Post #1, April 4th

Name: Lexi Alvarez Title: I Have Lived A Thousand Years
Author: Livia Bitton Jaclson Total Pgs this week: 40 pgs
Date: Friday April 4th Pages 1-40

This book makes me wonder about the title. I know that I have only read 40 pages but still I think that I would sort f get why it is called "I have Lived a Thousand Years". Ellie seems like one of those people that are not very confdenceand she just does not think she is pretty or good at much. I thought that she has a lot of feelings because she has cried aout a couple things now and puted about puting her bike in the hall and she just has a lot of emotions. I think that I would be scared if some police people came to my house in the middle of the night and took stuff from my house. I thougth that was very odd but it is part of the book and I just had to think of what they were really doing at their house just taking there stuff. I think that it is wrong that they are being sort of racis against Jews and only making jews do what they have been doing.

My FAVORITE sentance is "Will I ever again sit behind this narrow desk furrowed by a thousand pencil marks? Will I ever again share secrets and moments of hilarity with my classmates?" I loved this senatnce because I liked how she described the desk with a thousand pencil markings and a norrow desk. I love it when books describe and go more in depth on just one small thing. It just describes how she shares her secrets and moments of hilarity with her friends. I thought it was a good desrciptive sentance.

What do you think Ellie's overall personality in the book so far?

MC Website Project Reflection

Name: Lexi Alvarez
Project Reflection: Post on your Blog
Project Title: MC Website Project
Class: Mrs. Interlandi- Humanities Dates: March 14 2008

*You may type directly in this document and copy and paste into blog, or simply address each of the following in a post. It should be approx. 2 pages worth of writing.

PURPOSE: In this section, explain what you were supposed to learn and what you were supposed to do.
Sentence Starters
-The purpose of this project was to learn about…
-In order to learn about _________________, we had to create/perform/ write/etc…

The purpose of this project was to pick a certain subject and learn more about it with the group that we were with. Our group chose The Crucible for the Project it was good for us because we already knew a lot about it from drama class. We did use some websites for more in depth info. In order to learn more we used every single bit of info that we remembered and used it to make some info on our site. Sometimes our group would have difficulties on trying to figure things out. We would sometimes get passed them but if we couldn't we would actually have to vote. I thought that my team really needed to just set our differences asside and just think of what is really important which was the SITE.

WHAT I LEARNED
In this section, tell what information or skills you learned or improved.
Sentence Starters
-I learned about…
-I explored the concepts/topics of …
-In this project, I learned how to…. (skills)
I learned a lot more about The Crucible and more in depth about it like the characters and and actually more on McCarthyism and mob mentality so I learned from other people from doing the content. I liked doing the Crucible because we already knew alot about it and it was useful to use my own knoweledge for another project and plus the Crucible was meant to be read for the Moral Crouage. So that was what the "MC" web was about (Moral Courage). I learned definatly how to make a site and how much it takes to put into a site and how hard it takes, and how inportant content is. I learned during why Mrs. Interlandi would tell us that content is most imprtant, it is because thats why people go on a site not just to look at awesome grafics its to learn more about this subject. So the content is what mainly people look at on a site so I definatly learned that content was best for our site but not just ours everybody's

REFLECTION
In this section, reflect on your experience. Did you like the project? Why or why not? How did you do? What would you do differently next time?
Sentence Starters
-I enjoyed this project because…
-I feel like I could have done better on this project because…
-Next time, I would...........
I liked this project because I thought that making a web was a great expierence and also doing it on The Crucible because we did it in drama class and the questions that I had about it for drama class were answered during thsi project. I think that I could've done a little bit better actually I think that my whole team could have done better on this site. I think that the grade shows everything that we got on this site and its the most important thing for any project. Next time I would know how imprtant content really is so I would try to just put all my hard work into it and just get as much done as I could or try to be doing something every minute I had. So that I would get a whole lot more done and our site would get the grade it really deserved.

ARTIFACTS
You should have at least one artifact from each project on your DP. What document, picture, or link will you have for this project?

My artifacts our on my site unfortunatly not all of them are but I have the sites that we used in the sources page of my website. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_CRU.HTM this is at least one of the links that I have used for this project.

Post #3

NAME: Lexi Alvarez DATE: March 9th 2008
TITLE: Ida B TIME: 2 hours AUTHORKatherine Hannigan PAGES: 96- 194 TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 98

Brief Discription: I have just gottten everything put together in my book it is all coming together now about why she does such strange things and why she talks to them. She really does not have many friends so the trees are the only friends she can talk to but they talk back so this is basically fantasy type.
Q: Do you think you would read another book by this author? Why or why not?
A: I think that I would because I like how different this little girl in the book is she is just not ordinary but still she is cool. I like how she tells her own story in that book like the kindergarden story to tell the reader how she ended up being homschooled. I just like different books and different characters in that book and thats why I would read another one of her books.
Q: Which character would you like (or not like) to be your friend? Why?
A: I would like to be friends with Ida B because she seems like a cool person to be with even though she is different. Even though she is weird she just seems really cool or like my kind of actual person to hang out with.

