Breaking A Vase At Home

One rainy afternoon, Sammy and I felt bored at home. We could not play outside the house because it was raining outside. We went to our bedroom and found a ball under Sammy’s bed. We quickly got it out from under the bed. Then we decided to play ‘Catch the ball’. While playing, I threw the ball too high. It knocked down a beautiful vase that was sitting on a bookshelf. It fell and shattered into smithereens on the ground. Our mother heard the loud crash and came rushing into the room. When she saw the broken vase on the floor, she stared at us furiously with her big round eyes like saucers. She scolded her children sternly. We apologised to her and promised not to play ball inside the house again. Our mother forgave us for breaking her favourite vase and we gave a big sigh of relief. (By Jaymee Waters, BU2)

Comparison of Adjectives

 Revision on Comparative and Superlative forms of adjectives.

Video on Comparison of Adjectives

A Bad Dream

 

Class Story (BU2)

Unit 2: A Bad Dream / A Nightmare

 

        One night, I was alone at home because my parents went out to celebrate their wedding anniversary. I was watching a horror movie before I went to sleep.

        Suddenly, I heard something stomping into my room. It was a huge monster that looked like a lion with long hairs on fire. It had a spiky body and laser sharp teeth. Its eyes were round like saucers and were staring at me. It looked like it was going to gobble me up with its long pointed sharp claws.

        I was instantly frightened to death. I perspired profusely and my back was soaking wet. I screamed at the top of my lungs for Dad.

        I heard someone calling my name, “Alice, Alice, wake up!” I opened my eyes and saw Dad sitting by my bedside. “It’s just a nightmare!” Dad said in a soothing voice.

        From that day onwards, I told myself not to watch horror movies before I go to sleep.

 

A Nightmare (Written by Hailey Yap, BU2)

One silent night, when I was about to go to bed, my father told me that I could watch a horror movie with him before sleep if I wanted. After watching the movie, I went to bed.

Suddenly, an ugly creature with face half-bitten and looking bloody all over his body appeared before me. He was a zombie and he wanted to bite and infect me. He had already infected all my friends as I saw them moving like that zombie. Instantly, all of the zombies limped towards me and wanted to bite me. Quickly, I pressed the alarm button near the door. The zombies could not stand the loud ringing noise.

I wanted to call my parents but they were zombies too! I could not call anyone because they were all infected. I was numbed with fear, too scared to death. My back was all wet with perspiration and I felt sticky. I was too petrified to pluck up my feet to run.

Then I heard someone saying, “Wake up, Andrew!” Instantly, I woke up from my dream. It’s just a nightmare!”

From that day onwards, I dare not watch horror movies again before sleep.

A Nightmare (Written by Mabel Chatterjee, BU2)

One dark night, the clock struck ten. I combed my hair and went to bed. I cuddled my teddy bear and snuggled into bed with her.

Just then, I heard a scary voice screeching, “Ha, ha, ha!” I was scared, really scared. I was also curious to find out what that creature looked like, so I took a fake sword and went downstairs to see what it was.

To my shock and surprise, I saw a fire-lion. It was indeed enormous. I stammered, “Wh…What a..are…you doing here?”

The fire-lion replied, “I’m here to destroy the world! If you think you can put me out with water, think twice. I’m indestructible!” Just then, a creature that looked like a dragon entered my living room and said, “Master Lion, I have completed inventing the device to destroy the world.”

The fire-lion roared as he counted, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!” and everything vanished instantly.

Finally, I opened my eyes. I was soaking wet in my pyjamas.  “Did you have an extra bath?” asked Dad curiously. I went downstairs and saw some fur on the floor of the living room. I told myself, “Did I actually encounter a fire-lion or was it just a piece of my imagination?” I scratched my head and my father looked puzzled too.

Alone At Home One Night (written by John Tan)

One night, my father was out shopping and my mother was overseas. I was up reading until the clock struck ten. I brushed my teeth and went to bed.

Out of the blue, I heard a whispery voice, “Ha, ha, ha!” I stared at the door in disbelief. I lay on my bed petrified as the thought of monsters invaded my mind.

Finally, curiosity got the better of me, so I grabbed my badminton racket and crept towards the door. I mustered all my courage and opened the door. To my surprise, I saw a jolly-looking creature. It was shaped like a melting ball of ice cream with two horns on its head and two hands with four fingers. It had two big eyes and a mouth which up one-third of its face. Surprisingly, it had no legs but left some slime on the floor. “Hello, my name is Gloop. What is yours?” the creature asked in perfect English.

I stammered, “My …my name is … is John.”

Suddenly, everything disappeared. The sun was shining through the window. I was still in bed. I looked at the place Gloop had been. It had traces of slime! I wondered if my encounter with Gloop was real or just a figment of my imagination.

Writing a Recount

 Recounts

If you want to tell someone about things that happened to you, you can write a RECOUNT. To recount, means to retell. When you write a recount, you tell about events in the order they happened. You also have to tell: who is in your recount; when it happened; where it happened and why it happened.

