"Brave They Stand"

Brave they stood when they said goodbye to loved ones,

not knowing if they would return

Brave they stood when they set out to fight for peace,

and to protect our country

Brave they stood when they saw everyone around them scream in agony,

and collapse on the ground like the twin towers on 9/11

Brave they stood covered in dirt, gasping for air,

 remembering all the things they accomplished,

and wishing they could be back home to see their loved ones again

Brave they stood after trying to recover from injuries, wounds, scars,

and having to deal with memories of grief and misery

Brave they stood, and they will keep standing,

 because brave is what they are and what they will forever be

"Springfield Money Stolen from HMS"

         On October 18 there was an unfortunate accident that took place on the school Heritage Middle School. The  Springfield field trip money was stolen. 8th grade students were informed the next day at breakfast by their homeroom teachers. Ms. Hauer made a video explaining what had happened, she then shared it with all eighth grade teachers, but she didn't give much information. Ms.Hauer had many things to say about this incident, one was, “This is not a time to point fingers, but to tell teachers any information you know.” The money was stolen from the school but the exact location is unknown. Students were very distraught and devastated because they wanted to go on the field trip. Many students from Heritage were trying to determine who was the colporate that stole the money, so they started pointing fingers. Heritage students were also trying to put the puzzle together and figure out why the person did it. This is not the first time something like this happens. If anybody knows any useful information report it on “Stop It” or tell a teacher.

End of Quarter Reflection

     One goal I would like to accomplish this year is my 10 book challenge. So far I have read 4 books: Paper Towns, The Slight Edge, The Giver, and Of Mice and Men. I am almost done with a book called For One More Day by Mitch Albom. One strategy I am currently using is writing down what chapter I’m going to leave off and also I write down the day. For example: Monday leave off at chapter 5, Tuesday leave off at chapter 11. This strategy helps me manage my time wisely so I can read more books, I will probably change my 10 book challenge to a 15 book challenge. Another strategy I use is: an hour before I go to bed I read the chapters I have to read so the next day during school I can keep reading where I left off. This strategy helps me not forget what happened in the book and it helps me finish the chapters I have to read for the day. I also keep a list of the books I read in my ELA notebook, and on my IPad along with a short summary of what the book is about. I do this because I’m going to read many books and I will forget what the other books were about, and there is honestly no point in reading a book if you are going to forget the message it's trying to tell. I am proud of myself because I didn’t read a lot before, and now I am reading almost everyday and this helps me improve my vocabulary and my reading skills.

        I think that my writing has progressed in many good ways because I have learned many new things. Before I came to eighth grade I was okay at writing. I knew that I had to start with a topic sentence, and I knew how to introduce quotes and all those things but I was always subjective. Now I know how to be objective in my writing, I also learned about TIQA. This has helped me become better at writing because I know that I was writing the wrong way, so now I can fix my mistakes and I can write so much faster. I learned about different types of writing and now I know how to use them. I am looking forward to learn more things because it has helped me improve my writing skills for high school and college.

       There are many goals I have for ELA in the next 3 quarters. Some goals are finishing my book challenge and learn new words, finish work on time, get more 4s than 3s, improve my reading/writing skills, organize my notes/papers. I think that these goals will help me improve because when I finish my book challenge I will know more words and this helps me expand my vocabulary. Finishing work on time is important because if I don't do that then I will have to work 2x harder and I will be behind. I will also like to learn new things and improve my reading and writing skills because this will help me understand pieces of writing and I will have a higher Lexile level.

Book vs. Movie

      The Giver movie and The Giver book have many differences. One event from the book was that Jonas was going to leave the community, but he was following a plan. In the movie Jonas also was trying to leave the community, but the set of events were different. For example in the book Jonas and the giver were together and, “It was late at night, now. They had talked and talked. Jonas sat wrapped in a robe belonging to The Giver, the long robe only elders wore. It was possible, what they had planned(155).” Jonas influenced The Giver so he could help him do what was right, and they both worked together like friends. Jonas left the community really easily, and no one noticed until the next day. In the film Jonas found out Gabe was going to be released so he decided to take Gabe with him and cross the border of memories. When Jonas was going to leave Asher caught him, Jonas physically attacked him and went to look for The Giver. The speaker knew what was going on and she started a search for him. Jonas went to the Nurturer Center to get Gabe and Fiona. Fiona helped distract the guards that were chasing them and the Jonas left the community. This event was really different from the book because Jonas is the one that came up with the plan, he also didn't have to worry a lot about people seeing him in the night. Also in the book Gabe was still living with Jonas when he decided to leave, and it made it easier for him to runaway to elsewhere. This made the ending of the movie have more of a dramatic vibe, the ending of the book was just full of suspense.