VOCABULARY:
1. Formulated- To develop something like a making and expierment to formulate something.
2. Ensuring- To secure or gauruntee something.
3. Decimated- To destroy a great number of something.
4. Pitiful- It means it was bad or it was pitty like.
5. Distress- To have like great pain.

Post #2 Book #2 March 2nd

Name: Lexi Alvarez Date: March 2nd 2008
Title: Ida B Time: 1 hour
Author: Katherine Hannigan Pages: 50- 96
Total Pages: 46



Brief Discription: Ok so this book has continued with Ida B's wacky ways but different now she has told a little bit of a story from when she first went to kindergarden. It tells how she ever started getting homschooled. It explains part of her life to me. But unfortunatly her mother has started getting cancer I about cried when I found that out.

Q#1: What in the book upsets you or bothers you? Why?
A#1: Well there is a part that made me very sad is when Ida B's mom got cancer all of a sudden. It made me really sad because I sort of made a connection to Ida and I just could like imgine how sad I would be if I found out one of my family member's had cancer. Plus Ida B even asked her mom "Mommy are you going to die" and I just got soo sad from that one sentance.
Q#2: What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today?
A#2: "I stayed home and I learned and I had more fun then a kitten with twenty balls of yarn and three pretend mice". That was my sentance I liked how she related it to the kittens and they yarn because I can see that she was really happy. Because I know how my cat is when she gets around yarn and fake mice. This sentance was related to how happy she was to be homschooled.

Vocabulary
1: Truft- A bunch of thing clustered and put together.
2: Hauling- To pull something or force something.
3: Ether- It is liek chemistry or like something is attached.
4: Flitting- To move lightly or drift.
5: Somber- Dark light or gloomy light.

Post #2 Book #1 March 2nd

Name: Lexi Alvarez Date: March 2nd 2008
Title: Ruby Holler Time: first 1 hour
Author: Sharon Creech Pages: 58- 101
Total Pages: 43

Brief Discripition: Ok so I have continued my reading of Ruby Holler so far the two "trouble twins" have moved on to a new house with two older people. The two twins seems like they are not as bad as they were but still are a little bad, like breaking a window and breaking a wooden boat and a bird. It is littler stuff though not as big as it was when they lived with Mr and Mrs Trepid.
Q #1: What do you think about a particular character's actions? Was he/she right or wrong to do that?
A #1: I think that one of the twins Florida, the girl twin, is more of a trouble maker then the boy because she breaks more of the stuff then the boy. She seems like more then the trouble maker then both of the twinsso it surprises me that she is mainly the trouble maker then the boy. Because normally boys are more trouble maker then you think.
Q #2: What advice would you give to a particular character? Why?
A #2: I think that I would tell the twins to be less more trouble makers to the older people because I think that they never had trouble kids like them. In the book it tells that they had very good kids and since bthese kids are kind of bad I think that they should stop. I feel that they should be less of pains to these older people because they need help with these trips to these places.
Vocabulary:
1: Varnish- A surace that is glossy...... I am not sure because I did not find a real answer that I understood.
2: Mite- A small contribution...... had a hard time finding an answer
3: Nigh- Means to like be near in space or time
4: Whittle- To cut or shape something out.
5: Erm- An employee relationship........... did not give a good answer

Post #1 Book number 2

Note: I have read 2 books so I have two books for extra creadit there is book number 1 and book number 2 so....... Thanks!!!

Name: Lexi Alvarez Date: 2-23-08
Title: Ida B Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Author: Katherine Hannigan Pages: 1-51
Total Pages this week: 50

Breef Discription: Ok I am reading this book called Ida B it is about a VERY different girl who literally talks to trees. She is very different such as she eats the same thing for lunch and breakfeast every day. She has to know what her schedule is every day because she wants to know if it is fun or not. Her own dad thinks she is sort of a mystery.

