A newspaper article on MBS students and teachers in Shandong

Thank you Osel's mum for sending me the article.
You can also read more about the learning journey to Shandong in http://mbsgoingplaces.blogspot.com/

号外：新加坡孩子作客省城一小学

至25日，来自新加坡菩提小学的１６名孩子已经在山师附小作客７天了，７天里他们走进济南家庭，与中国孩子同吃同住，一起上课、一起游戏，中国孩子的热情友善让新加坡老师和学生如沐春风，新加坡孩子处处表现出的有修养、良好的习惯，处世有度的自理能力让中国家长和老师反思。

25日上午，在山师附小五年级学生曲浩毅家中，两位小伙伴正在“切磋”乒乓球技术，新加坡孩子潘觉闻住在他家里。曲浩毅的爸爸告诉记者，潘觉闻处处表现出的修养让他赞叹。开饭前，潘觉闻会主动让大人先吃，即使有时食物不合口味，他为了不伤害别人的感受，也从来不主动提出来。

不随地吐痰、扔垃圾是每个新加坡孩子都能做到的，而他们遇事先为他人着想的风度也让人赞叹。新加坡孩子郭子意让附小老师印象深刻，当两个家庭因为郭子意的留宿发生分歧时，小小年纪的郭子意的处世风度让老师们赞叹不已。他说：“请给我半个小时的思考时间。”半个小时后，郭子意给出的答案并非是“我想如何”，他依次询问两个小伙伴：“如果我不去你家，你会不会不高兴？”同样留宿新加坡孩子的家长张女士说，这些孩子遇事会先考虑别人的感受，这引起了包括她在内的中国家长反思。

随团来济的新加坡苏老师说，在菩提小学，《公民道德课程》已被列为学校常规课程，学校非常重视组织学生开展社区服务，如去敬老院献爱心等，培养孩子的公民意识和处世能力。 迄今为止，山师附小已举办过四届与新加坡学校的修学旅行活动，山师附小苗禾鸣校长说，两国在教育理念上是相通的，两国孩子各有长处，与地域有关，也与社会大坏境有关，值得互相借鉴。（信息来源：齐鲁晚报）

http://www.jinan.gov.cn/art/2008/5/26/art_242_139100.html
http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/88607/88631/7297858.html

Glenn and Osel in Shandong

Dear Boys and Girls,
these photos were sent to me by Glenn's mum.
Thanks Mrs Lee!
Enjoy,
Miss Lee
P/S Don't you think Osel's buddy look like Wen Xuan? Hmm, maybe its just the hairstyle...

Glenn's Number

Hi all,
here's Glenn's number if you wish to drop him an sms. 98420782
This is just a temporary line and will be deactivated once he's back.
Cheers,
Miss Lee

Osel's Handphone Number

Dear boys and girls,
Osel is in Shandong now and I heard from his mum that he is missing home.

Here is his handphone number, 81625839. I'm sure he'll be delighted to receive an sms from you. Please be mindful that you would have to do an overseas connection and the smses would not be cheap, please seek permission from your parents and do not overdo it. (Sms will do, long distance calls would be expensive.) Do remember to leave your name!

Drop a comment here if you have sent Osel an sms :)
Cheers,
Miss Lee

On Holiday Homework...

Dear boys and girls,I know this homework is rather overwhelming for you. I will give you an option of doing 2 sets of exam papers only for the subject that you have scored 85 and above.Of course you can complete 4 sets per subject if you're motivated to do so! :)

I would like some of you to share (in comments) what homework you have completed to inspire your classmates that they are capable of finishing the homework too! I know so far both Terence and Fiona have completed their Science Project! Thanks for the prompt and great job! :)

Cheers,
Miss Lee

June Holiday Homework

Dear Little Darlings,
Please note your homework for the June Holidays.

1. 4 Sets of exam papers per subject (i.e. 4 English, 4 Maths, 4 Science)
You can do up to CA2 papers. Please mark them after doing. We'll select difficult questions to go through in class.

2. 8 pieces of model compositions
(extra 4 pieces of model compo for Terrence, Reefver, Zhi Han, Yu Liang, Ee Jet, Fu Man, 3 for Jian Heng)
Please copy 8 model compositions. Note the vocabulary and language used. At the same time, practice your penmanship. :)

3. Read aloud 8 Oral passages
Please read aloud!

4. Practice 4 Picture conversation
Remember what I've told you in class. Refer to the handout on Oral that I've given you.

5. Complete homework on Moodle

6. Read at least 2 story books!

It may seem like a lot of homework. But if you break them down into smaller portions, they'll be easily 'digested'!

Computer Language And Codings

Hi all! Decided to share some computer information!

