A few things that I have learned in Language Arts

This year, I have learnt a lot of things in Language Arts lessons by Mr Lundberg. In this blog post, I am going to share a few things that I have learnt.

Currently, we are learning how to understand and appreciate poems. Previously in Primary School, we were not taught about poems and this is a completely new topic for most of us. Unravelling the meanings of the poems is interesting and sometimes difficult. To find out the meanings of the poems, we have to understand the whole poem before looking into each line carefully. Most of the time, we have to link the lines together to check if our understanding is correct. We have to read in between the lines as information is not directly given in a poem. We have to work things out for ourselves from the clues given in the text such as its figurative language. There may also be puns in the poem. A pun is a " play on word " in which a writer either uses a word which has two( or more ) often contradictory meanings, or uses two differently spelt words which sound the same. There are also rhythms, which are controlled by the use of punctuation, rhyme, repetition and different line lengths.

Another valuable thing I have learnt is summary writing. Summary writing is important as it does not beat around the bush and just goes straight to the point. Although the summarised part may not be too informative, it is shorter than the passage and easier to digest. Summarising a passage is quite simple. The main thing is to highlight and take note of the important points in a passage. There is a limit to the number of words you can write in a summary. Write down all your points and count them to see if they exceed the limit. After that, you can start writing the summary. You should not miss out any main points in the passage as this is a summary and is supposed to contain all the important information in the passage.

Last but not least, I believe that my grammar and vocabulary have also improved. These are some of the things that are valuable to me that I have learnt in Language Arts lesson this year.

National Day

Today, which is the 9th of August, is National Day! This year is Singapore's 45th birthday. As National Day falls on a Monday, we are on holiday today as well as tomorrow. We had our National Day celebration in school on Friday and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The celebration included performances by Wushu, NCC and also Gymnastics. The Wushu team performed their routines and also " fought " with each other. The NCC squad performed a precision drill. I enjoyed this performance the most as it was really very impressive. After they threw their guns up, all of them caught their guns at the same time and their hand positions were also the same. Suck accuracy would definitely needed constant practice and also teamwork. The gymnastics team performed somersaults and cartwheels. At the end of their performance, they out a trampoline in front of two people, after that, another guy would jump over them by using the trampoline. He will stand behind them after the jump. The number of people obstacles just keep increasing until eight people are standing in a row and someone jumps over them.

Other than the performances, we also had contests such as the SMS contest and the Singapore History contest. The Singapore History contest was for a four pairs of teachers and students. They were given questions about Singapore's History. In the end, everyone who participated got a prize. Next was the SMS contest. The SMS contest was open to everyone in the school. About six questions were asked and we were supposed to key in the six answers and send it to a number. After that, there was a lucky draw for students who got all the answers correct. Not only were these the only contests, there was also a " Don't Forget The Lyrics" for three teachers and students. The songs that were given to the participants were the previous years' national day songs. All except one of the participants walked away with a bag of lollipops and sweets.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the national day celebration very much and hope to celebrate it again next year.

Three or so

This is an analysis of the poem " Three or so "

Step 2: About a dozen things that come to my mind:

1) About three things or more

2) Numericals

3) Family of Three

4)Three things in a picture

5) Back Alley

Step 4: List of things that force their attention on me:

1) Is the child in the snapshot me?

2) The soul of her fled long ago.

3) Through the door in that tiny yard

Step 5: Assonance:

Woollen Dress, Broken Door, Tiny Yard, Sun, Photograph, Motorbikes, Scrawny cats

Step 6: The group of words:

1) Rough men on motorbikes, not to be looked at.

2) Scrawny Cats scratching, not to be touched

3) The real soul of her fled long ago

Step 7: There is no pattern taking shape.

Step 8: It is the author's memory of his/her childhood through snapshots.

Step 9:

a) The poet

b) It is the poet himself/herself

c) The poet was sincere as he was recalling his childhood memories

d) The poet is also the speaker

e) The poet first describes herself, before describing herself and then what she had heard

f) I get to understand the poem better

Step 10: She hoped that she could express her feelings and thoughts as a child.

