Hi guys! I am working on an article and I will need a few days to finish it. So, please bear with me for a while and soon, you will have a whole article in front of you! ‘Till next time, toodle pip and cheerio!
p/s: shh!
*Media Source: Google Images*
What is chocolate?
In this piece of writing, I can help you learn a choc-a-lot more about the history of chocolate. Chocolate is a type of sweet dessert that is normally brown, white or black. It is made out of the seeds of the cocoa tree, cocoa butter, sugar, lecithin and vegetable fat. It’s a great, yummy treat for everyone to enjoy. Read on to find out more about how chocolate shaped it’s way to today.
Who invented chocolate?
The first people to discover chocolate were a tribe called the Aztecs. I’m sure that you’ve heard about them before. The Aztecs were a wandering tribe that lived in Northen Mexico. They believed in human sacrifice and that it would keep the sun god alive. As I mentioned earlier, the Aztecs were the ones who invented chocolate. But, their chocolate was in a different form. It wasn’t a block, it was a drink, kinda like hot chocolate. The drink was made out of various seasonings and was mixed with ground cacao seeds to make the finishing product, a spicy, frothy drink which they called chocolatl. I think that we should thank the Aztecs for bringing chocolate into our lives. Without it, we would have died!
Choc-a-lot!
Chocolate comes in many flavours, shapes and sizes. You might have some which are as big as a human, or one that looks like a ball or even mushroom flavoured chocolate! The most common types of chocolate are:
Some other types are:
And many more…
One type of chocolate that I have tasted before had an edible wrapper! How PAWSOME is that!
Famous brands
Like all the chocolate flavours, there is a variety of chocolate brands that are around the world. Some of the leading brands are:
And the one we all know and love…Cadbury! To be honest, I think that Cadbury makes the most astounding chocolate in the world. They make caramel, dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate and heaven knows what else.
There are many other chocolate brands too like:
1. Mast Brothers
2. Antidote Chocolate
3. TCHO Chocolate
4. Fine and Raw
5. Rogue Chocolatiers
6. Raaka Chocolate
And lots more hidden chocolate brands that are waiting to be found…
Remember when Hazel had a chocolate themed day and we came up with our own brands? Here are some of the great ones!
Shoaib named his chocolate ‘Finito’. A nice Spanish name, wouldn’t you say?
Another friend of mine, Norbert, called his chocolate ‘Blue Chooc’. I’m sure that it’s great for watching videos without any buffering so you can eat it straight away!
And Shreya had a company called ‘Saturn’. It’s so good that it’ll lift you off your feet!
Finally, the star of the show, ABUBAR!!! Abubar was made by the CHOCOSOME Abubakar. At first, when I looked at it, I thought that he had missed out the ‘K’ and the ‘A’ in his name. But, then I looked at it for a while and then I was like “Oh!!!” because I finally understood what he meant. It was a very great name though. In fact, it was the best!!!
Roald Dahl and his Chocolate Factory
As you all know, there is a movie about chocolate that is called ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. This movie is based on a book written by the famous author, Roald Dahl. He is my favourite! The movie is about a poor boy that gets to go on a trip to a marvellous chocolate factory. The owner of the factory was a crazy yet wonderful man called Mr Willy Wonka. He could make any type of chocolate in the world! Easter eggs, gummy bears, chocolate balls, you name it! One day, Mr Wonka decided to let five children into his factory but those five children had to find one of the five Golden Tickets that were hidden in five of Wonka’s chocolate bars. Luckily, Charlie, who thought that he would never find one, worked hard to find the last Golden Ticket and in the end, he actually did! The other four children were:
The movie is always featuring different types of chocolate and naughty Oompa Loompas are popping out of nowhere at any time. Sometimes, it kind of annoys me too! If I was Willy Wonka, then I would invent a type of chocolate flavoured chewing gum and if you ate it, then it would make bubble the same size as your tummy inside you and you would float up into the air! It’s perfect for astronaut training on Earth! (laughs like Willy Wonka)
I personally think that the book is better than the movie because it has more detail and you can already picture the story in your head. Another reason is because I have always been a fan of books too. I guess that you can say that I’m a bookworm!
Chocolate & kids
How much chocolate should children be eating? What are the affects of too much sugar and chocolate? Well, I have the answers for you right here. The average amount of chocolate that children should be eating is approximately 1 mini sized bar a day. But why is it so important to make sure that you don’t eat too much sugar? It’s because that kids can get illnesses if they do eat too much. The symptoms may include:
This is why it is important that your child is on the right diet and is eating the right food. Making sure that you are healthy can keep you away from any illnesses.
