Hey,
it's the hols, so let's just put SS aside for the moment and take a breather yah? Here's a Singlish version of Little Red Riding Hood which I used for my Sec 2 English classes. They loved it, so I thought I'll post it up here for you guys.
See if you can correctly decipher the whole thing ok? Enjoy! =)
Wans a porn a time, god wan litter ger — Litter Laid Raiding Hoot. She wan 2 go 2 Grandma house, moarning oredy she go out. She god tek come wan basket 2 put flower 4 Grandma.
"Ah Ma! I cum oready, open der door leh?" she tok.
Den Grandma oso say bak, "Cum in lor, I nvr close!"
Litter Laid Raiding Hoot open der house n go inside der door.
When she go inside, she c Grandma on top of der bed. She go ask, "Ah Ma, how cum ur eye big-big wan?"
"Like dat, den I can c ur fat juicy legs mah!!!" Grandma tok bak.
"Ah Mah, how cum ur tooths is so sharp wan?"
"Den more easier 2 bite ur chubby cheeks laah!!!!"
"Ah Mah, how cum......."
"Aiyaa! So mang-nee question ah u! Wan 2 die izzit? I better faster it u! I not Ah Mah, I air-nee-mer u noe?"
"Wah! Litter Laid Raiding Hoot vary scared wan. She screem vary loud, but laid oredy ah, der air-nee-mer oredy it her!
Sar-den-lee god wan peeper — kad wood wan — go inside der house. He go kad der air-nee-mer stomach n tek out evryting, but he 2 late, Litter Laid Raiding Hoot bcum pangsai oredy......~
Dee End (… really wan!) ~
Try writing this in Standard English! =)
Comment away................
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Of the dreaded SS paper, and hols!
Hey girls,
heard that the SS paper wasn't done very well across the board. I didn't get to see your scripts before they were marked, so I don't really know how you have done.
I understand that the holidays are here, and who wants to mug during hols? Not me. But I do realise that in order for your grades to improve, there has to be some sort of consistent practice. Especially for SBQs, you know that.
So this is what I can do: I am willing to give tuition/remedials/extra lessons/whatever you want to call it, to those who think they want to get some extra practice during the holidays. I have with me some practice SBQs and SEQs that I will give to you, if you need it.
Those who want these extra lessons, pls email me asap ok? I will gather responses latest by end of this month and probably come up with some sort of a schedule in June.
Of course, it's really ok if you girls don't want it or you think you don't need it. No problem at all =). Ms Teo thinks you girls can score, and you definitely can. Just more practice ok?
And yay, it's the holidays! =D
heard that the SS paper wasn't done very well across the board. I didn't get to see your scripts before they were marked, so I don't really know how you have done.
I understand that the holidays are here, and who wants to mug during hols? Not me. But I do realise that in order for your grades to improve, there has to be some sort of consistent practice. Especially for SBQs, you know that.
So this is what I can do: I am willing to give tuition/remedials/extra lessons/whatever you want to call it, to those who think they want to get some extra practice during the holidays. I have with me some practice SBQs and SEQs that I will give to you, if you need it.
Those who want these extra lessons, pls email me asap ok? I will gather responses latest by end of this month and probably come up with some sort of a schedule in June.
Of course, it's really ok if you girls don't want it or you think you don't need it. No problem at all =). Ms Teo thinks you girls can score, and you definitely can. Just more practice ok?
And yay, it's the holidays! =D
Friday, May 16, 2008
Sri Lanka (Not again!)
Yo~
Watched the news recently? Sri Lanka got bombed again! And this time, it's interesting because the government is blaming the Tamil Tigers for the violence when no one was caught. It's a suicide bomber again, remember I showed you girls the billboard which depicted suicide bombings (people dying, etc)? Yup, this is it again. Here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7404147.stm
Now, who says bad guys can't turn good? But when they DO turn good, does society believe in them at all? A very interesting link here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7391752.stm
Ex-Tamil Tigers are trying to get into election polls. Note that they used to be Tamil Tigers, do you think the citizens of Sri Lanka will believe in them and vote for them? Why or why not? =)
In class, I showed you the terms of the Good Friday Agreement between the Northern Ireland government and the IRA remember? Now, here are the terms and conditions the Tamil Tigers proposed in 2003 (How do I know it's 2003? Provenance, people... look at when the page was updated! ;) ). One particular term I find it especially amusing:
Being aware that the history of the relations between the Tamil people and the Sinhala people has been a process of broken promises and unilateral abrogation, by successive governments of Sri Lanka, of pacts and agreements solemnly entered into between the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the elected representatives of the Tamil people.
