Autumn Issue 6 December 15th, 2017 Straits International School Penang STRAITS TALKING STRAITS TALKING STRAITS TALKING What’s your wish for this Christmas? What’s your wish for this Christmas? What’s your wish for this Christmas? To have good luck— Jarrell To stay in China forever— Zoe To get Boney M’s Greatest Hits CD— Mr David FEATURE STORIES Straits Community Heroes ……….…….………2 Primary Student Council…………………………4 Christmas Assembly……………………………....7 Round Square………………………………………10 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Principal’s message……………………….………2 Upcoming dates……..........……....……….…..…2 Early Years….. ………..…………….….….………..2 What I overheard….………..………….……..…..3 Years 1 and 2. ............................................ .4 Years 3 and 4.............................................. .5 Year 5 and 6.. ............................................. .6 Sports Report.…….……………………..……..….8 SPOTLIGHT ON… Activity Spotlight on Photography Teacher Spotlight on Ms Katie Subject Spotlight on Bahasa Subject Spotlight on ICT Subject Spotlight on Humanities To play with my family—Sunny A Spiderman t- shirt—Howie 1 For a computer— Yoshitoki Football boots—Ram For my legs to get better— Nathan To see Santa put some decorations on my tree— Mahita To go on a long, relaxing holiday—Mr Vinod To have a good holiday—Ms Serene A set of craft supplies—To Uyen A baby dog called Annabelle- Poppy To go to New York—Charvi To give more to charity—Ms Devi A puppy!—Elisa For a laptop— Lakshana An iPhone 6— Kaelyn
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Autumn Issue 6
December 15th, 2017 Straits International
School Penang
STRAITS TALKINGSTRAITS TALKINGSTRAITS TALKING
What ’s your wish for th is Chr istmas?What ’s your wish for th is Chr istmas?What ’s your wish for th is Chr istmas?
To have good luck—
Jarrell
To stay
in China
forever—
Zoe
To get Boney M’s
Greatest Hits CD—
Mr David
FEATURE STORIES
Straits Community Heroes ……….…….………2
Primary Student Council…………………………4
Christmas Assembly……………………………....7
Round Square………………………………………10
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Principal’s message……………………….………2
Upcoming dates……..........……....……….…..…2
Early Years….. ………..…………….….….………..2
What I overheard….………..………….……..…..3
Years 1 and 2. ............................................ .4
Years 3 and 4... ........................................... .5
Year 5 and 6.. ............................................. .6
Sports Report.…….……………………..……..….8
SPOTLIGHT ON…
Activity Spotlight on Photography
Teacher Spotlight on Ms Katie
Subject Spotlight on Bahasa
Subject Spotlight on ICT
Subject Spotlight on Humanities
To play with my
family—Sunny
A Spiderman t-
shirt—Howie
1
For a computer—
Yoshitoki
Football
boots—Ram
For my legs to get better—
Nathan
To see Santa put some
decorations on my tree—
Mahita
To go on a
long, relaxing
holiday—Mr
Vinod
To have a good
holiday—Ms Serene
A set of craft
supplies—To
Uyen
A baby
dog called
Annabelle-
Poppy
To go to New
York—Charvi
To give more to
charity—Ms Devi
A puppy!—Elisa
For a laptop—
Lakshana
An iPhone 6—
Kaelyn
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It has been a wonderful 3 weeks
in EYFS. In preparation for
Christmas, the children got to-
gether to put up a Christmas tree
and they have been working hard
during their Music lesson to
practise for the Christmas As-
sembly. We hope you enjoyed
their performance.
In Reception, the students learnt Jolly Phonics Phase 3 and
they also learnt to read words containing middle letter ‘e’, ‘I’ and ‘o’.
In Numeracy, they learnt the differences between cardinal and ordinal words. Children were
taught ordinal numbers through running and balancing games. They learnt to use ordinal num-
ber words to position themselves from First to Tenth.
