Dear Younger Me,

Dear Younger Me,

School isn't that hard right now, but don't think it stays that way. You will have to work hard and stay focused. Balance your social life and your school work. Don't get too caught up in all the drama and lose sight of whats most important in the long run.
The friends you make once you switch schools will be your best friends for the next 6 years. You will fight with mom constantly and argue about everything, but she is the one person who will always have your back in the bad and good times. Good luck girl (:


Lord of the Flies
chapters 8-12
3 1/2 hours

The Writing Center

About 2 weeks ago I went to the writing center for some help on my literary analysis. When I signed up I was kind of nervous because I didn't know how they would react to my paper. I had Mrs. Spaht  help me edit my paper. She was super nice and really helpful. She read through my paper and really listened to what I was saying. She took notes of errors and things that I needed to change organization wise. Then she helped me think of how to make it better which I thought was really useful, because that helped me to think on my own instead of telling me how to write it.

I only went to the writing center once this semester. I wish I would have gone more because it really did help me. I liked it a lot because they didn't critique or grade my paper, only gave me pointers on how to make it better. Next semester I will makes sure to go more than once!

Reading Log 11/18

Lord of the Flies:
Chapters 5-7 1 hour 40 mins
Literary analysis final draft:
30 mins

Own Prompt

Why do you think in LOTF Jack always argues with Ralph and his decisions, or disapproves of how Ralph is a leader?

I think that Ralph and Jack have two completely different personalities. Jack's personality symbolizes savagery and Ralph's symbolizes civilization. Ralph tries to find the most reasonable way to handle problems. Having the least amount of conflict, Ralph tries to have order and think of ways to be productive on the island. His main concern is getting rescued in a sensible way. 

Jack on the other hand is all about hunting and acting wild. He is starting to become inhumane. He is so quick to hate on Piggy. All the boys are mean to each other on the island, but Jack is in particularly rude. He is so obsessed with power and everything going how he wants it to go about. 

I think further in the book the tension between them two will start to heat up and some major problems will form. Some maybe even including their life safety, or weather they get reduced or not. 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Thanksgiving is next week, Christmas is in just  little over a month and I can hardly contain my excitement. One thing I really love about these 2 holidays is you get to spend it all with your family. For Thanksgiving everyone usually comes to my house. It's my grandparents, my mom's brother and his kids, my dad's aunt, uncle, and cousins, and their husbands. It's so much fun because I don't see my dad's cousins that often and I love being around them. I like Thanksgiving so much because its one whole day all about eating! We have a huge turkey, mashed potatoes and rice, lots of rolls, green beans, lots of different pies and cakes, dressings, deviled eggs, and so much more. I also love waking up early in the morning to watch the parade. It all makes me really happy.

After Thanksgiving is over all I can think about is Christmas and Christmas break. I love Christmas because its celebrated over more than just one day. On Christmas Eve my family goes to a party during a lot of the day, go over to my cousin's house, my mom's side of the family, to open presents and eat dinner. After that we come home and open one gift from my parents. We go to bed and wait until the next morning. On Christmas day we go to my dad's parent's house with my dad's side of the family. We eat dinner and open more presents. I really can't wait(:

Puppy

About one month ago my family got a new yellow lab puppy. We named him cooper. He was 8 weeks when we got him. Pretty small and calm. I liked him a lot when we first got him. Now he really grinds my gears. I like him still but he is so jumpy, and energetic, and he barks all the time. He chews pup all my things when I am not looking. He almost cracked my phone screen because he took it and was biting it. He will run up and jump on you then starts biting you. I have so many scratches on my arms and hands. Even though he is still a puppy his teeth are sharp and it really hurst. He also has sooooo much energy its like his heart pumps red bull. He never just takes a breath, its crazy.

Despite all of that bad stuff he does is still really cute. When he has gotten rid of his energy he will come and lay on you flap and just fall asleep. Plus when he is tame he will fetch with you, then lay down and let you rub his to mach. I like him but he can just be a lot for such a small animal.

Desert Island

In class we acted out our class being stranded on an island without any adults, food, or resources to signal back home. At first everyone was kinda frantic but then we established that passing around an object symbolizing who should talk would be best to listen to everybody's ideas. It took a while for everyone to have input and agree but we then established groups to do certain jobs. One group was hunting and gathering, one group was shelter, and etc. Since it was 16 of us and 16 1st graders with said that we all should "adopt" one so not one person was in charge of all and everyone had their responsibility. By the time all of this was established we were out of discussion time.

