Have you ever tried writing a poem? Maybe you think it is impossible, especially if you do not think you are naturally creative. But if you follow the steps below, you can also write a better poem than you expected. You will be proud to share it with your friends.

    1     Find the theme that you are interested in. Start your poem with a clear idea. “Love and friendship” is always the theme for a poem.

    2     Get your creative minds working by picking a poetic form. You may choose a poetic form that you find easily.

    3     You should always try to describe something using the five senses. They are smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing. Using imaginations will lead your readers into the world of your poem and make images (意象) come alive.

    4     You could use “the heart of stone”, “as white as snow” and so on. With these expressions, your poem will be different. They can make your poem a piece of wonderful work to your readers.

    5     Once you have completed a poem, you should read it aloud to yourself. Notice how the words on the page sound. Pay attention to how each line of your poem moves into the next smoothly. Keep a pen close by so you can mark the lines or words that sound difficult or strange.

【推荐3】Have you ever had problems in your life and don’t know how to be happy? If so, you will find “Being a Happy Teenager（青少年）”written by an Australian writer Andrew Matthews useful.

In his book, Matthews tells us how to have a happy life and answers the questions of teenagers.

The book says we should stop being angry. The book also tells us about some useful skills. For example, if you want to make your memory better, you can put what you’ve learned into pictures of your mind. Many teenagers think that happiness comes from good grades of praise from other people. But you can still be happy when there are no such “good” things.

Success comes from a good attitude（态度）. If you learn from problems, you will have success in the future. Some school boys have problems, such as being too tall or too short. But Matthews tells us that happiness comes from thinking about things in a positive（积极地）way.

If you are tall, you can get a better view（视线） at the movie; if you are short, your clothes and shoes take less room in your bedroom! This is Matthew’s most important lesson: You choose to be happy!

【推荐2】A soap opera called “Tiger Mother and Cat Father” is popular in China now. The tiger mother is pretty strict with her daughter and the little girl is not allowed to watch TV or play computer games. On the other hand, she makes all effort to buy the expensive house near the key school, in order to let her daughter have a better education. However, the cat father has an opposite view of how to raise their child. He gives her daughter more independence and doesn’t make many rules for her. Which one is better, “Tiger Mother”or “Cat Father”?

In China, it seems that in each family, there is a tiger mother and a cat father, even worse, some families have two tigers ▲ .

What’s worse, Chinese mothers believe key schools will bring a better future to their children.

This soap opera fully shows us a common problem in China. And maybe it is the real reason why such kind of TV shows can get popular.

Whether the tiger mother or the cat father, respecting children and growing together are the keys to family education. Confidence, kindness, honesty and independence are the most important qualities to develop a child, not the grades. Just like a poem said, “Educating children is like walking with a snail (蜗牛), and the steps are gentle and slow.”

【推荐3】There are many TV programs about Chinese dishes, but few are like A Bite Of China (《舌尖上的中国》). The seven-part documentary (纪录片) tells us food in different places in China.

The different kinds of food on TV are from 60 places. You can see many kinds of food and they can capture your eyes and stomach. And you can also learn how to make the food. That’s why the program becomes so popular.

However, the program is not only about food. There are many different stories between food and people. To know good stories, workers of the documentary spent three months doing research (调查) and nine months filming. Liu Wen, one of the workers, says the stories also showed the social transformations (社会变迁). “The program is like a window. It makes the world know more about China. And it helps people around the world not only enjoy Chinese dishes, but also learn Chinese culture.” he said.

“Keep back straight, open your shoulders, take a few deep breaths.” Let’s do yoga together. Yoga— the word shows peace and calm. Yoga is now popular around the world and it has joined the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists(非物质文化遗产).

The International Yoga Day is now celebrated on June 21st every year. Most people know yoga as a kind of exercise. Yoga is a group of physical and mental practices. It aims at developing strength and flexibility (灵活性). To practice yoga, you should learn a series of postures, where you put your body into different positions. Correct breathing is also important. However, yoga is really about more than just exercise.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi once said, “A lot of people have benefitted greatly by practicing yoga in difficult times. It is a deep tradition of India.” He felt that yoga could not only help people feel healthier, but also help people connect to each other and to nature.

Yoga is now practiced by the young and the old all over the world. It is good for the mind and body. Although you won’t really get out of breath, like you might while playing football or running, it does help to keep your heart healthy and lose weight. It can also help with back pain. The breathing taught in yoga can help people reduce stress and anxiety (焦虑). It has been accepted for its influence in society, from health and medicine to education and art.

【推荐2】Character (品质), courage and confidence are words you might use to describe your heroes. These words can describe you! Take action as follows and you’ll be a hero, too!

Part 1: Character

Character is something that makes you the person you are—like being honest, friendly, and helpful. See the chart (表格) below. On the left is our standard of good character. Write down your promise for each line on the right. Then, get a witness (证人) to sign it. Put it up where you’ll see it every day and do your best to keep it.

Part 2: Courage

Of course it’s going to take a lot of courage to keep your promise. Courage is challenging yourself to do something even though you think it might be hard. For each promise, find out two or three ways to help you keep it. For example, if you think that Being Honest is the hardest promise for you to keep, one of the ways might be “Tell people about my promise so that I won’t break it”.

Part 3: Confidence

Confidence is believing that you have the skills to do something. Do you have a beautiful singing voice? Are you a good painter? These are all talents that can make you feel good, as well as the people around you. Once you’ve decided what your special skill is, think about how you can use your skill to make your corner of the world a better place. If you’re good at art, try painting a picture on an old wall in your school (of course, make sure you’re allowed).

【推荐3】Social Media… the Highs and Lows

Twenty years ago, the idea of sharing our lives so openly with the world was unheard of. However, for young people today it is considered completely normal to share pictures of their lives and interact online every day. Fans of social media point out that the world has never been so connected as it has allowed people to make friends, learn about the world and celebrate life.

However, many people have concerns about the effects of this new way of living, particularly around the amount and type of information that is shared so openly.

Now researchers have found that too much time on social media may indeed have some negative( 消极的 ) effects. They measured people’s attitudes and feelings before and after browsing social media sites. They found that the more time people spent on social media, the more unhappy they became.

There are a number of reasons for this. When browsing social media, people often see photographs and stories showing beautiful holidays, fun parties and fashionable clothes. People seldom post negative stories or bad pictures, so it can be misleading. For those looking at these pictures and comparing them to their own lives, they can end up feeling sad and depressed. They might think their lives are worse in comparison. Even for those people who post positive(积极的) stories and pictures, they too can feel stressed and worried.

The number of “likes” and comments on their posts can make them worried about their popularity. Of course, there is also the problem of “cyber bullying”(网络暴力 ) where people become victims of bullying online when others make negative or cruel comments(评论) about them.

The reality is that social media is a part of modern life and it is not going to go away.   This research shows us that it is important to deal with the relationship between our online and offline lives properly. We don’t have to disconnect from the Internet to live a happy life, but we should realise that the pictures we see and stories we read are only part of a bigger picture. If we can do that, we can protect ourselves and enjoy our lives.