is designed to correct the wrong action and behaviour, along with proper education. For example if you litter, the punishment could be either a fine or corrective work order. Corrective work order is an ideal punishment for litter instead of a fine. Corrective work order will teach litterbugs not to litter anymore as the person will understand the consequence of his wrongdoing. For crimes that are very serious like murders, the punishment can be capital punishment in some countries. This is the ultimatum as there is no turning back for the offender. The punishment for a crime that is not of great consequence sometimes requires the offender to be jailed. The intent of such punishment should really not work on the principle of “payback” by the offenders rather than a disincentive to misbehave. Therefore campaigns such as the yellow ribbon project for ex-offenders are commendable. This gives the offender a second chance to turn over a new leaf. But sadly our society may not be as ready for this. Many companies may not be ready to hire an ex-offender, particularly if the position role is one in a high security industry such as a bank. We should embrace and nurture a culture of civic mindedness and be more forgiving.

The Lady, or the Tiger?

At that moment the door opened and suddenly the creature pounced on her lover and bit him. The tiger tore him apart and blood was all over the ground. Everyone who was there turned their head away as they witnessed the horrible sight, some people even broke down crying silently.

“Why couldn’t it be the lady!?” these sort of questions must have been running through people’s minds at that bitter moment. The princess bit her lip as she once thought about her decision she had made. But it was no use, what was done was done. She couldn’t control time. All she had to do was accept the fact the person she loved was gone, never to be seen again. The princess had thought about this weighty matter for a long time before making her decision, if she couldn’t be with him, no one could. The decision the princess made, was for the best. The princess could have let the lady have him, but that would have hurt her and even cause her to do silly things that might get her into trouble.

After that day, the princess lived on without regret. She decided to forget about the past and start anew. That was all she could do.

My Narrative Composition Assignment

It was an average day and it went like any other school day would. The next period was science, my favourite subject! I was looking forward to science lessons, we were allowed to carry out experiments in the science lab. That day, our science teacher, Mrs Quek, asked us to dissect a small octopus and examine its parts. Mrs Quek asked us to pair up, then she distributed the small octopus to each pair.
As Mrs Quek gave us instructions on what to do. Desmond, one of the most irritating boys in my class asked, “ Can an octopus grow as big as a house?”
Mrs Quek gave Desmond a weak smile and answered “ Whoever is able to make an octopus grow as big as a house, will be the most famous person in the world.”
Once I heard that, I couldn’t help thinking of the fame and money I would get if I could make an octopus grow as big as that. I failed to get the sarcasm in Mrs Quek’s voice in that sentence.
After school, I decided to experiment on my own. If I had told any one of friends that I wanted to make an octopus grow that big for fame and money, they were bound to call me “money-face”. I dashed home and started mixing any liquids that I could get my hands on. I also went to buy a small live octopus at the unique pet store below my flat, so that I could test my “potion” on it. I left the octopus in a tank and went to get my “potion”. The “potion” which I had poured into a bowl, consisted of detergent, soap, toilet bowl water, oil, hair gel and a few dozen other liquids that couldn’t remember. The “potion” looked very disgusting and I could have puked at the sight of it. Frankly speaking, I never ever expected the “potion” to work. In my head, I told myself that I could have bet a fortune that the murky liquid that was in the bowl wouldn’t do a thing except poison the octopus.
I held the bowl and walked over to the tank where the innocent octopus was. I tipped the contents in the bowl into the crystal clear water. I saw the octopus swim away from the “potions” as it started to spread through the whole thank. I couldn’t see a thing when the water was all murky. I knocked against the glass to see if the octopus was still alive. Suddenly, large bubbles started appearing at the top of the tank at a rapid pace. The glass tank started to crack and water flooded out. I backed away and the tank exploded. Glass shards came at me from all quarters; I ducked and wrapped myseld into a ball. Once they weren’t any more glass shards flying, I stood up and saw the octopus: it was as large as me! But it was still growing!
I let out an ear-piercing scream which lacerated though the air. I started running out of the room wildly like a horse that had its buttocks stung by a bee. I knocked down several vases as I panicked; I was a bull in a china shop. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the octopus, whose head was already touching the ceiling. The octopus seemed to have stopped growing. At this moment, the octopus’ tentacles stretched out of the door way. My heart started to beat rapidly and my legs turned to jelly. I had to get away! I moved trembling legs as quickly as I could and dashed into the kitchen. My eye caught sight of the dozen knives that hung on the wall. An idea struck me; I grabbed the knives and chucked them at the monster. It seemed like I was throwing darts at a humungous board. Amazingly, the knives pierced the monster and it started to lose its balance. Finally, it fell to the ground, dead. I was so relieved that I was still alive!
Although I had survived the giant octopus, two other monsters were waiting for me. Mum and Dad appeared at the front door. When they saw the mess, their jaws dropped and each of their eyes stared fiercely at me. I accepted my punishment and I had to pay for making such a mess. I didn’t get any pocket money for the next few weeks. I explained to my parents how I got myself into this mess. It was my fault that I didn’t really get sarcasm!

Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

I did something today that I didn’t mean to do. It was an average day. I was waiting for my husband, Patrick, at home as usual. When he returned home, I told him that I was pregnant with a boy. After that I wanted to go prepare supper for Patrick but he stopped me and asked me to sit down as he wanted to tell me something. When I heard the news I was shocked and did not want to believe it. I chose not to believe what Patrick told me. I went into the kitchen to prepare supper. As I took out a leg of lamb, I was furious and lost control. I walked over to Patrick and swung the leg of lamb and hit him square on the head. He collapsed onto the ground. I pretended that nothing happened and acted very calmly. I went to buy groceries and when I reached home, I pretended to be shocked. I picked up the phone and called for the police. The police arrived in minutes and investigated. When the officers asked me what happened I didn’t tell them the truth. I told them I didn’t know what happened. After investigating, I asked the officers to eat the leg of lamb I put in the oven after hitting Patrick with it. I felt relieved that the police weren’t able to find the weapon, in fact, they are eating the weapon! As soon as the police left my house, I felt very relieved that they were not able to find the culprit who committed the crime. I hope I will not be questioned by any police officers anymore.

This is my circular chart that measures my different learning styles, it was the result after I took a questionnaire. The whole class had to take the questionnaire too.
Well... Based on my results on the chart, I usually ask people for help when I don't understand certain information. The chart shows that I'm "natural smart", I guess it's in my genes. :) Moving on... The chart shows that I am number smart too, I've realised that I have been good with numbers from young and enjoy solving math problems.
There are other areas which I'm not as good in, but I'm sure I can improve on them! One of them is being word smart. Language has not been my strength, but I've been improving constantly so far.
The method I have used for learning is drawing out diagrams and picturing images in my mind, so that I can memorise information easily. I try to search for information on the internet by myself as well. Other things I have done while learning is taking a ten-minute break every half to one hour, this allows me to relax for a while. I believe taking short breaks in between learning is very important. After taking the break and start learning again I will feel refreshed as well as ready to absorb information I find.
To end my post, I feel this questionnaire is very interesting and hope to take more of these quizzes.