End of Year Reflection Blog

1: What are the three most important things you learned this year?

There are many things I learned during this year, but the three most important things are how to use topic sentences, time management, and that reading helps your vocabulary. Using topic sentences has become easier to me because I just rephrase the question and answer it without making the answer confusing. Time management was something that was hard to do but I learned that in order to get work done you have to set time for yourself to get something done. I've always thought that reading was just something you were forced to do but instead it's a new way of learning extra words.

2: What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

Something we did this year that I will remember for the rest of my life is all the parties we had and seeing everyone have a good time. I think I will remember this because when I first came into this class I wasn't sure as to what I was expecting but when the year progressed, I learned that things will get tough sometimes but there's almost always a reward.

3: What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

The nicest thing someone did in class for me this year was always reminding me what we had for homework when I forgot. Even though it may not seem like a lot, it really helped me out. I would always ask them for clarification on our assignments each day and I'm glad they didn't get annoyed with me asking. Something I realized from doing this was that paying attention is really crucial in a class like this.

4: What is something you taught your teacher or classmate this year?

Something I have taught one of my classmates this year is that people will most likely not be there for you when you need something. Although it could be the littlest thing like borrowing a pencil, some people may not be willing to give one to you. Due to this, it could be a big life lesson that most people aren't going to always be doing everything for you and that you'll have to do things for yourself.

5: In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

The area that I think I have made my biggest improvement is all of our grammar lessons. Before we started having these lessons, I used to think that sentences were easy but I realized there's more to commas and to the sentences I use. My biggest improvement was creating sentences with all the bits of information we learned throughout the year. Something I have accomplished this year was making sure I had my work done. I'm proud of this because it was hard to actually get up and do my homework without getting distracted.

6: What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

The most challenging part of this year was studying for our vocab tests. I believe this was the hardest part of this year because I was not prepared at all for memorizing words and their parts of speech. I used to get bad grades on most of my tests and that’s when I realized I would have to actually try harder than I did because my methods weren’t working. At one point my mom had to talk to me and got me to study each night until I had the words imprinted in my brain. As a result of this, I started getting better at vocabulary.

7: What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

My best piece of writing this year was my letter poem. I think this is my best poem because it was about myself and as I was doing it, the words just came into my mind and I ended up writing a great poem. I didn't really like the poetry unit overall but when Mrs. Larson assigned us to do the letter poem I already knew what I would write about.

8: Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

Out of all the books I have read this year, my favorite was First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. This is one of my favorite books because as I was reading it, I always wanted to read more than assigned. At first, I didn’t think I would like the book but the word choice and detail on each page made it more interesting. I liked how it was written to keep you captivated at all times but never bored with what you were reading.

9: What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

Some advice I would give students who will be in this class next year is to always do your work on time. Always doing your work is a key to getting good grades in this class and understanding the material. It may be hard in the beginning and you might get an abundant amount of falcon fouls, but as the quarters go by you will realize that when you do your work on time you’ll feel relieved. Another piece of advice I would give is always listen in class, either the teacher could call on you and you won’t know what to say, or there are directions given and you didn’t hear them.

Of Mice and Men: The Movie

Section 2:

In the movie, Of Mice and Men, there were two scenes which were not in the book or they appeared differently. In one scene, Slim tells George to take an injured horse into the barn and he does. As he comes in the barn, Curley's wife appears and claims that the barn is much cooler than the bunkhouse. She then tells George about her injured foot and says that Curley did it. Then she flirts with him but he doesn't pay attention to it. As this is happening, Curley comes in and gets mad that George and his wife are talking. Curley tells her to get back in the house after that.

In another scene, George and Lennie were working in the ranch when Curley's wife came and asked about Lennie's face and what caused the marks to appear. This happened in the book but the setting was different, so instead of it being inside the bunkhouse, they were outside working. Another thing that was different was there were characters that didn't come into that scene, such as Candy and Crooks.

These new scenes do not change my opinion of Curley's wife. In the new scenes, Curley's wife is almost always bringing attention to her and how she never has anyone to talk to. Even though she never stops trying to talk to the men in the bunkhouse, it shows how lonely she really is. I think the director chose to add these scenes to give her more qualities than just being a tramp. By letting her talk to George and Lennie, it shows that she is persistent in getting people to talk to her even if it means causing trouble.

Section 4:

My general thoughts of this book was impressed. I felt this way because the author managed to fit in so much in a few chapters. The impact this book had on me was that loneliness was a big thing in the time period back then and it still is. Most people who are lonely will do anything to make a friend. I would recommend this book to my mom because she was interested in the first few pages that she read. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a story that would confuse you but make you think about the story.