Heaven on Earth…
There are plenty of landmarks that you can visit around the world where you can find out about the history of chocolate. One of the most famous is Cadbury World, which is in Birmingham, UK. I like to call Cadbury World ‘heaven on earth’. This magnificent place has an adventure playground for kids, a 4D cinema, the world’s biggest Cadbury shop, an Aztec jungle, a chocolate making zone and at the end of your visit, you get free chocolate! So, I’ve got plenty of reasons to call Cadbury World ‘heaven on Earth’. It’s not even heaven on Earth, it’s SIX heavens on Earth!!! I’ve been there myself for more than 5 times and I still can’t get enough of it. They should really appoint me to be the ‘mascot’ of Cadbury World! If any of you pawsome peeps get the chance, go and visit Cadbury World and experience it for yourself!
This is not the choco-end…
If I was a chocolate, then I would be a bar of milk chocolate with a strawberry and caramel filling. On the top of me, I would have a layer of white chocolate sauce with sprinkles in it. There would also be some popping candy and jelly inserted here and there. I would also have a protective shield made out of transparent jelly so that no one could eat me (except me of course)!
I love chocolate, you love chocolate, we love chocolate! Who doesn’t? Kids love it and adults too!! Chocolate has always had a special place in everyone’s heart. Even on Halloween, if we go out Trick or Treating, we always prefer chocolate than candy. When the door opens and the bowl is held out, we always start digging for chocolate first. But, the worst would be using chocolate as a bribe! How can we possibly resist that delicious, smooth, silky chocolate when our parents try to bribe us to do something? There’s no way that we could say no to that. Not fair! Parents should be fined for misusing chocolate against us. At the end of the day, we are just poor, innocent creatures that are always vulnerable to the sight of chocolate!!!
Now, there’s no other way for me to end this article than to repost the song which I recently wrote about my own chocolate brand: Laffy Taffy!
LAFFY TAFFY
(lyrics by The Pawsome Lion)
Laffy Taffy, it’s really yuffy,
It’ll make you laugh all day long.
Laffy Taffy,
Sold it to my mate named Miffy, Gave it to her Grandma Jaffy.
Laffy Taffy, it’s so good,
Some people hide it under their hood.
It’s divine, it’s delicious,
It’s scrumptious not vicious.
It’s twisty, it’s turny,
It’s bendy and curvy.
It’s the Laffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy all day long!
Laffy Laffy, Taffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy…
I may not be Wonka but I can dance to Conga,
Coz J.O’s my brotha from anotha motha.
I may not have Loompas but I do have Toompas.
Try and close my factory down, I’ll make yours tumble to the ground.
I might not be toughy but I’m always laughy.
My Uncle Fun won’t believe it but I needed to achieve it,
Coz it’s Laffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy all night long!
Laffy Laffy, Taffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy…
When Harry met Sally, Choccy met Taffy.
This is no black or white, this is coco loves pinky.
When Barbie hugged Ken, Choccy hugged Taffy.
Let’s not get too warm or else we will melt,
Then all that is left, just a messy puddle,
So it’s Laffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy till it’s dawn!
Laffy Laffy, Taffy Taffy, Laffy Taffy Laffy Taffy…
APPENDIX
Cadbury World (click to watch video)
Chocolate Making (click to watch video)
Reference:
Word Count: 1,590
Bonjour mes amis! Comment allez-vous?
In this post, I am going all out and making a French themed post. Don’t worry, I’ll include a French dictionary at the bottom!
Today, I felt a bit better after my horrible cold. So, I went to school but I still had to stay inside when it was break time. The school day was the same as any other though. I didn’t cough, I didn’t sneeze and there was no problem at all. The lessons were a bit ennuyeuse. But, even though the day wasn’t passionnant, there was something in the afternoon that I couldn’t wait for. It was my next cluster council meeting! How frais is that?
So, after all the school agitation, me and my colleague Nimah set off once again on the bumpy ride. There were about un, deux, trois, quatre…douze bumps throughout the ride. Oh well, as the old saying goes, no pain, no gain! Finally, when we arrived at the academy, we rapidement collected our stickers, went up the stairs and entered the meeting room. At this rate, we knew that there was no time to lanterner. So, we went straight to our groups and started from where we finished off last time. As you might have known, I was in the group that was designing the invitation.
Last time, we drafted the invitation on paper but this time, we did it on the l’ordinateur. The invitation had a noir background with or writing on it. There were also little pictures inserted here and there. I must say though, even though we couldn’t get everything we wanted on there, it still looked authentique and very VIP. After a while, it was time to go. Luckily, we managed to finish our invitation just in time.
When we reached our l’école, me and Nimah rushed back to our classrooms, in fear that we would be the last ones to get out. Fortunately, we made it just in time. Then, everyone went home happily, ready to enjoy the weekends…
p/s: Vous souhaitons agréable week-end! Prendre soin et au revoir! 😉
p/p/s: Sorry for the short post. It’s because Mr Dad is waiting to watch The Apprentice like we do every week!
