6 Months of 6th Grade

1. What you have achieved - both academically and socially.

- Academically, I have been able to get good grades. Also I have been working hard for classes, in and out of school. During class I listened for instructions and at home I would study for tests or I would just simply go over the things I learned. Some things I have achieved socially is the fact that I have made more friends. Also in my classes I am able to get along with my classmates pretty well. Although some of my friends have changed, I have kept most of them, and I'm pretty happy with the friends I have now.

2. Skills that you have learned.

- Some skills I have learned in middle school is to use time more effectively. In elementary school I was more used to leaving homework or projects until the end of the day. In middle school now that I have more homework, I have learned to work out my schedule and to sort out my work that needs to be finished. Also I have learned to be more organized. Now that we have lockers, organizing my things is much more easier, but still I have to work on it. At first, I wasn't doing a good job because I was leaving homework at school, and I had to rush through it the next day. Now I have improved although sometimes I still make mistakes.

3. Skills that you want to learn.

- Some skills that I want to learn is to be more careful. It might sound simple, but it is not. After every test I double check, but after it is graded and when I look at it, usually the questions I get wrong are ones I know the answer of but ones that I made careless mistakes. I've been getting better at it recently, but I want to get better until I do not make any stupid mistakes at all.

4. Goals for the new year and the next 6 months of schools.

- Some goals I have for myself for the next year and the rest of 6th grade is first of all, to get all As. It would be perfect if I could have a good grade maintained for the rest of 6th grade. I think that would give me a good start for 7th grade in the future. As I said before, I would like to make less careless mistakes. Also I would like to take a break from computers. As I entered 6th grade, I have stopped reading and I am spending more and more time on the computer. These days I rarely go on facebook, but I think I can spend even less time on the computer.

Literature Circles Reflection

Please read the questions very carefully, and answer each question in a well written paragraph (4-6 sentences each!)

1. Did you like the book? Why/Why not?

- I liked my book, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle very much. I liked it a lot because it had much action, and it was a mystery type of book which is my favorite genre. I also liked it because of the main plot, which was from the start very mysterious. My book was a type of book that you had think a lot about, because you had to read the words and think beyond the information the book says. My book was the type of the book where you can think more creatively and try to predict what's about to happen on the next chapter or maybe even the next page. Overall, I loved my book.

2. What was your favorite part?

- My favorite part of the book was when Captain Jaggery fell into the sea and died. I like that part because the writing was all so tense and it was a moment where anything could happen. Captain Jaggery and Charlotte Doyle was on the bowsprit and the captain was trying to kill Charlotte, although he ended up falling off the ship. Another reason I liked it was because it was where the evil man finally got what he deserved. He had been responsible for Mr. Hollybrass's death and although this might sound violent or evil but I quite enjoyed reading the part where Captain Jaggery died.

3. What do you think the message of the story was?

- I think the message the author tried to send was to do what you yourself think is right. I think it tells us to do what we believe. There were several times in the book Charlotte showed that such as the part where she decided that she belonged to the crew, but I think the author made his point the strongest at the end of the book. At the end of the book Charlotte knew that her heart belonged with the crew back at the Seahawk and she made a big decision of returning to the ship, which perfectly shows that she had made her own decision without her father or any other person's opinion interfering.

4. How did you like the Literature Circles assignment? What suggestions would you make to improve it?

- I liked the Literature Circles assignment because it allowed me to think deeper about the book. In elementary school we stopped chapters by chapters but I never really thought so much about the story when doing previous literature circles. I think I enjoyed it first of all because I had a very interesting group, but also because of the elements of the assignment. Although it's an "assignment", I liked it very much because when we think more about the plot and characters we can understand more and uncover more of the story. Also when doing our discussions, we were able to gather more ideas than we already had, and we could think of the alternatives. One thing I wish I could change is how often we did it. I wish we could have had more discussions in our books.

5. After talking with your classmates, which of the novels that you did not read, would you like to read next?

- Out of the five books of choices we have, now I have 3 books so I don't really have much choice. Actually I didn't really talk so much about the literature circle books because my friends either had the same books as me or they had a book I had already read. But if I had to choose a book I would like to read next time, I would choose Thunder Cave. First of all, when Mrs. Narsiman read the blurb at the back of the books, Thunder Cave just sounded more interesting to me than Maroo of the Winter Caves. Also I haven't really read books with backgrounds similar to Thunder Cave which is Africa, and I would like to try it.

