NO DAPL

No DAPL, meaning No Dakota Access PipeLine is an Indigenous Community called the Sioux Tribe that is protesting for the government not to build a pipeline. The government wants to build a pipeline that will pass from North Dakota (through Indigenous Community's reserved land) to Illinois which can harm drinking water if there is an oil spill. This is located at Standing Rock, North Dakota where thousands of people (and different Indigenous Communities) have come to protest.



    On November 20th peaceful protesters were attacked by police and the National Guard. By using tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, sound granada, and by spraying water cannons in subfreezing weather at the people. 160 people were injured, seven others were hospitalized. According to PBS, “ Morton County Sheriff’s Department said its officers responded to an ’ongoing riot,’...” This quote is stating that the officers that were attacking the protesting were attacking because they believed it was a riot (which means a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd). But protesters say otherwise, according to a spokesperson by the name of Jade Begay, “told the Guardian that two bonfires were lit by activists for warmth and cooking, but that any others were started by weapons from law enforcements”. This quote is saying that law enforcement believed that the fires were started as a sign of violence but it   was started for warm and cooking. Any other fires that were lit were not from the protesters but from weapons of the law enforcement.



    After months of protesting the government told the “Water Protesters” they had to leave by December 5th. On December 5th, the government agreed they wouldn't build a the pipeline through Native American reserved land.

Nofiction Blog

 
                                                          Crime & Detection
                                                              by Brain Lane

     The nonfiction book I am reading is called Crime and Detection by Brian Lane which talks about many things including crime, dectection, law, punishment, and more. Crime is all over the world with different laws and punishments. Crime including theft/burglary, murder, forgery, fraud, kidnap prohibition, gangs, smuggling, and arson. Back then wanted signs would go up with rewards if brought into authority. Detectives are sent  when a crime is committed to figure out who committed the crime. There are different detectives meant for specific things (for example muder detectives). As time passed technogoly has advanced to identify the person who committed the crime. It is getting harder to commit a crime without getting caught.

    "THE MAFIA IS PROBABLY THE BEST-KNOWN organized crime gang in the world, but it is not the only one. Whenever dishonest money can be made from drugs, gambling, and moneylending, gangsters  organize themselves into powerful groups to lay claim to it. Like the mobsters of Prohibition times, gangsters defend their territory jealousy, and often violently, and new territories are constantly established." This passage seemed to interest me because it happens all over the world and it informed me of what happens. The topic gangs interests me because my cousin likes to watch tv shows about them and she will tell me about them.  

    While reading the nonfiction book Crime & Detection by Brain Lane, I learned about arson which is when a fire is purposely started by someone. I don't think I will forget this information because I always thought fires were an accident and it never occurred to me that someone could have started a fire to harm another or for other reasons. In the book it  says the first murder to be committed was Cain who killed his younger brother out of jeoulsy because God took Abel's sheep but rejected Cain's corn (according to the Bible). This interested me because I never thought when murder started happening. 

I commented on Dena's Blog
I commented on Eduardo's Blog
I commented on Jorge's Blog

Gratitude Blog

   This year I am grateful for many things. I am thankful for family and closest friends. I am mostly grateful for my cousins, closets friends, and aunt who has been there for me. They were there to make me laugh when I wasn't in the mood to smile. They are always there to give me advise or just be there to listen. They can tell when something is wrong when I try so hard to deny it. No matter what it is I feel like I can go to them and they will have an ear to listen when I have a problem or am feeling down. They won't judge my choices, not even if they disagree or not fully agree with me. They have supported me no matter what. I am grateful to have them in my life.


  I am also thankful that everyone in my life is healthy and for my parents. I am thankful that I am fortunate even to have all my family members to be with me and healthy. I am very thankful for my parents that have done everything they can to make me and my brother happy. Everything I have is because of them. Even though I may take them for gratened and don't tell them thank you as much as I should or tell them that I love them.


   I am thankful for everyone and everything that I have in my Life including my annoying little brother. Even though I could be mean to my brother and he annoyes every second of my life I still love him. We may argue and fight over nonsense but at the end of the day we don't want to see the other one hurt. I may not be very close to my brother and don't tell him a lot but hes always there for me and make me laugh. He isn't the best person at giving advise but he does listen. I am thankful for him to be in my life even though I sometimes say otherwise. I am also thankful there is music in this world that I feel is a place to escape to. I can just plug in my headphones and listen and I can relate to what they say. I am thankful for everything in my life.

