Our Chinese New Year Posters

During your art lesson before the Chinese New Year, you designed posters for an art competition held in conjunction with our CNY celebration. I think your posters look fabulous! Some of you are also very creative, pasting cotton wool on the paper to make it look like fur on the rabbit's body and pasting origami of rabbits. Your calligraphy looks great too! Which of these posters do you like best?

Artist: Catherine Tan

Artist: Dominic Lau

Odelia Chung

Artist: Cheryl Lim

Artist: Sabrina Boo

Artist: Johnson Chui

Artist: Lim Khee Han

Artist: Gordon Tan

Artist: Shawn Pang

Assembly Talk on Leadership

Today's assembly talk was on 'Leadership'. After a brief presentation by Ms Wong and Mr Tay, our Wei Xin and Sabrina took over. They showed the pupils some video clips and got pupils to participate in a short quiz. What better way to explain leadership than to demonstrate it! Great job, Wei Xin and Sabrina!

Our Trip to the Science Centre

Shawn Pang's Journal Entry...

On 25th of January 2011, we went to the Science Centre after school. My partner was Sherman. We went there to learn more about the science topic on 'Forces'. We arrived at the Science Centre at about 1.45 p.m. As we walked in, I thought we were going to CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) but, unfortunately, I was wrong.

We went to a lecture hall. The name of the instructor was Mr Yong. He did some experiments and we were impressed. He talked about Newton's law and we learned something new like inertia. At the end of the presentation, the scientist but a bear inside a 'cannon' and fired it. I was about to catch the bear when Desmond pushed me aside. At about 4.30 p.m., we leaft the lecture hall and we went to the second floor to see the exhibits.

The first thing I saw was the mechanical man climbing the rope. I visited the various exhibits and I think the robotic one was quite boring. After 5 minutes, we were asked to line up to board the bus which took us back to school.

We were back in school at about 5 p.m. While waiting for my bus, Desmond , Catherine and I played frisbee with Mr Yaidi in the parade square.

I wish we can go to CSI next time. It would be fun to learn to solve mysteries and see pictures of dead bodies!


Zhi Yi's Journal Entry...

Our trip to the science centre was really exciting! Time passed quickly due to the instructor's fun way of describing forces to us. He explained Newton's first law (Objects at rest stay at rest while moving objects keep moving until other forces act against it) to us in an easy-to-understand way. The second law (How far something moves depends on the force used and the mass of the object) is interesting and there is a formula : F = ma. The third law is: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. He showed us a balloon and said the air blowing out by the back pushed the balloon in front. We also learnt about friction and gravity. It was a meaningful trip.


Kelly's Journal Entry...

I went to the Science Centre on 25 January 2011. At first , I thought that we were going to do some experiments like we did when we went to the Science Centre when we were in primary five, but it did not go as I thought it would. We went into a room that looked like a mini cinema hall and there was a cluttered table in the front. I had a better understanding of the topic 'Forces' when Mr Yong, the instructor, taught us. Though some of the information given seemed rather confusing, I managed to get the gist of it.


Wei Xin's Journal Entry...

On Wednesday, 25 January, we went on a Learning Journey to the Science Centre to learn more about 'FORCES'. We were dismissed at about 1:05 p.m. for our lunch break. At 1:30 p.m., we gathered outside the General Office and, after our attendance was taken, we boarded the bus. It took about 30-45mins to reach the Science Center which was quite a distance from our school. In the bus, we chatted all the way to the Science Center.

At around 2:10p.m., we finally reached the Science Center. We were lead into an auditorium. The instructor's name was Mr Yong. He talked about Newton's 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws of motion, gravity, friction, air resistance, water resistance and inertia. He also did some experiments to make some of the concepts clearer to us. The one which I was most interested in was the Newton's Cradle. I thought that it was amazing. I also liked the last part when he put a teddy bear into something which I thought it looked a little like a rocket. Then he put some substance and he shot out the teddy bear. The sound was really loud.

After the 'lesson' by the instructor, the teachers let us explore the exhibits in the Science Center as there was still some time before the bus arrived. There was a 'machine' which I thought was amazing. You have to hold on to a metal bar with both your hands and then something which looked like a drum will start to hit and that shows your heart rate.

At about 4:15 p.m., we returned to school. This learning journey is very useful for me. Although some terms were a little confusing, I still managed to understand most of it. I hope that we will have more of such learning journeys in the future.


Leona's Journal Entry...
On 25 January 2011, we had our first outing for the year. We went to the Singapore Science Centre to learn more about Forces, a topic which we had to learn in Science. Mr. Yong was the presenter on that day and he did several experiments to show us some of the theories. He also gave us a detailed explanation on some of the rules.

Through this talk, I've learnt many new facts about the topic like Newton's law, inertia. It was indeed interesting! I've also learnt that gravity is always acting on us, therefore we will not float around; and weight is actually the amount of gravity needed to pull us to the ground. When we go to outer space or another planet, our weight will have a big difference! I've also learnt some facts of energy - that energy could pass through objects to another object.

The instructor ended the talk with a blast using a rocket and a teddy bear. It was scary but very interesting. I found out that the chemical he used was actually perfume. I wondered how he did that. There was still some time left, so we went to see some of the exhibits in the Science Centre. They were all so creative!

I felt that the trip was really interesting and we would definetely learn some facts from it. However, it was a bit boring because we did not have the chance to do some hands-on activity. Nonetheless, I'm definetely delighted that the school organised such an educational trip for us!

Using the present and past participles as adjectives

Today, you learnt that the past participle form can be used in the following ways:

(1) in the past perfect tense (had + past participle)
e.g. He watched television after he had completed his homework.

(2) in the present perfect tense (has/have + past participle)
e.g. I have completed my homework.

(3) in the passive form (is/are/was/were/- been + past participle)
e.g. All the apples were eaten by the hungry boy.

(4) as adjectivies (past participle + noun)
e.g. The poor trapped rat is squeaking loudly.

The present participle form can also be used as an adjective.
(present participle + noun)
e.g. What amazing feats the acrobat is capable of!

Please check out the following weblinks to revise what you have learnt.
Adjectives ending in -ed abd -ing
Participial Adjectivies

Do talk to me if there is anything on the websites that you don't understand. Have fun!

Proverbs

You learnt some proverbs today. Do you remember what 'a stitch in time saves nine' means? (+2 points to the first person to explain it correctly in detail... remember my drawing of the burst seam?)

Please read pages 28 and 29 of your textbook for some more proverbs.

Click on the following to learn more.
Proverbs List
Proverbs Quizzes

Please leave a comment to share one proverb you have learnt and its meaning.

Spelling Quiz 2

Pupils with a perfect score for Spelling:
Shawn Goh, Qun Mei, Cai Qi, Leona, Weng Leng & Victor

Pupils with a perfect score for Dictation:
Vernon, Kate, Kelly, Shawn Goh, Qun Mei, Kai Boon, Phu, Cai Qi, Weng Leng, Dominic, Odelia, Mavis, Vanessa, Sabrina & Thu Ta

Congrats!

The Past Perfect Tense

Today, we revised when and how the past perfect tense is used. Please click on the weblinks below for more revision. Do try the quizzes at the end of each weblink and see how you fare.

Forming and Using the Past Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect Tense with Cartoons

Tutorial on the Past Perfect Tense

Please revise the past participle form of the verbs in your Grammar Guide, pages 125-129.