Do you sometimes not understand how to read other people's short forms during chat??? Now, you can know some computer languages! However, be very careful that these languages can only be used on the net, and not in your daily life!

BBL : Be Back Later
BRB : Be Right Back
LOL : Laugh Out Loud
DGT : Digit
A/S/L: Age/Gender/Location?
OT : Off Topic
WB : Welcome Back
ROFL : Rolling On Floor Laughing


Okay..... Now, for codes! Sometimes in Blogger, we would want to post some pictures/photo. We can choose to use
-Code
OR
-The buttons

Now, I am going to teach you how to use codes to post pictures!
1. Find your picture(s)
2. Right click on the picture and click "Properties" on the list.
3. You will get a little screen which gives you the URL of the picture.
4. Do you see a tab which says "Edit Html" when you post on the top right hand corner of the post box??? Click on that. (If you cannot find it, scroll down and see the screen shot.)
5. Paste this code: into the position where you want it to be in the post.
6. Change the "IMAGE URL" into the code which you copied just now.


And..... YOU ARE DONE!!!

Here are the screen shots in case you could not find the buttons......


For step 2......



For step 4..........





~Jolene

My trip to Forest Adventure

Remember the principal mentioned about the adventure camp in Bedok Reservoir ? Well , I have been there before and I'm going to tell you all the experience.It was CERTAINLY fun not as interesting as the school camp.

The activities were quite simple and short too . The first time I went there was the time I went all panicky as I was actually about 3 metres above the ground . You will have to wear the harness and helmet , like the school camp .

The activity I like most there was the Flying Fox .The Flying Fox was not such a far distance like the one in the school camp but you will " fly " from the tree top all the way to the ground .That is for the children scheme.As for the adult's flying fox activity , which you have to be at least 3.4 metres tall in order to play it , you will " fly " across the reservoir .It seem quite scary as many people were screaming their heads off .

Some other activities are the broken bridge and the zig-zag walk. The broken Bridge was qiute tough and my heart was palpiting as though I was running a marathon ! But the zig - zag walk was simple . Although it is a little shaky , I pratically ran across it . I had a whale of a time !

There are altogether 9 activities you have to complete . If you are interested , you can go to their website . The prices and information will be all written there . Hope you enjoyed this article !
www.forestadventure.com.sg

Fiona

Moodle Login

Dear class,
You can post a comment here if you have any log in problems for moodle or have forgotten your password.
I will reset the password to 123456.
With regards,
Miss Lee

Dear class (especially to Osel),
Please do not post personal messages as a posting on the blog.
I think it is not very appropriate as the post can be read by all. You should also be mindful of your language when you are posting here for everyone to read. You should direct personal messages to my email. :)
With regards,
Miss Lee

ms lee,
i forgot my moodle password. could you email it to me?
osel

Sharks

Dear all,
I found this piece of paper on the ground but I cannot find its owner. A big thank you to the owner for giving me the chance to share this with you.
It is an interesting article on sharks, here it is.

Sharks have been around for about 400 million years. Even before dinosaurs roamed the earth, sharks hunted in the oceans. They are such good survivors that they have had little need to evolve in the last 150 million years. These ancient predators fascinate adults and children alike.

Sharks have the most powerful jaw on the planet. Unlike most animals' jaws, both the sharks' upper and lower jaws move. A shark bites with its lower jaw first and then its upper. It tosses its head back and forth to tear loose a piece of meat which it swallows whole. Sharks never run out of teeth. If one is lost, another spins forward from its row of backup teeth. A shark may grow 20,000 teeth in its lifetime!

Almost all sharks are carnivores or meat eaters. They live on a diet of fish and sea mammals (like dolphins and seals) and even prey on turtles and seagulls. Sharks even eat other sharks. For example, a tiger shark might eat a bull shark, a bull shark might eat a blacktip shark and a blacktip shark might eat a dogfish shark.

Tiger shark

Bull shark

Blacktip shark


Not all sharks are fierce carnivores. Some are quite harmless. Oddly enough, the most harmless sharks tend to be the largest. The basking shark, the whale shark and the mega-mouth sharks all fit this description. These huge sharks eat plankton, a tiny shrimp-like creature found in the ocean.

Whale shark

The most dangerous sharks are the Great White shark, the Tiger shark, the Hammerhead shark, the Mako shark and the Bull shark. On average, there are only about 100 shark attacks each year and only 10 of these result in a human death.

Great white shark

Hammerhead shark

One of the reasons that sharks are such successful predators is that they have very sharp senses. Two thirds of a sharks' brain is dedicated to its keenest sense - smell.

Wow.. sounds interesting. Hopefully, I'll get to see a shark on my diving trips in the future!

