A model for a Formal Letter - LEAVE LETTER

From

To

The Principal

Date: 21st Jan 2021

Dear Sir/Madam

SUBJECT: Requesting for a day’s leave (on 20^th Dec 2017)

May I request you to grant me a leave on 20^th Dec 2017 to attend a family function.

Thanking you

Yours faithfully

Name

Sign

Date

Place

Day 21

TOPIC: Discussion on Writing - LETTER WRITING (Formal)

All the teams shared their letters with the class. There was also a discussion on the power of writing and addressing the context. Even while making a speech the context should drive the content.

Winners: TEAM CABOODLE led by Evans 

Day 20

TOPIC: DISCUSSION PART 2 (Online Education: Merits and demerits)

Mode of exercise: The discussion and interactions continued from the points mentioned in the speeches of team leaders. Students added details, opened new areas and shared their views on what was said during the audio and text based interactive exercise.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 19

TOPIC: GROUP PRESENTATION on "Positives and negatives of being an  ONLINE STUDENT"

Mode of exercise: We discussed the positives and negatives of online education.  The students gave their points on this topic to their group leaders who then made a presentation. After all the group leaders have made their presentations (in audio or text format) those participating in the discussion gave their opinions. The participants were very frank and forthright in expressing their views about their experiences of being an online student.

Winner: 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 18

Topic: Local Talent

MODE OF ACTIVITY: Describe a person from your native place who is very talented in a doing something that can be his/her area of work, passion or hobby. For eg. the person can be a village farmer or an electrician or a plumber or a goldsmith or any such common person.

Winner: Mithu Rose Thomas 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 17

Topic: My NATURE

MODE OF ACTIVITY: The students took a beautiful but simple picture of how nature looks like in their native place, gave it a good caption In English and sent it to their group leader who then compiled it for presentation like a photo album, to be shared with the whole class. 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 16

Topic: Inter Group Conversation

MODE OF ACTIVITY: The students asked questions to their own group members (about the things written in the paragraph describing their "selves"). Both asking questions and replying to the questions were in audio format.

Winner : Nandhitha

TO BE CONTINUED...

GRAPHOLOGY TIPS

If you handwriting has a:                                                      

Left Slant: You are shy by nature.

BIG LETTERS mean that the person is bold and ambitious. 

L e t t e r s p a c i n g: Wide spaced means the person is sympathetic.

Pressure: Light Pressure means sensitive.

Pressure: Strong Pressure means healthy.

Loops: Exaggerated loops suggest that the person is an extrovert and compassionate.

 A disconnected handwriting shows the person to be  imaginative.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 15

Topic: Write on a paper (in your own handwriting) a small paragraph about yourself; talking about your habits, likes and dislikes, nature, attitude towards people, society, Nature and things around you.  Also talk about your dreams for yourself and the world around you....the exercise was not complete.

We had a discussion on idioms, metaphors, similies and phrasal verbs which make conversations more lively and stimulating.

Winners: Mithu Rose Thomas

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 14

Topic: A talk about your favorite FICTIONAL CHARACTER

What to say: You have to talk about the strengths and  weaknesses of this character. Also talk about the kind of activities he/she gets to show his strengths and also the threats he/she faces (like villains, enemies, natural factors, social circumstances, life situations etc).

Then there was a discussion on movie characters from popular Malayalam films. Also an observation was made that most of the fictional characters selected by students belonged to the superhero genre of films.

Winners: Merlin, Navya Mohan.

Absentees: Evans Jose Gonsalves, Anusree P

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 13

Topic: A talk about your favorite dish(food item) using the keywords:

1. INGREDIENTS (What is it made of )

2. NATURE of the dish: Is it a dessert(A sweet dish) or the main dish or side dish.

3. TASTE

4. TIME REQUIRED TO PREPARE

5. COST OF MAKING IT

6. On which occasions do you usually have it, for eg. during festivals, birthdays, celebrations, functions etc.

7. Who taught you to make this dish or from where did you have it first?

8. Is it a healthy dish?

9. What makes it special for you?

10.Fondest memories connected with this dish.

Then there was a discussion on food culture of Keralites.

Winner: Shyma Binth Jaleel

Absentees: Navya Mohan

TO BE CONTINUED...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 12

Today it was a speech on "My favourite Song"....In the speeches the students described their most loved songs, the nature of the song, lyrics, the emotions it evokes, the memories behind the song etc.

There was also a discussion on music and songs.

Winners : Sreelakhshmi and Manna Sarah Joseph 

Absentees: Reesha Jose

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 11

The students talked about their native places. Evans was the most popular speaker. Angel Saji's speech was outstanding. All the students spoke enthusiastically about the places where they were born and brought up.

