Level 1

PROMPT: Do you have a pet? What is its name?

PAT AND THE FAT CAT

Pat has a pet.

Her pet is a fat cat.
The cat is on the mat.
The fat cat catches rats.

QUESTIONS:

1. Who has a pet?

2. Why does the cat is so fat?
3. Do you like to have a pet cat? Why or why not?
4. How do you take good care of your pets at home?
 Level 2

PROMPT: Do you give flowers to your mother? What flower is it?

FLOWERS FOR MOM

Beth went to a flower shop to get flowers for her mom.

She wanted to pick just the right one.
Beth found five pretty flowers.
Two flowers were yellow and three were white.

QUESTIONS:

1. Where did Beth went?

2. Why did Beth wanted to get flowers?
3. What color of the flowers do you like? Yellow or white? Why?
4. In what occasion did you give presents to your mother? Did she like
it?
 Level 3

PROMPT: Have you ever been into a farm? Do you like it there?

ON THE FARM

Mila and Ben went to visit their Lolo and Lola.

Lolo and Lola live on a farm.
They saw many things on the farm.
They saw a brook on the farm.
There were many fishes in the brook.

QUESTIONS:

1. Where did Mila and Ben went?

2. Why did Mila and Ben visit their Lolo and Lola?
3. Do you think Mila and Ben likes to go to the farm? Why do you say
so?
4. What are the things that you enjoyed in the farm? Give some
examples.
 Level 4

PROMPT: Does your school celebrate their founding anniversary?

What can you say about it?

A DEAL

“Our Foundation Day will be on February 25,” said Miss Chu, “What are we
going to present?”
“I suggest that we render some folksongs and folk dances,” answered
Sheena.
“Good. These will remind us of our Filipino culture,” added Ruben.
“Let’s start our practice early. That’s a deal,” insisted Susan.

QUESTIONS:

1. When will be the foundation day?

2. Why will they present folksongs and folk dances?
3. Do you agree to what Sheena suggested on what they are going to
present? Why or Why not?
4. What other Filipino cultures and traditions do you practice? Cite
examples.
 Level 5

PROMPT: Do you have a flowering plant at home? Do its flowers

smell nice?

THE SAMPAGUITA

The sampaguita came from India and was brought to the Philippines
hundreds of years ago. It is a shrub that spreads and grows to more than
one meter. It has thick green leaves. Its flower is small, white and very
fragrant. It grows best in rich soil.
Sampaguita flowers can be placed end to end on a piece of thread to
make a garland. The garland costs much. But Filipinos are sampaguita
lovers so they buy garlands just in the same prize. During programs special
guests are honored with sampaguita garlands. Church altars are also
decorated with its flower. Some women put sampaguita in their bags
because of its fragrance. The sampaguita is truly the national flower of the
Philippines.

QUESTIONS:

1. When did the sampaguita brought to the Philippines?

2. Why is the sampaguita called the national flower of the Philippines?
3. Do you like the smell of sampaguita flower? Why or why not?
4. Do you have flowers at home? Did you ever try decorating them
somewhere?
 Level 6
PROMPT: Helping others is not only a good thing to do, it also makes us
happier and healthier too.

THE LION AND THE POOR SLAVE

A slave, ill-treated by his master, runs away to the forest. There he comes
across a lion in pain because of a thorn in his paw. The slave bravely goes
forward and removes the thorn gently.
The lion without hurting him goes away.
Some days later, the slave’s master comes hunting to the forest and
catches many animals and cages them. The slave is spotted by the
masters’ men who catch him and bring him to the cruel master. The master
asks for the slave to be thrown into the lion’s cage.
The slave is awaiting his death in the cage when he realizes that it is the
same lion that he had helped. The slave rescued the lion and all other
caged animals.

QUESTIONS:

1. What did the slave do when he saw the lion in the forest?
2. What might have happened if the slave did not help the lion removes
the thorn?
3. If you were the slave, would you do the same thing he did for the
lion? Why or why not?
4. In what way did you extend your help to someone? Tell about it.
 Level 7
PROMPT: Keep moving forward even if your too slow. It may be slow but
still a progress.

THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals.
“I have never yet been beaten,” said he, “when I put forth my full speed. I
challenge anyone here to race with me.”
The Tortoise said quietly, “I accept your challenge.”
“That is a good joke,” said the Hare, “I could dance round you all the way.”
“Silence your boasting till you’ve beaten me,” answered the Tortoise.
“Shall we race?”
So, a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out
of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the
Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on,
and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the
winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.
Then the Tortoise said: “Plodding wins the race.”

QUESTIONS:

1. Why did the tortoise win over the hare?

2. What might have happened if the hare did not stop and take a nap?
3. If you where the hare, what would you feel about being beaten by a
tortoise? Explain.
4. Was there an instance in your life that you underestimate someone?
What did you do to avoid doing it again?
 Level 8

PROMPT: Always Keep Your Eyes Open and Stay Alert before Walking in
Any Situation.
THE LION AND THE FOX

Once upon a time, there was a lion that grew so old that he was unable to
kill any prey for his food. So, he said to himself, “I must do something to fill
my stomach or else I will die of starvation”.
He kept thinking and thinking and at last an idea clicked him. He decided to
lie down in the cave pretending to be ill and then who-so-ever will come to
inquire about his health, will become his prey. The old lion put his wicked
plan into practice and it started working. Many of his well-wishers got killed.
But evil is short lived.
One day, a fox came to visit the ailing lion. As foxes are clever by nature,
the fox stood at the mouth of the cave and looked about. His sixth sense
worked and he came to know the reality. So, he called out to the lion from
outside and said, how are you, sir?
The lion replied, “I am not feeling well at all. But why don’t you come
inside?”
Then the fox replied, “I would love to come in, sir! But on seeing, all
footprints going to your cave and none coming out, I would be foolish
enough to come in.”
Saying so, the fox went to alert the other animals.

QUESTIONS:
1. What did the lion plan to do to satisfy his hunger?
2. How will you describe the lion? How about the fox?
3. Do you think the fox was wise? Why or why not?
4. Did you make any awful decisions in life? How did that make you
feel?
 Level 9
PROMPT: Don’t value the things you have in life but value those who
come and stay in your life.

HAVING A BEST FRIEND

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the
journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the
face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he
just wrote in the sand; “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take
a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near
drowning, he wrote on a stone; “Today my best friend saved my life.”
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him; “After I
hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied; “When someone hurts us, we should write it down
in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone
does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind
can ever erase it.”

QUESTIONS:

1. What does the one who got slapped wrote in the sand?
2. Why was the other friend choose to write something in the sand
instead of complaining?
3. Do you think it is best to keep silent than to complain after your friend
hurt you? Why or why not?
4. Can you recall in your past experience if you had a fight with your
friend? In what way did you solve it?
 Level 10
PROMPT: Control your anger as this can harm everything you care.

ANGER
Anger easily causes harm to ourselves and others. Psychologists are unclear
about whether the wish to harm is built into the core of anger or if it is something
we learn, but we know it often is a part of the anger process that gets us into
trouble.

In both psychological and contemplative traditions, it is acknowledged that anger

can be useful when it’s motivated by compassion and expressed with
discernment. However, because anger can easily initiate a cycle of violence, one
has to be very honest and clear in one’s assessment to determine whether or not
it is a constructive anger.

When we are angry, we are most likely to say or do things that hurt another
person. Simply the fact that we got angry is hurtful for some people. The
remedy? Focus on the action, not the actor: on what the other person did that
made you angry, not on the other person him or herself.

For example:
Imagine your friend arrived 30 minutes late at the restaurant where the two of
you were supposed to meet for dinner.

What not to do: Retaliate against the actor by accusing or attacking their
character: “You were inconsiderate to keep me waiting.” “Are you always so
unreliable?”

What to do instead: Address the person’s actions with "I" statements:

“I feel worried when you aren't here on time. “I appreciate it when you set time
aside for me but feel hurt when you're late.”

QUESTIONS:
1. What can a person do when he/she is angry?
2. How can we avoid getting angry to some people?
3. Do you believe that anger can easily initiate a cycle of violence? Why?
4. How do you control your temper when you are angry? Cite examples.
 Level 11
PROMPT: One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears - by
listening to them. Do you agree to that?