French Dictionary:
*Media Source: Google Images*
Sawaddee Khrap! Sabai dee mai khrap? 😀
If you’ve read my post last night, then you might have noticed that I had a cold from the sneezing and what not. Today, I was feeling worse, so I had to miss a day of school. I bet everyone in Hazel must be missing me loads! Missing a day of school is like the end of the world for me!! 😦
When I woke up, I had a runny nose, itchy eyes and a nasty cough. I was struggling to get out of bed. Then it hit me!!! If my grandma was here, she would’ve definitely cooked some special food to comfort me. 😦 When it comes to moments like this, I wish that khun yai thi rak khong phom (my beloved grandma) was here to take care of me. It’s the worst feeling ever! 😦
Khun yai thi rak khong phom is originally from Phetchaburi, Thailand. I call her Dadijee/Dadi. She is famous for her “magic touch” in the kitchen! 😉 Whenever she cooks, there will definitely be some love sprinkled onto the food. So, I guarantee that it will be the best food that you will ever eat!! Whenever she’s around, the table will be full of mouth-watering food cooked by her with love. Even Mr Dad’s and Mrs Mom’s friends love her food so much and whenever she leaves, they will be crying their eyes out. 😀 But what to do, because she hates winter so much! It’s going to be a while until we can finally say Sawaddee Khrap to summer!! 🙂
Thanks to khun yai thi rak khong phom, almost everyone in the family inherits her “magic touch”! Khun pu thi rak khong phom (my beloved grandpa) makes the best Milo in the world! Both Dr Auntie and Mr OCD Uncle are very skilled when it comes to cooking traditional Thai food, just like khun yai thi rak khong phom. But, Mrs Mom is a little different. She can take traditional recipes and put a modern twist to them too! Even my Uncle Pawsome is a cook-a-holic! He makes the best fried noodles in the world!! The most skilled cook in the family kitchen is my Auntie Kawaii. She is a professional baker that has supplied cakes for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, etc. Even my pawsome self loves cooking too! I can still remember when I was two and Uncle Pawsome bought me a mini kitchen for my birthday.
Now, back to khun yai thi rak khong phom. I’m being very emotional today due to my illness. I am craving for KHANUM BUA LOI!!! It’s my all time favourite Thai dessert made by khun yai thi rak khong phom. Khanum Bua Loi is a traditional Thai dessert which is tiny rice ball dumplings served in sweet and fragrant coconut milk. Khanum Bua Loi means ‘Floating Lotus’. But my version is different. Because of it’s look, I translated it into the English language as Floating Pearls. Hmm, sounds very appetising. Sometimes, when khun yai thi rak khong phom comes over to visit me, we make Khanum Bua Loi together. And when she’s not here, I make it with Dr. Auntie and no matter who I make it with, it’s great fun. If you pawsome peeps want to make it too, here’s the video for the recipe:
As I was doing my research for Khanum Bua Loi, I came across a folk tale related to this favourite dessert of mine. Once, there was a poor couple who were expecting a baby. The wife wanted to help her husband earn some money, so she started making Khanum Bua Loi to be sold at the Bangkok-Noi Canal. One day, a terrible accident happened and she fell into the canal while rowing her boat. Her husband searched for her for many days until one day, her body was found floating, stuck at the steps of a temple. Then, her body was kept inside the temple. Many people would come and visit her grave to ask for a hint of lottery and lots of people have actually won it. Days later, her body was stolen from her grave and disappeared forever!
Thai Version: Khun Yai Thi Rak Khong Phom
Khun yai thi rak khong phom,
Laew Khanum Bua Loi,
Mai mee khrai thi saamad ca yaek dai,
Si daeng, si lerng, si khiew, si namngen,
Ya lerm si muang duai!
Yai laea khanad lek,
San laea sung,
Khanum wan samlap thuk khon!
Khun yai thi rak khong phom,
Thur pen phuying Thai thi mok som,
Mii marayat thi dii,
Thur pen khun yai thi dii thi sut,
Thur tham ahaan thi dii thi sut,
Thur pen khru soan yoga thi di thi sut duai,
Khun yai thi rak khong phom,
Thur mii khunaphap thii yai dee,
Thii thuk khon mai saamad tanthan,
Thuk khon yak kin ahaan aroi thi yai tham!
Khun yai thi rak khong phom,
Phom rak khun yai maak cing cing nah khrap!!!
English Translation: My Beloved Grandma
My beloved grandma,
And floating lotus,
You can’t separate them,
Red, yellow, green and blue,
Don’t forget the purple too!
Big and small,
Short and tall,
A yummy treat for everyone!
My beloved grandma,
She’s a proper Thai lady,
With good manners,
She’s the best grandma ever,
She makes good food,
She’s a great yoga teacher too!
My beloved grandma,
You’ve got so many good qualities,
That everybody can’t resist,
To take a bite out of your food that so delish!