June Holiday Reading 2

Another book I read during this June Holidays is a book named " Ten Short Stories " The author of this book is Roald Dahl. This book consists of ten short stories.

There is not a modern short story writer anywhere to be compared with Roald Dahl. Each of his stories is so clever and has such a startling twist at the end of it that it leaves the reader gasping. The ten short stories in this book may depict human nature at its darkest, but they are also brilliantly funny and definitely completely unforgettable.

One of the stories that I liked was " The Umbrella Man ". In " The Umbrella Man ", an old man went around on a rainy day exchanging an umbrella for one pound. As it was raining cats and dogs, the people waiting at the taxi stand were desperate for an umbrella.

The old man of about seventy years of age claimed that he had walked to the shopping mall but forgot to bring a pound for the taxi fare. He said that he did this everyday as he was too tired to walk back home.

The old man spoke politely to the author's mother and successfully completed the trade. Upon getting the pound, the old man walked off hurriedly to the opposite road. This led the author and her mum to get suspicious. He did not seem tired to them at all! They followed him until he reached a bar.

The old man hung up his coat and hat and ordered a drink worth one pound. After finishing the drink, he grabbed his coat and hat, and in a manner so superbly cool and casual, he took one of the wet umbrellas hanging at the coat-rack and went back to the shopping mall.He went on exchanging his new umbrella for another pound but when to another bar this time. He was very clever, he never went to the same bar twice.

Another story I like alot is " Parson's Pleasure " . Mr Boggis is a knowledgeable but not honest antique dealer. He disguises himself as a clergyman and claims to be the president of the Society for the preservation of Rare Furniture.He travels around the countryside to buy antiques far less than they are worth.

Mr Boggis parks his rather large estate car far away so as not to arouse suspicion. At one of the farmhouses, me meets three men: Mr Rummins, the owner, Bert, his son, and a neighbour named Claud. After alot of persuasion, Mr Rummins finally allows Mr Boggis to enter his house and have a look.

Boggis sees an extremely valuable and rare piece of furniture, only four of existence. It is a type of chest of drawers named The Chippendale Commode. Although Boggis is excited, he keeps his emotions to himself in order not to arouse the men's suspicion. He pretends to be scornful of the furniture. Eventually, he claims that although it is of very little value, the legs from the chest of drawers might be useful to him because he has a coffee table whose legs are damaged.

Boggis casually offers to buy the chest of drawers. In order to get the drawers at a lower price than Mr Rummins claims, he keeps persuading Rummins that it is a fake and merely a reproduction. After some bargaining, Rummins agrees to sell it at a price of 20 pounds.

Boggis immediately left to fetch his car,and the three men think that the furniture will definitely not be able to fit inside Boggis' car as clergyman will only have a small vehicle.

The three men decide to cut off the legs of the chest of drawers as they think this will save Boggis time instead of doing it himself. Afterwards, they still think that the furniture is too large to fit inside a car, so they chop it further into smaller pieces. At this point, with the priceless furniture in small pieces, they see Mr Boggis returning.

This story left me laughing away while the previous story impressed me. I would have never thought of such a clever way to get money. " Ten Short Stories" is a really interesting as well as funny book and I encourage all to pick up this book and read it. It really gave me a good impression.

June Holiday Reading

This is about a book I read during this June Holidays. The book is entitled " The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Time "

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen years old and unfortunately, he has Asperger's Syndrome. He know a lot about maths and very little about human beings. In the book, Christopher took his A level Maths and got an A grade. What's more, he is only 15! He hates the colours yellow and brown and also being touched by someone else. In the early part of the story, he punched a policeman who grabbed his arm.

In the book, his neighbour, Mrs Shears, had a dog. One night, he wanted to go over and say hi to the dog as he loved dogs. Upon reaching the house, he saw a garden fork sticking out of the dog, and the dog was breathless. He decided to write a book on this murder case. He went around all his neighbour's houses and asked them if they knew of anything suspicious. His father scolded him for poking his nose into other people's business.

