Survey for selected 4K pupils only

Dear selected pupils from 4K,

As mentioned in class, please complete the survey by this Friday.

Click here

Thank you,
Mr Kok

OLE activities on top of mconline assignments

Dear Pupils,

Once again, I would like all of us to work on our Golden Phrases for our composition writing. This time round, brainstorm with your parents or by yourself on good expressive phrases for the following 8 themes and leave them under the comments for this blog entry. Enjoy.

Themes:

1. Introduction. eg. the sun baked the ground mercilessly.


2. Food. eg. The aroma permeated the whole place.


3. Happiness. eg. over the moon.


4. Anger. eg. like a bull in a china shop.


5. Remorseful. eg. Her heart sank.


6. In a hurry to go some places. eg. Darted across the road.


7. Rude behaviours. eg. vulgarities sputtered out uncontrollably.


8. Others

Having OLE-ing and see you back in school on Monday!

Mr Abel Kok

Homework and reminders

• Remember to get your parents to sign on the cover page of your composition jotter. Promotees do share the good news to them as well.




• OLE activities on Mconline.sg and English blog




• Composition 5- remember to include good triggering and falling event

Situational narrative- This marks our fifth piece of writing, do remember to work on your weaknesses as mentioned on the cover page before starting.

Let’s make this your BEST piece of writing.

You and your best friend were working on a homework assignment in your room. There was a knock on the door. Your friend got up and opened it. On the other side of the door was something surprising.

Write a composition of at least two pages long based on the above situation. Give the story your own ending.

Make use of the following points in your composition.
You may re-order the points. You are encouraged to include other relevant points to make your composition interesting.

• Taken aback by what you saw
• Worried
• panicked
• Calmed each other down
• Parents informed
• ?

For 4C pupils, also complete your homework for ART- The future of Singapore.

Wishing all a fruitful long weekend,
Mr Kok

Congratulations to those who were promoted to the next proficiency level!

Dear Parents and Pupils,

Congratulations to all pupils who were promoted to the next writing skill level! Especially those who were promoted to the coveted Durian level.

Note:
4C jotters have all been returned.
4K jotters will be returned next week.


May I appeal to all parents to acknowledge on the cover page of the composition jotter and go through the areas of weakness as indicated on the cover page with your child? I believe your child will benefit from your feedback, on top of mine.

Although I have already praised and rewarded the promotees, please give them a pat on their shoulders for their hard work. It is really not easy to improve in their writing within such a short period of time.

Thank you so much,
Mr Abel Kok

Some excellent pieces of writing to spur everyone to write well....

Jewels glittered enticingly, flicking off the sun's gentle rays. Myriads of diamonds sparkled under the warmth of the leather cushion. Mrs Lee trotted into Stars Departmental Store. She nodded at a manager, a blossoming smile appearing on her wrinkled face. She trudged a few steps forward, cushioning herself in the embrace of a chair. Her mood uplifted tremendously when she glanced at the ruby necklaces commandeering themselves on tiny steel pins stapled on a brown slice of cardboard. She grabbed a crimson red necklace from a pin and flicked it over and over, adorning it. Her pleasant smile deepened. Bright stars ignited in her almond eyes.


Mrs Lee fished out her leather wallet from her pocket and flicked it open, unleashing the sight of dollar bills which decorated her wallet, and credit cards from Visas to Masters. She plucked out a dozen bills. A mischievous thought gnawed at her mind. A smile clamped her wrinkled face as she shoved the dollar bills back into her wallet. Knowing that the coast was clear, she pretended to drop her wallet, while her other hand shoved the necklace into her wallet. She immediately stood up, and rushed towards the exit. " Where's the necklace?" a muscular hand clamped down on her shoulder blades. She turned around, astonished, to see a security guard glaring at her. His glare seemed to drill tiny cave holes in her face. " I am a doubting Thomas!" she stammered, and strutted towards the exit. " Then show me your wallet!" the security guard leered at her. Mrs Lee face flushed the same colour as the necklace, knowing that she had been caught red handed.


Rivulets of teardrops streamed down her eyes as she was led to the security's guard office. The security guard reached for the phone while another security guard relieved Mrs Lee off the necklace and placed it back at its original place. Mrs Lee cried buckets as the security guard talked into the phone." Someone was caught in the act trying to steal a ruby necklace. Yes..." The security guard eyes were fixed on her. His words pelted her like fire. " You are lucky this time, as our boss has asked me to relieve you off two thousand and forty dollars, twice the amount of the necklace.Understood?" Mrs Lee nodded bitterly.

