Book Talk on Schooled!

     The novel that I would definitely recommend is the book Schooled by Gordon Korman. It's a realistic fiction book about a boy named Capricorn Anderson (Cap for short) who grew up on a farm commune by the name of Garland. He's grown up on this farm his whole life with his hippie grandmother, named Rain. Though his life takes a huge turn when his grandmother falls out of a tree while picking plums and breaks her hip. Cap now has to live in the "real world" for a couple of weeks while his grandmother goes through physical therapy to heal her hip. Cap is not your "Average Joe". He's never eaten pizza, or watched TV, or even gone to a regular school, so that makes the transition into a brand new middle school, even more difficult. When he shows up to Claverage Middle School for his first day, people realize he doesn't exactly fit the social norms. At Claverage, it is tradition to elect the most eccentric or irregular kid to be 8th grade class president, and Cap was the most eccentric kid at this middle school that's for sure. After he realizes he's been elected president, kids mess with him, and make fun of him, and play jokes on him (specifically the "popular" kids) and he actually has lots of duties to fulfill, but it's how Cap handles the predicaments he lands in being the person he is with the ideals he has and the way he had grown up that makes the story truly incredible.

     I really love the mood and theme of this novel, which is one of the reasons I'm recommending it! The mood of the novel can be different at times. Though, there is a lively and lighthearted mood for a large part of the book. When Cap begins to become more liked by the rest of the students, they participate in activities together that bring out the best in all of them, whether that be tie-dying t-shirts, or doing tai-chi on the school's front lawn! Everyone just seems to be so full of life and energy; so joyful! Everything is very positive, which is what really helps to create these moods and has the power to make the reader feel content when they read the book! The cheerful mood for a majority of the book is so enjoyable and something I love personally. On to the theme, it's a pretty simple one, but one I'm not going to go into much detail about because I don't want to give away too much of the novel! One of the major themes is that you should always be kind and never let any seemingly negative situation get the best of you! Keeping a cool head and a positive attitude will always reward you in the end. I feel that this is an incredible message, and that if you read this book, you will find this to be true, and be inspired to live your life, a little bit more like Capricorn Anderson.

     This book honestly had so many amazing components that caused me to enjoy it so much, though the main character Cap, is what really caused me to love this book, why I recommend it, and why you should go out and buy it, or check it out from the library, or order it online! Capricorn Anderson believes in being kind to everyone. He believes that you should always give people the benefit of the doubt, and negativity is always unnecessary. He continually impresses me with his ability to never stray from what he believes is right and moral, despite his transition into this new, fast paced world, where he is at first, ridiculed for the person he is! This book is a very good book for understanding of people, and the fact that they are much more than they appear! I know that everyone has judged someone based on how they look and seem, just like Cap was. People mocked his long hair, and meditation, and tie-dye shirts, and his other strange quirks. He had practically come from another planet with how clueless he was in the beginning, and people took advantage of that. It took a while for people to see how he had a gigantic heart, that was filled with only benevolence! Though, the book was from multiple point of views, so we got to see other people perspectives of Cap, while we learned about Cap's own thoughts and ideas. Imagine knowing exactly what a person you were ridiculing or making fun of was going through or thinking about! Maybe you would have a different view of them if you did. This book teaches that valuable lesson of walking in others shoes, as even if they have some weird quirks, behind all those quirks could be someone who is filled with so much love and goodness!

   

Article of the Week Impressions

Prompt: Take a moment to reflect upon your impressions of what you have learned from the array of articles in at least two well written paragraphs, using evidence from your graphic organizer.

     This week, we did a gallery walk, where we were able to see a wide array of articles about current events that our classmates shared with us. It's activities like these that I absolutely love, because I am learning so much about the world around me, and feel so much more aware. I don't always have time to just sit down and browse current events on the internet or watch the news, so this allows me to catch up on all of the news, and interact and learn and discuss the events with all of my friends. There were obviously some articles that shared common topics or themes like Climate Change, Ebola, and ISIS, though there was such a large scope of news, and some things really shocked me! Now, I will be able to have educated conversations with people about things happening in the world around me about all different subjects and people and places and information, and will be able to continue to spread this news to other people! I'm most likely not the only person who doesn't have time to just sit down and watch the news. So, now that I've learned all of this new information, I can teach others about it so they can become more aware as well!

