Term Reflection - ESOL

 Hello guys, for today's lesson in ESOL, we're told to write about the things that happened this term. This term went by so quickly. Though it felt so fast, there were a lot of things that I enjoyed. One of the main ones was learning the activities that we have done in English. It has taught me how to construct sentences and write stories properly. I also think that my grammar has improved a lot which also surprised me. The other subject that I enjoyed was Maths. Yes, I found it very challenging. But at the same time, I was learning a lot. The way things were explained in Maths was easy which made the work easier as well. Last but not least subject that I enjoyed is Wananga. Wananga is our form class. We learn how to build a relationship with each other. It is also a given time for us to finish off work and to also gain early credits to help us for next year. 

Live Aid - Social Studies

 For our last lesson in Social Studies for term 1, we learned about a concert called Live Aid. This concert was supported by people from around the world. People supported this because the money that is being raised will go to Ethiopia, a country in Africa. Ever since this concert happened and till now, a lot has improved in Ethiopia. Through this concert, people got the chance to eat 3 meals a day instead of just one. It helped the whole country even to this day. 

My Map:   https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1dxbPkufnYwg7FF9BRebzx3vOzC4rd6L0&usp=sharing 

For today's activity, we had to choose a song that was performed in the concert and why we chose that song. Here is the song that I chose and the explanation on why I chose it:

This is the song that I chose and the reason being is that I just like the song itself. It was sung beautifully and the audience also liked it. The song was engaging as well. This was also my favorite song that was performed in the concert.

Why do you think that musicians and music are significant to this day?

In my opinion, musicians and music are significant to this day because of the changes that they make to our community. Genres of music change as generations pass and the fashions and styles change with it. The live aid concert is a very good example. They raised a lot of money to support a country that is lacking food. They made a very big impact on the people who couldn't support themselves. 

Can one person start the same concert?

In my opinion, yes someone can. At this point in time, nothing is impossible. Everyone is aware of what has been happening around the world and is willing to help make a change. If they know that the concert is designed to help people, that would attract more people. Even though there's a pandemic going around, the concert may happen online. It can also happen in the next few years once everything comes back to normal. So my answer is yes. 

Is this a form of protest?

No, I don't think that Live Aid was a form of protest. Nothing harmful happened to anyone during the concert that was done purposely. Everyone came along for the same reason and supported it till the end. The reason why they also had the concert was to help people in need. They are helping people out and in return, they get the support that they need to be able to. 

Writing Assessment - English

 In a place where everything seems just right lived a young lady known as Marga. Her face, her hair, everything about her was perfect. Everyone around Marga found her beautiful and even went as far as calling her "The Goddes." She had everything any girl would've ever wanted. But that wasn't the case for her. Not all people knew how she was feeling. No one ever dared to talk to her because they were "pathetic" and "out of her league." For that, no one ever asked her how she was candidly feeling if she was doing fine. She was not ok she never was.

Few years have passed, she is now a grown adult. Everything about her stayed the same except for how she was feeling. She felt much better compared to the past few years. She was always cheerful. She always spends quality time with her family and her friends. She was happy. But those delightful days didn't last long for her. She has just gotten the news that one of her closest friends has sadly passed away caused by a car accident. She has once felt the emotions that she has long forgotten. Even though she had other friends, this one friend of hers had a special place in her heart. She has just soon found out that she had feelings for him. All these years, they have been there for each other and never left each other's side. She starts to regret the fact that she has to know how she was feeling way too late. The person who she loved and adored is now gone. 

At his funeral, she looked like she was the most affected one. No, she wasn't saying anything. But in her mind, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. She just kept crying and crying about why he has to leave so soon. She didn't even get the chance to know what he was also feeling towards her. If he also loved her. She thought to herself that she has to keep fighting, even without him by her side. All she can carry with her are the happy memories that they made together. 

After a few months, she is now living as happily as she can ever be. Everything around is bright and vibrant. The feeling of losing her friend was still there. But everything gets better as days pass. One day while shopping in a mall, she saw a man standing by an emergency exit door. She could only see the silhouette since the back was so bright. When the light started to fade, the man began to look like her friend that passed away. Tears began to recede from her face like a waterfall, reminiscing all the beautiful memories they had together. She walked to the man excitedly and hurriedly. As she gets closer and closer to the man, she has assured herself that it was the love of her life. Marga hugged him tightly as if there was no tomorrow. They both became emotional and shed tears of happiness. The scent that he gave out made her want to hug him even tighter. 

He told her that it was time to go. As those words flow out of his mouth, everything stopped. That was the time where she had just realized that everything was just a dream. She heard voices calling out her name rather loudly. The man offered his hand to her. She placed hers on top of his with trust. Once they held hands, everything turned dark and silent. 

She opened her eyes to witness people at a funeral. She was all alone and confused. Overwhelmed by what had just happened, she started walking closer. Getting a close look at the person in the picture, she saw her young self. The smile that she had on the photo touched the sides of her ears. She looked happy. The confusion started to fill her emotions. She went ahead to question the people around her, but no one answered. Being ignored by every person she asked, the confusion grew bigger and bigger. Then, she stopped and recalled everything that has happened. That was when one thing made so much sense. 

This whole journey she had was just her trip to the afterlife. It turns out that while she was still in high school, she decided to end everything. She committed suicide by running on a busy road and getting hit by cars repeatedly. The friend or lover she had was her guardian angel, guiding her to the afterlife safely. She had trouble letting go of everything. She had the chance to go to her funeral, hear everyone who mourned for her death. Even though it was overwhelming, the time has come. The time has come for her to leave.

Making Salts ll - Science

 Aim: To produce copper sulfate salt by reacting copper oxide with an acid.

