LA: Camera Angles and Movement

Camera angles and movement:

Camera angles can express the feelings of each character and express what they are doing. They can also persuade the audience to believe that they are in the scene itself to feel more connected to what is happening in the story. Some the angles include long shot, medium shot, low angle, bird's eye view, tilt etc. Depending on each shot, the angle/ shot can reveal a message. Example, bird's eye view can show that the person who is viewing from an above angle that they contain power and are more important compared to the person below. Another example would be the close-up shot. This shot varies to the eyes to the lips. Focusing on these features itself can show the emotions of the character and what they are going through.  

LA: The Giver: Emotions

The Giver: Emotions



Long walks on beaches are something that I have always enjoyed experiencing. To me, it represents adventure and calmness. Being alone in nature is the feeling of independence and I feel overall connected to the moment and forgetting about all the flaws.

LA: Annotation- The Giver

Annotating Text: The Giver

The way that I decided to annotate was to mainly focus on the information that was important in contributing to the story and what made it come to life. For example, some of my main topics would include the feelings or reactions of characters that reveal character traits.(highlighted in blue) The second topic I focused on was details about the community and the people in the society, (highlighted in yellow) The third category was a section for any signs of foreshadowing in the story as well as any questions I have regarding what was happening in the story.(highlighted in green) Lastly, I had a section for random information that I found interesting in the chapter.(highlighted in pink) Overall, this process was not as hard as I thought it would be but I found it hard to understand what the story was about but at the same time annotating. My preference would be annotating after I have finished reading the chapter.

LA: What I want to be:

What I want to be:

In the future, I would like to see myself succeed as an interior designer. I have always liked watching people create and design their own personal spaces. At the time, this is what I am moving towards but I am not completely sure what I want.

SS: The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a period of time during the 16 to the 18th century where there were constantly new emerging ideas about philosophy, science, humanism and many other categories. During this time, people started to move away from the church and believe more in the scientific view of a problem or an observation.This led to the idea that people could think and believe for themselves and follow science instead of following in the church's beliefs. Some of the influences the encouraged The Enlightenment would be The Protestant Reformation since that was where the concept of scientific beliefs started.

LA: Flashback, Tone and Mood

Flash Back, Tone and Mood

Flashback is a transformation in the story the when story goes back in the past. An example of this would be when the protagonist remembers a memory.

The tone of a story is what the author or artist of the story portrays the sound to be like.

The mood of the story is how the events or actions make the reader feel.

LA: Plot Map for Stories

Plot map for Stories:

      This week, we spent time learning and understand how to plot a story on a plot map. There are many parts that make up a complete story on this map. To start off, you mention the protagonist, which would be the main character and the antagonist, the person against the protagonist. Followed by this, you include the setting, time and place. After this, one of the important parts would be to state the conflicts, internal and external. To start with the story, rising action is where the basic information is mentioned. As you move on to rising action this is where you start to get a clear idea of what direction the story heading. The rising action 3 is where the story comes alive and the tension builds up. The conflict is slowly growing and the reader wants to know what happens next in the story. At the peak of the plot mountain lies the climax, where the conflict is at its highest point and is most intense. At this point, the tension is about to be released. Following this is the falling action 1. After the climax is addressed, the falling action helps ease down the tightness in the story. The falling action 2 helps to still resolve the conflict but also helps move the story along and sets the tone of a resolved. The resolution is where the story comes to an end or is left on a cliffhanger. At the end of the story, you will realize two important elements that you learn throughout the story. These two elements would consist of the theme and the symbol in the story.  A theme is the main lesson that you take away and learn from the story. For example, a theme to a story might be "love is wanted but also dreaded". Whereas, a symbol in a story would be something that you can physically touch. An example would be a rose which has thorns to show that love is sweet but at the same time, it can hurt. All in all, I understood it  this process definitely needed some practice. 

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation:        

         Over the past week, we have been learning about the Protestant Reformation.The Protestant Reformation was a time period during the 16th century where there were many cultural and religious changes. There were constantly new concepts rising all of a sudden because of the list Martin Luther had created. Many of these changes were due to the diverse questions coming from the people as they started to realize that the church had been lying to them. There were numerous ways that the church was secretly ripping them off and making them believe in fake theories. Some of them included the use of indulgences when the priests took many from the people for their sins to be forgiven. Along with that, the Bible started to play an important role as soon as people started to be able to read realizing that some beliefs provided by the church were false.

