This time for literature circles, instead of working by ourselves and filling the whole thing out, we had a partner and divided the work in half. Some parts were easy, while others were not. Working with others was a really good experience for me, but slightly challenging. It made me think more about the book and how to make level 3 questions and better passage responses.
There are tons of benefits of working with your partner. Doing only part of it made the work a lot easier. It was harder to run out of questions or connections to use. Another benefit is that if you made a mistake, they could help you correct it. They can also give you feedback on how to improve your work. Working with my partner helped me concentrate more and do my best so I don't let her down. If we forgot to do something, or if we were getting close to do it at the last minute, our partners would remind us either at school or by email. Also, if you didn't know what to do, they could help you come up with ideas and get you started on something. It's also good to have someone prodding you to do your work before the last minute
There were some challenges, but not many. One of them is how much we have to do each day. We didn't completely follow the schedule. Madyson and I sometimes did 2 things on one day or just skip a day completely. I reminded my partner to do some work so had more time to check over it. She ended up doing an excellent job. We also tried to make level three questions, which was kind of hard for me. My partner helped me though, and I think the question came out pretty good.
I learned a lot of things about the novel from working with my partner. We had slightly different views of the book. Madyson viewed the book like an adventure. I viewed it as kind of a mystery that could happen in the olden days. I never really thought of it as an adventure. It was an interesting thought, and it makes sense. I saw how my partner interpreted the book by how she answered the question. I understood the plot better, and made the story more interesting. Instead of trying to solve the mystery of Captain Jaggery, the ship, and the crew, it also became Charlotte's adventure on a ship, where she finds a lot of new knowledge, as how to sail a ship and parts of a ship.
We did our literature circles by collaborating constructively with our partners. We learned how to work well and improve our answers. You were able to have a second opinion on your work before you submitted it. It was easier to get a better grade with it, since you didn't want to let your partners down. It was a really good experience and I enjoyed it a lot.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Literature Circle Reflection
My literature circle group consisted of Aishah, Caomhie, Josephine, Madyson, Nick, and me. We read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Everyone but Madyson had their literature circle paper, but she didn't have her's because her printer went out of ink! Even so, she still participated and contributed ideas to the discussion.
Our discussion definitely helped me understand the book better. We all had different ideas and had different interpretations of the meaning of the book. Some of us inferred that Captain Jaggery was evil, but the rest of the group said, "Maybe Zachariah is the bad guy because he gave her the dirk to frame Charlotte when he committed a crime." I think that it wasn't very possible, but it still made sense. My group helped me think more about the characters and what was happening.
A few of us had the same connections. Similar things had all happened to us, such as getting blamed for something we didn't do. Whenever someone shared their connection with the book, I think of a similar thing that had happened to me before. Then, we would talk about how our connections were similar with the book.
Some of us predicted that Zachariah was probably evil and gave Charlotte the knife to frame her. They guessed that Zachariah was going to kill a crew member with the knife that he gave Charlotte then hide it under her bed again. The rest of us thought that Captain Jaggery was evil because the porter showed a negative feeling toward Captain Jaggery. We also thought that was why Zachariah gave her the knife; to protect herself from Captain Jaggery. We also suspected Mr. Keetch, who said that he put on a show to try to get Charlotte off, so the other crew members wouldn't notice. I guessed that he was a spy.
I think that having the discussions helped me understand the book and the plot better. We all had different ideas to what could happen. Even though I dislike filling in the discussion sheet, I believe that it is worth it after our literature circle group discussion. The discussions are always interesting, no matter what the book is. Before for Call it Courage, we only had 4 people to talk about the book. For The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, my group had six people, including me. That gave us more ideas to talk about. It is fun hearing other group member's thoughts and telling your own. I certainly can't wait for our next group discussion!
Our discussion definitely helped me understand the book better. We all had different ideas and had different interpretations of the meaning of the book. Some of us inferred that Captain Jaggery was evil, but the rest of the group said, "Maybe Zachariah is the bad guy because he gave her the dirk to frame Charlotte when he committed a crime." I think that it wasn't very possible, but it still made sense. My group helped me think more about the characters and what was happening.
