English Literature - The Young Warriors

The Young Warriors is a Jamaican novel by author Victor Stafford Reid, published in 1967.

Five teenage boys, members of a band of Maroons (runaway slaves in Jamaica during the 19th to early 20th century) living in the Maroon community of Mountain Top, pass their village's initiation tests for them to be recognized as young Maroon warriors. However, when they go out into the woods for a celebratory hunt as per their custom, they inadvertently discover that the British Redcoat soldiers, nemeses of the Maroons, are patrolling within the area.

What follows is a daring attempt by two of the boys, Tommy and Johnny, to seek aid from a neighboring Maroon band to prevent the Redcoats from learning Mountain Top's location, a mission that doubles in urgency with every passing hour...

Important Terms:

1. Maroons - Runaway slaves

2. Initiation - cultural rituals toward becoming a man

3. Redcoats - British military

*Themes:

*Mood:

*Summary

1. Describe the mood at the opening of the chapter. 

2. Why did the boys remove the raches as they walked?

3. How can you tell that the boys were proud of their hunt?

1. Explain why Tommy trusted Johnny. 

2. How does the mood change at this point in the chapter?

3. Do you think they felt threatened? Explain. 

February 12, 2023

Fun fact: Most of the world's diamonds come from the African continent. 95% of the world's diamonds and 50% of the gold come from Africa…Happy African Awareness Month! 

Cause & Effect: The relationship between events.  

(E.g) I am allergic to shellfish so I don't eat shrimp. 

(E.g) I was daydreaming about lunchtime so I missed my teacher's instructions.

(E.g) I forgot to walk the dog and now he is restless. 

One cause may have multiple effects. This is where critical thinking comes into play. 

(e.g) Cause - The electricity at my home is off. 

         Effects - I can't iron my clothes

I cannot watch TV

The wifi will not work

The fans will not work  (now I’m sweaty!)

Complete the table: 

Cause	Effect
I stayed up all night watching Rihanna’s performance	Now I am tired
My friend beat me at my favourite game	And I felt upset
I was playing a horror game	so I screamed
I tripped while running down the stairs	causing me to fall
I enjoyed our trip to Italy	now I want to go back there
I love science	So I will become a scientist

Light: What Causes a Rainbow 

Light is a form of energy that we can see. Light moves in a wavy beam from a source to whatever object it meets. A light beam is wavy, but it only moves in one direction as it travels through the air. It cannot bend, turn corners, or go in a circle. It travels in one direction until it hits an object. Not even the strongest wind can cause a light beam to bend. 

Light cannot pass through a solid object. However, light can pass through transparent objects, such as crystal and water. When a light beam hits a transparent object, it keeps going forward, but it slows down. If you look at the place where an object is partly in and partly out of water, it looks like the object bends at the place where it enters the water. This is called “refraction.” 

Sometimes a beam of light from the sun passes through a cloud made up of tiny droplets of water too small to fall as rain. Hitting the water droplets causes the light beam to slow down. If the light beam hits the droplets of just the right size at just the right angle, the light beam appears to split into layers. We see the color beams within the light beam one at a time, in layers. We see layers of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. We see a rainbow 

What is the effect of each cause?

1. A light beam travels toward the earth through a strong wind.

A. The light beam keeps bends as it is blown by the wind.

B. The light beam begins to move in a circle.

C. The light beam continues to move in the same direction.

2. A light beam hits a solid object.

A. Only part of the light beam passes through the object.

B. The light beam cannot pass through the object.

C. The light beam slows down as it passes through the object.

3. A light beam hits water.

A. Only part of the light beam passes through the water.

B. The light beam cannot pass through the water.

C. The light beam slows down as it passes through the water.

4. You see an object partly in and partly out of water.

A. You cannot see the part of the object that is in the water.

B. The object looks like it bends where it enters the water.

C. You see colored light all around the object.

5. Here is a cause: A light beam hits water droplets in just the right way.

What is the effect?

6. Here is a cause: You see the color beams within a light beam one at a time,

in layers.

What is the effect?

(Paragraph Writing) Sub-topic: Describing people 

1. Good descriptive writing includes many vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all of the reader's senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when appropriate. 

Descriptive writing may also paint pictures of the feelings the person, place or thing invokes in the writer.

2. Good descriptive writing often makes use of figurative language such as analogies, similes and metaphors to help paint the picture in the reader's mind.

