Weekly Vocab1

Words that tickle my ears:

Vermin

Words that warm my heart:

Words that make me wonder:

Kilning

Words that make me feel smart:

Fiber-optic

Words that I've heard someone say:

Words that calm my fears:

Columnlike

Words that are funny:

Sploop

Reading Response 1

Name: Ethan Chan
Title: The Fire Within
Author: Chris D'Lacey
Total pages this week: 115

Date: 10-31-07

Time: 1:04 Hours

Pages: 158-273

Response:

This book, The Fire Within, makes me wonder about a lot of things, mainly if inanimate objects will come alive. When they do, it's probably just imagination at work, but it might actually be moving. It's about a 20 year old guy named David who needs a place to stay, so he stays at the Pennykettle's. He is surprised to find clay dragons there, and later on he begins to get suspicious about wether or not they are real, as they act unusually. If dragons could come to life out of clay, I would be amazed, perplexed, and speechless. I would surely hope that they wouldn't set fire to anything in my house, but still have fun with them. If dragons could be animated, then other things could probaly act as if alive as well. I would be astonished if my book spoke to me and walked around. The book itself is very good, and it's exciting and interesting. One of the most exciting things that has happened so far is that David had a dream where he was going to enter the Dragon's Den (the place where dragons were made and kilned, and where David wasn't allowed), and oddly, wearing a coat over his pajamas, with a tea cozy on his head, a pair of oven gloves on his hands, and a burned slice of toast in his pocket. Whenever he touched the doorknob of the Dragon's Den though, it scorched his palm, so he looked through the keyhole, and saw a dragon. He bribed him with toast to get by (folded up toast that could fit through a keyhole), but the dragon realized he was being tricked so he quickly set the doorknob with flames so he got burned, and then he finally woke up. He woke up, and pretty much thought he was going insane.

FHP Reflection

Name:Ethan Chan
Project Reflection
Project Title: Family History Project
Class: D Dates: 10-17-07
PURPOSE
In this section, explain what you were supposed to learn and what you were supposed to do.
Sentence Starters
The purpose of this project was to learn about…
In order to learn about _________________, we had to create/perform/ write/etc…
In order to learn about our history and our ancestry, we had to either do a newsletter or a scrapbook on a historical event. What we had to do was conduct some research on an important events in the Internet and books, and take notes. While we were doing that, we recorded the sources we got the information from. We also conducted interviews with family members to learn their side of the historical event. Afterwards, we made a historical narrative using our notes, wrote up our interview, and made a personal narrative about ourselves.
WHAT I LEARNED
In this section, tell what information or skills you learned or improved.
Sentence Starters
I learned about…
I explored the concept of …
In this project, I learned how to…. (skills)
In this project, I learned how to make a newsletter and I learned my family's history. I learned how important that your ancestors are and different points of view. You have to not only write, but revise again and again because no first draft is perfect. I also leaned a lot about immigration because that was what I researched. I learned that Chinese immigrants had a hard time settling in. They were hard-working and worked for little money, so everyone hired them instead of the others in America, so the Chinese were rejected everywhere because they took away jobs.
REFLECTION
In this section, reflect on your experience. Did you like the project? Why or why not? How did you do? What would you do differently next time?
Sentence Starters
I enjoyed this project because…
I feel like I could have done better on this project because…
Next time, I would…
I enjoyed this project very much because it taught me what my parents went through and it was really fun doing a newsletter. I feel that I could have done better because I didn't do the best point of view, and I could have put it in first person instead of third person. Next time, I would try a different type and do a scrapbook and I would try first person view.
ARTIFACTS
You should have at least one artifact from each project on your DP. What document, picture, or link will you have for this project?
I will include my newsletter in my DP for this project.

FINAL WAVE ASSIGNMENT

1. I think that this means that you should follow your own path and not someone else's. If you do that, you have no freewill, and you cannot control your life. You can still be part of a group, but if you don't want to do something, then don't, and if you want to, then do it.


In my life, I'm usually part of a specific group or with my friends. Whenever I'm with them, they do a lot of things, but some I don't really like. They might want to do something bad and sneak off, but I say no and stay put. I usually go along with them, but I can't cross my line in the sand. When It's just too much, I just go somewhere else and do something else, rather than do what I don't want. For me, freedom is a necessity, so I can choose my path and choose to follow or not, to fight or defend, to take action or stay put.


2. At the beginning of the novel, Robert was lazy and seemed a bit of a weirdo. He was definitely a nobody. When he got into The Wave though, he started to change. He began to taste power and respect, finding equality among his classmates and The Wave. Then he became power-hungry because he liked the taste of power and wanted more, and turned it into communism by accident. Everyone was included in The Wave, so he liked it, but they all didn't notice that outsiders weren't included.

After The Wave, he felt pretty depressed, but Mr. Ross helped cheer him up. When he said that he would talk with Robert, I think that he's going to talk with Robert about how life is good and that he should try to be his best at all times. I think that he can only improve, and now that The Wave is over, he learned his lesson, and won't go power-hungry again. He might go on to be a good person someday, and help benefit mankind.


3.
a. I see that The Wave is an absolute example of fascism, in fact they are the same. Ben seems to be the dictator, and it's a fact because Ben Ross states himself that he was "a teacher that had accidentally slipped into the role of a dictator". If the students are The Wave, then Ben is the earthquake causing it. He also has a society that excludes non-Wave members from certain things, such as the Wave rally. The students follow his commands like little Nazis and without question.

b. A historical event that was fascist was of course Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. It was the whole reason The Wave started. When Hitler ruled, he destroyed all of the Jewish people because they didn't want to be Nazis. I don't really know about it because I don't remember learning it, but I know that fascism is the general idea.


4.
AVOIDING MOB MENTALITY: A PRACTICAL GUIDE BY A MIDDLE STUDENT
Many times during the year, you see groups and want to join, even if they're bad. How can you stop yourself from joining? First of all, think of yourself as an individual body, not part of anything. Sure, we're all humans, but we all have different personalities and feelings. Don't join, but instead use your willpower and do something else. It's like smoking, you do it because of peer pressure, then get hooked and can't stop. What you have to do is say no, and walk away. It's very hard to because your mind wants to be led by others. Use your own willpower and start bottom-up. Do little things like staying inside when everyone wants to go outside, play volleyball instead of kickball, and you'll have less trouble handling these situations later in life.

OP #5

1. Currently unavailable

2. My favorite part is "For the first time she heard sounds she'd never heard before: the hums and buzzes of electrical current running to and from alarms and smoke detectors. A bubbling, splashing sound came from the science room where some overnight experiment must have been left brewing. Even the unusually loud, hollow echo of her own shoes as they rapped the hard corridor floors." I like the image described in this part because I could really hear those sounds, and I would imagine how horrible it would be to be in her position, as I am a bit scared of sudden noises.

3. What do you think the students learned? Will they remember this forever? How important is this lesson, and why?