Catch Us If You Can - Sample Questions and Answers

For those who will be sitting for the SPM examination next week, here are some sample questions and answers based on the novel Catch Us If You Can.... I hope these samples will be helpful in your last minute preparation for the battle next week.  I have analysed past years papers and hope one of these questions or anything related will be tested. Please click here to download the samples.

Literature Practice - Form 4

I have compiled two sets of questions based on the poems He Had Such Quiet eyes and In the Midst of Hardship. It can help our students to understand the poems much better. It is easier for the students to understand the poems when there is drilling our different types of questions rather than explaining over and over again the content of the poem. Please click here to download the questions and here to download the answers ... Unfortunately I am still working on the Form 5 poems...once I have tested them with my students I will definitely share them here.....

please drop by to say thank you...If you find this to be helpful.......

MICELT and MELTA Conference Materials

 Champion
Tan Sri wira Abdul Rahman Arshad Debate Championship National Level,
Sibu Sarawak. ( 18 - 22 September 2014) 

Hi, it has been a long time that I did not post anything here....I have been very busy since after  the Raya Break. What have I been doing you may ask, too many things actually  that I can't really post here yet....but I can tell you that right after the Raya break I attended two conferences and right after that I was busy with the marking of PT3 and SPM trial papers.  I was also training my dearest students for the Tan Sri Wira Abdul Rahman Arshad Cup -  mind you it was a national level debate competition. The good news is we won!!! YES!!! we won the nationals for the first time...It was our determination, hardwork as well as God's blessings. By the way as  promised I would like to share the materials I used for my presentations at MELTA and MICELT conferences last month. Please feel free to download them. Please click here to download the powerpoint. Next am planning to present in an International Conference in Hong Kong somewhere in 2015 ..Hopefully I will reach there.....

Here are the ways to use MTVs in your lessons : 

a) First you need to get the right video so that your students can understand the content. Please make sure the video does not contain any sexual explicit materials and it goes along with your scheme of work and syllabus. 

b) Next you need to plan how you are going to go about your lesson using the video. If you are just showing them the video and asking them to write an essay based on the video right, its just not going to work. You need to plan some activities related to the video to ensure your students understand the content. 

c) Prepare task sheets. your task sheets can be simple questions related to the video. You can ask your students to rearrange the sequence of the video which is in written form.  You can also create information transfer kind of activities based on the video you want to show them, while watching the video you can ask them to complete the chart by transferring information from the video.

d) If you are to choose a music video, make sure  you choose a video which has a story.   When the MTV has a storyline it will be easier for you to teach your students to write a composition based on the video. 

here is an example of an MTV : 

MELTA and MICELT MATERIALS 2014

Hello all, I know that I promised to all those who came to my session that I will upload my materials here as soon as possible,... I'm so sorry for not uploading them yet.....I will uploAd the materials as soon as I'm done with things that I am being busy with yea....sorry for the inconvenience caused...

Regards, 

Mohana 

What have I been doing?

It has been quite sometime I did not post anything on this blog and I did not know that I have some readers  who are quietly following me. They mailed me asking what had happened. Well, these people have really made my day...well here is the answer..............This year has been quite a tough year for me, personally and professionally. My job at school has become very demanding and I am in the midst of doing my dissertation. On top of that I have been attending state level courses and conducting district level courses. Right now I have my plate overloaded and hopefully I can cope with it. Well, the one thing that puts a smile on my face is definitely the APC which I received recently for the second time. I received my first APC in 2007 and after a short break it came on my way again. Besides, I have received my CPT results recently and it was to my satisfaction (C1).I am definitely thankful for all the blessings. This week I will be presenting at MELTA Conference in Kuching.....hope everything goes well...I will share it here once am back from Kuching. I have also received a good news two days ago... I am not going to share about it yet....Will share it once everything is confirmed....

MH17

My prayers for all the passengers who travelled in MH17....may your  souls rest in peace.,,I have no words to console any of the families...losing a family member is painful but losing them in such a tragedy is unacceptable and the wounds will be there forever in our memories....my heart felt condolence to the families of those who perished in this tragedy...

PT3 - English Sample Instrument

I think it is not too late to share the sample instrument here...Happy trying dear students

PT3 English Sample Instrument

Innovative Teacher Competition 2014

My mighty wheels of English was again presented  during the Perak State level Innovative Teacher Competition 2014. I have made a few changes to the wheels to improvise it and to make it more presentable. I have also brought examples of lessons that utilised the use of Mighty Wheels of English. I was very elated when the innovation finally earned a bronze award.

Happy Wesak Day

We Are Back With Fire Ready to Roar Louder!

