Roman Empire (May 22, 2024) (Grade 5, Language Arts)

The Roman Empire was a country from 27 BCE to 476 CE. It was the most dominant European power during its time.

The Empire was founded after Octavian renamed himself Emperor Augustus of Rome, ending the Roman Republic. It was stable and prodigious during the 2nd century, but fell into disarray during the Crisis of the Third Century. Under Emperor Diocletian and Emperor Constantine I, stability was restored, but that stability was quickly lost. The Empire was split in 395 CE. The western part fell in 476 CE, while the eastern part fell in 1453.

The Roman bureaucracy started with the Emperor on top. Rich men and soldiers were next. At the bottom were slaves, owned by them. Some slaves were prisoners of war. Life for slaves was grotesque, even during the pre-imperial days. Despite the malevolent treatment of slaves, this style of bureaucracy was still commonly used in the early 1900s.

Part of the top in the bureaucracy were priests, who led the Roman religion. Romans believed in many gods. Some of those gods were inspired by Greek gods. This belief was opposed by Christians, who only believed in one God. Christians were odiously killed under the Romans. However, they kept spreading, and eventually, Emperor Constantine I legalized it in 313 CE. Emperor Theodosius later made it legal around 390 CE.

The Roman Empire was the largest of its time. It had well-known history, bureaucracy, and religion.

Beginning of Grammar Town (Feb. 20, 2024) (Grade 5, Language Arts)

“A boy quickly ran beside and around it, and…oops!” Those were the words of news reporter Mark Saxon on March 16, 299 BCE. He was reporting about a 9-year-old kid running around Main Street when he fell down. This was within the tribal kingdom of the Words. Back then, words did not exist. Only sign language and written language did, as Mark Saxon used sign language while reporting. But the people decided to make up spoken words due to the many parts of speech they saw there. 

In 146 BCE, the Confederation of Grammar was established. It consisted of 8 kingdoms - the Grand Duchy of the Nouns, the Kingdom of Verbs, the Archduchy of Adjectives, the Pronoun Duchy, the Principality of Adverbs, the Kingdom of Conjunctions, the Prepositional Kingdom, and the Empire of Interjections. The Grand Duke of Nouns held the title of Subject, while the King of Verbs held the title of Object. Each had their own languages. For example, the Nouns could only say names. 

However, starting with the Subjects, rebellions across the Confederation caused it to collapse. By 987 CE, the Confederation had ceased to exist. From then, all the way until 1899, based on your ethnicity, you could only say one part of speech. 

However, in 1879, the words started forgiving each other, and so they taught each other how to speak different parts of speech. For example, the Nouns could finally say actions, the Verbs could finally say names, and much more. In 1899, the Federation of Words was established, with its capital being Grammar Town, a city in the center of the nation not belonging to any state. 

Since then, complete sentences have existed. However, in recent times, in opposition to traditional language, angry Contractionists (followers of Verbal philosopher Karl Johnson) rebelled by using contractions, which shorten words. However, the capital of Grammar Town, today, is a nice city. 

Parts of Speech Story (February 19, 2024) (Grade 5, Language Arts)

  Eight friends from Grammar Town were traveling to nearby Practice Town to practice grammar skills. They were debating, however, whether to get there by car or by plane. 

“Hey,” said Interjection. 

“What,” said Pronoun. 

Noun said, “Plane!” 

Interjection remonstrated, “No!” 

“Above,” said Preposition, pointing up towards another plane. 

Interjection protested again, saying “No!” 

Verb, also supporting Noun, said “Fly.” 

Adverb helped Verb by saying “High.” 

The eight friends then walked away towards the square, where the taxis and planes both were. 

Noun said, “Plane!” 

Adjective saw a red plane and said, “Red!” 

Interjection screamed, “NOOOOOO! UGHHHH! ARGGHHHHH!” He walked away to his house back in Grammar Town proper. 

“But,” said Conjunction, in defense of Interjection. 

Noun said, “Conjunction,” protesting against him. 

Conjunction got mad and ran, saying, “But!” 

Verb said, “Fly!” 

Adverb said, “High,” and Preposition completed by saying, “Above!” 

The six then flew towards Practice Town. 

UAAP 2023 (Grade 4, PE Basketball)

 

Grade 4 (2023)

 

UAAP Blog: Finals Game 1 (Grade 4, PE, UAAP Basketball, November 30, 2023)

 I decided to make one blog for the entire series. But this as of here, I’m writing from the day after Game 1. The matchup was UP vs DLSU. 

The first quarter was close (as always). UP started ahead 4-0, but then La Salle went on an 11-6 run. After that, it was a back and forth, with both teams scoring. The quarter ended 28-24. 

The second quarter was kinda close, but UP was playing better. But again, both teams were trading shots. Towards the end, UP was on a 15-7 run, ending the quarter with a three to go up 53-41. 

The third quarter was lopsided. UP won the quarter 24-14, including a 13-8 run at the start. And even after that, they were making a lot of shots. They ended the quarter up 77-55. 

The fourth quarter was a continuation of the third. UP won the quarter 20-12. They kept scoring, and La Salle was just playing as if it was practice. The 22-point lead at the end of the third grew to 30, with UP winning 97-67. Now for Game 2.

UAAP Blog: Final Four (Grade 4, PE, UAAP Basketball, November 28, 2023)

 This is it. The Final Four! This is what we’ve been waiting for the entire season! (Just kidding, there’s something even bigger later on. But we’ll get to that later.) But yeah. I’m going to cover the UP vs Ateneo game today. 

The first quarter was very low-scoring. Nobody scored until an Ateneo player named Chris Koon (sometimes Westernised to Chris Goon by foreign news) made a layup. It took UP long enough to score. More than four minutes, to be exact. It took another minute until another two points were scored. Fast forward to the end of the first quarter, and the score was 11-7 in favor of Ateneo. Yes, for real. You’re not dreaming. 

The second quarter was a bit better. The start was still slow, but it didn’t take too long for them to score. It was also close throughout. Well, there’s not much else to say here. But Ateneo remained ahead 25-22 heading into the second half. 

The third quarter was also quite close. The game was tied at 29, but then Ateneo made a three. It was a battle for the lead for the next few possessions. However, UP went on a 9-3 run to end the third quarter up 42-37, showing signs of pulling away. 

The fourth quarter was very boring. UP was pulling away, making shot after shot after shot, and with Ateneo even air balling a technical free throw. UP won 57-46, meaning that Ateneo will miss the finals for the first time since 2015. 

So, what was that even bigger event? It's the finals. La Salle already beat NU, meaning that they’ll face UP. This is the first time that matchup is in the finals. Okay, now I’m done. Bye!