A few of us had the same connections. Similar things had all happened to us, such as getting blamed for something we didn't do. Whenever someone shared their connection with the book, I think of a similar thing that had happened to me before. Then, we would talk about how our connections were similar with the book.
Some of us predicted that Zachariah was probably evil and gave Charlotte the knife to frame her. They guessed that Zachariah was going to kill a crew member with the knife that he gave Charlotte then hide it under her bed again. The rest of us thought that Captain Jaggery was evil because the porter showed a negative feeling toward Captain Jaggery. We also thought that was why Zachariah gave her the knife; to protect herself from Captain Jaggery. We also suspected Mr. Keetch, who said that he put on a show to try to get Charlotte off, so the other crew members wouldn't notice. I guessed that he was a spy.
I think that having the discussions helped me understand the book and the plot better. We all had different ideas to what could happen. Even though I dislike filling in the discussion sheet, I believe that it is worth it after our literature circle group discussion. The discussions are always interesting, no matter what the book is. Before for Call it Courage, we only had 4 people to talk about the book. For The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, my group had six people, including me. That gave us more ideas to talk about. It is fun hearing other group member's thoughts and telling your own. I certainly can't wait for our next group discussion!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Guns, Germs, and Steel; Development of Malaysia
Malaysia also produced tin. They started mining for it in the 1840s and a century later, they supplied about half the world. The tin was used to make the containers for food cans. Rubber was also what helped Malaysia develop. When the American automobile industry expanded, the rubber was used to make tires. Malaysia has the 14th largest natural gas reserves. It is one of the industry that has made Malaysia rich. They also sell timbers. Workers cut down trees from the jungles to make logs and sell them.
The role of the geographic location of where Malaysia is located plays a very important role. Not only did it give the country good weather, but also Malaysia got situated in a good natural resource site. Tin, rubber, and petroleum are all of the natural resources that helped Malaysia develop. The climate helped grow many varieties of fruits and the trees in the tropical forest helped make timber.
Picture Source:
http://kuala-lumpur.ca/images/fruit01.jpg
http://local.citizenseye.com/kuala-lumpur/
http://osha.com.my/v2/images/stories/clients/logo/petronas_logo.png
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Most TERRIBLE Day of My Life!
October 13, 2010
My day went off fine. The sky was sunny, the ground nice and muddy, who would have thought that this day would turn into a nightmare? I started my day off normally. I woke up, flopped here and there, doing my stuff, visiting my fellow neighbors. I had heard that some kind of animal would come to plant mangrove trees, but who could guess what havoc they would wreck? Well, we thought they were harmless and would quickly get back to dry *shudder* land. How wrong we were!
I guess it was about mid-morning when the animals came. They had those boots on, and they were wearing something called clothes! The only hair you could see on their body was on their heads. My friend, Shelly, said they were some kind of species called humans, evolved from primates. When they first stepped on a log, everything went fine. Some of them were picking crabs off the ground and one of the humans pointed at me and yelled something like,"Mud skipper!" Suddenly, one of those humans slipped! Squish! I heard a scream of fright from one of the crabs! I looked at the person that fell. He was stuck in the mud, sinking down faster and faster. I saw the other humans trying to help, but they got stuck instead! Usually, I would have laughed, but I was so scared that I would be stepped on! "Come on, Sammy, let's get away from these animals before they crush us!" Shelly exclaimed, trembling from head to tail.
The animals were giants! it was no wonder that they sunk so quickly! One of the larger giants went to help some female human, but ended up slipping and fell with a large CRACK! I bet he's going to be very sore tomorrow. Those humans started out laughing and yelling, but I guess they didn't like getting dirty, because as more and more people fell, they started to get quiet and tried to quickly get out of the mud. Some of them didn't even plant a mangrove sapling! They were all sinking, and I wanted to laugh, but right then, my sister got stepped on! My father told me that this happened once, but the animals (humans) stayed on road and quickly got off. But, now, tons of humans come and ruin our peaceful home. I was horrified!
The humans broke several mangrove saplings, killed a lot of my friends, and they didn't even try to make things better! The first group of humans left a lot of those things called boots. I got stuck in one, and they smell nasty! They sat down on logs where several mud skippers lived, stomped around, and sank toward the bottom. They didn't even think of the animals they were killing. I heard that there are more humans coming. I had hoped that they wouldn't come back! I hope that the next group of those humans would go somewhere else instead!