Absentees: Navya Mohan

TO BE CONTINUED...

 SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

In English YOU is always used in PLURAL....like THEY/WE/PEOPLE/STUDENTS etc.

You are a good friend.

You have a good voice.

You were confident.

They are here.

We have a meeting today.

People were coming.

Students attend the class daily.

I is used with AM to talk in present tense.

I am fine.

I is used with WAS to talk about past tense.

I was at home.

I is used with HAVE to talk about present tense.

I have a job.

He/She/It is always used in singular.

He was absent.

She has a class.

It works well.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 10

Students described their native places

Winner : Dona Thomas

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 9

Yes/no questions using modal verbs:

1.     Can I come?

2.     Could you please come?

3.     May I come?

4.     Shall I come?

5.     Should I come?

6.     Would you like to come?

7.     Must I come?

8.     Do I have to come?

9.     Do I need to come?

10.                                                       Do I ought to come?

11.                                                       Did you use to come?

What are CONVERSATIONAL VERBS?

Verbs used to ask questions are conversational verbs. They start, sustain and slowly end a conversation. They are:

DO DOES DID WILL

WAS WERE HAVE HAS

AM IS ARE CAN(Any Modal verb)

But conversational verbs aren’t enough to have a conversation. We need keywords also.

What are keywords?

Words that show the topic of conversation. For eg. Do you have a pen? Pen is the keyword here.

Can you combine conversational verbs with keywords? Try.

1	Do	BREAKFAST
2	Does	NOVEL
3	Did	NEWS
4	Will	FRIEND
5	Have	PACKET
6	Has	BEAUTY
7	Was	LOVE
8	Were	TEACHERS
9	Am	VACCINATION
10	Is	BUSY
11	Are	TRAFFIC
12	Can	RAINS

Winner:  Abhirami

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 8

The past and future forms were discussed:

I went there. (Simple past)

I was going there. (Live action in past)

I will go now. (Simple future)

I will be going in the morning. (Live action in future)

When we use the simple past or simple future tense we give information in a very factual way but when “Live action in past” form or “Live action in future” form is used the information becomes very animated or lively or full of life. That’s the benefit of using the main verb in –ing form.

What is a habit?

It is an action done regularly/very often/frequently. A habit becomes our nature/character.

What is an attitude?

It’s the habit of the mind or the nature of the mind; the way we think or MIND ACTION. MIND ACTIONS are not used in -ing form usually.

What are the verbs that show mind action or attitude?

Think,like/dislike/love/hate/know/prefer/remember/forget/consider/agree/suppose/imagine/wonder/hope etc.

What is the difference between these sentences?

a)I play.

b)I play football.

a)I saw.

b)I saw him.

The second sentence(b) has OBJECT.

What is an OBJECT?

Something that answers the question “what” or “who”.

For eg. What do you play?

I play football.

Who did you see?

I saw him.

Let’s learn to make passive voice.

1.     We serve vegetarian food.

2.     We are serving vegetarian food.

3.     We have served vegetarian food.

4.     We served vegetarian food.

5.     We were serving vegetarian food.

6.     We will serve vegetarian food. 

The passive voice sentences or PASSIVE ACTIONS are:

1.     Vegetarian food is served (by us).

2.     Vegetarian food is being served (by us).

3.     Vegetarian food has been served (by us).

4.     Vegetarian food was served (by us).

5.     Vegetarian food was being served (by us).

6.     Vegetarian food will be served (by us).

In these sentences “by us” is not very important. It has a passive role. Vegetarian food is more important. In other words the object is more important. The doer of the action is less important or is passive.

Now MODAL VERBS

CAN, COULD, SHALL, SHOULD, WOULD, MUST, MAY, MIGHT

HAVE TO, NEED TO, OUGHT TO, USED TO

1.     I can come.

2.     I could come.

3.     I shall come.

4.     I should come.

5.     I would like to come.

6.     I must come.

7.     I may come.

8.     I might come.

9.                          I have to come.

10.                        I need to come.

11.                        I ought to come.

12.                        I used to come.

Modal verbs are used to show ability, past ability, a condition, to give permission, to make a request, to show possibility, probability, to talk about a strong desire/necessity/obligation/duty/compulsion/old habit.

Winner: Dona Thomas

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 7

We discussed the meaning of study, student; study skills of the greats like Newton, Darwin, Einstein etc.

