Hi Bloggerclass, As we work on our socials projects, we use images from the web to illustrate our learning. To be good digital citizens, it is important that we do not use others’ copyrighted work. By using images and other media from http://search.creativecommons.org/ we can ensure that the media we use do not go against copyright. At the end of your work, you should also give credit or attribution to the source that your image came from. More on how to do this later. Just click on the creative commons link to search your media.

Hi Bloggerclass,

Welcome back from your holidays. At long last, here are  your drawings and reflections!

Some consider the time we spend and the places we go on the internet as a virtual world. In these drawings, we’ve imagined going online as a physical place. In the posts following these, some of you have blogged about your reflections of how you use the Internet.

Remember to click on the drawings to get a nice, detailed view!

by Vivek

by Calista

by Jessica

by Emma

Land ho! This is how I feel when I find that new YouTube video that everybody was talking about. I think of the internet as a ship journey, always looking for and adventure for a lifetime. You could think of bugs or viruses those legendary sea monsters that could take over your ship; you know how they can be. The internet is a place of curiosity made for anyone to explore.

You wake up every morning ready to search the land. This is how we use the internet, if you have any device from a computer to an iPod Touch, you can explore to your heart’s desire. Sometimes though, you have to use it for work to get your homework done. This is easy because on a ship you can zoom though all of that hard, dirty work much faster than on foot. In landlubber’s words, you can type much faster than you can write by hand. Also, the whole world is set in front of you; anything is in reach so it is much easier to find information or research rather than looking in a confusing library. Because everything is ours to have, we can’t make a wrong turn on the internet because we can never tell if anything is reliable.

If you have a social networking account you have to be very careful about what you decide to put on the internet. Even though you could have only your friends following your marks, your friends could pass your pictures onto their friends and etc. The point is, everybody can see you but not everybody will like what you put up for the world.

Like a meal, you have to eat everything, and that includes the veggies. You have to remember to stay healthy and not to eat too many sweets. For example, on the internet there is a lot to see definitely but sometimes we just can’t help ourselves from looking up interesting webpages and pictures or videos. We have to keep track of time because it can fly by especially fast when you’re on the internet! As you can see, this voyage is a privilege and you don’t want to have to walk the plank!

by Serena B.

The world of the Internet is so big that it would be impossible to explore every corner of it. Although I don’t use the Internet to the fullest, it is still very useful and I use it for lots of things like checking my email, looking up recipes, shopping, or doing a school project. I think that one of the most useful tools of the Internet is Google. Ask anyone and they’ll most likely say they know and use Google. Besides Google, I use lots of websites, many of which I don’t even remember the names of, but the ones I use most (besides Google) are probably YouTube and Gmail.

  I don’t really spend that much time on the Internet but I do use it pretty much everyday. When I go on the Internet, I usually don’t spend a lot of time on it at a time, no more than an hour. It’s hard to not spend too much time on the Internet because when you go on, it’s kind of hard to stop. Even though I use it almost everyday, I don’t think I use the Internet as much as a lot of people. I’m usually home or at school when I use it but I also use it wherever I go.  I’ve used many devices to go on the Internet including iPods, laptops, phones and more.

  The Internet is very important but there are some disadvantages to using it too much. I think that one of the biggest drawbacks is that if you use it too much, you get kind of addicted to it. Another big one is that when you’re on the Internet and you’re maybe on YouTube, you first watch what you searched for but then in the side one of the recommended videos look interesting so you watch it. When you’re using the Internet, you lose track of time. What might seem like minutes might actually be hours, it’s easy to spend too much time on the Internet because there’s always something you haven’t seen before that looks interesting.