In Understanding the World, they continued to learn about Food and Nutrition focusing on
Hygiene during food preparation. They also made a 3D food pyramid.
In keeping with the theme Food and Nutrition the
children had the opportunity to go Giant to buy
some food in which then they made a healthy snack
box in school.
We are also pleased to announce that the EYFS team managed to make the most profit during the Enterprise Day. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Look-ing forward to an exciting term in January!
WORDS FROM OUR DEAR LEADER, Ms Karlie WalshWORDS FROM OUR DEAR LEADER, Ms Karlie WalshWORDS FROM OUR DEAR LEADER, Ms Karlie Walsh
We have arrived safe and sound at the end of the Autumn term!
Our parent support group will be hosting their third event, the Christ-mas Disco, on the final day of the term, which everyone is looking forward to. Our students will be able to take part in many activities, dance to their favourite songs and enjoy the bouncy castle!
Our students performed very well in the assessment period, with many promising results boding well for the end of year assessment, iGSCEs and checkpoint exams. Our EAL learners also passed their Cambridge graduation exams with flying colours! Our Elevate study skills workshops have contributed to the success of our students, along with the teachers’ and stu-dents’ perseverance.
Next term, we will begin writing our three year strategic plan that will guide the school’s development and progression for the period of 2018 – 2020. To ensure that our school community has a shared vision we would like to invite students, parents and staff to contrib-ute to this. To collect everyone’s ideas, we will have a ‘vision tree’ in
our main reception area for the month of January. We will be col-lecting ideas and suggestions under three headings:
To ensure the long term growth of the school
To ensure all students achieve success through excellent atti-tudes to learning
To strengthen engagement between the school, parents and wider community
We would ask that you collect a luggage tag from the main recep-tion desk and write your suggestion and hang it on the vision tree. The vision tree may look very similar to our Christmas tree – wink, wink!
Many more classes also enjoyed trips to the careers fair in Georgetown, the Spice Garden and Gua Tempurung. Our sporting teams have also taken part in many interschool competitions with other schools on the island. There is more information about these trips later in the newsletter. As you know we have many trips planned this year, to support the learning in school.
Just are reminded that the term finishes at 12 noon on Tuesday 19th December and will reopen again at 7.30am on Tuesday 9th January. Happy holidays!
SIS DIARYSIS DIARYSIS DIARY
Mon day 18 th Dec ember
- P rimary Mov ie af ternoon
- Sec ret San ta g i f t exch an ge
- Paren ts ’ Ev enin g
Tu es day 19th December
- Ch ris tmas Disc o
- SIS Fac tor
- End o f Term ( early dis miss a l)
Tu es day 9th J anu ary
- S tart of Term for s tu den ts
Tu es day 16th J anu rary
- U 11 Boys and Gi r ls Footbal l vs SCIP S
R E C E P TI O N R E C E P TI O N R E C E P TI O N b y Ms S er en e a n d Ms A r len eb y Ms S er en e a n d Ms A r len eb y Ms S er en e a n d Ms A r len e
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GIFTS THAT GIVE BACKGIFTS THAT GIVE BACKGIFTS THAT GIVE BACK
A project by Round Square Knights & Straits Community HeroesA project by Round Square Knights & Straits Community HeroesA project by Round Square Knights & Straits Community Heroes
By Ms DeviBy Ms DeviBy Ms Devi
WHAT I OVERHEARD….
T: Ok, so feel your pulse and see how fast it’s going.
S: Ms Katie, I do not have a pulse.
T: (Feels the student’s wrist) You’re right… you better go to the nurse! (Yr
2)
How do you say that (G’day)…Jee-day? Is it ‘Jee-day mate’? (Yr 4)
Ms Karlie, are you angry? You look angry. Are you tired? You look tired.