The T.C.C.D. Week 5

The final blog post is a choice of activities: 1. Write a prediction as to what will happen to the character next (The missing chapter). 2. Write a letter to the character . Include any questions that you may want to ask the character, provide specific evidence from the novel. 3. Write a letter to author. Information that could be included.. Where did the author get their ideas? What inspired them to write the novel? Questions that you may have? Minimum requirements - 3 well structured paragraphs.

- Dear Mr. Andrew Jaggery,
My name is Jared Matthews from Oxford University, and I am a student studying psychology. I have heard your case through my dear cousin Barlow. He has written me a letter about his journey to Providence from England. He has told me the whole story from the start to the end. Yes, about the death of Mr. Hollybrass, and the total truth. I am very interested in you, and not really the crew or the unnatural girl. They might seem a bit rude, but I have some very important questions for you. They are pretty basic.

So my first question is - what do you think of that unnatural Charlotte Doyle and did you ever on the voyage happen to like her? Listening to what Barlow had told me, he makes her sound as if she's a good girl, but I don't really think so. I mean the way she acted at the start of the voyage, what is that if not spoiled? Barlow has told me that she had not approved the ship or the crew and had only liked you at first because you were all nice dressed and you acted like you were from the high society world. Also Barlow later mentioned that she's just a talented girl, but I think she is totally unnatural. I wonder how many high society girls can use a knife so well with just a quick instruction. I have just read the words, unlike you who have lived it. Could you please tell me how she really was?

Here is my second thought. I think of the Doyle girl as unnatural, but that does not stop me from thinking that you could have been a bit more smart. There are several times where I think that you did not act the smartest (please do not be offended). First of all, when I read that you killed the first mate, I was shocked by your stupidity because in my opinion that was a horrible choice to make since I thought that someone would take it as suspicious since it had happened in the middle of the storm. But what I considered even more stupid was the fact that you chose to blame it on the unnatural girl. Of course the story would be very believable since it was her dirk, but did you really think that you would be able to get away with it completely without the girl ever noticing? I do not know what you were thinking, but as soon as I read that part I thought that the Doyle girl would somehow stand up and win against you. But anyway my question is, what were you exactly thinking and what were you expecting when you made these choices? You clearly had not made the brightest choices like killing Cranick and Hollybrass. You ought to have expected someone to dislike your actions.

And this is my last question. What were you hoping to gain from the voyage in the first place? And didn't you ever doubt Keetch? After all, Keetch could have told the crew about everything including the fact that you blackmailed him. You might have blackmailed him, but that doesn't necessarily mean he would just keep his mouth shut. According to Barlow he was always nervous and unsure. What made you so confident that you had perfect control over Keetch? I would like to know. So back to the other question. What were you hoping to get? Is it that you just love sailing so much or is there another reason as I am expecting? This doesn't have anything to do with the ironic voyage itself, but may I ask what has inspired you to become captain? Is it because you like order and you like to be at the top and control other people? That is what I am guessing so far but I would like to have the exact words from you.

Now, I hope I haven't disturbed you so much. I really hope for a reply from you, since I am doing a very big project. Although you don't exactly have to, I would appreciate it very much. One last thing to say, if you're having troubles with your mind because of my letter or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me. We have very skilled doctors. Oxford University, Block F, Room 258.

Sincerely, Jared Matthews

The T.C.C.D Week 3

Now that all grade 6 students are becoming used to Literature circle discussions, the amount of A+ grades for discussion sheets are increasing. Responses and important passages show growth in the analysis of the novel, the plot and themes.
In all of the novels studied the main character(s) have changed .
In this blog post, please write a well structured post about how the main character(s) has changed and provide evidence from the novel to support your ideas!