Gallery Walk AoW Reflection

   Today in my ELA class we did a gallery walk, with recent news stories. During this time I learned a lot of new information. I learned this new disease called the Late Blite Disease that grows on potato's which is not visibal. This disease is contagious and it comes from an Argintain potato. This is an important subject because it can give you cancer and the world should hear about it.

   I have learned Another subject I found interesting was two years ago 43 students disappeared in Mexico and the government hasn't done anything about it. The government has tampered with evidence from the disappearance and left 43 parents unanswered. The government want to close the case instead of solving it. The students went missing in Guerrero, Mexico.

Election Reflection

   This election was very different compared to other election in the past. For starters a female candidate ran for president with a lot of political background compared to the other candidate who had no political background. I am shocked that Donald Trump won. This election proves that we still have racism and sexism in the U.S because the representive canitate Donald Trump throws a lot of inappropriate comments.

   Donald Trump said he wants to deport every immigrant that lives in The U.S. He said he will buy a ticket for every single one to take them back to their origen but this can not be accomplished because the U.S is called a melting pot meaning people from all over the world come to have a better live. This country is made up of immagrents and if he would deport every immagrent he would have to deport everyone in the country. When Columbus "descovered" America people were already living here until he killed them all. 

   Donald Trump uses statements without any facts to back it up. He has no political background and makes racist comments. I feel like Hillary Clinton should have won. Not only would she have been the first female president but she has a lot of polictical background and she has good ideas she wants to do. 

   

   

   

Quarter 1 Reflection

   My goals for quarter 2 are to be more independent, getting better grades, improving my lack of focus/ staying on task, and turning in better quality. For quarter 2 i want to be more independent and not rely on the teacher to tell me to go onto Edmodo everyday. My goal is to get better grades for the rest of the year. I could improve on my lack of focus sometimes and staying on task sometimes. I also want to read more on my own, without it having to be an assignment. Turning in better quality will always be a goal on mine.

   Some strategies that I have learned in ELA  that have helped me this year are the TIQA format and staying focused with what you're writing about. The TIQA format is a good strategy because it could be used almost for everything you are writing about. It also helps me remember everything that is needed in what I’m writing. And it helps keeping my writing organized. Staying focused about what you're writing about is also a good strategy to use so your not off topics.

   My 10 book challenge for the year is going good. Since the beginning of year in ELA we started a challenge to finish 10 book by the end of the year. So far i have read 2 book and am currently reading 2 different book. I have learned how to read 2 books at a time.

The Giver Film vs. Book

    The book The Giver and the movie The Giver are both similar and different. One event from the movie is when Jonas leaves his dwelling in the night (which is against the rules) and goes to the nurturing center to get Gade. Jonas was planning on taking Gabe because if he didn't he was going to
get released the next morning. When he was in the nurturing center Fiona helped his get Gabe and distract the guys that was after Jonas. In the book the author states, “Now at the bridge, hunched over on the bicycle, pedaling steadily” (163). Gabe is with Jonas’s family dwelling and he sleeps in Jonas’s room. Some ways the movie and book are the same is by Jonas taking Gabe with him when he escapes and when Jonas left he took a bike. A difference from the book and the movie is in the book Fiona was assigned to taking care of the elders and in the movie she was assigned as a nurturer. Fiona’s assignment was different because in the movie if she wasn't a nurturer Jonas wouldn't have been able to take Gabe with him and instead be caught by someone else and the guys that were after Jonas would have caught him.


    There are many differences in the setting from the book and the movie. For example elsewhere in the book is far away and in the movie elsewhere is near the edge. In the book rivers divide the communities which Jonas has to pass in order to get to elsewhere. In the movie Jonas has to jump from the edge he lands on land where elsewhere is located. In the movie they chose to do it this way because the guys that were following Jonas would eventually caught him but since he jumped off the edge they couldn't chase him anymore. In the book they put it this way because Jonas would have to go through a journey to get to elsewhere with only the planes looking for him. Because of these changes, it changes the story by, in the book Jonas and Gabe could eat the scraps of the family units in their dwelling. In the movie it doesn't take long to get to elsewhere.



