On Thursday May 20, 2016 the first ever Making Movies that Matter film festival! I was lucky enough to attend and it was actually really fun. It was also very professional because it was held at the Valley Performing Arts Center. In the courtyard there was a DJ and free food. It was so crowded but I would say about one thousand people were there. Now, inside the lobby of the theater there were a couple fun things. There were two celebrities there!!! When I walked inside and saw one of them, it was crazy. LEONARDO DICAPRIO WAS THERE!!!! My friends and I were so excited and quickly got in line to meet him. I was the last one out of my friends to meet him. It was truly an experience. I said hello, he asked me "How are you?" And we posed for the picture. Then we went to the table to get our picture. But one of my friends comes up to me and tells us that LEONARDO DICAPRIO WAS A FAKE. I couldn't believe it, the man looked so much like Leo. After thinking about, there were many clues that he was a fake. For example, there would've been lots of paparazzi, not just one camera guy. At least two of my friends were interviewed for some weird news channel. Soon, we gathered into the actual theater and sat there for a couple hours watching films and seeing Bart Simpson's voice-over-girl. I had a really great time because I was with my friends and got to watch all the amazing films that were created through this program. Thank you to Making Movies that Matter for making this night spectacular.
For the past month or so we have been reading Night by Elie Wiesel. I personally like the book. Wiesel is a holocaust survivor and that is what he talks about in the book. He tells his own story of survival. Wiesel and his father go through many challenges through each section of the novel. For example, Elie (at one point) loses his faith in God. So, I thought I would actually talk more about Wiesel and tell you facts about his life rather then tell you about the book. Firstly, Elie (Eliezer) Wiesel was born in September 30, 1928, making him 88 years old today. He was born in Sighet, Translyvania (which would later become Romania). Wiesel was born into of family containing his mother, father, and three sisters. Elie pursued religious studies and practiced Judaism just like his father. Let's fast forward to 1944, the year where Nazi Germany who forced Jews to relocate to death and labor camps in Poland. At 15 years old, Wiesel and his family were sent to the concentration camp of Auschwitz. Wiesel lived in several camps under horrible conditions. The campers were fed barely, they received blows for no reason at all, and sometimes were sent to the crematorium if they were weak. Unfortunately, only he and two of his sisters survived. Wiesel went to study after being liberated from the camps. He went to study in the Sorbonne in France from 1948-1951. While studying journalism, Wiesel was encouraged to write books on his experiences. In 1956, his first book And the World Would Remain Silent. Wiesel went on to write several other book and also becomes a revered international activist. Elie also taught Judaic studies at the City University of New York. Now, Wiesel lives everyday to the fullest. He has become a world-renown author for writing about his survival. You should definitely read Night by Elie Weisel. You won't regret it!
This week in English class we did many things. Specifically on Tuesday we learned about modal auxiliaries. What are modal auxiliaries? Well, modal auxiliaries are used in writing/speaking to express permission, possibility, ability, necessity, intention, and obligation. All of these are used with main verbs plus their base form. If you think about it, modal auxiliaries are everywhere in the English language. There are only a few common ones but they are the ones we use the most on a day to day basis. Common ones are: may, might, can, could, must, should, would, and will. Each of these words are used in different ways in the permission, possibility, intention etc. settings.For example, with permission you may use a sentence like this: May I use your pencil?
In this sentence may and use are the modal auxiliaries because they both expresses permission. Try to find the modal auxiliaries in this next sentence: I might need some help on tonight's science homework. If you said that might need is the modal auxiliary then you are correct. Now try to think what it is expressing. Ability? Necessity? Permission? It is possibility because it directly says they MIGHT need help. They might not end up needing their help. That is why it is expressing possibility. Now, with verb phrases that contain auxiliaries, the passive voice can be formed by inserting "be, have been, or have been" between the modal auxiliary and the past participle. Here's an example from my notes: The homework could have been done in an hour. Could have been done is a verb phrase with an auxiliary in the passive voice. There are many more modal auxiliary examples out there but you just have to search for it. So next time you are talking to a friend or writing your warm up really try to notice the modal auxiliaries. We are getting closer and closer to graduating and moving on to different schools. But it can't just happen in a snap. Before graduating, each student must give a three to ten minute oral presentation. In my opinion, this is one of the hardest things I have had to do in the years that I have been at this school. There are a number of reasons why this is difficult for me:
