sofia's blog.

TKAM #5: Dill

2009-05-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I finally ran away from home. I've been wanting to run away for the past couple months to Maycomb, I just didn't have the money. Ever since my mother got married she hasn't been paying any attention to me at all. Don't even get me started with my new dad, that guy started off being really nice but now all he does is ignore me. Now that I'm in Maycomb it seems like everythings better again. I love being here, during the year while I'm in school all I look forward too is my summers in Maycomb with Jem and Scout.

The worst part about running away was probably hiding under Scout's bed. Here's what happened. . . When I finally got to Maycomb I had no idea what to do, I didn't go to my Aunt Rachel's house because I thought that she would just send me back to my mom, so i decided that maybe I could just live in Jem and Scouts room for a while until I thought things out. While the Finch family was at dinner, I just snuck into their house, walked up stairs and hid under Scouts bed. When Scout saw me I swear my heart stopped beating, I was scared to death, I thought it was an adult, but then when I saw it was Scout I was fine. As soon as Jem saw me he went to go tell Atticus. I didn't htink he would tell Atticus right away, but he did. I was scared, I thought Atticus would be mad at me, instead he fed me and let me sleep in Jems bed, I didn't get much sleep that night. The next morning Atticus sent me to Aunt Rachels house.

TKAM #4: Jem

2009-05-14T19:34:00.003-07:00

A lot has been going on lately here in Maycomb. The other day Scout and I realized that Atticus isn't like the other dad's around here, to start off Atticus is a lot older than other dad's. While all the other dads in town are hunting and fishing, Atticus likes to sit and read. I've always kind of been okay with this because that's just the way Atticus has always been for as long as I can remember; but the other day I learned something completely new about Atticus that completely surprised Scout and I. It started with a dog, a crazy dog just wandering on the main street towards our house. Calpurnia calls Atticus and he shows up with the sheriff, the sheriff has a riffle and hands it to Atticus and tells Atticus to shoot the dog. Scout and I thought for sure that Atticus wasn't going to but to our huge surprise and amazement he took the riffle from the sheriff and shot the dog, hitting it with the first shot. Later Scout and I were talking to Miss Maudie and she told us that when Atticus was younger he was the best shot in Maycomb and everyone called him 'one shot Finch'. Hearing this about Atticus was very surprising and so unexpected, I mean I thought Atticus hated guns, it seems like he didn't used to, I wonder what made him start hating guns, I mean he's so good at shooting. That day flooded my mind with questions. Scout and I were so proud of Atticus, and Scout of course wanted to brag and tell everyone school. I stopped her, it just wouldn't be right to tell everyone at school, if Atticus didn't want us to know he obviously doesn't want the entire town to know.

Alright so a few days later it was finally my twelfth birthday. The day after my birthday Scout and I went to town to spend my birthday money. On our way we passed by Mrs. Dubose's house and there she was sitting on her porch like on every Saturday afternoon. Scout and I tried not to make eye contact but as usual she started yelling at us for no reason at all. She started off with insulting Scout, Scout just stood there just like how Atticus taught her. Next she started talking about Atticus, she always talked about Atticus in a bad way even thought Atticus was so nice to her, she would't stop going on about Atticus and eventually I couldn't take it anymore; we left. When we were in town I finally bought the miniature steam engine and I bought Scout that baton she had been wanting. We started walking home and I was still very mad about our encounter with Mrs. Dubose earlier, I came up with an idea. As we were passing by her house I took Scout baton and I destroyed all of Mrs. Dubose's Camilla bushes. I knew I would get in trouble but I didn't care, I hated that lady and after hearing about what she said about Atticus she deserved it. We got home, ate dinner, and waited for Atticus to get home. When I finally heard him walk up to the front porch and open the door I wondered anxiously if he knew what I had done. He walked in caring the baton and one of the flowers, the expression on his face said it all. "Jem Finch, did you have anything to do with this?" he asked.

"Yes sir" I answered proudly, maybe he would be proud after hearing what she said about him. He wasen't, he made me go back to back to Mrs. Dubose's house to apologize, which was something I could not do. I thought about just hiding outside for about half an hour and not go to her house, but Atticus would find out. When I finally got to her house I forced my hand to knock at her door and Jessie opened the door, she let me in. I walked in and the house was exactly as I pictured it, very creepy. I apologized, even thought I didn't mean it and now she wants me to read to her every day for 2 hours for a month. Atticus said I had to, I am not looking forward to that.

TKAM #1: Scout

2009-05-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of school, it was very dissapointing. My entire life I have been so exited for this day, to finally get to go to school with all of the other children in town. To not be bored all by myself at home waiting for Jem and Atticus to return. Today finally came and school was not what I expected it to be.

To start off as Jem and I arrived to school, he told me that he didn't wasnt me to talk to me at school, which was something I did not understand at all, Jem and I were so close at home, why should it be any diffrent at school. I was hoping things would get better once I got to my classroom, but they didn't. When I walked into the classroom I imeadeatly recodnized everybody, everybody exept for one person; a lady no more than twenty one with a bright red-and-white striped dress on standing in the corner of the room.

"I am Miss Caroline Fisher, I am from north Alabama, from Wistion County" , she told us as she wrote her name on the board. After that we read a book about cats and then, she asked me to try to read. So I did what she asked and I read, btu as I was reading I noticed she was getting mad at me fro some reason, I did not know why, so I just kept reading. When I finished she told me to tell my father to not teach me how to read anymore, and I did not understand her at all. Atticus never taught me how to read, it just came to me, and I have been reading for as long as I caould remember. I told Miss Caroline, but she did not believe me and she was very mad at me; she said that I was not learning the right ways and that now I would not be able to read the correct way. Miss Caroline told me to never read at home again, and that made me mad and confuse. Why should I get in trouble for knowing how to read, isn't that the whole point of school, to learn as many new things as possible; or do I not know these thigs because I'm just to little to understand.

Well after a while it was lunchtime and Miss Caroline asked everyone to either raise their hand if they were going home for lunch time, or to take out their lunch, everyone did, exept for one student, Walter Cunningham. Miss Caroline walked up to Walters desk "Wheres your lunch" she asked, Walter just stared at her.

"Did you forget your lunch this morning?" she asked,

"Yeb'm" Walter fianally replied." Miss Caroline grbbed her purse and took out a shiny quarter. "Here, go eat downtown todayand pay me back tommorow." The whole class looked around at eachother, anticipating what was going to happen next, looking for who was going to tell the new teacher about Walters situation.

I took a deep breath and finally said "He's a Cunningham ma'am."

Everyone imeadeatly turned to look at me, Miss Caroline looked confused, "Whats that Jean Louise?"

"Walter is one of the Cunnighams Miss Caroline", I reapeated trying to sound as clear as possible.

Miss Caroline still looking confused said "I beg your pardon?"

Oh my gosh what is wrong with this lady, she dosen't understand anything, I did not want to explain any farther but I felt like at this point I had no choice so I sighed and said "The Cunninghams are farmers ma'am, the crash hit them the hardest, they never take anything they can't pay back". Everyone stared at Miss Caroline waiting for her response. "Jean Louise I've had enough of you this morning" then she picked up a ruler and whipped me. I don't know what I did wrong and so far I did not like school at all, especially Miss Caroline.

Immigration Project Reflection

2009-03-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

The immigration project was a project that we did this semester was an interesting project where I learned a lot. This project was made up of three parts, we read a book about immigration, we painted a painting based n our books, and lastly we interviewed a real immigrant that came from a different country and that lives in America now.
So, first we read Lit. Circle books about immigration; the book that I was assigned was called Hello, America by Livia Bitton-Jackson. Hello, America is a book about a girl that comes to America after surviving the Holocaust. I liked reading this book more than any other Lit. Circle book we had to read this semester. I was glad that I chose this book for Lit. Circles, it was my third choice, and at first I was kind of disappointed that I was assigned this book because it did not seem as exiting as the other book choices, but it turned out to be my favorite Lit. Circles book all year. When I read this book I learned about new immigrants and what their life was like wen they would first come to America. If I were to change anything about the whole Lit. Circles experience, I don't think that I would change anything, I think that everything is fine just the way it is. I like blogging a lot more than what we used to do before with Lit. Circles where we had to write out everything. I did not have any problems with the blogging experience, I liked reading the comments and seeing what my group thought about the book.
When we finished reading the book we had to create a painting to represent the book. Before we could start painting we had to draw 2 sketches to represent what we were going to paint. The first sketch that I was thinking of doing was a symbol from the book, it was a drawing of an old letter addressed to Eli Friedman man because at the end of the book she got a very important letter in the mail. My second sketch was a re-done book cover; it said Hello, America & it had many symbols that represented the book. I ended up painting my second sketch because I could not paint all of the words on the letter. I felt like there was a very easy connection between my art piece and the novel, I felt like the book cover i made had more of a connection than the books actual book cover. I liked the way my final product turned out and I don't think I would change anything at all. If I were to do it again maybe I would have painted slower so that it would come out better. I really enjoyed interpreting the book that I read through art and I hope that we can do it again with our future Lit. Circle books.

The third part of this project was the interview process; we had to interview someone that had immigrated from a different country to America. I interviewed Jean-Michael Diot, an immigrant from France. I feel like the interview process went really well and there were not really any problems. The fact that I had to do 3 different interviews was not a problem and I thought that it was a better way to do it because that way you can get more information. During the interviews I learned many different new things about Jean-Michael Diot, France, and overall immigration. Interviewing an immigrant and hearing their story's made everything that we learned in class come to life; we got to hear first hand what it was like coming to America. Overall I really enjoyed this project because it was fun and i learned a lot at the same time.

Hello, America Book Reveiw

2009-03-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

For Lit. Circles this semester I choose the book Hello, America by Livia Bitton-Jackson. This book was about an immigrant that came to America after surviving the Holocaust. I chose this book because in 7th grade we learned a lot about the Holocaust and I always wondered what the survivors did when it was all over.

When I found out that I had to read this book for lit. circles, I didn't really want to because it didn't seem as exiting as all of the other books, but it turned out that out of all of my Lit. Circle books so far his year I liked this one the best. The reason why is because it was a lot easier to understand, it was really informative, and it was entertaining. Unlike the previous book's I read this was a happy book, it was about how happy Elli was starting her new life in America & how great her new life was. I liked reading this book because I liked learning about what America was like back in the 1940's, I don't know why but I like learning about that kind of stuff. I enjoyed reading this book, and at the same time I was learning a lot.

I would recommend this book to people that want to learn about what peoples life's were like when they first immigrate to America because I think that many new immigrant's in the 1940's could relate to Elli's immigration experience. I would also recommend this to people who would like to learn about what life was like back in the 1940's because there were many differences as opposed to what life is like in America today.

Reading this book helped me understand how difficult it was being a new immigrant in America, coming to a completely new country where everything is different. There were so many people in history that had to go though this experience and immigrate to a new country and there are still people that have to go through this today. Reading this book really helped me appreciate my life and be grateful for all of the opportunities that I have.