If this were an actual event, I think events of planning would have played out a lot differently. We all wouldn't have bickered, or we would have bickered more. I'm not actually sure how everything would have played out but I don't think everyone would have been pleased the whole time. From my point of view the class exercise wasn't very useful and productive, Dr. D said we were the best class to have the best plan and time management she has seen so that was good.

Reading Log:
-literary analysis: 2 hours 47 mins
-LOTF: 30 mins (in class)
-LOTF: 30 mins (at home)

reading times this week

literary analysis: 45 mins

Gone: 38 mins

Free Post

This week is homecoming week. I'm really excited about all of it, but at the same time a little stressed out. I have to practice for the pep rally coming up on Friday and I also have to cheer for that game. We are doing hard stuff in the pep rally so practice is extra long and difficult than normally. I also have to have costumes for each day at school so I had to find all of my costumes and that was challenging because the halloween stores are so picked over already. Thursday is Halloween, cheer practice, powder puff game, and homecoming decorations at school. I won't get home until like 9:30 or something so that will be hard. Plus I have to get all of my stuff together for the actual dance on Saturday.

Its all really exciting but verrrryyyyy stressful too.


reading times-

45 mins- A Worn Path
25 mins- The Sniper
15 mins- Araby
1 hour 23 mins- short story draft

3 annotations response

The 2 1/2 stories I read were "A Worn Path", "Araby", and "The Sniper". I didn't finish reading and annotating "Araby". I liked the story "A Worn Path" because it was different than every thing we have read. I liked how the author described all the different places that Phoenix walked to and through. The way she was described as a character too.

I didn't like "The Sniper" as much as I liked "A Worn Path". It didn't have as much details and the ending really through me off. I liked the story but it wash't a good choice for a literary analysis.

2nd quarter personal questions & weekly reading log

My new personal questions for this quarter are:

• What would it be like to live in a world without adults?
• How much does friendship impact our lives?
• What would happen if my parents just vanished one day?
• What makes me not like reading?
• What new genres should I try and explore?

Reading log:

Gone -45 mins 

The Return- 30 mins 

re-read And of Clay We are Created to study for test- 45 mins 

Reading log 120 mins

Gone- 30 mins (20 in class, 10 outside of school)

Short stories:

And of Clay We are Created- 45 mins
The Girls in Their Summer Dresses- 20 mins
The Waltz of a Fat Man- 20 mins

Writing my short story- 15 mins

130 mins

Short Stories

I think I have learned a lot after reading these example short stories. A lot of the short stories and both confusing and sometimes long. I have to reread almost every sentence to actually understand the story but it ends up being worth it in the end. My annotations are not always the best but they help me understand the story. I am very interested in learning more about short stories and reading the different types of stories.

Settings, Characters, and point of views are all hard topics to understand. The more I read and take notes on them the more I understand though. Writing my own short story seems very interesting! I’m actually looking forward to the challenges I face as I struggle to write my own. I like the struggle, because it makes it that much better when it becomes a success. 

My story

I have yet to come up with a title for my story so for now it is just "My story"

exposition:
setting: Shimmer Willow
situation: Chanter runs away from her parents with leif
important characters:
main: Chanter Pepperfrost
Hemlock Heartfly
Petal Moonweb
Bindweed Beamshimmer
Cherry Hailglitter (sis)
Juniper Pepperfrost (mom)
Thorn Pepperfrost (dad)

rising action:
1)Chanter meets Leif for the first time and instantly falls in love
2)realizes he and Hemlock Heartfly are a thing
3)Chanter has a falling out with her parents

climax:
I have no idea yet

falling action:
chanter is not welcome back to Shimmer Willow

Resolution:
I don't know yet

Reading Log

reading log:

-short story: A&P- 45 mins 

-short story: Dry September 1 hr 13 mins 

-Gone: 16 mins 

= 134 mins 

Crystal

I didn't talk to Leif today. I wanted to so badly. Just so he knows who I am at least. If Hemlock wouldn't have cast her love spell on him, I know he would be mine. If I can just get Petal to reverse Hemlock's  spell then I know I would have a chance with Leif.
His eyes are so beautiful.  I really need to go to sleep so I have enough energy for the day, but I just can't. They way they standout out against his clothes make me get all tingly inside when I see him.
I hope making snowflakes won't take long, even though we have to make a lot to prepare for the big winter frost coming in only a couple of days now. If I can get off the hook tomorrow maybe petal and I can sneak off and go try and find Leif. I hope Juniper doesn't catch us trying to sneak off because I know she will punish me. I can't wait to see Leif tomorrow... (fades asleep)

