Something else to ponder.......

BE PATIENT

This is a true story which happened in the States. A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint of the truck. The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.

Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up from the surgery and saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, "Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked, "but when are my fingers going to grow back?" The father went home and committed suicide.

Think about this story the next time someone steps on your feet or you wish to take revenge. Think first before you lose your patience with someone you love. Trucks can be repaired.. Broken bones and hurt feelings often can't. Too often we fail to recognize the difference between the person and the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.

People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

"Good Life starts only when you stop wanting a better One"

" Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away "

Something to ponder.....

PERSONAL PERCEPTION

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home, a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey? "Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman." The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.

It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.

Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..

Singing Telegrams

This activity is something for you to have some fun with. It is also good for helping you to improve your spelling punctuation and your ability to write short concise text.

The activity uses a site called KakoMessenger which enables you to create singing telegram messages that looks like the one below.

Task:

• Go to: http://www.kakomessenger.com/ There you will see a choice of two different singers. Select the one that you would like to sing your text for you.

• Then type your text. Make sure that you are careful with spelling and punctuation (Your singer can only sing words in English if they are spelled correctly)

Here are some possible things to write about:

• Write some tips for learning English
• Send a message to an English speaking friend
• Send a message to your English teacher
• Create a message about this site and then post it to the comments

• Once you have written your message, click on 'PLAY' and wait a couple of minutes. Your telegram should then start to play.

• If you like the message you can then send it to someone by email, or you can click on 'MODIFY' to change it or correct the spelling or punctuation.

I hope you enjoy this activity and send lots of singing telegrams to your friends.

Learn vocabulary through mind mapping

This activity is a way to help you record, remember and build up your vocabulary. To do this we are going to use a simple tool called Bubbl.us which you can use to create 'mind maps' or what some people call 'spidergrams' or 'vocabulary webs'.

These are graphs which show relationships. They are very useful tools to help you think about and arrange words or ideas as well as to show the relationship between those ideas or words. we are going to use them today to help us look at relationships between words and help us remember them.

Task:

• To get started go to: http://www.bubbl.us and click on 'Start Brainstorming'

• You will then see a bubble in the centre of the page that says 'Start here' click on it and enter the theme for your first 'vocabulary web'. For this web we will use the topic of 'Entertainment'. Click on 'Start here' and replace the text with the word 'Entertainment' then pres enter. Another bubble will appear below it.

• Click on the next bubble and add a type of entertainment, e.g. 'video games', then click back on the word entertainment and press enter again, you should get a second bubble, add another form of entertainment in this bubble. Keep adding and building up words around the central theme. You can drag the words to arrange them.

• Once you have 5 or 6 words around your central thee start to add words that are connected to each form of entertainment. Again, you do this by clicking on the word and pressing enter on your keyboard

• You can then add words that are connected with each of those words. Keep adding as many words as you can.

• Once you have added as many words as you can, click on 'Save'. You will then have to create a free account.

• You will need to create a user name and password and have an email address.

• Once you have created an account you can save your vocabulary web, give it a name and start creating more on different themes. You can go back and click 'Load' to see the vocabulary maps you have created and add new words as you learn them.

This is a great way to remember, review and extend your vocabulary and it can help you to build up your own theme related dictionary.

Just Kidding...

Two factory workers are talking.
The woman says, "I can make the boss give me the day off."
The man replies, "And how would you do that?"
The woman says, "Just wait and see." She then hangs upside-down from the ceiling.
The boss comes in and says, "What are you doing?"
The woman replies, "I'm a light bulb."
The boss then says, "You've been working so much that you've gone crazy. I think you need to take the day off."
The man starts to follow her and the boss says, "Where are you going?"
The man says, "I'm going home, too. I can't work in the dark."

Writing Process

INTRODUCTION
“To write well is to know what a sentence is made of”
What is a sentence?

1. A sentence is a group of words that contains:

i) a subject ii) a verb iii) and expresses a complete thought and makes sense.

2. The basic sentence structure is SVO.

The subject(S) comes before the verb(V) and followed by an object(O) or a complement(C).
Example:i) A man walked his dog.

ii) Malaysia is a peaceful country.

iii) I have three red cars.

iv) She and her son ate dinner at Siti’s house.

v) Either Ali or his sisters will go to Ahmad’s wedding ceremony.

3. Sentences can be

i) simple - containing only one subject (S) and one verb(V).Example: Ahmad(S) went (V) home.

ii) complex - containing two or more subjects and verbs with a subordinating conjunction or a dependent clause.

Example: Although(SConj) Ahmad(S) went(V) home, he will come(V) again tomorrow.

iii) compound - containing two or more subjects and verbs joined by a coordinating conjuction or a semicolon. Two simple sentences (independent clauses) are joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

Example:
a) Ahmad(S) went(V) home, but(CConj) he will come(V) again tomorrow.

b) Ahmad(S) had(V) an interview;(semicolon)however, he was(V) late.

Idiom of the week

Birds of a feather flock together
Birds of a feather flock together: People who are a lot alike tend to gather together and become friends. This can be used to mean that people are alike in both good ways and bad ways.Many people just say "Birds of a feather. . ."

