Final Reflection

This year in ELA I learned three things. Firstly, I learned that if you don't put your heart into the project that you are doing, it will make it boring to do. Most of the projects that we did this year we had the opportunity to pick what we wanted to do based on the project. The project that we were given the opportunity to do what we wanted to were the ones that I think were really fun to do. It gave us a time to show what we can do to the entire class. The second thing I learned was that, reading books that we should take the time to read books that we might not usually read. In our class we read the book The Giver this book wasn't really something that I would read but, as we kept on reading it really made me see how the book might not actually be as bad as I thought it would be. The last important thing that I learned was that, everything we were taught was to help us through high school. We learned how to annotate so when we have to write about it it will be easier to write, we learned about the TIQA format which helps us know the layout on what to include in the paragraph that will include text evidence. We learned that we need to manage our time wisely to get the important things done first than the others. There were so many things we learned that I know we will  use in high school.

Throughout the year we did a lot of projects, those projects personally taught me things. The project that really hit was the Butterfly Project. This project made us read a poem about a child that was in the Terzin concentration camp. The poems taught us that we should appreciate the life we have. The kids unfortunately had to live through some things that won't be eraseable. The Butterfly Project personally taught me that we should take advantage of the life we have and live life to the fullest.

The nicest thing someone in the ELA class has done for me is show me not to follow what everyone says disputes whta everyone says about that person. In the beginning of the year I didn't talk to person but when I saw that we had some classes together I started to realize that the person isn't what everyone says. To everyone the person might be a person that does bad things but that person taught me a lesson that I will not forget to carry with me in the future.

Everyone has different morals and beliefs. When people are different they all bring a variety of things which we can all learn from. We were all able to teach each other with our I Believe essay/speeches when we talked about the event that made us believe what we do. In my I Believe essay I talked about something that my friends didn't even know had happened to my family. When we first learned that we would be writing about an event in our lif that changed our belief I immediately thought about what had happened. At first I was nervous to what everyone's reaction would be but, I knew that I had to do this. I felt as if it was my responsibility to try to prevent this from happening to them because I don't want them to go through something like that.

I think that I made the biggest improvement in how to write a paper. When I was in first grade we learned about the hamburger method on how to write a papers when asked to answer a question with text evidence. I was never really good at remembering what goes when but, now this year we learned about the TIQA format it made more sense to me. The TIQA format is something that I will remember to use when in the future, specifically high school. Something that I accomplished this year is

There were many challenges throughout the years, well I think this one was for most of class. Trying to remember the vocabulary words and root words we had was a big challenge to everyone since we were all new to it. I think that the vocabulary tests kind of  reflected on how much time we actually studied for the test, well that was if we actually did study. Even though it was a challenge at first, I started to realize that the more time I spent studying the words the more it started to become easier. Yeah, at times I would get 2 or 3 wrong but at least I know that I tried my best.

The best piece of writing I think I did this year was my I Believe essay. I think that it was my best because it really showed everyone who I am since I never really talk in class. The event that I talked about in the essay was something that had just recently had happened to my family which taught all of us a lesson. It was something that I had never really done, but I knew I had to this because I don't want other families having to go through something like this when I myself know the emotional roller coaster we all went through in my family.

My favorite book that I read this year was Counting By 7s. This book was really relatable to me since Willow (the main character) and I both are really good in math and science. It was my first time reading the same book with a small group instead of it being the whole class. When it was Willow's first day in middle school it reminded me of when it my first day of elementary school. When it was my first day of elementary school I was dressed differently and I didn't know what to say since the only words I knew in English was "Hello" and "Bye". Willow in the book got mistaken to a custodian  and she didn't really know what to say since she was new. I found the book really relatable which is why Counting by 7s  is my favorite book.

For the students who will be in this class next year, I want to tell them to never give up. Yes, there are times were you just question what is the whole point of the project but, everything we do might connect to us in our personal life. As weird as it sounds many of the project were always aligned to what was happening in my "outside of school life".

I Believe

“Unexpected Surprises”

By: Lizbeth Urquizo

We see things on the news and are informed on how to prevent certain events from happen to us, yet we never seem to actually pay attention. So

me people learn that they need to pay attention to the advice they get while others are to ignorant to think that it would happen to them. I’m bringing this up because I was one of those people that didn’t think it would happen to them, I was ignorant.