  Despite all those drawbacks I think that the Internet is a very useful tool. It makes studying, learning, even shopping or cooking a lot easier. Without the Internet the world would be a very different place, it is a useful tool for everybody. The Internet is a big part of my life and I would be lost without it. Although I don’t actually spend that much time using it, it is very important and a lot of what I know comes from it.

by Ernie

I use the internet for many purposes, I use it for research when I’m doing a project or learning about something. I choose to use the internet because I’m able to access the collective memory of the internet by a few clicks are searches. For recreational purposes I look at funny memes that appear on my news feed or play games with my friends. What is a meme? A meme is a trending image that usually forms a macro series. Famous memes include: The rage face, The” Why you no meme”, To stupidity and beyond, and Tard the cat. If I’m not doing those things, I’m probably on Yahoo News reading the top stories or answering questions on Yahoo Answers. When I use the internet at my house, I set a timer on my table for 30 minutes because it’s crucial to rest your eyes for 10 minutes after using it for 30 minutes or else you risk having to get glasses.

The internet is great in many ways such as allowing you to find the answers to most of your questions at the click of a button because someone somewhere has already asked it and answered it to save you the trouble of waiting. You are also able to connect to friends and family members using social media sites. However, using the answers off of the internet may not always be true because some people(Trolls) find pleasure by putting on the wrong answers just to annoy the searchers. What is a troll? A troll is one who wishes to annoy people in any way, from editing websites to overall annoying players by exploiting glitches.  Along with that, the internet is a vary dangerous place, in any games or social sites, predators can lurk at any corner, say that boy you met wants to meet you in person, for all you know, he could be a predator. Aside from predators and trolls, there are also cyber bullies. People have committed suicide via cyber bullying.

Even though the internet has it’s pros and cons, it’s still usable as long as you remain cautious, and as the people on the internet say, GL HF (Good Luck Have Fun).
The End

by Simon

So I use the internet a lot. But it doesn’t mean it is bad. I use the computer about 7 hours a week. (Sometimes 8~12) Making it 1 hour a day. I mostly use my computer in my room (desktop) for about 30 minutes a day and about 30 minutes at school. I usually go on Facebook, Tumblr, Yahoo, etc everyday. I look at memes on the internet on websites like knowyourmeme.com, facebook.com, memegenerator.net, etc. (I drew them in the right corner) What is a meme in case you are wandering? A meme is basically a funny/photo-shopped photo or picture captioned. Some memes are offensive, and some are very funny. There are many memes such as Boromir, Challenge Accepted, Nobody Cares, The Most Interesting Man In The World, and a famous one, TROLL FACE. The Troll Face is used for trolling. A troll is when you try to get someone mad/spazz for fun. There are many ways of trolling including fixing grammar repeatedly, mocking them, etc.

 There are the super bad sides of the internet. They include the hackers, the trollers, and the illegal websites. The hackers break through people’s accounts, and use them for their use. (like taking all their money, using their accounts to go on bad sites, etc). There is a infamous hacker group called the Anonymous. The Anonymous group started in a website called 4chan. (image share/trolling website). They were over trolling people and they wanted more. So they decided to leave 4chan and make a new group their own. Which is now the infamous hacker group. There are also the trollers. As I explained above, trollers are people who makes people mad/spazz for fun. They also spams “dislikes” on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc. The last one I mentioned was illegal websites. Illegal websites are just websites that shares illegal files such as: secretly videoed movies, cracked games, illegal photos, etc.

 Wait, I forgot the one major bad thing about the internet! It is called the cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is when people get bullied online. Lots of people (mostly teenagers) have committed suicide because they got cyber bullied by trollers (as explained above), hackers, and other people that helped them.

 If we can just stop these hackers and trollers, the internet will be safe again. So it’s your job to not get tricked by these hackers and trollers!

by Yi Lin

In the Modern days, people cannot live without the internet. They have to text their friend on Facebook, MSN or they have funny videos to watch on YouTube. How is the internet important to us?

I use the internet mostly on watching YouTube videos, such as video game commentary, or sports highlights. I also use Facebook to talk with my friends in Taiwan and some in the U.S. I get used to the PC desktop computer and they can be very easy to use, but the internet speed can be slower than the “Macbooks”. At school, I only go on Wikipedia and Google for researching my projects.