Of Mice and Men - Conflict

There are many conflicts in the book “Of Mice and Men” which add to the plot. The conflicts make the plot and story more interesting by adding different scenes or things to make the reader want to read more. The conflict helps the plot as well because it shows what kind of characters are in the story.

One conflict in the story is Man vs. Man. In the story, Lennie and Curley got into a fight when Lennie got caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. A quote from the story said, “Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. “What the hell you laughin’ at?” This shows that Curley got mad over what Lennie was doing which brought tension between them.

Another conflict in this story is how Crooks is treated because of his skin color. This conflict is Man vs. Society. A quote from the book said, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse.” This quote shows that the people in the bunkhouse don’t respect him because of the time period in which many colored people were not accepted. This also shows how Society is basically against Crooks for how he looks.

Dream Poem

It's just a dream they said,
you'll never fulfill it.
Maybe I should've listened,
then I wouldn't be filled with dread.

When I was younger,
I wanted to earn people’s approval.
I dreamt of doing something good with my life,
something that wouldn’t disappoint.

As I got older
I realized life gets harder
and harder
until you feel like giving up.

That’s how it was for me,
I gave up.
My dream to do something good,
was nothing but a dream.

Once you wake up,
your dream ends.

Of Mice and Men

In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are different atmospheres introduced. The atmosphere of the ranch is mostly negative. A quote from the book says, “He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie.” This quote shows that because of how Curley looks at George and Lennie, he could be mad that there are newcomers starting to work in the ranch.

In the bunkhouse the atmosphere is surrounded by gossip. Lennie and George learn new things about different characters by Candy telling them. In the book it says, “He had drawn a derogatory statement from George. He felt safe now…” This quote shows that Candy could tell George more about the people who work here because of his remark. I think that because of what George said, Candy could trust him with more information by judging how he says things or how he replies. With this information, George and Lennie could use it to see who to stay away from and who to kind of trust.

I believe John Steinbeck is trying to send the message of importance or class by not giving Curley’s wife a first name. Even though Curley’s wife is described as good looking, she is still a woman and many women during that time period were not as important. A quote from the book says, “I seen her give Slim the eye. Curley never seen it.” This quote is showing that people don’t look at Curley’s wife as anything but a flirt which gives her a bad personality.

3rd Quarter Reflection

*In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?

The area that I think I have made an improvement in is reading. I think this because in other quarters, I usually put off reading and saved it for last. What I mean by this is that I did less reading because I focused on other homework and rushed to finish so I could read. In 3rd quarter, I managed my time and found days I could read and a time spent only for reading.


*What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?

Something that I have accomplished this quarter that I am proud of is the poems I made during our poetry unit. I am proud of this because before I didn't think I would be able to make poems or really understand them, but after the poetry unit I had a better understanding and I enjoyed it more. I accomplished a lot during 3rd quarter, but I was most proud of actually writing poems and having them turn out well.


*What has been the most challenging part of 3rd quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

The most challenging part of 3rd quarter for me were blogs. I have had a problem with writing blogs in general but I think 3rd quarter was harder. I believe this because I didn't put much thought into my blogs before and they didn't come out like I wanted. Something I can do to overcome this is learn from my mistakes from my other blogs and make them better.

First They Killed My Father - Lit Circle Blog

My essential question for First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, was, “What obstacles does Loung overcome during the revolution?” This essential question ties into the novel because I found out what obstacles Loung overcame during the revolution. One obstacle was hunger, in the labor camps Loung and her family stayed in, they were given a low amounts of food each day. Another obstacle Loung overcame was greed. In the book it says, “I knew exactly what I was doing when I stole the handful of rice from my family.” This shows that because of hunger and greed, Loung took the rice because she couldn’t deal without eating.

For my topic I am focussing on the genocide in Cambodia. In the book it says, “Every once in a while, a group of Khmer Rouge soldiers attack a random village, raids the houses, kills a few people, and the ducks back into the woods.” This quote shows that the people in the village had to go through many things such as death. The book shows first hand experience to what happened during the genocide, while the article shows what they have been told.

In the article, “Scars of the Khmer Rouge: How Cambodia is healing from a genocide” states, “But about 20,000 people died from execution, starvation or exhaustion during this exodus at gunpoint…” This quote shows that the genocide in Cambodia affected people in many ways. This quote also shows that the article is talking about facts rather than talking about how they experienced this revolution. 