You just look very different today! (Yr 4)
I think the Amaze-on is the largest river in South America. (Yr 4)
Ms Hannah, why are you so fat? Your baby is going to be so big! (Yr 1)
Ms Carrena, what happened to your hair? It looks like you just woke up!
(Yr 4)
T: Eat more of your sweet corn.
S: I don’t like it, it’s too sweet.
T: Is it also too corny?
S: Yes, that’s why I don’t like it. (Yr 3)
The Round Square Knights together with Straits Community Heroes organised a Christmas
charity project to raise funds for Ranji Nursing Home which was badly hit by floods. They sold
ribbons to students at RM5 for the Christmas tree decorations. They managed to collect RM
687. Funds from this will be donated in terms of new clothes and food for the Ranji Nursing
Home. The Round Square Knights together with Mr Mike wrapped the gifts and they were de-
livered to Ranji Nursing Home earlier this week. Thank you to everyone who supported this
project! Well Done!
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PRIMARY STUDENT PRIMARY STUDENT PRIMARY STUDENT
COUNCILCOUNCILCOUNCIL
By Ms LisaBy Ms LisaBy Ms Lisa
Primary Student Council presented
a Bake Sale at break time earlier this
week. They worked very hard and
tested their selling skills at the table
and around the canteen!
We had Grinch donuts, gingerbread
men, cookies and lots more. We
even had a seller make his way
through the canteen crowd to sell
too! The PSC made a grand total of
830RM! Thank you so much for
your support in the Bake Sale!
We are looking forward to our
Christmas Movie Afternoon on
Monday to top up our charity mon-
ey!
On sale will be:
Popcorn: 1 cup 2RM/2 cups 3RM
Biscuits: 2 for 1RM
Drinks: 2RM
YEAR ONEYEAR ONEYEAR ONE———by Mr Myron and Ms Lisaby Mr Myron and Ms Lisaby Mr Myron and Ms Lisa
Year 1 have been learning about all the most important things in mathematics these last few weeks - time and mon- ey! The children have made their own clocks and have been doing a great job telling time to the half hour. In Literacy we have been learning the dif-ference between facts and opinions and have even worked on creating our own factual, non-fiction, book based on our text ‘10 Things I Can Do to Help the World’. In preparation for our trip to the ‘Tropical Spice Garden we have been examining some different plants, espe- cially herbs and spices. We have been exploring our school taking note of things we can hear, smell and see around
YEAR TWOYEAR TWOYEAR TWO———by Ms Hannah and Ms Katieby Ms Hannah and Ms Katieby Ms Hannah and Ms Katie
Year 2 have had a fantastic lead up to the end of the first term. As well as our usual lessons, 2H have had lots of fun rehearsing for their class assembly about Healthy Humans. I am so proud of all their hard work and they did really well when performing in front of the school. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up on the stage in front of lots of people. Well done 2H! In addition to this, the whole of Year 2 have been practising a little dance for the Christmas assembly. We have been very impressed with how quickly they have been able to learn it. In English, we have been writing persuasive letters to a toy maker who has lost his enthusiasm for making toys. The chil-dren have had some fantastic ideas for new toys they would like to see invented. In Maths, we have been looking in more detail at directions and how we use them in
everyday life. More recently, we have been learn-ing how to use vertical subtraction. A few of us have found it quite tricky but we are learning how to correct our mistakes independently.
Using computers to learn about money. What time is it?
Happy with our clocks.
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Year 3 have had a brilliant end to the first term. We have been learning lots and working very hard. In English we finished writing our fairy tales and have used some great vocabulary describing the setting and using all the features required to be Year 3 authors. Mr Jack and Mr Scott have enjoyed reading every story! In Mathematics, we have continued to look at measurement. We have been com-paring centimetres and metres, grams and kilograms, and millilitres and litres. We have worked great as a team investigating different measurements and the best tools
for the tasks at hand. For instance we had a great time measuring the length of ob-jects in the classroom. Some children even measured the length of the corridor! In Science we have been finishing our research and learning about plants. We investigated the different ways we can make plants grow and the importance of a fair test. Some children managed to suc-cessfully grow a small plant. We then looked at why that plant grew and what the best conditions for plant growth are. Enjoy the holidays Year 3!