Mrs Lee peeled open her wallet and picked out more than a dozen bills and laid them on the table. The secirity guard gestured for her to leave. She frowned, and left the room. As the proverb goes," Once bitten, twice shy." Mrs Lee did not attempt to commit theft again. The punishment would be worse than paying for the item.


Author: Gabriel Lee 4K

It was a blistering hot morning. It was also a public holiday. The rumbling sound of cars and buses awoke Edmond up who was still in his deep sleep although it was 7.30am
in the morning. He grouched, “It is so early in the morning, Why are there so many cars and buses?” After thinking for some moments, Edmond decided to look at his alarm clock. To his astonishment, it was already 7.35am in the morning. He mumbled to himself, “Oh no, my teacher had assigned some homework to me at 7.30am.” Without any hesitation, he stormed out in lightning speed to the nearest toilet which was a stone’s throw away to brush his teeth and washed his face.
When he came out from the toilet, without any further delay, he switched on his computer and started doing his work. After a while, Edmond began to feel thirsty. So he went to get his favourite canned drink. When he came out from the kitchen, he went to his room and continued doing his work. While he was savouring every bit of his favourite canned drink, he heard the telephone ranging. He ran out to the living room within seconds to pick up the telephone. When Edmond answered the telephone, he was extremely surprised to find out that the caller was actually a female. The female caller claimed to be Edmond's aunt and she wanted to pay his mother a visit. She asked for his address and when his parents would be home. Edmond started to feel suspicious and asked the female caller for more information. To his utter dismay, instead of getting more information from the female caller, she actually hung up. Edmond was at a loss of what to do and was panic-stricken as he sensed something wrong.


A moment later, an idea struck his mind. He called his parents and narrated the whole situation about the female caller who claimed to be his aunt and wanted to pay his mother a visit. After hearing that, Edmond's parents were dumbfounded as there was nobody who lived at overseas whom they knew. Without much thinking, Edmond finally decided to call the police and narrated the whole incident to a police officer. After some time, the policemen arrived at Edmond's house. They surrounded the whole place, waiting patiently for the female caller to arrive. When the female caller appeared at the scene, she was shell-shocked and flabbergasted to see the policemen standing in front of her. The female caller stood rooted to the ground as she knew that sooner or later, she would be handcuffed by the police. Immediately, the police handcuffed her and praised Edmond for what he had did. When his parents came home from work, Edmond told the whole situation to them. When they heard the incident that happened, they were very delighted. Edmond would always remember the incident which had happened on that day as it was very meaningful to him.

Author: Guo Jie 4C

It was a typical Sunday afternoon. Mary felt bored and decided to go to shopping. She took the MRT train which would bring her to the shopping centre. She walked past a departmental store and went to the jewellery department. She saw beautiful necklaces that hung on the board. “Wow, if only I could wear it, it is so beautiful.’’ But it was too expensive and she decided to stolen it.


The guard felt suspicious why the woman looked around. The burly guard pointing at the woman would bought the necklace or to steal it. And he saw the woman put the necklace into her bag. The muscular guard stopped her and bought her to the room and told the manager that that woman had stolen the necklace.


The woman felt a shiver down her spine and goosebumps all over. and was hopeless. The manager quickly alerted the police and caught her red-handed. In a jiffy, the police arrived and arrested her and bought her to the police station for questioning. She felt regretful and was put behind bars. After that lesson, she learned her lesson not to steal ever again.

Author: Lii Wen 4C

One breezy afternoon, Edmond was doing the online work his teacher assigned him to do on his computer.
He was about to press the answer for a question in a quiz when a ringing sound from the telephone came.
Edmond rushed to answer the phone, thinking that it could be his friend. “Hello, who’s that?” asked Edmond when he answered the phone. A female caller, who claimed to be his distant aunt, said that she wanted to pay his mother a visit. She asked him for his address and added, “Oh, my sister! I haven’t seen her for ages! Edmond, darling, would you mind if you tell me when your parents will be home please?” Hearing the stranger’s voice, Edmond stood rooted the ground, not knowing what to do. On one hand, he remembered his mother telling him about safety, and not giving private information to strangers. On the other hand, he thought, if the stranger was really my distant aunt, then she would know when Mum was born! He answered, “Okay, but when was my mother born?” There was a hesitation. Edmond heard people murmuring to each other. “What should Alice reply him?” whispered one urgently. With goosebumps on Edmond’s hand, he slammed the phone down, heart beating as fast a hammer.
Edmond proceeded to call his parents and was all thumbs as he pressed their phone number. He got through the line and told his parents about the whole matter breathlessly, and when he finished, both his father and mother sounded surprised. “I don’t have a sister. I’m glad I mentioned about this, or you will surely tell the stranger about what she asked for. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. Bye!”