Types

Personal recount, factual recount, imaginative recount

The Recount Skeleton

Title

Orientation (Setting)

Who? What? When? Where? How? Why?

Event One

Event Two

Event Three

 Event Four

   Ending

(Personal comment or evaluation)

Language Features

1 . Includes specific participants (My Family)

2.       Use of simple past tense

3.       Use of action verbs

4.       Use of linking verbs to do with time e.g. on Tuesday, when, then, after that

5.       Use of first personal pronouns

6.       Details selected to add interest

7.       Personal responses to events may be included except in factual recounts

Sample Text Recount:

If you look closely at Ted's recount, you can see it has a skeleton.

First Dav Back At School

Yesterday, I woke up really early. It was the first day

      back at school after a two-week holiday. I moaned a bit before I got out of bed. My sister, Beth, also groaned a bit but I think we were both glad about it because we missed our friends. I suppose I missed Miss Dixon a bit too.

First I had my shower and then I made my bed. Mum was unable to make my bed that day because she was very busy with my noisy little sister. When I went into the kitchen for my breakfast, my little sister gave me a huge smile.

The bus came at 8.30 a.m. and I found out that Jonathan, my best friend at school, had left and gone to another school. He did not even give me a call to tell me. At recess, I walked around the playground picking up papers. The duty teacher, Mr Brown, gave me some special points for my house for picking litter. That made me feel a bit better. Then Ryan asked me to join in his football game. The rest of the schoolday went quite fast and it was soon time to go home.

After I had watched my favourite television programme, 'Totally Wild', I went to Grandpa's house. He knows heaps

      about gardens and he tells me stories about when he was in the war. His stories are better than anything on television. We pulled up a few weeds and then he made me a chocolate milkshake, just like Grandma used to do before she died. I still miss her,             

I guess my first day back at school was an enjoyable one. Mum was in a much better mood. I made a new friend who has got a better football than Jonathan and I had a good time with Grandpa.

 

The Writing Process

   The  Writing Process:

Most of us go through the various stages of the process when we write. Read the various stages of writing:

 Stage 1: Prewriting or Forming Intentions

This is the 'warm up' time before you begin to do anything organised on paper. It might involve:

jotting down words on possible topics; reading; talking to a friend; remembering; going for a walk; doodling; daydreaming; writing fragments of sentences; looking at photographs; researching.

Stage 2: Composing and Drafting

This is where the hard thought-work begins! Sentence fragments start to come together and ideas that have been half-formed in your head start to take on shape. You will probably do lots of crossing out and reworking at this stage. There are three main things that will help you to compose the first draft of your writing well and these are:

   knowing the genre you are meant to be writing in;  knowing who the audience of your writing is likely to be;  being told exactly what your teacher requires.

Stage 3: Revising and Correcting

Revising your first draft is a way of 'seeing it again' . . re-vision.

Revising is not rewriting your work more neatly, It is:

   listening to the sound of the writing;  juggling the meaning until it is just right;       trying it out on someone else and asking them specific questions;      leaving it and coming back an hour later to read it over again.

       During this stage, you are working on the meaning or 'deep features' of your writing

Stage 4: Editing and Proofreading

This is the stage closest to publications; the stage before your finished product is given to an 'audience' — perhaps your teacher, your writing group or the rest of the class. It is important at this stage to examine the 'surface features' of your writing. This means making alterations to the spelling, punctuation and usage. Making sure that the language conventions of your piece are correct means that your intentions as a writer are communicated clearly.

Stage 5: Publishing

Publishing is a vital part of the writing process. There are many ways in which you can publish your work:

giving the finished product to a friend to read; recording it on a cassette tape; putting it in the school magazine; entering it in a competition; handing it in to your teacher; pinning it on the classroom wall;   reading it aloud to the class.

Writing in Paragraphs

 

Paragraphing

   A paragraph begins with a two-finger spacing.

     It is made up of one or more sentences:

In a story, a paragraph usually contains an idea or two.

   The paragraphs that follow will show how the ideas are developed so that the readers can follow the development in the plot and appreciate the story.

A good writer should possess the ability to arrange ideas and link them well through paragraphing.

Organisation

In order to have good organisation, your story must have:

            Sequence

> Introduction - Who? Where? When? What?

          > Body             — Events

Example: What happened and how did you feel?

> Conclusion — Ending

   Example: How was the problem solved?

                   Was it a happy or sad ending?

            

Paragraphing (read above)

Ideas and facts must be linked together.

Activity 1

Read the following story.

The Titanic

The Titanic was the biggest ship ever built. She was capable of carrying two thousand and two hundred passengers and was considered unsinkable.

On 10 April 1912, the Titanic set out on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York. The mood on the ship was merry. Everyone was enjoying the luxurious accommodations and services offered on the finest ship.