Reading Response: A&P

I read and annotated the short story A & P in the short story analog book. I thought that the story was really weird actually. The main character Sammy works at a small ton grocery store 5 miles away from a popular beach. One normal day 3 girls in only bathing suits walk in to the store. Sammy thinks that this is really odd because things like this never happen. Everyone in the store is really interested in what is going on with these three girls in just swimsuits just walk in. They all stare at them with confusion. When the manager of the store Lengel asks them to be better clothed and embarrasses them, Sammy gets mad that he called them out and quits his job. After Sammy quits his job he realizes that life is about to get a lot harder than it just was. 

I thought that this short story was good because the way it was written was very descriptive and I felt like I was almost watching the story if that makes sense. with the details of the characters I felt like I knew who they were almost. I thought that the story had a weird ending with Sammy just quitting. I thought that this story was weird but I liked it a lot. I liked it better than Harrison Beregeron and better than Da-Duh. 





Reading Log: 9/16- 9/22
short story: A&P 45 mins 
Gone: 10 mins
Gone: 40 mins 
Literacy narrative: 25 mins 

e-book

I do not need to change anything in my literacy narrative if it is published on the website. 
Before it is published I would like another proofread just to double check on everything. If we could I would like to change the format, or at least the font and color. The MLA is so boring! I would like to make it more fun so people would be more attracted to it! 

reading log

this week reading log:

-30 mins literacy narrative 

-10 mins literacy narrative 

-40 mins literacy narrative 

-45 mins literacy narrative 

**125 mins literacy narrative** 

reading response

I am still reading The Fault in Our Stars, but when I forget my iPad at home and I have to read a book from Dr. D's shelf I like to read Gone. So far I have made it to chapter 2(: The first 2 chapters have been really good. It is about how these kids are at school then all of the sudden the older kids and all the adults vanish in mid air. No one has any idea of where they are. They try to call them but the calls don't go through They try to turn on the T.V. but nothing comes on, just static. Everyone starts to panic. The kids all start leaving the school to try and go home to find their parents. Then I have left off there.

I can't even imagine if this ever happened in real life. I don't know what I would do. I wouldn't have any money so I would go to my dad's office which is down the street from school. If he wasn't there I would have to walk home with my sister, but first go to my little brother's school. Then we would all walk home. It takes me 30 minutes to get to school from my house so it would be an awfully long walk. If we all got home and my mom wasn't there but her car was is when I would start to panic. If there were no adults then no money, no money then no food, no food then you die. There would also be a ton of other terrible things that would happen with no adults.

Another possibility if this was real would be I disappear. In the book it says 14 year olds and up disappeared along with the adults. Where would have gone? Why did we disappear? It would be super weird.

Ordering at Cane's

Cashier: "Chicken chicken what combo you pickin'?"

Mom: "(laughs) I would like a number three combo, with a large sweet tea pleeaseee."

Cashier: "Alrighty m'am so you have a number 3 combo with a large sweet tea?"

Mom: "yes"

Cashier: "Okay your total $7.17. Please pull up to the second window."


Cashier: "Your total is $7.17."

Mom: "Here you go."


Mom: "Thanks so much."

Cashier: "No problem. Here is your food. Have a great day."

Mom: "Thanks so much have a great day."

reading log 9-8-13

My literacy narrative: 65 minutes 

The Fault in Our Stars: 55 minutes 

Literacy Narrative update

We just turned in our literacy narrative rough draft and I have mixed emotions about it. I feel like I could have done a lot better. I don't think I wrote my best. I know I could have pushed myself harder and wrote in  a lot more detail, and I know I should have. I don't really know why I didn't try harder. The reasons are most likely because I didn't use my time wisely enough in class so by the time I got home I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it. I also am such a bad procrastinator. I take too many breaks and lose my train of thought and then it just goes downhill from there.

The good part is that it was only the rough draft. I have this whole week to work with my writing circle (I forgot what the little discussion group is called) and get feedback from them. I also will get my paper back from Dr. D with comments and corrections on it so that will also help me. Another thing that could help me is going to the writing center and let the writing fellows help me. Since we have to go once a semester I might as well try it out now since I don't feel too good about my rough draft, and if I like then I will know to go back throughout the year!