One day, his father spotted Christopher's book and read it from head to toe. After doing that, he kept it away in a shirt box. Desperate to get the book back, Christopher searched around the house one day. Finally, he found the shirt box inside his father's cupboard. Together with the book, he also found a bunch of letters. The letters were signed to him by his dead mother.

This was the second mystery in the book. The dates on the letters were way after his mother had passed away. On another day, he opened up the letters and read them. After reading them, he found out that his mother had never died and his father was lying to him all along. Christopher's mother had run away with Mr Shears as both of them could not get along with their spouse.

After learning about the truth, Christopher vomited and fainted in the bed. When his father came back, he saw all the letters around and immediately understood what had happened. When Christopher had awaken, he explained the whole thing in tears. He had no choice, he wanted to protect his son. His father also admitted that he was the one who had killed Wellington, the dog belonging to the neighbour.

Christopher went to bed straight but he did not sleep. He knew that his father had killed Wellington, and he was scared that he might have him killed too. He planned to escape the next morning. He went into the garden and spent the night there as he felt mush safer. The next morning, his father had come to the garden, but he was well hidden and his father drove of to find him.

He had no where to go, he knew he could not stay at home, nor could he stay with his teacher. He finally made up his mind to live with his mother. Christopher was on a difficult task, as he needed to travel all the way to London all by himself. After much difficulty, he found the train station and started his journey.

Apparently, his father made a police report and the police were looking for him. A policeman spotted him on the train and was planning to alight at the next stop. Christopher went to the toilet and when he came out, he hid in a shelf where commuters out their luggage on. He successfully arrived at London without the policeman in sight.

With the help of a map, he found his mother's house. No one was at home so he waited in the rain until he heard his mother and Mr Shears voices. He stayed in his mother's house for a few days before his father came knocking on the door. Christopher's mother had to settle something in his hometown so they made their way back, dropping by at his house to get some clothes.

The rented a small house somewhere else. A few days later after they reached, Christopher had to take his A level Maths exam. There were three parts to the exam and he went back for three days consecutively.

His father wanted to apologize to Christopher and bought him a golden retriever after the exams. His father wanted to spend time with his son everyday so that they will learn to trust each other more and get along better.

I have no particular favourite part in this story but i throughly enjoyed it. I recommend those who have not read this book to pick it up and read it now.

Poem- My School Day

During my primary school days,

I slept quite early every day.

I always had a clean shoe,

my CCA was wushu.

There wasn't a badge that time,

but now with a badge it's still fine.

Every Monday we had to wear a tie,

Drops of sweat dripped into my eye.

Sometimes I was real unlucky,

having bees buzzing around me

During the National Anthem.

My stomach would always churn.

Finally its time to go home,

I packed up and left my "throne"

I realized I had lots of homework,

but there was nothing else I could do.

Online Learning- Favourite Poem or Song Lyrics

The Simple Truth by Philip Levine

I bought a dollar and a half's worth of small red potatoes,
took them home, boiled them in their jackets
and ate them for dinner with a little butter and salt.
Then I walked through the dried fields
on the edge of town. In middle June the light
hung on in the dark furrows at my feet,
and in the mountain oaks overhead the birds
were gathering for the night, the jays and mockers
squawking back and forth, the finches still darting
into the dusty light. The woman who sold me
the potatoes was from Poland; she was someone
out of my childhood in a pink spangled sweater and sunglasses
praising the perfection of all her fruits and vegetables
at the road-side stand and urging me to taste
even the pale, raw sweet corn trucked all the way,
she swore, from New Jersey. "Eat, eat" she said,
"Even if you don't I'll say you did."
Some things
you know all your life. They are so simple and true
they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme,
they must be laid on the table beside the salt shaker,
the glass of water, the absence of light gathering
in the shadows of picture frames, they must be
naked and alone, they must stand for themselves.
My friend Henri and I arrived at this together in 1965
before I went away, before he began to kill himself,
and the two of us to betray our love. Can you taste
what I'm saying? It is onions or potatoes, a pinch
of simple salt, the wealth of melting butter, it is obvious,
it stays in the back of your throat like a truth
you never uttered because the time was always wrong,
it stays there for the rest of your life, unspoken,
made of that dirt we call earth, the metal we call salt,
in a form we have no words for, and you live on it.

