8th grade first quarter reflection 10-28-15

Thursday, October, 29 2015
8th grade first quarter reflection

          In my 40 book challenge I think I am doing pretty well so far I have read 5 books. Most of the books that I read are mainly realistic fiction. Some books that I'm excited to read this year are To kill a Mockingbird and also Allegant. I think that I am personally doing good for the start of the year. Of course I will still have to read over winter break but I hope to get at least two books done over that time.

          I think that my blogs are slowly getting better but I don't think I've made a huge improvement from the beginning of the year. I think this because I still use some of the same words that I used however I hope that later on throughout the year that I start to incorporate some of the vocabulary that I will learn. I personally think that my writing is pretty good and I am personally proud of that. I believe that made a huge growth from last year to this year so I hope to do so this year.

       
          Some strategies that have helped me is studying a lot. I study my vocab starting on Wednesday every week and study everyday for atleast about a 20 minutes. I feel like this has helped me because I have been receiving for my vocab mostly four's. I've only gotten one three and I think that it was because I was off a point or two but I do think that my strategy has worked. Another strategy that I use is using quizlet to study. This personally has helped me memorize words and it works better in my opinion then just looking at your words.

          One of the main things I learned about the world is about the Syrian refugee crisis. I think that this is important because people are risking about their lives to just have a new start. Lots of people have died trying to seek refuge and doing so isn't east. People will do about almost anything to have a new start and I found this very powerful because it shows us how easy we have it. I personally think that it's sad how people are being deprieved their life because of war and I think that this is wrong.

          I think that my research skills have improved a bit. I believe this because now I check multiple websites to see if the information that I am gathering is not only relevant but also is reliable. I think that my skills in researching have also improved because now I synthesize what I've learned and then soon start to transform that into my body paragraphs. I think that my work has improved a bit and I am proud of where I am now versus where I was a year ago. In conclusion I feel like I have not only grown academically and as a person

"Drums Girls And Dangerous Pie" Week 10/14

Prompt: Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why

or why not?

Pages read 0-23

          In the book Drums, girls + dangerous pie the main character (Steven) is faced with many problems. One of the problems that Steven has to deal with issue little brother named Jeffery. His little brother always is the main attention for his family and when he gets sick Steven's world will no longer be the same. In the book on the back cover the book says "But when Jeffery gets sick Steven's world is turned upside down, and he is forced to deal with his brother's illness, his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece, his homework, the band, girls, and Dangerous Pie..." because of this the reader can now infer how Steven is facing reality and is at a point in his life where him and his family are struggling.

          I believe that the characters in the book are realistic because the characters in the book are facing a struggle. The characters being Steven and Jeffery are mainly the main characters of the book. In the book Jeffery is always embarrassing the character Steven, I'm choosing to point this out because I personally have been embarrassed before and I can relate to this. I think the characters are also realistic because in the book their is no mythical creatures or events happening in the book thus leaving me to conclude that the characters are realistic along with the events.

          In conclusion I believe that the characters are realistic. I finally believe that they are realistic because everyone in the word is forced to deal with struggle. Sometimes you may struggle from simple things like picking a shirt to wear to having to chose to move or no. Struggles vary from minor to major and I think that Steven struggling in the book is realistic because everyone struggles. The character Steven doesn't have magic and is not spiderman leaving me to conclude that this book is realistic fiction making the characters realistic.

"Beauty within"

Would you give up
Everything
For paradise?


See
beauty
Give

beauty

Words do worse than
Sticks and
Stones

Small things
Will have the most
Impact

He was
Fearing
That he was losing
Respect

Our hearts Angels
Can be
Beetles

Obaa comparison to AOW 9/24/15

          Both the book "Of Beetles and Angels" and the article "Google pledges millions to match refugee crisis donations" speak about the crisis which is about refugees and their struggle to seek a new/better future. In the article the point of view is from the authors point of view. The article I had is mainly informative and does not speak of anyone except for companies. I know this because in the article it says "Here is a list of some of the other firms that have offered  to help as Europe struggles to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and North America." This quote to me helps identify that there will be a struggle and hopefully all will be fixed.

          Someone that connects in both the book and the article is Beth (Mercy corps) in the book it says "Bethel went to work immediately on finding us an affordable home...". To me this is very interesting because I was able to connect it with a quote in my article which says "The money will be given to the international rescue committee and mercy corps.". The quote helps indicate how the Mercy corps do help almost like how Beth helps Mawi. I believe that because of this Mawi was able to grow from this (clearly) however he did face some challenges in his past and that has shaped him to be who he is today.

          One of the ideas that keeps coming up in my head when I think of Mawi is Kindness and determination. I think that these things were essential in Mawi's life because Mawi is a very kind persona and a very determined person considering how he was able to go to graduate from Harvard. In the book Mawi's father says to him "But if you our children work hard at school and finish the university, maybe someday you can help your-selves and help your family to.". To me this quote is very powerful because in the article it says ""Google is the latest company to make a grand gesture to help with the refugee crisis.". To me this quote helps identify to the reader that they are determined almost like Mawi. In conclusion I believe that there are some similarities in things so different from each-other.