    The movie The Giver gave me a better understanding of The Giver. When Jonas and Gabe sled down the mountain and pass the tower, the memories The Giver gave Jonas all went back to the community. It was a better understanding of what happened because I could visualize it and I didn't understand how the memories were sent back to the community in the book because I didn't see what happened. The movie The Giver gives a better understanding of The Giver because your can visualise
it. The Giver transmits the memories to Jonas by grabbing his arms and giving him the memories that he thinks he's in. When the Giver transmits the memories to Jonas the movie gives a better understanding by visualizing how he gives Jonas the memories.

      In The Giver, Jonas is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the book Jonas says, “Jonas’s father’s title was Nurturer. He and the other nurtures were responsible for all the physical and emotional needs of every new child during the earliest life. It was a very important a job…”(7). Jonas saw his father and his community as good. It was against the rules to lie. No one had ever lied, so Jonas thought. However, towards the end of the book Jonas states, “He killed it! My father killed it!... Jonas felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain crawling it's way foward to emerge in a cry… I won't! I won't go home! You can't make me! Jonas sobbed” (150-152). Jonas is angry and upset at his father for killing the newborn. Jonas felt angry that his father had lied to him. Jonas no longer trusted his father or the community, he thought no one lied, but now because of this he thought it was in there rules and he couldn't do anything about it. Jonas felt powerless.




       The theme of The Giver is, the importance of memories. On the first day of Jonas’s training The Giver says, “There’s much more. There’s all that goes beyond all that is Elsewhere - and all that goes back, and back, and back...And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future” (78). This quote means it helps The Giver advise the communities Elders when needed by using the memories to not make the same mistakes again and again. The memories make The Giver wiser by knowing what will happen if the Elders decide to make a huge decision that will impact the whole community. For example when the Elders wanted to have 3 children per family unit instead of 2, the Giver advised them not to because starvation was in the future in they did so. Also, if they didn't have memories they would be clueless. In the beginning of Jonas’s training the Giver says, “They knew nothing...It’s just that. . . without the memories it’s all meaningless” (105). This quote means that without the memories nothing exists. There's no pain, love, happiness, etc., or emotions. Everything is the same, there is no difference. If they didn't have the memories to guide them they would be lost with no one to turn to. Therefore memories are important and should be valued.

     The Giver

       While reading The Giver by Lois Lowry I have come across to what I believe is an important aha moment, which is when Jonas realizes that his childhood is ending (p.26 - Ch. 4). In chapter 4, while Jonas was about to start his volunteer hours for the day, "He didn't often do his volunteer hours with his friend because Asher frequently fooled around and made serious work...difficult. But now, with twelve coming so soon and the volunteer hours ending it didn't seem to matter" (p. 26). This moment might be important because once your childhood is gone you start your adult life, which comes with more responsibilities. Jonas realize that he is about to turn twelve and he wants to spend more time with Ashter before its to late. Once you turn twelve you get your assignment and start your adult life, which is more independent. Jonas is nervous to turn twelve because he is moving on to the unknown.



     While reading The Giver there has been multiple contrasts and contradictions, one being the Elders assign twelves to their assignments (p.15-Ch.2). In chapter 2, while Jonas's parents are talking to him about the ceremony and are reassuring him not to worry when, "There was no way, really, to know in advance. It was a secret selection, made by the leaders of the community, the Committee of Elders, who took the responsibility so serious that there were never even any jokes made about Assignments". This contract and contradiction might be important because in order for the people in the community to not as much mistakes as they would on their own the Elders pick their assignments (jobs). If the Elders would not pick the people in the community's assignments, the people would pick their assignments based on others influence. If the people would do an assignment that they are not the best at and didn't interest them it could effect others because they could be doing there assignment wrong.

Welcome to my Blog

      Hi my name is Lesly, welcome to my blog. I am 13 years old and I'm in 8th grade. On my free time I like to run and listening to music. I also like inspirational quotes that are meaningful and that I can relate to. My favorite color is red and I like the number 9 for an unexplained reason. Some goals I have is to get good grades, also to finish college. My dream job is to become a doctor (unsure of what kind yet). Even though I'm still deciding on what college (may want to go to Colombia) I do know that I want to go out of state for college or maybe even out of the country. That is a little about me, thank you for visiting my blog.