Bamboo Grove #5: Final Post

1) My response to the ending of the book was not that great. I thought that there was going to be a little more information about the father and also that the ending was to short. It could of been longer and it was to right to the point. I did not find it satisfying because it was to right to the point and they could of been a little more in depth with the ending because to me the ending is the best part. Some conflict that got resolved was that they had to evacuate there house, and they had to leave Hideyo behind, but eventually the got back together. Some unresolved conflict was that the children in her school were still calling Yoko "rag doll" and mean names like that. Also that she did not get her shoes that she always needed. And last but not least Mr. Naido is her only friend Yoko has at school.

I do not really know why she ended the book there. I think that she ended the book there because that is where her Honorable brother returns. And the people that are reading this book are the ones that want to know what happened to Hideyo or what happened to the father. But other then that I really do not know why she ended the book right there. Maybe because she wanted to make it a happy ending or something.

2) I think they just wanted to be a little more closer to there custom. And also to remind the things that were most important to them. It was kind of like a tradition in there family, so they wanted to keep the tradition going. I think the purpose of this was to keep the tradition going and to show them they are Japanese. I also thought that the purpose of this was to remind them selves what they thought was important to them. If I was in the Kawashima family I would observe their traditional food because in my family we make a certain food for Christmas every year. I would also observe the sayings of Honroable Brother or Honorable Sister because that is just a great way to treat people with respect for your brother and sisters.

3) I respect Hiedyo because it is probably really hard for him to find his family. And if I was lost like he was I would probably be really scared. I also respect him because he was really smart not getting find by the people that were coming close to him. He was really brave for doing that. He is also like the father of the family now because he did his fathers chores and stuff. I also respect him because he shows great leadership.

Another person I respect was Mr. Naido because he helped Yoko sell cans and stuff like that to get Yoko some food. And he shows that he really cares for people. I also respect him for being Yoko's friend and if I did not have any friends and people were calling me "rag doll", I think that Mr. Naido would be a great friend to have. He is also really kind and generous for giving Yoko, paper, pencils and more school supplies. He is probably Yoko's best friend ever.

4) What I learned from this book was that Korea was in World War II. I also learned that Koreans carried stuff on their hips and that the Japanese people carried stuff on their backs. I also learned that they took people at the age of 12 to 50 into the war. And that 12 year old were allowed to fight in the war. How scary is that! I would like to know how the war even began? Was it because they wanted each others land?

5) When I read So Far From The Bamboo Grove I learned that you should appreciate what you have. Because in the story Yoko did not even have 1 scratch of paper to begin with when she went to school. She did not even have a decent pair of shoes. And they hardly had shelter and food. With us we have nice classmates we have paper to write on and we have pencils to write with. In her world she bassically had nothing and all she had was her family. Which is also good to!

Bamboo Grove OP#4

1) I think that Yoko wants to help Mr. Naido because that is basically the only friend she has. And also he is the only one that is nice to her. Mr. Naido helps Yoko get her supplies. Like crayons, books and glue. Also he offered her to sell cans to other people so she can get some more cash. What they have in common is that they are both lonely at school. So Yoko gives Mr. Naido company and also Mr. Naido is giving Yoko company. So that makes 2 of them. And that is what they have in common.

2) Ko's "idea" went really well when it came to the New Years Eve feast. I think that it was cool that she was able to make a New Year Eve feasts then getting her new shoes. I think that she cares more about her sister then her new shoes that she always wanted and she made a great decision. Even though that people would call her a rag and all those mean and negative names. Her attitude changed to being kind of meanie and whiny to nice and generous. I think that she realized that family is more important to any thing else.

Question) How do you think Ko feels about not having a mother anymore?

My Answer: I think that she feels really sad that she does not have a mom anymore. Because when you lose your mom or dad it is a very big step trying to move on into your life. She probably misses her mom very much. But I wonder how Hideyo would react when Ko and Yoko tell him that mother has died?