     Everybody had extremely interesting articles to share, but I'm going to talk about some of the most interesting or most commonly talked about subjects. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Auschwitz Forbidden Art, from Jesus. He explained that prisoners in Auschwitz during the Holocaust created art to show that they were more than just a number. Though, they were taking a huge risk because the people weren't allowed to create art for pleasure. This may not be something that's huge in the news right now, but it was something that I found cool, and that I'd never heard of before! I learned about something else in history that is coming up today, and I don't think I would've ever learned about this if it weren't for this gallery walk. Something that is more common in the news right now is Ebola, and I talked to a few people who had articles on this topic, one of them being Gianna. I know what Ebola is, and have read quite a few articles on it myself, but learned even more from Gianna. She focused specifically on the "Ebola Children Relief Fund" which is building hand washing stations, treatment centers, and providing education for children sick with Ebola in West Africa. This, I did not know, but think is amazing! A lot of people would rather stay away from Ebola at all costs in fear of getting sick, but some people are giving their time and money to help those sick with Ebola to possibly become healthier and stronger! What the Ebola Children Relief Fund is doing, is really incredible, and I'm glad that it seems like we are making progress with Ebola. One last article that I both enjoyed and is also important news to hear about was Athziry's article about women's inequality in STEM. There is a large gender gap between women and men in STEM, and more men are getting jobs in STEM than women. These jobs aren't particularly hard to get, and what's driving the women away, is unfair treatment. I believe that this is important news because inequality has been huge lately, whether it's through gender or race. People need to start realizing this, and making a change in their actions! Women's inequality was a huge problem in the past, and women were expected to be housewives, who took care of the cooking and cleaning, and were looked as inferior to men. At one point, we couldn't even vote! though, we've made so much progress! We don't want to start backtracking.

So, those are my views on the article of the week gallery walk, and some of the articles that I found particularly interesting or important!

Schooled: Week of 1/26/15

Pages- 100-180
Prompt- What are three things the main character has done that may end up getting him or herself in trouble?

With Capricorn Anderson living on a "hippie commune farm" for his whole life, he wasn't too clear on how things in the real world worked. So, he kind of just did things the best he could with the knowledge he had, but it's what he didn't know that could really get him in serious trouble!

     The first thing Cap does that could get him in serious trouble is putting other people in charge of helping organize the school dance. Because Cap is 8th grade President, he is in charge of organizing the Halloween dance. Though, with the fact that he had never gone to public school, it made panning this dance pretty hard. He had never been to a dance before in his life! Once people start to ask him how the planning is going, he just tells them that he hasn't started planning yet. As it gets closer to the dance, kids begin volunteering to get DJ's and food and decorations! All of this sounds great to Cap, because everyone's helping him out and taking care of things for him, but it could lead to disaster! He doesn't know how all of it's working out, if everything everyone said they were going to do, they actually did, and at one point, he didn't even know where to get the money from to pay for all of it! How can a dance run smoothly when there are so many cooks in the kitchen, and the head chef doesn't even have a clear picture of what's going on! Cap could get in serious trouble if the dance turns out to be a train wreck! Clearly, it's a recipe for disaster (see what I did there?). 

     The next thing Cap does that could get him in serious trouble, is using student activity fund cheques, for things that don't have anything to do with student activities through the school! When Cap is planning the Halloween dance, he finally learns that he gets the money to pay for the dance through the student activities fund. All of the money in the fund, was being held at the bank. So, instead of giving Cap hundreds of dollars to carry around to cover expenses for the dance, the principal (Mr. Kasigi) just gives him a couple of pre-signed cheques. Though Cap has the complete wrong idea of how a cheque works because Mr. Kasigi, not realizing honestly how clueless Cap was, and thinking it was common sense to know how a cheque worked, didn't fully explain how to use the cheques. Cap thought it was like spending free money. The little piece of paper could be worth lots of money, but it wouldn't actually cost anything. That's not the case at all, but Cap treated it like that. He donated thousands of dollars to different charities and tried to use the money in ways that would simply make people happy. Though, when Mr. Kasigi finds out that thousands of dollars from the school funds were used for non-school related things, Cap's probably going to be in a sticky situation.


     The last thing Cap does that could get him in trouble, is actually an act of kindness. While his grandmother was going through rehab, Cap was staying with the Donnelly family. It was just Mrs. Donnelly and her daughter Sophie, because Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly were divorced (so Mr. Donnelly did not live with them). Sophie's father was often in and out of her life, and when he would be in it, he would get her hopes up about something or other, and then flee again. So, as you can imagine, she was often unhappy. Her father comes to visit her at one point in the novel, and gets her a beautiful bracelet as a belated birthday gift. He told Sophie he was going to get it engraved, and get it back to her. Though soon he fled again, and the bracelet never returned. When Cap had the cheques from the student activity funds, he just so happened to see the exact same bracelet in a jewelry store window. With the loving heart he had, Cap decided to buy it with one of the cheques and send it to her, but like it was from her father. She would think her father had sent it, and become joyful once again. I think if she ever finds out Cap was actually the one who sent it, though it was a nice gesture, she will be upset (like any teenager who has a "flaky" Dad) because she would realize her Dad didn't care as much as she thought he had when he sent the bracelet, and she will be mad that Cap lied to her about it.

