Learning Log 7

Hello everyone, this 7th post marks the end of the year end Romeo and Juliet performance. It was a truly enjoyable and fun experience. Even though it was tiring to plan on how to make the props and prepare the dance steps and costumes, the process was overall fruitful.

Our group had many meet-ups during the holidays, weekends and sometimes after school. Sometimes, it was very difficult for me to attend the meetings as I had other appointments at the same time, such as piano lessons, planned outings or doctor appointments. However, as the Romeo and Juliet play plays an important part in our year end literature results, I had to squeeze out some time from my packed schedule to fit the timings of the liertature meetings.

On the day of the Romeo and Juliet actual performance (On Friday), I was very nervous. As my parents did not allow my classmates to come into my house, I did not have the chance to practice the play with the music. I could only pratice the piano music on my own. Hence, I had to listen intently to my group members speaking, and look out for which roles are acting on that moment, and play the suited music for the scene. My hands were sweating during the performance because it was the first time I was playing the piano in front such a big group of people, and truthfully, I was rather unprepared.

Overall, the music was still okay as I tried my best to stay calm throughtout the performance. I think the music was rather soft because I had to step the middle pedal, otherwise the music would be too loud to hear what my group members were talking. Our group remembered their lines well, except for minor mistakes like my group's Juliet forgot her lines. However, we just continued on with the act to cover up our mistakes.

In conclusion, I learnt a lot from this Romeo and Juliet performance. I have learnt about co-operating with your teamwmates (teamwork) and commiment. The time and effort put into making this play a success was due to everyone's commitment. Time-management also plays an important part in this performance.

Learning Log 6

The previous literature lesson was about literary devices. I've learnt some of the literary devices before in Secondary 1, so I was able to understand what Mrs Woo was teaching about. Some examples of literary devices are simile and personification. Examples of diction and sentence structure are connotation, oxymoron, hyperbole, paradox, simple sentence, complex question, incomplete question, exclamation, rhetorical question and repetition. Based on some of the exercises in the worksheets which we were required to do, I found it rather difficult to give comments for the literary devices. We have to give evidence and elaboration along with the literary device.

Mrs Woo taught us to read the passage a few times slowly and carefully and pick out those important points and highlight it, for instance, the literary devices and evidence. Some example of the exercises on page 11 of the notes, "... but even though I study very hard, cannot remember or concentrate." It is an incomplete sentence because the writer did not write it in a complete sentence and it was not proper English. The writer used this literary device to highlight her agony to the readers, to show that she was upset and affected and wrote in this manner. Another example of literary device is "blank, blank, blank!!! pass pass pass!!!" Repetition is used here to emphasize that the writer is desperate to pass her exams so that she can please her parents.

In conclusion, I found the lesson very interesting as we all got to learn something new. To me, I feel that literary devices are important because we all use them in our daily conversations but fail to realize and comprehend it. Like the reason why we use repetition is to exaggerate and emphasize that we are desperate for something or want something badly. I hope Literature classes in future will be interesting as well.

Learning Log 5

I have learnt about unseen poems and how to answer questions during an exam when I am given an unseen poem. What is an unseen poem? It is a poem or prose passage that I might not have read before. Firstly, I must read through the poem at least twice. I will read the poem without stopping for the first time, but for the second time I must slow down and pick up words and phrases from the poem. Other than these, I need to take note of my feelings when reading the poem, make notes on the poem and write on the margins of the poems while reading it. This will help me remember my feelings and thoughts while reading it. I need to ask myself some questions I read the poem, some examples are "Who is doing the speaking in the poem?", "When was the poem written?" and "What is the poet trying to say?" Points to take note when answering the questions, explain, describe in my own words, comment, give evidence, compare and contrast and give my own opinion. I should use the PEEL method to answer these questions. Point, Explain/Elaborate, Evidence/Example and Link. It is important to quote words from the passage and put them in my answers, so there will be evidence.

Learning Log 4

Dear Mrs Woo:
My last literature lesson was about the performance of Macbeth. I have learnt many things such as teamwork, learning how to manage your time well and how to be confident when speaking or acting in front of a crowd. Basically, teamwork plays a very important part in this performance because if there is no teamwork, there will be no coordination in the performance. Hence, there will be no sequence when everyone is performing as a group. Secondly, managing your time well is very important. This is because we have to get the props and speech ready. Thirdly, bring confident is also very important. This is because if you are not confident when speaking in front of a crowd, you tend to be shy and you will not be able to project your voice. A few ways to be confident is to practice, take three deep breaths before the performance and just be yourself.