Hello, America #6

2009-03-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

Quote #1:

"Ocean Avenue is basking in the golden rays of the late afternoon sun, and I feel like embracing it's radiance, clutching my bosom together with my diploma. -Elli, page 229

Significance:

This was the part after Elli checked her mailbox and found out that she got her High School diploma which meant that she could go to college. This was a really happy moment for Elli, like her happiest moment the whole book, this was the beginning of the life she had always wanted.

Personal Connection:

If something like this happened to me I would feel like Elli felt too. I would feel really happy to and I would want to tell people, but Elli couldn't tell anyone because everyone was working.

Question:

Did you think Elli would pass the test and get the diploma?

Quote #2:

"Livia Bitton-Jackson born Elli L. Friedmann in Czechoslovakia, was thirteen when she, her mother, and her brother were taken to Auschwitz." - Elli, About the Author

Significance:

Oh my gosh this book was based on a true story!... it was real! ... it was like a biography! Elli is a real person! Oh my gosh I had not idea, I thought that this was just a made up story but it's real. I didn't know that Livia Bitton- Jackson was Elli and that all of these things really happened. That's why I chose this quote because it was the quote that stood out to me the most while I was reading this last part of the book tonight. I can't believe that everything that happened in this book really happened. This book just showed me how hard being a new immigrant in America really was. Oh, and since her last name is Bitton that means she married David Bitton, that guy from the subway.

Character Analysis: Elli-

Reading this book, and reading about everything that Elli went through in order to get a better life makes me think that if somebody sets their mind to something, it can be accomplished. Elli went through so much, from surviving the Holocaust, to adapting to a new culture in America, all she wanted to do was be a teacher. Now she has a PhD, she's a best selling award winning author, and she lives in Israel, in the book she always said she always wanted to go to Israel. Elli started off with nothing but she kept on trying and she never gave up and in the end it payed off.

Question:

Did you know that this book was based on a true story?

Hello, America #5

2009-03-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

Quote #1:

"The word camp sends a shiver down my spine" -Elli, page 184

Significance:

This was the part where the Principal was telling Elli about the camp that she could work at during the summer. When I read this sentence I thought that it was really sad because even though she survived the Holocaust and it is over now, she still has to live with the memories forever.

Character Judgement- Principal:

I think that the principal guy shouldn't be so hard on Elli, I'm sure that he can't even imagine everything that she has been through in her past. I feel bad for Elli because a lot of people are giving her a hard time because she was a Holocaust survivor and that's supposed to be a good thing.

Question:

If you were Elli would you go to camp?

Quote #2:

"The next morning the harsh reality of the tight daily schedule hits me like an ice cold shower" -Elli, page 190

Significance:

When Elli said this she was referring to her first day of summer camp and how hard it was. The main reason why I choose this quote was because I liked the way the author used a metaphor to describe how Elli's first day of camp was. This sentence was important because Elli said that her first day of camp was like immigrating all over again. She had to start off somewhere new where she did not know anyone at all and she did not feel welcomed.

Personal Connection:

Sometimes when I go somewhere completely new where everyone already knows each other and I don't know anyone I don't feel welcomed, just like Elli.

Question:

Do you think that Elli would have a better summer in New York with her family or at camp?

Hello, America #4

2009-03-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Quote #1:

"Never get in a strangers car, especially late at night on a dark deserted street." - random guy in white Ford, page 123

Significance:

This was that one part where Elli just got in some random guys car because he said that he would give her a ride home, and it was like really dark and really late at night. It was so crazy that Elli was just like 'oh okay thank you' as if she was living in like a Disney movie. It was a good thing that the guy was just teaching her a lesson and that nothing bad happened.

Personal Connection:

I can relate to this because when I travel somewhere else I learn that people live differently in different couturiers, for example there are some countries where little kids are playing by themselves outside at like midnight and there are other countries where people can't even leave their houses.

Question:

Did you think that something bad was going to happen when you were reading this part?

Quote #2:

"This number was put on my arm in Auschwitz by people like you!" - Elli, page 146

Significance:

Elli said this quote to a lady in the subway. She said this because the lady was talking to her about some Jewish girls on the subway and Elli was like 'what, stop it, you know I'm Jewish' and then she showed her the number on her arm and the lady was like 'what is that' and Elli started yelling at the lady because the lady was German. The lady got really sad and Elli felt bad for yelling at her. I thought that this was an important part of the book because it was when Elli realized that not all Germans were anti-Semitic.

Character Judgement- Lady on Subway:

I kind of feel bad for this random lady, it's not her fault she didn't know about the Holocaust, at the time they didn't like to talk about it & she got yelled at. At the same time she shouldn't have been talking about those Jewish girls behind their backs. I'm sure that after this experience she will be more care full about what she says to random people. So this experience benefited both her and Elli.

Question:

Do you think that Elli did the right thing by yelling at that lady on the subway?

Hello, America #3

2009-02-25T20:24:00.000-08:00

Quote #1:

"This is what I love about America! The knowledge of possibility's and the freedom to achieve, if only I work hard." - Elli, page 94

Significance:

Elli said this quote after her first day of work at her second job, she was telling Alex about how someday in the future she wanted to be like her co-workers Sally and Evelyn. She was just saying how people take advantage of how great America is, she says that a lot in this book.

Personal Connection:

I chose this quote because I think that it really represented America. A lot of people come here for better opportunities. I can relate this to the Immigrant project we are doing right now, the person I'm interviewing said that they came here because they had a very good opportunity here. When you are here, as long as you work hard you can achieve whatever you set your mind too.

Question:

Do you think Elli will ever become a teacher?

Quote #2:

"Friday morning drags on & on"

Significance:

This was the part where Elli was at work, waiting for the day to be over, so that she could go visit her mom in the hospital. During this time I'm sure that Elli was feeling very anxious and worried because her mom was getting an operation , and I'm sure that she was very distracted and not getting very much work done at work.

Personal Connection:

I choose this quote because I can relate to it. Every Friday when I wake up I think that it's Saturday morning but it turns out that there's still one day of school left. Friday's are slow.

Question:

How old is Elli?

Hello, America #2

2009-02-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

Quote 1:

"No one noticed the number on my arm." - Elli, page 68

Significance:

Elli was referring to when a bunch of people came to her cousins house and shook her hand to say goodbye. The reason why I choose this quote was because I was just reading this book and then I read this sentence and I remembered that she was a survivor of the Holocaust. I just completely forgot, I mean Elli is just so normal, like any other immigrant, living a normal life as if nothing happened.

Character Analysis:

Elli- Elli is such an strong character. She went through so much back in Europe, she lost so many family members and friends, and she is still haunted with the memories. She's just here in America as if nothing happened, still persevering towards her dream of becoming a teacher. Elli is a character that anyone can look up to.

Question:

Has there ever been a time when you were reading this book and you forgot about Elli's past?

Quote:

"I guess we've taken everything on campus for granted." - Judy, page 70

Significance:

In this part of the book Elli was visiting the Brooklyn College campus, and she made all these comments on how everything was so pretty, on things that her friends had never noticed. Elli said that the schools back home were just concrete buildings.

Personal Connection:

A lot of times when your really busy you don't notice the little things in life. For example if you pass by the same things every day you don't really notice them, but if somebody is like visiting San Diego from a different city their like 'wow that's cool' and your like 'yeah i never really noticed that.'

Question:

Has there ever been a time where you didn't notice something really obvious?

Hello, America #1

2009-02-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Quote 1:

"How does it feel to have a different pair of shoes for every outfit? How many pairs of shoes do these girls have? I have been happy with the one pair of shoes I own . . . forever grateful that they fit well . . . forever remembering the shoes I was forced to wear in the death camps, the agony of walking miles and miles in shoes two sizes to small . . . " - Elli, page 23

Significance:

This quote represented that Elli's life was different now, compared to her life back in Europe. Elli went from only having one pair of very uncomfortable shoes during the Holocaust, to learning that in America people throw away pairs of perfectly good pairs of shoes just because they break. I think that Elli feels that this is very strange and that Americans are very wasteful.

Personal Connection:

I feel like we really take things for granted, not just here in America but all over the world. There is a lot of poverty all over the world and many people only have one pair of shoes, some people don't have any shoes at all & sometimes we just don't realize that.

Question:

Do you think that Elli will ever get used to America & be able to forget her past?

Quote #2:

"In Europe people talk to each other on trains. Here why doesn't anyone say hello as they sit down next to another passenger?" - Elli, page 37

Significance:

This quote represented one of the many things Elli encountered that were different from what she was used to back at home. I think that this was when Elli realized that she was not in Europe anymore and that she would have to get used to all of the new changes here in America.

Personal Connection:

When you do to other countries you realize that the United States is a very strange country with different customs. In any other country when you go anywhere weather it's a store, or a bus stop, or a bank, or anything you say hi to the people and talk to them or they will get insulted. Here, in America if you start talking to random people, they just look at you like your crazy, it's really different.

Question:

Has there ever been a time where you had to adapt to change?

New Americans Museum Reflection

2009-02-12T17:21:00.001-08:00

From Haven to Home was a very interesting exhibit about Jewish people that immigrated to America and how it has affected our country. In this exhibit I learned lots of interesting things about the Jewish history in America. The first group of Jews came to America from Europe in 1654, they came to New Amsterdam (New York) & it was only about 23 people. During this time Jews were looked down upon, they lived in New York's lower East side and a lot of them worked in factories. Over time more and more Jews came from Europe because they felt like they were not treated equally because of their religion. During the 1820's more synagogues were built & in 1834 Rebbecca Grantz opened the first Jewish Sunday school. In 1924 congress decided to start having an immigration limit, this was right before Hitler began the Holocaust and this was not good for the European Jews that wanted to escape to America. Even though there was an immigration limit 200,000 Jews still came around the Holocaust. I thought that it was really sad how America started there immigration limit as soon as the Jews needed it the most. In this exhibit I learned a lot about the hardships and accomplishments of the Jewish people & how they have impacted America.

I liked the exhibit Children of Immigrants because I enjoyed seeing the child's story by looking at the photographs. All of the children in the photographs had a whole new life in front of them, here in America. The photograph that I found the most interesting was the one with all the little kids that came from different cultures at school in Chicago. I liked this one because all of the kids were from different backgrounds, due to immigration. All of the kids were so different, but at the same time they were so similar. When your a little kid in elementary school, where you came from doesn't matter, everybody just gets along and plays together as if they've know each other their whole life. The quote I choose was "The greatest thing I hope in my life is to become a successful person & to have family and friends to support me, not to be looked at by the color of my skin but by who I am inside" - Samaria Durakovic, Yugoslavia. I chose this quote because I thought that it really applied to this exhibit and it really liked the way that Samaria said what she hoped for in the future. I hope that Samaria became a successful person, had her family and friends to support her, and was not looked at by the color of her skin but by who she is inside.

Immigration

2009-02-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

Immigration is when somebody moves from their home country to another country, to live there. There are many reasons why people would leave their home to immigrate to another country. Sometimes immigrants leave their homes in search of a better life. People move to the United States because the United States is a free country where people have lots of freedom and many rights. For example here we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion, there are other country's that don't.