Equipment: Copper oxide powder, dilute, sulfuric acid, 50 mL measuring cylander, two 100 mL beakers, Bunsen burner, tripod, gauze mat, funnel, filter paper, thermometer, spatula, evaporating basin, stirring rod.

Method:

1. Add 20 mL of sulfuric acid to a 100 mL beaker. Heat the acid until it reaches 70°C. Turn off your bunsen burner (in our case the hot plate). 
2. Once heated, use a spatula to add pea-sized portions of copper oxide to the beaker. Stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat step 2 until no more will dissolve. Allow the beaker to cool. 
4. Fold the filter paper and place it in the funnel. Place the filter funnel into the second beaker.
5. Make sure the beaker is cold enough to hold at the top. The contents should still be hot. You may need your teacher to complete this step. 
6. Gently swirl the contents of the beaker to mix, and then pour into the filter paper in the funnel. Allow to filter through. 
7. Rinse the beaker you used to heat the mixture previously, and place it back on top of your tripod filled with 50-60mL of water.
8. Place the evaporating basin on top of the beaker and carefully pour some of the solution from the beaker into the evaporating basin. 
9. Gently heat the beaker until the solution in the evaporating basin has reduced by half. 
10. Leave the evaporating basin to cool. Once cool, move the evaporating basin to a warm place where it will not be disturbed (i.e. a window-sill) and observe over the next few days. Blue copper sulfate crystals should form. 

Observation: As the mixture was put onto the hot plate, we have witnessed a change of colours. It started off as being translucent to being blue. You could also see substance at the bottom of the beaker starting to form.

The name of the reaction occurring in Step 2 is Neutralising.

Perspective - The Beatles

A connected activity regarding our current topic which is The Beatles, we have to write the two different perspectives of The Beatles. The positive and negative outcome of their legacy and fame; how it affected the people around them. Let us start off with the positives. They have set a lot of different trends of music and style for so many years. They have had a huge impact on the music that they created, the music history, and the people who admired them. Because of their influence, people were willing to try new and unusual things. 

On the negative side of things, a lot of people disliked them as well as the music they wrote. Others may explain their music as anti-religious and even leading the young ones into committing sins. Another good example of them on the negative perspective is when they visited New Zealand. They disrespected the Maori culture badly and did not think twice about their actions. 

Philippines Independence Day - ESOL

 For today’s lesson in ESOL, we have decided to write about a significant cultural event that happens to our country. As you all may know, I’m from the Philippines and I’m going to be choosing one from a lot of different cultural events that happen in my culture. The one that I have chosen to write about is the Philippines Independence Day. Philippines Independence Day is an annual national holiday in the Philippines. Celebrated every 12th of June. It commemorates the independence of the Filipino people from the Spain Colonies. 

When it's independence day in the Philippines, people usually don't have work or school because again, it’s a public holiday. Instead, parades happen throughout the country. They walk on the streets of the Philippines, showcasing the beautiful cultural clothing. Those are called Filipiniana and Barong Tagalog. People would usually watch them pretty closely and cheer them on. 

Philippines Independence day is not only celebrated in the Philippines itself. Other countries like America and also here in New Zealand, mainly celebrated by the Filipinos since it’s their culture. I would now like to talk about the Independence day (week) that I celebrated here in New Zealand together with my friends here at school. Instead of just celebrating it on the day, we have decided to celebrate it for the whole week.

The first thing that we did on the first day is to introduce our language to our classmates. We teach them the basic Tagalog greetings. For the second day, we went out on the basketball courts to play some Filipino games that we have been playing since we were a child. The third day was the actual date of the independence day. That was when we performed the folk dances that we practised for weeks, we performed it in the auditorium. The one that I performed was called Carinyosa, a dance that you have to do with a partner. For the fourth day, me and my friends went back to the auditorium to watch the other performances that didn’t get the chance to perform the day before. Finally, the last day of the independence week happened at the auditorium again. The only difference was that instead of performing it in front of the people from our school, we performed it in front of our families. Same performances were performed except other modern performances were also performed. 

Thank you for reading!

All Summer in a Day - English

 For today's lesson in English, our class read a short story called 'All Summer in a Day'. After reading the story, we had to answer questions and give example of the things it's asking for.

Here are the questions or follow up tasks:

1. Find 3 words you don't know the meaning of, look them up and write the definitions

Dimly - With a faint light; Not brightly 

Seized - Take a hold of something or someone suddenly and forcibly 

Tumultuous - Making a deafening, loud, confused mnemonic sound.

2. Discuss the Exposition of the Story -- what are the characters, setting and mood?

Character - If you read the story, the main character or who the story is mainly focused on is a girl name Margot. She lives in another planet called Venus, together with her family and a lot of other families. She ha only been living there for five years and in those years, she has not once seen the sun.

Setting & Mood - The setting was in a planet called Venus as said in the story. A planet where it rains nonstop and where the sun is only seen every 7 years. The mood is when it always rains as stated earlier, it gives out depressing and dull feeling towards us readers. But when the sun finally showed itself, the faces of the children brightened up and happiness can be seen in their eyes.  

3. List and label one metaphor, one simile, and one example of sensory language from the story.

Metaphor - "It’s like a fire," she said, "in the stove." - comparing the sun to fire. 

Simile - "A boom of thunder startled them and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled upon each other and ran. Lightning struck ten miles away, five miles away, a mile away, a half-mile. 

Sensory Language - "A few cold drops fell on their noses and their cheeks and their mouths. The sun faded behind a stir of mist. A wind blew cold around them. They turned and started to walk back toward the underground house,

their hands at their sides, their smiles vanishing away."

4. List and label an example of "Show not Tell" from the story.

"And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn’t touch her head."