IN CLASS ONLINE LESSON #2

All Summer in a Day - by Ray Bradbury

Who should be help responsible for Margot's treatment, and why.

I feel that the whole class was responsible for Margot's treatment. The whole class did not take Margot as part of the class and isolated her from everything. The main reason was because they were jealous that Margot was from Earth and could still remember how the sun looked like when they only saw the sun once when they were two and have forgotten how the sun looked like. The class treated Margot very harshly and bullied her, saying that the sun was not appearing when they knew that would hurt her a lot. During that time, none of the students stood up for Margot and told the class off. The entire class willingly joined in and even placed her in the closet to prevent her from seeing the sun. Furthermore, when the teacher asked if everyone was present, none of them owned up and told the teacher that Margot was not here. When the sun came out, the class played and played, completely forgotten that Margot was still in the closet and none of them bothered to let Margot out. Finally, the class remembers about Margot when the fun is over and the class guiltily opens the door to let Margot out. Thus, I feel that it was the that class is responsible for Margot's treatment.

What might someone have chosen to do which would have led to a positive outcome?

Someone could have just stood up to the class and the story would have a positive outcome. When the class was bullying Margot, someone could just stand by Margot and stand up to the class. Maybe then would the class see the light and stop what they were doing and Margot would no longer be alienated from the class anymore but part of the class. Perhaps the students were afraid that if they protested, they would be treated like Margot, thus they did not do anything. However, someone could have went inside and let Margot out when the sun was out and nobody would notice, instead nobody did anything about Margot and that resulted in the negative ending.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is my favourite holiday. Chinese New Year is the start of a new year and everyone is very happy. The would also be a lot of food such as new year goodies and nuts. These food were believed to be very auspicious and thus everyone eats these food during Chinese New Year. With all the food, the atmosphere would be even better with everyone talking and laughing at the same time. There would also be people wishing each other a happy new year. We would visit our relatives and receive red packets. Then, we would stay at my grandmother's place and stay up till midnight.

Collaboration

I collaborated intensely with a Jun Liang, Wei Jian and Ling Tian for my previous year Projects Day. We worked together to complete our project. We needed to come back to school on many days, especially on the holidays to check on our experimental project. We had to work together to make sure everything was accurate, everything was the same and there were no mistakes in the measurements. After that, we had to come back each other day to monitor and record down our observations.

I learnt that we must cooperate to get the job done quickly and easily. I would tend to follow what people do as I would not know what to do. I would not try to contradict others as I fear that I am wrong.

Reflection on "Comic Strip"

From the Home Learning lesson, I learnt how to create comic strips. It was the first time I created comic strip and it was very interesting. I had a little difficulty during the start but I soon had the hang of it and creating my comic became very interesting. A comic is a different type of expressing a story. We usually use words to write a story but in a this case, we need to use pictures. I would create more comics in the future.

Online Home Learning Lesson #1: Comics

This is my comic strip:

I wanted to do this comic is because I notice many people not keeping their promises. For example, I lent 5 dollars to someone, who promised me that he would return it the next day. However, the guy did not return me the 5 dollars, coming up with some excuse about having forgotten about it or need to eat lunch today, unable to return me the money. So, I will have to wait for the next day to get my money back. I get really irritated when there are people like that. Firstly, they did not keep their promise to return me the money and secondly, they love to procrastinate.

This comic is just like that. The person in the car comes to a car park but finds that there is no available lot left. Thus, he prays to the lord that if the lord can help him find a lot, he would go to church every Sunday and give up swearing. Miraculously, a lot appears. Instead of thanking the lord, the man say never mind, he already found one. This comes to show that the man is unappreciative and did not keep to his promise.

The setting is in the car park and there are a number of cars at the car park. I chose an overhead view so as to show the entire car park and the cars. It would also be easier to see the cars and available car park lots.

In conclusion, I feel that this was a very fun experience to create a comic strip for the first time. There might be some struggles at first with the template but I soon got the hang of it.

IN CLASS ONLINE LESSON #1

Topic 2: Have you ever been part of a group of people who were unkind to one or some individuals? What was the circumstance? How did you act? What did you feel?

Yes, I have been part of a group of people who were unkind to someone. When I was in Primary 5, there was this boy who pulled a trolley bag into class. The trolley bag was light blue in colour and had pictures on it. The class started teasing him and calling him unpleasant names like "Baby Boy" and things like that. I felt very shocked at that moment. Even though someone did not look as 'cool' or fashionable as everybody else, that doesn't give us any right to tease and call him names. At that time, I wasn't part of teasing him and calling him names but I sat at the sidelines and watched. The boy definitely did not like how he was treated, thus he complained to the teacher and everyone got a lesson on respect. Thinking back, I should have stepped in and stopped them. Perhaps I was introverted and worried that I will be teased if I stepped in and stopped them. Even so, I should have went in. Maybe then would they feel embarrassed and stop their actions. A common habit about humans is that we only pick on other's mistakes, not ours. In this case, my class only saw the boy's flaw, but not theirs. Bullying is a huge case in primary school, thus everybody should help and stop it. So, next time I face such a situation, I would do the right thing.

Goals for Language Arts

My goal for Language Arts this year is to improve my comprehension skills. Last year, I did not do very well for my comprehension section. Thus, I would want to focus on improving my comprehension skills this year so as to score better in Language Arts this year.