Commets for OP#3

The people that commented were...

Sofia:Done!!!

Charisse: Done!!!

Christian: None!

Julian: Done!!!

Trent: Done!!!

Great Job everyone!!! =D

Bamboo Grove OP #3

1)A: Ko, Yoko and their mother probably feel really sad because they might not see Hideyo ever again. I also think they left because some Koreans took, I think about 3 girls so the could rape them. I also thought that they left because one of their trains were leaving. So probably they took that chance and went somewhere safer. But they are probably really worried about Hideyo.

B: I don't really know. I think they shouldn't of have left him because now he is all alone and probably will get lost or get captured. And if he gets captured there is no one to save him.

2) Why did they want to separate Hideyo from Ko, Yoko and their mother? Why him?

Comments for OP#2

People that did all there comments were...

Trent: Done!

Sofia: Done!

Julian: Done!

Charisse: Done!

Christian: Did not do any comments.

Great Job Everyone! =D

So Far From The Bamboo Grove OP #2

1) I think that Hidyeo is very carrying and nice person. He is a great leader, since his dad is gone a lot. He is great leader because he is taking over his chores and belongings so the inheritance can still be running. He fills in really well for his dad. He is very brave and smart like when he lay ed on the ground pretending he was dead so he could survive. He probably can't wait to see his family. But he probably knows it might be a long journey.

2) If I was in the Kawashima family and I only had 10 minutes to pack my bag I would bring...
1) Flash lights so I can see in the dark.
2) Clothes so I have clean clothes to wear everyday.
3) Matches so I can lit a fire so I can keep warm.
3) Tent so i have some shelter.
4) Photo album so I can remember them even though it is just a photo.
5) Tons of water so I could drink something if it got how outside or if I was thirsty.
6) Bread because it tastes good and also because if my stomach did not feel good it would be a great thing for me to eat. Also fill our tummy up fast.
7) Cell Phone so I could keep in tact.
8) Portable recharger so I could recharge my cell phone.
9) A couple of batteries so I could replace stuff that needs batteries to work.

3) The event that was pretty shocking to me was when Ko and Yoko and their mother were in the tunnel and Ko tripped over a body that was lying on the rail road tracks. I would be freaking out if that ever happened to me. I was also kind of shocked how the motioned Ko getting dissy and all she could smell is smoke. And she thought she was going to die. Also that the tunnels were really narrow so if they accidentally could not stand very thin anymore they could of died. That's what I was shocked about!

Comments for OP#1

Comments from all of our blogs!!!


Sofia: Done!

Julian: Nothing! (Did not comment anyone and did not do blog post.)

Trent: Done!

Christian: Did Sofia's and mine but not Charisse!

Charisse: Done!

Great Job everyone! =D

So Far From the Bamboo Grove

1) I think that Yoko is very generous and nice. Like when she wanted to give her water to people that needed water more then she did. Or when she gave her blanket to the pregnant woman even though she did not want to. I thought that was very nice, even though she could of have been a little more giving to the pregnant woman. She is also kind of whiny and everything. Like when she wanted food or water when she was on the train. She also listens to her mother and does what she is told.

2) Ko and Yoko are great sisters. They fight a little like when she was whining about the food and the water but other then that they are fantastic sisters. Ko is also bossy because Ko kind of boss's Yoko around which is probably the answer why Yoko calls her bossy.

3) I think that the Kawashima are very nice to the people that are on the train. They treat the patients very nicely. Like when the mother told Yoko to give her blanket to the woman and the baby even though she did not want to. But it was very nice. Also when Yoko wanted to give water to people that needed it more then she did. Which was very generous. The mother, Yoko and Ko are very nice to the people that are onboard. They are really giving.

Reading Response #3

Name: Trent Smith
Date: November 15, 2007
Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Pages Read: 102-266
Pages: 81 pages

1) The thing that is confusing to me in the book, The Adventures of Huckleberyy Finn is that it is kind of hard figuring out the words because they are really different. They are like the words in The Crucible.