The United States is a pretty new country, it only started about 230 years ago, and that's not a very long time compared to other county's. So every body that lives in the United States came from immigration at some point in their family's history. So United States has been affected by immigration in a huge way. This is a very unique country, this country is very diverse and there are many different cultures, because the people come here in search of a better life come from all over the world. If you go to other countries they won't be a diverse as this country because those countries have been around for hundreds of years, so there aren't as many immigrants like in the United States, that is why people that live here come from so many different backgrounds.

I think that immigration is a good thing because without immigration it would be so boring, everyone would be from the same cultures and backgrounds, nothing would be new or different. Another reason why I like immigration is because like many other people without immigration I wouldn't exist.

Capitalizing Practice

2009-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Before:

ok so im dead im floating around piggy ralph and their group try to start a fire boring.... umm lemme see what jack is doin the person that killed me!! >:(.. umm oh wait ralph goes to jack and blows the conch and he getting pelted with rocks. umm lets see the whole fortress that jack has is surronded bu gaurds. yup lets see oh jack has a pigs head and he tells ralph to leave and then he calls jack a thief and ralph asks to return piggys glasses. yup. they started to fight and sam n eric are tied up. then ralph asks again for the glasses then he loses his temper and then they fight again.

After:

Okay so I'm dead I'm floating around Piggy, Ralph, and their group try to start a fire boring.... umm lemme see what Jack is doing the person that killed me!! >:(.. umm oh wait Ralph goes to Jack and blows the conch and he getting pelted with rocks. Umm lets see the whole fortress that Jack has is surrounded by gaurd's. Yup lets see oh Jack has a pigs head and he tells Ralph to leave and then he calls Jack a thief and Ralph asks to return Piggy's glasses. yup. they started to fight and Sam n Eric are tied up. then Ralph asks again for the glasses then he loses his temper and then they fight again.

The Other Side of the River

2008-12-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

The Other Side of the River

A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma

The Other Side of the River is a a very interesting book by Alex Kotlowitz about two towns that are very different even though nothing but a river separated them. I thought that the title of this book as very symbolic, the "river" was more then something that just separated Benton Harbor and St. Joseph; the river is a barrier flowing all around the world in between people.

Overall I thought that this book was very unique, what I mean is that the author had a very unique style of writing. There were many parts of the book where where you could tell that he was not being literal, instead he used symbol's to represent what he was talking about; this inspired me in my writing to be more symbolic instead of just saying the obvious. One of the things that I did not like about this book was how the author would be very random at times, those were the parts where this book would confuse me, the book would just all of a sudden change the subject and I didn't really understand why. I am glad that I read this book in school because if I didn't read this book here, I cannot imagine myself picking this book up wanting to read it, I would think that I would not understand it (sometimes I did not understand it, but most of the time I did).

I though that this book was very well written, you could really tell that the author did his research because this book was based on on a true story, a boy in Benton Harbor named Eric McGinnis really was found on that early morning of May 1991, and they still are trying to figure out what really happened to him. Everybody has their own theories, but to this day no one knows what really happened to him. Alex Kotlowitz went to Benton Harbor in search of the true story. He spent hours talking to many residents of both Benton Harbor & St. Joseph for many years just for this book.

When you read the end of this book it makes you realize that this book is more than just about trying to figure out what happened to Eric McGinnis; this book is about Benton Harbor & St. Joseph. As Kotolowitz was talking to all these people asking about Eric, he got so much more out of them, he learned about their background, their beliefs, their families and so much more; he basically learned more about their life by talking to them about Eric McGinnis. By interviewing all of these people we learned the differences of the lives of the people on both sides of the river, and how Benton Harbor & St. Joseph were more than just two town separated by a river, but more like two completely different worlds.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading and who are good at comprehending confusing books. This book can get very confusing going from past to present. Reading this book taught me not to give up when you think something is boring because in the end, you might learn something; there were times when I really did not want to read this book and I just wanted to give up on it because I did not understand it, but I kept reading and eventually I grasped the over all meaning of the book. To me the message of this book is to not let the "river" in your life separate you form other people, everybody is equal.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #13

2008-10-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Chapter 13- Nigthmares & Bedtime Stories

"Kill the Beast, Cut His Throat, Spill His Blood!, Kill the Beast, Cut His Throat, Spill his Blood!" The boys were all chanting above Ralph, their spears a s sharp as shark teeth, the last thing Ralph saw was the hatred in Jack's dark eyes as he was standing above him with his spear to his heart.

"Ahhh!" Ralph woke up lying on his bed, he was sweating and breathing heavily, "It was justa dream, it was on ly another dream" he told himself. It had only been two weeks since they had been rescued form the island. But the memories were still fresh in his mind, everything since the first day when he was walking on the beach with Piggy, to the last day when he thought that Jack was going to murder him, when he thought that it was all over, when he lost all hope. Ralph had been having all sorts of nightmares since he had left the island, now he was just living a normal life again, as if nothing had ever happened; the only diffrence was that now his parents were much more overprotective than before, they never wanted him to dissapear like that ever again, they wouldn'y even send him to school yet.

Ralph sat on his bed and refleted on his journey back home... After the naval officer had found them on the island he had his men search the whole island for any surviving boys, no one said anything about Simon, Piggy, or the boy with the mullberry birthmark, not even Ralph. The ride back home was very long and unconfortable, especially for Ralph. I mean really put yourself in his position: your on a ship fo about two weeks with a group of savage boys that want to kill you and the only thing that is stopping them is the fact that the ship is full of trained naval officers with a lot of military experience, you would be unconfortable too. In time everyone recovered form thie experince on the island. Percival recovered, Maurice recovered, Robert recovered, even Rodger recovered, and Jack, well Jack is another story. Sadly, Jack did not recover; he was very upset after all of the power that he lost, it just happened so quickly, all becuase if that naval officer. Jack hated that naval officer, he did not want to go back home, he did not miss anyone, not his friends, not his family, he did not want anyone telling him what to do anymore, he just did whatever he wanted now. the naval officer noticed Jack's problems on the ship and when they all returned home he convinced his mother to shend him to the RCTC, the Rehabilitation center for Troubled Children.

Ralph remembered the first time he saw Jack, he was just an innocent little choirboy, with his little black robe and his little black cap. He also remembered the last time he saw Jack, it was on that cold December day on that dock, the day they returend to England. Sion's mother was there: the school gave out a notice to all of the parents that lost their childrenon the crash. Simon's family and Jack's family had been very good friends for many years and Simon's mother went up to Jack as he was leaving,

"Have yo seen Simon darling"

"I'm afraid I haven't ma'am" replied Jack with an evil smirk as her eyes filled with tears...

Knoking on the door suddenly inturupted Ralph's flashback.

"Ralph, are you allright , i heard you screaming," Ralphs motehr asked refering to hi nightmare.

"Yeah I'm fine mum, don't worry about it"

"Allright, Goodnight"

"'Night mum" he replied as he sighed. Ralph had told his parents about the island, but he had no exactly told them the whole story. He told them that it was a nice peace full island that was all fine and jolly, you know like the the kind of islands that you see in movies and TV shows, where everythign is like some kind of fantacy world, yeah right. He couldn't tell them the truth about what really happened on the island or they would send him to a psychiatrist, or worse, they would send him to the RCTC with Jack. Ralph sat back as he was falling asleep adn thought about his experience on the island, it was something that he never wanted to forget, but also something that he hoped no one would ever have to go through. I mean imagine if everyone went through that experince in their life, half the world would be in rehab; our world would be a mess. Ralph knew that he had changed since he had come back form teh island, btu he really hoped that this change would make him any diffrnet in a negative way. He hoped that thid change would not affect his future.

: . : 20 years later : . :

"Daddy, I don't wanna go to bed" complained Theodore

"You have to get your rest, were going to the zoo tommorow, remember!" replied Ralph

"Can you at least tell me a bedtime story before I go to bed, Pleaaaase!"

"All right, all right, one story, but you have to promise to go to bed afterwards, Okay?"

"I promise"

"Which story do you want to hear tonight?"

"The one about the boys on the island!"

"Okay, where were we?"

"The part where Jack takes Piggy's glassses to make a fire!"

"Oh yeah, so evil Jack took Piggy's glasses, and there wa not really anything he could to about it because Jack was so mean and..."

: . : The End : . :

Lord of the Flies: Journal #12

2008-10-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Chapter 12 - Cry of The Hunters

All that for Nothing - Jack

I can't beilieve it after everything I did, after all of the power I had, it dosen't matter anymore, because we were rescued. I mean I pretty much had all the power of this island and right before we were about to kill Ralph, they came. Ralph is a lucky guy, I mean if they would have came like 10 minutes later he would have been dead, but they came just in time to save Ralph. It's not that I didn't want to be resuced it's just that now that were going back home I'm just going to be same old Jack Merridew again, same old Jack Merridew that has to go to school, same old Jack Merridew that has to do his homework, and same old Jack Merridew that has to litsen to grown-ups. After all that we went through, it dosen't mean anything anymore, beacause were going back.

On the othe hand when I saw Jack walking up to us with that officer, it was that moment that I realized how much I really missed home, and how much I really wanted to get off of this island. When I get home I naver have to see or deal with any of these boys ever again, especially Ralph. When I saw that officer he remiended me of my father and then I started thinking about my parents, this whole time they probobly thought I was dead. I haven't thought about going home at all ever since the day Ralph and Piggy saw that navy ship and got really mad at me, in fact this whole time I was trying to avoid the topic of going home. I guess Simon was right, all we needed was hope.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #11

2008-10-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Chapter 11 - Castle Rock

Were All Gonna Die Here - Ralph

I can't believe this, first Simon, now Piggy, we have to get off of this island now! This is just getting way out of control. Ever since Jack became 'chief' anyone who I actually likes me gets killed, for all I know Samneric could be next, all because of me, all because Jack hates me. Is it my fault that Simon and Piggy got killed? I mean with Simon if we would have never gone to Jack's feast, Simon would have found us at our camp and we would probably be sleeping and everything would just be all fine and jolly. With Piggy, we should have took better care of Piggy's glasses, them Jack wouldn't have found them and taken them, and then we wouldn't be going after him and get smashed by rocks.

Poor Simon, he was such nice guy, to be honest I never really liked Piggy he was always very annoying all talking about his ass-mar, but he was loyal, he never went off to join Jack like the rest of all of them, so I guess I miss him too. I swear if we don't get rescued soon were all going to die, even Jack.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #10

2008-10-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

Chapter 10 - The Shell & The Glasses

It was an accident... - Piggy

Even I have been trying to convince Ralph that we didn't kill Simon and that it was just an accident, I know the real truth, but I just can't get myself to admit it. I can' t believe that we murdered Simon, how could we. Now I want to get off of this island more than ever, I mean for all I know I could be next. There is no order on this island anymore, ever since Jack became chief things are just so barmy. If Ralph was still chief Simon would probably still be here. My auntie always told me that hate was a very strong word and to never use it against anyone, but I hate Jack so much.

I wonder what Jack is doing right now, he is pretty much in charge of all of the boys now, except for Ralph, Samneric, and me. There up on Castle Rock, he doesn't even care that we lost Simon, he probably convinced the other boys not to care either. Today he took my specs, and I know why, he took them to make the fire, he could have just took some of our fire, but he took my specs so that he wouldn't have to come back here to keep taking the fire. I hate to admit it, but Jacks a pretty smart guy. I don' think that the rest of the boys realize that now that Jack has all the power were all going to die, we need to be purged. All we have left now is hope...