Winner: Gowri Nandha

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 6

The class leader declared the most popular speaker of the celebrity meeting exercise. It was Evans Jose Gonsalves. Andrea Roy was the second most popular. Shalvin Antony , Angel Saji, Abhija Jiji, Anju Mol Joby, Nandhitha Thankachan and Navya Mohan and many others were also recognised as good orators. In fact, the whole batch proved its mettle in the art of English speaking. Well done, the 40 th batch....you all deserve the accolades.  

The next exercise was using the verb study. The five form of the verb study are:

Study Studies Studying Studied Studied

The types of sentences using STUDY in PRESENT TENSE:

1.     I study every day.

2.     I like studying.

3.     I am studying now.

4.     I am studying in the evening.

5.     I have studied.

6.     I have been studying for one hour.

The YES/NO questions are for these six sentences are:

1.     Do you study every day?

2.     Do you like studying?

3.     Are you studying now?

4.     Are you studying in the evening?

5.     Have you studied?

6.     Have you been studying for one hour?

Absentees: Maria Elite

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 5

Learning the five forms of have: Have has having had had

Learning the five forms of be: be am/is/are being was/were been

LEARNING THE TEN SENTENCES (State – Possession –Real fact)

The first three sentences to study:

I have friends.

I had friends.

I will have friends.

The next four sentences to learn:

I am a student.       

I was a student.

I will be a student.

I have been a student for two years.

The last three sentences are:

There is a meeting.

There was a meeting.

There is will be a meeting.

Now to make yes/no questions with these sentences:

Do you have friends?

Did you have friends?

Will you have friends?

Am I a student?

Was I a student?

Will I be a student?

Have I been a student for two years?

ACTIVITY 2

Unexpectedly meeting a celebrity and your first response (in audio/video format)

The winners of today’s exercise: Sharon/Mariya/Reesha/Sneha Alex

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 4

The five forms of a verb and their uses:

1. The FIRST form: To speak about present tense and future tense.

Also to talk about subjects: I, You and Plural.

2. The second form: To speak about present tense.

Also to talk about subjects: He/She/It (Third person singular)

3. The THIRD form: To speak about present continuous tense.

In this form of the verb we can speak about both present LIVE actions and future actions.

I am coming to your house tomorrow. This is used in informal situations. It has a casual tone.

I will be coming to your house tomorrow. This is used in formal situations. It has an official tone.

4. The FOURTH form: To speak about past tense.

5. The FIFTH form: To speak with “have”.

I have done the work. She has seen him. They have come to meet you.

👿The difference between the fourth form and the fifth form is that in fourth form you talk about a past action in past tense whereas in fifth form you talk about a past action staying in the present tense. So the fourth form is more informative and the fifth form is more assertive.

☝☝An important point to note here is that to become English rich we need to take an interest in learning about new verbs and their five forms.

Absentees: Gowri Nandha

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3

The speech exercise about a celebrity was done and the students used all the three formats to share their speeches ie., text, audio and video. They talked about their favorite celebrities, their field of success, their personality and their outstanding achievements. They also narrated an interesting incident about the celebrity.

Absentees: Asifah Gul, Anusree P

TO BE CONTINUED....

DAY 2

What is a verb?

A verb is a word that is used to talk about SPAR. For eg., am/is/are, have/has, do/does etc.

In the sentence: “Are you a student?” are is the main verb.

In the sentence: “Do you have a class?” do is the supporting/helping verb and have is the main verb.

Talking about a Celebrity Exercise:

What is he/she? (Field of work/ Profession)

How does he/she look like; nature, dressing style etc. (Physical Appearance)

What is his/her biggest/most impressive achievement?

Is there an interesting incident/story about him/her that you can share?

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1

Strictly speaking "English" is a culture, a culture that started in England. Many of the English words that we use in our native language like ROAD, NURSE, BULB, RADIO, TV, PHONE, BREAKFAST etc. and even day to day expressions like HELLO, HI, GOOD MORNING, SORRY, THANK YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY NEW YEAR have become a part and parcel of our everyday conversations.

English language (like any other language) is made of words, sentences and usages (or expressions).

So what is new in English language that we need to focus first? Sentences in English is the answer. This is what that can change our lives ie., our ability to make different types of sentences in English.

Talking about sentences, sentences can be of four types:

STATE

POSSESSION

ACTION

REAL FACT/OBSERVATION

For eg. I am busy - STATE

            I have some work. - POSSESSION

            I am studying - ACTION

            There is a meeting today - REAL FACT

To ask Yes/No question change the order of a sentence. For eg.

Are you busy?

Are you studying?

Is there a meeting today?

and Do you have any work today?

TO BE CONTINUED...