2) The thing I wished to say to Jim (Miss Watson's slave) is that I think it was pretty noble of you to run away from your master (Miss Watson). Jim heard that Miss Watson was going to sell Jim to a plantation down the river. If I was on the spot like you were, I would probably run away to.

3) What I felt when I was reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was sad. I was sad because Miss Watson wanted to sell Jim to a plantation down the river. If I heard that Miss Watson was going to sell me to a plantation, I would be shocked. I felt really bad for Jim. Because if he went, he probably would feel weird being in a different enviroment. It is also sad because he would be treated horribaly and would be away from his wife and his children. Luckly he ran away! =D

Vocabulary #3

The words that I thought were interesting, good verbs or words that i didn't know were...

Budge: It means to begin to move.

Whooped: The sound of a person suffering.

Glimpse: It means to view or look.

Snag: To quickly take something.

Aggravate: To annoy someone or to make things worse.

(I made these definitions in my own words. Please tell me if I said them wrong.)

Reading Response

Name: Trent Smith
Date: November 8, 2007
Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Pages Read: 1-102
Pages: 102

I chose the questions 4 and 17 as my questions.

4) The thing I thought was exciting in this book so far is that Tom wants to play a trick on Jim while he was sleeping. Tom and Huck go up to the tree and steal 3 candles. And in return he puts a nickel were the 3 candles as pay. Then Tom walks very quietly to Jim and takes off his hat. He then puts it over a branch over him. And then Tom tells Huck what he did. When Jim wakes up he believes that someone had bewitched him and keeps the nickel. He thinks that the nickel has been gavin to him by the devil.

17) Well the person that I would want to be friends with would be Jim. He is one of Miss. Watson's slaves. He is the one character that acts more then a adult, compared to the other characters in the book. But he has lots of knowledge. And that knowledge can help me with my homework, if I get stuck on a math or humanities problem.

(This book is kind of like The Crucible)

Weekly Vocab

The words that I didn't know or I thought sounded cool were...

Blotted: A spot or a stain.

Ransomed: To release someone by paying the person that captured you money.

Ignorant: Unlearned.

Temperance: Self Control.

Thrashed: To get a beating as a punishment.

If I didn't get the definitions right, please tell me!

New Book

The book that I chose is called The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. By: Mark Twain

Hatching Magic Reading Response

Name:Trent
Date:10-2-07
Title:Hatching Magic
Author:Ann Downer
Time:2 hours
Pages:1 - 242
Total Pages This Week: 242

I used 1, 15 as the questions I used.

1) One of the characters named Theadora reminded me of this kid, Luke, that was in the movie The Witches. Theadora is a very clumsy and very curious girl. Theadora and Luke are both curious and want to find every detail they can possibly find. Luke is also kind of clumsy but mostly very curious. Theadora reminded me of Luke.

2) I think that Kobold and his demon servant Febrys are very important to the story. They are the bad guys in the story. I think that they are very important in the story because with out them, the book wouldn't be as good. They made the conflict (situation) happen. And a great play, novel or movie has to have a great conflict so the play, novel or movie can be good.

This was a really great book. Theadora made her boring summer into the summer vacation of her life. =D

Vocabulary of the Week! Hatching Magic

The vocabulary in the book I chose were...

VOCABULARY

Drafty: Means not alright or uncomfortable.

Melodious: a beautiful tune. Like a bird singing.

Vanity: Means a character or quality or being vain

Begrime: To get something dirty.

Lavish: Giving things in great amounts. Lavish of his time (Used the sentence form the Dictionary)

That is all of My Weekly Vocabulary! =D

The Book I am Reading!

I am going to be reading Hatching Magic. It is going to be the first time reading it. =D

P.S. Just to let you know I changed my book because my sister is in the middle of the book right now and after she reads it she is lending it to her friend. I am very sorry if I caused any trouble.