Reason Why I Like This Poem

I like this poem because it is simple to understand. Although it is a little wordy, it is easy to comprehend. I can understand what the author is mainly trying to say and the words she uses to describe are very nice.

Figurative Speech Used In the Poem

In the second line of the poem, the author mentioned boiling the potatoes in their jackets. The jackets she is referring to is the skin of the potatoes. In the fifth last line, the author said " It stays in the back of your throat like a truth". It is obvious that the thing she is talking about does not really stay in her throat, she is using figurative speech to say that she regrets what she had done and the thing keeps on bothering her, like something staying in her troat.

Bodily/Kinesthetic

I chose this picture as this shows an Indian woman praying, when Lila was offering flowers to the sea, she was also prying. Hence, I chose this picture.






http://images.clipartof.com/small/46337-Royalty-Free-RF-Clipart-Illustration-Of-A-Pretty-Hindu-Indian-Woman-Praying-In-Front-Of-A-Temple.jpg



This picture depicts a woman very relieved and happy. When the medicine man arrived to help her mother, Lila was very
happy and relieved that her mother was saved.

http://www.lifemakeoverclub.com/images/LMO/HappyWoman-main_Full.jpg




I chose this picture as it shoes a sad woman in tears. When Pinto got killed, Lila was very sad and she was crying, hence, I chose this picture.
http://www.hypnosisdevon.co.uk/images/Autumn%20News%202008%20Images/Sad%20Woman%27s%20Face.jpg

Research on Chapati and Jalebi

After doing my research, I found out that Roti pratas are pan-fried with butter, you can choose to sprinkle sugar on the Roti prata or you can also pour curry onto it. The Chapati is a flat piece of bread where you can roll it up and stuff it with fillings.

The jalebi can be served either warm or cold. It has a chewy texture with crystallized exterior coating. The sugars are partly fermented which gives flavour to the dish. You tiao, also known as fried bread stick, is a long, golden- brown deep fried strip of dough.

This is the Chapati's Recipe

Ingredients :
3 cups
1 1/2 teaspoon
1 tablespoon
1 cup
Fine wholemeal flour or roti flour
Salt or to taste
Ghee or oil, optional
Lukewarm water

Method:

1) Put flour in mixing bowl, reserving about half cup for rolling chapatis.

2) Mix salt through the flour in the bowl, then rub in ghee or oil, if used.

3) Add water all at once and mix to a firm but not stiff dough.

4) Knead dough for at least 10 minutes (the more it is kneaded, the lighter the bread will be).

5) Form dough into a ball, cover with clear plastic wrap and stand for 1 hour or longer (if left overnight, the chapatis will be very light and tender).

6) Shape dough into balls about the size of a large walnut.

7) Roll out each one on a lightly floured board (using reserved flour) to a circular shape as thin as a French crepe.

8) After rolling out chapatis, heat a griddle plate or heavy-based frying pan until very hot, and cook the chapatis, starting with those that were rolled first.

9) Put chapati on griddle and leave for about 1 minute.

10) Turn and cook other side a further minute, pressing lightly around the edges of the chapati with a folded tea towel or an egg slice.

11) This encourages bubble to form and make the chapatis light.

12) As each one is cooked, wrap in a clean tea towel until all are read.

13) Serve immediately with butter, dry curries or vegetable dishes.

