IT lesson 3: Analyzing & Composing poem

The Son is in Secondary School by Affran Sa’at

My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem
It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays

I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A’s
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper

In our annual yearbook
There is a photograph of me
Pushing a wheelchair and smiling

They caught me
At the exact moment
When my eyes were actually closed


1. The poet was thinking of his secondary school days. It was typical to have school motto in Latin and students were allowed to wear only white shoes. It looks like he was not sure of the school motto and did not like Math (no calculators back then).

He thought about his daily routine like singing the national anthem and special moments like his teacher dressed up in traditional Malay dress for Chinese New Year. He could not forget being photographed with his eyes closed. I think he felt amused looking back.

My poem:

Back in the old days…...

Back in the old days,
we see each other’s face.

We chat together,
and argue all over.

We copy each other’s answers when we could,
like naughty children would.

Back then, teachers were caring,
and always sharing.

Now, things are serious,
and teachers are fierce.

IT lesson 2: Favorite Poet

Something from the Poet

“I have always enjoyed playing with words, but I had no idea that I would be a writer. There was a time when I couldn't stand poetry!”

“When I was a young man, I discovered poetry again and it changed my life. I had drawn several imaginary animals, but one evening I decided to write a little poem to go with each drawing.”

“A friend encouraged me to show the poems to an editor, and when I did, I was astonished to find that the editor -- Susan Hirschman -- thought I had a talent for writing verse. She encouraged me to keep writing. She published my first book and, 30 years later, she's still my editor.”

Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 8, 1940, and now live in Washington State with my wife, Carolynn. He is the author of more than 50 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep (1976), The Mean Old Mean Hyena (1978), and Something BIG Has Been Here (1990).

For years, his imaginative poems have been turning children into poetry lovers. His silly poems have tickled the most stubborn funny bones, while his scarier verses have raised the little hairs on the back of the neck!


How I feel about his works

Jack’s works are simple, funny and easy to understand. They are so enjoyable to read! They are relatively short and have no hidden meaning, unlike some other poets’ works.

I read his works when I was in primary school from the ‘Celebrate English’ textbook and the following were taken from the book.


MY FISH CAN RIDE A BICYCLE

My fish can ride a bicycle,
my fish can climb a tree,
my fish enjoys a glass of milk,
my fish takes naps with me.

My fish can play the clarinet,
my fish can bounce a ball,
my fish is not like other fish,
my fish can’t swim at all.

I wonder how a fish can do all these things except swim but anything is possible with Jack . He is indeed imaginative!


I DID A NUTTY SOMERSAULT

I did a nutty somersault
and landed with a thump.
I struggled to my feet again
but tumbled on my rump.
I tried to keep my balance but invariably fell,
and every time I toppled
I led another yell.

Backwards, forwards, even sideways,
I fell every sort of way,
as a growing crowd applauded
my theatrical display.
I flopped, I flipped, I skidded,
I performed a barrel roll.
My arms and legs kept flapping,
They were out of my control.

Beautiful described! It is a wonder how you write all the actions while remembering to rhyme them! But of course, Jack is a magician when it comes to poems.


TODAY I’M GOING YESTERDAY

Today I’m going yesterday
As quickly as I can
I’m confident I’ll do it,
I’ve devised a clever plan,
It involves my running backward
At a constant rate of speed,
I’m mindful of my timing,
I’ll undoubtedly succeed.

Ha! This poem has a nice twist. At first, I thought this person had some time machine that could bring him back to the past. But as I read on, I realized the poet was talking about running backwards. I think this poem is just like a mini-fiction.


References
1) http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-prelutsky-jack.asp
2) http://www.jackprelutsky.com/
3) http://www.poemhunter.com/jack-prelutsky/biography/

Emergency IT Lesson 1: Figurative Language

The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

metaphor : wrinkled sea
personification : clasps with crooked hands"... like a human being
simile:" like a thunderbolt " ascribes the act of diving or falling with the use of the word like"

This is a famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. I like it because it is easy to understand. In a few sentences, one can see the character of an eagle. The eagle stays alert on the mountain in the hope of catching a prey. And when he sights his prey, he swoops down swiftly and catches the prey with precision. I wish I can be like the eagle alert, fast and accurate.

Busy Tom

Music Lesson – sang ‘Phantom of the Opera’
History Lesson – learnt about the tombs of the Pharaohs
Chinese Lesson – study Chinese customs and festivals

Recess – ate ham, cheese and tomato sandwich

Chemistry Lesson – study about atoms and molecules
Biology Lesson – learnt about the symptoms of a virus

Sigh, tomorrow will be another busy day.

Reflection on Micro-Fiction

Before I started secondary school, I never knew that micro-fiction existed. It is quite amazing that people can write a fiction in 55 words! At first, I thought it was going to be very difficult to write due to the word limit, but after a reading a few examples, I had a better idea.

Writing micro-fiction was also a good practice for my essay. In my primary school essays, I usually have to put in a lot of ‘good’ phrases, clichés and sometimes unnecessary descriptions. From now on, I will try to keep my essays short and tight.

Maybe, micro-fiction can be introduced at the primary school. It can help students improve in their essays and their skills will get better when in secondary school.

Book review: The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Arrival is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel. It is about a man who left his homeland for another country to build a new life.

In the new country, he meets many unusual creatures; in his room, he tried to turn on a tap to get drinking water only to find that it is actually a shower. Once, he got a job to paste advertisements on walls. As he did not understand the language in the poster, he pasted them upside down!

However, he soon got used to the new life and was eventually joined by his wife and daughter.

Shaun Tan is an illustrator with great imagination. The creatures in the book were very unusual, nothing like real life animals. His buildings were also unique. There was a bird-angel like structure carrying an egg. It had weird inscriptions on it.

Lastly and very unusual, you will find the Chinese characters of Shaun Tan’s name: 陈 志 勇 in some of the drawings！

I find it very refreshing to read a fiction without words. And I will certainly recommend any book lover to ‘read’ this exciting graphic novel,
The Arrival.