December Book Blog

   This month I read the biography of Marie Curie. The book was named Marie Curie by Laura Hamilton Waxman. This book was about Marie when she was a child and all through her life. She was Polish. She was the first female to win a Nobel Prize. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie had a very successful life. I hated this book. I hate any non-fiction book. They bore me to death. The facts are annoying and don't even have any action. I'm sorry if this is offending, but I really don't want to read about real things. I love fiction. I love being able to think that I am acting out what is happening in my head. I can still picture the event in non-fiction books, but it is boring. This book was a 4.

NY Times Quickwrite 12/7

1. There men that were stranded in the ocean and have finally found shore, but it is in Alaska.

2.I say this because the men are sitting in a small boat. Also, there is snow covering the ground.The men are looking around like they don't know where they are which implies that they have been lost (New York Times Learning Network Blog).

3. I find it interesting that there is a half built bridge behind the men.

NY Times Quickwrite 11/30

1. This picture is showing a hippopotamus that was found floating by the road, where it had washed up from the sea during a bad flood.
2. There is a bridge(top right corner) that has water very close to overflowing it. Also, the hippopotamus has some green seaweed looking stuff in the side of his mouth(New York Times Learning Network).
3. I find it interesting that the hippopotamus has a tranquilizer bullet in the side of his head.

November Book Blog

    This month I have been reading a book called Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia. This book is a dystopian book. It is about a girl named Lena who is a Caster and an ordinary boy named Ethan. Lena has a crazy life. She can control the weather and many other things. Beautiful Darkness is the journey of Lena Claiming herself. Claiming is when the caster decides if they are evil or good. Lena's family is cursed. This curse has put Lena through a lot. There are many plot twist that make this book amazing. This is the second book in the series, Beautiful Creatures. Kami Garcia has done an amazing job on this series. I love the action and the somewhat futuristic and fairytale mix that she has created. This book has so many different genres mixed in. I would recommend this book to anyone.

NY Times Quickwrite 11/2

1. This officer, found an abandoned baby and is taking it back to his office.

2.He is looking at the baby with sympathy and he is holding it away like it could have a disease (New York Times Learning Network Blog).

3.I think it is interesting that there is a bus full of kids behind him. Also, that the blue blanket is covering the baby's face.

October Book Blog

    This month I read a non-fiction book called Space Launch Disaster: When Liftoff Goes Wrong,by Michael D. Cole. This book had the facts about the Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 12 disaster, and the Soviet Unions first disaster. The Apollo 12 disaster happened in the sky. The space shuttle was hit by lightning. The Apollo 1 fire was started by an o-ring that was not sealed completely. The Soviet Union disaster was when liftoff went wrong. They had other disasters in space, but those were the main ones. To me this book was boring. I hate non-fiction books. They have no exciting action. The facts especially make it boring. I prefer fiction. A wide variety of genres in the fiction section really. This book was helpful to me though because it had many facts about the Apollo 1 fire, which relates to my NHD project. Though boring this book was helpful.

To keep or not to keep "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

              Yes we should keep "The Star-Spangled Banner" as our national anthem. In a blog post about keeping or not keeping our anthem the same, I found this sentence. " In times of crisis, the Star-Spangled Banner is a rock for us, a symbol of our grace under pressure and our determination to succeed no matter the odds"(" The Case Against The Star-Spangled Banner"). The evidence above explains everything. So many people use this song as a song of strength. People all over the U.S. hear this song and think about how wonderful the U.S. is. It shows us strength and courage. If we get rid of it and use another song, then there is a chance that people will lose their belief that the U.S. is a strong, independent nation. We can't take that hope away from people." In times of revelry, the anthem is a celebration of the fruits of the labors powered by these values"( "The Case Against The Star-Spangled Banner").When we are at war or we are just facing small political problems, this song, when sung, resembles a celebration like we have already won. This builds our soldiers strength and courage in the U.S.This keeps them fighting for our freedom, their families, their friends, and everyone else in the U.S. If we are facing bankruptcy, then this song tells us to get going to not fall down in grief.This song helps everyone in their own way. We should not get rid of the national anthem.

NY Times Quickwrite 10/19

1. Media people are taking pictures of a historic house. They are covered and everything else is covered so that nothing can be touched.

2.In the top left corner, the chandelier is bagged up. Behind the media people on the top right, there is a wall of plastic. On the bottom half of the picture, the media people are wearing jump suits.

3.I find it interesting that there is so many people taking pictures of this house. I wonder what is significant about it.

NY Times Quickwrite 10/5

1. The runner is tired and wanted to use the Segway, but the man on it wouldn't let him have it.

2. The man with the orange vest is falling off.(middle of the picture) The runner is on top of the Segway. (left side of the picture) The runner looks relieved to have a break from running.(runners face at the top of the picture)(New York Times Learning Network Blog)

3.The runner has taken his shoes off. There is a towel hanging on the runners neck. The top of the Segway looks like there is a lot of radio equipment on it.