My beloved grandma,
I love you so much!!!
p/s: Khobkhun maak khun yai thi rak khong phom!
p/p/s: Thank you Mrs Mom for helping to translate my poem to Thai language. Phom rak khun mae maak thi sud nai lok!!
*Media Source: Google Images & Youtube*
Hey guys…aah…aah…TCHOO!!!!! Oops, sorry! I have a little cold which has been bothering me for the last couple of days. Anyway-cough, cough-today was not a very normal school day and that is because of a lot of things. One, I was sneezing and coughing a lot and two, the lessons weren’t like the lessons that we usually have. I’ll tell you all about it. Oh, sorry, wait a minute please! Aah…aah…TCHOO!!!!!
Ahem, now, the first thing that we did was do the register. Then, we went off to our Maths classes. Maths today had a little twist to it. Our topic for Maths was data. Most people already knew about data. They knew the basics like bar charts, line graphs, pictograms and tally charts. But, as I said, the lesson had a little twist. We were going to…EAT CHOCOLATE!!! Aah…TCHOO!!!!! Sniffle, sniffle-sorry! Still can’t stop sneezing! Back to the point now, although we were tasting chocolate, we still had to do some work. But, the work was just filling out a table. The chocolate flavours were:
And the worst of all…dark chocolate! Aah…aah…aah…TCHOO!!!!!
My favourite chocolate was the Milk Creations.
After Maths, we had our Literacy lesson and we were looking at newspapers. We were particularly focusing on articles. Hah, I’ve done about 3 or 4 articles already! Today, we were identifying the features of an article such as the headline, the by-line, the main body and so on. All of us had a little table to fill in. We also had to stick the article on an A3 piece of paper so that we could label it. Then, we went out for a break. Unfortunately, me and another boy called Krish couldn’t go out because we had a cold. That meant that we couldn’t play with our friends and to top that, we couldn’t play football with everyone else! 😦
When everyone came back in, we carried on with our Literacy lesson. Then, it was time for lunch.
For my lunch, I had:
When lunch was over, we had a Learning Together lesson. In our lesson, we were designing our own Aztec Gods! These gods would then be transformed into masks like the Aztecs would wear except this time, we were going to wear it. Aah…aah…TCHOO!!!!! Ugh, sorry again. As I was saying, the Aztec God that I chose was the God of Fire. His name was Falalcholshcoaly (Fa-lal-col-shkol-lee). He had a Fire crown, a Fire cloth wrapped around his body, a Fire snake in one hand and a fireball in the other. The other Gods and Goddesses were pretty good. Some of them had 4 arms, others had long hair and others with unusual faces. After Learning Together was finished, it was home time.
p/s: AAH…AAH…AAH…TCHOOOOOOO!!!!!!
*Media Source: Google Images*
History Day: Smethwick’s Heritage
On Tuesday 24th November, SHP will be celebrating History Day. The aim of the day is for us to understand and celebrate Smethwick’s heritage. To get involved, we have been given homework to interview a family member/member of the community who has lived in Smethwick for a long time. Since I’m a blogger, I thought “What could be a better way to present my findings than to dedicate a whole post to Smethwick?”
We’ve been given 4 sample questions that we could include such as:
Based on those sample questions given, I managed to generate 21 of my own questions for the interview.
My Road to Smethwick
Because I don’t have any family members in Smethwick, I had to find a member of the community that was willing to share their life in Smethwick with me. So, I went out with Mr. Dad on Saturday and started to approach random people. What I did was introduce myself, gave them one of my name cards and explained to them the purpose of the interview. Now, this part was very challenging because most of the people that I approached either said that they are not from Smethwick or that they are simply too busy to spare their time for me.
The first place that I went to was Thimblemill Library. I asked a few people until I came across the affectionate Mr Noble. I managed to complete the whole interview session with him. However, he was only 29 years old and I would love to find out more about Smethwick back in the older days. So, out on the road, I went to my next destination which was Smethwick library. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to find anyone but the good thing was that I found more information about Smethwick and some photos too.
After that, I went back to where I started, Bearwood Road. I visited the butchers but apparently, he was too busy. Fair enough, though, because it’s Saturday. As I stepped out of the butchers, I was feeling down. Little did I know, a miracle was about to happen. When I looked up, ‘Maureens Florist‘ sat in front of me. I entered the shop and there stood my heaven-sent Mrs Collier! She said “Yes” straight away and the interview session went smoothly. I enjoyed every single bit of her story.
Who is Smethwick?
Did you know how Smethwick got it’s name? According to the Smethwick Heritage Centre, it was suggested that the name Smethwick meant “smiths’ place of work”, but a more modern interpretation has implied the name in fact means, “The settlement on the smooth land”. Smethwick was recorded in the Domesday book as Smedeuuich.
As I was doing my research, I found out that there are many notable residents that have lived in Smethwick. Most of these people were born in Smethwick. Some of them are:
I. Sir Charles Douglas Fox (1840 – 1921) He was an English Civil Engineer who was born in Smethwick. Amongst other things, Sir Charles had designed The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.