The article and the book both relate to the same topic, but they have different perspectives. The author of First They Killed My Father, had a one point perspective since she was there when it happened. The article stated what people told them instead of reminiscing the information. Even though they both come from different perspectives, the information ties in.

Poetry Reflection

      Starting this unit, I disliked reading and writing poetry. In between the unit, I started liking poetry a little more. Not enough to like it fully, but to enjoy it. I like it because you can express yourself in a few lines of writing. It's like an escape for people who are going through hard things in their life and they have no one to talk to. The place that poetry had in my life is I believe that poetry actually does belong to everyone. It belongs to everyone because in poems I have seen, the poets put their feelings into the poems that they write. 

      Life and experiences of a poet affect the poem they create. It affects the poem because there are many feelings in the poem. The different types of feelings are created by what the poet is going through. For example, a poet who shows feeling in his poems from life and experiences is Edgar Allan Poe. I believe this because he went through many things and because of these things, his poems are affected in what tone he is trying to get across.

      Two poems that I have chosen to analyze are my found poem and "Rain" by Shel Silverstein. My found poem had double meanings to it but I chose the one that fit more in that poem. Many poems are short in length but they have bigger meanings. In the poem, "Rain" it talks about how there is rain stuck in someone's head and now they cannot do things they did before. I feel like this poem is saying that one little thing can change your life and it can change the way you do things. The impact that words have on the poem is big. I think this because word choice can change how you view a poem and how you can interpret it further on.

Non-fiction Poem
Bio-Poem
Where I'm From Poem
Spine Poem
Found Poem
Nonsense Poem

"The Bird and Fox"

AoW Poem

The terrorist group you conversed with,

made child fighters

increase like fish when they see food

Your children are used for fighting in wars

They are responsible for vulgar attacks

Why would you let them fight?

Letting them go at a young age

Knowing that they wouldn’t survive,

doing what they were forced to do

39% died detonating vehicles,

39% weren’t able to live their lives

to the fullest

33% killed as foot soldiers

33% weren’t able to live their lives

Your children using weapons

Weapons that are made for adult use

Could you imagine the gunshots being heard all around?

BOOM! was haunting them all the time

People said your child left with a smile

Was that a real or painful smile?

Do you ever regret talking to them

or was it just best for you?

Or was it when opportunity to hit you like someone who won the lottery,

did you go straight for it?

The article I was inspired by is: "How ISIS recruits child soldiers, then kills them"

Bio Poem

Fadi

Intelligent, scared, protective, aware, and determined

A character in N.H Senzai's story

Lover of learning, photography, and his family

Who notices his country is very dangerous, his family is trying their best to create a good environment for their family

Who feels like most of the bad things are his fault, his sister missing was his fault, feels like he is a bad brother

Who learns that finding his sister is his top priority and that his family needs are important as well

Who used to think that everything was fine until he started noticing things differently

Major character in Shooting Kabul

A book that shows change all around

Character Development

In the book, Bronx Masquerade, it talks about high school students going through many problems but finding an out by using poetry. By using poetry it helps them express themselves without actually saying their feelings out loud. One of the characters I think have changed the most is Diondra.

In the beginning of the book, Bronx Masquerade, Diondra was judged by her height and most people thought she loved playing sports. Diondra actually was an artist but her father didn't approve. In the book it says, "If I can get into an art school, I'm going." This quote showed that towards the end Diondra started to accept who she wanted to be. 

The elements of a story affect Diondra in this book. The conflict affects Diondra, because her father is telling her how he is disappointed in her and how he wishes she was a boy. This affects her because hearing negative things come from her father affect her in a bad way. Diondra thinks that she'll get nowhere by being an artist but I think that the negative comments make her more confident with what she makes.

Spine Poem

Stolen Lives
Speak
Crash
Nothing Left to Burn
102 Minutes

The theme of this poem is survival. Survival is the theme because this poem represents survival. The message of this poem is surviving life. This is the message because Stolen Lives means all of the lives that were stolen in some way haven't survived.

The main point of this poem is about stolen lives or anyone who has been taken from living. It shows how crucial living your life is. This is also the main point because people are being taken away from families or from what they do daily.

Found Poem

Poem-

She was aware of the warmth of his words

to live and breathe the sky.

Everything seemed clear.

Then, as if his mind were on something else, 

he said, "I'll handle us and there's something you need to know..."

The theme for this poem is change. This is the theme because in the beginning of the poem the girl was happy with life so far and the mood soon changed. The picture gives off the theme because you can see that the first half of the poem is giving off a positive mood but the second half is giving off a negative mood.