1. I have to speak loudly in front of 30+ people 2. This presentation counts as a final for two classes which means it has to be really really good 3. Putting everything together (finding examples, using good vocabulary, etc.). Luckily, Mrs. Tedesco has been having us watch TED Talks for the past 2 months now. Not just any TED talks, TED talks about giving a good presentation, how to find a topic your audience will like, and so on. TED-Ed is "TED’s youth and education initiative". The people at TED-Ed strive to celebrate the ideas of students and teachers around the world. TED-Ed produces original animated videos to providing an international platform for teachers to create their own lessons to share. And one thing all teachers like about TED-Ed: Everything they do revolves and supports learning!!! One of my personal favorite videos form TED-Ed (shown to us by Mrs. Tedesco) is by Nancy Duarte. Nancy Duarte is a professional presentation designer. In her presentation, The secret structure of great talks, Duarte talks about a common structure all great presenters have used in their speeches. This structure helps the message click with the audience. Duarte speaks about the infamous iPhone creator, Steve Jobs. She says that Jobs used this structure while giving his presentation on the iPhone launch. The structure went back and for the on talking about What it is and What it could be. But at the end we need to describe the word as a 'New Bliss'. Duarte broke down Job's speech and noticed how he made his audience laugh or clap very often. This means that the audience is so physically involved, he isn't just putting them to sleep. At the end, Jobs ends with the New Bliss that Duarte told us about earlier. Her presentation was very inspiring and helpful in giving us the key to a perfect presentation. If you want to watch the whole video of Nancy Duarte go ahead to this link: The Secret Structure of Great Talks This week in English class, we started reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Elie Wiesel is a Romanian-born Jewish writer, college professor, political activist, and most importantly a holocaust survivor. Wiesel is the author of 40+ books including the infamous Night, a work in which Wiesel writes about his experiences being imprisoned in Auschwitz. Wiesel has written the novels Night, Day, Dawn, The Trial of God, and Souls on Fire.In chapter one of Night we are introduced to several characters such as Moishe the Beadle, Elie (himself), and Elie's father. The first character introduced is Moishe the Beadle. He is poor Jewish man living in Sighet, Transylvania (Wiesel home-town).
Moishe the Beadle is well-respected and makes himself insignificant to the point where he is almost invisible. Elie or Eliezer (how he is referred to in the book), is very religious and studies the Talmud. He goes to the temple every night and prays. While Eliezer studies Talmud, he also discovers Kabbalah and wants to study it. Unfortunately, his father tells him that Kabbalah is something he shouldn't waste his time on. He also tells Eliezer that he is too young to study it. That night Eliezer visits the temple (as usual) and runs into Moishe there. Moishe starts to ask him almost unanswerable questions about his faith. They both seem to have a connection and talk most nights on Eliezer's visits to the temple. Eliezer tells Moishe about his wish to learn Kabbalah and to his surprise Moishe knows all about Kabbalah and becomes his mentor. Then one day, the Hungarian Police expel all foreign Jews from Sighet. Moishe is one of the many foreign Jews who are packed into a car like cattle. The Hungarian police took the foreigners to a forest where they were forced to dig their own graves. The police then killed each individual. Luckily, Moishe the Beadle was just wounded and mistaken for dead. He managed to escape and came back to Sighet to warn the other citizens. No one believed him. Some called him mad, some told him he was looking for their pity. I really enjoyed my first sneak peek of the book and can't wait to continue reading it. On Tuesday, April 12, we learned about the simple, progressive, and perfect tenses. Heres some things to know about these tenses: verb forms indicate the tense or the time of the action. First of all, simple tenses are the present, past, and the future. Next, Progressive tenses include the form of the auxiliary verb be and the present participle of the main verb. Here are some examples of each. 'Jamie is studying Italian' is in the present progressive. The sentence in past progressive is 'Jamie was studying last term'. Lastly, the future progressive form of the sentence uses will be studying in the sentence 'Jamie will be studying Japanese next year'. Now, the perfect tenses consist of a form of the auxiliary verb have and the past participle of the main verb. So, present perfect is an indefinite action that began in the past and continues into the present. An example of the present perfect would be 'I have read the book on hummingbirds'. The latter example of a present perfect sentence is in the active voice. After talking about the present perfect, we need to discuss the past perfect. The past perfect tense tells about an action that has been completed before another past action. 'I had read the book before my trip to the zoo' is an example of the past perfect tense. Like the example of the present perfect tense, this past sentence is active as well. After we talked about the past perfect and present perfect, we are left with the future perfect tense. The future perfect tense is an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future. Here's an example that is active: 'I will have read the book before Thursday'. These tenses are some thing that we speak/use in our everyday life but something I will continue to use in my writing!