II. Sydney Francis Barnes (1873 – 1967) He was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest ever bowlers.
III. Ken Wharton (1916 – 1957) He was a British racing driver. In 1957, Wharton was fatally injured when his Ferrari Monza crashed in a sports car race at the Ardmore Circuit in New Zealand.
And many more…
Out of all those notable residents, there was one person that really caught my attention. Personally, I adore her work very much. Remember the 89 individually sculptured owls which have been displayed all over Birmingham? Well, they were sculpted by the one and only Caroline Jariwala! She is a painter, visiting lecturer, exhibitions organiser and community artist. Her experience covers a wide range of art forms, such as illustration, batik, mural and mosaic.
“There is also something magically about mosaic-making with broken, chipped, discarded, rejected and second-hand crockery. Using the unwanted and making it desirable; transforming ‘ugly’ into a thing of ‘beauty’.” -Caroline Jariwala
Not only these, but, there are lots of other great things that make Smethwick a unique place to live in. For example, Smethwick is also famous for it’s architecture, political history, transport history, and many other things. Smethwick is a wonderful place with sensational smells, tastes and sights. But how was it like in the past? Well, you are just about to find out. There were strict teachers that hit children with the cane, it was busy almost every day and there was a smell coming out of the famous Brewery that filled the air. Still, Smethwick was a great place to live in. But lots of things have changed about Smethwick. The teachers are less strict, the Brewery doesn’t exist anymore and we get less homework. But imagine if you could experience how Smethwick was in the 1990‘s or even further back to the 1970’s. Me and the people that I interviewed can help you with that. Here they are!
My Heaven-sent Mrs Collier
Have you ever been to Maureens Florist in Bearwood? If yes, you might have met Mrs Collier. She has been a florist all her life. If you put her and flowers together, you will not be able to break them apart! This is her pawsome Smethwick:
“Hello! My name is Lynn Collier and I am 54 years old. I am married and I have two sons. My family have lived in Smethwick for approximately 60 years now. I am currently working as a florist and have worked as a florist in Northfield, Harborne and Quinton in the past. But, I am proud to be working at Maureens Florist because they have been serving the community of Smethwick for more than 40 years. I have lived in Bearwood, Gladys Road and Galton Road.”
“My primary school was called St Mary’s Primary School and my high school was called Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Senior School. I can still remember how lovely both of them were as if I was there yesterday. When I was 9 years old, the streets of Smethwick were busy almost everyday. And how could I forget the smells of the Brewery at Cape Hill that filled the air. In those days, going to school was really nice. It was safe and we had no worries. The teachers were very strict and there was lots of homework too. Naughty children got the cane but strictness is a good way to help them evolve into well-behaved children. Our uniform was brown and cream coloured with a touch of blue. My favourite subject was art because I love colour! I also liked pottery and history because I like to know about the good old days. One of the best teachers that I can remember is called Mrs Bared. I am actually still in touch with her until today. She was a lovely lady and a great teacher. I couldn’t possibly forget about the school lunch which was absolutely divine. My favourite pudding was called Chocolate Concrete.”
“In the past, there were lots of shops packed with hundreds of items and a range of houses just in front of the shops but now, there are lots of empty shops and houses scattered here and there. Some of the local shops that I remember visiting are Woolworths and my favourite Edward Toy Shop. In our spare time, me and my friends would play outside in the park. And last but not least, if I could keep one thing about Smethwick for the future generation to see, I would definitely keep Lightwoods Park with the old, big house and clock because that is a part of Smethwick’s heritage that we should all preserve!”
My Affectionate Mr. Noble
That was the interview with Mrs Lynn Collier. Now, moving on, the next person that I interviewed was a man called Mr Noble. He is a librarian at Thimblemill Library in Smethwick. Here is what he said in the interview:
“Hello there! I am Richard Noble and I am 29 years old. My dad is from Birmingham and my mum is from North Yorkshire. They met when they were both studying at the University of Liverpool. I have lived in Smethwick for most of my life. I have lived around Bearwood next to Warley Woods and I love it! I have two jobs: one was as an admin assistant for NHS and the other one is Sandwell MBC Library Service. I am also an artist in my spare time. I have worked all across Sandwell and Birmingham.”
“The first school that I went to was called Abbey Junior and Infants School. Later, I went to Warley High School which is now known as Oldbury Academy. Then, I went to Halesowen College, Bourneville College of Art and also Birmingham City University. Smethwick is a nice area, quite cultural and is ethnically diverse even then. When I was 9 years old, I used to have many friends which I am still in touch with until now but some of them have moved away. Back in my days, the teachers were alright. A few were strict and the others were eccentric. In primary school, we wore blue jumpers or cardigans with the school logo in yellow with sensible trousers and shoes. I liked art because I was always creative and I liked history too. I also enjoyed Maths. One of the best teachers in primary school was called Mrs Brown. She was truly inspiring! School in those days were pretty much the same as it is now. The school lunches were quite like the school lunches we have now. It was either packed lunch or school meals. The only difference is what is on the lunch box.”