Thinking about the whole matter, Edmond was very grateful that his mother taught him to be careful when it came to strangers. He shouted, “ Mum is the best!” Then, he ran back to the computer, wanting to finish the quiz, so that his mother will be pleased that he completed his homework.

Author: Megan 4K

Poster competition- any takers?

Dear Pupils,

Let's do our part to encourage pupils in our school to use proper English and not singlish by designing a poster during our Computer lab lesson these 2 weeks.

More details:
Design a PPT slide to teach/encourage the school population to speak Good English. Pupils may work in groups (max size 4) to create their PPT. Your PPT will be judged based on their Educational Quality, Appealing Content and Design. The teachers will be selecting the top 2 PPTs per level as the winning entry. The best 2 PPT slides from the class will be submitted Ms Narin by 12 August.

Please email your completed slide to me at hwsteacher@gmail.com

This are a few examples, opps... I meant, 'These are a few examples',



Mr Kok

Launch of the Student Effective Writing Booklet

Dear Parents,

I’m pleased to inform you that the writing guide entitled the Student Effective Writing Booklet has been given to your child. This guide is in response to your requests at the previous meet-the-parents meeting; many of you wanted some sort of guide to offer some pointers to your child on their writing. I hope you will find it useful and informative to use with your child.

Do give me feedback on it. You may leave your comments in this entry. Remember to sign on the cover page as a form of acknowledgement. Thank you.

Enjoy!

Mr Abel Kok

A very touching and moving article to share.

You can also find it at http://sg.yahoo.matchmove.com/news/article/a-fathers-message-from-beyond-the-grave

A father's message from beyond the grave

1. Ever wondered what it is like to have Death staring straight in your eyes? Is there anything you will like to do or change before you draw your last breath? What if you have a family with young children and perhaps some precious time left? What would you do?
   
   Here’s a sad but true story to be shared, about a loving dad and husband, who did what he could in the little time he was left for his family. From their country cottage filled with memories of Mandy Flanagan’s late husband Paul, she shared with us their story.
   
   Paul, a teacher, who died of cancer at the age of 45 in November 2009, passionately believed his children, Thomas and Lucy, should have more than just fading photographs to remember him by. For the children were only five and one-and-half years old at the time of his passing. “There was nothing more important to Paul than being the best father he could be,” says Mandy.
   
   
   
   
   “When he knew he was dying, there was no time for self-pity. He became absolutely focused on doing whatever he could to continue being a good dad to them throughout the years, even though he wouldn’t be here in person.”
   
   Amongst his preparation included letters, filmed messages, future birthday presents and his personal chest of favorite books. “Each book is accompanied by a note to Thomas and Lucy explaining why Paul loved it, and how much he hopes they will too when they’re old enough to read it,” explains Mandy.
   
   But perhaps all these gifts pales in comparison to a document titled “On finding fulfillment”, accidentally discovered on his laptop by Mandy. “I opened it and, with tears rolling down my cheeks, I discovered his bullet-pointed code to living a good and happy life,” says Mandy. And this list of 28 instructions was the very way Paul lived his life.
   
   Addressing his children who were too young to understand the tragedy that was unfolding, Paul writes, ”In these last few weeks, following my terminal diagnosis, I have searched my soul and heart to find ways in which I can reach out to you as you grow up.
   
   “I’ve been thinking about the matters in life that are important, and the values and aspirations that make people happy and successful. In my view, and you may well have your own ideas by now, the formula is pretty simple.
   
   “The three most important virtues are: Loyalty, integrity and moral courage. If you aspire, friends will respect you, employers will retain you, and your father will be immensely proud of you. I am therefore giving you several pieces of advice. These are the principles on which I have tried to build my life and they are exactly those that I would have encouraged you to embrace, had I been able to.” “I love you very much. Never forget that.”
   
   “He also wrote that they should never give up, and he certainly never did. He fought so bravely, so courageously, right to the end.”
   
   
   
   
   Having been first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2004, where a birthmark on his chest had become malignant. The cancer was removed in November that year when their son Thomas was only a few months old. And after years of regular follow-ups, he was given the all clear in January 2008 when Mandy was expecting Lucy.
   
   However a swelling that appears in May 2008 proved the cancer had spread to his lymph glands in his arms and neck shortly after. Even surgery and radiotherapy was not able to halt its progression. By March 2009, the cancer had spread to his brain and his condition was terminal.
   
   “He never pitied himself,” says Mandy. “The diagnosis, and perhaps the drugs he was on, triggered a sort of mania. He suddenly had so much energy. While I lay awake upstairs worrying, Paul would work through the nights, determined to get his affairs in order.”
   