          In the gallery walk we were able to learn from each-others articles. The topic of everyones article mainly focused on refugees at any point of time, because of this everyones article was for the most part different. War was mainly the reason of this all happening. War is a very tough time and can affect people in multiple ways. One way that war can affect people is maybe one of their family members die etc. It really in general is a very sad time however we can learn from it. In the book "Of Betels and angles" Mawi goes through a very rough childhood and he was able to still grow from that rough child hood and make a better impact on the world.

"Breaking dawn" Summer blog #4

Book: Breaking dawn
Read: 384- end (768)
Prompt: Pick three pictures that represent your reading. Write a paragraph for each, telling what each item says about what each item says about what you've been reading.

          The book "Breaking dawn" is a very complex book with a lot of emotions. I think that one picture that helps describe Bella's love for her child is a clock. I chose this item because in the book Bella is faced with only so much time with Renesmee because she is growing up extremely fast. I think that this would honestly suck for  Bella because she doesn't get to enjoy time with her as much because before she knows it Renesmee will be all grown up.

           The next picture that I would chose is a picture of Loyalty. I would chose this item because in the book Bella had told Jacob that she didn't like him like how she likes Edward and still Jacob stood by her side in the "war". I think that this can also relate to some other people like there relatives from around the world because they came to help defend them also. I believe that most people have loyalty and if they do they are most likely a good friend. In this situation Jacob is a very good friend because he cares for Bella which I honestly think is really sweet.

          The last picture that I chose helps describe how Bella now has a whole new life. The picture is an infinity sign because Bella and Edward's love will last forever considering that they cant die really. I think that this can also resemble how Bella will always love her daughter and how she will always protect her even if she may not be with her. I highly recommend this book to anybody who would like to have a romantic adventurous book.

Breaking dawn Summer Blog #3

Book: Breaking dawn
Read: 0-384
Prompt: Pretend you get to make the music soundtrack for what you've been reading. What three songs would you include? Write why you chose the song and how it connects to what you are reading.

          In the book "Breaking dawn" when Bella first wakes up I think that the song that I would include is the song called "Crazy". This song is a cover on the original version and this version is a bit darker which I think fits. I think this song would fit because she is wondering what is going on and she is just overflowing with emotions which anybody would feel like if they just gave birth to a child while being changed into a vampire. In case you are interested in the song, this song was sung by Daniela Andrade.


          The next song that I would chose is "My favorite faded fantasy". I would chose this song because Bella is adjusting to her new body and is growing and having to basically live her life all over again and learn how to walk different etc. I think that Bella is a  very strong person who can take about anything and is driven to protect her family no matter what. Bella is a very self reliant person but feels empty without Edward which I learned in previous books. In case you are interested in this song it is by "Damien Rice".

          The final song that I chose was "Young and Beautiful" I chose this song because in the book Bella needs to build up the confidence up for herself with Edward because of her new image. I also chose this song because it describes how Bella knows how Edward will still love her because they have an unbreakable love which I really like. The song is sung by Lana Del Rey and I really like this song because it has a nice beat and I love Lana Del Rey's voice and type of music. I recommend this song and this book because there is a lot of music that can go into this book and it is a very dark book.

The Help Blog #2

Book: The Help
Pages read: 303 - 464 (end)
Prompt: Do you like what you're reading? Why or why not?

          I personally think that the book "The Help" is one of the best books I have probably read. I think this because the book was filled with excitement and it was also filled with a ton of risks. The book was very sad at the end and made me cry but it was still very good. The reason why I cried was because Abilene had gotten fired because Hilly wanted to be rude. Abilene had this very strong relationship with her boss's daughter and when Abilene got fired the daughter started crying and then everyone felt bad except for Hilly of course. Therefore because of this I feel like the book was amazing because you wouldn't expect that because everyone ended off happy accept of Abilene who soon retired.

          The book "The Help" I think was also good because the book didn't end happy for all and made you sentimental which really made me like the book. In the end of the book "Skeeter" ends up moving on with her life and went to go pursue her dream. To know that they told us this first really made the story end well for her. "Minny Jackson" ended her story well as well because Celia told her husband about her being her maid and he was cool about it and then Celia made a big feast for them all to enjoy. I liked this because it shows how not all people were ruthless at the time.

          I finally liked this book because the movie was exactly the same minus some things but mainly the whole story line was the same. I think that the casting for the movie was amazing and almost what I envisioned. The characters were right on of what I mostly envisioned however I expected the setting to be a bit more green and not have as much dirt. I think that it was cool to see it all play off and how the characters actually looked. I definitely would recommend this book to any person who likes realistic books.