-First of all, Charlotte has changed dramatically since the start of the book. At the start of the book, Charlotte was a proper young lady with good manners, and in my opinion a bit spoiled. When she first boarded the ship she did not approve the ship and the crew at all, which made it easier for the captain to capture and fool her. At first she was too soft hearted.
But as time passed and she got used to the crew, she did become a bit more accustomed to the crew's behaviors, but still she thought it as low and still approved the gentleman like behavior from the captain a lot more. It's pretty much shown on page 84 that she was still more on her ladylike side.
As the mutiny failed and Charlotte became part of the crew, she had totally changed from the girl she was when she first stood in front of the ship. She now was nowhere near the ladylike manner she used to have. She was totally part of the crew, and she had become slightly more rude (but not in a bad way). She could also do the harsh work along with the crew, something she could never do before, and she became more bolder, learning up how to stand up to the captain.
But Charlotte Doyle wasn't the only main character that changed a lot. Captain Jaggery changed a great deal too (or at least against Charlotte, he had been the same to the crew all along). In the start of the book, Captain Jaggery acted all fancy-like and nice to Charlotte since he needed her on his side. But as Charlotte began to slide to the crew's side, he started being not at all nice to Charlotte, and he became more and more ruder, and finally he treated her harder than he treated the crew. Captain Jaggery did not like Charlotte at all- he called her bad names and he hated her for embarrassing him before the crew.
This is my opinion on how the main characters changed while the story went on. Of course there are other characters who changed as well and there's also a bit more to it in the change of Charlotte and Captain Jaggery. But this is what I think and I think it covers up pretty much the basics and the important parts.

The T.C.C.D. Week 2

Classrooms full of excitement, novels and sheets in hand, for the second week 120 sixth graders were ready for their second Literature Circle.
Questions could be heard as students came into class; "Will Charlotte trust Captain Jaggery now that she knows about the round robin?", How much longer can Brian survive? Will Julie survive with the wolf pack?....
In post #2, choose one the important passages on your discussion sheet and in a well structured blog post write about :
1. Your discussion with your group about the passage.
2. How your understandings changed after the discussion.
3. Any new insights that you gained from the discussion.

Our group's second literature circle discussion was another success, and my brain was going crazy. Just like our first discussion ideas came out like mad and it was creepy. Juanita and Abby had finished the book and looking at their faces I really wanted to finish the book quickly.

The passage that I think was the most important is the pages from 45 to 48. I wasn't the only one who chose this passage, the group also agreed that this part was important. It is very important because where all the secrets from the past is revealed. It might not have meant so much to Charlotte since she trusts the captain a lot, but it is where the readers are clearly informed of how evil Captain Jaggery is. Although Charlotte tries not to listen to Zachariah, readers are smarter and we can definitely know from this part that Zachariah is a caring man, very different from the captain.

My understanding did get better, however did not change as much as before in our group's first discussion. We pretty much had almost the same ideas for the book, but still quite different. After the discussion I was able to add up my previous details and the other information I had heard to give myself a prediction about the next few chapters.

There weren't really new insights I gained after the discussion. I pretty much had the same basic ideas, but it had become much bigger with my group's ideas added, and it had also become much clearer because some certain thoughts I had I couldn't really explain, but after the discussion I was able to do it. This second discussion was more comfortable for me because this time I knew exactly what to do, and it was way less confusing.

The T.C.C.D. Week 1

-The Task ~ Post Literature Circle - Blog Post - The aim of Literature circles is to provide a way for students to take part in discussions, collaborate constructively and reason critically. We are sure during your groups discussion that your have added to your understanding of the characters, the setting and the plot of your chosen novel.
In a well structured blog post, reflect and write about the following;
1. How you discussion helped your understanding of the novel.
2. Connections that you made during your discussion
3. Predictions
A quality response does not retell your discussion. Minimum requirements - 3 paragraphs.


-This first literature circle discussion has definitely given me an impact on my opinion and ideas of my book. As a matter of fact I actually felt stupid after our group's discussion because Peggy and Juanita had ideas I hadn't even thought about. After reading the first two chapters of the book my understanding was pretty simple. Charlotte Doyle is being taken to her ship by a man who calls himself Mr. Grummage. The reason the two porters ran away is because the Seahawk and Captain Jaggery is infamous for something and Mr. Grummage knows about it too. I thought that according to the end of chapter two that Mr. Keetch was lying about Captain Jaggery being absent, and that the captain is planning something, Mr. Grummage is in it too, and that not every single one of the crew's in it. But after talking to Juanita and Peggy, I found that their ideas were also highly possible and I started to understand the book way better than before.