NY Times Quickwrites 9/28

1. A tornado has torn this woman's house down.

2.There are logs that have fallen down(bottom left corner), there is dust every where, the windows are broken(middle of the picture), and the walls are torn up from things hitting them.( New York Times Network Learning Blog)

3.I find it interesting that she is holding a clean, white sheet of paper.

September Book Blog

         This month I read a fantasy book called Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. This book is full of action and myths. There's young love. There is good against evil. This book was amazing. I loved every word of it. Even when it was sad. It is the first of the series. I can't wait to read the second book. I am in love with this series. It is possibly the best book that I have ever read. The book is about a young girl named Lena Duchannes. She has lived all over the United States. She has moved in with her uncle who lives in a very small and boring town. In this town there is a boy named Ethan Wate. Somehow Lena and Ethan have a connection. They aren't suppose to since Lena is a Caster. This book is about how Lena and Ethan uncover a very large secret in the Ravenwood/ Duuchannes family. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Even if they don't like fantasy books. I think they would like this one. It was phenomenal.

New York times Quick write: China

      In the video, the Chinese realtor stated the "...black are cheaper..." to pay to act. The question that it raised for me is, are they trying to be racist or are they just stating what they have seen? Also, a potential buyer said, " ...ad long as there is a good image...". This raised a big question for me. What if it isn't a good area and there is trouble everywhere? They could have paid people that do bad things there, to act like nothing is wrong.

August Book Blog

     This month I read "Ruby Red' by Kerstin Gier. A science fiction series. The Montrose family was very strange and the women in that family have a certain gift, time- travel. Charlotte, Gwenyth's cousin, was thought to be the one that had this gene, but when Gwen starts to time- travel everything in her normal life is gone. I loved this book it had the action,mystery, and science fiction that I love. With this book I put myself in Gwen's position. That is what I love about fiction books. With fiction books it gives me  more of an imagination and I can picture the scene or character that the author is describing. I wish that was all that we had to read, sci-fi, mystery, and action. I don't really like books that are slow and don't get to the action in at least the second page. Those are boring to me. I definitely  would recommend this book to people with my same opinion.

What is a Hero?

       A hero is a person that does an act that impacts another persons life in a positive way. Three qualities that a hero should have are courage,kindness, and faith. You would have to have the courage to stand up to the bully in your school. You would also have kindness, so that you can have the idea and to build up the courage to stand up for someone. Last but not least, you have to have faith in yourself so that you don't back out just because you are scared.

       Heroism does include strength, but not all of the time. Sometimes when you are standing up to a bully strength won't matter, because then you become the bully. A smart mind will also help. If you talk to the bully then maybe you can get them to stop. Or you can help them get over what is causing them to feel like they should bully other people.

     No, you don't need an extraordinary reason to be a hero. It could be as simple as standing up for someone when no one is. Everyone could be a hero if they just put their mind into it. Say that the small kid in your class is being bullied by a "jock" then you could say to the bully that they need to stop and if they don't you can get an adult to help.

      They are heroes,but they are also right to not call themselves heroes. It is good not to accept being called a hero, because sometimes it will go into peoples minds.Then they don't realize that they are just like everybody else. That leads to them thinking that they are better than everyone else and can start to bully others or start to push them down.

Attitude Matters

1. "BE WILLING TO TRY BEFORE YOU CONVINCE YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN’T DO SOMETHING" (swimswam.com). At school, there are many obstacles that stand in your way when doing work.sometimes you think that you will fail and get an f. You get a mind set of I can't do this and that blocks your ability to think straight. I do this quite a bit. This quote can help remind me that I have to try and not just automatically give up when it gets hard.

2. "MOTIVATION COMES FROM ACTING – NOT FROM THINKING ABOUT WHAT LIES AHEAD" [swimsam.com]. sometimes  in math class I will try to think about the equation without working it out.That always makes it Harder for me.  This quote helps me to start working and then think because if there is an error in your math, then you see can see the error.

3. "HOW WE THINK FEEDS INTO HOW WE FEEL" [swimswam.com]. If you think that you are tired then you feel tired. If you think that you  are dumb then you feel dumb. That keeps you from doing your work productively. This quote makes you think about changing that mindset of I can't do that.

 

Trophies- Have We Gone Too Far?

       The lesson that the football camp is trying to teach by giving the children participation trophies is that if they participate then they will learn to get better and they will work harder to get more trophies.James Harrison is trying to teach his children how and why they need to earn their trophies. He did this by sending their trophies back. In my opinion, James Harrison's lesson was more important."...believing that everything in life should be earned..." If you don't earn a trophy and you get one anyway then you get the idea that everything is that easy. If you get that mindset then you will have a harder time doing sports or work. Also it won't push you to try harder than your best. You need to earn the trophy before you get it.

My Hislish Goals

My Hislish Goals

1. One skill that I want to improve  on is the different subjects like proper nouns, adverbs, and adjectives.
2. I want to read the Lord of the Rings series.
3. In this class I want to strive for and A or an A+.