The Wave Final Post

1a) I think that quote means to never let group's change who you really are. I also think that quote means to do what you want to do and not let someone stop you from doing it. Ex. If you want to become a pro baseball player but someone says, no you should be a lawyer. Just do what you want to do and become a pro baseball player. Don't let anyone stop you from doing it. That is what I think the quote means.

b) A way that someone could use them in there life would be if everyone wanted to go to High Tech High International, but someone else wants to go to High Tech High. But all your friends were going to High Tech High International. Well do whatever you want to do. You should never be a follower. You should always be a leader.

2) I thought Robert was the person that people thought was weird. When The Wave started I thought he was getting some power off of it trying to become something. Like an "equal". But he got a little to carried away with it. He gets a little to addicted to The Wave at some parts. Like he asked Mr.Ross if he could be his body guard. But on the plus side Robert was getting very confident. But before The Wave started Robert would be always slouching in his chair and would never answer any of the questions. But when The Wave did start he would be sitting in his chair back straight and would always be trying to answer all the questions. But if someone did not participate in The Wave Robert and the other kids would beat the person up of the kid that refused to participate.

3a) I think that fascism takes place in The Wave was when they beaten up that Jewish kid because he would not participate in The Wave and because he was Jewish. Which is kind of racist. Also it was much like being like Hitler.

b) A historical movement that had some elements of fascism was Hitler in World War II. How it is fascist is because Hitler was a person that only killed Jewish people and that is what happened in the book. The kids beat up a poor Jewish kid. Which is much like what Hitler did to the Jewish people.

4) “Avoiding Mob Mentality: A Practical Guide by A Middle Student, for Other Middle School Students.”

A way people can avoid Mob Mentality is not to join any bad groups like gangs and clubs and stuff like that. Don't do thing bad or cruel to people just to get in a group. Mob Mentality is when people start to get out of control. So it is like one person says one thing and then everyone in the group believes about it, which makes everyone get out of control. Also people go along doing this even though they have no idea what is going to happen. This is kind of what happened in The Wave. Mr. Ross idea with The Wave was getting out of control and if he stop ed The Wave what will happen. If friends do this to you and you don't want to do it. Don't do it. Because you never want to get your self in trouble. You should always find great friends that do the right things.

Family History Project Reflection

Name: Trent Smith

Family History Project Reflection
Class: Interlandi/Humanities
Date: October 18, 2007

The Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to learn what a historian does. How we did it was to find a historical event that happened in your family. We had to research on the Internet or read books to find information of what your family member did that made it a historical event. Also the member of your family had to be alive in order to do it on them. To get this project completed we had to write a personal narrative, we had to make questions about the historical event so we can interview them, we also had to type the answers up when you interviewed the person, we had to make a bibliography and also we had to find pictures and make captions of your pictures about the historical event.

What I Learned:
In this project I learned much more things about my Aunt. I learned that she had to give up a lot of things in order for her family to immigrate. Some skills that I learned was that I learned how to do history. I learned how to research and find information and I learned how to analyze evidence. I also leaned how to write a great personal narrative and a great bibliography. I also learned how to make a great interview. It was my very first time making a interview. I also learned when doing a interview is to listen very carefully when doing a interview also not to interrupt the speaker and let the interview do the talking. Also to redirect the interview if the interview is getting off topic and also to jot down key word and short notes. And last to write the most important information when doing a interview. And that is what I learned.

Reflection:
I liked this project a lot. It was a very good project but the only thing I did not like about this project was getting pictures. It was hard for me getting the pictures because I had no pictures of my mom's side of the family. I had to email people and call me people to email me a picture. A lot of the times they didn't reply. So I had to find photo albums of pictures on my mom side. It was very hard for me. That is the only thing I had trouble on. The things I liked about this project was making a personal narrative and learning what my Aunt did when he immigrated. It was very exciting. I also enjoyed doing my family tree. It was very fun.

Artifact:
I am putting a picture of my scrapbook and my family tree on my DP. I also might put a picture from my scrapbook on my DP to.

