Thursday Nov 30th

 Today in class we did a worksheet on the play "Fences." We had to answer questions from Acts 1 and 2. We only got to read Act 1 as a class, so for Act 2, we had to read it by ourselves. We were able to use the book to go back and get the answers if we forgot. We were given a sheet of paper but we had to write down our answers on a separate sheet. The questions from Act 1 and 2 were due by the end of class. 

Tuesday Nov 28th

Today in class we started reading the play "Fences." Some classmates were picked to read the characters' part. The rest of the class we were given a worksheet. On the worksheet, we had to write down the characteristics of the main characters mentioned in the play. The Characters were Troy, Bono, Rose, and Lyons. We also had to write down interesting quotes, key events, two themes, and a summary of the act. I didn't finish writing down everything on the sheet of paper, have to finish putting the summary and interesting quotes. I think so far the play is going to be interesting and fun.

Monday Nov 27th

 Today in class we started a new play by August Wilson called "Fences." We didn't start reading the play yet we only went over the setting and introduction. We had to answer 3 questions and write the answers down on a separate sheet of paper. The first question was asking "Why do we put up fences physically?" Some things we put down as a class were that it helps keep things out/ in, have privacy, protection, and separate things. The 2nd question was "Why do we put up fences mentally?" We wrote down that it helps set boundaries, protect yourself, and keep your feelings/emotions segregated. The last question was asked, "How can fences physically and mentally hurt us?" We wrote down that it could physically hurt you, prevent you from getting somewhere, keep you closed in (one-minded), isolation, and hurt your self-esteem. 

Thursday Nov 16th

 Today in class we took a test on Illuminate about "The Rockpile". It had 24 questions and were all multiple choice. We were allowed to go back and use the story to answer the questions. Once done with the test we were given a package, and we had to watch a film showing us what the journey was like going to school for 4 different kids each from a different country. We had to write down their name, where they are from, details about their journey to school, and their motivation. The first kid's name was Jackson and he was from Kenya. He had to walk 15 km ( 2 hours) to get to school. Had to go threw a river, and cross a field filled with elephants, and giraffes. The second kid's name was Zahira and she's from Marraco. She has to walk 22km (4 hours) to get to school every Monday. She has to walk threw and up rocky mountains. The third kid was named Carlos and he was from Argentina. To get to school he rides a horse and it takes him an hour and 38 min to get there. We weren't able to get the information for the last kid because the bell rang. So we will finish watching the video on Friday. 

The Rockpile illustration

 

Tuesday 14th

 Today in class we were given an assignment, but it's due by Thursday. We have to draw what our childhood neighborhood looked like. We had to draw where we lived, our family, our neighborhood, 10 rules we were given, and talk about something bad that happened there. We have to draw everything on the front of a sheet of paper and post it to our blog before Thursday, it also has to be colored. I find this assignment easier and better because we get to draw. 

Monday 13th

Today in class we didn't really do anything, because we had a substitute teacher. All we really had to do was work on a paper sheet about the story "The Rockpile." We had to write out answers on a sperate sheet of paper. I wasn't able to finish answering all the queastions before the bell rang. And the substitute teacher pciked up the papers early. The queastions were mostly about the setting of the story.

Friday Nov 10

 In class we finished reading the story because we didn’t have enough time on Thursday. Once we finished the story and finished answering the questions we took out our notebook to take notes. We learned about characterization and S.T.E.A.L. There are two types of characterization; the first one is direct characterization where the author tells us about the characters while indirect characterization is when the author doesn’t directly tell us, but gives us hint about the character. Something new we learned about was S.T.E.A.L. and how it can help us identify the characteristics of a character. 

Thursday Nov 9

In class, we started reading a new story online called "The Rockpile." We first started class by answering a warm up question on a sheet of paper talking about our neighborhood that we grew up in and how the environment was like. Our answers had to be at least a paragraph long. Once everyone was done some people from the class were called on to reas what they wrote. Afterwards we started the story and as we went we had to answer some questions. The story was about 2 brother Roy and John who lived in a bad neighborhood. They weren’t allowed to go outside or anywhere near the rock pile because it was dangerous.

Monday Nov 6th

Today in class we had to present our poems. There was a spinning wheel with the names of those students who posted their poems on the blog. When our name was chosen from the wheel we had to go up and find our name for our blog and save our poem so that we could make it bigger so that the class would be able to read along. I was the second person to present. I felt nervous going up and reading my poem but I wanted to get it over with. I first told the class the title of my poem and then started reading my poem. I read it carefully so I would miss any words or stutter while reading. Once done we had to tell the class our two themes, I felt relief when I was done presenting.

Friday Nov 3rd

 Today in class we took a test on Illuminate. The test was on the poem we've been working on in class called "Constantly Risking Absurdity." There were 2 different tests and we were assigned either to take test A or B. I had to take test B. While we were taking the test we were allowed to use the poem that was annotated. The notes helped me answer most of the questions on the test.

Thursday Nov 2nd

 Today in class we started a new assignment. We had to create our very own poem. It could be about anything we wanted and it was up to us if we wanted to make it rhyme or not. I thought it was something fun to do but when we were given the paper I spaced out. I was struggling at first coming up with what topic I wanted to talk about but after some time I was able to come up with a topic. In the poem we had to include alliteration, imagery, simile, metaphor, and hyperbole. I found it easier to add them rather then making a whole poem.

Poem picture