The final few weeks of term has been a flurry of
Christmas excitement in Year Four. Ms Pavithra had
some help from the children in making a giant snow-
man in 4L’s room. I wonder how many plastic or
paper cups it took to build it? We’ve also been busy-
ing making Christmas crackers and coconut oat bis-
cuits as reward for great work all term!
Earlier today, the whole school gathered for the
Christmas Assembly and Prize-giving Ceremony.
Congratulations to Nathan and Wern Han for their
fantastic efforts in Science and being caring. It was
tough for teachers to decide on who would receive the
awards as there are plenty of students who are wor-
thy. Well done everybody! It’s been a good term!
Another honourable mention goes to Dheekshidhan for coming 1st place in a maths com-
petition held in Singapore last month. What a great effort! Please continue to support
your child during the break. We hope everybody returns happy and healthy! Have a great
holiday!
YEAR THREEYEAR THREEYEAR THREE———by Mr Scott and Mr Jackby Mr Scott and Mr Jackby Mr Scott and Mr Jack
YEAR FOURYEAR FOURYEAR FOUR———by Ms Linhby Ms Linhby Ms Linh
Trisha and Swetha making
Christmas crackers.
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SPOTLIGHT ON…SPOTLIGHT ON…SPOTLIGHT ON…
MS KATIEMS KATIEMS KATIE
Q1.What qualities should an ideal student
possess?
Creativity, hardworking and fun.
Q2.When was the last time you laughed out
loud?
Five minutes ago laughing at my student
Kaesav’s jokes.
Q3.What’s the best and worst thing about
your job?
Best: meeting amazing colleagues and
students. Worst: the early morning starts.
Q4: What did you want to be when you
were younger?
A professional footballer in the USA.
Q5: What are you plans for this weekend?
Celebrate Thanksgiving with colleagues.
Q6: Who is your favorite colleague and
why?
Ms Shanti because she brings me food.
Q7: What is your favorite Malaysian dish?
Chicken satay.
Q8: What’s your relationship status?
Hopeful.
Q9: How old are you?
Twenty-six, I think.
Q10: What are your hobbies?
Swimming, eating, adventures, baking and
photography.
YEAR FIVEYEAR FIVEYEAR FIVE———by Ms Ahreum and Ms Rowanby Ms Ahreum and Ms Rowanby Ms Ahreum and Ms Rowan
Miss Ahreum likes to tell us about her childhood in Canada. We like the winter part
best because it is so different from here, tropical Malaysia! And guess what she
said this week? We could write to Santa Claus and he would write back to us! Just
the idea of it had us in stitches! Then she told us that Santa’s post code is
“HOHOHO”! We doubled over at the ingenuity of it while Miss Ahreum looked at us
baffled. Our letters have been sent and we are waiting eagerly for Santa’s reply!
Will we hear from him? Watch this space; we’ll keep you posted! - Year 5 pupil
YEAR SIXYEAR SIXYEAR SIX———by Mr Gwynby Mr Gwynby Mr Gwyn
Year 6 are coming to the end of a very busy and successful term. Both classes have demon-
strated growing maturity and have taken any extra responsibilities given to them in their
strides. I would like to thank all of the students involved in organising lunchtime activities
very much. They have taken on a difficult task and have shown great independence and
reliability.
Also, the whole of Year 6 deserve a huge ‘pat on the back’ for the way which they have
approached their canteen duties during break and lunchtimes. Again, this is a very daunt-
ing task but every student has made themselves fully involved. It has been great to receive
so many compliments, from other members of staff, aimed at the students.
