Few Days Away: Seminar on Dyslexia Screening in UP

University of the Philippines, College of Education's Reading Education Area, and in cooperation with the Philippine Dyslexia Foundation will present a Seminar- Workshop on "Dyslexia Screening For K-3" on May 10, 2008, 8:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M., at the Benitez Theatre, College of Education U.P. Diliman Q.C.

.......Topics/Speakers:

• What is Dyslexia? Dina Ocampo Ph.D
• What Do We Look Out For? Rhea Jover-Abat
• What Do We Do in the Classroom? Hazelle Preclaro-Ongtengco M.A

REGISTRATION FEE: Php 1,000 (Inclusive of 2 snacks, lunch and handouts)
RESERVATION FEE: Php 200 (non-refundable, deductible)

For more information:
Call or text 0906-4752186 or contact us through our landline 981-8500 loc. 2815. Email at reading.diliman@gmail.com or for reservations, visit Room 200, Reading Education Area, College of Education University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City .

Predators! (Part 2)

by Jakey

Continuation of "Predators" (entry date: March 30, 2008):

Fourth, a predator that uses its hearing ability would be the bats. It also hears echoes so it will not bump into things. It eats only insects.

Fifth, there are predators that trap their prey. To begin with, a humpback whale blows bubbles that trap the fish it would eat. Then, spiders catch small insects by its web. Some makes the web and waits for their dinner to come but some tricks the insects by holding a silk and staying on top of the web. Then when it is near, it drops itself and the silk with it and it will capture the insect.

Last, other predators can trick their prey. For example, there’s Venus flytrap. It has sensitive hair inside it that can trigger the flytrap easily. Next, the adder uses its tail to trick the lizard. The adder has a tail that looks like a small worm so the lizard thinks it is food. When the lizard tries to eat the “little worm,” the adder will pop out and eat it. Last but not least, the angler fish has a part in the body which looks like a worm. When the prey is near the “bait” then it pulls the fish into its mouth--Eew!

These predators are unique in their abilities. I think that you should not have these animals as pets.

I hope you like reading it. But I have a question for you: What predator did you like most?

My Commentary on Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"

by Raphael

The imagery of the poem paints a very detailed picture. In stanza two, lines three and four, describes the dark surrounding the character is in. The author of the poem had a good play of words. The poem had alliteration in every stanza. For example, in the first stanza, the letter W for whose and woods, H for his and house, lastly T for think and though. The poem also has personification, like in the line “My little horse must think it queer”, the horse is being personified. Personification is attributing human traits to animals or things. These aspects help the poem by giving an image to the reader so he could understand more about the poem.

The stanzas of the poem were well organized and were based on the order of events. This makes the reader visualize the sequence of the happenings. The rhyme structure of the poem is aaba except the last the stanza which has aaaa, gives more fun on reading. The stanzas have a rhyme pattern which makes the poem catchy. The poem has four stanzas composed of quatrains and each line has eight syllables. Each stanza’s length is long enough to show the idea clearly. If it was too short it will be hard to get the idea.

The theme of the poem is about keeping promises. The traveler in the poem had two choices either to stay in the woods and relax or to keep his promises and continue traveling to his destination. The traveler, not thinking for his pleasure, chose to continue his journey and keep his promises. Today, people should honor their word. It is important because if you stood by your way people will trust you more because you are known as a responsible person.

The content of the poem made more of an impact to me than the way it was written. Also the traveler’s decision affected me. I both disagree and agree in several points of the traveler’s decision. I disagree on the idea of him trespassing because even though no one can witness what he was doing, he should respect another person’s land. Basically trespassing is wrong. Then again, I agree with the fact that he kept his promises for the greater good.

I conclude that the whole poem was constructed well. It has a good structure that could hold a powerful content. It is one thing that I recommend for everyone to read.

Raphael continues to train for his swimming meets. He is currently taking lessons in Latin and brushing up with his Filipino as well.

The Holidays

By Patrick

Last December, I visited my grandparents. It was the time when I celebrated Christmas and New Year at home with my family. On Christmas day, I played MARVEL in PlayStation 2 with my big brother. The main evil characters in the game are Galactuce, Dr. Doom and the Frost Giant. The Superheroes that we teamed up are Spider-man, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, The Thing, and the Silver Surfer.