Lord of the Flies: Journal #9

2008-10-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9 - A View to a Death

I Died... - Simon

For the most part today was a good day, well except for the end. Anyway, I must have fallen asleep or something because I had some kind of dream illusion type thing that I was talking to the Lord of the Flies, you know the pig on the stick full of black blood and flies. It was weird because somehow the Lord of the Flies was me, well not the regular me, a different side of me, the bad side of me, kind of like my own beastie, it was just really weird. The Lord of the Flies told me that I was wrong, you know how I told everyone that the beastie is just the evil in the each of us. He told me that if I kept telling every one that, they were going to kill me, even Piggy, even Ralph, well it turned out he was right

After I talked to the Lord of the Flies I realized that the beastie that everyone was saying they saw on the top of the mountain was just a dead British army solider with a huge parachute. I was so exited to go tell everyone. So I was on my way and suddenly it started to rain and I tripped on the parachute, I fell and tripped all over the place it was very dark and wet. Finally I got to the camp and I could not wait to tell everyone that i found the real beastie. Suddenly everyone formed a circle around me and started chanting and stabbing me, I think they thought I was the beastie, I mean it was very dark and my face was full of blood, I yelled and screamed trying to tell them about the real beastie and that it was just me, Simon, but it was impossible to tell them over all of their chanting and yelling. How could they do this to me, what did I ever do, honestly I thought I was one of the nicest people on this island. Even Piggy and Ralph were in it, just like the Lord of the Flies told me they would be. The last thing I saw was Jack's dark eyes full of hatred, I started to loose consciousness and them everything went black...I died.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #8

2008-09-29T16:51:00.000-07:00

Chapter 8 - Gift for the darkness

Finally - Jack

Finally, everyone is starting to see that I am a better leader than Ralph, finally everyone is getting some sense in there head. I knew from the beginning that Ralph wasn't going to make a good chief, so he blew the conch and brought us all together, big deal. I happen to be a prefect, which makes me have much better leadership skills. Ralph doesn't do anything around here, all he does is boss us around and blow that stupid shell. Now that I am the leader of most of the boys, I can do anything and I can tell them to do anything I want, we won't have to follow Ralph's stupid rules & taboo's.

Today was a very productive day, much more productive than it would have been if Ralph was in charge. Not only did I separate from Ralph, get my own followers, and take Ralph's fire but I also killed a very large pig, well some of the boys helped, but I did most of it. Now that I'm in charge I see a very bright future ahead of us. I think that I'm being very demure about this whole thing.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #7

2008-09-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Chapter 7 - Shadows & Tall Trees

It's Getting Weirder & Weirder Every Day - Ralph

Well were still here, on this island... now were looking for a 'beastie', and I think were wasting our time, there can't really be a beastie on this island, the closest we have to a beastie on this island is Jack. I mean were risking our lives on the other side of the island looking for something that the litluns probably just had a nightmare about or something. We could be doing something more important right now like gathering food or building more huts, but no were here hunting the beastie.

No one respects me as chief anymore, except for Piggy, I wonder how Piggy's keeping up with the littluns right now. I hope Simon's okay, we asked someone to volunteer to go out in the windy jungle to go tell Piggy that we were okay, and Simon volunteered right away, he was so impervious, I thought that that was very strange, but I guess he just wanted to help, it was very bravado and sagely of him, I mean it's a really long journey across the moors.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #6

2008-09-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Chapter 6 - Beast from Air

Is there a Beastie or Not? - Piggy

Today was a bit confusing, I am not exactly sure what's going on, it all just happened so fast. I all started early in the morning, I was just peacefully sleeping when all of a sudden I heard Sam n' Eric yelling and people shouting my name, it was just interminable. The twins said something about a beastie, that they actually saw one, they said it chased them, and they described it really scary, sort of like leviathan. Even though i didn't want to be embroiled, I asked Ralph if he believed the twins, he just said that this was just like all of the other times that the litluns said they saw or heard a beastie, that they probably hust had a bad dream or something, he was very diffidently about it.

Honestly I think that Jack and Ralph did believe Sam n' Eric, I mean why else would they go out looking for it with the hunters all mutinously. Of course once again they made me stay with the litluns while they went on their exiting beastie hunt. It's not fair why can't I ever come along, Simon can take care of the litluns, they actually like him.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #5

2008-09-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

Chapter 5 - Beast from the Water

This is Just Getting to Crazy - Simon

Today Ralph called a meeting, but it wasn't like other times. This time Ralph was really mad and strict, he was just really direct and to the point. I think that he is still upset about that whole ship thing. Ralph made new rules and really made the point today that he was our chief, he really took advantage of that today. Of course the whole time Jack was just looking at him jeeringly. The meeting was actually going kind of okay, until someone mentioned it, the beastie.

This time Percival brought it up, and when he did everyone went crazy, everyone wanted to talk at the same time and it was ludicrous. That was definitely a time where we needed adults. When it came to the beastie we only got to the conclusion that since it's not on the island it's probably a water beastie. Don't tell Jack but I actually believe in the beastie, I mean why would the littluns make up something like that, and they seem like their really scared, at night I can hear lamentaion. Even though Jack and Ralph act like they don't believe in the beastie, I'm sure they do, and I'm sure their just as scared as everyone else.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #4

2008-09-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

Chapter 4 - Painted Faces & Long Hair

I Hate to Admit it.. But I Messed Up - by Jack

You better not tell anyone, If you do i will hurt you, but I really messed up today. How could I be so obsessed with killing that pig and when I finally did kill it the fealing wasn't as good as I thought it would be, I mean I was really proud of myself at first, but then I realized that it wasn't worth it. I mean Ralph said he saw a ship, we could have been rescued, we could've gone back home, the pig was definatly not worth that.

It's just that I felt like I had to kill that pig. On that first day that we came on this island and I had a perfect shot to kill the pig, but when it came down to kill it I just could'nt do it. I mean Iv'e never killed anything in my life ever, I mean I've killed flies but that dosen't count. I just felt like I had to prove myself, I'm the leader of the hunters, and if I can't kill a pig then no one should be able to.

So much was going on today, everyone was so blant. How was I supposed to know that today out of all days a ship would accually pass by today. I mean really out of all the moments for a ship to pass by it had to pass by the day I took the twins to help me. Even when the smoke did go out, the twins probobly woulden't be able to put it back on by themselves anyway. I don't know why Ralph got so mad at me, his attitude was so belligarant and he looked at me so malevontly all day, it wasen't compleatly my fault, well... I guess it kind of was...

Lord of the Flies: Journal #3

2008-09-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

Chapter 3 - Huts on the Beach

Being Chief is NOT easy - Ralph

Why doesn't anyone understand that I am the leader, and I make decisions, and everyone is actually supposed to listen to me. I mean they are the ones that voted me leader the least they can do is help build the huts. Why won't anyone at least do that, I mean building the huts is something that benefits all of us. All anyone does around here is play around, the littluns are the exception I mean they don't know what there doing and if they tried to help us they would probably mess things up. Thank god for Simon, he's the only one other than me who ever does anything around here. In my opinion Simon should be the leader of this island, I mean he's a nice guy and the littluns actually like him. It seems like in Simon's world there are no vicissitudes, he's just so calm and peace full.

Don't get me started with Jack, he is just so inscrutable and rapt. What is wrong with that guy, why does he just have to kill a pig, why is that his number one priority, you can see it in his opaque eyes. He's not doing it for us, you know for the food, he's doing it for himself, just to prove to everyone that he can kill it. Maybe we actually need adults on this island maybe they could put every ones act together, and make us start acting like a team. Honestly right now I have no idea what to do to make everyone listen to me, I've tried lots of different ways, but none of them have worked, yet. I can't wait until my father comes to rescue us, I'm so sick of this island.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #2

2008-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 - Fire on the Mountain

Fire! - by Piggy

I hate this island! The little boy with the birthmark said that there were beasties here! Who would want to live on an island with beasties, Jack and Ralph don't believe the little boy, but then again, they dont beilive or litsen to anyone, even me! In fact no one litsens to me and everyone tels me to shut up, Jack and Ralph aren't the only ones that have good ideas. Today in fact Ralph had a terribble idea, once again he brought up that his dad would come and rescue us, and that is never going to happen because nobody knows were here! While he was taking about being rescued he mentioned building a fire, and everythng just got out of hand form there.

I tried to tell everyone that it was a bad idea, but they wouldn't litsen to me. As soon as Ralph mentioned "fire", every one went crazy in the forest and began to get wood. Everyone realized that they couldn't make a fire out of just wood so they pinched my specs to make a fire! It worked, but the fire got really out of hand and so did my ahsma. The fire is all Ralphs fault, Im really sick of Ralph, and I just met him today. I can't beilive he told everyone that my name was Piggy, I can't trust that guy.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #1

2008-09-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1 - The Sound of the Shell

Day 1 - by Simon

It was just a normal day, or at least I thought it was, like every year we got on the plane to go back to school, then it happened, and I didn't realize what was going on and the next thing I knew our plane crashed in the middle of nowhere. We realized that there were no adults and naturally Jack took charge of the rest of the choir and me, he made us walk for miles and miles trying to find any sort of civilization. All of this walking was very tiresome and it was very hot, it did not help at all that we were wearing those uncomfortable hambone frills.

As we were about to reach the top of mountain a strange sound filled the air, it was sort of like a trumpet, but different, as soon as we heard it Jack made us go all be way back down the mountain we had just climbed, and follow the strange sound that we knew nothing about, for all we knew it could have been some sort of monster or something. As got closer to the mysterious sound I have to admit I started to get kind of scared, but exited at the same time. The mysterious noise turned out to be nothing but a boy with hair of tow blowing on some type of shell, there were other boys with him, and I recognized all of them from the plane, they must have survived the crash as well. Jack told us to get in line while he talked to the boy who was blowing the horn, then all of a sudden I guess the heat really got to me because I fainted.

When I woke up I heard everyone talking about having a chief, so all of a sudden out of nowhere I said "why don't we vote", I guess no one knew that I had woke up, because every one was surprised to hear my voice "yeah! lets vote", "yeah", "yeah", "yeah", was all you could hear everywhere. So we had a vote, and Jack was not happy about it, because he knew he was not going to win, and he didn't, Ralph did, I think that he will, make a great chief. As his first order in being chief Jack decided to have himself and two other people explore the island. First he choose, Jack, then to my surprise and everyone else's he choose me!

Once again we went up that huge mountain, but this time we actually stayed up there for a while. We a huge rock, probably the biggest rock I have ever scene in my entire life, we all looked at each other "1, 2, 3" and we pushed the rock, it fell all the way to the bottom of the mountain, as we watched it roll down we were proud of our accomplishment. On the mountain we discovered that we really were on an island because we were completely surrounded by water. It was getting late and we were starting to get hungry, we found a baby pig and Jack was about to kill it, but it ran away. Our first day on this island wasn't all that bad, I wonder what we will have to encounter in the future, I hope we won't have to stay here forever.