3. Good descriptive writing uses precise language. Use specific adjectives and nouns and strong action verbs to give life to the picture you are painting in the reader's mind. 

Adjectives for Appearance: Positive

Gorgeous Beautiful Pretty Handsome

Attractive Nice Stunning Good-looking

Adjectives for Appearance: Neutral and Negative

Muscular Strong Slim Short

Tall Fat Thin Obese

Curvy Slender Petite

How to Describe a Person’s Personality

It’s important to learn how to describe someone’s physical features,

but it’s even more important to learn how to describe someone’s perso

nality.

Personalities are complex, making them difficult to put into words. Nonetheless,

there are plenty of great ways to describe someone’s personality and character

traits.

Adjectives for Personality: Positive

Affectionate Ambitious Witty Thoughtful

Brave Bright Sensible Charming

Happy Sincere Sympathetic Open-minded

Compassionate Courageous 

Write a descriptive paragraph of the person you admire. 

When asked about the person I admire in the

universe, I do not look at celebrities or any other

influential names in society. The person

I admire most in the world is my mother.

We all have people whom we consider to be

highly inspirational and influential to look upon, and in

my case, my mother is an excellent example of these

characteristics. She is an extraordinary person in my

life because of her enduring strength that I dearly admire,

and she is also kind as well as supportive. One thing I most

admire about my mother for is her strength, which appears to

be resistant throughout hard times. My mother is a single mother,

and she has managed to raise three children all by herself, providing

us with a good life and education, while still balancing work. For

instance, when my brother and I cleared high school, only one of us

hoped to join college because of our financial situation, but she worked

two jobs to ensure that we enrolled in college. Single mothers across the

globe face financial instability where they are forced to engage in other

strategies to extend income to take care of their family. I hold great admiration

for my mother because of her determination.  My mother has a striking appearance,

but behind this, she is very alluring, admirable, and kind. At first, one can conclude

that she is a blunt and cold person because of her quiet nature, but after knowing her,

she turns out to be a friendly, warm-hearted, gentle, and generous person.

Activity 1: 

https://www.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/Math/Area/Area_of_Composite_Figures_qi2480928bd

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Find the errors. 

1.		They were boring by the film.
2.		After tied up the thief, I called the police.
3.		'Stop cry or I will hit you,' he threatened.
4.		This problem can be solved by control pollution.
5.		I saw a man climbed over the gate.
6.		Alina saw her tried to open the front door.
7.		The gate was not damaged but it was wide opened.
8 .		I saw my neighbor was standing by the door.
9 .		We had a very frightened experience.
10 .		I heard the child screamed.
Sectio 2  1.   Mrs. Wu goes with her daughter to the ballet class each week.                     (A) supervises   (B) guards     (C) accompanies       (D) escorts                   2.   The man who attends to the needs of the passengers is tall and handsome.                     (A) waiter   (B) steward     (C) jockey       (D) attendant                   3.   Although he was convicted, everyone believes he is not guilty.                     (A) innocent   (B) righteous     (C) right       (D) good                   4.   Mrs. Bai did not leave her husband because she did not have the money or income to support herself.                     (A) capability   (B) ability     (C) strength       (D) means                   5.   The workers at the iron mill had to put up with the loud noise all day long.                     (A) endure   (B) support     (C) hear       (D) like                   6.   Mr. Chen takes pride in his vegetables which are just plucked from his garden.                     (A) new       (B) clean     (C) fresh       (D) bright                   7.   Nobody likes Wenjie because he is always blowing his own trumpet.                     (A) boasting       (B) gossiping     (C) quarrelling       (D) playing             8.   Until she goes abroad, Hanis will be working for the time being for her uncle.               (A) timely       (B) temporarily       (C) permanently       (D) continuously             9.   The teacher discouraged us from putting off to another day what we can do today.               (A) canceling       (B) postponing       (C) stopping       (D) continuing             10.   We saw the stranger walk unsteadily down the street in his drunken state..               (A) waddle       (B) amble       (C) stroll       (D) stagger Read the text in ach of the following situations and choose the best meaning for the phrases that are underlined. Selvam woke up bright and early last Saturday. He was in seventh heaven ! First of all, he had just got his O level results. As everyone had expected, he had passed with flying colors. Then came the surprise ! In the garden was a brand new car ! It was a gift from his father. Bursting with pride, Mr Krishnan gazed at the apple of his eye and said, 'Happy birthday, son, and congratulations on your excellent results ! Your mother and I are so proud of you !' 1. in seventh heaven   A utterly discontented   B extremely happy   C amazingly dreamy     D very imaginative     2. had passed with flying colors   A had excelled in Art     B had mediocre grades     C had just scraped through   D had done very well   3. the apple of his eye   A his beloved wife   B his family members     C his favorite child     D his many possessions

1. The image shows  25 smaller equilateral triangles. These triangles have measurements as shown in the diagram. What is the area of one of the smaller equilateral triangles?

