Math trick. Fun math thinking activity.

Class 5-8 was given a "test" to see how united they were as a class. They were asked to take out their calculator and key in any digit they want.

After sensing their "brainwave", I can feel that all pupils are keying in different numbers.
No matter, I decided to ask them to do some computation so that their end result is the same.

You can try it too~ Here's how. You will need a calculator for this.

Step 1) Key in any digit number you want. It doesn't matter if its a very big digit like 99999 or small digit like 1.

Step 2)Times the value by 2.

Step 3) Add 8 to your new value.

Step 4) Divide the result by 2.

Step 5) Subtract the original number from this new value you just accquired.

Your answer should be 4!
Congrats. You are one with class 5-8.

Mr Xie.

One interesting use of the calculator.

Some students of 5-8 keyed this into their calculator today. I thought it was interesting and nice, making use of numbers and letters to form the word. Hence, I decided to post this picture up~


If you still don't get it, it is "Mr Xie"; which happens to be my surname. Thanks!

Mr Xie.

Synthesis Transformation.

The main task of class 5-8 for today is to convert direct speech to reported speech or as we know it, indirect speech. This is a revision for them and I was shocked that many pupils came up and asked me how to do it.

To change a direct speech to indirect/reported speech, there are a few "rules" that you must obey.
For instance, if it's a present tense, you must change it to a past tense and if it's a past tense, you must change it to a perfect tense, vice versa.

Another thing to note is if it says "today", one must change it to "that day", if it's "this", change to "that", if it's "you", change to "me", etc...

There's actually a piece of paper that class 5-8 have that contains the information of words to change. I think that that I should photocopy it and post it here if anyone lost it.

In the meantime, check out the video of direct and indirect speech.




Mr Xie.

Subordinate Clause.

Today, class 5-8 learnt all about subordinate clauses and connectors.

What are subordinate clause and connectors?
An example of a sentence involving subordinate and main clause is;
Rainforests are disappearing fast because of the destruction made by mankind.

The main clause in this case is "Rainforests are disappearing fast." It is a main clause as it can be a sentence on its own.

Now try reading the rest of the sentence without the main clause.
"Of the destruction made by mankind." It sounds wierd right? There seems to be another information either in front or behind this sentence and it doesn't soound like a complete sentence. Hence, it's known as a subordinate clause.

What is a connector then?
A connector is a word/words that join the two sentences together. Words such as because, hence, therefore, in order to, consequently, so, so that, etc...

After which, pupils are shown a story involving a mystery.


They were trapped in this crimson room and the only way to get out is to find out the clues of the hidden 3 categories of subordinate clauses.

Pupils of class 5-8, do you still remember what the 3 categories are? I certainly hope so.
Here's the diagram again to help re-freshen your memory. :| Again....

I hope that this lesson was informative to them although it seems like a game at first glance. I had spent many hours polishing and attaching the pictures to make it a semi-interactive game for them.

Hope they have enjoyed all English lessons I conducted so far.

Mr Xie.

Height, base and area of triangle.

Finally a new blog post for those who waited patiently. (I'm itching to post as well).

Class 5-8 learnt how to identify the height, base as well as finding the area of triangle.
Wait... isn't this 5-8, my english class? So how come I'm teaching mathematics?

It seems like class 5-8 is going too fast for English. The whole 5A workbook is nearly completed! Hence, the "long break" from English for 5-8 students.
Okay, back to today's lesson about triangles.

To us adults, identifying the base and height seems very obvious once we look at the diagram. However, pupils tend to be confused and this is a tricky concept to explain. If one can't "see" where the base is, it is very hard to explain.

So how can I teach effectively to the students? After thinking it through, I realised that a way to find out the base and height easily is to use a common ruler. Use a marker and draw the same thing as I did as shown below.


Now, you have a self-made a height/base identifier tool. How do you use it?
If the diagram tells you base, use the line on the ruler to match the base first. The perpendicular line will then be the height of the triangle at it's highest point.

I hope this "mini-tool' will help students to identify the base and height more easily. It's good because you can bring this into exams! :)

After which, pupils are being taught how to find the area of triangle.
The formula for area of triangle is base x height divide by 2. Or half-base times height. OR....

It all means the same thing! They are then "transformed" into detectives and are to find out the murderer which involves finding the area of triangle room. Hope the pupils have fun into this mini-detective game I created.

Tommorrow will be another English lesson. There's another mystery for pupils to engage in. Hopefully, it works and pupils are engaged in it.

Mr Xie.

Word Power

Class 5-8 learnt about word power for today's lesson. So, what is word power?
It is actually choosing certain words, and by fitting these words into a normal sentence, you can "modify" the sentence to make it more positively or negatively.

For example, "The magician vanished."
We could change it to "The powerful magician vanished completely" to become a more positive sentence.

Or

We could change it to "The evil-looking sorcerer vanished without a trace." to become a more negative sentence.

As you have seen from the example above, you noticed that I have changed the word magician into sorcerer. The meaning is somewhat the same and when we can change some of the words in a sentence to another word, yet retaining its meaning.,it is also known as synonyms.
Synonyms are different words, but they retain the same meaning. Some examples of synonyms are, 'beautiful', 'gorgeous', which both mean the same thing, "pretty".

Here's a video clip from sesame street, teaching you what synonyms are.



Pupils should be able to use this "word power" to make their composition or an exposition text more interesting from now on. I hope. =|

Mr Xie.

Save the Pandas!

Class 5-8 learnt about the characteristics of Pandas as well as how we can save them from extinction. Here's a short clip about "saving pandas".



After students read the passage, we played a small activity called hot-seating.
A student was picked randomly and invited to seat at the front of the class. (in this case, he's Daniel). He is then "transformed" into a panda expert and pupils are free to ask him any questions they liked. During this lesson, I "controlled" the questions by only limiting students to ask relevant information that can be found in the text.

If there is enough time, maybe I could let the class ask any questions they want, so long as they know how to keep their volumes down and not get too excited...

Sidenote: A lot of pupils asked me for another detective case again. (It's hard to generate a good story okay?) Hmmmz...I better start cracking my brains now. Any good ideas from class 5-8?

Mr Xie.