For my free time, I would use the internet because other than using it for entertainment, I can learn knowledge in real life like “how do you save money?” even though I don’t use money. I think the internet can be important for me.

Last year, when I heard about the cyber-bullying on the internet, I think I’m lucky when nobody was cyber-bullying me. A lot of Facebook users may not feel safe for their private posts on Facebook. Bad people can even hack into our account and do something bad.

Even though there are some pros and cons on the internet, but I called it my buddy because I mentioned that the computer is useful for school work and talking online with my friends! The internet is wonderful!!

by Federico

The internet can help you and harm you in some ways. Sometimes it helps you in investigations and projects, but sometimes it can be harmful like getting addicted, which will mean less time with your family. I use the internet for entertainment but also for research/projects.

For the entertainment I usually play games on websites made especially for games. One of my favourite games is Hex Empire. It’s about choosing a kingdom from 4 different kingdoms, Redosia, Greenland, Bluegaria and Violetam. After you choose a kingdom you try to conquer the other kingdoms and neutral cities. If you capture a city, every end of turn you get troops from that city.

I also watch videos on YouTube; I mostly watch Minecraft videos like single player and multiplayer games, creations and adventure maps. In Minecraft, adventure maps are player made maps which can be inspired by a movie or a book or even an original map. On Minecraft.com you can buy Minecraft for $26.99.

Also on the internet there are these things called “memes”. These are words, characters and faces that are funny or that people enjoy.A couple of these are the Troll Face and Derp. Troll Face is a face that when you annoy someone, you can send them the picture as message to them which will annoy them more.

I use the internet for 8 hours on the weekend. I can’t use the internet on weekday unless I need it for projects or to finish my homework. I think I use the internet in a wise way because I’m not addicted and can last days without the internet.

I’m glad that the internet was made to chat with friends, do projects and entertain yourself.Without the internet I wouldn’t know how the world would communicate with others in the world.

My name is Mia and I am seven years old. It’s my first time in the forest and  I walk deeper and deeper to get away from the cities loud construction noises and cars honing so annoyingly.

As I take each step I can feel the mosses “crunch” underneath my feet. Far in the woods I decide to stop walking and take a breath. Once I stop walking, I can here all the amazing sounds of the forest since they were not being drowned by my footsteps. I can hear the calm wind drifting by making the loose leaves ruffle and fly by. The water droplets hitting the treetops make such a calming sound along with the birds chirping merrily. I think I even hear a woodpecker pecking away at a tree. As it flew away, the sound of its wings beating was breath taking.

Then a sudden silence fell over the forest. a small black figure raced passed me. i fell back in fear. the endless possibilities of creatures racing throu my mind. a wolf, coyote or even a small fox hunting its prey. A few minutes went by but nothing moves. I looked around and for the first time, i realized the beauty of the forest. Everything was green but it was the little splashes of red that made it amazing. The little clovers looked like green butterflies taking a rest on a stump. Also, some of the moss hanging from the trees looked like thousands of mini ghosts floating everywhere. This gave me the creeps, but the welcoming smell brought me back to the beauty of the forest. The fresh air drifting by carrying the smell of flowers was relaxing and intriguing.

As I sat down on a rotten log, I saw the shadowy figure again darting back and forth. Growing closer and closer to me. I started to run, but it was fallowing me. Behind a tree I hid waiting for the creature to disperse. But it was still heading in my direction! Could it see me? Was this it?

The creature grew closer to me but it didn’t look like a fox, or a tiger, or a lion. But rather a small black bunny hopping away.

A Gentleman Blogger
Photo Credit: Mike Licht via Compfight

Hi Bloggerclass!

A few guidelines for commenting on others’ posts:

• Identify something good or that you like
•  Ask a question
• Mention a new related idea
• Use good grammar
• Stay on topic
• Be polite
• Respond back to comments on your posts. It develops community.

