Picture Poem 2/27/15

"The universe and beyond"

I can see the sky

I can see the universe

Beyond and beyond

Universe after universe

Never actually ending

Expanding into infinity

How small I am compared to this

How enormous the universe can be

Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn

Earth, one of the universe favorite planets

The night sky shines as bright as a thousand light bulbs

The sun, hugging us

To give us it´s warmth

To give us the light we need

Giving us energy to survive

By looking at the night sky

The past is visible to me

Stars and satellites far away

Can there be life out there too?

How small human life is

Just compared to this

Blog of 2/23/15

The Giver By Lois Lowry

Prompt:  Pick 2 to 4 words from what you are reading that you had difficulty understanding. Interpret what you think each word means based on the context clues (other words around that word that might help you interpret what the author means).

Pages Read: 0-65

 In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry there are three words I had trouble understanding while reading. The first word I had trouble understanding was prominent. I found it on page 11. The sentence I found it in was ¨Next, Mother, who held a prominent position at the Department of Justice, talked about her feelings¨. Based on the context clues I thought that prominent had to do with some sort of class or rating. I thought of this because in the text it said ¨...who held a prominent position...¨ and this made me think that it had to do something with class or rating. Prominent actually means important or famous, so I guess I was pretty close to the real definition.

The second word I had difficulty understanding was fret. The sentence I found fret in was ¨But the committee would never bother The Receiver with a question about bicycles: they would simply fret and argue about it themselves for years, until the citizens forgot that it had ever gone to them for study¨. Based on the words around fret I think that fret has to do something with feelings or mood.  I thought this because in the text it said ¨...they would simply fret and argue...¨ and this made come up to the conclusión that it has to do something with mood or feelings. Fret actually means to be constantly worried or anxious, but my guess was pretty close because worried and anxious are both feelings.


The third word I had trouble understanding was vividly. I found this word on page 43. The sentence I found it in was ¨He had dreamed very vividly the night before.¨ Based on the words surronding vividly I can see that it has to do something with like dreaming or something. I think this because in the text it says ¨...dreamed very vividly the night before.¨ and this is why it has to do something with dreaming. Vividly actually means forming distinct and striking mental images and this is sort of how dreams work. These are the three words I had trouble with understanding through my reading.

I commented on Lillian, Joseph, and Mia

Global Collaboration Reflection 2/27/15

My Reflection  

          Entering 7th grade my level of global awareness wasn't that high and I didn't really know what it meant. I had thought that global awareness meant news around the world. Global awareness actually means collaborating with people around the world. My collaborations and projects with my Swedish and Indian pen pals certainly did change my level of global awareness. This projects have changed my level of global awareness on certain topics. First of all, I thought that in India and in Sweden they didn't know, and they didn't speak english. Secondly, I have learned a lot about their cultures and their backgrounds. Something else I learned is about the kind of sports they play.

         My perspective on other cultures have also changed a lot. I have learned a lot about people's backgrounds, and a little on people´s religion. I learned that Hindu is a Indian religion, and I have not yet learned about any religions in Sweden. Since what my Swedish pen pal has told me, in Sweden it is common to have a lot of animals. In India I have learned that people in that country have traditional dances and have folk dances too.

           The two most interesting things that I have learned so far are the sports they play in India, and how my Swedish pen pal and me have a lot of stuff in common. In India I didn't know they had a sport called kho kho. In Kho kho there are 10 or more players, these 10 players are sitting, 2 players run. In this 1 player has to chase the other player. Other players sit in between in the form of line. Then the one running player say kho by stabbing at seated player’s back to run and so that the other player can catch other player. Me and my Swedish pen pal have a lot in common such as music, reading, and in school too. I have learned a lot with this Global Collaboration project

Blog of 2/16/15

Ashes By Ilsa J. Bick

Prompt:  Describe the main characters

Pages Read: 150-200

  They're are 3 main characters is the book Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick so far. The first main character is a girl named Alexandra (Alex). She is around the age of 15 and she has red hair. She also has a brain tumor. She left her home recently because she wanted to take a hike. She used to live with her Aunt Hannah. Alex left her home and drove all the way to Michigan. Alex just wanted to get stuff off her mind. She wanted to get away from all the medicine and hospitals that were always around her. Her Aunt Hannah called her once Alex reached Michigan. After that they never spoke to each other again.

          The second main character in the book is Ellie. Ellie is a little girl around the age of 8 and with blond hair. Ellie was walking around the woods with her grandpa Jack and accidentally met Alex. Ellie is sort of ungraceful child. She lives with her grandpa because her Dad died and her mother left her when she was young. Throughout the book so far Ellie has changed a little. She is becoming nicer than she was before but she is still that little annoying child.

The third main character in the book is Tom. Tom is teenager around the 20. Him and two other friends were in the forest. He saved Alex and Ellie lives from one of his friends who had turned crazy. That's how he met Alex and Ellie. Tom works for the army, he is the person who deactivates bombs. He has a lot of skills and they come really in handy because they are in the forest. These are the 3 main characters in the book Ashes.