“When I was a child, I remember visiting lots of shops in Smethwick but my all time favourite would be none other than Woolworths. They had lots of toys and sweets inside their shop. Some of the businesses have come and gone. Even though Smethwick was already ethnically diverse, more groups from different ethnical backgrounds arrived over time. Whenever me and my friends had nothing to do, we would play sports games, play video games, watch tv and watch videos but we didn’t use YouTube, we used VHS. I bet modern kids have no idea what VHS is! I also loved reading. Books have always been my passion. Finally, if I could keep one thing about Smethwick to be in the future, it would be the parklands because they do so much to enhance local residence lives.”
The Grand Finale
That’s the end of Mr Noble’s interview. These two people have been kind enough to give up some of their time to be interviewed, therefore, I would like to give them a big thank you. I really appreciate their stories of Smethwick that they have shared with me.
Having heard the stories of their pawsome life in Smethwick, I wish that I had the time machine from the movie Back to the Future. Maybe I could be McFly and Mr. Dad could be “Doc” and we both could travel back in time. If I can go back to the 1970’s, I wish that I could smell how the air was like at Cape Hill. I could even sit down with Mrs Collier during lunch time at school and enjoy the taste of divine Chocolate Concrete. Perhaps both me and Mrs Collier could spend time together at her favourite Edward Toy Shop. How pawsome would that be. If I could go back to the 1990’s, I will surely join Mr Noble and his friends watching videos on the VHS! (In my dreams…)
I wish that one day, someone could invent the time machine for real because it would be a great and fun way for children to learn if they could travel back in time. They will not just be looking at photos and reading information, they’ll actually be living it! Oh, and a note to the teachers, think of it as a school trip!
Last but not least, sit back and enjoy a poem written by me which is dedicated to Smethwick.
My Pawsome Smethwick
My pawsome Smethwick,
What would I do without it?
It’s great,
Ain’t it, mate?
It’s a county,
In a city,
In a country,
In the world!
At night, everyone’s snuggled up and curled
And when it’s day,
They’ll put France in a beret!
There’s shops galore on one street,
Some of them sell meat
And if you come and they’re all sold out,
Most of you will start to pout!
And all of this is in…
MY PAWSOME SMETHWICK!!! (#No.1)
by: The Pawsome Lion (Sunday, 22nd November 2015)
Here comes the grand finale! I would like to present a video of my PAWSOME Smethwick shot by Mr. Dad. Here it goes!
p/s: I really enjoyed learning about local history and I hope everyone else did too!
p/p/s: Special thanks to Mr Dad for the Pawsome video and a Roarsome thank you to Mrs Mom for always believing in me!!
Word Count: 2,225
Reference:
APPENDIX
Ahoy mateys! Welcome back to another Piece Of Cake with The Pawsome Lion. We are carrying on from the last Piece Of Cake called ‘The Box in the Window’. Read part 2 of the story below to find out what happens next. Happy reading! 😉
“The Box in the Window-Part 2”
All of a sudden, there was a bright, dazzling flash that blinded everyone. Then, dark shadows were swimming out of the box and into the room. An ear-piercing shriek made Elizabeth wince. After that, all the chaos stopped abruptly. Everyone was slumped on the floor. Elizabeth’s head was throbbing.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I’m not sure.” replied her mother.
The shopkeeper butted in, “I’ll tell you what happened.”
Both girls turned round and gazed at the shopkeeper. It was clear that they were interested in what he had to say.
“You have released a dangerous djinn that was resting in that very box.”
He pointed at the box which Elizabeth had opened.
“What do you mean?” questioned Elizabeth.
“A few years ago,” continued the shopkeeper, ignoring what Elizabeth had to say, “I found a strange box hidden in the storeroom. I took it to the till to see what it had inside it. At the same time, an old man wearing a dark red turban, almost a maroon type colour with gold patterns engraved on it came walking into the shop. Then he said, ‘My name is Aditi and I am from a secret service called The Lashkars of Sulayman. You have found the last djinn named Acantha. It is my job to make sure that none of the djinns escape from their miniature jails. In that case, do not ever open up the box and keep it safe.’ Then he left without giving anymore warnings or information.”
Elizabeth and her mother looked confused. They scratched their heads. All of this was too much to take in. ‘A djinn?’ thought Elizabeth, ‘Who would keep a djinn in a jewellery shop?’ For Elizabeth, it seemed weird and unrealistic. This couldn’t be happening.
“Ahh, I forgot one more thing. Come and follow me, the man left me a small, golden blade. I think you might find it interesting.” said the shopkeeper.