On 14 April, the Titanic struck an iceberg. The iceberg ripped a huge hole in the ship's side. This fine ship, the largest in the world, did not have enough lifeboats, and over one thousand lives were lost. Another ship nearby answered Titanic's call for help and saved seven hundred and five people.

Number the sentences below in order to show when things happened.

One sentence will not be used.

Order	Description
	Many lives were lost because there were not enough lifeboats
	In April 1912, the largest passenger ship set out on its first voyage
	It took several days to reach its destination, New York.
	Some passengers were saved.
	The ship was filled with passengers having a good time.
	After four days of travelling, the Titanic hit an iceberg and this ripped a hole in the side of the ship.
	The Titanic's journey came to an unintentional and unfortunate end.

Activity 2

Read the following story. Draw two lines where you think the beginning of a new paragraph should be. The first one has been done for you.

The Paper Doll Weddinq

/ / Meng was only twenty years old when he died of an illness. At about the same

time, in the next village, a young tady by the name of Ling had also died of an illness.

Three years later, Meng's parents dreamt that their son wanted to marry a woman

called Ling, They thought that the dream was silly and they did not tell anyone about

it(/A week later, a couple visited them. They introduced themselves as the parents of

a dead lady called Ling. They also said that their dead daughter had appeared to

them in a dream and told them that she wanted them to arrange her marriage/An

auspicious day was chosen and the "wedding ceremony" took place. Relatives and

friends were invited to witness the ceremony. It was like any other traditional

wedding ceremony. There was loud music and firecrackers were lit. Prayers were

also offered to the gods. The only difference was that two man-size paper dolls were

used to stand in for the bride and groom After the ceremony, the paper dolls and the

paper gifts were burnt. The guests had witnessed the first and last paper doll

wedding ceremony conducted in their village

Synonyms

 

WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!

As we write, we need to be always on the lookout for the best possible words to get our message across.

^s S.T-R-E-T-C-H their word knowledge constantly. They are forever reaching for new and different words and phrases that help make their writing come alive.

Writers search for SYNONYMS as one way of adding zest to their work.

A SYNONYM is a word which has the SAME MEANING or ALMOST the same meaning as another.

For example, there are several words which have the same meaning or almost the same meaning as the word 'blazing'.

Blazing             burning — scorching — blistering — ablaze — fiery

Synonyms are fun to find. Use a thesaurus or dictionary to find a few synonyms for the underlined words.

She moved to the entrance of the cave.

"Do not run along the corridor, Peter," said Miss Lee

Understanding how language works helps to strengthen your word power.

When you write, many of the words used are Nouns.

Nouns are the words used to NAME SOMETHING, for example, computer, rain, heat, money. The names of such everyday things are called Common Nouns.

Names of streets, countries, people, places and special days are called Proper Nouns. These words ALWAYS begin with a CAPITAL LETTER.

The word HOUSE is a common noun. Furthermore, it is a very ordinary common noun! If you were writing a story about the place where someone lived, what other nouns might you choose to give your audience a clearer picture?

Jot down a few nouns that name different kinds of houses.

Adjectives tell about, or describe Nouns.

For example,

FALSE information	RECKLESS driver
CHEWY steak	PETRIFIED kitten

I am happy - why not change 'happy' to DELIGHTED! THRILLED! OVERJOYED!

When we write, we use Adjectives to 'paint pictures' in the minds of the audience.

Can you think of a few Adjectives that could replace the underlined word that has been used all the time?

"This pizza is nice," the boy said.

You may use the following synonyms while writing your composition

Word	Synonyms
abandon	leave	desert	forsake
abominable	hateful	horrible
abuse	misuse
abundant	ample	full	plentiful
accompany	escort	follow	go with
accomplish	achieve
accumulate	collect	gather
accurate	correct	exact	precise
abduct	kidnap
accuse	blame
acquire	gain	get	obtain
adequate	enough	sufficient
eventually	finally
exhausted	tired
ban	forbid	prohibit
battle	fight
beautify	decorate
beg	implore
begin	commence	start
bold	brave	courageous	valiant
buy	purchase
careful	cautious
cease	stop
comprehend	understand
conceal	hide
conclude	end
desperate	frantic
eager	keen
enormous	huge
envious	jealous
essential	important
hurriedly	hastily
important	vital
feeble	weak
ferocious	fierce
forgive	pardon

Word	Synonyms
gather	assemble	collect
glance	took
gradually	slowly
halt	stop
help	assist
hinder	obstruct
home	residence
humorous	funny
rapid	quick
ready	alert
reckless	careless	rash
recollect	remember
reluctant	unwilling
remedy	cure
indicate	show
infuriated	angry
intention	purpose
invaluable	priceless
invasion	attack
join	unite
laziness	idleness
peculiar	odd
persuade	coax
conclude	end
possess	own
praise	compliment
prominent	outstanding
prompt	quick
vigilant	alert
weak	feeble
robust	strong
vacant	empty