Journal entry by Hari

Dear Journal,

I am very worried about my family now. My mother is lying sickly in bed and she has no energy to work at all. My sister Lila has to do all the housework. Both of us are under a lot of stress as our mother has entrusted us to take care of them. But now, my sister is left all alone as I have gone overseas to work. Our father leaves early in the morning and drinks all day long. He only comes back late at night. If he is in a bad mood, he will start beating my sisters up. Recently, my mother was sent to the hospital by a kind soul called Mr De Silva. Hence, my father has stopped drinking and he stays at the hospital everyday to take care of my mother.
I am at Bombay now and i met a kind watchman. He introduced me to Jagu, who let me work in his restaurant. I have been leading a good life and I have enough money to survive.I pity my sister at home as she is not leading a very good life. But soon, when I earn enough money, I will return back home to help my sisters. The man next door, Mr Panwallah, has taught me how to repair watches. I go to his shop when I have the time and he teaches me some everyday. Now, I roughly know how to repair a watch. I am very grateful to these people who have helped me in Bombay.
I miss my family very much and I hope that they are still fine back home. I have written many letters back home but I decided to write a journal entry to express my feelings. I really hope to go back to my homeland and give my family all my earnings. I will also try to find a job in my homeland so that I won't need to leave Thul or my family ever again.After writing this letter, I feel much better than before.

1A3 T2W4 Online Learning "Urbanisation Arrives in Thul."

By: Andre Poh

THUL-INDIA.Shocking news have been discovered. The all along undeveloped Thul had received big news yesterday afternoon at 3pm. Factories are going to be built in Thul. Soon, Thul is going to be a very developed state.
The bad news is that the factories will most likely employ the workers from other countries. They will only want workers with high expertise and skills. to build factories, the land will be cleared and their attapt houses will all be gone. This is very bad news for the people in Thul. moreover, the factories will produce a lot of harmful and poisonous gases that will polute the air. The peaceful and beautiful village will be turned into a polluted and noisy place. the lives of the people in Thul will be disrupted badly. Thul is famous for its rice. For the buildings to be built, the rice paddys will be cleared and Thul will not be able to grow the fragrant and delicious rice.
All the people in Thul will lose their jobs except for some people. The security of Thul will drop as people might resort to stealing to continue living. This is all the cause of the government. Villagers have gone to Bombay to protest against the government. No one knows who will win the protest.
The rest of the villagers are waiting in their homeland for the protesters to come back. They are very anxious and hope that their villagers will win the protest.

Wushu

Wushu is a popular term that have become synonymous with Chinese martial arts. Wushu literally means " martial art". It is formed from the two words "wu" which means martial or military and "shu" which means discipline, skill or method. Wushu has also become the name for a modern sport involving the performance of adapted Chinese bare-handed and weapons forms judged to a set of contemporary aesthetic criteria for points.

I have been in wushu since primary one. It was quite tough and boring initially as we only learnt the basic stances and exercises over and over again. Examples of these basic training may include stretching, stance work, rudimentary conditioning, meditation, basic kicking and punching techniques, and jumping.

After two years, we began to learn competition routines. It then became more interesting. In fact, I almost gave up during the first two years if not for my teachers,coaches and parents. They never cease to support me. Each time I felt like giving up, they gave me some encouraging words to spur me on.

I begin to understand that without strong and flexible muscles and proper body mechanics, many movements of Chinese martial arts are simply impossible to perform correctly.

Finally, in primary four, I earned my place in the school team, taking part in the National Inter Primary Schools Wushu Competition. In the first year, I was nervous and did not perform well but it was a good learning opportunity. In the second and third year, my efforts finally paid off and I earned a silver and bronze medal respectively.

Primary Four was the year when I started learning "weapons". I am beginning to enjoy wushu now as it is no longer as boring as before. We get to learn new routines and get introduced to new weapons as we become more senior.

Since last year, I have learnt the "nanquan international routine", "nandao international routine" as well as "nangun international routine". These are the hand and weapon routines related to "southern boxing". I will also be competing in this year's competition and it will be my debut in the National Inter Secondary School Competition.It will be tough as I will be competing against the older boys but I will persevere to the end......

The Lady ,or the Tiger?