It is opposite to the idea of "Opposites attract."

Since I have known them, David and his friends have always gotten in trouble. Birds of a feather....

Idiom of the week

When it rains, it pours
When it rains, it pours: When one thing goes wrong, many other things also go wrong.

Sentence: Last week my dog ran away, and my computer crashed and my girlfriend broke up with me! When it rains, it pours!

JOKES 2

1.Why did the boy bury his flashlight?
Because the batteries were dead.
2.There are 5 birds in a tree. A hunter shoots 2 of them
dead. How many birds are left?
2 birds. The other 3 fly away!
3. If a man was born in Italy, went to America and died
in San Francisco, what would he be?
Dead!
4. Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?
Because he had no-body to go with!
5. What did the traffic lights say to the car?
Don't look now. I'm changing!
6. Which bus crossed the ocean?
Columbus!
7. Why do witches have brooms?
Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Idiom of the Day

Down to earth
humble and not proud (personality)

Example sentence:
All of the students like Professor Suraya because she is so down to earth.

Something to ponder...

Did You Know?

An eighteenth century English aristocrat, the Earl of Sandwich, loved playing cards. He used to play cards all day and night and hated having to stop a game for his meals. One day he thought of a way of putting meat between two slices of bread. In this way he could eat while at the same time continue playing cards. It is because of the Earl of Sandwich that today we call sandwiches “sandwiches”.

English Jokes

JOKES

1. How do you get straight A’s?
- I use a ruler.

2. What did one maths book say to another?
- I have a lot of problems.

3. What’s a cow’s favourite subject at school?
- Moo-sic

4. What’s the fruitiest subject?
- History, because it’s full of dates.

5. How do bees get to school?
- On the school buzz.

6. Why shouldn’t you put the letter “M” into the refrigerator?
- Because it turns ice into mice.

Preparing for Essay writing

Hello students. Lots of discussions based on samples of different types of essays have been done these few weeks. Do check out this following link for further info and reading.
Good Luck.

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/main/essay.htm

Always remember to plan and also work your plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!!

Diwali Greetings to all.

Diwali is a celebration of lights and colors. Diwali is a time to reconnect with people who mean the world to us. Reach out to them this Diwali with wishes of peace, prosperity and bliss.

Hope to see 100% cooperation among students involved in the 'kolam' competition on Monday. Have fun....

An English Blog

http://theenglishyouneedblog.blogspot.com

This blog provides free grammar and vocabulary, exercises, learning tips, reading materials, links and resources for students. Hope all of you will check it out.

Writing newspaper reports 1 Tekun

Please hand in your group work on newspaper reports on 15.10.08:
1. Mystery of the missing English teacher.
2. Mystery of missing teacher solved.

How Dalat Got its Name

Attention to 1 Tekun : Look at the words above. Do they look familiar? Please read the short story. You will answer a few tasks in class.

Good Sites for English

Please log on to these sites and try out the tasks. Remember that persistence is the key to better English.
"I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand." - Chinese Proverb

www.englishpage.com/grammar
www.eslflow.com
www.english-at-home.com

English Daily Activities

Attention to all students. Please check out the links under 'interesting links'. A good one for students is English Daily Acivities. Do the activities to improve your English Language. The activites are quite simple and will not take up too much of your time.
Do keep a record of all these activities in your English Book 1.

1 Tekun students presenting their William Shakespeare project during English class

This is 1 Tekun's video made by our classmate, Nico Maxmillan. He was asked by Mdm Sawaran to do this video. We did our Shakespeare presentation during English class. It is a documentation video about our presentation. Thank You to Nico and also those who were involved in the making of this video.

By: Nazihah Mohammad
1 Tekun

Form 2T, 2C and 1T :Conference

Please identify one time frame when you can be online and give your views on certain topics - do conferencing . Your responses should be more than 5o words and please take note of your language - tenses and structure. This would also be a good practice to improve your writing skills, let's kill two birds with one stone. Avoid short forms or chat language. Moderators do take note and put up topics for conferencing , if possible every week. Thanks.

Attention to 1T, 2T and 2C

'Selamat Hari Raya" greetings to all my students and students of Kolej TDTHB Miri. Enjoy yourselves but do spare some time for English. Complete all paper 1 sets in your workbooks, do not forget your dictionary skills. Keep in touch and do post your comments on this blog.



Below is a message from Dr. Shanti,

Well... I am truly impressed. Great job. It is certainly a pleasure seeing all that interaction and learning taking place. Your teachers and you have certainly taken learning beyond the four walls of the classroom. Definitely depicts the classroom of tomorrow.
Say hi to all the enterprising students for me.Keep up the good work.

Group projects PBL

Attention: 2T & 2C.

Not all groups have completed their folders, some things missing. All group leaders, copies of complete folders must be in my desktop ASAP. I would like to give you bonus marks and also decide on the best presentation and I can't do it yet because you have not handed in complete work!! Remember, procrastination is the thief of time.