I Commented On: Leanna, Citlalli, and Stanley.

Schooled: Week of 1/19/15

Pages: 1-100
Prompt: Explain some of the things the main character experiences in the book. How would you feel if you were put into the main characters shoes?

     The main character in the novel, Schooled, is Capricorn Anderson. He grew up on a Commune called Garland Farm with his Hippie Grandmother, Rain. After a series of unfortunate events, beginning with Rain falling out of a tree, and then almost being arrested for driving her to a hospital at 14, to finding out his Grandmother's hip is broken, Cap (short for Capricorn) is forced to live life in the "Real World" for a couple of weeks while his Grandmother goes through rehab. He then has to move in with the Social Worker at his new school, Claverage Middle School, and her daughter. Cap then must start real school, not continue to be homeschooled, and experiences so many things that he never had before at Garland Farm. In this new environment, it's no surprise that Cap would feel a little out of place, but life becomes more than a small adjustment for him.

     One of the first things that happens to Cap when he starts at Claverage Middle School is, he gets elected 8th Grade School President. He didn't run for election, it was all a scam set up by the popular girls and boys at the school to mess with him. Never going to real school, he was already quite clueless, but to have people messing with him further is absolutely disgusting. The worst part is, he didn't even realize that they were messing with him! All of the kids set up Presidential conferences and meetings, gave him suggestions, asked him questions, that were all part of a big joke to play with him! If I were Cap, and had no idea what was happening, I know I would be extremely confused and scared! Knowing you're getting taken advantage of is one of the worst feelings in the World, but I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel to be taken advantage of, and not understand or realize it whatsoever. Though Cap is so calm about all of it! He never lets stress of being the President get to him! He does Tai Chi and meditates constantly to help himself relax, and he never seems to get frustrated over the fact that he is so lost and confused he just goes with the flow, something I know if I were in his situation, that I would not be able to do. I would be freaking out, and refuse to go back to school. I would never want or be able to walk into school everyday, knowing I was just going to feel lost and confused!

     Like I mentioned, Cap had multiple changes happening in his life after his Grandmother fell and broke her hip, not just attending a new school! He also moved in with the school Social Worker and her teenage daughter Sophie. I don't know how Cap managed to keep pushing through! If I had to move in with a complete stranger, and I really only had one other person in my life (in Cap's case, his Grandmother) then I would be terrified! I wouldn't feel comfortable in their home, and I would be nervous about what they would think of my quirks and habits! I wouldn't want them to judge me, and would try to be the absolute best house guest I could! Cap is an excellent house guest, as he is very courteous and wise, though, I don't think he really cares about what this new family thinks of him. He does Tai Chi on their lawn early in the morning, and he continues to express his previous ways of "Hippie Living". I would be nervous that this family would think I was weird, and try to act as normal as possible, but Cap never strays from his beliefs and proclaims them with confidence, but not arrogance. I would be a nervous wreck in this situation, though Cap is much better at composing himself, and trying to walk in his shoes, made me realize how difficult his situation truly is, as I'm not sure the book emphasizes how difficult the transition of moving in with complete strangers was!

Cap goes through so many other tough experiences as the story progresses, but those two changes I feel would be the hardest to go through! Trying to walk in his shoes, I can see how difficult it must've really been!

To Kill a Mockingbird: Week of 1/12/15

Prompt: What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details.

      This week we watched the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Though I missed what we watched Monday, I was still able to pick what I believed to be the biggest difference between the film version, and the actual novel. I actually believe there were two major difference but they very much intertwine with each other (you will understand much better after I explain.) I believe the largest differences are that, 1) the movie only took place over the course of a couple months, and novel took places over the span of 2-3 years! 2) Aunt Alexandra was not a character at all! These are two huge differences that effect a major theme in the novel: Coming of age/Growing up. This was the theme I focused on in my thematic essay, and Scout's maturity can be affected by both of these aspects.