In class, the students have all been working very hard to complete various areas of the
curriculum, so that they will be ready for a new set of challenges in the New Year. Well
done to all of Year 6! I am really proud of you!
A little warm up before the study skills sessions
Yi Lingg and Deseree with their letters to Santa.
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Ho ho ho… It is almost time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
With Christmas just around the corner, we had a simple yet meaningful assembly in MPH earlier today, together with the annual
Prize-giving Ceremony, awarded to those who worked hard and showed great progress throughout the term.
The school enjoyed: a choir group from Year 6, EYFS dancing performance, Year 3 drama, solo singing by Vaishnavi and a Second-
ary musical instrumental performance lead by Ms Ellie.
As for the Christmas celebration activities, the Celebrations committee had their hand involved in putting up the Christmas tree
and decorations at the level 1 reception area. This year, students got the chance to tie ribbons onto the Christmas tree as the
Round Square Knights were selling ribbons to raise funds for Ranji Nursing Home.
Besides that, we will also have a Secret Santa gift exchange for the primary students on Monday which is organised by the Parents Support Group. The most exciting event to come is the first ever SIS X-Factor which is open to all secondary students. The lucky winner will walk away with 5 tickets to Escape Theme Park (and fame)!
Chris tmas Assembly and PrizeChris tmas Assembly and PrizeChris tmas Assembly and Prize ---giv ing Ceremonygiv ing Ceremonygiv ing Ceremony
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Q: Why are you running this activity?
Because I like photography.
Q: Is it challenging or easy to teach students?
It is easy.
Q: How did you get interested in this Activity?
From parents.
Q: Who is your favorite student in this Activity?
I don’t have a favourite.
Q: What age level do you prefer to teach?
I prefer Secondary—KS4.
Q: Have you learned new things teaching them?
I have learnt to teach using resources around the school.
Q: Do your students make progress?
Some have made excellent progress while some have not.
Date: Tuesday 21st November
Team: Under 14 & U/16 Girls Netball
Game: Mini Tournament
Venue: Uplands
Team members: Elly, Tina, Bernice, Miyu, Tien Ee, Jing
Xuan, Teresa, Samantha, Nheha, Megan
Report: Straits travelled to Batu Ferringhi with a strong team
ready to take on the Tenby, POWIIS and Uplands teams they
had already played earlier on in the term.
As we arrived the team took to the court immediately. The girls
were super pumped to play Uplands as we had previously had a
tough game which they were hoping to improve on. Quick
thinking and fluid passes enables the SIS team to take an early
lead. This kept the students motivated and after four fast quar-
ters the team was victorious. Leading goal scorer and captain
Elly proudly congratulating the girls on a n excellent game.
Straits had no rest and were straight on the next game against
Uplands U/16. This was going to be a tough match but the stu-
dents had already mentally prepared for that. The teams used
this game as extra training session, to learn and memorise fast
paced strategies to find the space and draw knowledge from
more advanced group of players.
In the final game Straits played POWIIS U/16. SIS were sur-
prisingly energetic and were neck and neck during the first two
quarters. As they began to tire POWIIS took the lead but not
without some exceptional effort from the SIS team.
As coach, I am extremely proud as the team has really blos-
somed into a mature and powerful combination that show con-
sistent team play and learning.
Our final game will be an U/16 Tournament against the other
schools in PSAC.
Results:
Game 1: SIS 13 v Uplands U/14 3
Game 2: SIS 0 v Uplands U/16
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Game 3: POWIIS U/16 9 v SIS 3
PENANG CLOSED CHESS TOURNAMENT 2017
Winners of Penang Age Group 2017 by SIS students: U7B: Aiden Lim(9th placing) U11B: Kong You Jing (2nd placing) U17G:Ding Dao En (Champion) Ding Dao En won best lady category in Penang Closed Chess
Competition 2017
ACTIVITY SPOTLIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY ACTIVITY SPOTLIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY ACTIVITY SPOTLIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY with Ms Yogeswith Ms Yogeswith Ms Yoges
STRAITS DRAGONS STRAITS DRAGONS STRAITS DRAGONS ——— Penang School Sports FixturesPenang School Sports FixturesPenang School Sports Fixtures———by Ms Rowan, Mr Dennis and Mr Vinodby Ms Rowan, Mr Dennis and Mr Vinodby Ms Rowan, Mr Dennis and Mr Vinod
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Hi all, we are near the end of term. ICT lessons have become
more interesting with programming skills being introduced.
