week 5 comments

Hayley- short story 

Griff's blog- Harrison Bergeron  

Two summers/ questions

As I am nearing the end of Two Summers, by Amy Friedman, I have come across many questions. All of my questions could be put into different levels. As the book started to progress I was becoming curious about who Eloise and Vivienne really were. There were a few hints that gave away that they were more than just artist friends staying in Summer's dad's house. Later in the book, it is revealed to summer that these people are actually her dad's second family and that she has a secret half family in France. It is revealed differently in both versions of the same summer. But we do find out who they are, so I think that this would be a level 1 question. 

 Jumping to a level 3 question, I would say that one I have would be "how would my life be different according to the different life-changing decisions or events that have happened to me, and what would my life be like if they hadn't have happened?" This question can not be answered, and I do not know if some of the same things that I have discovered would have happened, just in different ways. I can have ideas about this question, but I will never know the answer. This question leads me to what I really enjoy about this book. Because it showed me how much everyday decisions affect how our lives turn out, but even so there are some things that happen no matter what, in whatever path we take.

A day to get away

A long day of hiking through the majestic forests of colorado was a happy day. Delilah and her best friend Skye got to see a side of the world that they had never seen before. Mountains of hope surrounded them. They Were filled with colors from the vibrant wildflowers. Delilah felt in touch with her spirit, as she saw those flowers sway in the wind and Skye saw herself in the reflection of the clear sky in the calm streams. They sat and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and laughed as they retold stories from the past. It was a good day, a day that let them get away.

week 4 comments

mary francis- dear 13 year old 

Sydney- Dear 5 year old 

The stained wedding dress.

I wrote my personal narrative about the recent flooding in Baton Rouge, and how the natural disaster affected me. I wrote about the emotional process of the whole thing and I also wrote about the clean- up the process. I included my mom's wedding dress into the story to make it more interesting and to bring a different kind of meaning to it. I had a lot of fun with using vivid details and using my voice to bring the readers into my story.
  As I read my story out loud to myself, I could really hear my personality and emotions throughout the whole thing. I had to add more to each part, and I had to take a few things out. But overall, It was like an art project for me, Designing and creating a piece of writing that has just the right amount of everything, and is creative. I am anxious to see what readers think of it and if it will be a powerful piece of writing.

dear 13 year old

   Dear 13-year-olds, becoming a teenager can be hard. Everyone has opinions, and kids haven't quite figured out how to think for themselves. Many of you may want to look just like the "popular" kids or act the way that the "cool" people do. I know this, because when I was thirteen that's exactly how I thought that I had to be. I bought the same shoes, I used the same brand of backpacks, I even tried to have the same ideas as everyone else. Because in middle school that is what is imprinted on the back of our brains. Being different is weird. But Weird is good. So be Weird.
   
        Now as a 15-year-old, I like being different; I don't want to be the same as anyone else. So, do what you like, think what you want, do the right thing, and don't judge those who have individuality. Because as you become older, being different is cool, and you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks, because the only approval you need is your own.

 sincerely,
a 15-year-old

comments week 3

Merritt's Blog-  hurricane Katrina 

Megans Blog- nighttime in new orleans 

ellens blog- 9/11

Two Summers 9/11/16

This week I really enjoyed the pages that I read of Two Summers. Summer faces new problems but also new adventures and new happy times. What I really find interesting and smart, is how Friedman connects both versions of the same summer together, and even mentions what happens in one version in the other one. I can relate to summer because her dad lives in a different place, and I get how she feels, and I understand how it is to be let down by both of your parents. She also has new beginnings with people who she would have never even expected to talk to, and I think that this is an important thought, because sometimes the people who we never even think of can become some of the people who we hold the closest.

 Summer finds out about something when she is in France that makes her question everything. But, Friedman switches to the other version right before we find out what the answer is. I think that this strategy really does make me want to read more so that I can find out the answer. I'm excited to find out what the secret is and how it is going to affect the rest of Summer's summer in that version.

Response to 110 Stories by Sasha Taylor

     I decided to read a poem for my response to 9/11, because I feel like poems have a lot of emotion and true thoughts, and I know that 9/11 was a time of pain and tragedy for everyone. Taylor Writes as if she had died in one of the twin towers, and uses vivid details to explain what what going on around her. As I read I could imagine being in one of those towers, feeling terrified and hopeless.

   This poem is filled of the feelings of the writer and probably the feelings of many others too. Taylor   really emphasizes on the fact that so many innocent people died that day, and what had possibly been going through their heads when their whole world was crashing down on them. In every stanza of the poem their is a descriptive part and then below it is where she records the thoughts that came from what is going on around her. This poem is very intense and heartbreaking, but I think that it is important to see a little bit of what other people went through and how this catastrophe affected them.

http://www.dtl.org/ethics/article/sept-11/poems-9-11.htm

my comments

lizas blog- about me 

wyatts blog- pandas 

sydneys blog- brother vs sister 

ryans blog -water 

Two summers

I am reading "Two Summers," by Aimee Freedman. This book has a very interesting because it goes back and forth between one choice that creates one summer, and the opposite of that same choice, that results in a different summer. Even though they are completely different, in many ways the same things happen, just in different ways. So far, Summer, the main character of the book, has already met a boy in both versions, and has felt like her best friend, Ruby, is becoming a different person.

 I like the style of writing for this book. I enjoy thinking about how one decision can impact everything, and what I really appreciate is being able to also see what happens with the other decision too. I am already very entertained with this book, and I think that It will be a very relatable and unusual story. I'm excited to see what is next to come!

The grand canyon

"ugh when are we going to get there, we have been driving for like four hours" said my brother, looking out the window I was thinking "wow this doesn't look like I expected the grand canyon to look. Then there we were pulling through the national park entrance and driving to find our hotel. "hey dad i'll catch up with y'all in a few minutes, Im going to go check out all this fuss about the Grand Canyon" I sad as I started to walk towards a crowd of people, and a silver fence. As I started to approach, I could see a small amount of intense color. Then my entire surroundings changed and I felt like an ant next to a large building.

 Beautiful, expansive, peaceful, majestic; none of these words can explain what the first sight of the Grand Canyon was like to me. It was breathtaking, magical, never ending, and life-changing. At that moment all of my worries vanished because I realized how exquisite the word is, and how small all of our worries are compared to the beauty of it. I hope that everyone has a chance to see this masterpiece at some point in their lives, because it truly is a stunning place. 

  One quote that I have seen many times, "live for the moments that take your breath away," is one that really came clear to me that moment that I was standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, all of the people around me a blur, and all of the voices unheard, my mind finally at peace with the wonders of the world.