It was May 13, 2017 when it happened. My mom, sister Maria and I were cleaning the house because we had planned a party since I had just recently done my Confirmation. At around 12:00 p.m in the afternoon we get a phone call. It wasn't just any phone call, it was from the electricity company. My mom confused, since none of us knew why they would call, answered the phone. Little did we all know that the phone call was going to be the start of the lesson we all learned.

When my mom answers the phone we were greeted with a voice. The voice belongs to a man, he says that he needs to speak to Catarino Urquizo, which is my dad. During that time my dad was at work, so my mom says that he is not there right now but, that she is his wife so they can tell her the reason on why they are calling. The man proceeded to my mom that my dad is behind some bills so, in 30 minutes someone from the company will go and disconnect the electricity. My mom, sister and I are surprised to hear this since we know how my dad has always been responsible since in the last 20 years of him living here in the United States he has never been late with bills. My mom asks if he wants my dad’s phone number so they can communicate with him. The man responds that instead he will give us a number so when my dad is available he can call that number so we can find a way to fix this. My mom calls my dad informing him of what had just happened. He says that when he gets home he will try to fix this since right now he is busy with work.

Time goes by, specificity those 30 minutes go by. We still somehow have electricity. Don’t get wrong I was thankful that we still had the electricity but, I was mentally preparing myself to when our electricity is cut off. Two hours go by and we still have everything running. My dad arrives and immediately he asks where is that number that the guy had left. He calls and the guy answers they immediately talk into details on how my dad can fix this.

The man on the other side of the phone tells my dad a huge story on why the payments might not have been going through, and it sounds believable. In the end my dad had to buy prepaid cards. On thing everyone should know is that electricity companies don't accept prepaid cards. We ended up finding out that it was all fake, the phone call from the electricity company was fake, my dad being behind electricity bills was fake, it was all fake. We had just been tricked into giving about $1,000 to what we thought would save our electricity. My dad ended up filing a police report so it would raise an awareness that things like this were happening.

We never thought that it would happen to us. We heard about it on the news but never really paid attention. For a moment we were angry, angry because of how we missed the red flags, but we realized something. We realized that we would be okay, someone stealing money from us is better than one of us getting hurt.

I grew up with the motto expect the unexpected. I had never really thought about the meaning of it, now I do. “Expect the unexpected” means that we need to be aware and prepared of the unexpected surprise that will happen in life. That is why I believe in expecting the unexpected to happen so, when something does happen, it hopefully won’t hurt me as much as I anticipate it too.

Literature Circle/Non-Fiction Article blog

An essential question we had in our literature circle for the book Counting By 7s is, what effects is she (Willow) dealing with since she has been living with Pattie, Mia, and Quang-ha in Dell Duke's apartment? In the book so far I've seen that Willow tries not to not complain about anything because she feels like she is a burden. In the book it says, "But it's not her fault. I'm the problem."(Sloan, 213) This is an example of how Willow is saying that the things that are happening with Pattie, Mai, and Quang-ha having to move into Dell Duke's apartment is her fault. So far in the book Willow has come up with the idea to make a small little garden of sunflowers in the front of the apartment where they are now living. I think that she wants to do this so she can feel like she is actually doing something.

Gardening seems to be really present in the book from before the accident involving her parents to after. In the article "Can Gardening Help Troubled Minds Heal?" it talks about how gardening is a type of therapy called horticultural. In the book gardening is a huge part of Willow's life from before the accident because she wants wear her gardening outfit on the first day of school so people can see that this is who she is. After the accident Willow changes and doesn't do the same things that she did before. 

There are similarities in the way that the article and book both show how gardening can help someone. In the article it says, "'They can see the parallel of the garden and relate it to their own lives,' he says. 'It provides ways to engage in conversation and life lessons.'" This quote is trying to say that most people that do this type of therapy will compare themselves to the garden. They might do this so  they can find something that is similar to themselves. In the book it says, "Right now I'm the sunflower. Termporary, but attaching myself to the ground underneath me. The garden is challenging me, as always, to see my own situation." This quote connects to the one in the article because this quote from the book is confirming that people, like Willow, do use a garden as therapy will see how they are the garden in a way.

Husted, Kristofor. “Can Gardening Help Troubled Minds Heal?” NPR, NPR, 22 Feb. 2012, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/02/17/147050691/can-gardening-help-troubled-minds-heal. Accessed 11 May 2017. 

