Happy 2011!

One of the goals I have is, to do all of the projects I am assigned better than before. If I can accomplish this I will have more time to "R'nR". A second goal I have for this year is, to be nicer and respect my             ill-tempered little brother, even though he takes advantage of me. If I accomplish this, I can hopefully earn some respect and kindness back, lessening the tension around the house.

An experience I had during the holidays was, going to Club Med Bintan. Personally I've been to Club Med Cherating and Club Med Bali, I thought this Club Med stood out. The food was great, from pizza and burgers to seafood and dessert. A fantastic breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet with addictive choices, fabulously friendly G.O.s that smiled every time they saw you, and a variety of clubs for ages 18 and below so parents and guardians can drop off their kids and relax on the beach, the bars and pool.

Anyway, I decided to join Teens club (junior club), we had plenty of activities to do, I soon learned all the activities could be changed whenever. The first activity we did every morning was archery. I was not a beginner so I took an arm guard, finger guard and waited on the long bench for the instructing G.O. to call the next line of twelve people up. Two minutes later it was my group's turn, the instructor placed me with a thirty pound bow, I was next to one of my new friends who also had a thirty pounder. I picked it up and immediately noticed it was way heavier than the others, I glanced at a table that showed it's weight and strength, it was by far the most powerful. I pulled back the string and let go I gazed at the target I saw that the arrow was almost all the way through, just for a few inches. I told my friend about the shot as he let go, he struck bull's eye and eventually that started a competition.

A talent I have is, making people say "Wow... You're tall..." After they say this, I tell them what grade level I'm in. Every new school year, or every time I meet some one for the first time, this happens. The reason I can do this is because I'm in middle school, 6th grade, and I'm 5.7 feet tall with no shoes, while most sixth graders where I live are from 3.5 to 5 feet tall. I'm the tallest sixth grader in my school which makes it quite obvious why I get those comments.

Partnered Literature Circles, Hatchet By Gary Paulsen

Some of the benefits of working with a partner are: it is easier to accomplish an assignment because the work is divided among the group members. A second reason is, if a group member did not complete his or her reading assignment the other group member can fill him or her in on what they missed. The final reason  that it is good to have a partnership is more creative problem solving. What I mean by that is, because no two people see the same problem the same way, approaching a problem with a partner can lead to a broader array of possible solutions or answers.

Some challenges and obstacles I had to overcome during literature circles are: arranging time periods between homework and rest and relaxation, making sure that I have read the amount I had to read and going to school with the assignment in-hand. Obviously, if a group member did not do their part in the project, and the other group member did but was not around to see his partners, then that group member is in big trouble.

Finally, some new understandings that I have gained about the novel. One new understanding is that the flow of the book is not linear, in other words the story shifts between the present and past, but topics can change fluidly, even on the same page. Another new understanding that  has changed my perspective on the book is that the main character is a normal teenage boy named Brian who was forced to forage in the woods of Canada in order to survive after a plain crash. This book is adventurous and also kind of sad because Brian's parents were divorced because his mother, two months earlier, cheated on Brian's Dad. I personally find this novel very interesting because a good (bad) problem leads to a very good story.

Literature Circles Review

1. How your groups discussion helped you better understand the novel. Write about of some of the key ideas from the novel that your group discussed and how these were important to the plot of the story.


Our group discussion helped me better understand the novel because by discussing it, I revisited the story and saw it through some one else's view. Each of us thinks differently, so each of us explains the passages we chose in a different way. This helped me better understand what we read, for example two of my literature circle buddies accidentally chose the same passage and when we talked about them they came up with two completely different ideas about the passage.


One key idea from the novel that we discussed was the idea of survival in the wilderness. We talked about what we ourselves would do if we happened to be in the same situation. survival is the key element in the plot of the novel.

2. Describe some of the connections that you made during your discussion.

One of the connections I made during our discussion was remembering being attacked by mosquitos and leeches, and spending the night in agony, just like Brian did. I remember how frustrated I felt because the itching would not go away. I thought I was going mad.

3. What predictions do you have for the rest of the novel.

I think that Brian will have to go another three or four days before he is rescued also there is a strong possibility he will meet the bear again. If he is rescued, he might be reunited with his Dad. If he is reunited with his Mom he might see more unfortunate scenes that might upset him.