This half term, Year 5 and Year 6 have been learning a basic
programming using Scratch. Most of them are really enjoying
creating simple games. Why do we need to introduce a basic
programming to our kids? As technology dominates our lives,
learning basic computer programming isn’t just a smart idea,
it's an essential skill for grown-ups and children alike. It's
hard to imagine a single career that doesn't have a need for
someone who can code. Everything that ‘just works’ has some
type of code that makes it run. Coding (a.k.a. programming) is
all around us. With this need for programmers growing every-
day, all children should learn programming.
We chose Scratch as a starting programming language for students. Scratch was designed by MIT students and staff in 2003, Scratch is one of the first programming languages
we've seen that is created specifically for 8-to-16-year-olds. Originally a multi-platform download, Scratch is now web-based and more accessible. Students use a visual program-ming language made up of bricks that they drag to the workspace to animate sprites. Various types of bricks trig-ger loops, create variables, initiate interactivity, play sounds, and more. This visual approach to programming is the perfect way to teach students the fundamental concepts behind programming and software development.
What a lot we have packed into our first term! KS3 Business
studies students have been working hard to produce a new
board game which is teaching other players how to win at
business. They have been extremely creative with their
designs. Other students were also demonstrating their creative
skills by producing a new chocolate bar. Students interviewed
their friends and family to find out what they wanted in their
new product and then went
to make their new designs.
Some of them are the best I
have seen. They then looked
in to how to market their
chocolate by designing logos,
slogans and advertising
campaigns.
During this term all
students at Straits
experienced their first
Enterprise Day where
they worked as a team to
decide, design, make and
sold a product. It was a
great way of teaching the
students, outside of the classroom, how real businesses work.
They were so successful in their ventures that the students
made a profit of RM 3039.65. The students decided that the
money would be spent on buying toys, games and sporting
equipment for them to play with at break times. What a great
job they did!
KS4 Global Perspectives students are learning about Biodiversity and the Eco System. For this term's work, the students went to Miami Beach to help tidy up the beach. They collected rubbish and recycled all the glass and plastic bottles and paper
thrown away. What good role models they are. Back at school the students
then observed how much students waste food, rubbish and plastics during lunchtimes; and how many of them actu-ally use the recycle bins provid-ed...unfortunately not many of us. The GP students then went on to teach the primary students all about the 3Rs - Re-duce, Reuse and Recycle. Now that the younger children are more aware, hopefully there will be less waste and we can save our beautiful planet.
SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: ICTSUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: ICTSUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: ICT———by Ms Hanizaby Ms Hanizaby Ms Haniza
SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: HUMANITIES SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: HUMANITIES SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: HUMANITIES ——— by Ms Lily by Ms Lily by Ms Lily
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I would like to share with all of you the strategies that I have used in
my teaching to improve my students’ vocabulary in Malay. According
to a recent research, it is indicated that teaching vocabulary may be
problematic because many teachers are not confident about the best
practice and at times don’t know where to begin to form an instruc-
tional emphasis on word learning (Berne & Blachowicz, 2008). Vocab-
ulary is an essential part in learning as the meanings of new words are
very often emphasised, whether in books or in classrooms. It is also
central to language teaching and is of paramount importance to a lan-
guage learner. For my Malay lessons the strategies which I am using to
develop students vocabulary is by translation.