Sloan, Holly Goldberg. Counting by 7s. New York, Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. 

Literature Circle blog

So far in the book Counting By 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan I have learned al lot about the main character   Willow. She is a 12 year old girl that is quite diffrerent from the rest. When reading the first things we learn about Willow is that she was adopted by Jimmy and Roberta Chance. As we read we read about how her parents die since they got in a car accident. Before it continues we get flashbacks to prior the accident. We learn about how Willow gets called down to the office to talk to the principal at her school in California because she was the only one that got a perfect score on a test. The test that she and other  students had to take was a state wide science test for the beginning of the school year. We are introduced to Mai and Qung-ha which are siblings when Willow goes down to the counselor's office for her mandatory check up that she has to do. 

Willow and I are similar in ways yet different in other ways. The first similarity between her and me is that we both are good with numbers. In the first few chapters of the book we get a glimps of how she knows how to manage numbers which was something that right off the bat I was able to make a connection with her. A difference though between the both of us is that Willow likes to use very big medical words. I on the other hand in a way struggle because English isn't my first language so when it comes to certain words I struggle to pronounce them correctly.one similarity that I was able to see was that Willow and I both like the subject science. 

There has been a change from Willow in the beginning of the book to half of the book. In the beginning Willow is very meticulous on the things that she does and makes surethat if she is going to be doing anything that it is just the way she wants it. Half way in the book after she is without her parents she stops caring about the things she use to. From time to time we see how Willow herself compares her self from before the accident to after. Willow starts to not care which causes her to flee the hospital after she gets stitches on her forehead because she fainted and hit her head which caused her to get a cut on her forehead.

 

3rd Quarter Reflection

Now that third quarter as ended, there is only one quarter left of school until summer break! I have learned a lot in third quarter, especially in English Language Arts. In ELA, my biggest improvements would be how to understand and interpret a poem. I struggled to grasp some of the methaphors most poems would have. When we had to read and interpret a poem from the book I Never Saw Another Butterfly so later we could do a butterfly that represents our poem, I thought that I would fail the assignment. When we broke down a poem as a class and really went into detail on what something ment and why it was included in the poem, that same day I was determined that I would really try my best. In the end, I now know how to read a poem and the outcome of my butterfly that I had to make came out better than I expected.

I have accomplished a lot in this quarter that I am proud of my self. Some of those things I learned this quarter is how to mange my time in class and at home. I need to priorities the things that I need to do first and then I can do the extra stuff later. In ELA we did tasks that went along with WW II so when it came to going to the Holocaust Museum, we would be informed. The takes we did were to be done at your own pace but, they needed to be finished. Some, of the takes I had to to home but, over time I learned how to finish them in class since I would solely only focus on finishing that task and then my other assignments that I needed to do. This is a life skill I need for when I grow up because I know for a fact there will be some things that will be needed to be done faster than others.

There have been challenging parts in 3rd Quarter. One of them was when learning about the Holocaust. It really didn't hit me that so many people had to go through this until we went to the Holocaust Museum. I was so intrigued by the survivor that spoke to us and told us her story. Although we really didn't have time to really look around, I still learned a lot and saw so many things. I know that I will never know the feelings of those who were affected by the Holocaust and had to live though it but, I will for sure never forget this and deny this happen as other poeople do. It was challenging for me in the sense that there was nothing for me to do exept to not forget. I will not forget and make sure other people don't forget.

Life Is Beautiful and Night

When watching the movie Life is Beautiful and Night, I was able to see some similarities between the two. For both the film and book, there was a father-to-son bond. In the movie there was Guido and Joshua, and in the book it was Elie and Shlomo. In both the book and film unfortunately the father dies. In the book and film we can see their journey in the concentration camp. We can see what they have to go through from day to day. We can see what happens to the two main characters from both the movie and the book in the end.

There were also some differences between the film Life is Beautiful and the book Night, when I was watching the film. Throughout the film, Guido tries to make the situation playful by saying that it is all part of a game. Guido focuses on not making Joshua know what is really happening. In Night, Elie knows what is going on and he explains his experience. Both Elie and his father don't really expect anything too happen, they are focus on to survive. In the film we are able to see what happens to Dora(the mother of Joshua) since she has to go to the facility where only women are allowed. The book doesn't let us see what happens to Elie's mother or sisters since the book is about his experience. 