Because of Romek: OP#4

2008-06-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

1. Wow, that's a hard question, there were so many horrible things that happened in this book. I think that one of the worst parts in the book was Romeks death, when David Faber described this he described it to the last detail, and I couldn't stand it, I cried. I can't believe that people would actually do something like that, this part in the book was just so shocking and horrible.

2. In Krawinkle David's job is to feed the dogs. This was a hard and scary job for him but in way it was a good thing that he got this job because it saved him from doing the harder jobs of the camp and he got to eat some of the dogs food.

3. The last camp that David goes to is pretty intense, there are dead bodies everywhere, and if you are not dead, you are dying, I could barely imagine this camp in my head, like most of the things that I read in this book, i couldn't believe that it was real. At this last camp David was very sick and he was weeks away from dying, I cannot believe he survived, he got lucky in so many situations in this book.

4. It is so sad how when people started saying 'were free' most people did not believe them, because they were prisoned for so long. David went through so much and I think that his most triumphant moment was when he finally realized 'I survived', finally realized that it was all over, and realized that he ended up keeping his promise to his mother.

5. David Faber's book Because of Romek, should be required in all middle schools, high schools, and universities because all students should learn about the horrors of the Holocaust. This book is about a teenage boy that went through many terrible evets caused by Hitler and the Nazi's. The Holocaust a horrible genocide of the past and students should be educated about it so that they can learn about what people had to go through. It is important to learn about the Holocaust so that another Holocaust does not reapeat in the future.

Renaissance Ball Project Reflection

2008-06-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
Renaissance Ball Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
June 5th 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to go back in time to the Renaissance and become a famous Renaissance character. In order to become an important Renaissance figure we had to research them, create a biography on them, and lastly we had to become them in a Renaissance Ball. To prepare for the Renaissance Ball we had to learn about how they dressed and danced back then, and while we were at the ball we got to learn all about other famous Renaissance figures.

What I learned:
In this project I was Ferdinand Magellan, so I learned all about him. Magellan was the first explorer to lead a voyage that went all around the world. Before this project I had never heard of Magellan before, now I know all about his life. In this project I didn't only learn about Magellan, but I also learned about other things in the Renaissance, we learned about many aspects of the Renaissance including literature, the arts, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, the human anatomy, all of these aspects were advanced in the Renaissance. We learned about Florence , which was one of the main city-states of the Renaissance and we learned about what it was like to live there. We also learned about so many other things but it would take forever for me to write it all.

Reflection:
Overall I liked this project because I learned so much about the Renaissance. My least favorite part was taking all of the notes on the Renaissance because it took a long time and it hurt my hand. My favorite part was getting ready for the Renaissance ball because it was fun to chose what we were going to wear. If I were to do this project again I would probably spend more time on my biography because I felt that it could have been longer.

Artifacts:
here is a link to my Magellan biography-
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dg7dxkbh_33hg2j39g5&hl=en

Because of Romek: OP#3

2008-05-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

1) I thought that David Faber's community meeting was really interesting. I couldn't believe that someone that went thorough that much was standing right in front of me. As he was speaking he had so much passion in his voice and he would get really emotional. I think that it's so awesome the way that he kept that promise to his mom, telling everyone about his experiences.

2) I think that Romek was proud of David because he was helping destroy Nazi weapons, and he was being really clever and brave. I think that if I was Romek I would be really proud of David too.

3) I think that the main reason why the Gestapo spared David's life was because they knew that he was young and that he wouldn't know anything about the underground and the 'blue papers'. Maybe they thought that it was already bad enough that he had to see his brother get tortured to death, and he would go home and tell his family, and his whole family would suffer from the sadness. :(

Because of Romek: OP#2

2008-05-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

1. I think that David wanted to keep the pigeon because it was his friend, I mean he had his family but they were all sad and worried, the pigeon was just someone that he could talk to and that would listen to him. David's pet pigeon became very important, if it wasn't for that pigeon, David and his family would have been killed. I think that it's really cool how things like that happen.

2. I think that the sign vacation camp because I don't really think that the people of the 'outside world' knew what was really going on during the Holocaust. I think that Hitler and the Nazi's told everyone something like 'oh, were just taking the Jews on a little vacation, while we make things better' . I mean if all the other people of the world knew about what really happened during the Holocaust they would do something about and Hitler and the Nazi's didn't want that.

3. What was your worst experience during the Holocaust?

How did your experience of surviving the Holocaust change the way you look at life?

Because of Romek: OP#1

2008-05-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

1. Since my website group decided to make our website on three important events in history including the Holocuast I already have some backround knowlage on the Holocaust, the Nazi's, World War ||, and Hitler. Our group did a lot of reasearch on this subject, but since this book is a true story written by a survivour of the Hlocaust that went though many diffrent unfourtanoute expeirinces I think that I am going to learn a lot more. For example I've already learned a little bit about the really bad things that the Nazi's would do to the Jews inn these first few chapters.

2.a) David has a very big family, he has a lot of sisters and one brother, Romek, who right now is not with the family. Even though David has a big family they all seem very close and everyone looks out for each other.
b- I think that David remembers every last detail in the early chapters because it was the last moments before the worst evnt in his life acured. Im guessing that most of his family is going to be killed in this book, so these was probobly some of the last days that he got to spend with his whole family (not including Romek and the sister in England).

3. I think that the way David rescued his father showed that he cares a lot about his family and that he would do anyhting for them. When David left the house to rescue his father he did not even know if his father was alive and he knew he was risking his own life by leaving the house. From what I have read in the book so far I think that it shows that David is a very brave and caring person.

Aztec Mural Project Reflection

2008-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
The Aztec Mural Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
May 5th, 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to learn about the Aztec culture while expressing what we what we learned about them in art. During this project we focused on the main aspects of the Aztec everyday life like religion, social classes, family life, art, sacrifices, markets, food, clothing, and sacrifices. After we had a little bit of background knowledge on these subjects we got to make our own Aztec murals. Before we began making our murals we went to Chicano Park and looked at the murals to get some inspiration for our own murals. Most people choose a main theme for their murals like gods, social life, and sacrifices. In our murals we had to be creative while incorporating Aztec symbols.

What I Learned:
In this project I learned all about the Aztecs and how they lived. The Aztecs were an ancient civilization that lived during the 14th, 15th, and 16th century. The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico, the main city of the Aztecs was Tenochtitlan, this was like the capital of all Aztec cities. The Aztecs were very religious and they had many gods. One of their main gods was the god of the sun, this god was important because the Aztecs believed that if the sun did not come up the next day then the world had ended. So for the sun to come up every day the y had to give the sun 'sun juice' which was human blood, which was the reason why the Aztecs believed that human sacrifices were so important. To the Aztecs it was an honor to be sacrificed. When it comes to the Aztecs there is so much that one can talk about but that would take forever so this is just a little bit of what I learned in this project.

Reflection:
Overall I really liked this project because I learned a lot while having fun painting the mural. My least favorite part of this project was cleaning up all of the the paint because it took forever and the carpet cleaner smelled really bad. If I were to do this project again I would spend more time on the Artist statement because we focused a lot on the mural and saved the last minute. In this project i didn't only learn about Aztecs and murals but I also learned how to work in groups a little bit better, since a couple of the people that were kind of distracting I learned how to deal with it ad not let it get in the way of doing my work.

Artifacts:
Here is a picture of a mural that we saw in Chicano Park

A Time for Dancing: OP#3

2008-04-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.21.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES:
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:
RESPONSE:

1) I just finished reading ~Part 3~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin, I thought that this was a very good book. Even though Julie had cancer, for some reason I was really surprised when Julie died and I was so sad. The end of the book was so sad when Julie was in coma and Sam had to say goodbye to her. I can't imagine saying goodbye to someone knowing that it was goodbye forever. Especially someone who was my best friend and that I was that close to, that part was so sad.

2)A part in the end that really surprised me was when Sam said that she saw Jack and Rachel crying at Jules' funeral. I just thought that that was weird since Jack and Rachel never really seamed to like Jules and Sam , it's sad when people die but I did't expect for Rachel to be crying about it, she even told Sam that she did'nt like her.

3)How do you think this is going to affect Rosie's future?

A Time for Dancing: OP#2

2008-04-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.7.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES: 77-154
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 187
RESPONSE:
1.I just finished ~Part 2~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin. I this part of the book it was mostly about Julie getting her chemo therapy, until the end of the part when Julie told her parents that she wasen't going to do her chemo thrapy anymore. I was vry suprised when Julie told her parents that she was not going to do her chemo therapy anymore. It must of took Julie long time to come to this decision, because now that she is stoping her chemo therapy she put herself at risk that the cancer could get bigger and she will not have the chemo therapy to fight it, so she knowa that she is putting herself at risk of dying. I think that Julie is a very strong person, I don't know if I could make a decision as big as she did.

2. If I was Sam and Julies mom and dad I would be really scared not knowing what is going to happen to Julie next. I doon't even know Julie, Im just reading this book and even Im kind of scared to find out what is going to happen to Julie, I hope nothig bad happens. I can't imagine how this experince is affecting Julies parents and Sam. I can'y wait to read ~Part 3~ to find out what happens to Julie.

3. What was your first reaction when you heard that Julie decided to stop having the chemo therapy?

A Time for Dancing: OP#1

2008-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.1.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES: 74
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 74
RESPONSE:

1. I have just finished ~Part 1~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin. There are many characters in this book but the main ones are Juliana (Julie) and Samantha (Sam). Julie and Sam had been best friends forever and they did everything together, but the summer before senior year Julie is diagnosed with cancer. When I was reading the book and found out that Julie was diagnosed with cancer I was not suprised because it already said it on the back cover of the book, so if I was the author I would not tell the readers at the back cover of the book because I had to read like 70 pages before she finally told sus that Julie had cancer.

2. While I was reading this book it made me relize that life is just so un-predicactable. Julie and Sam were making plans for their summer and all of a sudden two weeks later Julie found out that she had cancer. Julie was just a healthy dancer she wasen't like a 60-year-old who had been smokiong his whole life. This book made me relize that AnYtHiNg can happen to anyone at any moment.

3. What do you think is going through Julies dad's mind? In the book it says that he's not being himself.

MC Website Project Reflection

2008-03-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
Moral Courage Website Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
March 14th 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to learn about a certain subject that we got to choose with our groups, we had to research this subject and become experts on it. In order to learn about our subjects we had to get in groups of 5-6 people, make a website, and enter in the Think Quest website contest. We created a website full of content of the subjects that we choose. One of the main reasons that we did this project was to learn about moral courage, which is when someone stands up for what they believe in regardless of what other people think. We had to relate the topic of our website to the subject of moral courage.