Elizabeth and her mother followed the shopkeeper into a tiny room.
To Be Continued…
*Media Source: Google Images*
G’day mate! Watch’ya doin’?
Today was another uninteresting school day but it’s still good coz of the four surprises that I can’t wait to tell you about and also because… I GET TO SLEEP LATE TONIGHT (I doubt I’ll even stay awake until 10:00pm 😀 )!!!! FYI, it’s Friday so I’m allowed to stay up late. Anyway, about the surprises, I’ll get to them later. For now, I’ll just carry on with my story…
Today, when I went to school, the first thing we did was go to our Maths classes (of course we did the register first!). So, we went off to our exhausting classes where Maths questions lay waiting for us. Fortunately, Unexpected Surprise No. 1 came to save us (well, just both of us)! And the surprise was… a lesson observation! Me and another girl called Leena had to go to Year 6 and do a lesson observation in one of the classes. The reason why two people had to go was because Leena wasn’t really confident to do it by herself. So, Miss Prince chose me to go with Leena to help her. Well, actually, it’s fair enough for her to be nervous because it was her first time plus, she had to observe Year 6. As for me, I’ve already done a lesson observation with Mr Shephard in the past and we also had some training with JLT. I felt so honoured that Miss Prince chose me to help someone with a lesson observation. Thanks Miss Prince for the great opportunity!!
When we were done with the observation, me and Leena went back to our Maths classes. When we walked in, they were all solving a question on the board. There were already whiteboards and marker pens out on the tables. I sat down and started to solve the question. As soon as my pen touched the board and made just one single dot, it was time to pack up! 😛
Anyhow, when we went back to our normal classes, Hazel class, which was my class, was being observed by Miss Prince and Miss Stringer (the vice principal)! Miss Javed had been preparing us for this for the whole morning. When they finally arrived, we were all so nervous. While Miss Javed was talking to us, she was constantly glancing at both of the members of the SLT (Senior Leadership Team). The lesson that we were in right now was Literacy. The learning objective was to peer assess. Peer assess means to mark each other’s work. What the teacher normally does in our books is write Two Stars and a Wish. One star is one thing that you have done really well. The other star is something else that you have done really well and the wish is something that you need to improve on. So, Miss Javed gave us a sheet with two stars and a wish on it and we had to use that to mark their work. And guess what we were using to write…THE TEACHER’S RED PENS!!! How cool is that? And the other thing is that we were great in the observation. But, we were still left without an answer. Miss Javed was so proud of us.
After Literacy, we had our break. Then, when we came back in, we had a Learning Together lesson. Learning Together is a lesson when we learn about different themes like the Tudors, the Aztecs etc. This half term, we were learning about the Aztecs! We did a quick cutting and sticking activity then went to lunch.
For lunch today, I had:
After lunch, we continued with our Learning Together lesson. We carried on with our cutting and sticking then eventually got to the end. After that, we watched some of the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Then, we went down to assembly. That’s when Unexpected Surprise No. 2 was unveiled. And that surprise was something that I had been waiting for a long time. I had been working really hard on it and in the end, I achieved it. Like they say, no pain, no gain! Anyway, the surprise was… MY PEN LICENCE! Yay! I felt so proud and grateful that my name was mentioned when I walked out in front of everyone.
At the end of the day, we all went home to have a great movie night or have a big feast. Then, late in the night, there was a strange knock on the door. When Mr. Dad opened the door, the faces of two policemen were revealed. They said that a person walking past heard a child crying. We all then said that it was Baby ‘A’ who was crying because he was a bit poorly. But, even when he’s not poorly, Baby ‘A’ always cries when Mrs. Mom gives Little Miss Diva a shower. I guess he’s just jealous of her. Unusually, they were very kind policemen. They even wrote down their names on my notebook for me! In return, I gave them some of my name cards so that they could read my blog. And right now, I hope that they’re reading this post. And that was Unexpected Surprise No. 3!
Aah, I forgot the one last surprise. While I was doing my writing, Mrs. Mom called me to see a special surprise outside. When I went to look, there was snow filling the garden! Snow in November! How cool is that?
Well, that’s the end of my post for now. See you soon for more pawsome stuff!
p/s: I know that ketchup and sweet chilli sauce are not even meals but I had to list them down to be more organised! OMG, have I officially caught the OCD virus?
p/s/s: I honestly can’t remember what dessert I had for lunch today! 😀
*Media Source: Google Images*
‘Ello ‘ello darlin’! Fancy a cuppa tea? 😀
As usual, today was a normal school day. We had Maths, Literacy yada, yada, yada. So you could say that I have nothing to write about. I might as well tell you about my big project that I’m planning to do next week. Anyway, as I was saying, I do have something to write about! Aha, tricked ya! Miss Javed asked me to write a short paragraph about something called individual liberty. We were learning about individual liberty in one of our lessons. Miss Javed wants me to write this so she can put it up on our SMSC wall. If any of you don’t know what individual liberty is then don’t worry coz I will be explaining what it means. Well, here goes!