- During the discussion, we all agreed that it must have been Captain Jaggery Mr. Keetch was talking too. Also according to the descriptions of the ship we thought that the Seahawk might actually be a pirate ship. Another thing was that we figured the other two families must be held hostage on the ship. This was different from my previous idea because at first I thought the two families had refused to come because they knew something about the ship too. Some other connections we made were that Zachariah and the rest of the crew is evil since they are acting all grumpy like, and that also Zachariah wants to harm Charlotte.

- Some predictions our group and myself made were pretty wild. First of all our group thought that Captain Jaggery might be actually on the ship, and that he and the crew is planning something evil. Some predictions I made myself was that the Captain is planning something and that most but not all of the crew's working for it.

- This literature circle discussion was very exciting for me because well first of all our group has a very interesting book, and we came up with tons of ideas, some stupid and some very thoughtful. In my opinion it is very different from Elementary school where we just sat down, read, talked a little and got distracted by other topics like 'Which one first- chicken or egg?'. Also this book makes me and without doubt the rest of my group think a lot, so it can be confusing but still fun at the same time.

What do YOU call courage?

-During your journey through ‘life’ something will happen in which you learn something new or surprising about yourself. In the book Call it Courage Mafatu heads out on a journey to prove to his friends and father that he is not a coward. This journey will change his life.For some of us courage is facing our fears, reaching the top of the climbing wall, mastering a skill or just helping others in need. In your next blog entry tell about a time when you found out something new or surprising about yourself you had not known before. Tell what happened and how it changed you. Make sure to describe the experience in detail and use sensory images so the reader can picture it.

-In some point of life, you eventually have to face what you fear the most, even if it might be the most pathetic or smallest/biggest fear ever. That is showing courage, and the way you show is different for people. It might not even be facing your fear, and it might be just accomplishing something new. I can think of some time that I tried something new although it was nothing compared to Mafatu when he killed a shark and a wild boar and etc.

The time I showed courage to myself was when I was about 9 (?) years old. This event actually has to do with swimming. I was in fourth grade in Korea, and I used to take swimming lessons. I used to go to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays every week. But I had to change my English Academy schedule so it changed to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. My new swimming teacher was way tougher than my old teacher. What added on to that was the fact that classes ended the latest on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also you can probably guess about Saturdays. Anyways, it was (or at least I think it was) a Tuesday when my teacher told my class to do something that I thought was really impossible.

The directions were quite simple; we had to walk to the other side of the pool and then dive in. Well of course, that's the easy part. After that we had to swim across the 25m pool in freestyle with only one breathtaking. As soon as I heard that, my heart leaped. I couldn't do it. But I had to. Our class was the highest class (of that time period) because we were in lane 6. There were 6 lanes in total, and ours was at the very right. My classmates and I lined up. As I waited, I stared at the cold, blue water. Finally my turn came. I dived in, trying to go as far as possible. I also tried to float as long as possible underwater without doing any strokes. My hands touched the surface. I was at about only a quarter of the whole length, and yet it felt so long. I swam as fast as I could, and finally took my only breathe. Actually to be honest, it wasn't my only. I had sneaked in another breathe because I just couldn't bare it. I had cheated, and I prayed my teacher hadn't noticed.

When I got out of the water, my teacher patted my back. I was guessing that he hadn't noticed. After a minute, I found out that I got lucky. Some other people had decided to cheat and had gotten caught. So for the punishment, we had to do it all over again. This time I promised myself that I wouldn't breath a second breathe unless I was about to drown. It happened rapidly. I tried to do it all over again, leaping as far as possible and gliding through the water. This time believe or not I didn't even need the second breathe. I had done it. I didn't even know I was doing it while I was doing it. :D From then and on, I learned that even if I fail at first, the most important thing is to try. It takes courage to take a chance. But guess what- somebody cheated again and we had to do it several more times. :P

I'm pretty sure that this wasn't the first time I did something where I had to push myself. But it's the one that came up to me the first and it's the one that I remember most vividly. It is very hard to push yourself to take a risk, but sometimes you will bump into a situation where you have no choice. But you might notice that courage isn't something that big at times. You might even show courage and not know it. This is what I call courage- trying new things. What do you call courage?

