Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: Week of 2/23/15

Pages Read: 0 - 70
Prompt: How does the format affect the book? What would you do if you experienced the same things as the main character?

The book is a diary of a 13-year-old girl, Hattie Campbell, during her trip on the Oregon Trail. The book starts off with her in Tennessee, her home town. It's actually kind of funny how the whole journey started in the first place. You see, her uncle died and his coffin fell in a river, where a steamboat rolled over it. The captain offered them a free trip anywhere they wanted. Her father jumped at the opportunity, though Hattie and her mom weren't very fond of it. I thought it was kind of ironic how this happened. A life was taken and another one was just about to begin.

The format of the book is, obviously, a diary. This allows the book to progress much faster than a normal book would. It can skip through the unimportant days and go straight to the action. I enjoy reading this type of format because you can really see who the narrator is. You can see what the narrator thinks and feels just by simple reading the book. I also find it interesting to read because the main character is the same age as me. It gives me a deep insight on what children my age thought. The book also has direct quotes from other characters, which allows the reader to see the thoughts of the other characters.

I'm not sure if I could handle all of the things Hattie has been through. She walks for about six hours a day, so I'm not sure I could do that. Maybe for a day or two, but definitely not for a few months.  She also experiences many deaths on her way, and she handles them extremely well. I could maybe handle one or two, considering that it happens. I'm not half way through the book yet and there were six or seven deaths, so I don't think I could handle all of that. I just think that traveling along the Oregon Trail would just be too difficult for me. Maybe, just maybe, I could last for a month tops. Other than that, I would not make it.

Comments: Carlos, Leanna, and Maria

AOW Impressions: 2/20/15

There was talk about many different topics that happened around the world. Many leaned towards ISIS beheaded Egyptian Christians and Egypt's retaliation. I was informed about the same thing many times, but I guess that made it stick in my head. What many people took away was that ISIS is growing and spreading. ISIS had killed 21 Egyptian Christians and recorded killing almost a dozen of them. Egypt has sent out one airstrike in order to make sure ISIS knows they're position in all of this. It was interesting to see how many people chose an article about ISIS. Having many people choose the same topic proves that it is really important for the world to hear. 

Even though many people chose an article about ISIS, there are some who thought about different topics the world should hear. For example, Gianna chose an article about how global warming is killing the environment. Her article stated how in 2050 the midwest will become dry. There would be no water, which means no crops, which means no food. Sarai chose an article based on the secrets of the CIA. That was important to hear because people should know that the government does keep secrets, not just the CIA.

Passion Project Update

I think I have got a lot done for my passion project. I found some pictures about animal abuse and have been adding them of my blog every once in a while, making the blog look more presentable. I have written a free verse poem that you have view here. I'm very proud of it and I'm planning to write  another one soon. The first poem shows an innocent dog begin adopted by an abusive owner. The second will show how the owner changes the dog from a innocent puppy to a vicious fighting dog.

Currently, I'm gathering facts and statistics for a informational iMovie I will be posting on my blog. I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but plan on making a dent in it this week. I'm waiting to almost finish my iMovie before I try to advertise my blog on Twitter and Facebook. This way when someone views it there will be a few posts and not just some pictures and a poem. To advertise my blog I plan on tweeting the link and asking some youtubers to help me. I plan on doing the same thing for Facebook. This time, I will be reaching out to some animal lovers in my family. I will also be reaching out to the ASPCA on both Twitter and Facebook.

Seriously...I'm Kidding: Week of 2/16/15

Pages Read: Finished
Prompt: What did you learn from the book that'll help you in future years?

The entire book was a bunch of nonsense, but the last chapter Ellen wanted the reader to actually take away something serious from her book. She includes many things that can impact anyone who reads the book. The one thing she said that I think would impact people's lives the most was, "Find out you are and what you believe in. Even if it's different from what your neighbors believe in and different from what your parents believe in." I feel that this advice is given a lot, but no one really listens to it. I know that I tune out when people are trying to give me cheesy advice like this, but I think that's because I'm just in a bad mood when someone is telling it. When I'm reading, I'm never in a bad mood, so I actually listen to the advice and decided that it is some good advice. When you find out who you are, you become your own person. You figure out what you have to do in life and I feel that being in eight grade this advice is extremely important. You're moving on to a new school, with new friends, and new teachers. I believe that you have to find out who you are before this transition happens.

Another piece of advice that Ellen gave that stuck in my brain was, "Stay true to yourself. Have your own opinion. Don't worry about what people say about you or think about you." In my opinion, (see what I did there) this is also important to know when you move on to high school because let's face it, people are going to think badly of you. They are not going to see you for who you really are, but as what you do and I say let them. They are entitled to their opinion and that shouldn't matter to you. It doesn't matter what other people think of you, only what you think of yourself. If you think that sweats and t-shirts are cool, then they are. You can't let other people's opinions get in the way of who you are because then you would just be a fake (and no one likes a fake, so if you think it's cool to be a fake, then you should really rethink your opinion.) What I'm really trying to say is be yourself, it's hard to do sometimes, but it is possible, just stay true to yourself.