Champion
Kinta Utara District Level Debate Championship 2014  

Champion
Perak State Debate Championship 2014 

After going through gruelling rounds, my debate team has finally made it to the National Debate Championship which will be held in June 2014. It was not an easy win for us as we went through so much of struggle in the process to reach to the top. They had to stay back, skip classes and also sacrifice their tuition classes which made their teachers and parents very unhappy. After winning the debate, all was forgotten and they felt the sacrifices that they have made, worth it. It was not a journey of bed of roses for them being in the debate team. Although MGS was known as a premier school, the debate team has never actually made it to anywhere in debate and this is the first time we are going for the Nationals. I should congratulate the girls for their efforts. They were deemed as underdogs before this and the whole wide world now knows that MGS girls know what debate is and nobody is going to look down at us anymore. After going through the pain and humiliation of losing in the first round to a lame school last year, we came back with a fire and defeated all the other premier schools in Kinta Utara District ( Mind you! our zon is known as the killer zone which consists of all the premiers schools). Now the last challenge is the Nationals, I do not know what will happen....but may the best team wins. I will continue to guide the girls and motivate them to do their best. My advice to them is go without any expectations and do your bests, the rest of it will be taken care of by the supreme power up there... so do not forget your prayers girls...now let's get ready for the Tan Sri Datuk Wira Abdul Rahman Arshad Debate Championship 2014.

MELTA@ASIATEFL

My proposal has been accepted by the Asiatefl Conference proposal review committee. I was very excited when I received the notification two days ago. I am looking forward to meeting old friends and  colleagues as well as making new friends during the conference.

Sample Test Paper ( Form 3)

I have done a sample test paper for the form 3 students based on the ELSA format. I do not know whether the format will be used in the coming PT3. I do not have the idea on how to test my students in the mid - year examination so I have decided to just proceed with the ELSA format. It will be a 2 - hour test consisting error identification, reading and answering questions based on linear and non - linear texts ( no objective questions like PMR), and also two writing tasks, an informal letter and a narrative. Please click here to download the sample  and  if there are any other  samples please do share as there's  no reference books yet and we are all in the dark. I hope we can share the test papers that we construct based on the ELSA format so that we can have materials in abundance. By the way I have been offered to write a reference book on the ELSA format  and will be working on it very soon. If everything goes well it will be published by August...waiting for the green light from the editor....

Workshop on Teaching of Creative Writing

It has been a hell of a year since the beginning that I barely have time to update this blog. What am I busy with??? Countless things that I can't mention here as all of it are deemed 'confidential'. Finally I am taking sometime to sit and update on one of the many things that I did recently.

I was invited to give a talk on teaching of creative writing to a group of TESOL students in USM. It was a very exciting workshop as I got to meet many young, vibrant and energetic future academicians who do not have any worries on how their lives as teachers going to be like in the future. I have to thank Dr. Tan Eng Kok for inviting me to give this talk,  as she was very much impressed with my presentation during the MICELT 2013 conference. She complimented me till I blushed. 

The workshop was held in the Main Campus in USM, Penang. The students were very attentive throughout the workshop and participated actively in all the activities that I have prepared for them. I introduced myself and gave them some reflections on my teaching career which had begun 11 years ago. I shared my teaching materials and ideas with them and gave them tips on the do's and don'ts. I hope that my workshop has given them some insights and challenges in the teaching profession which they may  have not known. I hope through my workshop they have got some ideas that will be useful during their practicum which will be helpful.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

English Language Skills Acquisition (ELSA)

We are aware that the PMR examination has been replaced with School Based Assessment since 2012 and the first batch of the students has gone through two arduous years doing PBS assessments for all the subjects in school. Now the time has come for them to sit for the Centralised Assessment or known as 'Pentaksiran Pusat'. Most of us has been in the dark on how this assessment is going to be especially for the English language. I hope the information that is shared will shed some lights at the end of the tunnel.......

It is known as  English Language Skills Acquisition (ELSA)

There will be three papers:

ELSA 1 - Paper 1 (Reading and Writing)
ELSA 2 - Paper 2 (Speaking)
ELSA 3 - Paper 3 (Listening)

Paper 1 (Reading and Writing)

The paper one consists of 4 sections as followed :

Section A – Error identification of a text -Identify and edit grammatical errors in a short written text
Section B – Comprehension -Non-linear text of about 150 – 200 words -Short response answers
Section C – Comprehension -Linear text of about 300 words
Section D – Writing -Two parts – Short and long writing tasks

For section D paper 1 there will be short and long writing tasks :

               i ) Short writing task in about 100 words. Write in response to a stimulus

              ii)  Long writing tasks in about 150 – 200 words .Based on a given stimulus in the form of  
                    recount, speech, article, letter, etc.

Total marks
Section A – 20 marks
Section B – 20 marks
Section C – 15 marks
Section D – 45 marks (15 from short task, 30 from long task)

Duration – 2 hours


 Paper 2 (Speaking)

The paper 2 consists 2 sections as stated below :

Section A – Reading Aloud -Students will read from a contextualised reading text (about 200 words).
Section B – Spoken Interaction -Students will engage in interactions with two assessors from
                     different schools

Total marks
Section A – 10 marks
Section B – 20 marks

Duration – 10 minutes for each candidate, will take place in several sessions for groups of students.


