Spell It Right (SIR)

It has been a long haul and a plethora of new vocabulary words for three students from SK Bukit Abal.  AinMuni, Danial and Irfan have been troopers to make it to the state finals of SIR. It was held on Friday 21, August at the KB Mall. One hundred of the state's top qualifying spellers battled for the coveted first place. Not to mention, they were able to find time with all the UPSR focus to compete. These 3 exceptional students and there generous Teacher Faridah deserve a tip of the hat. I have great deal of admiration for these youngsters who went out of there comfort zone to stand on stage in crowded mall to grapple with the state's best spellers.

In the end, none of them advanced to the final round, but they all moved nearer to my heart. Our goals and objectives were clear. First and foremost, the target was to have fun.  Secondly, to embrace a new experience and make a memorable occurrence in their young budding lives.  The students met and fulfilled the objectives with grace. Even though, they were knocked out in the first round, they were given a word they'll never forget. AinMuni got elusive, Irfan had a chance at clamour and exuberant and Danial received precede as their randomly selected words from the word master.

I also wanted to thank their families who came out and supported their valiant efforts.  Their new Guru Besar Fadzilah was also present cheering them on and giving them full support. Also, I must mention, my mentor and boss, Toby Walrod's dedication and encouragement by attending the event. Since none of the SKBA spellers advanced to the final round, we returned home at the completion of the first rounds.  Due to Toby's love language and learning, he hung around till the end of the event. He was able to get a snapshot with the state champion speller, Omar Farouk, who just so happens to be from a TELL2 school SK Abdul Hamid 2.  Here is what he recorded culminating words for the final 10 contestants.  Please note, these students are not older than 12 years old. These words that follow are no piece of cake.

FINAL 10 CONTESTANTS

ROUND 1
chafe, wroth, cusp, soothe, cede, birl, slake, dyad, sally, chirk

ROUND 2
vigilance / creamery, infrequent, epigraph, indicator, evidence, locution, terminus, lateral, encounter and
traumatic

ROUND 3
languorous, perpetuity, resuscitate, convivial, nebulous, commiserate, syllogistic, disavowal, impediment and vinaigrette / vinegarette

FOR 4TH/5TH PLACE:
staunch, jubilant, charisma, embarrass, fluoride, plankton, albumen, ecosystem, hazardous, rhinocerous
aerialist

FOR 1ST/2ND/3RD PLACE:
hieroglyphic (missed), infringement (spelled correctly - for 1st place), emolument (missed), embittered (spelled correctly - for 2nd place) and clarinetist (missed)

Giving Back To The Community

I'm grateful towards Brighton Education Group and Jabatan Pendidikan Malaysia for giving me an opportunity to be a mentor in the TELL2 programme in the great state of Kelantan.  Even though, I'm responsible for 5 schools, there have been numerous occasions for me to interact with non- TELL2 schools, teachers and students.  The UPSR is fast approaching next month and English is one of the more challenging section for students. I was given a golden opportunity by the good people at Masjid Kampong Pulau to host a free UPSR clinic on Saturdays throughout the month of August for local students from the village I live in near Kubang Kerian. Students from as far away as SK Jeram Pasir Puteh have been regular participants as well students from SK Kubang Kerian 2 and Sk Kubang Kerian 3.

It has been a real 'gotong royong' effort. BEG has provided the projector, while the masjid the space and worksheets. Due to the gracious contributions of the above mentioned, I have been able to donate my time to provide a FREE UPSR clinic for local non-TELL2 students. The first Saturday (2/8) was a modest 15 students and last Saturday (9/8) we swelled to 29 students. Furthermore, my mentor and boss Toby Walrod also lent a helping hand this last week.

The First week's focus was an overview of Paper 1 & 2 and test taking strategies. We spent the bulk of our time on Paper 2 Section 2 Information Transfer.  The Second week was focused on vocabulary of occupations and places. We spent some time on reviewing simple present and present continuos tenses. We discussed sentence variety: simple, compound and complex sentences. We learned FANBOYS and AAAWUBIS, acronyms for the most common conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.  We did many exercises on Paper 2 Section 1, 5 sentences. We also played a vocabulary game, which brought lots of smiles from even the shyest of students.

A special thanks to Cikgu Halim who has been my liaison with the masjid. Have a gander at couple of the snapshots.  Remember, "English is as easy as 1,2,3."

Situational UPSR prep at SK Pa'Pura

SK Pa'pura's Year 6's are at it again.

These youngsters never shy away from a chance to practice for the upcoming UPSR exams (even if they are a little camera shy....lol), anticipation of the coming exams seems to be at it's normal August high, as we try to wind back up from our Hari Raya holiday.

Here we kicked off our first week back with a little situational UPSR exam prep activity for a section of paper 2, using the front page of a local news paper, which featured a prominent photo of Prime minister Najib Razak, students were prompted to construct sentences on the fly to describe what they could see in the photo.

Within a matter of minutes students were bursting with accurate present simple and present continuous sentences, they seemed to be at ease and very excited to be challenged to construct sentences so spontaneously. 