I felt that my group did not do a very good job, especially i was very nervous during the performance and did not put in much effort to mimick the voice of a witch. My group also did not prepare any props, except for the witches' costume which is just a trash bag. I think if given another chance, i would do a better job in the props, such as searching for a black witch costume and a black cape. Our group would also prepare the props such as the sounds of thunder, a pot, a broom, a cat and witches' hats.

The problems our group faced was that we did not organise well. We did not discuss or plan the performance well. We only practised a few times and agreed that some of us will buy black paper to make the hat. Another problem we faced was that there was no stock for black paper, hence we did not have the hats as props.

I personally like izzul's group the best as their acting was very good. Their props and preparation was also very good. I can tell that they spent a lot of time practising and preparing for the performance, hence i agree that izzul deserved to be the best actor in the class.

Learning Log 3

Dear Mrs Woo:
During my last literature lesson, I learnt about some predictions that my classmates shared. Some of my stories I heard from my classmates are that they had past experiences when someone could "predict" their future by telling them something which really happened in their later parts of their life. Though some of my classmates' stories are not real, I still find them very interesting. Some of my classmates's stories were about someone telling them that they would go to Evergreen Secondary School in future and some of their stories were about someone telling them they would fall down soon and it really happened.

However, I do not believe in fortune telling. I feel that no one is able to see the future because everything that happens to us is fated. Also, the reasons why people are able to predict your future might be because they are coincidences. I feel that letting pupils present in front of their classmates is a good way to build their confidence, and at the same time, the lesson will be more interesting. Pupils get to learn and have fun at the same time; hence they can kill two birds with one stone.

One last point I want to mention is that, I feel that being innovative during literature lesson is very important so that we can share our ideas with the class, and everyone will get to benefit from the lesson. Also, we have to be commited in our work and be attentive during class, so that we can get to enjoy and benefit from the lesson more effectively.

Learning log 2

Dear Mrs Woo:

During my last literature lesson, I learnt about various superstitions and acting out a scene of the three witches in class. I found the lesson rather interesting as all of us got to hear the superstitions that our classmates researched or know of. I now know that a superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence or proceeding. While listening to my classmates presenting, I realized that my family no longer follows traditions as our world is becoming more modern.

On top of that, I also enjoyed the lesson where some pupils were selected to act out the scene of the three witches. They had to mimic the three witches' voices, either using a high-pitched tone or a low-pitched tone. I found this part of the lesson funny as some of my classmates made funny voices and laughter of the witches. I think that by letting pupils act as the three witches' in front of the class is a good way to showcase talented actors and actresses. It can also build up the pupils' confidence at the same time.

Also, I noticed that there were some of my classmates not paying attention and doing other work during the lesson while the presenters were speaking. I feel that it is important to show respect to whoever is speaking in front of the class. It is a form of mutual respect; listening when a presenter is talking and be listened attentively when you are presenting. I think pupils should be more focused and show commitment to the lesson and in their work. The teacher should be strict and discipline, but at the same time, make the lesson interesting and lively. The teacher could state her rules clearly, or even better, print out her rules onto a vanguard sheet and place it on the class noticeboard so that pupils will be very wary and clear of the rules that they need to observe.

Learning log 1

Dear Mrs Woo:

During my last literature lesson, I learnt about cinquains. A cinquain is a French word which is pronounced as "Cin-kuaine" in French and "Cin-cane" in English. The definition of cinquain is a short poem consisting of five usually unrhymed lines containing, respectively, two, four, six, eight, and two syllables. The first line of a cinquain is the title (one word), the second line is the description (two words), the third line is the action (three words), the fourth line is our feeling (four words) and the fifth line is the reflection on the title (one word).

A cinquain poem is challenging to write because we must follow the rules when writing the poem and we must not exceed the number of words each line has. The second, third, fourth and fifth line of the poem must be about the topic of the poem in the first line, otherwise different lines of the poem will not coincide with the first line. I found the lesson very interesting because everyone participated in group work activities, and I feel that by discussing your thoughts with your classmates, we can all learn better this way. However, the lesson could be improved if there were more group work activities.

There should also be a voting session so that pupils can vote for the group with the best cinquain poem and learn from their poem. The teacher should also prepare prizes for the winner, second and third place in the class. This would encourage pupils to participate more actively in group work discussions and would also look forward to other literature lessons in future. Colourful pictures could also be added to worksheets given out to pupils so that it would attract their attention and also, they would be more interested in doing worksheets and reading passages. Lastly, I also noticed that there were some pupils that were not paying attention when their classmates were presenting their poems; I feel that it is very important to respect your classmates and teachers when they are talking. Respect is also a value in our school. Pupils should also be committed in their work and be prompt in handing in work.