Sharing Hobbies

In previous lesson, we have learnt the way to make new friends. Also, we know that telling and asking hobbies of others is a good way to develop better friendship. In this lesson, we are going to learn how to share hobbies with others.

First of all, why share hobbies? We already know that hobby is an activity that one does during free time. Although hobbies such as collecting stamp and taking care a pet can be done alone, sometimes hobbies require more than one person to make it works, for example playing badminton or chess. Therefore, it is important to share hobby with one another so that the activity can be carried out. Nevertheless, a good relationship between you and your friends can be developed through the activity done together.

Besides getting more friends through sharing hobbies, it can help you to utilise the time when you hangout with your friends. When it is raining outside and you cannot go out to play, you can always take out your collection and share it with friends. For example, you can show your friends your stamps from Malaysia, China, India and many other countries. It is even better if you can tell them about the people and places in those countries. Sometimes, there are pictures of flowers, birds and insects on the stamps. You can ask your friends if they can tell what is the name of object in each picture. Moreover, you can trade stamps with friends who collect stamps too if you have extra copies.

How about sharing hobbies through internet? Sometimes your friends or cousins might be not around you but you can contact them through email. The example below shows you how to send your friends or cousins an e-mail about your hobby. Try it!

Exercise 3: New Friends

Arrange and write. Put a full stop (.).

1. jogs around My father the park
________________________________

2. She keeps in an aquarium her fish
________________________________

3. in the jungle are camping The boys
________________________________

4. her stamps in an album She keeps
________________________________

5. when cycling a helmet He puts on
________________________________

6. likes collecting My brother coins and stamps
________________________________

7. Look for a picture and cut it out of a lion
________________________________

8. every I play badminton evening with my friends
________________________________

9. Rosli paints and dries them sun the vases in the
________________________________

10. some flour, salt You need and two eggs
________________________________


Answers:
1. My father jogs around the park.
2. She keeps her fish in an aquarium.
3. The boys are camping in the jungle.
4. She keeps her stamps in an album.
5. He puts on a helmet when cycling.
6. My brother likes collecting coins and stamps.
7. Look for a picture of a lion and cut it out.
8. I play badminton with my friends every evening.
9. Rosli paints the vases and dries them in the sun.
10. You need some flour, salt and two eggs. 

New Friends

Hi everyone. We have learnt to behave politely when we are talking with other people. Today, we are going to learn about introducing yourself and making friends. Your are in primary school now and I hope you are making a lot of new friends. In future, friends could be the one that are closest to you. 

Now, how do you make introduction when you meet new people? Firstly, remember to say your name. Then, followed by some basic information about yourself. And then end it with some polite greetings. For examples:

Hi, my name is Joshua. I am nine years old. It is nice to meet you.
Hi, my name is Siew Ting. I am nine years old too. It is great knowing you.

So if you and your new friend get along pretty well, you can start new conversation with other topics. It is preferably to talk about matters that can help to understand each other better, such as hobbies. By discussing hobbies, people tend to find their similarities and develop a better friendship. Before you get to know hobbies of others, firstly you need to know yourself better.

What is hobby? It can be defined as an activity that is done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure. Examples of hobby are collecting stamp, keeping cats and playing badminton. So what do you do when you have free time? Do you play sports or take care of your pets? One often has more than one hobby to keep their life interesting. I hope you know what is your hobby now. Let’s learn to talk about hobbies and ask others about their hobbies.

Hello. My name is Peter. I am nine years old. My hobby is keeping pets. I like keeping cats and rabbits. How about you? What is your hobby?


Hi there. My name is Richard. I am nine years old too. My hobby is collecting things. I like collecting stamps, coins and key rings. 


This is my friend, Shella.
Her hobby is playing games.
She likes playing badminton, netball and chess.



How is the conversation? Do you get the idea now? Practice more between your friends to talk about hobbies. When you meet new friends next time, remember to ask them about their hobbies too.

Polite and Good Manner Videos

Some videos that I came across yesterday and thought you all might love them. The first one is sung by Goofy Gophers and Marvin the Martian in one of the Looney Tunes Show's episode. It is hilarious especially when they sung:

Tosh: We were dining Thursday night, the waiter set our plates just right.

Tosh: We were so very impressed, we knitted him a sweater vest!
Mac: When out car ran out of gas, the tow truck driver got there fast.
Mac: He fill our tank with no delay, we took him to a broadway play!

The second one is more to a children friendly song. It is sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with lyrics promoting honesty, kindness, sharing and respect. Enjoy listening!

Exercise 2: Good Manner

Read the dialogue below.

Angela : Hello, may I speak to Melissa, please?
Ronnie : I am sorry, she is not in. She has gone to the library. May I know who’s speaking, please?
Angela : I am Angela, her classmate.
Ronnie : Would you like to leave a message, Angela?
Angela : Yes, thank you. Please tell her to bring her badminton racquet to school tomorrow. I will bring the shuttlecocks. We must be in T-shirts and track bottoms. Oh, I almost forgot. Please remind her to bring her English grammar book too. I’d like to borrow it.
Ronnie : All right. i’ll pass her the message.
Angela : Thank you.
Ronnie : You’re welcome.