Individual liberty
Individual liberty means that everyone is free to say whatever they want and no one can stop them. If you feel that something is wrong then don’t be afraid to share your opinion. We are all allowed to speak freely, only if it doesn’t offend anyone. It is the same with other people too. If you make a decision and someone else says that they think it’s bad, you shouldn’t get into a fight. You should at least consider that person’s opinion and tweak your decision a bit. It doesn’t matter if their idea is good or bad, you should at least listen to them. Don’t forget that we are all human beings and we should be treated the same!
I hope that I’ve told you enough information and that you like it! I look forward to seeing you in the next post!
Pawsome Quotes:
‘If you’re black, then you’re black. If you’re white, then you’re white. If you’re brown, then you’re brown but the same colour or not, we are all equal.’
-The Pawsome Lion
Thurs 19 Nov 2015
p/s: Thank you Karl Pilkington for your Pawsome compliment! 😉
*Media Source: Google Images*
Howdy pawsome peeps! How’s it goin’?
As some of you might have known, on Friday, it was Children In Need! But, Miss Prince, who is our Acting Vice Principal, decided to have our Children In Need day on Wednesday.
Children In Need is an important day when people do crazy and breathtaking things to try and raise money for poor children that live in Africa or any other country like Africa. Most schools have a non-uniform day and children need to bring in 5op.The money that anyone raises will be sent to the children by aeroplane, boat, car etc. But it’s not only on Children In Need when people raise money. People try to raise money every day. Have you ever seen the little money tubs on the counters in shops? Once they are full, the money inside it will be transported to poor families who live in places where there is no chance of getting help from anyone.
Anyhow, my school had a non-uniform day and the theme was… PYJAMAS (dun dun dun! :D)!!! The idea to have a pyjama themed Children in Need Day came from the JLT. Can you imagine seeing all the teachers in pyjamas? I can. I even witnessed it with my own eyes. When it was assembly today, everyone was wearing pyjamas, teachers and children. There was a mix of phenomenal colours, yellow, red, pink, red (that was me!), green, grey and blue. Most of the yellow pyjamas were Pudsey pyjamas (Pudsey is a mascot for Children In Need. He’s technically a bear!). In the assembly, we were shown a video about a boy called Joe who is 5 years old (sorry, 5 and 3/4!). It was an example of the children who we would be giving the money to. If you would like to watch the video then please click the link below:
Then, we were presented with another video. As I mentioned earlier, people do crazy things to help raise money for Children In Need. Now, the staff of my school have made a video for Children In Need. I’m not saying that it’s crazy, I’m just saying that it’s PAWSOME! The member of staff that took part in the video was:
And many more! If you want to watch the video that my school made, then just click the link below:
After assembly, we went to our Maths classes. It was the first time doing a lesson in our pyjamas. In our Maths lesson, we were still learning about fractions, but not equivalent fractions anymore. You may think that the lesson was long but it was actually very short. All we did was come in, sit in our seats, get a whiteboard and a marker pen and start writing down some Maths-y things. Then, in less than 10 minutes, the session had finished. but anyway, it was a good thing.
After Maths, we had a break. When we came back in, we had to do Literacy. Our topic was to draft a character description of someone from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. We all managed to do that and most of them were pretty amazing. When that was out of the way, we went for lunch.
It felt a bit awkward eating lunch in our pyjamas. But, we would just have to make do. For my lunch today, I had:
Then I started thinking about who’s pyjamas I liked the most. If it was out of the teachers, then I would pick Miss Javed and Miss Hussain. They were both wearing the same PJ’s. They were wearing a Minnie Mouse top, red Minnie Mouse trousers and headbands. They looked like twins! And if I were to choose the best pyjamas out of the children, it would be Norbert! He was wearing a Batman top, Batman trousers and a Batman cape.
After that, in the afternoon, we had two visitors to help us with an art project. It was a problem that Mr. Shephard wanted us to solve. In the small eating hall, one wall was dirty. Mr. Shephard wanted to cover that dirty wall with colourful metal panels. The only tricky thing though was, we were the artists. So we had to draw all the fruits and vegetables by ourselves. But, we had a little ‘Guess the Fruit or Vegetable’ quiz! Then, one of the visitors called Lee showed us how to draw the perfect fruit/vegetable. When that was done, we started to draw our picture.We used a range of oil pastels to draw our picture. I drew an aubergine and a radish. When everyone was finished, the visitors took the piece of paper so that they could take it to the studio. Then, it would be printed onto metal panels and put up in the hall so everyone could see it. Finally, it was home time…
p/s: Well done for thinking of a great idea, Mr. Shephard! It will surely solve the problem. No more dirty walls! 😉
*Media Source: Google Images*
The Pawsome Lion 