Mulan: The Performances

MULAN: THE PERFORMANCES

Our school musical Mulan that we talked about in an earlier post just happened. We had four shows, one for the school on Friday, and three for those who bought tickets. The first show was just a dress rehearsal, which was basically practice for the real performance.

We were required to be at school two hours before the first show started at 7:30, in order to get ready. We put on our costumes, makeup, set our props, got mikes, etc. In order for us to calm down a couple minutes before the show, we went outside to join in the Circle of Luck - which was all of the cast and crew holding hands while the director gave a short talk.

As you know from our earlier post, the four lead roles were performed in both English and Chinese. (Mulan, Mushu, Captain Shang, and Chi Fu).

Our Experiences

Sam (Mushu): Mulan was great!! I played Mushu, Mulan’s guardian dragon, and I spoke all my lines in Chinese! I even sung a song that is about seven minutes in Chinese. It was very fun! I gave up a lot of time to memorize my lines, so now that the show is over I feel an emptiness inside. I wish we could have more performances. Well, at least I’ll have more free time!

Malachi (Crew): The experience of being in Mulan was fantastic. I was part of the technical crew, and I did a lot. Being part of the show was great. I liked working with everyone, especially the director. I had a great time and we had a great performance.

Indiyah (English Chi Fu): Being in a real production was a wonderful experience for me. All of the props, makeup, and costumes – boy, I felt like a princess. But the most tiring of all was having practices for an hour or more. I realize that it all paid off and, best of all, our show rocked the mike.

Zahra (Subar-Tu, Hun): during the first show I was really nervous. But after a little while I got used to it. Performing was fun, even when I messed up. I wish that I could keep doing the show over and over again.

Karla (Lin, Ancestor): In Mulan I played the part of Ancestor Lin. I was really nervous in each performance we did, but as soon as I said my first line the butterflies in my stomach went away. Even though I was nervous I had a lot of fun and am disappointed that it’s over.

Alicia (Emperor): Being in a school production was a great experience for me because it was a way for me to prepare for my future career as an actress. The dress rehearsals, wearing makeup and costumes were all a wonderful experience at school. I knew it was a dress rehearsal but my stomach had butterflies in it anyway, because the school was watching!

Luke (Qian-Po): During rehearsals, plays and performances I had a great time. I worked hard and it definitely paid off. It was the best experience for me in drama that I have ever had. It was also great having a main part.

Emma (Mulan): For me, Mulan was an experience that I will always remember. All my family came down to watch me perform my lines in Chinese. As I knew it would, all the work Toby, Sam and I did in Ms. Kong’s room (our Chinese instructor) really paid off. We worked hard, and it showed – I am so proud of everybody!

Toby (Shang/Chinese): it was hard learning all my lines in Chinese. But we did it and it was good. I can’t wait to see the video of the play and what it all came to be. Countless rehearsals (at least to me), home at five do homework eat and bead was all I had time to do.

What We're Up to Part III: Poetry

POETRY by Malachi, Ayah, Zahra, Emma, Toby, Sam, Devin, Jonah, and Ademir

Earlier this year, our class learned about several types of poetry and famous poets such as Shakespeare, William Stafford, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. These are some examples of poetry we have written and excerpts from poems by seven poets.

Haiku

Lemons are sour

But they make good lemonade

Yellow is mellow.

-Ayah

Limerick

Lions are very hairy

They’re also very scary

They don’t believe in the tooth fairy

And they don’t eat dairy.

-Malachi

Cross Stick

Black

Lazy

Alive

Carnivorous

Killer

BIG

Epic

Appetite

Raging

-Everyone

Free-style

The flight I was on had a delay

It was Florida to Atlanta, GA.

We thought we missed the second flight and stayed in Atlanta

But we were very, very wrong - we did not stay in Georgia.

The second flight was delayed, we got there with time to spare

The second flight got delayed because of bad weather.

That’s why I’m in school today,

HURRAY!

-Sam

Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening “Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though he will not see me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow.”

Emily Dickinson, Hope is the Thing with Feathers: “Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”

William Shakespeare, Jacques from As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts beintg seven ages. At first, the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms; and then the whining school boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school.”

Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven: “Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. BY the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou, ‘I said’ art sure no craven. Chastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore. Tell me what lordly name is the night’s plutonian shore!’ Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’.”

Langston Hughes, Youth: “We have tomorrow, bright before us like a flame. Yesterday, a night-gone thing, a sun-down name. And dawn-today, broad arch above the road we came, we march!”

Maya Angelou, Caged Bird: “A free bird leaps, on the back of the wind, and floats downstream till the current ends, and dips his wing in the orange sun rays, and dares to claim the sky.”

William Stafford, “Are You Mr. William Stafford?”: “Yes, but…”

“Well, it was yesterday. Sunlight used to follow my hand. And that’s when the strange siren-like sound flooded over the horizon and rushed through the streets of our town. That’s when sunlight came from behind a rock and began to follow my hand.”

If you enjoyed these poems, be sure to look up more information about these poets and their work.

Thanks for reading!

What We're Up To Part II: My Family and Other Animals

My Family and Other Animals

By: Gerald Durrell

Our class is reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. We have read up to chapter 12, The Woodcock Winter.

The main characters are Gerald, Leslie, Margo, Larry, and Mrs. Durrell, or as she is referred to in the book, Mother. This story is based on Gerald Durrell’s life as a kid in Corfu, Greece, moving from place to place.

Gerald’s family moved to Corfu, Greece five years before the onset of World War II. Durrell was born in India, and educated in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece. Gerald was the explorer of his family. Gerald Durrell was born in 1925. He died in 1995. When he was a kid, he collected animals such as: A turtle, a pigeon, scorpions, an owl, and spiders. He also had three dogs named Roger, Puke, and Widdle. He observed birds in their nests. He also observed tortoises, butterflies, and fireflies. On one of his birthdays, he got Widdle, Puke, and a boat, the Bootle-Bumtrinket.

Everyone in Gerald’s family is different. His sister, Margo, is in love with herself, and a whole lot of other guys… His mother never agrees with anyone. His brother, Leslie, likes to shoot things. His other brother, Larry, writes books and is the one to make the family change houses A LOT. Gerald loves animals, and adopts lots of them. He also likes to study animals so he can learn more about them.

What We're Up To Part 1: Science

Science

Teachers aren’t the only ones who teach. Well at least not in our class. Sometimes we students teach science to the class and our teachers. We are assigned to this almost every week. It is interesting and we have fun doing it. For the last couple of months we have been doing these projects on posters, but just this week we started doing the project with the choice of a play, a commercial, a newscast, or even a song. Most of us enjoy doing this instead of the posters. We enjoy it more because it is more exciting to us.

Some of the poster categories were Biomes, Changes in Ecosystems, Cycles in Ecosystems, Water Ecosystems and much more. The categories we have now are Earths Landforms, Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Shaping Earth’s Surface. The majority of our classmates chose a play or a commercial and very few chose the other choices. Some of our classmates chose to do a play with a song or a newscast with a commercial.

When we use posters we can draw pictures or examples of what we are talking about. It can be something funny but it has to be educational and it can’t be over the top. At the end of every presentation we ask for questions and comments. Usually the presenters have about twenty minutes to take questions.

Before each lesson, our teacher tells us to be ready with a few questions to ask to the group. It takes so long to ask questions because in the end people end up asking about 4 questions each. We think this way of learning science is more interesting and entertaining and makes it more fun to learn science.

Shaniah, Mary May, Indiyah, Luke and Kameron