Everyone held their breathes, anxious to find out the answer. Within seconds, the answer was revealed. A fierce tiger emerged from inside the door and pounced onto the man in the arena. Fiercely and quickly, the tiger tore the man into pieces. Blood splashed all over the floor. This was the punishment for the young man's guilt and he could not do anything to change his fate.

The doleful iron bells clanged and great wails went up from the hired mourners on the outer rim of the arena. The audience bowed their heads and with downcast hearts, they headed back to their homes. Along the way back to their homes, everyone mourned silently that the young man did not deserve this kind of treatment.

Despite the sadness of the people, the king was happy about the treatment the young man received. The princess on the other hand, displayed no feelings. She had a mix of emotions. Firstly, she was sad because she just lost her beloved one. But do you remember what caused the young and innocent man to get eaten by the tiger? Yes, it was the princess. The princess took after her father and she was partly barbaric. That was the reason why the princess gave the young man the wrong information-the door with the tiger instead of the door with the girl.. To her, if she could not get the man she wanted, she would rather kill him than to let another woman have him.

Most probably, the barbaric princess did not regret giving her beloved one the wrong information. Even if she had kept him alive, the man would belong to another woman and she would still not be happy. Unless the man was hers, she was unwilling to make any sacrifices.

IT Home Learning

When Mr Patrick Maloney was at the doorstep of his house, he was hesitant to open the door due to his guilty conscience. This picture shows a man opening the door. I chose this picture as it correctly displays Mr Maloney's feelings as he opened the door.

When Mr Patrick Maloney broke the news of his extra-marital affairs to Mary, he was very anxious and worried about what would happen after he broke the news to her. This picture depicts a man looking very anxious and worried. Hence, I chose this picture.

I chose this picture as it depicts a dead man lying on the floor. The dead man also has many plastic bags in his hands. In the story " Lamb To The Slaughter", Mr Maloney was packing up his stuff to leave when he was struck on his head. Hence , I decided to choose this picture.

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dalh

Dear Diary,

Today was the death of my dearest husband.

I went to the doctor today and found out that the child in my stomach was a boy! I was so elated. When my husband came back home today, he was very cold towards me. He did not talk much and he rejected everything I offered to do for him. I offered to take his slippers and get him his drink but he just rudely rejected it. I just thought that he was especially tired today but that was not the case.

He needed to talk to me. I sat down and had a good talk with him for about four to five minutes. Patrick wanted a divorce! All because of another woman! I was fuming mad but I held back my emotions.

I went down to the cellar to get supper. It was a leg of lamb that I found in the freezer.When I went back up into the living room he was packing his bag and he provoked me saying "Try to stop me". I raised up the lamb and brought it down to his head. Within seconds, he was on the floor.

Being a detective's wife, I knew the consequences.....I had to think fast. I needed to find myself a strong alibi. I went out through the back door to the grocer. After buying some vegetables and chatted with him, I headed back home. I dropped everything on the ground and messed up the whole house as though there was a burglary.After that, I called the police.

The policemen, detectives and a forensics doctor came to my house soon after. After a few hours of investigation, the four detectives left at my house were getting tired and I offered them supper-murder weapon (Lamb) served with some whisky.

The detectives were real sloppy with their investigations and I could get away with murder as I had a strong alibi and my good rapport with my husband's colleagues.

My thoughts: The phrase I liked most that the detectives said was: "Personally, I think it is right here in this premises. Probably right under our very noses." They were referring to the murder weapon.

How Smart Am I (Review)

Based on the results of " How Smart Am I ?" :

My best way of learning is through interacting with other people around me. I am not so much into music and the environment but i am good in arithmetic and i am body smart. I learn better visually ( by looking at photos or graphs or watching videos or films) . I do not really like to write (compositions) and neither am i myself smart.

How Smart Am I??

Body Smart: 18/25

Word Smart:11/25

Number Smart:20/25

People Smart:22/25

Myself Smart:11/25

Music Smart:11/25

Picture Smart:14/25

Nature Smart:11/25