Tietê Project Reflection

1. The best thing about working on my project was that I got I got to learn about two other rivers in the world. It was very interesting because I got to compare three rivers.

2. The most challenging thing about working on my project was finding the information about the other rivers because I had to find information that I could use to compare with the Tietê river and information that made the river stand out.

3. If I had to do the project over again, I would first collect information about the Tietê river because then I would have more time to find out about the other two rivers.

4. From doing this project, I learned how to work with my partner more evenly and without disagreeing too much.

5. One thing I want my teacher to know about my project is that me and my partner worked really hard on this project and that we speant a lot of line revising, editing and putting more detail into the project.

Charlotte Doyle Project Reflection

After we finished The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, we were assigned a project.  I worked on the before and after project alone.  I enjoyed working alone, but at times it was hard because I needed to find proof in the needed to find proof in the book.  Working alone also had some advantages because I did not have to take turns taking the project home.  If I could do the project again, I would have done the hanging mobile.  I would have done this because the content was one of the most important parts, and you did not have to worry too much about neatness, but I liked having the challenge.  I would want my teacher to know that I put a lot of hard work into  my project's neatness and into the content.

Life Aboard a Ship: Sailor's Point of Veiw

Dear Mother,
Life aboard this ship horrid.  Captain treats us like stray dogs.  And, the forecastle is a craze.  Our hammocks swing endlessly, back and forth, back and forth.  The rusty door constantly creaks.  If we are lucky, the only noise we hear are rats scurrying around on the floor and the breathing of the men.  Yesterday, Johnson was late to come out and he received 30 lashes of the cat-o'-nine-tails.  He has haunting bloody cuts on his back.  The ship smells badly; as if there was the rotting carcass of a cow just on the deck with the sun beating down on it.  The waves of the sea slash us in the face, as if the Captain has power over the ocean, ordering it to do this to us.  Today, I was ordered to scrape the barnacles of the side of the ship with my bare hands.  I have stinging fingers.  At dinner after the second dog watch we sat down for dinner.  There were maggots in the hardtack.  I can hardly await the time when the first mate calls out "land ho!" and we will dock.
                                                 - Guarda

Native American Simulation

In class, we are learning about five civilizations of the americas; the Iroquis, Algonquin, Pueblo, Aztec and Inca.  I knew that most civilizations grew maize (corn), squash and beans.  I learned that the Iroquis were made up of 5 tribes and that they were famous for their Society of False Faces.  We were all put into groups (jigsaw groups) and we learned information about our assigned civilization.  After we collected all of our information, we got put into 5 groups, with one person from each group and we exchanged information.  It was very helpful to learn about five american tribes and they were all very interesting.

Charlotte Doyle: End of Book

Today we finished the True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  I thought the book was amazingly thought out and had an amazing climax and ending.  I was satisfied by the ending because it ended with her finding her home and her true family.  Throughout the whole book I liked how Avi put himself in Charlotte's shoes.  I thought that the book was well thought out and also put extra details that helped you put a picture in your head.  I would not change anything except I might have added that her family came running to her at the port to make the ending more dramatic.  Overall the book is very satisfying.

Stop Motion Films

Our grade worked on stop motion films.  We were all assigned different Mayan, Aztec or Incan myths. We all got to watch everyone's films and they all had obvious effort put in to the piece.  I think that my group's project had effort put into the work and that it turned out well.  I would like to another do stop motion film because it takes a lot of effort and hard work.  Even though we had a lot of messed up photos we turned them into a very cool looking film.  For me, there were no disappointments because there was so much hard work put into every film that there could not be a bad film!  I think that the video that stood out a lot was Fiona, Brenna and Karen's "How Cuzco Became the Capital" because the music choice was appropriate for the type of film that they were filming and also because there were no distracting details and the story plot was explained clearly.  I also enjoyed Nana, Jenny and Anaya's "The Tail of the Dog" because the story was explained clearly and also because the props fit with the story.  If I could change anything about the project it would be our group's frustration.  I think this because if we had known how amazing and cool looking our film looked in the end nothing could make us frustrated.

Claim - Argument - Counter Argument

In class we are working on persuasive essays.  All of us have different claims that we need to persuade people to do it.  My claim is to get people to donate money for environmental funds.  I think people should donate money to these types of funds because it makes your community cleaner.  I also think people should donate money because the air and streets will be less polluted.