Q: What character do you like most in this book and/or what character do you like least? Why?
A : My favorite character is Ida B just because she is very different to me I have never read a book with this type of character. She is very simple, homschooled, eats the same thing everyday, has to know her schedule just very very simple young girl. Ida B has to be called that not Ida she will be very mad if she is ever called that.
Q: What does this book make you wonder about? Why?
A: This book makes me wonder what she is going to do farther on in the book because it has just started out with her life and what she does every day. But now it has started to make me wonder because it says in the book that there is a storm coming so it makes me wonder if something really bad is going to happen.
Q: What has surprised you in the book? Why?
A: What surprised me is that she talks to trees and different weird things. I thought in the biggining that maybe she would, be sort of normal. But nobody is normal everybody has something different about them she has to have everythign very simple like and I like that about her.

Vocabulary:
1: Rambunctious- This means to be sort of wild loud crazy active or noisy.
2: Awe- An overwhlming feeling like you are maybe just overwhelmed by somthing.
3: Furrow- Like a groove in something like you are making it very smooth or you are just grooving it basically
4: Mcintosh- A variety of blooming apples.
5: Rim- The outer part of something.

Post #1 Book number 1

Note: I read two different books just because I do want extra credit so I think you have to comment on both..... Thanks!!!

Name: Lexi Alvarez Date: 2-22-08
Title: Ruby Holler Time: Hour and 15 minutes
Author:Sharon Creech Pages: 1-58
Total Pages: 57

Breif Discription:I am reading a book called Ruby Haller it is about these two kids who are very bad and do not fallow the rules in there house and so far it tells that they have tryed to move on to different house and they brought them back. So they are very bad, so bad that they had to be brought back to their house.

Q: What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today?
A: My favorite sentance in this book was "One of those peoplewho sent me and Dallas back, as if we were clothing that didn't fit". I liked this because of how she related it to like being returned like clothing because it is sort of like that and I just liked how she related it to something totally different.
Q: If you could change one thing in the book, what would it be? Why would you change it?
A: Even though I have bearly strted reading this book I feel that I would not make the kids as bad as they are. Because in the book it says they were bad since they were 5 years old. I do not really think that a 5 year old smashes down a jar of coins down to the floor out of an adults hands.
Q: What character do you like most in this book and/or what character do you like least? Why?
A: I like this one girl named Florida in my book. I like her because she is not a wimpy girl she is sorta tough she is one of the bad kids in ths story. She does not fallow the rules along with her twin brother Dallas. I like her just because she isn't one of those really not tough girls but she is tough its llike she can handle anything.

Vocabulary:
1: Cockamamie- Cockamamie means it is sort of rediculous or pointless to that person.
2: Putrid- It is word for like an awful smell or you are just disgusted by something.
3: Veering- This means to maybe peer over at something to turn and look.
4: Wrenching- Means to pull or turn something with powerful force.
5: Scuttled- This means to move at a fast pace..... An exapmle would be " I scuttled over as fast as I could".

First they Killed My Father....

QUESTIONS.......
1: What would you do if you heard this, and went through everything, that she did. Would you imfor people about what they are really doing, or would u be quiet?
2: What would YOU do in a situation like this if you were her?
3: If u could only bring1 thing to go to where they went to, what would u bring?
4 : If you had lived in cambodia at them time and you first heard about the khmer rough.. what would be ur first reaction?

Bamboo Grove Final Post

1: I thought that the ending was kind of sad/happy, it was sad because they never ended with seeing their dad. The happy part of the ending was that they found their brother and it was happy for the sisters because they really missed him. Well I found the ending satysfiing because they got to see their brother what after I thought it was not because they did nto get to see their dad. The conflict that got solved was they finally got to see their brother and get to sleep with him knowing that he was their with them. The problem that remains is that they did not get to see their dad and that unfortubatly their mother died.
2: I think that maybe they do this is because they are living a different lifestyle and they want to observe other people's and hpw they act or react differently. I think that if was in their shoes I would deffinatly be observing them because to me they would be different people. Maybe the people act different and respond different and I would probably wanna see hwo they react to something like that.
3: I admire Yoko because I see her as a very strong girl for her age. If I were her I think that I would be scared. She had some pretty rough times in the book such as her mother died she did definatly care but she didn't let it hurt her she kept going to school trying to get money by herself. She seems as a very strong character in this book because she is very young and any thing could affect her and make her very scared but she stuck through it to the end.
4: I definatly learned a lot about the war and how bad it was that you actually had to leave her house and go on a train with a bunch of people and that sometimes you would have to do stuff to yourself just so you wouldn't get hurt. I still would like to know how she really actually went through all this as a young girl and how she could handle all of that. If I were her I would be freaking out and getting all scared I would not be capable of handling that.
5: I ould definatly learn about how sometimes you really half to toughen up to save yourself from getting hurt. How you really have to just control yourself when it comes to really bad situations. Just that sometimes when it comes to bad situations you have to sometimes just toughen up and take it.