The film and book both have different moods at times. The personality of the main characters make the mood be different. The mood in the film is humorous because of the carisma of Guido and his perseverance to make Dora fall in love with him and when in the camp he makes sure that Joshua doesn't see that reality of where they are. The film is full of humor because of Guido's personality throughout the film. The mood in the book is more hopeless like. We can see how Elie struggles with his faith in God, unlike in the beginning how we can see how he is pious. 

In the film, life is shown to be beautiful. The humor of Guido throughout the whole film shows how much he tires to make a bad situation into something good. In the beginning of the film we can see how the charisma of Guido pays off when Dora falls in love with him and have a son. We are able to see how even through Dora wasn't suppose to go to the concentration camp, she chose to stop the train and go on so she could be with Guido and Joshua. There are many instances where we can see how Guido struggling to keep his son safe, everything he did in the concentration camp was to keep Joshua safe. In the end of the film when Joshua is picked up from a military tank, when in the tank he see his mother walking wit the other survivors and runs off to see her. Joshua says how they won the game since the prize would be a brand new tank, his father Guido told him. Guido's plan had worked, in the end Joshua didn't know what was actually happening. 

Night

          When reading Night by Elie Wiesel, I was able to see how the experiences Wiesel went through changed his personality, morality, beliefs and values. His actions towards his father changed throughout the book as well as his faith with God.
          Throughout the book, we can see how Wiesel’s faith with God changes when he is in the concentration camp. In the book it says, “Why do you weep when you pray?....“I don’t know why,” I answered, greatly disturbed. The question had never entered my head. I wept because-because of something inside me that felt the need for tears”(Wiesel 2). This quote shows how Wiesel is very passionate when he prays. He expresses how he feels the need to cry when he prays without really knowing the reason why he cries. It also say in the book, “Blessed be the Name of the Eternal!” Why, but why should I bless Him...How could I say to Him: “Blessed art Thou, Eternal,  Master of the Universe, Who chose us from among the races to be tortured day and night, to see our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end in the crematory?”(Wiesel 64). This quotes shows how Wiesel sees that he feels like God isn’t with them anymore. He blames everything on God because Wiesel feels like God chose them out of all of the other races to be tortured and see family end up in the crematory. Later on in the book it says, “And, in spite of myself, a prayer rose in my heart, to that God in whom I no longer believed”(Wiesel 87). This quote shows how Wiesel still is pray although he doesn’t really know why since he doesn’t really believe in God as he use to believe in. This is completely different to the person that he was before since in the beginning 

          When reading the book, we can see how Wiesel’s bond with his father also changes throughout the book. In the book it says, “My father was a cultured, rather unsentimental man. There was never any display of emotion, even at home. He was more concerned with others than his own family.”(Wiesel 2) This quote shows how his father is never really there to look out for his family. Wiesel and his father don’t have a strong father-to-son bond which is something that is completely different as the book goes on. Also in the book it says, “I did not move. What had happened to me?My father had just been struck, before my very eyes, and I had not flickered an eyelid. I looked on and said nothing. Yesterday, I should have sunk my nails into the criminal’s flesh”(Wiesel 37). This quote shows how when his father was being beaten, that he didn't move at all to protect his father. This quote shows how he was surprised since he did jump in to save his father. Wiesel says that “ Yesterday, I should have sunk my nails into the criminals flesh” which shows how he is somewhat changed since he didn’t do this, instead he just watched as the others do. Later on in the book it says, “My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me….He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, at his wit’s end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support”(Wiesel 82). This quote shows how Wiesel tells himself that his father is stopping him from giving up since he was running with his foot that he just had a surgery on. He is telling himself that he is the only thing that his father has, since Wiesel is always looking out for his father and he is always making sure he has something to eat, he knows that if he gives up his father will not have the same support that Wiesel always gives his father. In the first quote it showed how the father was never really that close to Wiesel, now that is completely different because now in the concentration camps they have gone to, they only have each other.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. N.p.: Bantam , 1982. Print.

Butterfly Project

"A Letter to Daddy"

Momma told me to write to you today,

but I had no time. New children arrived 

with the latest transport, and 

I had to play with them. 

I didn’t notice time pass.

I live better these days.

I sleep on my own mattress on the floor,

so I will not fall down.

At least I don’t have much work to fix up my bed,

and in the morning I see the sky from my window.

I was coughing a bit, but I don’t want to get sick,

for I am happy when I can run in the courtyard.