I received seven gifts in all. The best gift was chocolate. I got different kinds but the one I liked the most was the white chocolate from Hershey’s. After Christmas, we visited our lolo and lola, and they gave us P500 each. At the family gathering, Anna and I sang a High School Musical song entitled “The Start of Something New.” At my grandparent’s farm there is a pool but they have no animals there. It is located in Lucban, Quezon.

On New Year’s Eve, we ate dinner then slept until 12 midnight. At midnight, we had fireworks and then we ate again. The craziest firework was the Dragon’s Wheel of Fortune. It kept on spinning while it sparked and hissed. It was shaped like an octagon, having eight sides.

I think that my holiday was great and my hope for the New Year is that everybody will be good.

Patrick's interest range from Pokemon to Yugioh to High School Musical. He likewise takes Taekwondo classes and would like to polish his skills in golf.

FIRE IN THE EAGLE NEST

By Isak

In the year 1111122222333334444555666778899102030405, 3 clones were in a facility of HUNK & Co. Their names are Dak, Daksis and Dakaria. They were created by the use of the genes of Metal Boss. They were given each a power of the Metal Boss: Dak was given super human mimicking ability, Daksis was given teleportation and was a medium, and Dakaria has invisibility and super human strength. Metal Boss was a soldier whose past is unknown. All they know about him is that he is immortal. They say he is a clone himself. They were created to fight the death Warlordians who eat anything even themselves.

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Dak and Daksis died in battle against the Warlordians. If you see the bodies of those soldiers, you’ll think even the large DarkadakaHaka a monster that lives in the planet Dafaranian can’t defeat the Warlordians. Now it is up to Dakaria to save the 30,000,000,000 galaxies from the Warlordians, and avenge his brother’s death. His first planet to save was Dafaranian--that’s where the Darkadakahaka lives. The enemy there was Gorkatorks, a veteran in the wars and he serves as the nemesis of Dakaria. Dakaria saved all of the 30,000,000,000 galaxies but now it’s time for him to defeat the Warlordians. They live in a barren world and their main food supply is the Rakmorweans. There in the planet lives 50% of all the Warlordian commanders. Five hundred soldiers went there but three only returned. Dakaria planned a bombardment of all troops from Hunk &co, the military, and the GGS, Global Government Security. The plan was a success and the commanders of the Warlordians were captured and were interrogated personally by Dakaria.

This output is taken from Isak's vivid imagination coupled with inspirations from his favorite, Star Wars. He looks forward to comments, questions, and suggestions with regards to his original works.

The Whipping Boy: an Outstanding Story

By Gabe K.

The Whipping Boy was written by Sid Fleischman. The story happened somewhere in Europe probably in the Middle Ages maybe after the fall of Constantinople. The main characters are Jemmy, and Prince Horace. Jemmy was a rat-catcher who was taken from the streets and forced to become the Whipping Boy. Prince Horace was a bad prince who made pranks that made Jemmy get whipped every time. The other characters are Hold-Your-Nose-Billy and his partner in crime, Cutwater, Betsy and Captain Nips Hold-Your-Nose-Billy was the one who would stop the people in the highway while Cutwater took the loot. Betsy is a gypsy girl who entertains people with her pet bear. Captain Nips sells hot potatoes.

The story began during a great feast when the Prince tied the wigs of the guests on their chairs. The king got angry. He called the Whipping Boy and gave him twenty lashes but he did not scream or beg for mercy. The prince was not pleased because Jemmy was not screaming at all. The prince always misbehaved during classes and he never learned to read or write. But Jemmy learned to read, write and add. And because of Prince’s behavior, Jemmy would always get whipped.

My favorite part of the story is when the rats attacked the two bandits because it was hilarious. My favorite character is Captain Nips. He is a kind person who will always lend a helping hand. I think it was an interesting story and it teaches you a lot of lessons. One lesson I learned was think of others before yourself, like for example when Jemmy helped the prince try to escape instead of thinking of himself. Another lesson is to help strangers who are in need. I think the author is a good one because he taught us lessons, and the story was amazing. I would recommend everyone to read this book because it is definitely an outstanding book!