Lines Of Symmetry

I took this photo of a few lego pieces. There are exactly two lines of symmetry.One line is vertical (top to bottom) and the other is straight across the middle of the "square". There are no more lines of symmetry because if you look, there are two black 2x1 unit rectangles facing parallel each other from left to right.

A Trip To The Mangrove Forest

Follow me! said the tour guide, slowly stepping into the gray muck. I was on a trip where I would go to a swamp and plant mangrove trees. I was second in line cautiously stepping into what I thought was going to be rather easy. Oh, I was so wrong, less than a minute in the swamp and one person had already fallen over, from the sounds of it I would say he was stuck. I did not bother looking back. Was I going to be next to fall? Too late! I lost my balance on an unseen root and the right side of my pants had a stripe of gray, while my right hand dove down into the mud. As I recovered my boots started sinking, "When was this going to end" I thought.

Later that afternoon......

Nearly dazed by what I had heard of a boy sinking in shoulder height and being able to get back out. The first couple times my boots sunk I was able to work them out. At one point I lost all interest and carried on with planting the mangroves. soundlessly sank until the mud reached for my knee (which is at least a foot and a half from the bottom of my foot). This time I dug myself out and if that wasn't enough we had to get out the way we had came in, which was now torn and squishy. My decision was to lay branches and sticks down and run over them. It worked but there were no more sticks. Because I was in such a rush to leave, I slipped off my already mud filled boots and jogged out of the pit.

Glad to be washing up and heading home I thought of what I had done. Helping plant a rain forest, discovering wildlife, and now blogging. It makes you think what's on the bright side but one thing is that being a helping hand makes life a lot easier even though it may not be fun.

A time I Had Courage

This post is about a time I showed courage, it was an assignment based on a novel called "Call It Courage" except it was just one time I showed courage.

Back in time, I when it was still summer, I made a trip to a water park called water bom, when we arrived the first thing I saw was the sign, I thought the sign meant to say water bomb, or maybe water boom and was still under construction but by looking you could see it was old and was completed a while ago.


After the ticket booth to the left and down some stairs was a massive locker center  and even bigger change rooms with sinks, showers, toilets and some benches, but past that there was a humongous set of slides on a tower about as tall as eight long buses, bumper to bumper facing vertical. On the tower there were so many slides to choose from, one led you on a near vertical drop on which last a mere four to eight seconds and I couldn't breath when I tried to, another was a neck and neck race on mats like the conga ride at sunway lagoon except it is faster jumpier and has less of a chance to go into other peoples lanes, then I flashed a look away at the tower and saw a half pipe that had a different direction on the way down with a huge hump that sent unlucky people flying from their tubes. I was determined to go on that ride if it meant going nearly vertical facing forward and then rushing back.


 Upon the stairs, if you looked down it would make you think of how would it feel to jump on a concrete wall, enough to stun you for a moment, but not loose all hopes and walk back down. oh how it was great to watch children and adults scream in a humorous way as they gently went up and came crashing down over the small hump but soon enough it was my turn, two people per tube, of course they had double seats, as we laid the tube down I thought of how I feared these things before and I looked down once again just to make sure I was not telling lies to myself and my eyes bulged out of my head but instead of freaking out on the inside all the memories of being afraid of height just disappeared for some reason I couldn't explain. So tubing I went, a light turn in a tunnel then a large drop to gain speed and finally an upheaval heading straight for the edge but no one has reached the edge so for will I? To late to wonder, the front of the tube just skimmed the edge and sent us hurtling backwards to the hump, luckily I didn't fall off but when we touched the pool I was sent hurtling backwards upside down and hit the end of the pool with a thud! But if I had conquered my fear of heights what else could I do.

Investigating The Past Review

The activity was chosen for us to learn about who we evolved from, Lucy to Homo sapiens to finally us. So How can understanding the past, help us to understand our world now?

By looking into the past we can figure out why we became what we have become by analysing fossils of early humans, examining layers of different soil to figure out how different species evolved to their environment and survived rivalry with different species to change into what we have become, the modern human.

If you couldn't understand that then think of why Abraham Lincoln was killed, If that hadn't happened then were would we be today?