By: Sammy Skipper
Source: http://www.bountyfishing.com/blog/images/mudskipper.jpg
I guess it was about mid-morning when the animals came. They had those boots on, and they were wearing something called clothes! The only hair you could see on their body was on their heads. My friend, Shelly, said they were some kind of species called humans, evolved from primates. When they first stepped on a log, everything went fine. Some of them were picking crabs off the ground and one of the humans pointed at me and yelled something like,"Mud skipper!" Suddenly, one of those humans slipped! Squish! I heard a scream of fright from one of the crabs! I looked at the person that fell. He was stuck in the mud, sinking down faster and faster. I saw the other humans trying to help, but they got stuck instead! Usually, I would have laughed, but I was so scared that I would be stepped on! "Come on, Sammy, let's get away from these animals before they crush us!" Shelly exclaimed, trembling from head to tail.
The animals were giants! it was no wonder that they sunk so quickly! One of the larger giants went to help some female human, but ended up slipping and fell with a large CRACK! I bet he's going to be very sore tomorrow. Those humans started out laughing and yelling, but I guess they didn't like getting dirty, because as more and more people fell, they started to get quiet and tried to quickly get out of the mud. Some of them didn't even plant a mangrove sapling! They were all sinking, and I wanted to laugh, but right then, my sister got stepped on! My father told me that this happened once, but the animals (humans) stayed on road and quickly got off. But, now, tons of humans come and ruin our peaceful home. I was horrified!
The humans broke several mangrove saplings, killed a lot of my friends, and they didn't even try to make things better! The first group of humans left a lot of those things called boots. I got stuck in one, and they smell nasty! They sat down on logs where several mud skippers lived, stomped around, and sank toward the bottom. They didn't even think of the animals they were killing. I heard that there are more humans coming. I had hoped that they wouldn't come back! I hope that the next group of those humans would go somewhere else instead!
By: Sammy Skipper
Source: http://www.bountyfishing.com/blog/images/mudskipper.jpg
Monday, September 20, 2010
Witnessing, but Not Doing Anything
I'm pretty sure that all of us has witnessed bullying, been part of a group of bullies, but never did much about it. We may have just been afraid of being bullied by the bully, or your afraid that if you didn't bully that person, you wouldn't be someone's friend. A lot of people know that bullying others is wrong, but most of them never do anything, never stand up for that person. They just watch or join in.
At my old school, bullying was very rare, but on certain occasions, it happened. Sometimes it was because the person acted a bit strange or looked weird.We were split into 3 groups: Popular, the Weird people, and the Average. I was in the Average group. The group that usually got bullied would be the weird group. So, there was this girl who sucked her thumb, even though we were already in 3rd grade (Let's call her Mary). Everyone avoided her because her fingers were always wet with saliva, and it grossed a lot of people out, including me. We were friends though, but whenever someone called her "Thumb-Sucker" I would always watch and not do anything. When someone had to do a partner project with her, they would always say, " Go use the hand sanitizer first!" in a very mean way. When Mary was sucking her thumb and touched someone or something, they would go running, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Don't touch Gabby, she's got Mary Germs!" or, "OMG, it's the Thumb-Sucker!"
Every time someone said that it looked as though she would burst into tears any second. I felt horrible, yet I did nothing. Once, I asked my friends, "Why are other people keep calling her names?" They shrugged and would reply, "I honestly don't know". Like me, they didn't call her names, was friends with Mary, but never did anything to help. Sometimes, during class, people would say the exact same thing about "germs" when Mary touched something. Sometimes the teacher stopped them, but most of the time, teachers weren't paying attention. Once, the teacher even had a chat about Mary sucking her thumb in front of the whole class, and Mary looked totally embarrassed at the end. Many people would go to great lengths to not touch whatever had "Mary germs". After a while, thankfully, they got tired of it and moved on. When they stopped, Mary stopped sucking her thumb as well(I think stress was why she sucked her thumb)! I know that she isn't being teased anymore, but I still regret not standing up for her when she really needed it. I didn't have the courage to. If that happened today, though, I would have been able to help!