Notice how they "conveniently" left the blame to the government and the people? So it has nothing to do with them, eh? Like how Ms Teo has nothing to do with 3A and 3C besides the fact that she taught them SS Chapter 4 which came out in the exam. Bleah. :
I asked you in class if you thought that the conflict in Sri Lanka/Northern Ireland will ever be resolved. Some said yes, some said no. Let's have a look at what other people say, shall we? http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4021&edition=2&ttl=20080516102501
Any thoughts on this? =)
Comment away..............
Watched the news recently? Sri Lanka got bombed again! And this time, it's interesting because the government is blaming the Tamil Tigers for the violence when no one was caught. It's a suicide bomber again, remember I showed you girls the billboard which depicted suicide bombings (people dying, etc)? Yup, this is it again. Here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7404147.stm
Now, who says bad guys can't turn good? But when they DO turn good, does society believe in them at all? A very interesting link here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7391752.stm
Ex-Tamil Tigers are trying to get into election polls. Note that they used to be Tamil Tigers, do you think the citizens of Sri Lanka will believe in them and vote for them? Why or why not? =)
In class, I showed you the terms of the Good Friday Agreement between the Northern Ireland government and the IRA remember? Now, here are the terms and conditions the Tamil Tigers proposed in 2003 (How do I know it's 2003? Provenance, people... look at when the page was updated! ;) ). One particular term I find it especially amusing:
Being aware that the history of the relations between the Tamil people and the Sinhala people has been a process of broken promises and unilateral abrogation, by successive governments of Sri Lanka, of pacts and agreements solemnly entered into between the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the elected representatives of the Tamil people.
Notice how they "conveniently" left the blame to the government and the people? So it has nothing to do with them, eh? Like how Ms Teo has nothing to do with 3A and 3C besides the fact that she taught them SS Chapter 4 which came out in the exam. Bleah. :
I asked you in class if you thought that the conflict in Sri Lanka/Northern Ireland will ever be resolved. Some said yes, some said no. Let's have a look at what other people say, shall we? http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4021&edition=2&ttl=20080516102501
Any thoughts on this? =)
Comment away..............
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sad
I just gotten news from my Sec2 English classes that many of them failed their English paper.
Sigh.
Apparently I'm not as good a teacher as I thought. Girls, I really really hope you do ok for your SS paper. Will you let me know once you have gotten your marks please?
If you don't wish to comment/tag here and let everyone see your marks, then email me ok? kavgal@gmail.com
Saddened. =(
Sigh.
Apparently I'm not as good a teacher as I thought. Girls, I really really hope you do ok for your SS paper. Will you let me know once you have gotten your marks please?
If you don't wish to comment/tag here and let everyone see your marks, then email me ok? kavgal@gmail.com
Saddened. =(
Sunday, May 11, 2008
*sob sob*
Ok. Sorry for the act-cute-title above, but I'm really sad!
It's confirmed, girls. I won't be going back to STC when term starts. =(
Sigh.
In case you are wondering, I'm posted to Commonwealth Secondary School, am pretty excited and nervous all at the same time. I've never been there before so it's a fresh new start for me, just like it was a new start for me at STC 10 weeks ago.
I remember 10 weeks ago, I was apprehensive before I stepped into your classes for SS lessons. Firstly, I wasn't sure that I actually had enough content to teach you girls. Secondly, I came from a girls' school myself so I can somewhat vaguely recall how I felt last time when a trainee teacher came to teach my class. Not good.
But I'm glad I taught your classes. Really. You have taught me so much. Thank you. =)
And girls, like I said, this blog will not end with your SS paper. It will continue on to chapters 5 and 6, and even your Sec4 syllabus as well. There will be a hiatus (short break) for the time being as I have to go back to school (yes, to study!) for about a month or so before I report to the new school proper. Anyway I bet you don't want to read anything to do with SS in your June holidays right? =P Of course if you INSIST, I will continue to post up relevant and interesting stuff. Muahaha.
Remember to let me know how you fared for your SS paper, won't you? I'm really pretty anxious for every single one of you from both 3A and 3C. And because I marked your daily assignments, I know precisely what you girls can achieve. A lot.
So do take care in the meanwhile won't you? =) Keep in contact with me ok? I'm not some ghost teacher who floats by for a while and floats off again when not needed (too heavy to float though, more like plod). I'll always be here, you know my email, you know this blog.
Comment away.....................
It's confirmed, girls. I won't be going back to STC when term starts. =(
Sigh.
In case you are wondering, I'm posted to Commonwealth Secondary School, am pretty excited and nervous all at the same time. I've never been there before so it's a fresh new start for me, just like it was a new start for me at STC 10 weeks ago.
I remember 10 weeks ago, I was apprehensive before I stepped into your classes for SS lessons. Firstly, I wasn't sure that I actually had enough content to teach you girls. Secondly, I came from a girls' school myself so I can somewhat vaguely recall how I felt last time when a trainee teacher came to teach my class. Not good.