2. A triangle has a base length of 14cm. The height is 9cm. Find the area of the triangle. 

3. Wayne is going to paint the side of the house shown in the diagram. What is the area that will be painted? 

March 7, 2023

Warm-up: https://eslvideo.com/quiz.php?id=34117

Understanding Inferences & Context Clues (Making logical & educated guesses)

Context clues are hints found within a sentence, paragraph, or passage that a reader can use to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words.

Imagine that you do not kow the meaning of the highlighted word. Underline the clues in the sentence which provide a hit of the word’s meaning. 

1. The bird dove under the water, and came up a minute later with a fish in its

Mouth.

2. In following with our family tradition, my mother and I go shopping on Christmas Eve every single year.
   
   

3. We have an unexpected visitor. Your uncle just arrived from New York.

4. The results of his experiment seem to contradict the findings of earlier studies.

****************************************************************************************

Each example below has hints within the passage or sentence to help you figure out the meaning of the word. Read each question CAREFULLY and  choose the correct answer. 

1. Speaking rudely to the judges was rash behavior. You really hurt your chances of winning! 

In the above context, what does “rash” mean? 

a. an itchy skin condition

b. Funny

c. trying to hide or disguise a piece of cheese 

d. with little thought or consideration

2. Wherever he goes, the esteemed Dr. Sanchez is applauded for his life saving research. 

What does “esteemed” mean? 

a. held over boiling water 

b. very old 

c. unable to chew gum 

d. greatly admired

3. I believe that if you lower taxes so that people can keep more of the money they earn, it will be an incentive for them to work harder. 

What is the meaning of “incentive”? __________. 

a. a reason to do something

b. a small amount of money 

c. a tax 

d. a good job

4. Removing seeds from cotton plants was a slow job until Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. 

What is a cotton gin?

 a. a drink 

b. a book 

c. a machine 

d. a cloth

Tough Words 

DIRECTIONS: Read the passage. Use an online dictionary if needed to answer the questions. 

Elaine often described herself as thrifty. But “thrifty” was hardly an adequate word to describe her condition. She simply refused to spend any money at all. On anything. She did not eat, unless someone bought a meal to sustain her. She did not repair anything about the house, such that her accommodations had become appalling. And she had been wearing the same clothes for thirty years. Her family did not want to humiliate her by calling attention to her situation, but they did insist that she begin therapy.

