![writing.jpg](https://www.carmelss.edu.hk/buddingwriters/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/writing-678x381.jpg)
Home reading tasks
Write a letter to your former teacher about your life in Carmel.
Dear Miss Leung,
How are you? I am doing fine here at Carmel Secondary School. The teachers and students are all very nice so I am already starting to fit into secondary school life. I think in secondary school, there are a lot more rules and we have to be more obedient in order to stay out of trouble. I hope I won’t break any school rules. The amount of homework is not that much right now so I can have more free time to do whatever I like. I have already made some good friends but I hope to make more and more friends in the future. There are a lot more subjects here too, most of them are interesting subjects but more subjects equals to more tests and exams!!!
Even with all the interesting and exciting things happening here, I will never forget my primary school teachers and classmates.
Yours truly,
Janice Lee
How can I learn English better?
How can I learn English better? That’s a good question. There are many different types of skills or methods to help us learn English better, for example: reading, writing, listening and speaking. These four language skills are the most useful skills for me. Reading English books can help you learn grammar and how to use a word for example “A piece of cake” can be explained as a piece of cake or very easy, so reading can help my English get better. Next, writing. Writing can be a pain for some people but not for me because I like it and I always know what I want to write, therefore, I write many passages and my English gets better. It’s like a cycle. If you write more, your English will improve, when you improve, you will want to write more because you know how to write and your English will improve again and so on. This is a really good habit. There’s also listening. I love to watch English television, it might be a bad habit if you got controlled by the television, but if you plan your time, it’s actually a good habit. Lastly – speaking. After listening, try speaking and saying words clearly, that way, you will get high marks in oral exams and have a good pronunciation too.
These are my most useful methods for helping me learn English better. What are some of your methods?
How to…..?
April Fools’ Day is a wonderful day to have some fun joking and tricking others but sometimes, you can’t think of any good jokes to play on others. Don’t worry, just be creative and I ‘m sure you’ll think of something. Anyway, here are some good jokes I would like to share.
In the first joke, you will need a sheet of paper and a thick felt tip pen. First, you write the word “ DANGER” on one side of the paper and write “ Thanks for your attention” on the other side. Then, place the paper on the ground with the word “DANGER” facing up. Finally, move away from the paper and see who picks it up. Also, watch the people’s reactions when they know they were fooled. It would be so funny!
In the second joke you will need some 1or2 dollar coins and some glue. Glue the coins to the ground and press firmly to make sure they stick well. After that, move away from the coins and watch greedy people try picking them up. NO matter how hard they try, they still can’t pick it up!
Lastly, in the third joke, you will need your classmates eraser and a broken off pencil lead. Push the pencil lead into your classmates eraser but make sure to leave a tiny bit sticking out. Put the eraser back into your classmate’s pencil case and watch your classmate trying to rub something off. It will be really funny when the more they try to rub off, the scribbles there will be in their book.
So these are three of my wonderful and hilarious jokes. One thing I would like to point out is that, remember tricking someone is a fun thing but if you hurt someone’s feelings, it’s a bad thing. Don’t hurt anyone’s feelings and remember to have fun!
A picture at the window
I walked into my room. As I sat down, I took a peek at the window and my eyes lit up. It was such a beautiful sight!
A golden sun hung above the big blue sky, it shone golden rays on the land and everything seemed to sparkle. A few fluffy white clouds floated in the sky and it formed such funny shapes. Below the clouds were mountains covered with flowers of different colours. It seemed as though the rainbow gave its colour to them, it looked amazing. A flock of birds fluttered by, making the scenery not only beautiful but lively too!
Later that day, I looked outside again. It was totally different in a good way.
The sky was dark but light in it made it glow. The glowing moon let out its moonbeam as it hung in the sky and stars sparkled like diamonds making a romantic sight. Suddenly out of nowhere, a group of firebugs buzzed in my eyesight. The little lights on their backs looked like watery eyes blinking at me. I really wanted to reach out my hand and catch one.
This window shows natural and beautiful sights, so charming too. I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.
