As she always comes to class
With her pretty smile,
We all call her the pretty teacher
because she is as pretty as a rose.

The pleasant smile always there,
Like our mother, like our friend
Here comes the pretty teacher
With her smile that never ends.

The pretty teacher, oh yes she is
The prettiest teacher I've ever seen
The lovely smile, the lovely talk,
Even the bad girls are like lambs
When she enters the class there's pin-drop silence.

I didn't mention who she is,
The pretty teacher of course
Here she is,
Miss. Sherika
The prettiest teacher of all
She loves us, as we love her too
The pretty teacher of course.

The sea

By Anil Pandithakoralege (8 years), St. Peter's College, Colombo 4

Do you like the sea? I think you do like the sea very much. Our Sri Lanka is an island which is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. There are nice beaches in our country.

At the beach we can play beach games, build sand-castles and have picnics. In the sea we can swim, surf, dive and wade. The sea-bed has lots of corals and beautiful fish. There are other sea creatures like crabs, oysters, rays, turtles and starfish.

The sun is bright and beautiful on the beach at the horizon. We can see fishermen going in boats and big ships. I think the beach is a lovely place and I like it very much.

Garbage Care

By Dylan Buyers (Grade 3), Vidura College

This is the way to manage garbage which has become a problem in our country.

1. Reduce – the collection of garbage

2. Re-use – what is collected can be re-used. For example, paper could be made into mache to make ornaments. Kitchen refuse can be used as animal food as well as compost. For the garden, onion peelings are a good repellent for snails

3. Re-cycle – Tins, plastics, paper cartons, paper and bottles can be re-cycled.

Autobiography of a school bag

By Maisara Niyas (13 years), Aba Beel International College

I am a colourful school bag two years old today. My life began in a tailor's shop. He made me out of many colourful pieces of waste cloth. My band slung on the shoulder is red. I have two shiny buckles and a broad flap.

One day, a little boy came to the tailor's shop with his parents and saw me hanging on the wall. He bought me from the tailor for Rs.600. The little boy took me to his study room. After putting his books and pencil box inside me, he closed me with the flap and buckles.

The next morning, he carried me proudly to school. His friends admired me and loved my colours. They touched me all over and praised me. Oh! I felt so happy and proud! Today the little boy still loves me dearly and he washes and irons me every Sunday. I have my own place on the wall in the study room.

I love my little master very much.

Good manners

By Nazdi Sheriffdeen (Grade 5), Ceylinco Sussex College, Malabe

Good manners are very important to us. When someone helps us, we must say, "Thank you very much," to show our gratitude. If we want to speak to someone who is very busy or talking with someone else, we must say, "Excuse me." When we hurt someone, we must say, "I am very sorry."

When we meet someone, we must greet the person by saying, "Good morning" or "Good afternoon." We must also greet that person with a smile. Before you go to sleep you should say "Good night."

When someone visits us and leaves, we should say "Goodbye and come again." When a teacher or sir, comes into the classroom, we must stand up and greet him or her by saying, "Good morning teacher or sir."

Myself

By A. Gajandran (14 years), Mutwal Hindu College

My name is A. Gajendran but my friends call me Gajan. I am fourteen years old. I am thin, tall and tanned. I study at Mutwal Hindu College, in Grade Ten. I walk to school.

I have no brothers and sisters. I like to eat rice and drink apple juice. My hobby is drawing pictures. My favourite subjects are English, Tamil and Science. I like roses.

My favourite vehicle is the car. I like apples and strawberries. My favourite countries are Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. My favourite colours are red, black, blue and grey.

My mother's name is Puwaneshwari and my father's name is Aathimoolam. My best friends are DilakRaj, Suhindan, Sasikanthi and Vimalanathan.

My grandmother

By Anushri Dharmaraj (Grade 5), Ladies College

My grandmother's name is Hepzy Daniel. She looks after me when my parents go to work. She waits for me to come home after school. She makes delicious food.

She helps me in my studies. She is strict and at the same time she is kind too. She gets me anything I want. She is the best grandmother in the world.

My trip to Sri Lanka

By Oneli Ranasinghe (9 years), New York

I was born in New York to Sri Lankan parents. This summer I visited Sri Lanka after five years.
There is something about Sri Lanka that makes me feel comfortable and gives me a positive
feeling. I love Sri Lanka because I have a lot of family and friends there, who love me. They are so kind and nice.

Sri Lankans have a great sense of hospitality and everyone makes you feel welcome. If they see
someone on the streets, even though they don't know them they say hello or smile.

The temples in Sri Lanka are so big and breathtaking. The smell of fresh flowers offered to the Buddha, the tall Buddha statues, the big bodhi trees give me a different kind of feeling than going to a temple in America.

What I love about Sri Lanka are the calm beautiful landscapes, the beautiful beaches, the hill tops covered by mist and most of all the nice people and the loving relatives.

I love my country the United States of America, and I love Sri Lanka too. My only wish is that my thathi gets a good job in Sri Lanka so we can come and settle down for good in Sri Lanka.

I went to the moon

By Savindu Herat (Grade 3), Royal International School, Kurunegala

I went to America and landed in Washington D.C., by plane. Then I went to NASA
centre in Florida by bus. I saw a lot of rockets. I wore suitable clothes and got into the rocket. Then the rocket started to go. The rocket went through black clouds and twinkling stars to the moon.

I saw Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon. I hoisted the Sri Lankan flag. When I was looking for the rabbit on the moon I heard my mother's voice. I woke up to realize it was a dream.

Collecting coins

By Udani Wijayasooriya (11 years), Kekirawa Central College

Collecting coins is my hobby. It is a very popular hobby. It is a very fun hobby. It increases my knowledge about coins. We can get more information about other countries' coins.

I have coins of Maldives, India, England and Australia. The coins are very beautiful. I have 50 coins. They are very old coins. My grandfather gave me a lot of coins. Now I have a big coin collection. My dream is one day to collect 1000 coins.

Ghosts

By A.T. Wijeratne (10 years), Trinity College, Kandy

Ghosts are strangers
Who hail from another world
They come at night
It's a scary sight.

Ghosts are dead spirits
Who cannot touch us
They can melt their
bodies
They don't have
shadows.

Their eyes won't blink
They cannot eat or drink
But they are very glad
To make us afraid.