1. If something is adequate, is it suitable or enough? 

2. The word sustain has several meaning. Write the one that applies here. 

3. What does appalling mean? 

4. What does humiliate mean? 

5. What are a few examples of therapies? Which do you think might apply to Elaine?

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

I had never encountered an elephant at close quarters until my visit to an elephant relocation center. After observing their behavior and how they interact with their trainers and each other, I think their intelligence is amazing. Elephants are highly intelligent with relatively large, complex and slow-maturing brains. They have reasoning capabilities, can learn skills and have complex emotions experiencing pain, suffering, sadness, depression and grief. They love to wallow in mud and swish their bodies with grainy sand. As their skin is sensitive to the sun, the mud and sand form a sunscreen of sorts, protecting them from the sun's harsh rays. In the cool, clear stream, the elephants exhibit their playful nature spraying water over unsuspecting visitors and lying on their side in the stream. The Elephant Training Center in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, is the headquarters for the Malaysian Elephant Translocation Team set up in 1974. Wild elephants are close to extinction in Malaysia and the team has managed to increase the elephant's population from 500 to 1200 in the past 20 years. In 25 years, they have successfully relocated 400 elephants. At the center, there are five elephants ranging in age from 6 to 50 years old. These 'inmates' are not show animals but working elephants specially trained to assist in translocation projects. The center only keeps and trains female elephants as their temperament is more suitable for translocation work. In Malaysia, the elephant is a symbol of conservation. Due to rampant development, Malaysian virtually impossible for them to roam without encroaching into plantations, estates and villages. In this context, elephants are considered a nuisance. This is where the translocation team comes in. The center is often called to relocate elephants from unwelcome territories to national parks. Wild elephants can be dangerous if threatened. The center's elephants are brought long to give moral support to wild ones who are frightened, angry and confused at being captured and chained. Two working elephants flank a single wild elephant, touching it with their trunk, providing comfort and calm in a slow and delicate process. It may seem cruel to have the elephants in heavy chains but a spokesman says that it is unavoidable. The trip to the national parks may take hours and is very stressful for the elephants. It is imperative that the elephants are moved to their new home as soon as possible as they may die out of despair and hopelessness. Visitors are shown a National Geographic documentary on how translocation is done. The center has two teams with alternating roles. Each month, one team does translocation work while the other remains at the center to handle day-to-day affairs. The staff's dedication is obvious. They are familiar with the principles, mission statement and aspirations for the center. The key word is 'conservation'. But knowledge is crucial to creating awareness, especially among the uneducated general public. Usually, it is not elephants that trespass into human territory. Rather, humans are the ones encroaching into elephant territory. The center has noble goals but lacks ample funds to realize its vision. The objective is clear but the process is slow. We may all have to do what we can to help.
		From paragraph 1 :
	1.	The writer thinks that the elephant's intelligence is amazing. Give two possible reasons why he thinks so.
		From paragraph 2 :
	2.	(a) Who are the 'inmates' at the Elephant Training Center in Kuala Gandah ? (b) What is their specific duty ?
		From paragraph 3 :
	3.	(a) What has led to the reduction of the elephants' natural habitat ? (b) Describe how the trained elephant assist in the translocation process.
		From paragraph 4 :
	4.	We are told that it is imperative to move the elephants to their new home as soon as possible. (a) Why is it so ? (b) What effect will the long trip have on the elephants ?
		From paragraph 5 :
	5.	What is the main obstacle to the center to realize its main vision ? Activity 1:  https://www.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/Math/Word_Problems/Mixed_Math_Word_Problems_co3235037ys Activity 2:  1.  2.  3.  4. What is the value of 4x + 9, when x = 4? 5. What is the value of p in 24 = 2p? 6. Altogether, Sonia and Nia have $27.00. Sonia buys a shirt for $12.35 and  Nia buys a pair of sandals for $10.11. How much money remains? 7.   Tuesday, March 21, 2023 Term Review! Topic 1: Letter Writing Write a letter to a local business in your area requesting donations on behalf of your cricket club.  Paragraph 1: - Itroduce yourself, your role & the purpose Paragraph 2: Say what you want and how it would help Paragraph 3: Say thanks and how they can reach you.  Tuesday, March 28, 2023 Tuesday, March 28, 2023 Use the word in brackets to form a new word that fits into each blank.  1. The _____________________ of the Premier League has been agreed upon by all the managers. (CONTINUE)  2. I am so _____________________ with your report. Surely, you can do better. (SATISFY)  3. Lewis and Clarke were famous _____________________ who explored the Missouri River. (ADVENTURE)  4. The faster you drive the less _____________________ your car becomes. (ECONOMY)  5. The _____________________ lasted for several minutes when the performers came on the stage. (APPLAUD)  6. If they hadn't won the _____________________, they would have had to pay the players less. (CHAMPION)  7. John was a big _____________________ who spent all his money in casinos. (GAMBLE)  8. You should be proud of your _____________________ over the last three years. (ACHIEVE)  9. She always does her homework with great _____________________. (ACCURATE) 10.The city displays a relaxed, _____________________ atmosphere that takes you back in time. (COLONY)  11.It's _____________________ to say that they lost the game because they defended so poorly. (NEED)  12.The books at that shop are so _____________________ even poor people can afford them. (EXPENSIVE)  13.He was the right person to fill the _____________________. (VACANT)  14.The patient has shown a great ____________________ to fight off the disease. (DETERMINE)  15.PCs and tablets are a part of almost all _____________________ in the industrialised world. (HOUSE)  16.A _____________________ of virus strains were found in the water. (VARY) Chapter 16 Do you agree with Chief Phillip that Charlie was brave? Explain How did the Maroons ambush the Redcoats? Chapter 17 Do you agree that Charlie is a hero? Why? Do you like the ending of the novel? Explain. Would you change anything in the novel? Explain.