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POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING: WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was
miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She
was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one
problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots
with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began
to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and
ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil,
without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and
impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the
pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and put them in a bowl. He
then ladled the coffee out and poured it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked, "Daughter, what do you see?" "Potatoes, eggs and
coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they
were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After
pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma
brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans
had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each
one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and
unrelenting.
But in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile,
with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in
the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However,
the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the
boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which one are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that
truly matters is what happens within us.
Which one are you? When problems come (and they will) how will we react?
Will they make us weak, hard hearted or will they cause us to change into something
worthwhile?

Motivational Quote: "Happiness is not something you find, it's something you create."
Inspirational Quote: "Smile in pleasure, smile in pain; Smile when trouble pours like
rain; Smile when someone hurts you, Smile because someone cares for you."

ACTIVITY 1: VOCABULARY SYNONYM

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Synonyms are words with same meaning. E.g: hate = detest

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. E.g: hate love

DO YOU KNOW THE SYNONYMS OF THE WORDS? FIND THE

WORDS IN THE PASSAGE!

2 3

6 7

Can you complete the puzzle using the clues provided?

ACROSS DOWN
2 Smell 1 meaningful
4 contentment/cheerfulness 3 watched
6 Responded 4 hurriedly
7 Hardship 5 easily broken
8 Whined
9 Weary

ACTIVITY 2: VERB FORM

PRESENT FORM PAST FORM PAST PRESENT
PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE

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Put Put Put Putting

Complained
Sit
Change
Became
Saying
Fighting
Took
Bring
Went
Boiling

ACTIVITY 3: SENTENCE PATTERNS

NOTES:
Sentences have been traditionally described in English as being simple, compound,
complex or compound-complex.

THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence has a single subject-verb combination.

Children play.
My car stalled three times last week.

A simple sentence may have more than one

subject:
Lola and Tony drove home.
The wind and the sun dried my hair.

THE COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound, or double, sentence is made up of two (or more) simple

sentences. The two complete statements in a compound sentence are usually
connected by a joining word and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

Following are some compound sentences. Each sentence contains two ideas
that the writer considers equal in importance.

The rain increased, so the officials cancelled the game.

Martha wanted to go shopping, but Fred refused to drive her.
Tom was watching television in the family room and Mary was upstairs on the
phone.
I had to give up wood carving, for my arthritis had become very painful.

TASK:

1. Write 3 simple sentences using any of the words in the Past Form column
from Activity 2.

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Eg: She put the blame on me.

1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________

2. Write 3 compound sentences using any of the words in the Past Form
column from Activity 2.
Eg: He complained about the food so the principal took action on the canteen
operator.
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________

RELATED LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES:

ACTIVITY 1: GOING...GOING...GONE!
Instructions:
1. Read the sentences in the story.
2. Each group will take turn to change the verbs in the story into the present
tense form.
3. During the auction, the group can bid for the sentence that it will correct.
4. If a group fails to change verbs in the sentence correctly, another group may
bid for it by putting up their hand.
5. A representative of another group will be in the next group to note in the
budget columns of the auction sheet how much it is willing to bid for the
given sentence and how much money it has accumulated or lost.
6. The winner of the auction is the group with the most money left.

E.G: Once upon a time, a cat lived in a cave.

One day, a cat lives in a cave.

GOING...GOING...GONE!

(BIDDING SHEET)

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(CORRECT(+)/ NEW
NO BUDGET BID
INCORRECT(-) BALANCE
EG 5000 300 + 5300
EG 5300 1000 - 4300
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ACTIVITY 2: WHAT ARE YOU?

Get students to find an object that they can relate to and give their reasons.

eg: I am like a basketball. A basketball is strong and when it falls down on to the
ground, it will bounce back. Just like the basketball, if I fail when I do a task, I will
not give up but I will try and try again until I succeed.

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