Akeelah The Bee

      Being a teacher or being in a teaching profession is not my long day dream; it just happened like that which I believe I am fated to be here in this field. I had never enjoyed neither learning English nor Teaching English until I step into teaching college. I only realized the fun of English when I started to learn literature. The very first thing I heard is ‘To study literature, you must have a third eye; An eye to see the meaning beyond the lines.’ This really inspired me and that is why I am still here. From small, I have been taught to learn or study only by looking at books but for the first time in life, I learnt to study using movies in English classes. Akeelah the Bee is one of the most inspiring ones. The movie was not just entertaining carries good lessons and values.

            As a B. Ed student especially as a TESL student, i am really affected by this movie as I realize how poor I am in vocabularies. The words they spelled and pronounced sounds like a new language to me. Thus, encouraging me to read more and get familiarize with these words because from here, I can improve myself better. I have participated in choral speaking when I was in primary school and when I watched Akeelah the bee, Dr. Larabee’s charater actually reflected a few teachers of mine in my school days. I had problems in pronouncing some words and I had to walk up and down the three story building to the teacher’s room to learn the pronunciations. In other words, this movie really carried me back to my old days.

           

          Fear is the step to ones failure. I learnt how to face trouble and not to fear of anything. Akeelah at first denied joining spelling bee contest because of fear but later with the encouragement from teachers and friends, she managed to win. Positive thinking is another good value that I have discovered from this movie. When you think something positive, the negative will not come to you as you are prone of the good. If you fear, it means you are prone to lose. In conclusion, I think this movie is really beneficial for everyone at any age group.

Tutorial 1 (The Hare and The Tortoise)

Children’s stories are nice to read and and impressive expecially when someone who is good at story telling tells us the story with correct pronounciation, intonation, voice and expression. Stories heard like this sometimes can never be forgotten. Some of them are Cinderella, Jack and Bean Stalk, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. One of the most interesting story among  the best is The Hare and The Tortoise. This is because of several reasons such as the storyline, the way the story is written, portrayal of characters and relevance of this story among children.

First is the story line. The Hare and The Tortoise is a simple story with only a few characters which are the Hare, the Tortoise and few other animals in the jungle. The story begins with a hare boasting around that there is no one in this world could run faster than her. One day, it laughed at a tortoise’s capability at running and made the tortoise felt very irritated. The tortoise then called the hare for a race and the hare laughed even more looking at the slow dragging tortoise. Finally, a race is arranged and both hare and tortoise got ready. The hare run fast very far once the race begins but the tortoise have just moved a few steps. After some time, the hare stopped and looked back for the tortoise and looking at the tortoise dragging herself slowly, the hare thought it could take some rest under a tree while waiting for the tortoise to come. Without realizing, it felt asleep and the tortoise walked slowly and steadily overtaking the hare. The moment the hare opens it’s eyes coming back from it’s nap, the tortoise is almost there at the winning line. The hare tried to chase the tortoise and win the race but it was too late and it lost to the tortoise. The story ends with the tortoise smiled at the hare saying ‘Slowly does it everytime’.

This story is written using simple language with simple tenses and short sentences to ease the children’s reading. The setting of this place is only one which is the jungle and only two important characters, the Hare and the Tortoise. These elements become lively with the use of colourful images in all pages. Next is the portrayal of the hare’s and the tortoise’s character. The hare is portrayed as a boastful animal who can run faster than anyone else could in the jungle. The hare also portrays a character that likes to tease and irritate other animals. The tortoise is portrayed as a patient and slow moving animal. It is a victim of the boasting hare. The tortoise also portrays a brave character by challenging the hare for a race.

Finally is the relevance of this story for kids. I think this story will take place in kids heart because they are not allowed to do most of the things such as switch on the light or lit fire on a candle because they are small and still young. So, this story will be a motivation for the kids that they are also capable of doing anything that is possible. Besides, it also gives a good lesson to the kids and to the adults as well that never ever under-estimate at someone who is smaller in size or lack in ability. Since children like victory, they’ll assume themselves as the tortoise and will develop a character of being brave, patient and humble. In conclusion, The Hare and The Tortoise carries a lot of good values which are applicable in everyone’s life and it is a good choice for children’s reading.

EDWINA the EMU & The GRUFFALO

Childhood life is remarkable as that is the time one learns and live with happy things. One of those happy things is Children Stories. They are not just stories but carries good values and motivation for not only children but also for the adults as well. Unlike young adult stories, children stories are short, simple, rhyming, colourful and easily understood. Sheena Knowles’s Edwina The Emu and Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo are two good examples of children stories among the good ones.

Edwina The Emu is a story of two Emus who were Edwina, the female Emu and the male, Edward. They were very close and Edwina laid ten eggs. This made Edwina had to go to look out for a job to sustain her family and placed her husband to take care of her eggs. First, she thought she could become a ballet dancer but she was rejected because of what she is. Then she thought she could become a chimney sweeper but again she was rejected due to the same reason. After then, she taught she become a waiter and a customer whom she attended said he can eat ten eggs at a time and she realised that she best suits to become a mother. Immediately, she flew to her nest and relieved after saw her eggs were save in her husband’s supervision.

I think this story is suitable for not only children but also the adults as well because it has a lot of good values such as hardwork, responsibility and love. The way the story is written in such a polite way with colorful illustrations will definitely attract reader’s attention. Furthermore, rhyming sentences and simple structure will surely make the one to comprehend the story easily.

The Gruffalo is a story of a mouse’s cunningness. When first it met fox, the mouse said that there is an animal who eats roasted fox and when asked who is the animal, the mouse named it The Gruffalo. Secondly, it met owl and said The Gruffalo loves to eat Owl when asked what is a Gruffalo, the mouse described it with ugly and strange frightening features. Then, the escaped from the owl same as how she escaped from the fox. As the mouse was walking, it met with a snake by a lakeside. Again, slickness of the mouse is seen when it escaped from the snake by saying that the Gruffalo likes to eat scrambled snake. Finally, an unexpected twist in this story as the fantasy animal came real in front of the mouse. Immediately the mouse said that everyone in the jungle is afraid of it. To prove that, the mouse make the Gruffalo to follow it. As they walk, all those three animals that it met showed signs of afraidness when they saw the mouse come with the Gruffalo. Finally, the mouse again escaped from the Gruffalo as well with its intelligence.

I think this story is suitable for all age group because it explains survival skills. Eventhough element of telling lies is everywhere in this story, it gives a lesson that lies are told to protect oneself. The way this story is written is nice with simple language and colourful pictures. These helps to develop imagination in one’s mind and helps to understand this story better. Kids will love this story because they will be motivated when someone like them (mouse) can win over anything big (Fox, Owl, Snake and Gruffalo).