A book that has made me think
This book is called “ Reach for the Stars.” It is a story about a girl, Abby Hayes and how she wanted to fulfill her dream. Abby wanted to become the star of her school drama, Peter Pan. She worked very hard, practicing her role, rehearsing and taking singing and acting lessons from her brainy and perfect elder sister. Even though she worked as hard as she could, she didn’t get the leading role. Actually, she didn’t even got a role. She was the narrator who didn’t get to go on stage for more than a few minutes. She felt really disappointed with this. But her teachers assigned her to do something else, to re-write the whole Peter Pan script. Abby who loved writing agreed without a second thought. Later, on the stage, her teachers dug her on stage to introduce her, the girl who re-wrote the entire script herself. All the audience cheered and clapped for her. She was the star in the end after all.
In this book, I really liked Abby who tried her best to reach her dreams. She worked hard and practiced, her spirit is one thing I liked very much.
Abby wanted to become a star in the drama, having a leading role, that’s her goal. Later she didn’t get the role but became a star in another way. But is this the star she wanted to be? It is two different things, one is the star of the show and the other is just because she did something special, she became a star. I’m not sure whether she has really reached her goal.
After I’ve read this book, I’ve learnt to never give up my dreams. I’ve got a pretty impossible dream but I’ll do anything to fulfill it. From this day on, I’ll prepare myself for any chances to reach my dreams, to reach my stars!
A story
Once upon a time, in a land called Dreamland, there was a little cottage, inside lived two girls, Kathy and Janice, They were twin sisters and they looked so alike that no one would tell them apart! In school, they had to wear name-tags because their teachers couldn’t tell them apart. Even though they looked alike, their personalities were very different. Kathy was a sweet and kind girl. She had a kind heart and she always helped others. Janice was just the opposite, she was mean and evil and she hated her sister, Kathy very much.
Of course, since Janice was so mean, nobody liked her, in school, her teacher Miss Lee always yelled at her, but she didn’t care, in her mind, there was only one thing she cared about and it was getting rid of her sister. One day, Janice sat on her bed and tried to think of a plan, she sat and sat. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea! She made a couple of preparations and started to get rid of Kathy!
“Kathy, Kathy! Oh what shall we do? The monsters from Nightmareland are coming here. They said that they have to take a pair of twins away!” Janice screamed in her most scared voice. “What should we do?” Kathy asked. “Of course we have to run away from Dreamland! But we can’t go together, it would be easier to be found, so I’ll go along the streets and through the Rainbow Town while you can go into the forest below Mistysky. Then, after a few weeks, we can come back to our cottage,” she said in her most intelligent voice. She added a sweet smile too, to make her look innocent. “That’s an amazing plan!” she said and she left in a hurry. “Yes,” Janice chanted quietly, “now she’s going into the forest where I have ordered three monsters to attack her, she’ll surely die!” “Ha! Ha! Ha!”
Kathy ran into the forest panting with fear. She didn’t know where to go. Suddenly, a creepy voice rang into her ears, giant footsteps were coming closer and closer. Kathy could feel that there were more than one creepy thing coming her way. She quickly hid behind a bush and silently watched. Three gigantic monsters thumped towards her, she held her breath, the monsters stopped beside her, Kathy was just about to be found when it started to rain and the monsters ran away. Monsters hated rain, rain made them clean and monsters hated clean. Kathy sighed with relief, she was saved by the rain.
Janice was very pleased with herself. She started to clear Kathy’s thing, thinking she must be dead at that time. She was throwing out Kathy’s things when she saw a piece of writing about herself. Janice took it with interest, what did Kathy think of me anyway? Janice started to read the writings, tears welled up in her eyes, and she was so touched. Kathy wrote that she loves her sister very much and cares about her. The whole writings are about their sister relationship and love between them. Janice cried and cried. “What have I done? I killed my own sister who loves me dearly. I don’t deserve to live at all!” “Wait! There may still be a chance that Kathy is still alive, I have to go and find her.”
Janice went into the forest to rescue her sister. She passed through the waterfall where water splashed all over her, but she didn’t care one bit. She kept on running all over the places to find her sister but she couldn’t find her. She was exhausted and fell down onto the grass. “Janice? Is that you?” A voice said behind Janice. Janice looked up and saw her sister, Kathy. Janice jumped up and hugged her sister tightly. “I’m glad you’re still alive. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.” “Why are you sorry?” Kathy asked. “Um…..it’s a long story, I’ll tell you when we get home, you must be exhausted,” Janice said and took her sister’s hand and they went back home.
After that, they both were kind-hearted and they lived happily ever after.
The End