G-xpress: May 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

hand crafts: Nursery Rhymes

Incy Wincy spider climbed up the water spout

down came the rain and washed the spider out

out came the sun and dried up all the rain

and the incy wincy spider..

climbed up the spout again.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

all the king's horses, and all the king's men

couldn't put Humpty, together again

Hickory, Dickory Dock

The mouse ran up the clock

the clock struck one, the mouse ran down...

Hickory, dickory, dock.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Displays and Boards 7: ANIMALS MENAGERIE

Fluffy Floppy

The Aviary

Fishbowl Fun

Catty Hats

Look at the Puzzles we made!

ANIMAL PUZZLES

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Boards and Displays 6: SPRINGTIME

Springtime in FS RED 1

Butterflies ...fluttering by...

Friendship Chains

The Food FS red 1 love

Boards and Displays 5: THE SEASIDE

Postcards and sandcastles by FS 1Red

Free painting of the sea creatures and objects

Seaside activity area

Boards and Displays 4: A DAY IN SAFA PARK

Safa Park Adventure Picture Collage

A day in Safa Park.... Teddy Bear Picnic with Foundation 1, Star International School

Boards and Displays 3: WATER TRANSPORTS

Folded Paper Sailboats

FS Red 1 Free Painting of Water transports

Boards and Displays 2: AIR TRANSPORTS

Hot Air Balloons (Paper Mache')

Rocket Ships from Scraps (water bottles)

Paper Aeroplanes on display

FS Red 1 Free Paintings of Air transports

Boards and Displays 1: LAND TRANSPORTS

Foundation 1 Red Express

Models of transports from scraps

FS REd 1 free paintings on road transportation

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THE FIRST TIME I TRIED TO WRITE an essay, my third grade teacher returned it to me , her normally serene face furrowing in a mixture of consternation and annoyance: “ This isn’t an essay, Gee” she announced in her deceptively soft voice, “ can you do something to turn it into one?” One eyebrow shot up, signaling that she wants it to be done. Pronto. No arguments.

Not that I would have argued. She was right. No one can call a one-sentence piece an essay. The incident struck a deep chord in me, primarily because that was the first time a teacher chastised me. Since then, I resolved to submit only written works that I can be proud of.

As I struggled to improve my craft, I encountered loads of obstacles, mostly streaming from the rigors of language use. But I was lucky. I had a constant inspiration who prodded me to go on , beef up and polish my work: MY FATHER. My late father, Mr Sixto B. Jacome was a prolific writer himself. He was - in every sense of the word- a bookworm . To call him a “fountain of ideas” is an understatement, it would be more apt to dub him as “waterfall of ideas”

My journey towards becoming a real writer kicked off though, when I was selected as the representative of our school in an essay writing contest. I won but it was an empty victory because I submitted a memorized piece. When I did not make it in the regional levels with the same piece, I uttered a deep sigh of relief. Oddly, the failure left me with a feeling of tranquility and silent joy, such refreshing thoughts compared to the guilt of gaining a title which left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The experience did not sour my eagerness to dabble into the world of creative writing. Reading my father’s works egged me to try on several methods and techniques to refine any written work I accomplished, be it a simple haiku or a full-length novel. Having brilliant Communication Arts teachers in highschool and in college facilitated my journey. Having a diary also helped a lot.

Soon, writing became one of the activities I can never do without. It became a source of relaxation, an avenue for expression and an arena for release of tension. It didn’t take much to keep my ballpoint pen rolling. Even the simplest and normally unnoticeable objects can stimulate my motor nerves to flex my fingers….to make my palm itch…. to write.

When my father passed away in 1994, it was as if my writing spirit was maimed. It was only the thought that he would never have wanted to see my disfigured spirit that jabbed me awake to carry on the beautiful legacy that he sowed in me and so I wrote one of the most painful and difficult reflections : “ON DEATH”.
It was largely due to my father that I resolved to impart to my students the therapeutic value of writing. And so, even as I’m not teaching Communication Arts, I have always made it a point to know what’s on my student’s minds thru their essays, poems and other literary works. This mission included encouraging my students to appreciate literary gems written by some of the masters and other contemporary writers.