Today marks the second week the Making Movies That Matter program has been at our school. A student who studies film cam in and talked to us about our projects. We have to create a three minute film that has a meaning and discusses an issue. Our films can be a public service announcement(psa), documentary, or narrative. During the first week of this program we learned about pre-production, production, and post-production. Pre-production includes writing, story board, budget, casting, and crew. We actually just received out story board sheets today and I'm excited to draw all of our scenes out. I think the story boards give you a clear, visual, idea of your film without actually filming anything. Next, production includes principal photography, cinematography, acting, directing, and sound record. One part of the production that I'm looking forward to is the acting. I personally will not be acting in the film but it seems enjoyable to watch my friends act in our film. Finally is post-production. Post-production includes editing, music, sound mix, and special effects. This is personally my favorite stage of the filming process because it's basically just editing. I like to edit pictures and I'm just really excited to help edit this film; especially like adding sound effects and music. At the moment, we are at the pre-production stage. Also, our films are entered into a film festival that we will have at the school. I'm pretty stoked for that as well. Overall, this program has been really fun and we've had such a great mentor to guide us.
Today, March 17, is St. Patrick's day. At school we celebrated by having green, delicious, Krispy Kreme donuts and green bagels. We also celebrated by wearing green and white themed free dress. My English class is writing a St. Patrick's day story as well. Interesting enough, St. Patrick has a historical background and many fun facts. St. Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland and the Irish. Born in 385 A.D. in Northern Wales, St. Patrick studies to be a bishop and priest around his 20's. On March 17, 461 A.D., he died, but this is only according to Irish folktales and tradition. One main focus and mascot of St. Patrick's day is the three leafed shamrock. An Irish tale tells how Patrick was able to use the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. He often used it in his sermons to represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and how they could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. Another main focus on St. Patrick's day is wearing the color green. This is associated with his feast day because it is the color of Ireland, spring, and the shamrock. However, an article from National Geographic points out that not all the latter traditions are observed in Ireland. There was a huge background involving St. Patrick but also many fun, interesting facts. For example, St. Patrick wasn't even Irish! Although he set his mark by introducing Christianity to the Irish, he was born to Roman parents on Wales or Scotland. Also, according to Irish legend, Saint Patrick's birth name was not actually Patrick! It was Maewyn Succut but he changed it to Patricius after becoming a priest.
We've got a job is a informational book about the 1963 Birmingham children's March. Cynthia Levinson, the author who dedicated four years to research and interviews about the March, did a wonderful job putting all the pieces together along with some real life quotes from victims themselves. Each student is responsible for a chapter. I got chapter eleven which predominately focuses on May fourth to sixth in 1963. Eleven starts off on the day if May fourth. James had spent three days in jail and was starting to feel nauseous. When the family lawyer arrived to bail him out, James refused to leave because no one else was getting out and they understood that they would get out as a group. Next, we learn that the protesting group of negroes decided to catch the police off guard that Saturday. On D-Day, protest would go from 1:00 to 3:00. On Double D-Day, the protest started at 11:00 to throw the police for a loop. Sixteenth Street Baptist was also a big location in the chapter, mainly because many negroes went there to attend church but also because it was a hiding place. Sunday, May fifth arrived some negroes attend sit-ins at a white church and few welcomed them. That Sunday however, Guy and Candie Carawan were arrested on the steps of New Pilgrim Baptist Church. The Carawans, who were white, composed many of the Movement's songs but Chief exclaimed that no blacks and white would be singing together. All together the chapter includes many examples of the racism in Birmingham. Although, Birmingham was not the only place like this, just a prime example.
On Friday, March 4, we have our final To Kill a Mockingbird test. So I thought I'd write about the novel and everything included with it. First of all, To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee (1926-2016), an American novelist who is insanely famous for the novel. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for To Kill a Mockingbird. Unfortunately, Lee passed on February 19, 2016 which was just recently. Next, To Kill a Mockingbird was a captivating novel. The three main characters were Atticus Finch (father of Jem and Scout and powerful character) , Jem Finch (an inquisitive brother who matures through the book), and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch (the narrator of the novel and tomboy sister). The story takes place in the 1930's (during the Great Depression period) and is set in Maycomb, Alabama; which happens to be a fictional town but resembles Lee's home town. Atticus Finch raises his two children all by himself with the help of fellow neighbors and black cook/housekeeper, Calpurnia. Scout and Jem understand all the inquisitions about their town, but only one neighbor puzzles them more than anything, and that is Arthur "Boo" Radley. Boo Radley is a mysterious character who only has 5 whole words throughout the entire novel, but that does not mean he is not an important asset to the story. Boo never goes outside and many rumors have spread about him since he was a young teenager. A new character arrives in Maycomb by the name of Dill Harris. He is the nephew of Miss Rachel, a neighbor of the Finches. Dill quickly makes friends with the Finch children and they soon start hanging out over the summer. Dill soon learns about the Radley place and is fascinated. September comes along and Dill leaves back to his hometown. Scout becomes extremely excited for the first grade but is let down when she meets her teacher Miss Caroline. Later that day Scout gets in a fight with one of the boys in her class, Walter Cunningham. Atticus talks to Scout later that evening and discusses her time in school. This is only three chapters out if thirty-one but actually some of my favorite chapters. I recommend you read the book To Kill a Mockingbird.
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April 2016
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