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Friday, January 27, 2012

Faith

Author's Note: This is a Cinquain poem I wrote on Faith. My focus is voice.



Faith
Always believe,
Even when you can't see.
You have complete trust in someone.
Believe.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

What is the Best Time of Day to Take Tests?

Author's Note: I haven't written a real essay in a long time, so I decided to try it again. This piece is on my opinion on what is the best time of day to learn. My focus is word choice.


Beep, Beep. It's 5:30 AM, and your alarm is blaring. Time to get up, and start the day. My bus arrives at school, and I head to my first hour class. As the teacher gives announcements I struggle to stay awake. I'm closing my eyes when I here the word test. As my teacher gives me the paper, I examine the problems. At least I try to examine them. I am so tired,  I can't contemplate the problems on the page. Taking tests in the first few hours of the day are bad because you just woke up, and most kids are still tired.

Most students prefer to stay up late and sleep in late. School starts at 7:30 in the morning which makes some kids wake up at 6:00 or earlier to get ready. Most kids stay up past 10:00 an with that being said, they can't get the 8.5-9 hours they need. This means that since the students are so tired, their test scores will go down.

Although, testing early may not be the best for some students, there are some plus sides to it. Taking tests first thing in the morning allows students to "get it over with". If we take tests right away the students can take them and be able to relax for the rest of the day. This seems like a good idea, because, then students can concentrate the rest of the day on the rest of their classes.

I think that the best time to take test would be second or third hour. This is because first hour, students are to tired to concentrate, fifth hour, students are distracted and ready to go home, and fourth hour is right before lunch so students are hungry. Second or third hour is right in the middle, so it gives students a chance to wake up, but not so much that they can't concentrate.

Over the weekends, most teenagers stay up late and don't get up until mid-afternoon. During the school week, students often still stay up late, but are forced to get up early. Schools shouldn't make students test right away in the morning, because they are still waking up. In reality testing at a later time is and advantage to the school because the better test scores students get, the better the school looks.






"Adolescent Sleep." Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <nysut.org/research/bulletins/981202adolescentsleep.html>.
"Top 10 Weirdest Clocks | Top 10 Hell." Top 10 Hell. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://top10hell.com/top-10-weirdest-clocks/>.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Runaway

Author's Note: In a meeting with Mr. Johnson we talked about how most entertainment books we read don't follow one of the four modes of literature. I decided to make that the topic of this book response. My focus is sentence fluency.

Everyone likes to read a good book, and lets face it, what we have to read for school aren't always what teenagers consider to be "good books." The books we want to read typically are filled with adventure or romance. These book normally don't follow one of the four modes of literature. For instance, Runaway, by Meg Cabot. This book is filled with with romance and action but doesn't adhere to any of the four modes of literature.

The book starts off with the main character, Nicki being kidnapped to an island in the middle of nowhere. She's clearly not in control. hat be said, the only mode it could be is irony. Shortly after she is kidnapped, she is rescued, and returned back to civilization. At this point of the book tragedy, because she had a rise to power. It goes back and fourth between modes before ending in romance.

Although books like these are entertaining, that is the only purpose of them, to entertain. Runaway was an eye-opening book, but in reality had no real purpose to it. Purposeful books are made to teach a lesson. And although what we have to read isn't always fun, we can learn something valuable from it.

"First Novels Club: Ten new mini-reviews!." First Novels Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://www.firstnovelsclub.com/2011/06/ten-new-mini-reviews.html>.

Winter

Author's Note: I decided to go on National Geographic to find a picture to write a poem about. I thought this was beautiful and reminded me of winter... My focus is word choice.


Silence,
The quiet waters,
and reticent trees.

Stillness,
Everything is motionless,
very calm and idle.

Serenity,  
The peace is comforting,
you feel at ease.

"Photo of the Day: Best Pictures of November 2011, Gallery - National Geographic." Photography and Photos of the Day - National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/best-pod-november-2011/#/blue-pond-japan_42696_600x450.jpg>. 

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Katniss Everdeen

Author's Note: This is my final response to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. When Katniss volunteered to be tribute, not only was she risking her life, but she was also risking to lose the little freedom that she had. This is what I decided to write about in this piece. My focus is voice.

A survey shows that 90 countries in the world are free, 58 countries are considered partly free, and 45 countries are not free at all. According to the survey 23% of the people living in the world are under strict laws about political and religious rights. We don't. In the book the Hunger Games, the country Katniss lives in is under very strong laws. One of the laws states that any child from the ages 12-18 are put in the drawing to become a part of the annual Hunger Games. Fortunately we don't have any laws like that in the United States.But we take for granted the freedom that we have.