        To make the understanding process easier to understand, we were asked to create mind maps. We took the main topic of Protestant Reformation and divided them into subtopics such as causes, effects and some of the main figures. Some of the causes for the downfall of the church would be the spread of the bible. As people started to read, they noticed that the church was convingin them untrue beliefs. An important contributor to the spread the Bible would be the invention of the Gutenberg Press as many copies of the started to sell. The effect is that the Gutenberg Press making more money and eventually becoming popular. Some important figures would include Martin Luther, John Calvin, Pope Leo X and King Henry VIII.

What I've learned this week: SS

What I learned this week:  

      The cathedral of Florence was an ancient dome-shaped architecture that was started to be constructed in the year of 1296 by the Christians who believed in Jesus Christ. Whereas, the Patheon was another dome-shaped architecture that was built almost 2000 years ago by the Romans. Bare in mind, in this time period, there was no concept of God and Jesus. Both of these structures are now considered monuments to visit.

One of the reasons why the Sistine Chapel is so famous is the amazing art done on the ceilings of the chapel. The painting consisted of many beliefs and stories from the Bible, for example, the story of Adam and Eve and the building of Noah's ark. These paintings were based on and consisted of stories from the bible. The artist behind all of this work was Michelangelo. He spends 4 years of his life painting a huge ceiling which made him want to leave behind his belief in Christianity.

During this time, there were a lot of upcoming artists and sculptures being built. Some examples of this would the painting of the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and The Miracle Of The Thirsty Man. All of these painting have a story behind them. For example, The last supper tells the story when Jesus reveals to the disciples that he has been betrayed and that he would die soon. If you notice, in the painting, there are certain features that make them really interesting to look at. The painters were decisive when it came to painting these. They thought about the gestures that the might perform, the expressions on the faces, the scale of how realistic it was and use of many more details. These paintings are extremely specific and now they are highly valued.

What I've learned this week: SS

What I've learned this week:

       This week we started to learn about the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. This time period was basically a time throughout the 14th to 15th century when there were many changes occurring in Europe. One of the major adjustments to the system would be the change in religion. As there were upcoming concepts like Humanism and Lutheranism, the Roman Catholic also started to be questioned by the people when they realized the use of indulgence on them and how the Church was ripping them off. There were also many scientific and artistic modifications during this time which also helped us to reach where we are in modern time. Some of the influential people would be Shakespear, Leonardo Da Vinci and more. Patrons during the time would the members of the Medici family since they helped people financially. All in all, it was interesting to see the different changes that occurred. One thing I have learned through this process is that all the changes that happened had an impact on the people and their beliefs which were being questioned. One thing I want to learn about maybe some traditions from back then that still exist to this day.

What I learned this week: LA

What I learned this week:

     This week we learned they types of characterizations, specifically, direct and indirect. Direct characterization is when the author gives simple, straightforward information and details about the character in order for the reader to understand it more easily. On the other hand, indirect characterization is when the author gives clues/hints about the character through its actions/ thoughts. When reading indirect characterization, sometimes the trait of the character is immediately thought of but occasionally, you need to think about it to really understand it. In the learning process, we were asked to write a small paragraph about a character using direct and indirect characterization to describe them and were asked to share with an another classmate. We also read and saw the story of "Lamb to the Slaughter" and tried to tell the difference between the two characterizations. Assertions are forceful beliefs. In other words, it's kind of someone's strong opinion. Evidence is proof that is supported by facts of quotes.



The character I have chosen is Snoopy from the Peanuts comics/movie. The trait I would give him would be abstract because he is always trying to find solutions and work his way around things since he is such a lazy character. This shows that he is a character who is intellectual and thinks quickly on the spot.

Social Studies: My Research Process and Presentation

My Research Process and Presentation:

• My part was presenting of the collapse of the Mongol Empire. I learned that my part was hard to research since it is very unclear and complicated. There were many tiny factors that led to the fall that it was hard to say all of them. Each factor had a long history to it and that would a long time to explain. In the end, I just pick some main factors and it turned out to work well. One of the main factors was the Battle of Marj-al Saffar. This war made quite some changes to the empire. The Yuan dynasty being taken over by the Ming dynasty also had quite some effects. Other factors included the deaths of some important leaders. 

