Sample Compositions for the Intermediate Grades (English)

1.                                                        Graffiti Vandalism on the Rise

                   Our city is big. There are any buildings. There are many stores, houses, and concrete walls and fences along the streets. The walls of some are clean. There are also walls that are dirty. They have writings, drawings and symbols that vandals do. It is not a beautiful sight to see.

                The writings, drawings, and symbols on the walls and store windows found along the streets of our city are called graffiti. Graffiti is the most common form of vandalism. It is called graffiti vandalism because the persons making the walls dirty do not have permission to write on the property of others. We can find these writings everywhere. Some young people do graffiti vandalism only as a prank or a misbehavior. They want to attract attention by writing their names or the name of their gang on the walls. Some make vulgar drawings and words. They are dirty and ugly to look at. Older people like parents, teachers and the community can talk to the young people about caring for other people's property. They should show respect by not making the walls of buildings dirty and ugly to look at. At night, the barangay officials should roam around in order to stop those making graffiti vandalism.

                   Graffiti vandalism makes the walls look unattractive. Destroying or damaging the property of others is not part of growing up. We can show respect to others by caring for their property. Visitors and tourists should see how clean our city is and how we respect others. Let us stop graffiti vandalism!

2.                                                        NO to Single-use Plastics

                    We can see pollution in our environment today. There is pollution in land, sea and air. We can see piles of garbage everywhere. We see vegetable peelings, broken toys, bulbs and cardboards. There are plastics in these garbages, too.

                    Plastics, especially single-use plastics are a major source of pollution. Single-use plastics or disposable plastics are used only once then they are thrown away. The most common single-use plastics in the environment are: plastic drinking bottles, plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic lids, drinking straws and stirrers, styrofoam take-away containers, and plastic spoons, forks and knives.

                    People throw away these things after using them once. Plastics are found floating in the seas and oceans. The harmful effect of plastics floating in our oceans and seas is they kill the fish and other sea creatures. Turtles and dolphins eat these plastics because they see them as food. They die because plastics block their stomachs. Plastic bags decompose after 100 years while plastic bottles decompose after 450 years. So they just sit there as a big pile of garbage for a long, long time. In the oceans, they harm sea animals like turtles because they are mistaken as food. See the video entitled "The Sea Turtle with a Straw in its Nostril - No to Single Use Plastic [Short Version]" by the group Sea Turtle Biologist. It had 6, 156, 094 views on Youtube.

                    It is true that single-use plastics harm the environment. It would be a good move if the government bans or stops its use. There are already countries in the world that have banned them. Young people of today can help to stop their use by saying NO and not use them at all. We can bring what we need from our home. We can bring our own grocery bags, food containers, plastic water bottles, spoons and forks wherever we go. We can lessen pollution and let the environment breathe. 

3.                                                         A Hero for All Time

                    Our country has many heroes. Some of the heroes are famous and others are less known. They are called heroes because they have done something great for our country. They serve as our inspiration.

                    Josefa Llanes Escoda is one of them. She was born on September 20, 1898 in Dingras, Ilocos Norte. Her parents were Gabriel Llanes and Mercedes Madamba. She was a known civic leader,social worker, and Filipina war heroine. She was known as a Filipino advocate of women's rights for suffrage and was the founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. She died on January 6, 1945 in Manila.

                        The life of Josefa Llanes Escoda inspire us. She had the qualities of a good leader. She was the founder of the Girl Scouting Movement of the Philippines. Many Filipino girls until now experienced scouting while studying in school. It teaches them to be good citizens. Josefa Llanes Escoda is a true hero of our country.

4.                                                            2019 Dengue Alert

                    According to the news, dengue epidemics were declared in 4 regions of our country - Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Northern Mindanao. There were 100,000 dengue cases and 491 people died. Mostly affected are children 10 to 14 years old. The government told the people to clean the surroundings and destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes. A big information campaign started. Information about dengue and its harmful effects were seen and heard on TV, newspapers, radio and even on social media.