The main point of this poem is to show people how fast things can change. I think this is the main point because as you read the poem you can see that everything changed just by a few words that were spoken.

"Where I'm From"

Bronx Masquerade Perspectives

The book *Bronx Masquerade* by Nikki Grimes is about a group of students who go through many different things. They write poetry and show it in "Open Mike Fridays" which was started by their teacher, Mr. Ward. Two sets of characters that I'm going to talk about are Raul and Diondra, and Gloria and Lupe.

Raul and Diondra are alike and different in a few ways. Raul is confident with being an artist and with his work and makes sure to show it off. Raul has been told that he'll never get anywhere with being an artist but he still believes in himself and his art. Diondra is not so confident and a lot of people judge her for her height. She also likes art like Raul but keeps it to herself.

Gloria and Lupe are different in many ways. Lupe feels unloved and thinks that she needs a baby to help her feel loved. Gloria has a baby but she had to give up many things to take care of it. Lupe doesn't see the consequences of having a baby at her age because she is too caught up on feeling loved. Gloria thinks Lupe has it easy since she doesn't have to take care of a baby.

Poetry Response 1/28/16

The poem I chose to write about is "Poet's Tree" by Shel Silverstein. This poem talks about someone telling a person to be entertained by poetry underneath a tree. I think the author wrote it so people can find a way to enjoy some poems by putting the idea in the real world. I also think the author wrote this poem to make the poet tree seem like a real thing so people can have a place to read poems.

I chose this picture because it was the image for the poem also because during reading the poem, I visualized someone reading a poem underneath an actual tree. I visualized this because the poem describes the poet tree.

I think this poem is text to self because one day I could find a place for myself to read poems. This could also be text to world since everyone in the world has access to poetry and can like it as well. 

"Poet's Tree"

Underneath the poet tree,

Come and rest awhile with me,

And watch the way the word-web weaves

Between the shady story leaves.

The branches of the poet tree

Reach from the mountains to the sea.

So come and dream, or come and climb —

Just don’t get hit by falling rhymes. 

Second Quarter Reflection

Prompts: In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?
What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?
Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge?

In second quarter, I have made many improvements but the one I think has been the best was writing objective summaries. I think this is an improvement because the last quarter I was still getting a hang of it and didn't really know how to make it complete. Second quarter taught me how to write them better by myself.

Something that I have accomplished since the new year is getting better scores on my vocabulary test. I am proud of that because in the first quarter, I had trouble memorizing the words and got bad scores. After that I told myself that I had to be focused and study more to get a better grade, because of this my vocabulary grades went up.

In my 40 Book Challenge I've read a total of 10 books so far and I think I'm doing well. To me, I think that I should set off some time to read so I can finish books faster. The 40 Book Challenge is giving me opportunities to read books that I haven't before.

Blog for week 1/18/16

The book I'm currently reading is Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan and this is fiction. The main character's name is Willow Chance and she is not like other kids. Willow is very smart and takes in every detail. This story takes place in different places. The conflict in this book is Willow losing people and also losing herself along the way. Willow loses the most important people in her life and because of this she is lost. She meets Mai and sees a friend in her. Even though Willow is confused she still manages to find her way around. The theme is mainly friendship since Willow and Mai have each other.

I enjoy reading this book. I like the way the author put specific words to help set the mood she was trying to get to without actually saying it out loud. I also liked how each chapter switched off to a different character and introduce them more. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading sad but makes you appreciate people more kind of stories. I think people should read this book because it teaches you that life is unfair sometimes and you have to be grateful for whatever you have. 

 

Blog for 12-14-15 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff

Prompt 1: Do you like what you're reading? Why or why not?

I like what I'm reading because it's useful. This book was useful because there were different categories talking about one thing. In the book, people talked about one point in their life where they either made a mistake or that period of time was rough for them. This book was also useful because reading it showed you what to do and learn from others mistakes. I also liked this book because it showed that people are brave enough to talk about their stories.

Prompt 2: What have you learned from reading?

I have learned that you should think before you act. This is what I've learned throughout reading this book because most of the situations that happened could happen later in life. Learning from people's mistakes is a good way to grow because you know what not to do and what to do. In Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff, I've learned that if you don't think about what you're about to do then it'll end up being something you regret later.

Prompt 3: In a few sentences, summarize what you read today.

What I read today was drugs and alcohol. Drugs and alcohol is about being safe with each substance. This part of the book has different stories by different people talking about their experiences with drugs or alcohol. Just by reading this section, I know that drugs and alcohol will never help me in life. This book is a good book to read because it also talks about other situations that people face in life.