ER: A different ending

Have you ever regretted reading a story (or watching a film) because you wish the ending were different? You then complained about why the main character died or why the couple could not live happily in the end. Or perhaps, on the other hand, you wish the ending could be darker with a few characters dead and a cliffhanger of the villain winning the battle and continuing the evil mission. 

This week's assignment on my Extensive Reading class asks students to think of and create a new, different ending to a story they have read. They can either narrate the new ending or write a summary of that. 

I have read Jaws, written by Peter Benchley. It's a 29-page, A2-level horror story, with a total of 10,888 words. Jaws is actually a popular thriller film, released in 1975, and I can remember how scared I was as I watched the film on TV in the 90s.

The book narrates the terror caused by a giant shark, preying on visitors on Old Mill Beach. It killed more and more people, and that forced the local police chief, Brody, to close the beach area. He also sought help from Hooper, a shark scientist, and Quint, a shark hunter, to capture and kill the creature. The three made a few attempts and always failed. 

Hooper decided to dive in a shark cage, trying to get a closer look at the beast and kill it. However, the shark managed to ruin the cage and killed Hooper. Quint was furious, no longer interested in hunting the shark to get any money, and he vowed to kill the giant fish. In the end, Quint harpooned the shark several times, badly wounding the shark, but he was dragged deep into the dark sea as the shark tried to escape. The shark eventually died,  and it was only Brody who survived.

I had to write my new ending too. So, here's the ending, 

To be added soon.

What about my students? Are you interested in reading their original endings to the stories they have read? Here's the list of my students' blog updates on this project. I mention the book titles, so perhaps you are also interested in reading some familiar titles.

• Yohanna Amanda Putri, The Snow Goose by Gallico Paul
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo, The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan, Amazon Rally by Amos Eduardo
• Sony Chrissetiyaki, The lovely Lady by D. H. Lawrence
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari, The Prince and the Servants by Jane Rollason
• Gracia Marchelly, Rapacini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda, The Night Train at Deoli by Ruskin Bond
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha, Joey's Luck by John Escott
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho, Halloween Horror by Clemen D. B. Gina
• Emmanuela Kurnianti, The Knowledge by Sue Leather
• Nevel Petroza Andrew, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• Tri Widhiastuti, The Golden Stone Saga I by Jenny Dooley
• Nola Leticia Luntungan, The Prince and the Servants by Jane Rollason

What do you think of this assignment? And do you like my new ending? Share your ideas in the comment box below.

Reading Journal #5: Emoji Stories

Emojis are not only fun to use but also resourceful. I use it in my English classes too. Besides using memes or animated GIFs, I use emojis—a lot. Btw, check this article that discusses how you can have fun with emojis in your teaching. 

I remember that meme of how a mother misused that crying-LOL emoji. So, instead of using the appropriate crying emoji to respond to a tragedy, she used a Face-with-Tears-of-Joy emoji that got her kid to protest! Funny. 

One of the assignments in my extensive reading class also uses emojis. I asked my students to pick and read two stories in ER Central. Then, for each story, they needed to choose an emoji that best represents their opinion on the story or what they feel after reading the story. You may check my student's update in the list below. 

Star Struck Emoji, from Emojipedia.org

I also read two articles. I chose this star-face/star-struck emoji to describe how I felt after reading my first text. It's a non-fiction one, 'Sign Language,' written by CompassMedia. It is a Level-8 text with 299 words—an easy one. As the title suggests, this text discusses sign language, particularly American Sign Language. The text briefly introduces how people who cannot hear make different finger-shapes, move their hands, and use facial expressions to communicate. I always want to learn how to sign, but I haven't got the chance to do so. I love watching some signing clips on YouTube, even those songs sung in sign language!

Grinning face with sweat, from Emojipedia.org

The Monster is the second text I read, still written by CompassMedia. Surprisingly, because I didn't notice it, although it is a Level 16 fiction text, it only contains 60 words. A super short one! Haha! So, it's about a kid lizard and his/her mom. The kid reported to her mom that he/she had seen a monster, which turned out to be a train--with a big noise and many round feet! I love reading and watching fantasy stories, including the ones about monsters. I chose that grinning face with the sweat because I was quite surprised to find out that the story only has few words. Whew!

What about you?  What's your favorite emoji? And have you read a story recently? What emoji will you use to describe the story or your feeling after reading it? Why don't you share your emoji in the comment box below? 

Btw, here's the list of my student's recent blog posts with their emoji stories. And I would like to invite you to read their writings by teasing the emojis they used. 

• Yohanna Amanda Putri -- 🙄 😞 😊 (She gave her reader a bonus emoji!)
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo -- 🤣 😢
• Angel Indrawati Intan Wiyoso - 🥰 🌲
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan 
• Sony Chrissetiyaki -- 🥰 🙄 
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari -- 😮 👍
• Gracia Marchelly -- 🥰 🌱
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda -- 😍 🥺
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha -- 👽 🧟
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho -- 🤔
• Rista Arin Ningsih -- 🥰 👍
• Emmanuela Kurnianti -- 👍 😍
• Nevel Petroza Andrew -- 😊 😡 😡

ER Assignment #2: I think, I don't think...

Even when we're talking about the same thing or topic, we might have a different opinion from others--and that's okay actually. That also applies to the discussion on reading interest and habit.

Some might think that reading is fun, while others don't really enjoy it. I might prefer a particular genre or topic to read, but my friends might roll their eyes when they find out that I love reading a certain book. Many can read texts quickly and fast, while others, including me, often need to read and reread a sentence to really grab its meaning. 