                    Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses transmitted by aedes mosquitoes: aedes aegyptii and aedes albupictus. They breed in clear stagnant water like in drums, flower vases, holes in the ground and old tires that collect water. They bite during the day especially during rainy season. Persons affected by dengue have high fever, headache, loss of appetite and aching legs and joints. We can prevent it by doing the 4S strategy - Search and destroy breeding sites, Seek early consultation, Self-protection and Say "yes" to fogging. The 4 o'clock habit is about cleaning the surroundings to prevent mosquitoes to breed in stagnant water done every 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

                 It is important to stop dengue now. At home we can search for breeding places of mosquitoes, and in school, we can group ourselves and form an anti-dengue brigade. In our barangay, we join any barangay activity like clean-up drives. Clean surroundings are the best solution to dengue.

5.                                                      Anti-Bullying Act of 2013

                    School is home away from home. Students spend more time in school than in their house. They spend the whole day in school. The time spent in school can be full of fun and learning. But now there are many children affected by bullying. Bullying happens when one or more students harm another student many times using words or actions. When this happens, the teacher should know about it. My bullying experience happened when I was in Grade 3 during lunchtime in school. I was bullied because I was so thin. I never told anyone except my besties. My friends tried their best to make me forget about it. \

                    The Anti-Bullying Law or Republic Act No. 10627 protects children in Kindergarten, Elementary and High School from being bullied. It is "requiring all Elementary and Secondary Schools to adopt policies to prevent and address the acts of bullying in their institutions". Pushing or striking another person intentionally, name-calling, destroying the things of others and taking another person's belongings are all acts of bullying when these actions are done repeatedly or many times to the same person. If you are bullied, you should stay calm and tell the bully to STOP. You can say nothing and walk away or you can run away. But the best thing to do is tell someone what happened. You can tell your parents, your friends or your teacher. Bullying done on the internet like in social media is called cyber-bullying. When this happens, you turn off your internet and do not answer or you can make a screenshot and use it as evidence.

                    Bullying is bad. The people who had been bullied are full of fears. All they want is to have peace and make friends. It isn't good to have bullying in school, the students always suffer. The teachers and the school should reprimand bullies. Have a chat with their parents to try to change their daughter or son's attitude. School and learning can be fun. It can be more fun with friends - studying together, working together, and playing together. There is no room for bullies. Help make our school a Bully-free Zone!

6.                                                   The Value of Education Today

                    Our backpacks are heavy. They are filled with books and other things we need in school. We wake up early so that we will not be late. In school, we listen to discussion, go to practices, and answer tests. 

                    Today, education is very important. We go to school to learn. The things we learn will hopefully help us in the future. Studying in the past like our parents did and their grandparents before them was very hard. Some of them just walked on their way to school. They carried many books on sling bags, while today we have strollers, bags that have wheels. They were many inside one classroom, but today we are more comfortable in our spacious rooms in a new building. Studying was hard before but our parents persevered and finished their education.

                    Getting an education is important. The knowledge and skills that we learn, we can apply in our life and use them as we grow up. Education is like a ladder. It is a step-by-step journey towards reaching our dreams. By going to school each day, we are building our tomorrow today.

7.                                                New Skills for a Changing World

                    What was considered a good education 50 years ago is no longer enough for success in studies, work and society in the 21st century. It is believed that schools need to teach 21st century skills to help students succeed in today's world. Schools help students connect learning with real life.

                    Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said,"We cannot build the future for our youth - but we can build our youth for the future".To bring students, schools and our nation effectively into the 21st century, we need to learn the 21st century skills or the 4Cs. These are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. We need these skills to prepare us to meet the challenges of today's world. We must all work together and parents support their sons and daughters to learn these skills. Our school system should respond better to a changing world by teaching the 4Cs.

                    Just what is character-based education? It is the teaching of children that will help them develop into well-mannered , non-bullying, honest and successful beings. The traits to learn are courage, love of country, good citizenship, honesty, respect for others, and cooperation. Character-based education then is the foundation of values that shape the character of the youth.

                    In today's world, it is important to learn both technology and values together to build a student's character. There is a balance in learning. Technology is nothing if we do not have the right values of honesty, caring for others and teamwork. We can become better citizens for our community by learning these. We can become successful by having the right skills and the right attitude in life. 

/EAB