     Looking at the time span of the film, it would not add up that Scout could mature that fast. Maturity and growing up doesn't just happen over night, or in this case, a couple of months. I would agree with the time span of the novel, that growth can be shown in a span of 2-3 years, but not a couple of months! How can you go from being an outspoken, immature, childish little girl at the beginning of summer, to an understanding, mature young lady in that same year, only towards the middle of autumn? Yes, a lot happened in those couple of months. Scout experienced the Tom Robinson trial as well as Tom's death, herself and her brother almost being killed, and Boo Radley coming out. Though, I think if the film would've taken place over a longer period of time, those events that Scout experienced would've been more spaced out, and we could've seen a more realistic growth of Scout.

     Now Looking at Aunt Alexandra, she played a key role in Scout's maturing as well. She really pushed for Scout to act more like a lady, as she was growing up. She was also a mother like figure that Scout was almost forced to look up to, as she at one point was living with Scout, Jem, and Atticus. Aunt Alexandra really pressured Scout into acting more like a lady, so she was more presentable, and represented herself better. At one point, we can see Aunt Alexandra pressuring Scout when Scout relays what Aunt Alexandra told her, and her ideas about that. Scout says, "I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants." Scout did not like the idea of this, but if she didn't have this influence in her life

 pressuring her to be more like a lady, she may have never made the transformation, or at least as large of a transformation as she did, into a young lady. She began to care more about her appearance, and how she acted in front of others. We see this transformation when she says, "I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk to Mrs. Merriweather. With my best company manners, I asked her if she would have some. After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.” Scout is acting very lady-like at this time, conducting herself like her Aunt was! During this time, even though it was a very disappointing time (Tom Robinson had just died) she was acting courteous, and was being helpful, and she was even wearing a dress! She was being very mature, and taking after her Aunt! It was this part of her maturity that was really influenced by her Aunt, which is why I feel like her absence in the film makes Scout's transformation more unrealistic.

Comments: Jesus, Marisa, and Athziry.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Week of 1/5/15

Prompt: When was the last time you did something for the first time?

There are actually some pretty interesting things that I've only recently done for the first time in my life, and I can't wait to share them!

     To begin with, something that I've only recently done for the first time, is get my ears pierced! I feel like most girls get their ears pierced when they are younger like, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, or their parents get their ears pierced for them when they are babies. Though, others sometimes, aren't allowed to get their ears pierced until a certain age, and some people just decide not to get their ears pierced at all. None of these were the case for me; I didn't get my ears pierced as a baby, I didn't get them done when I was younger, my parents had no problems with me getting them pierced, and I actually really wanted to get them pierced! So, why did I only get them pierced 1 month ago? Simply because I was nervous it was going to be excruciatingly painful! Even though every single person who had gotten theirs done said it was hardly painful, I was still nervous! Finally, a couple Saturdays ago, I went to the mall with my friend Lizzy. We went shopping, and then went to Claire's so that I could finally get my ears pierced, and so that she could get her's double pierced for her birthday. I sat in the "piercing chair", picking out the earrings I wanted, getting my ears cleaned and marked, then finally, they were ready. I relaxed, shut my eyes, and CLICK, my ears were pierced. It all happened in less than 30 seconds, and it felt the least bit how I imagined it. Now I had gorgeous earrings in my ears, and could buy all sorts of new, and fabulous earrings to wear in the future! I wish I would've gotten them pierced sooner, but at one point, my plan was to never get them pierced at all because I was scared! Though, I was being silly. The only bad part is that I have to clean them three times a day for 6-8 weeks, but I think it's definitely going to be worth it in the end!


     Something else that I've recently done for the first time, is travel over seas! It's certainly not the last time I did something for the first time, as it was about 8 months ago, but it is still recent enough where I have vivid memory of it all! Last spring, my dance team and I traveled to London, England to compete at the World Championships of Irish Dance. It was incredible to go to the competition in the first place (as that is something else I had only done for the first time) but it was like having my cake and eating it too with the fact that the competition was in London! I not only got to go over seas for the first time, but I also got to get my first passport, go on an international (obviously) flight for the first time, and of course, I got to see the city of London for the first time! I got see Big Ben, and the Tower of London, and ride the London Eye, and see a beautiful place that so many people will never have the opportunity to see in their whole entire life! It was a huge first for me, and I still can't get over the fact that I went there! It was absolutely amazing! I hope I will get to travel overseas more in the years to come!