As Ellen says many important things in this book, there is one more that I would like to share with you, "Contribute to the world. Help people. Help one person...Just help. Make an impact. Show someone you care." This is not only important to know for high school, but for your whole life. Most people already do this, so it's not a huge problem, but I still feel that I should bring it up. I try to help at least one person a day, even if it's something small like picking something up for them, and I encourage you to do the same. Helping people isn't something that you can ignore, you have to help people whether you like it or not, but it helps to have a positive attitude when you help someone. In high school, you are going to have to contribute a lot of time and effort and I feel that you should know this because if you're not prepared to contribute anything to your high school, then you're not gonna get far in life. You are going to have an interview for a job and they will ask you, "What did you do when you were in high school?" If you say nothing, the interview will end right there. To sum it up, just help people and contribute to the world. Easier said then done, but I believe in you.

Comments: Carlos, Steven, and Gustavo

Book Talk for Wild Life

Written Transcript:

One of my all time favorite books is Wild Life by Cynthia DeFelice. The genre of the book is realistic fiction. The main character, Erik, gets sent off to North Dakota to live with his grandparents for a few months. There, Erik finds a dog and grows attached to her, naming her Quill. When he has to return the dog, he panics knowing he will have to give away his one true friend out in the middle of nowhere. To solve the problem, he runs away, thinking that he can handle the wild all by himself with Quill, but when he runs out of supplies he knows he is in trouble. 

Throughout the book, the mood changes a lot. The mood starts off gloomy, but then changes to a cheerful mood. When Erik runs out of supplies and can't find food, the mood becomes stressful and serious. I believe the theme of the book is that you can't run away from your problems. The author portrays this by having Erik, literally, run away from his problems.

I like Wild Life because the book has tons of adventure and suspense. It also shows a fantastic example of dog being man's best friend. That's one of the main reasons I really like this book. You see, I'm a huge dog-person so I enjoy books that portray the relationship between dogs and humans as well as this one did. The part I remember most is when Erik first found Quill. It introduced her in a suspenseful way, but when Erik saw it was just a dog, he approached her, connecting to her instantly. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and risk taking because Erik takes so many risks just to keep Quill and have the time of his life. I feel like anyone who is watching this, should read this book. It sends the reader on an emotional roller coaster that impacted my life a lot and I think it will for you, too.

AOW Impressions

I learned so much new information about world events during the gallery walk. I learned recent information about Ebola, the terrorist group, ISIS, and how 2014 was the warmest year ever. I also learned about some things I didn't ever know was happening, like the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Yemen water crisis, and new rape laws in the U.K.. I truly liked the gallery walk in allowed me to learn about the world without having to watch the boring news channel. I think that we should continue on with the gallery walk every week because it allowed me to engage with my learning. Not only that, but I got to work on my summarizing and speech skills too.

One thing that I knew happened, but didn't really know much about was 2014 being the warmest year. I pretty much only knew that 2014 was the warmest year in the past decade because of global warming. That is what I mainly heard during the gallery walk, but I also learned some interesting facts, that some people might not know. For example, Stanley told me that some places are trying to fix global warming with cloud whitening. Cloud whitening helps prevent solar radiation, which adds to global warming. I learned from Julia that if we don't try to stop global warming, we won't be able to live on planet Earth. This I sort of knew, but didn't really think it was true.

Even though I loved the gallery walk, I think it can be improved a little. For example, I stop by many people who had the same topic as me and I pretty much knew everything they were telling me. I think that next time when we have a gallery walk, instead of random groups presenting, the groups should be organized based off of topic. This way people would be able to learn much more about the world. I also think there should be stations so that the viewers get to see everyone. This way not only does the viewer learn more, but the presenter will be able to talk about their topic more freely.

Seriously...I'm Kidding: Week of 1/26/15

Pages Read: 213-241
Prompt: What is the most interesting thing in the book?

There are many interesting things in this book, so it's really hard to pick just a few. I have to say that one of the most interesting things so far was "The Longest Chapter." Basically, it is a character that talks about how long it is. For about four pages, it talked about if you wanted to put the book down and come back it later or if you just wanted to skip ahead. About the fifth page it started talking about little facts that no one knew about her, but the main thing she wanted to say was what changed her life. What changed her life was the Swifter. I found this chapter interesting because I was actually on the edge of my sit the entire chapter. I mean, I was a little disappointed when I found out what I had been waiting for, but that's life. It was also funny because the next chapter was a "tweet" chapter. You know how in a tweet you can only use 140 character, well, that was how long the chapter was.

One chapter towards the end of the book talks about some ways that help you fall asleep faster. I knew all of the ways Ellen talked about, but it was still interesting to read. One way to fall asleep faster was to read a boring book and the way Ellen gives an example is hilarious. She talks about a mom getting out of bed and tripping over a lamp cord, making the lamp fall and its glass to shatter. A piece of glass gets stuck in her foot and her son comes in and asks if she is okay. At the end of all of this, the mom and son get into a fight and the mom had not reached her goal; getting a boring book. To summarize why I found this interesting is that I enjoyed her rambling on. Most of the time I don't like people who ramble on, but her ramble makes sense.

In the same chapter, Ellen also talks about the stop watch method of falling asleep. She wrote, "Stare straight ahead. You're getting very sleeeeeeepy. Verrrrrryyyyy sleeeeeepyyyyyyyyy. Verrrrryyyyyy--wait! WAKE UP!" After this she explains that she didn't want anyone telling their friends that they fell asleep reading her book, making it seem boring. I found this interesting mainly because I didn't see it coming. I thought she was going to end with the whole sleepy thing, so when I read "wait! WAKE UP!" I was momentarily confused. You see, all her chapters have jokes that the reader can connect to, so when I saw this chapter coming to a close, I thought there wasn't going to be any joke, but I guess I was wrong.

Comments: Maria, Isabella J., and Gustavo