Today's online discussion I had with my students is about our opinion on reading. We need to respond to these eight statements. 

1. Reading in my first language is fun. 
2. Reading English is difficult. 
3. I should usually look up new words in my dictionary.
4. Reading English is boring. 
5. It is easier to read about sports than science. 
6. If I read very fast, it is hard to understand the meaning. 
7. Reading out loud is a good idea. 
8. Reading English is fun.

I think I'd agree with the first statement. Of course reading in Bahasa Indonesia is (still) fun, although I do enjoy reading English books, too. I would carefully choose what I want to read, which includes selecting the topics and the authors. I am easily interested in an article when I know who writes it. I fall in love with certain authors or writers, whose writing is systematically composed and style is both engaging and convenient to follow. 

Reading in English can also be difficult for me, again, based on the authors and the topics. Even if the language is difficult, with complex structures of sentences and unfamiliar words, I'd still love to read the material if it's written by a certain author or it discusses a topic I love. And when I come across difficult words, I sometimes need to consult an online dictionary (I have a dictionary app on my phone too). I'll write about online dictionaries next time. 

And when I have to read those 'challenging' books or articles, I often have to slow down my reading speed. Rereading a single sentence or a paragraph and even reading out loud helps me much in understanding those tough materials!

Talking about my favorite genre or topic, I'd easily (and proudly) say that I always enjoy reading sci-fi or fantasy stories (Magic always excites me! I'm not into occultism, tho. LOL). I used to read many novels. Nowadays, I'd rather read non-fiction: self-help, personal development, communication, or even psychology. And I'd admit that I enjoy reading books or articles on Christian spirituality too. Sports? That's not my cup of tea. 

A few weeks ago, there's this challenge I joined on Facebook. I was asked to share seven book covers, without providing any explanation or reason. But of course, I picked those seven books because I love them and I want to encourage my FB friends to read them too. Here are those books, 

1. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk
2. Boundaries
3. Mere Christianity
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Talk Like TED
6. Matinya Kepakaran, or originally The Death of Expertise
7. Judy Moody Menaklukan Dunia

Wanna read what my students think of those eight statements related to reading? Check their recent blog posts below.

• Yohanna Amanda Putri, who finds it challenging to read in English. Awesome!
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo. Jojo thinks that reading out loud is a bad idea. 
• Angel Indrawati Intan Wiyoso; she's eager to learn more new words in English. Cool!
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan, who think that learning English is important. It is indeed.
• Sony Chrissetiyaki. Quietness is his reading company.
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari. I could learn Javanese from her.
• Gracia Marchelly. Pssst. She likes reading out loud. 
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda; now he gets more challenged to read in English. Way to go, Dik!
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha -- a football enthusiast here.
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho. He loves football!
• Rista Arin Ningsih -- she got challenged to read more in English.
• Emmanuela Kurnianti -- well, she prefers a quiet place when reading.

What about you? Please leave your comments below.

ER Assignment #1: Reading and Me

Hullo!

First, Happy International Literacy Day!

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A post shared by FBS UKSW (@fbs_uksw) on Sep 7, 2020 at 6:31pm PDT

In the first meeting of my extensive reading (ER) course, I gave my students their first assignment. They were asked to write about their reading experience. Previously, my students and I discussed a few questions related to that experience in our online meeting (Pssst. I'm using Google Chat to have online discussions with my students this semester). We talked about memories of our first reading experiences.

My parents used to buy me a preschool magazine back then when I was in kindergarten. I forget the title of that magz but it had pictures to color and several other written activities or worksheets to do by its readers. I almost forgot that my parents also regularly bought me Bobo, not until a student mentioned that he subscribed to Bobo! 

Well, Donald Duck series and Doraemon comics are my favorite too when I was at elementary school. My parents would occasionally buy me Donald Duck, while I would spend the money my aunt gave me monthly to buy Doraemon. I would also go to the school library during recess. There, I would take a series of my favorite encyclopedia or borrow my favorite detective book: Hawkeye and Amy. 

When I went to junior high school, I started to collect Goosebumps. I knew Harry Potter and bought the first title of the saga. I remember once my friend borrowed one of my Harry Potter books and she got it peed by her cousin! Dang! My cousin bought another title of Harry Potter and he somehow ruined the cover. Since then, I had a trust issue in lending my books. LOL

I used to read a lot of fiction books, but nowadays my interest has shifted. I prefer reading non-fiction. Rarely do I read fantasy books although I still love this genre. I have several e-books on my phone as well as tons of PDFs in the storage of my laptop. But, I have my tsundoku. I buy many books (though fewer nowadays) but pile them up at home, reading only the first pages or chapters of the books or even ignoring them at all. LOL

I guess I've written too much about myself and almost forgot to share what my students have written on their blogs. Here's a list of links to their individual blog posts. Have fun reading my students' updates!

• Yohanna Amanda Putri, who used to read Indonesian folktales.
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo, a Wattpad/fanfiction reader here.
• Angel Indrawati Intan Wiyoso -- she cried when her parents wouldn't buy her books!
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan, a fellow Bobo subscriber here.
• Sony Chrissetiyaki; he loves reading stories from the Bible!
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari -- a fiction lover here.
• Gracia Marchelly, who read Bobo Magazine, Kuark, and KKPK. (What's that?!)
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda, another Bobo subscriber.
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha -- he spends reading-time together with his parents. Sweet!
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho. He enjoys reading detective comics.
• Rista Arin Ningsih, who also loves reading Indonesian folktales/folklores too. 
• Emmanuela Kurnianti -- She enjoys reading The Bible. Cool!