Sample essay Form 2T & 2C

Based on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, the character I like best is Robinson Crusoe himself.
I like Crusoe mainly because of his boldness and determination to survive. It takes courage to run away at such a tender age and escape from pirates if you are caught and treated as a slave. When he is marooned on an island after a storm destroys his ship, he does what he can to help himself. Although he felt desolate at first, he shakes off this negative feeling. He salvages food and supplies from the shipwreck to help him survive. He builds a home, plants rice, collects and dries fruits, rears goats and even makes his own clothes, utensils and furniture. He is able to build a comfortable life for himself because he is determined to survive. This is truly admirable.
Another reason why I like Crusoe is that he is brave. When he sees several cannibals killing and cutting up a victim, he is afraid. This however does not stop him from saving another of their victims, whom he later calls Friday. Later, he rescues two others from cannibals, a Spaniard and Friday’s father. He also rescues an English captain and several sailors from mutineers. Crusoe is certainly no coward.
Crusoe is also hardy and strong as an individual. He is able to endure loneliness and hardship. This shows he has great willpower. He shows his perseverance when he had to make another boat because the first one he built was too heavy and too far from the shore. I admire him for being able to persevere for 25 years without a single human being to talk to except for his animals /pets as his companions.
After his long stay on the deserted island, Robinson must have looked rather odd. However he is a man of admirable character, someone we could all learn from. He is the character I like best in this novel.


5 paragraphs =more than 50 words.
*Tenses must be consistent – if past tense, throughout essay use past tense.
- if present tense , then make sure it is
used throughout your essay.
Sentence structure – simple, compound and complex.
Take note of your structures and punctuation.

Paper 2: Section C (Form 2T & 2C)

shakespeare 's blogs - 1 Tekun' group work

Well done students of 1 Tekun. Do have a look at Rachel's group blog - they managed to also include all the other work (KWL/Response Log etc) in a folder named English project. Angela's group work is also 'complete'. The other groups must include/link their montage, flyer/brochure and GO to their group blogs. A.S.A.P. Overall I am quite satisfied with your work; Well done and keep up the good work and always remember that cooperation and willingness to help is very important to determine the success of your projects. All of you will get 5 bonus/merit marks.

So, now you have to work and improve on your ASIAN Dialogues group work. Good Luck.

Report Writing Form 2 Tekun , 2 Cekal and 1 Tekun

Types of reports :

1. Newspaper Reports
2. Minutes of meetings
3. Annual reports of school activities/societies
4. Reports on incidents or accidents
5. Reports of surveys , projects or activities
   

Useful guide:

• format of a newspaper report is different from other reports
• present ideas in an organised manner - one idea in one paragraph
• formal language - straight to the point
• use the correct tense - past tense
• proofread your report for mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

With reference to online newspaper reports, understand format and how a report is written. Create a table to answer 'Wh' questions and based on one report create a graphic organiser to show the sequence of events. In groups of 4, plan an outline and write a newspaper report on a tragic accident. Please refer to link on kolejku.com for further information, if necessary.

To read newspaper reports, go to http://thestar.com.my/ or http://www.nst.com.my/

PBL Presentations

Attention to 2 Tekun and 2 Cekal:

All groups have presented their work and comments have been given. Good but some of you have to improve on your work!! You have to hand in all completed work (soft copy) on Monday 22.9.08.
Multimedia presentations
- point form please and not long sentences.
- backgrounds should be simple and not 'disturb' the focus of slides.
Your folder should have: a. Multimedia presentation
b. brochure/webpage/blog
c. Compiled work - decisions made past/today/future
d. Complete research log

Documentation of projects.

It would be good if students presentations in class are documented , maybe using a video cam. Any possibilities of students helping to do this? Then we can have video clips of students doing their presentations besides soft copy of projects. Hope someone in each class will look into this. Thanks.

Linked to www.kolejku.com

Students of 1 Tekun, 2 Tekun and 2 Cekal.
Please refer to our school website, I have linked it to this blog. This blog is still underconstruction and I would appreciate your ideas and comments. Thanks.

SAL activities

Attention to all Students,

Please refer to list of URL given in kolejku.com . Read and try out the grammar tasks. Keep a record of all websites visited and exercises done in your English book 1. All students need to put in more effort to improve their grammar. If you come across any good websites, please do share it with me!!

Silent Killer project (F2)

Please complete multimedia presentation and brochure/webpage/blog. Check with samples given and also refer to presentation rubrics. All presentations must be completed and presentaed on 18.9.08 and corrections done over the weekend. Final products to be handed in on 22.9.08 (softcopy).

Please ask or check with me if you have any problems. Remember, cooperation is the key to your success in your projects.

Shakespeare Project

Attention to all group leaders and group members:

Presentations on 19.9.08. All montage, flyer/brochures and webpage/blogs on Shakespeare must be completed. All corrections must be done this weekend and completed folders with all goup work and individual work (KWL Sheet and Response Journel) must be handed in on 22.9.08.

Project Based Learning

Hello students. Remember to complete your projects on Silent Killer (Form 2) and Shakespeare (Form 1). Presentations start this Thursday 18/9/08. You will then have the weekend to improve on your groupwork. The best presentation with the most effort and collaboration between group members will get merit points as well as a small token of appreciation.