As expected these guys and gals didn't disappoint, they rose to the "drop of a hat" style activity and blew it away! Great job 6k, and good luck on the coming exams!

Hari Raya Eidul Fitri L.A activity at SK Jelawat 2

Hi all!

It was really inspirational to see MTPs at SK Jelawat 2 guiding pupils and directing traffic during our Eidul Fitri language arts activity (shout out to Khidar for the idea!). The teachers were very involved, enthusiastic and flowing with creativity, which really help to motivate the little ones.

The pupils were really in great spirits anticipating the long holiday break, they worked quite hard to produce some great gift bags for their friends and classmates. 

Two thumbs up SK Jelawat 2, you all are great!

SMK Kubang Kerian 3

On 17, July 2014, I was invited with a crack team of teachers and ustazs and spent the day with 50 at-risk youths.  It was all day event from 8am-2pm at SMK Kubang Kerian 3.  The programme was designed to improve the student's attitudes and foster some spiritual growth.  The day began with introductions in the school's surau.  The student's were reluctant at first.  After a humorous talk by Sheik Rohaizad, the student's let down their guards and started to imbibe the positive environment that was created.  The students were separated into 5 groups and I was the team leader of the "Khalifahs."

Some activities like prayer and talks were done in assembly, while others were done in small groups. Each group was assigned the task to learn some important points and prepare for a presentation to the assembly.  My group comprised of 11 students who made a fabulous effort.  After practicing the points, the group selected a representative who was entrusted to present to the assembly.  English was not the focus, but my group did not shy away from the language.  Quite the contrary, my group was able to tackle a few of the points in English.  During the presentation, to the surprise of teachers and students alike, in almost flawless English a few points were delivered.  The assembly was very impressed with their compadres language skills and our groups representative got many cheers.  The Student Consoler was amazed at the student's performance which resulted in him winning a prize.

As a capstone to the event, I gave a short talk after Solat Zuhur. It was a productive day filled with growth and development.  They were a great bunch of kids; furthermore, the programme was a success and we were invited to schedule another day with students in the near future.  I wouldn't be surprised if English plays a larger role in the next instalment's activity.  Way to go Team Khalifahs!

SK Bukit Abal Book Contest

It is now the second week that Teacher Salma has launched a literacy programme. In the spirit of cooperation, we decided to add a boost to the sagging participation of the Nilam book programme. When she took over the  library this year there was less than 10% school-wide participation in the Nilam programme. We have been planning for weeks and finally saw an opportunity during this blessed month of Ramadhan to launch The SK Bukit Abal Book Contest.

This cross-curricular activity that included the BM and BI departments to stimulate literacy amongst our focus groups Years 1-3. It is not easy to attract kids to reading when flashy video games captivate the majority of their thoughts and attention. Yet as it has been stated, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Moreover, it has been proven through numerous studies, Students who have strong literacy skills in their native language will learn English faster.  Therefore, instead of being English exclusive, we took an English inclusive approach with the BM department.

The contest was launched during morning assembly two weeks ago. Students got encouraged by chanting, "I love Ramadhan and I love to read." Years 1-3 were informed 10 books will be placed in the book basket. The books were an even mixture of BM and English. This was an attempt to increase accessibility and so far it is working like a gem. On Thursdays, the class monitor must return the basket to the library and Sunday a new basket with fresh titles are loaned.  A weekly cycle of the baskets allows T. Salma to monitor book condition as well gauge popularity. Not to mention, it gives fresh titles to the pupils which increases the chances of attracting even the pickiest of readers. 

Another feature of the programme is story time. During the beloved month of Ramadhan, since the canteen is closed many people had some extra time on their hands. This was a great opportunity to feed those hungry young minds with books and stories. I read, "Captain Bear" one week and "Underground " and "The Lion is King" the next. As a diehard Chicago Bears fan, it was easy to infuse excitement in a riveting story about an eco-superhero bear. We had great fun learning new words and putting actions to verbs whenever possible. As an additional benefit, students were able to record the story we read together as a title read for the SKBA Book Contest.  

The programme has increased participation in the existing Nilam programme by 30% for students years 1-3. Some students have neither interest nor the funds to purchase a Nilam book for RM1.50; however, in the spirit of inclusion they get free SKBA Book Contest form so they too can participate and have a chance at winning in a prize in the two month long contest. The month of Ramadhan saw an increase readership in Arabic (the Quran), BM and English for Years 1-3 at SKBA. Keep up the good work Teacher Salma!    

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.

–Maya Angelou

Hari Raya surprise from SK Pa'Pura

Just another day at the office in SK Pa'Pura, or was it?

All of the ladies were doing such a great job in their school based language development workshop, especially Kak Zainun, who was doing so well and gaining more confidence in her English language skills by the minute. 

The course material is not the easiest, on the contrary it's actually quite challenging, but these MTP's are constantly pushing themselves and rising to the challenge. No matter what I throw their way, they always seem to step up and show me their stuff.

Well yesterday they had a pleasant surprise for me, these wonderful teachers presented me with a special gift as an early Hari Raya present, it was so cool of them and an example of how sweet they truly are.

Thank you ladies, you all are awesome!!!! A++