Reading Response #3: The Fault in Our Stars

So far I really like this book. I can tell the ending is going to be sad, but I want to keep reading. The relationship between Augustus and Hazel is so sweet. They aren't quite sure how they feel about each other, well they are but thy won't admit it. She likes him but doesn't want to hurt him like his last girlfriend. She explains why she does't want to kiss him and he understands. But then her lungs start messing up her brain. Augustus waits at the hospital with her after she was rushed there. 

I really like how close of a relationship Hazel and Augustus have with each other, and how John Greene writes about it in the book. I really like the book and can't wait to keep reading. 

Weekly reading

 Field guide/ literacy narratives: 

*55 mins (annotating)

*10 mins in class 

*10 mins in class 

The Fault in Our Stars 

45 mins 

Reading Response #2: Literacy Narrative

In class I read some literacy narratives. They were out of our Norton Field Guide book. I think that the examples I read in the guide are really good. This week, we are going to have to write our own literacy narrative. I honestly am a little confused about how to write one! I don't understand how to relate writing and reading to my life enough to write a couple of paragraphs about it. I think I need to have a lot of details and develop my sentences well. 

I think I should go to Dr. D for some advice of how I can write a good one. The mentor texts and the ones I read in the guide were really good and I feel like I am not going t be able to even compare mine to theirs. The ones in the book had great side stories about their past life that helped to relate their main point about reading or writing.  

Reading Response

The book I am reading right now is called The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. It about a girl named Hazel who has cancer. She has had it for a while and should have died a while back, but stuck it through. One day at her cancer support group a boy named Augustus shows up for the first time. She is immediately caught in his charm.
So far I really like this book. My personal question for it "What would it be like?"
What would it be like to have cancer and survive like Hazel did. What would it be like to associate with a lot of people that  have cancer and listen to their stories?

Exciting

This Sunday was my little brother's 8th birthday party. His birthday was in the beginning of June, but we didn't have another good time to have it, so we had it a lot later. The party was at a place called Cajun Lagoon, in Denham Springs.  The place is a giant man-made pond with all kinds of water blow ups. Another thing it has is a giant triangle Iceberg that you climb then slide or jump off of. It has giant slides that you slide off of and into the water. Blobs which is when someone sits at the end of the half inflated rectangle and another persons jumps onto the other end so the first person flies up into the air. It has trampolines that you can jump on. And a lot of obstacle courses. Ellie O'Brien came with me to the party and we had a fun time. 

Cajun Lagoon 

reading log 120 mins:

-book chat presentation/ 45 mins 8/19  

-book chat presentation/ 20 mins 8/21

-the fault in our stars/ 30 mins 8/22

-the fault in our stars/ 25 mins 8/25 

Weekly Reading Log 

-insurgent notes/ 25 mins 

-The Fault in Our Stars/ 40 mins 

-The Fault in Our Stars/ 60 mins 

pages: 7-71 

Free

This year I am setting goals to accomplish, some academic some personal. I really want to start off high school right with my grades, so it doesn't sneak up on me later on. I will try my hardest to accomplish all As, and if not all As, then strong Bs. I would really love to make the Head Master's List freshman year. I will try my hardest to try not to procrastinate and do my work ahead instead of waiting until the last minute. I will also give and effort and try to focus in class. I will always be truthful about my work, and never take credit for someone else's work. I really want to pull through and get into a great college.

I really enjoyed reading Veronica Roth's book Divergent this summer. It was one of the best books I have ever read. Better than the Hunger Games series honestly. I liked it for many different reasons. One main reason was Tobias and Tris's relationship. While I was reading the book I was really like in love with them. I cried at the end of the book when Tobias tried to kill her and then her voice woke him up. I also really liked how they acted around each other. They were so sweet. And even though they were dating Tobias didn't favor her more than any one else during the training. He also always wanted to protect her. He helped her hide that she was Divergent when he found out about it. He was always strong for her, but he opened up to her like he had never done to anyone else before. He let her go through his fear landscape and let her help him get through his fears. I was kind of obsessed with them throughout the book.

In the book I really liked the main character Tris. I liked how the author showed her development throughout the book. She showed her trying to find who she is seperated from her family by her choosing another faction. I liked how in the beginning Tris was scared and from Abnegation which was the quietest faction. She then chose Dauntless, which is the complete opposite of Abnegation. It shows how she wants to find herself, especially since she is a teenager. Out of all of the books I have ever read this by far was my favorite book.