I commented on Lillian, Mia, and Saul's blog

Poetry Response

           
          The poem I chose to talk about is "My Best Friend" by Brianne Green. This poem is about a long friendship. The author is describing her best friend and how she's always been there for here. She's describing how long and how much she likes her friendship. I think the author wrote this because she might have experienced with this kind of a long friendship. She is saying about how much she loves her best friend because she has always been there for her. The author is also describing the memories she has had with her best friend so far.

I picked this picture because it relates really well to my poem. This picture says that "GREAT FRIENDS are hard to find, difficult to leave & impossible to forget." This relates to poem because both talk about how important a friendship is. They both are basically saying to value the friendship you have with someone cause great friends are hard to find in the world these days.

This poem makes a text to self connection. I have a friend who has always been there for me. That friend is Irma Gualpa. Me and Irma have been friends since 1st grade. We have always been there for each other, through thick and thin. When we are at our worst we know we can count on each other. I trust her a lot. We can keep each others secrets. I know I can trust her with anything and she knows that about me too. We have never turned our back at each other and we don't plan on doing that. We can always be ourselves around each other cause we have known each other for a long time. Her friendship is really important to me and I hope we keep being friends for a long time.

My Best Friend

By: Brianne Green

I have a lot to say

About my best friend

She has always been there for me

When in need

I don't know what I would have done

Without her in my life

She is kind

Loving

Caring

Here by my side

For the good and bad

We shared a lot of

Laughter

Along the way

We hold each others secrets

Deep in are hearts

Never shall they be said

Never shall we turn against each other

Always will be here for her

And she will always be here for me

Blog of 2/9/15

Ashes By Ilsa J. Bick

Prompt:  Draw 4 objects that represent your reading. Write a sentence for each, telling

what each item says about what you’ve been reading.

Pages Read: 52-150

          The 4 objects I picked to represent my reading are brain cancer, a forest, a pack of dogs, and survival kit. I chose a brain cancer because the main character is Ashes has brain cancer. The main character in the book is Alexandra (Alex) and she has brain cancer. She wanted to get away from all the medications and hospitals so she decided to go on a hike. Even though she has brain cancer she didn't really care and she wanted time for herself. The hike she took turned to be really shocking instead of calm and relaxing. In every turn she is facing life or death. 

          I picked a forest to represent my reading because the book takes place in a forest. Ashes takes place in a forest in Michigan near Superior Lake. All the events currently happening are in this forest. Most of the events are tragical and most are dreadful. In this forest Alex chose to take a 12 day hike trip. The hike takes 12 days total getting there and back. An unfortunate event happens which causes the 12 day hike trip to become even longer.

          The 3rd object I picked was a pack of wild dogs. I picked a pack of wild dogs because Alex and her companion Ellie get attacked by a pack of wild dogs. These dogs were released into the forest because their owners thought they would do better in the wild by themselves. Those dogs eventually came together and formed a pack. This pack of dogs go around the forest and attack people and Alex was one of them. 

          The 4th object I picked to represent my drawing is a survival kit. I picked a survival kit because when Alex was going to go on a hike she brought something close to a survival kit but thanks to Ellie she lost most of her supplies. Ellie has been very clumsy most of the book and she made Alex loose 3/4 of her food, water supply, gun, gear, and her pack. Alex lost all of this trying to save Ellie but Ellie doesn't care. Alex and Ellie are practically left with nothing. These are the 4 objects I picked to represent my reading. 

I commented on: Rebecca T, Justin R, and Giovanna G

Book Talk 2/3/15

Book Talk for Go Ask Alice

Written Transcript

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Genre: Realistic Fiction

          The book I will be doing this book talk on is “Go Ask Alice”. The author of this book is Anonymous and the genre of this book is realistic fiction because most of the things in this book could happen in real life.

          Now I’m going to give you a summary of the book. I don’t know where the book takes place because it doesn’t say in the book. The main character of the book is a 15 year old girl, but it doesn’t say her name in the book. The conflict of the book is addiction to drugs. The 15 year old girl who used to be a honor roll student was invited to a party. In that party they played a little game and they handed each person a soda including her. There were 14 people in that party. When she took a sip of the soda she began to feel weird. That’s when one of the kids told her that 10 out of the 14 sodas had LSD in them. LSD is a type of drug. When the drug effect was over she left like she needed to do it again. The day after she was feeling depressed and she couldn’t sleep at all. These were the effects of the LSD. She didn’t want to feel this way so she began to experiment with other kinds of drugs. After she did it once her whole life changed, she used drugs as a part of her everyday life. She slowly began to lose everything that used to be important in her old life. She became careless. Everything changed for her just because of one drug trip. The mood of the book is mostly shocking because of what happens to her after taking her first drug trip. The theme of the book is to never do drugs and to see the consequences of taking drugs.

Review: 

          I liked the book because it gave me the point of view of a 15 year old girl. Which is sort of close to my age. What I remember most about the book is what happened to her after she took her first taste of drugs. Yes, I would recommend this book because it actually gives you a inside look on drugs and it is pretty scary. I would recommend it to anyone. The viewer should go and get this book because it is pretty life changing. This girl used to be a honor roll student but by just taking one drug trip she ruined her whole life. She ruined it in less than one year. This book is actually based on a true story of a 15 year old girl.

I commented on Evie, Lillian, and Diana's blogs for this week.

8th Graders: Diego and Sarai