What I Learned:
The subject that my group choose was music and how it relates to important events in history. My group choose The Holocaust, The Great Depression, and The Vietnam War. My research topic was The Holocaust, so in this project I learned all about the Holocaust. Even though my research topics were not The Great Depression or The Vietnam War I still learned a lot about these topics as well. Since this was a website project I got way better at working with Macromedia Dreamweaver. There were also some other things that I learned, like I learned how to working groups better since this project was done in groups of five to six.
Reflection:
Since this project had a lot to do with the computer and technical stuff it was very frustrating when we did not save something that we worked really hard on and it got deleted. If I were to do this project again I think that we should spend more time on the graphics and not wait until the last minute to get the music since our website was called -the music-. Even though we were missing a couple of things I'm really glad that we spent most of our time on the content of the site.
Artifacts:
our website!-
file://///k2/homes/My%20DP/Internet%20Stuff/index.htm

Independent Reading: week 3

2008-03-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 3.9.08
TITLE: Parvana's Journey
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis
PAGES: 196
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 196
RESPONSE:
The book Parvana's Journey is the sequel to the book that I read two weeks ago, The Breadwinner. This book tales place two years after the first book. The difference between Parvana's journey and the Breadwinner is that in that this book is a lot sadder than the first book. In this book Parvana's father dies so she has to travel alone in the country side of Afghanistan to find her mother and sister. She is still disguised as a boy and if the Taliban finds her thinking she is a boy they would put her in the army, if she discovered as a girl she would get in trouble for not wearing a burqa. Every where Parvana looks there is death and destruction. On her journey she finds an baby boy who's mom got killed, a 9-year-old who lost his leg to land mines, and a little girl who is taking care of her aged grandmother until a bomb kills her grandmother. Together these starving children travel Afghanistan. This book is really sad, it made me cry, but it made me realize how good we have it and how lucky we are to live in a safe country.

Independent Reading: week 2

2008-03-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 3.2.08
TITLE: A Mango Shaped Space
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Wendy Mass
PAGES: 218
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:
RESPONSE:
This book was a story about girl named Mia, who has a disorder called synethsia. Sometimes this disorder was a good thing and someimes it was a bad thing. When Mia decides to tell every one her secret [that she has senethsia], her whole life changes people think of her diffrently and she finds out a lot of things ablout herself and about her family and friends. This is a great story about family and friendship.
In this story Mia has a cat named Mango, she named him Mango because that is the color of his name. When people have synethsia sounds and letters have colors. When Mango has a deadly sickness it makes Mia's life even harder. If I was Mia I don't think that I would wait ntil I was 13 to tell people that I had senithsia because then it would not be sucha big deal.

Independent Reading: week 1

2008-02-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: Feburary 22nd 2008
TITLE: The Breadwinner
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis
PAGES 7-168
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 168
RESPONSE:
The Breadwinner by Deborrah Ellis is about a girl living in Afghanistan named Parvana. Parvana and her family are living under the Tliban which is a group of extreamly religious people who run most of the counrty. The Taliban have very strict rules about everything for example, women and girls are not alowed to leave the house, and if they do they have to wear a barqua, which was something that covered every part of your body including your face. When the Taliban finds out that Parvanas father was educated they send him to prison, and when he does there is no one to make money or buy the groceries, so Parvana has to disguise herself as a boy to help her familys survivol. This was a really sad book, but I am gald that I read it because I learned a lot.

First They KIlled My Father: Mikito's Questions

2008-02-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

1. Who would most likely be in this novel and why?
2. What was your favorite part of this book and why is this.
3. What was your fist reaction when you found out that the dad had died?
4. Do you think the ending could have been better or do you think that the ending was just right for the book?
5. Do you think that you would be able to last as long as she did in this book?

1. Im not really sure, I don't think that I know the characters well enough to say which one I am like the most. The only character that I know well is Loung and I don't think that I am like her because I probobly would not be as strong as she was thorough this whole expirience.
2. I think that my favorite part of the book was when they got to America because it was sort of when all of the bad stuff was over and when there was hope for once in the book.
3. I was not really suprised when they dad died since the book was caled "First The Killed My Father" but it was a sad part of the book.
4. I think that thier were a couple of questions in the end that were not answered but other than that I liked the way that this book ended.
5. Im not really sure, I would be really tired from the work, sad to be away from my family, mad at the Khemer Rouge, and hungry.

First They Killed My Father: Lexi's Questions

2008-02-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

1. What would you do if you heard this, and went through everything, that she did. Would you imfor people about what they are really doing, or would u be quiet?
2. What would YOU do in a situation like this if you were her?
3. If u could only bring1 thing to go to where they went to, what would u bring?
4. If you had lived in cambodia at them time and you first heard about the khmer rough.. what would be ur first reaction?

1....I don't underdtand this question
2. I would probobly not be as strong as Loung was through this whole expirience, I would probobly be really scared and worried.
3. I would bring my family :)
4. When Loung first heard of the Khemer Rouge she thought that they were a good thing since she had never really heard of them, until she asked her dad about them. So my first reaction to the Khemer Rouge would proobly be what everybody else's reaction is if I didn't know what they were.

First They Killed My Father: My Questions

2008-02-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

1) What would you do if you found out that you and you family were forced to leave your home without knowing?
2) Loung see's herself as a "strong person", do you agree with her?
3) When it comes to sides, do you agree with Youn Army or the Ankgar Army?
4) Kim made a decission to steal corn for his family, when he did this he knew that he was risking his life, would you so the same for your family?

First They Killed My Father: Rachel's Questions

2008-01-22T18:01:00.003-08:00

1. Why do you think that her brother, Khouy is mean and "should be feared"?
2. If you saw the "strangers" coming to your town, what would you think or feel?
3. Why do you think that they didn't drive away in the really nice car, bu the old pick-up truck?
4. Why do you think just because her father is part of the government, they want to hurt her, and her family?

1. I am not really sure why Khouy is mean and "should be feared. Maybe it is because he is just one of the oldest chidren of the family and he has been through a lot.
2. If I saw strangers coming to my town I would wonder who they are and be curious. After I would find ou that they would want us to leave our city like Loung did them I would be scared and worried.
3. I think that they drove away in the pick-up truck because they had to pretend that they were peasents and not important gouverment officials so that the Khemer Rouge Army would not hurt them.
4. I think that her father is one of the leaders on a certain side of the gouvernment and they want to hurt them because they on the other side of the gouvernment, the side against the one of her father and her family.

So far from the Bamboo Grove: OP#5

2007-12-18T22:33:00.000-08:00

1. I liked the way that Yoko Kawashima ended the story, how Hideyo got there, and every thing was all peaceful, but it kind of all of a sudden just ended. Like, if they didn't have that little authors note thing at the end we would have never known what happened to the dad,and Yoko never bought her shoes, at least Hideyo finally came back.

2. I think that they practiced their customs to remained them of their home. Or maybe Ko and Yoko's mom just wanted to practice them so that Ko and Yoko would never forget them, and would practice them with there family when they are older. Like, my family speaks English at home, but my mom likes me and my brother to practice Spanish so that we never forget it.

3. I think that the character that I respected the most while I was reading this book was Ko. Ko went through the same thing that Yoko went through, but she had to do everything in a mature an respectful way, because she had to be a goo example for Yoko. Like when Ko's mom said that they had to shave their heads, I'm sure that Ko didn't like that idea, but she had to do it anyway without complaining to be a good example for her sister. Also, when their mother died Ko was very strong, and she took on a lot of responsibilities including taking care of her little sister.

4. Before I read this book all I knew about Korea was that it was two countries called North Korea and South Korea, and I had no idea that Korea was involved in WW2. So while I was reading this book I learned a lot about the hard times that a lot of people in North Korea had to go through, there lives were ruined due to the Korean Communist Army, and a lot of lives were lost. I can't believe that this book was a true story, its so sad. :(

5. While we were reading this book one of the biggest lessons that I learned is to appreciate life, because you never know when they might not be there anymore, and just little thing like your house and your family. In the beginning of the book Yoko was just a regular person like you and then all of a sudden she lost everything, and I think that she really learned to appreciate life.

So far from the Bamboo Grove: OP#4

2007-12-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

1. I think that Yoko wants to help Mr. Naido because Yoko and him have something in coummon, the girls make fun of both of them. I think that when Yoko heard the girls making fun of Mr. Naido because of his stuttering she felt bad for him and she wanted to help him. Yoko and Mr. Naido help each other Mr Naido helps Yoko by bringing her paper and school supplies from the trash and Yoko helps Mr. Naido with his stutering. I think that Yoko likes to help Mr. Naido because he is nice to her and he is her friend.

2. Before Yoko found out about Ko she was really mad at her for making her stay at home instead ogf letting her sell more things for her shoes, but when Yoko saw Ko polishing the guys shoes I think that she relized hohw hard her sister had it and she wanted to help. It was really nice of Yoko to spend her shoe money, because she really wanted shoes, and she sacrificed that for somebody else.

3. Imagine that you went to Yokos school, and you saw Yoko come in as the new kid with rags and an inch of hair, how would you react?
I would probobly think that she looked weird, but I wound't tease her about it, especially if I knew her story.

So far from the Bamboo Grove: OP#3

2007-12-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

1) a. I think that Yoko, Ko and their mother had to leave Korea because there were a lot of people in Korea that wanted to kill and do bad things to the Japenesse people. It just wasen't safe to be in Korea anymore. I think that it's great that Yoko, Ko, and their mother got to go back to Japan where they wouldn't have to hide who they are anymore, but it would've been even better if Hideo and their dad could come too. It was really sad that when Ko and the mother were crying on the boat, but it was great that they had finally got to Japan.

b. I was really sad when we read that Yoko, Ko, and their mother had to leave Seol because it would've been so great if they would be able to meet Hideyo in Seol and they could be united again as a family (exept for their dad). But I guess that they had to leave Seol or they woul've been killed. Whie we were reading chapter 6, and while Hideyo was in the snow, it seemed like Hideyo was going to die any second, it was so sad. When Hideyo saw the red light at the farmhouse he could barely make it, I think that the red light represented hope. At the end of the chapter where it said that he got there and then he just collapsed made me think that next time we read a chapter with Hideyo in it he would be with whoever owns the farmhouse and they would help Hideyo, or a least I hope thats what happens. Either that or the farmhouse would be owned by Korean Communest and they kill Hideyo. :'(

2) Q: Why do you think that Ko and the mother were crying on the boat?

A: There are a couple of reasons why I think that they might of been crying. Maybe they were just looking back at their journey and thinking about all the hard times that they went through, and it was hard to think about it now that they were going to Japan, a much better place. Maybe they were tears of joy that they finally got to Japan. Or, maybe it was because they felt bad about leaving Hideyo and the dad back in Korea while they were going to Japan. Lastly, maybe they were thinking 'what if Hideyo is dead' or 'what if father is dead', it would be really hard to think about that when you really don't know the answer.

So far from the Bamboo Grove: OP#2

2007-12-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

1) I think that Hideo is very brave considering that he is 18 years old and he is taking a journey by foot acrross Korea. He really shows his courage when he separates from his friends to go to Saul, I think that this shows that he will do whatever it takes to be reunited with his mother and sisters. While he is on his journey I think that Hideo is constintly thinking about his family, like when he was working for the Korean Communest Army, and he made sure to check all of the bodies to make sure that they weren't his mothers or sisters body.