• The Mongol empire was similar to Medeviel Europe because they focused on equality. They are known for treating everyone justly and equally. Even the slaves were treated well. Same applied to the Mongol women. Even though in some cases they were treated less, the Mongol women weren't treated harshly, they were just considered lower than the men. After all, the women also contributed to the empire. They kept the economy running while the men were out being warriors. In fact, they held one of the most highest positions in the religion. There were also some female rulers. One of them was Mandhuhai. She fought to unite the Mongol kingdom. Another similarity was the expansion of the empires. Both Medeviel Europe and the Mongol Empire expanded because of trading. In fact, it was the main factor to the expansion of Medeviel Europe. They got to know new places and take over them. It was unsafe to travel along the Silk road because people had planned attacks and but still slowly the Mongol Empire took over more and more land. This shows that the Silk road had contributions to both the empires, changed and helped it grow to become successful.

• Our empire was different compared to other empires because the collapse of the Ottoman empire was quite simple. A Turkish military officer named Mustafa Kemal Ataturk dethroned the sultan of the Ottoman caliphates. He established the modern state of Turkey. Whereas, the collapse of the Mongol empire was not that simple. It consisted of many parts that led to the fall as I explained above. Another unlike element between the empire were the main leaders. In the Tang dynasty, the emperor Yizong raised money and kept it to himself when there were natural disasters. This shows that he was not kind, but greedy.The people were quite mad and he was taken over. Whereas in the Mongolian Empire, the emperors were loyal and address the rights and needs of the people which led to not that many complaints by the people. Genghis Khan's says, "If my body dies, let my body die, but do not let my country die." This shows that he really cared for his people and his country and would not let them down.

• The hardest part of this project was finding the information in a limited amount of time. As I said before, the information was very unclear on the internet and that made it even harder. I had to look into it more deeply and with the help of  Mr.Boyd and my brother, I was able to understand it better. Another difficulty for me was going up there and presenting. My heart was beating out loud. Luckily, it was all good in the end. If I were doing this project again, I would dedicate more time to practice memorizing my part. I would also try doing more of improvising. 

• What I learned when doing this project is that I need resources/ websites with information at my reading level. Most of the websites like Wikipedia had very professional writing done by people with higher reading and levels. There were not many websites for kids. So, I really needed someone's help to understand it better. I can apply this in the future by using the information that I learned about the Mongol empire to compare and contrast it with other empires that we learn about.

LA- How many books did I read this year?

My Books.....

• Books I read this year: 17
• Read I read this semester: 11
• My reading goal this year was 20 books this year and I read only 17 so I plan to read at least 2 more books by the end of the year. 
• I would recommend the book: Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff. 

Reading Response 3- Significant Passage

Significant Passage

Book: The Perfect Place

Author: Teresa.E.Harris

Significant passage - You realize a certain part of the text is important. Why do you think it is important? What does it mean? What does it reveal about the plot, character and/or conflict?

Before: "Great-Aunt Grace raises one eyebrow. "What is the sweet name on Jesus does a stuffed animal need clothes for? Makes about as much sense as nonsmokin' establishments. Rule Number Four: No cryin' over foolishness."

After: "She takes something out of one of her many bags. The sea-green baby clothes she'd been working on when Moon came over about the cigarettes. She hands them to Tiffany." These are for you. Well for that teddy bear of yours anyway," she says gruffly. "I'm worki'n on a few other outfits.

This part in the book is important because it shows a lot of character change. I think this part in the book is more of the resolution when Great-Aunt Grace realizes that deep inside she actually cares about her family which she hated in the beginning of the book and is trying not to show it too much. That changes the conflict a lot and gives it a big twist because from then on in the book she is very nice and speaks very kindly to her family. It conveys a character in Great-Aunt- Grace that she is changing slowly.

Reading response 2- Connection to character

Connection to character

Book: The Perfect Place
Author: Teresa.E. Harris

The main character in my book is Treasure. She is caring towards her family (especially to her younger sister Tiffany), very determined, hopeful and quite inquisitive. She often wonders a lot about her life. She likes to question a lot, but in some cases where she is scared to, she doesn't. An example from the text is: "Great-Aunt Grace's face has more lines than a cross-word puzzle. But I've learned my lesson. I keep my mouth shut." I like my character because she is kind I like that she is always curious. Another example from the text is: "Head of the zoology department? Terrance's family must have a gang of money. So what's he doing here, cleaning shelves with me. The question almost breaks free, but I clam my lips shut and hold it in." My character reminds me of my mom because my mom always solves her problems on her own is very loving. In the end, I really want to know more about Treasure!