      The director did a good job at directing the movie, but there is things he changed too much and it doesn't seem like the movie is based on the novel. The director changed the sequence of events and he even created new events. For example in the movie Fiona and Jonas had like a romance going on, and Jonas and The Giver weren't as close friends; also Jonas wanted to quit being the receiver because he wasn't brave enough. I didn't really like this because Jonas was portrayed in the book as brave, courageous, and selfless, but in the movie he was just selfless and kind of courageous because he set out to cross the border of memory. Another reason I think the movie doesn't  seem based on the novel is because Fiona and Asher had different jobs and different personalities. In the book Jonas said, “Asher's such fun. But he doesn't really have any interests. He makes a game out of everything(17).” This quote shows that Asher's personality changed because in the movie there was a scene where Fiona and Jonas were about to go down a metal slide and Asher didn't want to join. Even though the director did change many things I think he did a good job because everything tied up perfectly at the end.

      I think The Giver book is the medium that most impacted my understanding. I think this because when I was reading I was also annotating and that helped me notice many things. One thing I noticed when reading the book was that the author was using Lily as a source of information because I learned things from her. In the book at the family reunion Lily was talking with Jonas and she said, “I don't know. They acted like... like...". ‘Animals?’ Jonas suggested. he laughed. ‘That's right,’Lily said, laughing too. ‘Like animals.’ Neither child knew what the word meant, exactly,but it was often used to describe someone uneducated or clumsy, someone who didn't fit in(5).” This quote shows that the author used Lily to tell us that there are no animals in the community. Another reason the book impacted more my understanding is because the movie just gave us everything when it started. For example at the beginning of the movie they told us the rules directly, and they told us everything directly and since it is a movie I missed some parts, but in the book I did it in my own pace.

The Giver Analysis

      In The Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas, the main character is a dynamic character. Before Jonas met the giver he only cared about himself, but when he met the giver he started to become selfless. Jonas used to care only about what he needed and he was only concerned about himself, “Though he had been reassured by the talks with his parents, he hadn't the slightest idea what assignment the elders would be selecting for his future, or how he might feel about it when the day came(19).” In this quote Jonas is talking about the ceremony of 12, his best friend Asher will also be in the ceremony of 12 but Jonas only cared about what assignment he was going to get, and how he was going to feel about it. Jonas wasn’t thinking about what assignment his friend would get, and how Asher would feel if he got an assignment he didn't want. Later on in the story, after Jonas meets the giver, Jonas learned what “release” meant. Jonas knew that his friend, Fiona, was working in the house of the old, he also knows that the old get “released”. In page 153 Jonas realized that Fiona will feel hurt after knowing the truth because she loves the old, “...Does she know yet? What will she do when she finds out? How will she feel?”. This quote shows that Jonas cares about other people's feelings and he wasn’t like that before he met the giver. Another reason why Jonas is a dynamic character is because he thought his community was a good community, and he wasn’t wise before he met the giver. For example Jonas said that he was teached to never lie. Then Jonas's father lied to him about release and Jonas realized that others could've lied to him too. This realization helped him see that his community is not what it seems, and he understood everything better.



         The theme of The Giver by Lois Lowry is importance of an individual. This theme connects to the plot because before Jonas met the giver he was just like everyone else in the community. After Jonas met the giver, and he had memories about the past, Jonas started deciding for himself and he chose his own path. For example in page 174 Jonas thinks to himself, “Then, when he had had a choice he made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving…. If he had stayed he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love”. This quote connects to the plot because everyone in the community get their life chosen/decided for them, but Jonas started to think about everything the other people didn't have, and so Jonas chose to leave so everyone in the community had memories. If Jonas didn't think for himself then he would probably still be in the community. Another reason the theme of The Giver is importance of an individual is because the Giver also started deciding for himself. This changed the plot of the story because he helped Jonas come up with the plan, and so they could change the community. The giver also made other decisions in the book , “I'm grateful to you, Jonas, because without you I would have never figured out a way to bring about the change. But your role now is to escape. And my role is to stay (162).” The giver chose to stay because he was going to help the people process the memories so the wasn't chaos. If the giver had chosen to go with Jonas then probably the community would be worst because they didn't know how to deal with the memories.  There is many other reasons the theme of The Giver is importance of an individual, these are just 2.