   Having meticulously organized the family finances, arranged his own funeral, buying presents for their children, their dining room was soon filled piles of shoeboxes filled with paperwork, hand-written letters and DVD messages for his family and friends.
   
   With Lucy christened last summer, she now has one godmother and nine godfathers. “He wanted his friends to have a permanent tie to his family, I think,” says Mandy. “And if Lucy couldn’t have her father, a fantastic team of godfathers was the very least she deserved.”
   
   With his passing at home, some eight months after his terminal diagnosis, Mandy was certain he’ll be able to rest peacefully knowing that he had left the best legacy any father could. “When some people are told they have just a few months to live, they decide their life won’t be complete until they’ve bungee-jumped off Sydney Harbor Bridge or seen the Grand Canyon. But that wasn’t Paul. All that was important to him was right here. He lived and died by his own rules, and I know he had found his fulfillment.”
   
   We all have a finite amount of time in this world, some less than others. And it is not the amount of time, rather how we use it which truly matters. Ever so often we get absorbed by our daily rat race and tend to take our loved ones for granted. Perhaps it is time we slow down and re-examine ourselves before it is too late.
   
   A FATHER'S RULES FOR FINDING FULFILLMENT
   
   
   
   Be courteous, be punctual, always say please and thank you, and be sure to hold your knife and fork properly. Others take their cue on how to treat you from your manners.
   
   
   Be kind, considerate and compassionate when others are in trouble, even if you have problems of your own. Others will admire your selflessness and will help you in due course.
   
   
   Show moral courage. Do what is right, even if that makes you unpopular. I always thought it important to be able to look at myself in the shaving mirror every morning and not feel guilt or remorse. I depart this world with a pretty clear conscience.
   
   
   Show humility. Stand your ground but pause to reflect on what the other side are saying, and back off when you know you are wrong. Never worry about losing face. That only happens when you are pig-headed.
   Learn from your mistakes. You will make plenty so use them as a learning tool. If you keep making the same mistake or run into a problem, you’re doing something wrong.
   
   
   Avoid disparaging someone to a third party; it is only you who will look bad. If you have a problem with someone, tell them face to face.
   
   
   Hold fire! If someone crosses you, don’t react immediately. Once you say something it can never be taken back, and most people deserve a second chance.
   
   
   Have fun. If this involves taking risks, so be it. If you get caught, hold your hands up.
   
   
   Give to charity and help those who are less fortunate than yourselves: it’s easy and so rewarding.
   
   
   Always look on the upside! The glass is half full, never half empty. Every adversity has a silver lining if you seek it out.
   
   
   Make it your instinct always to say ‘yes’. Look for reasons to do something, not reasons to say no. Your friends will cherish you for that.
   
   
   Be canny: you will get more of what you want if you can give someone more of what they desire. Compromise can be king.
   
   
   Always accept a party invitation. You may not want to go, but they want you there. Show them courtesy and respect.
   
   
   Never ever let a friend down. I would bury bodies for my friends, if they asked me to . . . which is why I have chosen them carefully.
   
   
   Always tip for good service. It shows respect. But never reward poor service. Poor service is insulting.
   
   
   Always treat those you meet as your social equal, whether they are above or below your station in life. For those above you, show due deference, but don’t be a sycophant.
   
   
   Always respect age, as age equals wisdom.
   
   
   Be prepared to put the interests of your sibling first.
   
   
   Be proud of who you are and where you come from, but open your mind to other cultures and languages. When you begin to travel (as I hope you will), you’ll learn that your place in the world is both vital and insignificant. Don’t get too big for your breeches.
   
   
   Be ambitious, but not nakedly so. Be prepared to back your assertions with craftsmanship and hard work.
   
   
   Live every day to its full: do something that makes you smile or laugh, and avoid procrastination.
   
   
   Give of your best at school. Some teachers forget that pupils need incentives. So if your teacher doesn’t give you one, devise your own.
   
   
   Always pay the most you can afford. Never skimp on hotels, clothing, shoes, make-up or jewellery. But always look for a deal. You get what you pay for.
   
   
   Never give up! My two little soldiers have no dad, but you are brave, big-hearted, fit and strong. You are also loved by an immensely kind and supportive team of family and friends. You make your own good fortune, my children, so battle on.
   
   
   Never feel sorry for yourself, or at least don’t do it for long. Crying doesn’t make things better.
   
   
   Look after your body and it will look after you.
   
   
   Learn a language, or at least try. Never engage a person abroad in conversation without first greeting them in their own language; by all means ask if they speak English!
   
   
   And finally, cherish your mother, and take very good care of her.
   
   
   I love you both with all my heart.
   Daddy x
   
   
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------