Two goals I would have to make ISKL be a better place for everyone would be:
-I will stand up for the person being bullied
-I will never bully someone
Being bullied isn't fun. If you see someone being bullied, don't just stand and watch. If you've been bullied before, you know how they feel. Stand up for them! By doing that, we will be making ISKL a better place to learn and play.
Graphic Image From: http://bbmspta.org/ESW/Images/BullyFreeTR.gif
At my old school, bullying was very rare, but on certain occasions, it happened. Sometimes it was because the person acted a bit strange or looked weird.We were split into 3 groups: Popular, the Weird people, and the Average. I was in the Average group. The group that usually got bullied would be the weird group. So, there was this girl who sucked her thumb, even though we were already in 3rd grade (Let's call her Mary). Everyone avoided her because her fingers were always wet with saliva, and it grossed a lot of people out, including me. We were friends though, but whenever someone called her "Thumb-Sucker" I would always watch and not do anything. When someone had to do a partner project with her, they would always say, " Go use the hand sanitizer first!" in a very mean way. When Mary was sucking her thumb and touched someone or something, they would go running, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Don't touch Gabby, she's got Mary Germs!" or, "OMG, it's the Thumb-Sucker!"
Every time someone said that it looked as though she would burst into tears any second. I felt horrible, yet I did nothing. Once, I asked my friends, "Why are other people keep calling her names?" They shrugged and would reply, "I honestly don't know". Like me, they didn't call her names, was friends with Mary, but never did anything to help. Sometimes, during class, people would say the exact same thing about "germs" when Mary touched something. Sometimes the teacher stopped them, but most of the time, teachers weren't paying attention. Once, the teacher even had a chat about Mary sucking her thumb in front of the whole class, and Mary looked totally embarrassed at the end. Many people would go to great lengths to not touch whatever had "Mary germs". After a while, thankfully, they got tired of it and moved on. When they stopped, Mary stopped sucking her thumb as well(I think stress was why she sucked her thumb)! I know that she isn't being teased anymore, but I still regret not standing up for her when she really needed it. I didn't have the courage to. If that happened today, though, I would have been able to help!
Two goals I would have to make ISKL be a better place for everyone would be:
-I will stand up for the person being bullied
-I will never bully someone
Being bullied isn't fun. If you see someone being bullied, don't just stand and watch. If you've been bullied before, you know how they feel. Stand up for them! By doing that, we will be making ISKL a better place to learn and play.
Graphic Image From: http://bbmspta.org/ESW/Images/BullyFreeTR.gif
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A Time When I Showed Courage
Many people think that courage is when you help someone in distress, do something wonderful, something out of the ordinary, and people know you for it. Well, they're not wrong, but they're not exactly right either. Being courageous is also facing your own fear, something small, like a snake, for example. You could be afraid of snakes and people might think you're a wimp, but when you overcome your fear, you're still being courageous, just in your own way. Another way of being courageous is standing up for others. If one is being bullied, you can stand up for them and help them, and eventually become one of their friends. If you know you're going to get teased for standing up for yourself or others, yet you still do it, that's also being courageous.
There was a time when I was courageous, too, in my own way. It was at back at my old school, I was in 2nd grade, and there was this girl (Let's call her Amy, so we know who we're talking about) who my classmates thought was weird. They shunned and ridiculed her. I really wanted to be friends with her because she seemed nice and fun to hang out with, but I was afraid of being teased by my other friends. They all said that she was a little bit mean and bossy, but they didn't personally know her.
I thought about asking her to hang out with me several times over the next few weeks, but I didn't want to be teased about only playing with someone. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous to be teased just because you hang out with someone other people shunned. I still think it's ridiculous, and people still say stuff about you if you hang out with a person that a lot of people don't like. Amy looked really miserable, as if she knew that she was the topic of the conversations whispered among her classmates. I immediately felt guilty. I had been thinking about being friends for weeks while she had weeks of being lonely, sad, and feeling totally unwanted. I knew how that felt, and I decided that I was going to try to be friends with her at recess.
