The Upcoming Midterms

On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 until Friday, October 2, 2015 (except for weekends), we, the grade 9 students, will have to recall all those lessons we learned in classes for all the subjects we have. We will have our first midterm exams for the school year 2015-2016.

For the first week, our dismissal time will be as usual, 2.45 PM, and as for the second week we will be dismissed early at 12.30 PM so we will have more time to study for the exam on the next day, although we will continue our lessons as usual on the last day of the exams. The exams on the first week will be the not-so-complicated subjects such as PE, art, ICT, and music. Class 9A will start the exams earlier than 9B, they will have their PE test on Tuesday, September 22, 2015, and 9B will start their exams one day later. Although on the first week, there will be a one day break on Thursday, September 24, 2015, since there will be Eid al-Adha (or Idul Adha in Indonesian).

After the midterm exam ends, we will have to attend school on Saturday, October 3, 2015, because there will be an open house, and we will use Monday schedule and we will be dismissed as usual. In exchange for our hard work to study for the exams, we will then have our midterm break on October 5, 2015 – October 12, 2015 and we will resume our class on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.

By: Tamara

Thrills and Chills

This is our 2nd blog for the semester. So far our activities in EFL class have been so-so and there was no thrills. We occasionally talked with each other in between classworks and that's where we found thrills. Sometimes our teacher Mr.MB would also join the chat and chat with us. He said that if we speak in Bahasa Indonesia in his class, the said person would have to bring martabak to class and that was thrilling. Another thrill is that Mr.MB asks each student to write, define and use a word in a sentence, called Word For The Day. We usually crack jokes around with the words. We also have fun when we discuss our classwork where we would either laugh at funny answers or joke around with the answers. Sometimes instead of discussing answers we just talk about irrelevant topics which usually irks Mr.MB. Recently we just had a quiz and we had the chance to talk about each of our answers.

Sometimes Mr.MB would pair us up and we would end up chatting instead of finishing the work itself, which you can say is a habit of us. Everytime we talk, it's always fun. But (there's always a but), sometimes when we talked too loud or we did not complete our task, Mr.MB would redirect us and  that's when we know he's being serious. There isn't really a lot of thrills in the activities itself actually. Well I guess that's because none of us that's what we get in EFL. Nevertheless, I'm grateful that I'm in EFL.

I hope we will have more activities that would make the class more fun/thrilling. Perhaps one way is to discuss or read the new novel that we got because we are excited to read it since we have gotten it. That is all for this, thank you for reading and see you next time!

By: Bastian

Our Activities So Far..

            During the first day, our teacher told us to write an essay about last school year which included our comments, likes and dislikes, and our expectations. So far our activities have been simple. Small things such as making essay about last school year, our expectations, doing worksheet about grammar, discussing in groups of  two or three about what we thought of the word “island”.

            Supposed, we worked in pairs, but since one of our friends left, we became 7, and we were uneven. Bastian worked with Robin; Vianca worked with Tamara; and the rest, who were Elvira, Grace and Thea, worked together. We made a mind map about what we thought about the word “island” and then, we presented it in front of the class.

            Next, EFL Grade 9 was given a lecture about our first topic which was skimming and scanning. In our first topic, Mr. MB taught us the definitions, examples, criteria, how to use it, the functions of skimming and scanning. Then, he gave us a simple oral example, where we should answer the questions from a link that he presented using his laptop. In the next meeting, he gave us a small piece of paper for a pop quiz about skimming and scanning. For those who really understood the topic, they could answer them easily.

            Throughout the works we had finished, we learned something useful. Like in our first topic which is skimming and scanning, we learned that whenever we are given short passages or article, as especially when we are in college, we should try to use those methods. Even though we had limited time, we would still be able to understand the main idea of the text.

            So far, the first three weeks have been great. We enjoy every single meeting. We expect interesting new lessons and an assuring teacher, so that we will enjoy being in the EFL class forever without any burdens.

 

By: Tamara, Thea, Bastian

Speech Fest 2015

On April 30th 2015, Sekolah Mentari Grand Surya had an English Speech Fest. The theme was about the "Youth of Today". The Grade 8, they made their own speech to be shared. Meanwhile, the Grade 7 acted their declamation that was printed.

The speech was divided into two batches; the first and the second. The first batch was held in the morning at 9:30 am, while the second batch was on the afternoon at 12:30 pm. Both of the batches were from the EFL and ESL and was held in the auditorium.There were 53 performers. In the first batch, there were 26 performers, and 27 performers in the second batch. The order of the performance was like zebra, which were by turns; grade 8, then grade 7, until the show ended. The grade 8 dressed formally, while the grade 7 dressed according to their declamation. 

The teachers invited the grade 6 and grade 5 to score each of the performance.The host was Mr. Josh. But before the show starts, we sang our national anthem; Indonesia Raya, that was lead by Calista from grade 8. 

The speech that we made were mostly based on our life experiences, that we were able to feel it while performing. The grade 7 acted according to their declamation and we could enjoy it, even though a few of them didn't memorize well. 

We practiced a month before the show. During the show, some of the performer forgot their line, but it ended well and the teachers were satisfied. The speech and declamation were interesting and fun. 

By: Shania, Tamara, Thea and Bastian

Junior High Talkshow

On Friday, February 27, 2015, we had a small talk show in our school. The name of the talk show is Mentari Book Review 2015. It’s not just a talk show, we also had a little performance or “Intermission” for each segment. Each class has their own hosts.

The Grade 8 had their talk show earlier in the morning and the Grade 7 had theirs later in the afternoon. It began with the ESL Class (English Second Language). They reviewed the novel “The Holes”. The host was Reynaldi and Grecia.

Then, continued by EFL Class (English First Language). This time, they were talking about “The Kite Runner” novel. And the hosts were different too. Their were: Bastian and Vianca.

Both class talked about the characters, plot and the whole analysis of the novel, and each segment had its own intermission number as mentioned. Right after that, it’s done and we resumed our normal classes.

            Around 1:15 PM, grade 7 started the talkshow. It began with the intermission or the performance by Kishella and Mr Josh where she sang the song “ Let it Be” and was accompanied by the guitar played by Mr. Josh. It ended well, because the audience also sang along.

            Then, as usual, it started b the ESL Class. The hosts are Alan and Tanezia. The grade 7 was discussing about the novel “ Journey to Jo’ Burg” by Beverly Naidoo. It seems that the audience were really interested with the plot of the story.

            After the last intermission, the EFL Class proceeded with. The book they were conversing about “ The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne”. The hosts for the EFL Class were Pheobe and Adzra. After the talk, the show finally ended at 14:20 PM.

By: Bastian,Tamara, Shania, Thea