But I'm glad I taught your classes. Really. You have taught me so much. Thank you. =)
And girls, like I said, this blog will not end with your SS paper. It will continue on to chapters 5 and 6, and even your Sec4 syllabus as well. There will be a hiatus (short break) for the time being as I have to go back to school (yes, to study!) for about a month or so before I report to the new school proper. Anyway I bet you don't want to read anything to do with SS in your June holidays right? =P Of course if you INSIST, I will continue to post up relevant and interesting stuff. Muahaha.
Remember to let me know how you fared for your SS paper, won't you? I'm really pretty anxious for every single one of you from both 3A and 3C. And because I marked your daily assignments, I know precisely what you girls can achieve. A lot.
So do take care in the meanwhile won't you? =) Keep in contact with me ok? I'm not some ghost teacher who floats by for a while and floats off again when not needed (too heavy to float though, more like plod). I'll always be here, you know my email, you know this blog.
Comment away.....................
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Hey girls,
I'll be online till about 11pm to answer any queries you may have. But pls don't start sms-ing me in a frenzy ok? Do email me at kavgal@gmail.com or comment here and I'll reply promptly ok? =)
Happy studying!
Comment away.............
I'll be online till about 11pm to answer any queries you may have. But pls don't start sms-ing me in a frenzy ok? Do email me at kavgal@gmail.com or comment here and I'll reply promptly ok? =)
Happy studying!
Comment away.............
Monday, May 5, 2008
Of clumsiness and SBQs
Sigh. Had a tumble just now down the stairs while on the way home and sort of dislocated my right ankle. I'm going to have a slight limp tomorrow, but doubt that's gonna mess up my exquisite demeanour *laughs evilly* Don't ask me how I rolled (yes, rolled!) down the steps but I remember thinking of how to explain SBQs to you girls when I fell.
Nah. Just joking. As in, I really have a limp now, but I wasn't thinking of SBQs then. Kinda sad, isn't it, if I think of SS all the time.....
Anyway.
I think I need to make some things clear about SBQs. Some of you have asked about whether the "who what who what" tag is only applicable for inference questions, some asked about whether comparing/contrasting questions require you to follow strictly the table I gave you. Maybe it's my fault for rushing lessons so much that you sort of lost the main points you were supposed to take away from the lessons. My apologies....
OK. First things first.
There WILL be both inference and comparing/contrasting questions in the exam, be sure of that.
In inference questions, the common question format would be "What is the main message of this source?", "Why do you think the cartoonist/author/artist/etc drew this picture/wrote this source?", "What do you think the author is trying to say?". Now, the minute you see questions like these, a "Ding Ding Ding!" (bells ringing) should sound in your head. This is an inference question and immediately you should look for the purpose of the source.
How do you answer inference questions? First, let's assume it's a pictorial source for convenience sake. Look at the picture and see if you can see anything that is out of the ordinary. For example, in the Sri Lanka SBQ I've given you, the sleeping tiger is not alarmed at all by the sound of the alarm clock. This is something out of the ordinary, as you would expect to be erm.. alarmed by the alarm clock. =) Next, look at the provenance. The provenance normally tells you a lot about the source, tells you stuff that you can use as EVIDENCE in your answer. In this case, the author is a third party from Thailand right? So is he involved in the conflict directly? What does this mean then? You go figure.
Next, go on to the general content of the picture. State what the picture shows (the duh part) and then say what it means. OR you can always say what something means first and then point to the part of the picture which is the evidence for it. Whichever way, you have successfully done inference for content.
Last, but the most important, PURPOSE. This is, of course, where the tagline that I hope you will remember for the rest of your SS studies comes in.
WHO SAYS WHAT TO WHO TO DO WHAT?
Now, obviously there will be small overlaps between the first "who" and "what", as well as what you have already answered about content above. It's fine. If there are overlaps, then skip those and move on to the second "who" and "to do what". So who's the audience? Look at the provenance again. Does it say anything? Is it the international community? Or is it a local publication meant only for locals? Recall the source I gave you about the Indian man being cornered up on a tree with sharks swimming below. It was published in the Hindustan Times, which probably means only the Indian Tamils will get access to it.
The minute you know the audience, you can then infer what the author wants the audience to do. There are some critical words that are usually used for this part: criticise, accuse, defend, praise, inform, persuade, etc...
And guess what? You're done for inference! Easy? =)
Now I'm actually not going to say much for comparing/contrasting, mainly because I actually think I've done enough by giving you the table format for you to fill in. The 5 common factors you see in the table are things that you HAVE to be able to know when you are comparing or contrasting. Look again at the first page of the comparing/contrasting notes I've given you, the one with the points you need to know for comparing/contrasting. At the bottom, the different variations of comparing/contrasting question forms are given, together with whether you need to answer only similarities, only differences or both. So don't ask me again!