Tonight there will be a gathering

like the ones at Scout camp in the summer.

We will sing songs we know,

a girl will play the accordion.

I know you wonder how we fare here,

and you would surely like to be with us now.

And something else, daddy. Come soon

and have a more cheerful face!

When you are unhappy, Momma is sad,

and then I miss the sparkle in her eyes.

You promised to bring me books

because, truly, I have nothing to read.

So please, come tomorrow, right before dusk.

I will surely be grateful for this.

Now I must stop. Momma sends you her love.

I will rejoice when I hear your footsteps in the hall. Until you are with us again.

I send you my greetings and kisses.

Your faithful son.

Anonymous 

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Berlin Memorial

        In the Berlin Memorial activity, I learned that little by little the Nazis were prohibiting Jewish people from doing things. There was one law that stood out to me which was something along the lines that Jews had to sit in a separate bench which was segregating them non-Jew and Jews like in the U.S black and white people were separated. Also, Jewish people were limited from doing everyday activities like going to the store, going to the pool, going to the movies, things like that.
        I think that the monument was built to not make people forget what happened to all of the lives of the people that were taken away because of them being blamed of something that they had nothing to do with. I think that it is the place where people can go to to pay their respects to the people there that had to go through all of that injustice.
        I noticed that during some years there was a difference between the number of laws that were being made. Some would have more than 5 and others would have less. I think that this happened because as the years passed, the Nazis saw that the laws weren't affecting as many people so, they made more along the way that specified in public transportation, job, school, and other things that most people do. During the time that these laws were being made, I think that the people that weren't being affected by them at all could have spoken up about theses unfair and bias laws that only affected the Jewish people.
        The laws that would affect me right now would be one in 1937 that says “Jew were not allowed to graduate.” This one would affect me right now because I am right now on the edge of graduating from middle school, so not being able to would really be a disappointment because since I could remember, I have looked up to graduating middle school. Another one would that would affect me would be one that was in 1938 that says “Jewish children no longer allowed to attend public schools.” This one would affect me because now am I not able to graduate but, now I am also not able to go to school. I can't get an education just because of the religion I am.

Quarter 2 Reflection

      A lot has happened from the last reflection when quarter 1 ended. I have accomplished so many things this quarter, and I plan on accomplishing more things for the next half of the school year. 

*What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?*

      I have accomplished a lot since the new year, all because of 1 class. This quarter I had a class called Social Justice which I would only have for about 9 to 10 weeks, since that is how long a quarter is. This class was a great way to start a new year because I learned a lot  about the world that I might have never known if it wasn't because of the class.

*In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in E.L.A?*

My biggest improvement in E.L.A  was to be able to read a lot more than I would have thought. This happened because of the 20 book challenge. Of the books I have read this quarter, my favorite one would have to be Guyaholic. It was my favorite book because I saw myself in her at some parts during her journey when she was finding her self. I think a lot of girls out there can relate to her. The book was realistic when it brought up the problem she had with her mother.

*What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?*

It was very challenging for me to keep up my grades up to a 3 throughout the quarter. I always struggled asking for help in elementary school because I always wanted to solve my own problems by myself, but I never really realized that I can't always do it by myself. This quarter I really pushed myself to ask for help when I needed it. It was challenging for me to get use to asking teachers for help especially in Math because I always end up overthinking problems. At the end of this quarter I was able to open up and ask teachers for help this is something that I should get use to since high school is right around the corner.

Book Talk

      The book I will be talking about today is called Guyaholic by Carolyn Mackler. This book is a about a girl named V Valentine that lives with her grandparents aferre her mother dumped her there. She grew up being known as the "Queen of Meaningless Hookups" because of her reputation of going from guy to guy. That all changes when she meets Sam Almond. They are both opposites, Sam believes in long term relationships, V's longest relationship lasted 3 weeks. This "thing" as V says, all crumbles with one party, and one mistake. V is left with the consequences and with a broken heart. When he mother Aimee calls V asking her to go and visit her in Texas, she takes the chance as a distraction.

      I recommend this book because it teaches people a lesson that the decisions we make have an impact in the future. V learned how to accept her self which is something that most people struggle with in life, that is something that stayed with me when reading. This book lets me see the story of many girls and how it might turn out for the when making some life-changing decisions. There are going to be different outcomes for every person that has a similar story to V's in Guyaholic.