2) If I was the Kawashima family and I had 10 minutes to pack I would bring...
-matches, so that i could make a fire to keep me warm
-lots of water, so that I woulden't get thirsty
-a blanket, so that I could be warm at night
-a pillow, so that my head won't be on the cold ground
-a fashlight, so that I could see in the dark
-clothes, so that I could have clean clothes
-mints and gum, because Im obsesed with brushing my teeth and I would go crazy if my breath smelled bad all the time
-cell phone, so that I could keep in touch
-an iPod, cause its little and it dosen't take up much space and I could look at my pictures and remember the good old days
-a charger, so that nothing would ran out of baterie
-bateries, just in case my flashlight runs out
-soap, so that I could be clean
-a mess kit, because it seems like it comes in handy with the Kawashima family
-food, for when I get hungry
-money, in case I run out of stuff
...I hope that all this stuff would fit in my backpack

3) There are lots of events that I found shoking in this story so far, but if I had to pick one it would probobly be when the korean communest army came to the factory where Hideo was working. It was really suprising, and I wasen't expecting it, it was really scary how everyone around Hideo was getting killed, and Hideo was really close to getting killed. While we were reading this part I was really scared for Hideo and I thought that this was one of the parts in the book where he really showed his courage.

So Far From The Bamboo Grove: OP#1

2007-11-29T17:09:00.000-08:00

1) I think that Yoko is a really sweet person. In some parts of the book she is sort of scared of the patients that are badly hurt but she helps them anyway because she knows that its the right thing to do. It was really nice of her when she shared her food with the woman and the baby, even when Ko told her not to. Yoko is not used to living the way she does now, and she is complaining about a lot of things, but I think that if any of us were going throgh what Yoko was going through we would probobly be complaininig to.

2) I think that Ko is being bossy because she feels like she has to be in charge since her father and brother aren't around and her mother has a lot on her mind, Ko just wants to keep her family safe. I think that Ko can be bossy, but also honorable since she is taking a lot of responsibility. Yoko and Ko are very close and Yoko is freakig out because Ko has never yelled at her so much in her life, like when Ko helped Yoko with filling up the water canteens and stared yelling at her, telling her to not whine and hurry up.

3) Everything is new for the Kawashima family especially for Yoko, but they are really caring and genorous. Ko is great to the patiens talking to them and caring. Yoko wants to be like her older sister, and she tries her best. The train seemed like a place that I can't imagine being in, but the Kawashima family made it seem like they didn't mind.

Weekly Reading Response #3

2007-11-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 11-15-07
TITLE: Schooled
AUTHOR: Gordon Korman
TIME: 2 hours
PAGES: 1 - 208
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:208
RESPONSE:
This book is about a 13-year-old boy named Capricorn (Cap) Anderson, he lives in Garland farm where he is homeschooled by his hippie grandma Rain. Caps whole life revolves around Garland Farm, he has never watched TV, he has never eaten pizza, him and Rain live the simple life, but when Rain falls out of a trree while picking plums she has to go to the hospital and Cap is forced to live in the city and attened the local middle school. Eveything is really new to Cap from iPods to Starbucks, but he finds his own way to fit in.

' "It's to crowded. People dress funny;they talk to fast;and all their intrested in is things! Cell Phones and iPods and Game Boys and Starbucks. What's a starbuck?" '
I really liked this line in the book I thought that it was funny and I thought that it was cool how you could see Caps point of veiw of our world, when he grew up in some farm for his whole life. I think that its true, what he said how everyone is intrested in things like phones and iPods. If I was Cap I would probobly say the same thing.

Weekly Vocabulary #3

2007-11-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

While I was reading Schooled by Gordon Korman, I found some words that I didn't undersrtand..

-barometer: Something that you use to mesure the atmosphere

-decagon: a shape with 10 angles and 10 sides

-micrprocessor: a computer circut that does a lot of things

-thawing: to change something from solid to liquid by warming it

-spectators: an observer of a event

My Book #3

2007-11-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

This week I am going to be reading Schooled by Gordon Korman I have never read it before and I cant wait to tell you guys all about it!

Weekly Reading Response #2

2007-11-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 11-07-07
TITLE: Replay
AUTHOR: Sharon Creech
TIME: 2 hours
PAGES: 1 - 210
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 210
RESPONSE: There was a character named Rosaria in the book Repaly by Sharon Creech, and she was part of Leos family but Leo did'nt know that because she moved away and nobody in the family would ever talk about, so during the book Leo tried to figure out who Rosaria was. When he finally found out, and his family contacted her, I thought that Leo and his family were going to meet Rosaria but he did'nt. Now Rosaria is going stay a mystery in my head for the frst of my life. So if I wrote this book I would include Rosaria.

While I was reading this book one of my favorite parts was when Leos dad said "Leo, you make gold from pebles". I liked this part because in the whole book Leo didn't get very much attention from his parents since he had such a big family but in the end when finally his time to shine,the could tell that his parents were really proud of him, that must have been a great moment for Leo.

Weekly Vocabulary #2

2007-11-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

While I was reading Replay by Shron Creech, I found some words that I didn't understad..

-beckon: to signal or summon someone

-vague: when somene dosen't say or express some thing clear enough to undersand

-valve: a part in a instrument where you can change how it sounds

-dismay: to alarm or suprise someone

-crone: a scary evil looking old lady

My Book #2

2007-11-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

This week I am going to be reading Replay by Sharon Creech, I have never read it before and I can't wait to tell you guys all about it! ~Sofia :)

Weekly Reading Response #1

2007-10-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 10-24-07
TITLE: Rules
AUTHOR: Cynthia Lord
TIME: 2 hours
PAGES: 1 - 200
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 200
RESPONSE: While I was reading the book Rules by Cynthia Lord I noticed that this book was simalar to the book Al Capone Does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. I think that it is similar because Rules is about a girl named Catherine whos little brother David has autism, and Cathrines family pretty much revolves around David, in Al Capone Does my Shirts that Moose's family's situation is simalar to Catherines family, the only difrence is that Catherine dosen't live on Alcatraz. I think that if Catherine and Moose ever met they would have a lot in coummon, sonce both of their familys revolve around their siblings autism.

I think that if David had a motto it would be "Always follow Cathrines rules", because in the book Catherine makes up rules for David, because it's eisier for him to learn that way. They are really simple rules like "no toys in the fish tank" or "if someone says 'hi', say 'hi' back", David just has to make sure to follow them, and sometimes in the book David has to remined Catherine to follow the rules.

I really liked this book, and if I had to find one main idea on what it was really about I think that it was about finding acceptance in anyone.
~Sofia :)

Weekly Vocabulary #1

2007-10-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

While I was reading Rules by Cynthia Lord I found some words that I didn't understand..

-grimace: when someone makes a weird face, people usally grimace when they aren't happy about something

-skyward: towrds the sky

-gauzy: when a object is transperent and light

-anthropology: the study of the changes through history of humans and their diffrent cultures.

-heron: any type of bird in the Ardeidae bird family, these birds have long neck, long legs, pointed bills, and they are ussally white, gray or blue

These definitions are in my own words, so if I didn't say them right, tell me.

~Sofia :)

My Book #1

2007-10-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

The book that I am reading this week this called Rules by Cynthia Lord, I have never read it before but Im looking forward to tell you guys all about it.

FHP reflection

2007-10-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

Project Reflection Name: Sofia Garcia

Project Title: The Family History Project

Class: Humanities

Dates: September 19th 2007 to October 17th 2007

PURPOSE In this section, explain what you were supposed to learn and what you were supposed to do.

The purpose of this project was to learn more about our family history and share it with the class. In this project we had to learn how to use tools that historians use, in order to learn about that about that we had to take notes. We had to learn about a specific event or a time period in history that one of our family members eye witnessed, we learned about it by intervening our family member that eye witnessed the time period or the specific event. During the interview we learned interview skills for successful interviewing. In order to learn about the basic skills of narrative writing we had to write a personal narrative and a historical narrative about our specific event or time period in history.

WHAT I LEARNED In this section, tell what information or skills you learned or improved.

In this project I learned a lot of things, I learned so many things at once. I learned about how historians use different tools to find evidence. I learned a lot about the event that I decided to do my project on, and I learned to appreciate life because I have it really good compared to the people that were affected by my event. I learned how to write up and do an interview, I had never really interviewed any one before . I learned a lot about my family history. Lastly I learned how different seventh grade can be than sixth grade.

REFLECTION In this section, reflect on your experience. Did you like the project? Why or why not? How did you do? What would you do differently next time?

I liked this project, I learned a lot about my family and my event, . If I were to do this project again, I would probably spend more time on editing my personal narratives, because I changed a couple of things, but not to many. While I was doing this project, there were some times when I got kind of frustrated , and I kind of had a hard time choosing my event, but other than that I really liked this project.

ARTIFACTS You should have at least one artifact from each project on your DP.

This is a picture of my scrapbook!

The Wave: Comments- OP #5

2007-10-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

People that have commented my OP#5:

Trent -1
Lindsay -1
Beyra -0
Jessica -1
Mif -0

The Wave: The End

2007-10-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

I finally finished The Wave! Here is my last Wave post.....

1. (1) "For the rest of your lives..... never, ever, allow a groups will to usurp your individual rights" - pg. 135
I think that this quote means to never get so caught up in a group that you don't feel like you are your own individual person anymore. It means to naver follow the croud so much that you don't think for yourself anymore.

(2) At the very begginig of the book, before the Wave, Robert was like the outkast in the class, but when he joined the Wave he felt equal to the other kids, so he started to talk to the other kids because he felt equal to them since they were all in the Wave. I think that Robert changed a lot because if the Wave, sometimes it was a good thing and sometimes it was a bad thing. It was a good thing when he started talking to people, but it was starting to be a bad thing because he was so into the Wave and he was taking it to far, like when he asked Mr. Ross if he could be his body gaurd. Now that the Wave is over, I think that Robert has changed as a person. Robert used to sit alone at lunch, but when he joined the Wavehe started sitting with everyone else, he also started dressig nicer. Before, he decided not to try in life and just give up because his big brother was so much batter than him, but when he joined the Wave I think that it made hinm relize that if he tried he could do anything. If the Wave was a true story, I hope that Robert learned to just be himself.

(3) Fascism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

I think that in this book they showed all of the elements of fascism. The Wave was a system led by a dictator, the dictator was Mr. Ross and the system was obiosly the Wave. The Wave took over a lot of the school organazations and events because so many people were in the Wave. Lastly, there was rasism for no aperent reason like when the Jewish boy got beat up, and if you did't like the Wave people didn't really like you, like what happened with Laurie.

When you think of fascism, one of the first historical events that pop into your mind is what was going on in World War 2 with the Nazis and Hitler. They were getting rid of all of the Jewish people because they wouldn't join the Nazis. It was like what happened in the Wave because they would treat you really diffrently if you were or were not in The Wave.

(4) Avoiding Mob Metality: A Practicle Guide by a Middle Student, for other Middle School Students
Mob mentality can happen anywhere, and unfortunattley it happes a lot. It could be something really big, like what happened with the Wave or it could be something really small as somene wearing purple shoes because everyone else is doing it , whatever it is never get caught up in it. Don't always follow the crowd, and don't let other people tell you what to do or make dessitions for you. Never follow someone so much that you loose your own personality. Everyone has their own style and personality, be diffrent and be yourself, never forget that.