Posts for #5

The people that commented my blog so far is

Jessica-1

Mif-0

Sofia - 1

Lindsay - 0

Beyra - 0

I will see who commented my blog tomarrow morning. =D

The Wave #5

1) Not Posted

2)The sentence that stood out to me was when it said "As he stopped and stood between two large television monitors that had been ordered from the AV department that day, the crowd burst spontaneously into The Wave mottos, standing at their seats and giving The Wave salute". I like that sentence because it gave me a image in my head what Ben was standing by. He was standing between two large television monitors. I also liked that sentence because they used a great word, which was "spontaneously", I liked that because they used a great word to describe what the students were doing. They didn't need to put it in but they did anyways which made it sound much better. Chapter 17, Pg.131, Last paragraph

3)What do you think he means by "There are some things I think we should talk about."? What do you think that means. Explain your answer.

P.S. The sentence is on the very last page and is the very last scentence. (pg. 138)=D

Comment on #4

The people that commented The Wave #4 are...

Sofia-1

Lindsay-1

Beyra-1

Mif-0

Jessica-0

I need Mif and Jessica to comment my blog!

October 9, 2007 8:56

I will see who commented my blog tomarrow. =D

The Wave #4

1) I think that he needs to shut down The Wave and I think he knows that he has to do it. I think he is going to be kind of scared of what will happen if he shuts down The Wave. What would his students think? This is going to be a hard thing to change because the students are already getting hooked on to it.

2) My favorite scentence is "She still couldn't put into words exactly what bothered her about The Wave, but she could feel it growing inside her." I liked that sentence because I liked how it used the word "grow". I liked that part because instead of "feeling" or "felt" she used "grow". It is a stronger word besides "felt".

3) Do you think that Mr. Ross is going to cancel The Wave or do you think that he is going to let The Wave keep going? Explain your answer!

People who commented Wave #3

The people who commented The Wave #3 post are...

Beyra-1
Sofia-1
Lindsay-1
Jessica-1
Mif-0

The Wave #3

1) First one example is that Mr. Ross gave people membership cards, so if people are not following the rules they can catch them. And the second example was that people are missing classes so they can go into his class, which I think is getting to be out of control.

2) My favorite sentence is "Laurie, if you study the types of people who join these cults, they're almost always people who are unhappy with themselves and their lives." I think that sentence is interesting because it makes me wonder if that is really true. It makes me wonder if people, for instance, that get picked on and teased a lot are the type of person that would join a group even though they're expected to do bad things in that group. (p.g 72, paragraph 5)

3) Do you think that Mr. Ross is pushing this to far with The Wave stuff or do you think that everything is going just fine? Explain why you think it is a good or bad thing for Mr. Ross to be teaching The Wave.

People Who Commented Wave #2

The people that commented my blog for The Wave #2 are....

Sofia - 1

Mif (Michael) - 1

Lindsay - 1

Jessica - 1

Beyra - 1

The Wave #2

1)One example is that they used the wave on the football team. Eric noticed that they have not won a football game in 2 years. So they are now trying to use the wave so they can win a game.

2) My favorite scentences was "I want everyone to see how Robert Billings legs are parraell. His ankles are locked, his knees are bent at nintey degrees. See how staright his spine is. Chin tucked in, head up." I thought that was a really great scentence because it gave me a fantastic image of how they had to sit. (page 32 paragraph 2)

3)Why do you think that the class had to learn this Strength Through Dicipline stuff?

The Wave

1a. The Wave occurred in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969.

b. Amy was smoking at school. They used typewriters instead of computers. They used film projectors.


2) "How could the Germans sit back while the Nazis slaughtered people all around them and say they didn't know about it?" pg. 13/paragraph 2.

I think this is interesting that the Nazi Party were able to kill tons of people in an organized way without the rest of the Germans not trying to stop them. And to say that they didn't know about it. I don't understand why a group of people would listen to what one crazy man would say.