Also, I would want to study a but more in analyzing a story. For example, I learnt that in "To Kill a Mockingbird", prejudice was mentioned. I hope to learn more skills on analyzing stories so that I can read a book and fully understand it.

Online Lesson: Favourite Song- Don't Stop Believing

Lyrics:" Just a small town girl, Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, Born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'

Streetlight people

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice just one more time

Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'

Streetlight people

I like this song because it teaches us to never give up. Sometimes, we get depressed, and sometimes we feel like there's no way out, or we're doomed for life. Thus, we might be afraid of being hopeful again, only to be let down. They may think its doing more harm than good to dream of better days, but this song is telling us to 'hold on to that feeling' because life is never short of opportunities to find happiness. I feel that this song teaches us a very good lesson, which is to never give up even at the darkest times.

Most Valuable Lesson last year

I feel that the most valuable lesson that was taught last year was analyzing the book "Village by the Sea". I feel that this was the most valuable lesson that was taught last year because we learnt how to analyze a book. Surprisingly, I found this lesson very interesting and meaningful. After analyzing the story, I clearly knew the meaning under the story.

My Favourite Book

My favourite book is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. This is the last book of the Harry Potter series and I liked it the most. This series reveal how Harry Potter, the main character, managed to defeat the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Harry's ex-headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, left Harry and his friends to complete an impossible task: to find the remaining horcruxes and destroy them. Harry travelled across the country to find the remaining horcruxes while danger lurks at every corner. Harry faced dragons, entered the Ministry of Magic, and was almost eaten by a huge snake, but he still managed to destroy all the horcruxes in time and saved the day. I like this book because J.K. Rowling revealled all the answers to the questions that were posed in her previous series, thus I found the book very interesting.

BIG FISH

1. What does the phrase "a big fish in a small pond" mean to you?
Ans: It means that the big fish is the "king" of the small pond. Being in a small pond, the big fish would be able to eat up the other small fish, thus it would be the "king".

2. What is the purpose of Edward Bloom's tall tale about the big fish and the wedding ring?
Ans: The purpose of Edward Bloom's tall tale is that even a big fish might like a small wedding ring. It shows that everyone has different likes, even for a fish.

3. How does William Bloom as a boy feel about his father's telling of the tale? How does this feeling change as he gets older?
Ans: When William Bloom was a young boy, he enjoyed and was interested in the story, but when he grew up, he was tired of the same old story and he felt that the story was a tall tale and an embarrassment to his father and to himself.

4. Why does Edward Bloom as a boy feel the need to keep repeating the tale throughout his life?

Ans: It is because the day, his father, William Bloom caught the big fish, he was born.

5. What does the tale reveal about the relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom?

Ans: The tale reveals that the relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom is strained as Edward Bloom feels that the tale is embarrassing him while his father takes no trouble to tell the tale to everybody.

6.Consider the following quote:" In telling the story of my father's life, it's impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth. The best I can do is to tell it the way he told me. It doesn't always make sense, and most of it never happened, but that's what kind of story this is." What stories have you been told that match this description? What is the effect of telling a story that way?

Ans: None. It makes the story more interesting as the story has been modified. Some stories might also teach us morals.

7. Does bending or exaggerating the truth for the purpose of conveying and entertaining story undercut the believability of such a story? Is a tall tale less valid than a straight reportage of the facts? Why or why not?

Ans: Yes, it does. Since the story has been exaggerated, the story is unbelievable as some facts has been bended and exaggerated. Yes. A tall tale has some unbelievable facts, thus it causes suspicion and it will be less valid than a straight reportage of facts.

Poems by Shel Silverstein

The Little Boy and the Old Man

1.What is the underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem?

Ans: Even though there is a huge age difference between the young boy and the old man, both of them still do the same things.

For example:" Said the little boy," Sometimes I drop my spoon."

Said the old man:" I do that too."

2. Has Shel Silverstein used any particular poetic technique that brings out this message more clearly?

Ans: Shel Silverstein used repetition of the words " I do that too" to bring out the message that the little boy and the old man have much a common.

Messy Room

1. Can you say that the poem is humorous? If so how?

Ans: This poem is humorous. At the beginning of the poem, the poet describe the room to be very messy. He described that everything was strewn across the room, also saying that the owner of the room should be ashamed. However, he did not know that the room was in fact his.

2. What aspect of the human character has been highlighted in this poem?

Ans: The human character that has been highlighted was that people tend to only point a accusing finger at others but instead not at themselves. The poet accused the owner of the room to be untidy and messy, but he did not even realise that he was actually talking about himself.

Cloony the Clown

1. Explain the irony in this poem.

Ans: When Cloony the Clown was trying to be funny, he wasn't at all funny to his audiences. Ironically, when Cloony was trying to be serious and tell people about his troubles, the people laughed non-stop.

2. Does Shel Silverstein manage to convey some harsh realities in this poem?

Ans: Shel Silverstein managed to convey some harsh realities in his poem. Cloony the Clown told everyone about his worries and troubles, but nobody seems to care or understand him. Everyone just continued to laugh.

3. What poetic devices has the poet used to effectively convey his message?

Ans: The poet used repetition to convey his message effectively.

For example:" And every time he did a trick... And every time he told a joke... And every time he lost a shoe..." and the word laughed was repeated many times from lines 33-37.

4. Which of the above can you identify the most? Write down your thoughts on your blog...

Ans: I could identify the most with Cloony the Clown. The poet used a lot of repetition and there was also irony. The entire poem is filled with repetition of what Cloony and his audiences did.