2. "The audience was filled with gasps and exclamatons of suprise as a giant image of Adolf Hitler appered on the screen."
Pg. 134, paragraph 3
While I was reading these final chapters of The Wave this was the sentence that really stood out to me. In this sentence it said that the students were really suprised, I was really suprised too. I was definetly not expecting Hitler to appear on the screen, in fact when I first read this I had too re-read it to make sure that I read it right. I don't really know who I was expecting on the screen, but it wasen't Hitler.

3. There were a lot of kids in The Wave, do you think that being in The Wave impacted any of their lives?

The Wave: Comments-OP #4

2007-10-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

People that have commented my 0P#4:

Lindsay -1
Jessica -1
Trent -1
Beyra -1
Mif -0

The Wave: Chapters 11-14

2007-10-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

1. I think that Ben is starting to get a litle worried about the Wave and he's starting to feel that the students are following him a bit too much, the students are't even their own indavidaualle person anymore they are just one big group now -The Wave. I think that Ben got really worried if the Wave wsa going a bit too far when Robert asked him if he could be his body gaurd.

2. "She coulden't put it into words what botherred her about the Wave, but she could feel it growing inside her" Pg. 85, paragraph 1. While I was readind chapters 11-14 these sentences really stood out to me because it shoewed that Laurie didn't like the Wave, and as the Wave kept going on day after day, made her not like it it even more.

3. Do you think that this expirement is similar to what happend with the Nazi's in WW2?

The Wave: Comments- OP #3

2007-10-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Peopole that have commented my OP#3:

Trent -1
Mif -1
Beyra -1
Jessica -1
Lindsay -1

The Wave: Chapters 8-10

2007-10-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

1. There are some good things to The Wave, but there are also some bad things. One of the bad things is that many people like Mr. Ross are starting to loose control of it, some stutents are becomig obsesed with it, some students that aren't in Mr. Ross'es are skipping their own classes to be in his class to find out about the wave. One of the good things is that The Wave is changing some of the kids lives like Robert Billings. Before, when there were there were cliques, Robert Billings just did not feel like he belonged in any of them, but now that there is The Wave, a group where evryone accepted as long as your in it, Robert Billings feels more welcomed.

2. "She was blowing it out way out of proportion, wasen't she? It really was just a fad, wasen't it?" Pg. 74, paragraph 3
This sentence really stood out to me because Laurie was the only person who didn't really belive that The Wave was going to be a big thing but now she was kind of second guessing herself, since everyone was either really worried abot The Wave about it or really obsesed with it.

3. Do you think that Laurie is going to write about The Wave for The Grapevine?

The Wave: Comments- OP #2

2007-10-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

People that have commented my OP#2:

Trent -1
Jessica -1
Lindsay -1
Beryra -1
Mif -0

The Wave: Comments- OP #1

2007-10-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

People that have commented on my OP#1:

Trent - 1
Mif - 1
Beyra - 1
Lindsay - incomplete
Jessica - incomplete

The Wave: Chapters 5-7

2007-10-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

1. The Wave is starting to go around the school because it's something diffrent for the students, something that they have never done before. The motto "Strength through discipline" is really new to the students. David thinks that this motto might work with the football team, and if they act as serious as they do in Mr. Ross'es class, then maybe they could win a game.

2. " 'Maybe your becoming a guinie pig in your own expiremant,' she said", Pg. 54, paragraph 4. While I was reading chapter 5-7, this sentence really stood out to me because when Christy said this I think that she ment that she thinks that Ben is getting a little bit to caught up in what was only sopposed to be an 'experiment' for his class.

3. Do you think that The Wave is a good thing or a bad thing?

The Wave: Chapters 1-4

2007-09-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today we started a book called The Wave by Todd Strasser
1. a-This story takes palce at Gordon High School in 1969. The main part of the story takes place in Mr. Ross'es 12th grade class.
b-You can tell that this story takes place in 1967, because there are typewrtiers at the school, they use film projectors, and Amy smokes at school.

2."As Ben looked around the room most of the students looked stuned". pg. 11, paragraph 3
This sentance stood out to me while I was reading the book because I could really picture this in my mind, I would probobly be really stunned after watching that movie, it sounded really sad when I was reading it, I can't imagine my reaction after watching it.

3. I think that this book is great so far , I want to know if you guys have any predictions on what Mr. Ross is going to do as an 'expirement' with his calss (if you've read ahead predtend like you haven't).

Betty Ann Comments

2007-09-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so every one has posted comments on Betty Ann, good job ! So, here are the number of comments that youv'e posted...

Lidsay: 8 comments
Trent: 5 comments
Mif: 4 comments
Beyra: 5 comment
Jessica: 5 comments
Sofia: 6 comments

I will update them tomorrow or tonight ~thanks, Sofia :)

Betty Ann Focus

2007-09-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Our group... Lindsay, Trent, Beyra, Mif, Jessica... we are going to focus on the 3rd question. This is part where you decide what the theme/moral/lesson of the story is, post your comments for our conversation on my blog, that would be awesome. ~ thanks, Sofia :)

Betty Ann

2007-09-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today I read a story called Betty Ann by Ina Hughs. I was about a girl from Cleveland that moved to Virginia and nobody really liked her at school because they judged her before they got to know her.

1. To me the saddest part in this story was when the girl went to Betty Ann's house and the girl got a phone call and Bettty Ann's mom over heard her and asked her " Why don't you girls like Btty Ann she likes you...". I thought that this part was really sad because they just judged Betty Ann before they got to know her.

2. I probobly woulden't be nice to Betty Ann on her first day, then after I get to know her I would probobly be nicer to her. I don't like it when people are mean to people that they don't even know, that really bothers me.

3." Sticks and stones only break bones. Words can shatterthe soul. A little, quiet, 10-year-old runs away because kids on the bus laughim . A sensitive ninth grader flips out be at because a group of self-rising girls decide to thow her to the wolves. We tell ourselves it takes more then that to send someone over the edge. Maybe so, maybe not. But there are no erasers." This last paragraph means a couple of things to me the first part means that if you get hurt physicly, you can just go to the doctor and make it all better and ithe pain is gone forever, but if some one tells you some hurtfull or teases you , you can't just go to the doctor and make it all better and the pain dosen't just go away forever, it stays with you. The second part means that if make a mistake on paper then you can just erase it, but if you make a mistake in life you can't erase it. This quote is amazing and don't ever forget that.

Seventh Grade

2007-09-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

On friday we read a story called Seventh Grade by Gary Soto. It was about a boy named Victor Rodriguez, and it was his first day of seventh grade.

1. One of my favorite sentences in this story was 'La me me vava com le grandma'. This sentence was funny becuse Victor was making noises that were supposed to be "french" mixied with english to impress Teresa, it was also funny how in the end she belived that it was real french.

2. In this story I can relate to the first day of school when you get to see your friends, and see if your in the same classes.

Test

2007-09-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today we read a story called "Test", by Theodore L. Thomas, it really weird and confusing, but it was supposed to be weird and confusing. Other than it being really weird and confusing it was really descriptive and when I read it I felt like I was actually there, which in this story wasn't really a good thing in this story.

1. One of the sentences that really stood out to me in this story was 'Alongside of the man was a girl, her head against the back of the seat, soft curls framing a lovely face, her eyes closed in an easy sleep.' I choose ths sentece because I could really picture it, and it was weird how al this crazy stuff was going on, and this girl was just peacefuly sleeping, it was scarier than all the people that were paniking. In this story the gouverment tests someone with hypnosis for a driving test.

2. I think that this is a good way to test people for driving tests, because it tests the driver mentally and people can see more than if they just drive well. I think that this driving test would make the road safer.

3. At the end of this story the man that took the test said "You cant do this to me Im still dreaming arent I" and the uniformed gouverment man said "How do any of us know." I liked this sentence because the author let us guess the ending, and waht the story was really about. I also liked this sentence at the end because the author made us think that maybe the whole world is a dream.

Planet Earth Movie!

2007-09-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today we watched a movie! They were the Planet Earth movies, so theirs like a bunch of them and all of them ore about one specific biome Ms. Komatsubara chose Great Plains and Jungle (we didnt watch the whole thing).
GREAT PLAINS:
-Grass covers a quarter of all of the land in the earth
-Grass is udestructible
-Great Plains are found in North Amarica, India, Africa, Tibet, the artic, and more..
-North America: Bison live in the North American plains. Male bison can weigh up to 1 ton. Before there were 60 million bison, 10 years ago there were only one thousand because their habitats decresing and because of hunting. Now there are a little bit more than one thousand. In springtime the flowers bloom and it's really pretty.
-India: Elephants live in the Indian Plains. There, there is really tall called elaphant grass and it's taller than elephants. Its the tallest grass in the world.
-Africa: When the elephant grass is gone the elephants migrate hundreds of miles to find more food and water while they are traveling they are very thirsty and hungry. They stop at waterholes with not very much water. They share the water with eacother and other animals icluding lions. Lions dont usally eat elephants, but they are very hungy as well.It is very rare but sometimes a lion will eat an elephant, the elephant would last all of the lions a whole week. Insome parts of Africa their are flooded grass lands where baboons live. The baboons swim in the water, drink the water,and eat grass and snails.
-Tibet: During the winter theseplins are cold and icy and during he summer they have very little grass. One of the animals that live their are callled the Piaka. The Piaka are rodents and they live underground. Sometimes birds take over the Piakas homes. Tibetin foxes hunt the Piaka.
-Artic Tundra: The Artic Tundra plains is very cold and snowy in the winter, and very green and grasy in the summer. At springtime 5 million snow geese to the artic tundra to lay their eggs and eat the grass. The Arrtic Fox hunts the geese eggs. In summertime the geese hatch, the artic fox cubs are born at the same time. Not all of the cubs and geese survive. In late summer the geese start their journey to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter. The artic wolf also live in the artic tundra. they have a hard time finding food. They hunt carribu but its hard to find them since their always migrating.
-As you read this you probly realized many animals depend on grass for their survival.
JUNGLE:
-When a tree falls inthe jungle, their is more sunlight,so new plants grow over the fallen tree. After 4 years you can't even tell that a tree fell.
-The top of the rainforest is called the canopy. This is where alot of the animals in the rain forest live.
-Fig trees grow in jungles all around the world and year round, they fed many animals, including many diffrent species of monkeys.
-Many tree frogs and leep frogs live in the rain forest, most of them live in the canopy of the rain forest,to stay safe from predetors. All of the frogs have a diffrent croak.
-In the rainforest it rains more than it does anywhere else in the world
These movies were awsome because some of the things that they showed were things that most people never get a chance to see in their life and as you can see I learned A LOT in these movies.

Hoot

2007-09-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Last year I read a book called Hoot. It is by Carln Hiasen. It wasent exacly my favorite book ever, but I liked it because it was a mystery, I wanted to see what would happen next so when I was reading it I would never put it down. This book is about a kid that just moved from Montana to Florida who finds unique friends that would do anything to save owls, he decids to help them, will they save the owls? you'll have to read the book to find out. After I read this book I learned that anybody can make a difrence if they really want to.
They made a movie based on this book.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HgT_xT587MY