Even though translation does not create a need or motivation of the
learners to think about word meaning (Cameron, 2001), in some situa-
tions translation could be effective for teachers, such as when dealing
with incidental vocabulary (Thornbury, 2002), checking students’
comprehension, and pointing out similarities or differences between
first and second language, when these are likely to cause errors (Takač,
2008). There are always some words that need to be translated and
this technique can save a lot of time. My students have created a ‘Word
Bank’ in their exercise book for them to write down all the translated
words. This ‘Word Bank’ works as their mini dictionary where they will
refer to from time to time. There are several techniques concerning
the teaching of vocabulary which I am using in my teaching.
Using Objects: this technique includes the use of visual aids, and
demonstration. They can function to help learners in remembering
vocabulary better, because our memory for objects and pictures is very
reliable and visual techniques can act as cues for remembering words.
Drawing Objects: can either be drawn on the blackboard or drawn
on flash cards. They can help young learners easily understand and
realise the main points that they have learnt in the classroom. Using
Illustrations and Pictures: connect students’ prior knowledge to a
new story, and in the process, help them learn new words. There is
plenty of vocabulary that can be introduced by using illustrations or
pictures. Mime, Expressions and Gestures: emphasises the im-
portance of gestures and facial expression on communication. At the
essence it can not only be used to indicate the meaning of a word
found in reading passage, but also in speaking activity as it stresses
mostly on communication. Vocabulary needs to be learnt, practised,
and revised to prevent students from forgetting.
SUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: BAHASASUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: BAHASASUBJECT SPOTLIGHT: BAHASA———by Ms Gowriby Ms Gowriby Ms Gowri
Through ‘Environmentalism’, students learn about the fine balance needed to
maintain a healthy interdependent relationship between human beings and the
planet. We need to learn how to be a good steward and guardian to our planet
earth. The existence of ‘Green Club’ during Activity Time starting Autumn 2017-
18 is based on this value, so that the students can learn to conserve our planet earth towards sus-
tainability at the same time exploring it. We start our club activity by creating awareness of the
negative impacts such as global warming, pollution, energy issue and etc. which our earth is facing
due to human activities such as deforestation, using fossils fuels and etc. We have an ‘Electricity
and Water survey’ among the club members so that they can learn how to save water and electrici-
ty at home and to reduce their parents’ load of the monthly bill payment. Some practical suggestions such as ‘don’t turn
on the AC everyday’ and ‘use the shower instead of the bathtub’ are good ideas. But idea such as ‘shower together among
siblings’ can be creative and yet non-practical due to cultural and family values. Furthermore,
students are shown a practical way to reduce the water the toilet wastes by putting a 500-
600ml fully filled water bottle inside the toilet tank. This means we are going to save 500-
600ml water per flush and we can proceed to the mathematical calculation of how much water
we can save per month and even per year. Some students are even very excited and proud to
feedback that they are practising this at home with their parents’ acknowledgement. Awesome!
We also run a few weeks activities to help our students to express their creativity by making posters of water and electricity saving, and creating
our Green Club logos as well. Currently we are helping our students to be in touch with nature by moving some air-purifying plants in a big long
pot to respective black plastic plant bags, before we replant them in a
smaller pot to be stationed in every class room to make the air cleaner
and our classroom greener. Students will enrich their knowledge of
different types of indoor or outdoor air-purifying plants too. Recently
a Year 7 student gives us some caterpillars to keep for observation.
Green Club members are amazed to see those caterpillars and they are
even willing to help to prepare a cleaner habitat (plastic container) for
them to live. However, some prefer to watch from a distance. Some
activities run in the Green Club are as a small scale trial before we
implement on a bigger scale to the
whole school. For example, the prac-
tice of water saving in toilet is still
under discussion with the school
maintenance department.
Overall, students are excited to see what they can do to conserve our planet earth and sometimes they even feel proud of themselves as ‘Guardians of the galaxies’ Cool!