     One last thing I've recently done for the first time, is make my very own, classic, Gingerbread House! Now, building a Gingerbread house sounds like a typical Holiday activity. Though, before this year around Christmas, I hadn't made one single house, except for possibly a tiny milk carton Gingerbread House in 1st Grade! I love decorating things, so I could not wait to a create a house with plenty of candy and frosting, that looked cool and creative at the same time. Knowing me, I would get frustrated half way through, and just eat it, but I decided that I was going to persevere and finish it, that is, if I even made one! My family failed to go out and buy a Gingerbread House making kit, but I still ended up getting to make one at my friend Kate's Birthday party right before Christmas. When everyone got to Kate's house, it turned out that making Gingerbread Houses was part of the activities for the party, and it was going to be a competition. Being my first time, I was already excited, and I really wanted to put effort into the project (I'm being a little dramatic for it being a Gingerbread House, but trust me, this is how I felt). It started off okay, but once I got into it, it turned out pretty awesome, and I ended up winning the competition (mostly because the other girls gave up like halfway through). After everything was finished, the other girls took their Gingerbread Houses outside and smashed them, but I decided to save mine. I wanted to save the very first Gingerbread House that I ever made.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Week of 12/15/14

Prompt: Describe a character that you would like to meet (which doesn’t mean that you think you would like the character, but that you think the character would be interesting). List 3 questions that you would ask.

     One character that I would love to meet is Boo Radley. The prompt I chose reminds us that the character we would like to meet, doesn't have to be one we like, but one who we find interesting. Though, I find Boo Radley both likable and interesting. He is kind and heroic in the end, but quite humble and quiet about it. Everyone, though, seems to have the absolute worst ideas and thoughts about who they think he is. This makes the fact that he pretty much hides his identity through every compassionate gesture, so much more admirable. He could change all of the rumors, but he chooses to live with them. This leads to so many questions I would love to ask him! So, if I were to get the opportunity to meet him, here are three questions that I would be dying to ask!

      The first question I would ask Boo would be, Why have you stayed in hiding for all this time, and let rumors be told about you? There are many legends and rumors mentioned about Boo Radley throughout the story. For example, that when he was younger, he was cutting out pieces from the Maycomb Tribune, then out of the blue, drove his scissors into his parents legs. Or that he ate raw squirrels, had bloodstained hands, drooled all the time, and had yellow, rotting teeth. From these descriptions and stories, Boo sounds like a disgusting savage, who may have some mental issues. He seems insane; like a person who nobody would ever want to come encounter with. Though we later find out that he left gifts for Jem and Scout, and in the end, saved their lives! This whole time, the children were convinced that he was a horrible person, but he was really a kind man who was looking out for them all along! So, if this was all true, why wouldn't he want to come out and make that clear to the public? I would get sick of people thinking I was this menacing person, when really, I had a gracious heart. So, I would be extremely intrigued to know why Boo never came out to prove all of the rumors and legends wrong, and show that he was a thoughtful and courteous man.

     The second question I would ask Boo would be, Why did you choose Jem and Scout to look out for and show kind gestures towards, rather than the other children in Maycomb? Like I previously mentioned, Boo left the children gifts like a pocket watch, an aluminum knife, some carved soap, a spelling medal, and bubble gum, in the hollow of a tree. He also saved their lives when Bob Ewell came after them, we can assume, looking to kill them. He was kind of like the children's own little blessing, but it doesn't exactly make sense that he would do things like leave gifts and look to protect just Jem and Scout. Did he leave gifts for any other children? Was he secretly looking out for other people in Maycomb County? If not, again, why specifically Jem and Scout? Was it because they were only growing up with one parent? Was it because their father defended African Americans, and he wanted to make sure the fact that he did this didn't hurt the children in any way? Also, had he always been looking out for the children, in the time even before Scout was telling the story from? Did they just not realize it? Boo Radley really was like a protector for the children, but I'm very curious to know why.

     The third and final question I would ask Boo would be, Do you always come out at night, or was it just a coincidence that you were out when the children began to get attacked by Bob Ewell? Now, clearly this question wouldn't make sense if you didn't read the story (same with the rest of the questions) so, let's recap. On the night of the Halloween pageant, Jem and Scout were walking home in the pitch dark, with the slightest indication of where they were. It was about two months since the trial, and Bob Ewell still felt a need for vengeance against Atticus Finch for tarnishing his image in court (we can assume this is the reason for the actions he took). So, he came after Scout and Jem (Atticus's children) but Boo Radley was there to protect the children (even though they still got somewhat injured) and brought them back to their home. Now, it's pretty amazing that Boo was in the right place at the right time. So, I would definitely ask him if it was just a coincidence, or if he is always out at night, looking out for the children or not. We know his actions were heroic, but if it had only been a coincidence that he was there, imagine what actually could've happened! So, I would definitely ask Boo if he always comes out at night, or if it was just a coincidence that he was out when the children began to get attacked by Bob Ewell. 

     So, if I got to the opportunity to meet Boo Radley, those are the three questions I would ask him!