When Katniss heard Prim's name called at the Reaping, I can't imagine what she felt. She knew that nothing would be the same. There would be no more hunting with Gale, no more trips to the Hob, and she could never have a normal life again. If there was any chance she made it out of the Hunger Games  alive, she would still have to be apart of them by mentoring in them. In the United States, we don't know what this could be like. We've grown up in freedom.

Katniss, started off with little freedom to begin with. The one thing she did for fun was hunt with Gale, but even that she did illegally. Here in the United States, we do have laws, but none of them are nearly as strict as the ones  that Katniss had where she lived. Even a simple thing like hunting with a friend, she could've been killed for if she was caught. The freedom we have in the United States is truly a blessing, one we take for granted.


"Freedom in the World, 2007 — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0930918.html>. 

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Author's Note: I wrote this poem while I was sitting in my room, while I was looking at a picture of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I wrote this poem about Audrey, and the confidence she showed in the picture. My focus is word choice.







The glistening pearls,
dangling from her neck.
The long black gloves
In which her hands beck.

Her silky hair,
Piled high on her head.
Her beautiful eyes,
Stare straight ahead.

A glowing smile,
A beautiful face.
The long black dress,
Showing her style and grace.



Genre. "Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast At Tiffany's Poster at Barewalls.com." Posters, Art Prints, Vintage Posters & Canvas Art at Barewalls.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.barewalls.com/pv-439457_Audrey-Hepburn--Breakfast-At-Tiffanys.html>. 

 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Green Bay Packers

Author's Note: I had this piece started before the Packer's lost, but they have still had a really good season. I decided to write about the Packers and their winning streak. My focus is sentence fluency.

Are you a Packers fan? Well even if you're not, you have to be impressed by how well the team has been doing. The Packers have won 13 games in a row, guaranteeing them a spot in the playoffs. If they win, it will be the second year in a row that they have made it to the Super Bowl. If they win the Super Bowl, it will be the second time in history where they have won back to back Super Bowls. This would bring a lot of pride to Wisconsin.


Winning back to back Super Bowls has only been done eight times before. For those of you who don't know, the Super Bowl is the championship for the NFL (National Football League). Not only would it be a rare win, but it would also be the second time it's been done by the Packer's.



Whether you prefer the Viking's or the Packer's, you will have to admit that the team as had an astonishing season. With only one loss, the team has proved that they can and will be champions again. As the playoffs are coming up, the team prepares to have yet another victory.


"Green Bay Packers Desktop Background Wallpapers - Packers Logo, Aaron Rodgers, and more - Designed by Gabriel Perez." Gabriel Perez Graphic Artist: Logo, Website, and Graphic Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. <http://www.gpmedialabs.com/green-bay-packers-desktop-wallpapers.php>.

Monday, January 2, 2012

2012

Author's Note: Every year for New Year's, people make resolutions, goals they want to achieve over the new year. I wrote about my resolutions for 2012. My focus is word choice.

Every year, thousands of people across America make New Year's Resolutions. For many people, these consist of weight loss plans, learning something new, or to start exercising more. Even though so many people make New Year's Resolutions, not all of them keep them. This year I am going to make a better effort to keep my New Year's Resolution. Keeping them would not only be an achievement but it would also be cool to learn or accomplish something new.

One of my New Year's Resolutions would be to master my jump serve in volleyball by the end of the year. This would give me more confidence in the game and  improve my skill a lot. I would also like to keep up with the reading plan for our church, this year, we have been given a day by day reading plan and I would like to follow it through the whole year. Another resolution I have is to not put my writing off to the last day, and get it done early.

Everyone has resolutions. Whether write them done or not, everybody has a goal for the new year. They are so helpful because it helps people understand what they really want to accomplish over the year. And what better time to start? It's a new year, a time to start over. So what are your resolutions?



below:, Submitting your email address. "Happy New Year 2012 Wallpapers HD | Wallpapers Cafe." Wallpapers Cafe. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2012. <http://wallpapers-cafe.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-new-year-2012-wallpapers-hd.html>.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Adoption

Author's Note: Over break, my friend's family adopted a little girl, and I got to go to the ceremony. It was a great experience and I loved seeing the emotion of the adopting family. I decided to write a Cinquain poem about having a good family. My focus for the poem is voice.



Family
People Who Care.
They will always be there,
and they will always protect you.
Love




fun, providing a, interactive, learning environment, and time management for kids. "Focus On The Family." Take Control with Time Management. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. <http://www.effective-time-management-strategies.com/focus-on-the-family.html>.
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