In case you missed out what I've told your class previously, if for example, you look at the clock during your paper and you realise you have not enough time to finish your comparing/contrasting question, dive in straight to the last 2 common factors in your table: tone and purpose. You can leave the rest out if you are short of time.
Now, girls, please note: you WILL NOT get full marks for your answer if you only answer the tone and purpose because the other 3 factors are important as well for a full mark. I only asked you to zoom in straight to tone and purpose ONLY IF you have no time to finish the question. If you do have the time, pls answer ALL 5 common factors in order to score a higher mark. The tone and purpose carry about half the marks, that's why I rather you leave out the other 3 factors and concentrate on these 2 factors.
Phew. I think that's about all I can think of for SBQs. Any questions?
Comment away.......
Nah. Just joking. As in, I really have a limp now, but I wasn't thinking of SBQs then. Kinda sad, isn't it, if I think of SS all the time.....
Anyway.
I think I need to make some things clear about SBQs. Some of you have asked about whether the "who what who what" tag is only applicable for inference questions, some asked about whether comparing/contrasting questions require you to follow strictly the table I gave you. Maybe it's my fault for rushing lessons so much that you sort of lost the main points you were supposed to take away from the lessons. My apologies....
OK. First things first.
There WILL be both inference and comparing/contrasting questions in the exam, be sure of that.
In inference questions, the common question format would be "What is the main message of this source?", "Why do you think the cartoonist/author/artist/etc drew this picture/wrote this source?", "What do you think the author is trying to say?". Now, the minute you see questions like these, a "Ding Ding Ding!" (bells ringing) should sound in your head. This is an inference question and immediately you should look for the purpose of the source.
How do you answer inference questions? First, let's assume it's a pictorial source for convenience sake. Look at the picture and see if you can see anything that is out of the ordinary. For example, in the Sri Lanka SBQ I've given you, the sleeping tiger is not alarmed at all by the sound of the alarm clock. This is something out of the ordinary, as you would expect to be erm.. alarmed by the alarm clock. =) Next, look at the provenance. The provenance normally tells you a lot about the source, tells you stuff that you can use as EVIDENCE in your answer. In this case, the author is a third party from Thailand right? So is he involved in the conflict directly? What does this mean then? You go figure.
Next, go on to the general content of the picture. State what the picture shows (the duh part) and then say what it means. OR you can always say what something means first and then point to the part of the picture which is the evidence for it. Whichever way, you have successfully done inference for content.
Last, but the most important, PURPOSE. This is, of course, where the tagline that I hope you will remember for the rest of your SS studies comes in.
WHO SAYS WHAT TO WHO TO DO WHAT?
Now, obviously there will be small overlaps between the first "who" and "what", as well as what you have already answered about content above. It's fine. If there are overlaps, then skip those and move on to the second "who" and "to do what". So who's the audience? Look at the provenance again. Does it say anything? Is it the international community? Or is it a local publication meant only for locals? Recall the source I gave you about the Indian man being cornered up on a tree with sharks swimming below. It was published in the Hindustan Times, which probably means only the Indian Tamils will get access to it.
The minute you know the audience, you can then infer what the author wants the audience to do. There are some critical words that are usually used for this part: criticise, accuse, defend, praise, inform, persuade, etc...
And guess what? You're done for inference! Easy? =)
Now I'm actually not going to say much for comparing/contrasting, mainly because I actually think I've done enough by giving you the table format for you to fill in. The 5 common factors you see in the table are things that you HAVE to be able to know when you are comparing or contrasting. Look again at the first page of the comparing/contrasting notes I've given you, the one with the points you need to know for comparing/contrasting. At the bottom, the different variations of comparing/contrasting question forms are given, together with whether you need to answer only similarities, only differences or both. So don't ask me again!
In case you missed out what I've told your class previously, if for example, you look at the clock during your paper and you realise you have not enough time to finish your comparing/contrasting question, dive in straight to the last 2 common factors in your table: tone and purpose. You can leave the rest out if you are short of time.
Now, girls, please note: you WILL NOT get full marks for your answer if you only answer the tone and purpose because the other 3 factors are important as well for a full mark. I only asked you to zoom in straight to tone and purpose ONLY IF you have no time to finish the question. If you do have the time, pls answer ALL 5 common factors in order to score a higher mark. The tone and purpose carry about half the marks, that's why I rather you leave out the other 3 factors and concentrate on these 2 factors.
Phew. I think that's about all I can think of for SBQs. Any questions?
Comment away.......
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