Reading Response 1- Poem about Theme

Poem about theme

I am writing this poem to try and find the theme,

But, it is hard…..you know what I mean,

The book I’m reading is “The Great Wall of Lucy Wu.”

I tried my best and I finally got a clue.

The main character Lucy has a lot of problems,

Which is not quite awesome.

Like being bullied in school,

And not being called cool.

But it never ever seems,

That she will be elected as captain of the basketball team.

Lucy also has problems in her family,

And she is not very happy.

Like dealing with her parents,

Who are forcing her to go to Chinese school,

and making her look like a fool!

Her grandmother’s sister is coming to visit them

And will being staying in Lucy’s room,

but she doesn’t like it,

And that would not be good.

In the end I think the theme would be,

That sometimes, you have to give up what you need,

And adjust a little bit,

Cause that will help you later on in life.

My Hero's Story- My life just changed....

Summary

Bella is very shy and its hard for her to communicate with people except her family and friends. She wants to get over her fear. But, she has other problems, she just moved to a new house and school and is scared to make new friends. So she takes the help of her new friend Zara to conquer her difficulties in her neighborhood and school (being bullied etc). Then, slowly she starts to realize that with some help she can get over her fear and her hardest challenge is to to talk to the whole class.

My favorite part

I couldn’t believe it. My mom just told me that we were moving to a new house. That meant a new neighborhood and that meant leaving my friends back here! I was miserable. I didn't want to go to a different place and meet new people. I was a really shy person. You really don’t know how hard it is for me to make new friends.

Link to my story: https://docs.google.com/a/rism.ac.th/document/d/1smPOKVS-NhDNNJR1HPUfAsCkt2UXI9odNNxYg1KcZVk/edit?usp=sharing

L.A- Reading Goal

Reading Goal

I am on page 145 out of 193. I have 48 pages to read. I am going to finish my book in 5 days( March 21st) which means that I will read 10 pages a day.

Slice of Life:9- Musical Cast Party

Musical Cast Party

The whole cast had just finished our school musical Legally Blonde. We were all cheering up and screaming in joy. I was really happy. Everybody was hugging each other and almost crying. Including me. We all had tried our best and were proud of ourselves. Our director, Ms. Shorna decided that we should have a cast party. We all rejoiced by jumping and screaming. Ms. Shorna ordered cake and some other sweets. What we didn't know was that our show was being recorded. She said that we could watch it right here. We all grabbed piece of cake and ran into our seats next to our friends. We were all cozy and comfortable. It took a while for the whole video to load. I got frustrated because I wanted to see myself on stage! Finally after 5 minutes or so, the show started. We all cheered and clapped when we saw the main charters on stage. When I saw myself on stage, I rejoiced "Yeah! That's me!" When Biew Biew (my friend) saw herself on stage she shouted too. We all were having a blast. We were laughing and screaming and partying. After half an hour of watching the show, it was time to go home. Ms. Shorna stopped it when we were at the climax, the most funniest part of the play. "Noooooo, we all exclaimed. We wanted to see more. Unfortunately we couldn't. Ms. Shorna told us that we would all get the DVD in two weeks. I was happy again.

Slice of Life: 8- The train ride

The weird train ride

It was a blazing hot day, the sun was cooking us to death. My family and I were going to Central World to shop for my costume. I was relieved when we entered and got some A.C. After a couple of hours we had lunch. While strolling around, my little brother spotted a toy train driving around the whole of the sixth floor." Can we go!" my he begged. "Please say no, we've had a long day of walking and I'm dying to go home." my elder brother insisted. "Come on, let's go come. We never know when we might come back her again." my mom said. So, we got tickets and waited for it the train to arrive. It took a really long time. Finally, I guess it decided to show up. We sat in a really small corner. There was some really annoying music in the background (nursery rhymes). My mom pulled out her phone and started taking a video. I closed my eyes and thought "At last, I get to relax!" Then out of the blue a noise rang. "Ding ding ding!" I woke up with a startle. "It's just the bell." my brother explained. The bell rang again and again. I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted the train to stop. After five minutes or so, we finally stopped. I was so relieved. I thought that was a weird ride. After that, we brought candy and drove home.