Read about exciting dive trips with sharks!

http://www.sharkdivermag.com/tripreport-tigershark1-07.html

http://www.sharkdivermag.com/tripreport-tigershark2-07.html

Please post any questions or knowledge you have of sharks as comments. Thank you!

English Revision Paper

Dear boys and girls,
the teachers have noticed that the questions in your revision paper do not match the answers in our answer key so I have posted the correct questions here. You may want to change the questions in your paper.
Please do these questions instead.
Thanks.


SECTION H: COMPREHENSION ( 10 x 2 marks )
Read the passage below and answer questions 71 to 80.


Wen Bo has been a nature lover since he was a child. When he grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, nature was still part of Dalian, China, even for an urban kid like him. There were trees as tall as a five-storey building along the streets. The seasons change distinctly in Dalian, and his “toys” were mostly from nature like fallen leaves and bugs.

“I used to be able to see white clouds and blue sky above me, and there were always starry, starry nights to capture our imaginations,” he said.

That was how he spent his childhood, which was very healthy and related to nature, unlike today’s urban kids, who are obsessed with Internet games and the TV.
With hardly any chance to frolic among the trees and flowers and appreciate nature, today’s kids are less privileged.

Wen Bo continued, “As I grew older, I began to witness the rapid process of urbanisation, which changed much of the natural surroundings of my childhood. Many trees were felled to expand the road network. Wilderness areas where we used to catch butterflies, dragonflies, tadpoles and fish were cleared to build houses. Thus, my childhood memories have lost their ‘setting’.”

Being an urban child, Wen Bo had received a good education. He was an idealist. When he became a teenager, he started to think about the career he wanted to pursue. He was not contented to have a nine-to-five deskbound job. He wanted to do something different – something that his peers would not dare dream of doing. As China was just starting to open up to the world, he began to develop a huge curiosity about places and people outside the country. He also began to learn about non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that worked to save the environment, and came to realise that the best contribution one could make was to save one’s immediate environment.

“In high school, I started to organise environmental clubs and activities. This passion grew throughout my university years. At the end of 1995, by uniting a number of student groups in Beijing, we created the China Green Student Forum. This organisation became fairly well-known and this was how Pacific Environment learnt about us and introduced us to Chet Tchozewski, the Executive Director of the Global Greengrants Fund, in 1996. In 1998, I travelled to America for six months under an environmental programme of the National Committee on US-China Relations. There I established connections with the Global Greengrants Fund, and have been working for this NGO since 1999,” Wen Bo added.

Wen Bo has since been very active in his environmental work and was recently named by Time Asia as one of the key environmentalists in China.





For each question from 71 to 80, write your answer in the space provided.

ALL ANSWERS MUST BE BASED ON THE PASSAGE AND IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.

71. Explain clearly what the author means by “nature was still part of Dalian” (Paragraph 1)
____________________________________________________________________

72. How are Wen Bo’s ‘toys’ different from the toys of today’s urban kids?
____________________________________________________________________


73. What does the word “obsessed” in paragraph 3 tell us about what the writer thinks of the childhood of today’s kids?
____________________________________________________________________

74. What were the two changes to Wen Bo’s childhood surroundings due to urbanisation?
____________________________________________________________________


75. In the sentence “He wanted to do something different,” what do you think Wen Bo wanted to do?
____________________________________________________________________

76. Which phrase in the 5th paragraph tells you that Wen Bo was very interested in knowing more about what was happening in other countries?
____________________________________________________________________


77. How was the China Green Student Forum formed?
____________________________________________________________________


78. How did the visit to America in 1998 help Wen Bo in his environmental work?
____________________________________________________________________


79. In what way was Wen Bo’s efforts in environmental work recognised?
____________________________________________________________________


80. Why do you think it is not surprising that Wen Bo becomes an environmentalist?
____________________________________________________________________



======= END OF BOOKLET B ======
Please remember to check your work thoroughly.

Exams!!

Dear little darlings!
Exams are nearing the corner. I know you have a lot of work to do.
Like what Osel said in class, just bear with it for the next week!
Its only a week and you can relax after your exams.

I know you all can do well for your exams.
Put in effort and do your best.
When you receive good results, you will know that your hard work is all worth it!
Remember we said this last term......
We will celebrate your achievement after SA1!

Persevere!
Good Luck,
Miss Lee

Anti-Drug Ambassador

Dear Children,
Good news!
You can complete the Anti-Drug Ambassador activities after exams.
Please
1. complete the activities by 11/5/08 (Sunday)
2. check your answers by 13/5/08 (Tuesday)
3. submit the booklet to me by 14/5/08 (Wednesday)
Thank you.
Best Wishes,
Miss Lee