MS, so far...

1.The successes that you have had so far ~ things that you believe you are coping very well with in Middle School.

-I think the successes that I have had so far in middle school are getting to classes on time, and doing good jobs on assignments and handing them on time. I try to do a good job on assignments because most of them go into grades and it's my first year in middle school and I want to start fresh. Also I think I am doing things very well with the lockers. Since I am in band, I have a total of three lockers and I don't really have a hard time trying to remember the combinations. I think my main locker is pretty neat and it feels good to have things organized. Overall I think I'm doing pretty well in middle school so far.

2.The things that you know that you need to work harder on/pay attention to.

-I think I need to work on getting the homeworks done faster. I do turn them in on time, but I have a habit of leaving it until the last minute. Sometimes I have the time to do it but I get lazy and I do it at school the next day. :P I think that since I am in middle school now I probably should get started on fixing my old habits. I guess that's something I should work harder on- using time more effectively! :D

MY FAMILY!!

hey try this!!!

it's pretty cool.

Which Social Scientist?

-Over the past week, we've been talking a lot about being Social Scientists, and how to make observations and inferences. Now, we want to know, if given the opportunity which of the five Social Scientist jobs you can imagine yourself doing. Perhaps you love dinosaurs, or digging in dirt? Maybe you're really interested in the climate, landforms, buildings and roads? Or do you just love it all?Either way, after all of our hard work in class, we would love to know. As all great social scientists do, remember to include lots of facts and evidence in your blog post, and include a graphic of your chosen social scientist job as a visual clue for others.

-If I was given the opportunity to become one of the 5 social scientists, I would definitely become an archaeologist. I would like to be an archaeologist because I really like studying history and I've actually wanted to be one later on since fourth grade. Well, you can also study as a historian but I'm just more fond of the job archaeologist and it just sounds a bit more interesting to me. Also it would be really exciting to go to other countries to look for artifacts and examine them. It would be fun to discover what ancient country and what time period it was from.

An archaeologist is also important because they look for remains of history, observe it, and they might find some new fascinating facts. I would love to search for old artifacts and maybe find a lost piece of history and know it before anybody else. Actually I guess that a paleontologist wouldn't be too bad either. Taking a look and studying fossils would be pretty awesome too. But anyways, my mind is set for archaeology.. Anyone else interested?!

http://www.physorg.com/news137326234.html

August 31st, 2009

Copyright- PhysOrg.com 2003-2009

About Me!!

1. First, introduce yourself. Write a brief paragraph about who you are and where you are from.

- My name is Hyo Jin Kim and I am from Korea. I am 11 years old, I have one older brother in 9th grade, and I have been in Malaysia since the second semester of fourth grade. My favorite color is red and my favorite TV shows are the Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Drake & Josh and also The Amazing Race. I like to read books in my free time. My favorite books are the House of the Scorpion and the Mysterious Benedict Society.

2. What are the last three books you have read? (Include authors names please!)

- 1. The Ultimate Secret (1) - Bernard Werber
2. The Ultimate Secret (2) - Bernard Werber
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

3. What is the last movie you have seen?

- The last movie I have watched is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was fun like the rest of the series (except for the 5th one where they shortened it too much).

4. What is one academic goal you have for this year?

- The one academic goal I have this year is to get good grades like all As (including A-, A, A+..) although it would change depending on how the teachers give the grades out.

5. What is one social goal you have for this year?

- My social goal for this year is probably to not hang out with only the same friends and actually also to not speak any Korean at school.

6. What is your favorite vacation memory?

-I'm not sure if it's my favorite vacation, but the most recent vacation to Kota Kinabalu was pretty fun. What made it special was the fact that my cousins came over to go on the vacation with us. During the vacation we went to Mount Kinabalu, rode Banana boats, went Kayaking and also played in the ocean.

7. List 5 adjectives to describe yourself.

-Patient, Competitive, Cheerful (mostly), Athletic, Powerful!! :D