TOOLS OF PERSUASION

Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with your point of

view. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, there are three
basic tools of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos is a speaker’s way of convincing the audience that she is a credible
source. An audience will consider a speaker credible if she seems
trustworthy, reliable, and sincere.
Pathos is a speaker’s way of connecting with an audience’s emotions.
Logos is the use of facts, information, statistics, or other evidence to make
your argument more convincing. An audience will be more likely to believe
you if you have data to back up your claims. Use of logos can also increase
a speaker’s ethos; the more facts a speaker includes in his argument, the
more likely you are to think that he is educated and trustworthy.
Although ethos, pathos, and logos all have their strengths, they are often
most effective when they are used together. Indeed, most speakers use a
combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audiences.

QUESTIONS:
1. When can you say that a person is credible of what he/she is saying?
2. Why do you think ethos, pathos and logos are considered as the
basic tools of persuasion?
3. Do you believe that these three tools are more effective if used
together? Why do you say so?
4. Have you ever tried persuading someone? How did you do it? Cite
examples.
 Level 12
PROMPT: When you are determined to rise, no amount of knock backs
will stop you.

DON’T QUIT
By: John Greenleaf Whittier

1 When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

2 When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
3 When the funds are low and the debts are high,
4 And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
5 When care is pressing you down a bit,
6 Rest if you must—but don’t you quit.

7 Life is queer with its twists and turns,

8 As every one of us sometimes learns,
9 And many a failure turns about
10 When he might have won had he stuck it out;
11 Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow—
12 You may succeed with another blow.

13 Often the goal is nearer than

14 It seems to a faint and faltering man,
15 Often the struggler has given up
16 When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
17 And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
18 How close he was to the golden crown.

19 Success is failure turned inside out—

20 The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
21 And you never can tell how close you are,
22 It may be near when it seems afar;
23 So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—
24 It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

QUESTIONS:
1. How is life according to the poet?
2. What do lines 19 and 20 mean?
3. Do you agree that life is queer with twists and turns? Explain your answer.
4. What is the biggest achievement so far in your life? In what way did you
achieve it?
 Level 13
PROMPT: Every one of us is unique in our own little way, so just be happy
of who you are and stop striving to who you are not.

PERFECTION
By: Matthew
1 Perfection was created
2 to make us feel imperfect,
3 but imperfect, of course,
4 is the perfect thing to be.

5 We spend every hour of every day,

6 every day of every week,
7 trying to be different,
8 trying to be unique.

9 Our nature is to search

10 for answers to life's questions,
11 concepts we don't understand,
12 like "What is perfection?"

13 You strive to be "perfect,"

14 a term you don't understand.
15 You should be yourself
16 before it gets out of hand.

17 Surely happiness is of priority

18 over a word like "perfection,"
19 so, ask yourself this,
20 Who looks back in your reflection?

QUESTIONS:
1. What is our nature as a person?
2. For you, what does perfection mean?
3. Do you agree/disagree that perfection was created to make us feel
imperfect? Explain.
4. Was there a time in your life that you’re trying to change yourself to fit in?
How did that make you feel?
 Level 14
PROMPT: Life is full of choices which will define our destinies.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

1 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

2 And sorry I could not travel both
3 And be one traveler, long I stood
4 And looked down one as far as I could
5 To where it bent in the undergrowth;

6 Then took the other, as just as fair,

7 And having perhaps the better claim,
8 Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
9 Though as for that the passing there
10 Had worn them really about the same,

11 And both that morning equally lay

12 In leaves no step had trodden black.
13 Oh, I kept the first for another day!
14 Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
15 I doubted if I should ever come back.

16 I shall be telling this with a sigh

17 Somewhere ages and ages hence:
18 Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
19 I took the one less traveled by,
20 And that has made all the difference.

QUESTIONS:
1. What decision is the speaker trying to make?
2. Who is the speaker of the poem? How do you know?
3. Why do you think the speaker chose to take the road that less
traveled by and not the opposite one? Explain.
4. What major decision you have made in the past? How that
decision affects your life?