3)Why do the students pick on Robert Billings and why do they think that he is weird?

Betty Ann

1) I thought it was sad when it said " She came to our school from another planet. She was our little moron, our Polack, our village idiot." I thought that was sad because they made fun of her that might not even be true.

2) I would of probably been mean to Betty Ann on the first or couple of days and then realize that she is a great person and I would probably make friends with her. It is really selfish for people to talk about people behind their backs.

3) "Sticks and stones only break bones. Words can shatter the soul. A little, quiet, 10-year-old runs away because kids on the bus laugh at him. A sensitive ninth grader flips out because a group of self-rising girls decide to throw her to the wolves. We tell our selves it takes more than that to send someone over the edge. Maybe so, maybe not.
But there are no erasers.

I think what the last paragraph means that if you are being selfish and teasing people you cannot always fix what you have done. Because there is no erasers in life.

Response to Seveth Grade

1) My favorite sentence that I chose was "Great rosebushes of red bloomed on Victors cheeks." I picked that sentence because it had great adjectives and I also liked it because it told me how Victor felt.

2)The part i can relate to is when Victor raised his hand to speak french and then he ended up feeling awful. I can relate to that because when I was taking piano lessons I played a song that I was supposed to practice but I didn't. So I played some parts that I knew and it ended up being terribly awful. I also felt awful that I didn't practice piano, and that's how i can relate to that part.

Response to the "Test"

I like the sentence that said "And they dragged Robert Proctor out the door, knees stiff, feet dragging, his rubber heels sliding along the two grooves worn into the floor." Because there was a lot a detail into it, and gave me a picture of what the uniformed man did to Robert Proctor. I can tell that Robert Proctor was trying hard to stop the uniformed man from dragging him.

I think that hypnosis is a bad idea because they can control the persons mind into getting a car wreck. They can also kill someone if the car wreck was very bad and would be all the governments fault. Also I wouldn't do hypnosis is because sometimes the hypnosis can be to strong and they can forget or be confused of what happened. Like in the story he thought he was dreaming and then everything started to get confusing.

The sentence "How do any of us know". I thought that the uniformed man was telling him to find the answer on his own. That he could still be thinking he is in his dream or to be facing the real world. That's what I think is whats happening.

Planet Earth

What we learned about planet earth is about grass and animal habitats. To start off grass covers 1/4 of the planet earth. Also grass is indestructible. If you burn or freeze grass there is always away for grass to reproduce. Grass is the most common plant on the earth. Besides speaking of grass, lets start getting into animals. The first animal that I am going to talk about is the snow geese. Snow geese live in the Arctic Tundra. They lay there eggs in the summertime and wait for them to hatch. The bad part is, is that they have to keep a very good eye on there young when the hatch because predators such as the Arctic fox can steal there young to eat or to give it to there young. Another animals that lives in the Arctic Tundra is Yak. Yak live in the Himalayas where it is cold, dry and the air is thin. Now I am going to talk about African animals, such as the elephant. Elephants live in tall grass called elephant grass. Elephant grass gets very high. Elephant grass gets taller then an elephant. Elephants don't only live in elephant grass. Rhinos and other animals live in elephant grass to. Elephants need water daily to help them survive. Elephants also travel at night because the weather is a lot cooler for them to travel in. But also they have to be careful for predators like Lions. And that's all I will get to now. I will right more later. So keep posted. Bye!

My Favorite Book

My Favorite Book is called The Wringer. Written By: Jerry Spinelli. The Wringer is about a boy named Palmer LaRue. He is not looking forward to the day he turns 10 years old because, at his town when you turn 10 you would be called a wringer. Palmer LaRue would have to strangle pigeons on the annual Pigeon Day. He must either accept this task or find the courage to say no. What do you think he is going to, accept this task or say no. The only way to find out is if you read the book The Wringer. I think it is a remarkable book and also very sad. If you like sad stories then this is the book for you.