Blog For Week Of Feb. 23

Article of the Week

"Apple's new diverse emoji characters"

         
            Apple is releasing new emojis to show the diversity of the world. They have made six different skin tones to the people emojis. They have also made some same-sex family emojis. Not only did they made different skin toned emojis, but they also made a lot more of flags from all over the world. Even the emojis like the princesses, and the construction workers will all get different skin tones. There is going to be more than 300 new emojis! All of the new emojis are included with the new version of iOS 8.3.

            The author's purpose for writing this article is to inform the readers by telling us about how they are making new emojis to show the diversity of the world. In the article it states, "In Apple's next update of emoji icons, a number of the tiny cartoon people are now available in six different skin tones." This shows that this article is informing us about the new emojis. The article also states, "In Apple's next update of emoji icons, a number of the tiny cartoon people are now available in six different skin tones." This shows that the article is informing us about the new diverse emojis.

            A message in this article that I found important is, "Apple is also adding 32 new country flags and an expanded selection of family icons that include more same-sex couples." I think this is important for the world to hear because everyone has a certain race, and it is not fair that only one is mainly shown from the Apple emojis. I also think this is important, because a lot of people are same-sex couples, and by having these emojis a lot more people will feel more included.

Dermatologist 
Connotation: The connotation of this word is neutral, because it is not bad thing, but I don't think it would be considered a good thing either.
Denotation: the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of skin disorders.

I commented on Devin's, Bianey's, and Anthony's blog.

Global Collaboration Reflection

            Global Collaboration  My level of global awareness before entering 7th grade was not very high. I think that being in Mrs. Larson's class, and having to read Article of the Week's has improved my global awareness significantly. Our projects with our Swedish, and Indian pen pals did change my level of global awareness, because I got to learn more about what they do there. I've learned things from my pen pals that are different from here and things that are the same here. Something I learned from a video that was different from here is that they don't wear shoes in school! One thing I did not know about India is that a very popular sport there is called Kho Kho.

            My perspective on other cultures changed a lot from the global collaboration. I did not know that one of India's official language is English. I thought it was just Hindi. Also, I thought that schools in Sweden would be a lot more similar to our schools. They don't wear uniforms, and they have a much better lunch room. They have a class which we don't have, and that is Home Economics. I learned about this game in India they play a lot. It is called Kho Kho. I did some research on it and it seems very fun.

            The most interesting/funny thing I have have learned so far is that my Swedish pen pal's school does not wear shoes. It is obviously normal for them, but to us in America it seems a little weird. In Sweden the students there probably think it is weird that we do wear shoes in school. I wonder why they don't wear shoes in school? I also wonder if it is mandatory to not wear shoes, and is this for every school in Sweden? It is very interesting to learn about things like this that is different from here in America.

I commented on Jared's, Justin's, and Rebecca's blog.

Blog for week of 2/16/15

Prompt: Would you recommend this book to friend? Why or why not?

            I would recommend the book Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby to friends because it is very interesting and suspenseful. In the beginning of the book it talks about how Solveig's family is very poor. That is one problem you think about a lot because you don't know if something good or something bad is going to happen with that situation. It's suspenseful because they are waiting for a ship to arrive that has supplies in it for them. That is great, but the problem with that it that the ocean is going to freeze very soon.

            I really like this book so far because it always leaves me wanting to read more after I finish a chapter or two. The first chapter I read I was engaged in the book already. This book already has left me with lots of predictions on what would happen next. I'm eager to read more of this book because I have so many questions and predictions. 

            I think a lot of my friends would also enjoy reading this book. Since most of my friends are girls I think they would like this book because it shows how a young female gets stronger as time goes by. I think this is great book to talk to with other people who also read it to hear their thoughts because it really is very interesting and exciting. I hope you all read this book because you will enjoy it from just reading the first chapter or two.

I commented on Omar's, Emily's, and Evie's blog.

Poetry Reflection 2/16/15

 Poetry Reflection

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

            This poem is about two roads the speaker in the poem came across. One road was one that was more traveled by people. The other was less traveled by people. He decides to take the more traveled road because he would come back and take the other another day. He then started to doubt he he will ever come back again. The speaker shows great regret towards the end of the poem by saying, "I shall be telling this with a sigh ... I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

            I think the author wrote this poem because near the end of the poem it says, "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." I think this shows regret that he did not take the other road, telling the readers to try to make choices you won't regret. Also this this quote means that he was upset because there could have been so many things that could have happened if he took the other road. Telling the readers that when you make a decision it is hard to go back and change that.

            I can relate to this poem myself because every time I read this poem I always think of the chances I could have taken. Whether it was to go for the ball in volleyball or to not going on a roller coster because you were afraid. In life we all regret things. You may think it is not a big deal, but you could have been missing out on so much. Even if you do regret something you can always think of it the other way, for example, if the speaker in the poem were to take the less traveled on road he would still probably regret not taking the more traveled on road. Some things we just have to deal with in life including regret,

Blog For Week Of Feb. 9

Blog For Week 2/2/15

Book Talk
"Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

Book Talk Transcript
"Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

            The title of the book I am going to talk about is called "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements. This book is about a boy named Bobby and one day he wakes up, and finds himself invisible. The genre of this book is science fiction because you can't really become invisible. The main character is Bobby Philips. Alicia Van Dorn is also a big character in this book. Alicia is a girl who is blind and met Bobby at the library. The main conflict in this story is that they have to find out how to turn Bobby visible again.

            I do recommend this book. This is the kind of book that is very interesting. I think people will enjoy reading this book because it is different and exciting. It is really interesting on how Bobby lives his life like this and how he solves his problems. I also think this is a very exciting book because you almost never know what is going to happen next. This book, in my opinion, is an excellent book, and I think you should read it.


I commented on Julia's, Diego's, and Amelia's blogs.

Gallery Walk Reflection 2/1/15

Prompt: What impression are you left with after out gallery walk? Please reflect in at least two well written paragraphs, using evidence from your graphic organizer.

            The gallery walk allowed us to learn new things about the world that is very important for the world to hear. One thing that really caught my attention was from Emily's AOW. It was about how people are using drones for good and bad. An example is that people are using drones to spy on people. Another example is that a pizza company is going to start using drones to deliver their pizza. In my opinion, I think drones were a bad idea. I think that it is going to be used more for the bad than good in the future.

            Another article that caught my attention was Jeremiah's. His article was about 103 people being arrested because they were child trafficking. I think this is such a horrible thing to do. They would put the babies in large handbags and suitcases to transport them. This is not right at all and people who do this should really think about what they are doing because it is not right to take a child away like that. The police rescued 37 babies who were not being taken cared of properly.