Paper 3 (Listening)

The paper 3 consists of 2 sections as followed
Section A – Multiple-Choice Questions -Listen to recorded text twice -3-option or 4-option MCQ
Section B – Limited Response -Listen to extended recorded texts twice -10 limited response 
                   questions

Total marks
Section A – 10 marks
Section B – 10 marks

Duration – 30 minutes

 Some other information that we may need to know are :

•  For all papers, the contents, the questions, structure are 'fluid'. It is flexible and may change from year to year. This is due to restrict publishers to come up with workbooks, or predictions to what may come out for the assessment.
•  For this year, the HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) items are included, but not many, due to soft-landing the current Form 3 students into the new format. Over years, the number will increase.
•  summary and literature components will not be included in the papers. But it does not mean we do not need to teach the students, since these items are assessed in School Assessment (Pentaksiran Sekolah).
•  The assessors for speaking will be from different schools.
•  It was informed that written assessment will take place in October, while oral/aural   assessment will take place in August.
•  Each paper is marked on its own. the marks will not be added together, averaged, or presented  in the form of percentage. It will be represent by Grade A to E.

That's all for now. This info is subject to change since we all know that the current school based assessment are being revamped and new ideas or formats may be introduced, so just wait for the updates.....for now we have something to focus on after groping in the dark for the past two years.....

* If this is confirmed I will upload the samples that I have made for all the 3 components for

   teachers and students to download. I have actually done the sample papers but I think it is too

   soon to be shared here...keep your fingers crossed!!!!!

Gone too soon......

Never in my wildest dreams had I ever  thought that you would leave so sudden. I thought you were here to stay till the completion of the book of my life but you were just a chapter of the story left without even completing your chapter leaving behind the 'me' to continue the rest of the chapters without you to be there to support, to encourage, to cheer up and to 'laugh out loud' with me. Now, I have to  move on  without the one and only best friend whom I had a brotherly bond, cherishing the happy and rainy days we went through together for the past decade. You are the one 'friend' whom I had in my life and where would I go to look for a replacement ?

The news that I wished was never true came to my knowledge on the 16th February at 9.15a.m.  made me like a lost child snivelled and stuttered in sobs making it impossible for my family members to understand what I was saying. I bemoaned in tears and sobbed at the devastating news that you met with an accident and was gone forever.......I cried, I cried my eyes out day and night, and hoped and prayed for the news to be false.......the incessant phone calls, text messages and facebook statuses proved otherwise ....shouts...condolences.....and sobs were everywhere.....realisation dawned upon me that the news was indeed true......without even having a second thought I decided to embark my next unexpected journey to Kuching ....throughout the journey I could not take my mind off from the thoughts of you....When I reached the arrival hall at Kuching International Airport, tears rolled down my cheeks...you promised to pick me up from the airport whenever I go to Kuching but you were not there.....When I reached your house in Serian I had no words to console your parents and brother who were thanking me profusely for taking you to India for our self - discovery cum relaxing holidays...... I was speechless....All I could do was to hug them and cry....I  knew no words can cure the heart-wrecking pain inflicted to them .....

On the next day, I put a brave front to 'meet' you for the last time, but upon reaching the parish hall, it faded. When I saw a brown coffin, the erratic thumping of my heart was driving me into deep bereavement, tears rolled down my cheek uncontrollably as I walked towards the catafalque, there I was facing the moment of truth..... I saw you lying as if you were sleeping peacefully....My heart dropped...I could not control my tears and wailed......but I knew no matter how I cried, nothing was going to change and  I had to accept the fact that you are in a better place and watching us...you are an angel now....

It has been more than a week now, I don't receive your morning messages anymore......It is quite difficult for me to adjust to a life without your existence.....I remember our happy days in Bintulu, when people used to call us 'kopi - susu'......now the 'susu' is no more and left the 'kopi' alone... I will learn to move on  with all the happy and cheerful memories that I had with a happy - go - lucky  Jimmy. Live goes on but the difference that you made in me will definitely remind me of you for the next every day of my life. You are the 'bestest' best friend I have ever had and no one can ever take your place. It is quite difficult to get used to a life without a friend who believed in me, motivated me, cared for me and  shared the same birthday with me, but I will move on ...how long will it take only 'father time' can decide..... Rest in peace dear, you are an angel now.....

What Resolution means to us?

The year 2014 had kicked off majestically 3 days ago. Through facebook profiles I saw confessions and resolutions made by most of us for the year 2014. I was questioned by few mates about my resolutions and I simply said I am not making any this year and going to go with the flow. Well, I have made resolutions in previous  years and some of them were not even accomplished . I would just like to remind everyone around me that making resolutions out of excitement at the beginning of the year is a norm but when it comes to working for it how many of us have really looked back at our resolutions in the middle or at the end of the year, some of us will just forget about it after the first month of the year and towards the end of the year will be making another resolution and by then the resolutions made before will be forgotten. hahahaah......whether we like it or not this happens to most of us.... 

Thus, for the year 2014, I have decided not to make any new resolutions but to complete all my incompleted missions started last year and the year before . I hope this year will be a blessed year for all of us.I will try to upload interesting stuffs more frequently this year and I hope I can spend less time watching tv......hehehehe

Happy New Year Everyone.....