That recess, I asked if she wanted to walk with me. She said yes. I was really nervous and I kept fidgeting. I guess that she was freaked out, too, because she didn't seem to sense my discomfort. There were kids running all over the playground yelling at the top of their lungs. There was an awkward silent as we walked toward the track. Then she asked, " Do you play a website called Poptropica?" "Yes, I do!" I replied. We started talking about how to complete different places (If you play Poptropica, you might know what I'm talking about, if not, it's www.poptropica.com) and eventually, talked about our lives. It turns out that we had a lot in common. It turns out a lot of people do. Later, we started to hang out everyday, and I introduced her to my friends. We stayed friends over the last few years, but then she had to move. Even though we're miles apart, we still keep in touch!
That day, the first time I talked to Amy properly, made me feel good. I felt that I had done something right, something that made a person's life better. I didn't feel courageous that day, and didn't even think myself of being courageous, until my friend told me, the day before she moved. In fact, to this day, I couldn't believe I had the courage to go up to her and ask her to take a walk. That day, I faced two of my fears, helping someone who everyone doesn't like and making a new friend. Now, I don't listen to everything my friends say about other people. I try to find out myself, and if my friends are wrong, I tell them.
I overcame my fears that day by helping someone even though I was afraid of getting teased and making a new friend. That was a time when I showed courage.
There was a time when I was courageous, too, in my own way. It was at back at my old school, I was in 2nd grade, and there was this girl (Let's call her Amy, so we know who we're talking about) who my classmates thought was weird. They shunned and ridiculed her. I really wanted to be friends with her because she seemed nice and fun to hang out with, but I was afraid of being teased by my other friends. They all said that she was a little bit mean and bossy, but they didn't personally know her.
I thought about asking her to hang out with me several times over the next few weeks, but I didn't want to be teased about only playing with someone. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous to be teased just because you hang out with someone other people shunned. I still think it's ridiculous, and people still say stuff about you if you hang out with a person that a lot of people don't like. Amy looked really miserable, as if she knew that she was the topic of the conversations whispered among her classmates. I immediately felt guilty. I had been thinking about being friends for weeks while she had weeks of being lonely, sad, and feeling totally unwanted. I knew how that felt, and I decided that I was going to try to be friends with her at recess.
That recess, I asked if she wanted to walk with me. She said yes. I was really nervous and I kept fidgeting. I guess that she was freaked out, too, because she didn't seem to sense my discomfort. There were kids running all over the playground yelling at the top of their lungs. There was an awkward silent as we walked toward the track. Then she asked, " Do you play a website called Poptropica?" "Yes, I do!" I replied. We started talking about how to complete different places (If you play Poptropica, you might know what I'm talking about, if not, it's www.poptropica.com) and eventually, talked about our lives. It turns out that we had a lot in common. It turns out a lot of people do. Later, we started to hang out everyday, and I introduced her to my friends. We stayed friends over the last few years, but then she had to move. Even though we're miles apart, we still keep in touch!
That day, the first time I talked to Amy properly, made me feel good. I felt that I had done something right, something that made a person's life better. I didn't feel courageous that day, and didn't even think myself of being courageous, until my friend told me, the day before she moved. In fact, to this day, I couldn't believe I had the courage to go up to her and ask her to take a walk. That day, I faced two of my fears, helping someone who everyone doesn't like and making a new friend. Now, I don't listen to everything my friends say about other people. I try to find out myself, and if my friends are wrong, I tell them.
I overcame my fears that day by helping someone even though I was afraid of getting teased and making a new friend. That was a time when I showed courage.
Monday, August 30, 2010
What do the artifacts tell us about the lives of early humans?
When we find artifacts, it helps us learn more about hominids, how they lived, and how they survived. Artifacts can take different forms, such as a broken piece of pottery, a spearhead, or cave painting. All of these help us learn more. By observing artifacts, we could also guess what kind of food they ate. If we didn't find artifacts from a certain time period, only bones, like Lucy's, we could tell that they weren't as advanced as the later hominids.
Finding artifacts help us learn more about ourselves too. Every artifact we find is like fitting a puzzle piece to complete a puzzle. Then we know how we came to be. The more we know, the more advanced we'll be because then we wouldn't make past mistakes. By finding artifacts, we can learn more about ourselves and our history!
Graphic Source: http://www.sonandersonartifacts.com/artifacts/artifact2.jpg
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