Now use the information given to complete the message.

Melissa,
        Your classmate, (1)________________, called while you were at the library. She reminds you to bring your (2)_________________ to school tomorrow. She will bring (3)_________________. You must wear your T-shirt and (4)_________________. Angela also asks you to bring your (5)__________________. She wants to borrow it.
                                                                                                       Ronnie


Answers:
1. Melissa
2. badminton racquet
3. the shuttlecocks
4. track bottoms
5. English grammar book

Exercise 1: Be Polite

What should you say if these incidents happen? Choose your answer from a to h and fill into 1 to 8.

a. Please close the door.
b. May I use your ruler?
c. I like your new bag.
d. Please help me carry these balls.
e. May I go to Amy’s house?
f. May I borrow your book?
g. I am sorry.
h. Please bring some pencils to school.

1. You want to ask your sister to close the door.

2. You want to ask permission to go to a friend’s house.

3. You want to ask your friend to carry some balls.

4. You want to ask your friend to bring some pencils to school.

5. You stepped on your friend’s foot.

6. You like your friend’s new bag.

7. You want to use your friend’s ruler.

8. You want to borrow your friend’s book.

Answers:
1. a          5. g
2. e          6. c
3. d          7. b
4. h          8. f

Class Activity: Corners

This is a fun activity to play before starting the class. I love doing it.

First, set a theme for the game. In this example, I choose to design each corner of the classroom with the polite and manner theme. There are four corners in the classroom so I put the polite words “Please”, “Sorry”, “Thank You”, and “Excuse Me” in each of them. Then, the students and teacher all gather in the center. Refer to the picture below to understand better.

Now, let the game begins. The teacher has to close his/her eyes. When the teacher says “Go!” and starts to count from 1 to 5 or 10, the students run to any of the four corners. While the teachers eyes are closed, the teacher chooses a corner, for example “Thank You”. The students who are at the “Thank You” corner are all out. This is the end of first round. 

Start the second round with the same process (the teacher says go, then chooses a corner, and then eliminates the students). Continue this process until only one student is left standing. The ultimate winner is this student, or if everyone is eliminated (possible if the teacher picks a corner with all students standing in it), then teacher is the winner.

To make game more interesting, teachers can try to call out a word or phrases related to the corners instead of simply saying the name of the corner. For example, teacher asks, “I say this when I received a gift from my parents. What did I say?”. The students should answer with the correct answer which is thank you in this example. Then, the students who stand in the “Thank You” corner are eliminated.

Try this game in the class, it is fun!

Good Manner

Before this, we learnt about polite words. Do you still remember them? Read the article below and try to fill in the blanks with the most appropriate polite words.

Before the assembly, teacher Sue was looking for someone to help her to arrange the chairs. “Kamal and Rashid, (1) ______ help me to arrange the chairs. ”said teacher Sue. “Sure, teacher. ” said the boys. When they were arranging, Kamal accidentally stepped on Rashid. “Ouch!”Rashid yelled. Kamal quickly said, “I’m (2) ______.” Rashid replied, “It’s okay, I’m alright.” They continued to arrange the chairs and it was done in fifteen minutes. “Well done boys, (3) _______ so much. ” said teacher Sue. The boys smiled and said, “You’re most (4) _________, teacher.”

Answers: (1) please (2) sorry (3) thank you (4) welcome

Very well, you surely know how to deal with people politely now, don’t you? Now, what if you need something from someone but he or she is not around? Do you know how to leave a proper message on a paper? Let’s see the example below.

Marcus teacher’s birthday is tomorrow. He is going to organise a party for her. He goes to Macy’s house to ask her to bring some cakes, buns, fruits and drinks to school. However, she is not at home. Therefore, Marcus leaves a message and asks Macy’s mother to pass to Macy when she get home. The message is shown in the picture over here.

As you can see, the message must at least have two names. One is yours (author) and another one is the receiving party’s name(s). The message should be short and simple but understandable. Firstly, write the name of who are you addressing to, then the message, and end it with your own name. You can use nickname too if the person who gets the message know who is it. Although you are not talking to people directly, but do use polite words when you are writing a message. Do you understand now? Give yourself a try with the exercise below.


Tomorrow is your first day to school. You want to remind your best friend, Beverly, to bring some pencils, pens, rulers and erasers to school. However, she is not at home when you arrive at her house. Therefore, you have to leave a message and pass to her through her father.

Write a message to Beverly. Ask her to bring some pencils, pens, rulers and erasers to school.

How was the exercise? Easy isn't it? Remember, always use the magic words: please, thank you, may I, sorry and you're welcome when you are talking with people directly or indirectly. That’s all for today, see you!