Blogging is a big step towards putting our ideas out into the world. Clicking the “post” button can be quite exciting, and could open a world of possibilities. Just click on the Clustrmap of this blog, and you can see that every day, people from all over North America and the world have visited these pages.

We never know who’s going to read what we write. Receiving a comment on our posts confirms that someone has taken the time to read and consider our ideas and creations. It’s quite a satisfying experience, and often, a comment can be the beginning of a conversation, and can create a sense of community with our fellow readers and bloggers. Happy Commenting!

   TrueConfessions

Alex, Simon, Jayden and Federico studied Avi’s The True confessions of Charlotte Doyle this term.  Have a listen to their podcast to see what the book is all about. Devon is our guest actor, since Alex was away on the day of the recording, although he did help with the script.

Click here for Emma’s podcast of the story: EmmaRainforest

I looked around for a good hiding spot, a hiding spot good enough for my friends not to find me. It was another bright sunny morning at Camp Green Lake. The tall trees rose high into the blue sky. Logs scattered and the leaves swayed to one side to another. The green clovers lifted high into the air looking like a herd of butterflies. Sweet fragrant flowers stuck out from everywhere. Huge chunks of moss hung from the logs. As soon as I started running, I felt lost. Looking around me, I didn’t feel like where I was before. I wandered aimlessly through the sunny forest letting the stony path guide me. Where was I?

I started to panic. My throat was dry and my tongue was bitter. I needed water. I started to jog down to a nearby river. I didn’t bother looking for my cabin. As I approached the river that was flowing with swift water, I knelt down and cupped  my shaking hands. The fast-running water streamed down to the other end. I quickly scooped some water and enjoyed the fresh, natured taste.

I glided my fingers through the wavy bushes. A thorn pinched me and I pulled my hands away. The leaves tickled my feet since I was wearing sandals. A squirrel leaped out of know where and my heart jumped. I could feel my heart racing like a speeding car and I calmed myself down. I heard the sound of crickets and woodpeckers pecking the trees above me. A bird sang a delightful song and I whistled along with the tune. suddenly, the song was fading and everything around me became blurry. Before I knew it, I thumped hard onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” Asked my friend. I woke up to see my family and friends huddling around me.                                                            “What happened?” I was in my cabin lying on my soft and comfortable bed.                                                                                                        “You passed out an hour ago.” My dad said. I didn’t understand.                                                                                                                             “But… that doesn’t make any sense. I was in a forest and I got lost.” Everyone laughed loudly.                                                                          “You and your imaginations.” They all chuckled.                                                                                                                                                      Was that all just a dream? They were probably right. I was just dreaming while I was playing hide and seek.

We were heading for the old van and getting ready to leave the camp. The rocks crunched while I walked to my car. Suddenly, I heard the same bird singing the same song in my “dream.” I whistled along and it seemed as if the bird new me like an old friend. I grinned to myself. “That wasn’t a dream… that was never a dream.” I whispered softly.

As we drove back home, the song got quieter and quieter until I soundly fell asleep.

Perhaps I would return to the forest someday…

The sound of the gravel and leaves under my feet remind me that I’m in Stanley Park. It smells like pine and Christmas Trees. I am out for a walk with my sister and my two cousins Annika and Anneliese. Originally, I wasn’t going to go out with them but I decided why not? We get to Stanley Park and we find one of many trails. We decide to play an extreme version of Hide N Seek. Of course we lose each other in this giant forest, and instead of freaking out trying to call them, I decide to explore a little while longer. Looking at all of the flowers and birds remind me of a kaleidoscope of colours. So many colours to think about, colours I didn’t even know existed! I feel different, like a new person somehow.

I can hear the faint sound of Vancouver traffic and the slight breeze in my hair makes me feel so free. But now me feelings are starting to change, I feel like I’m in a movie. (Twilight to be exact!) Running through the thick trees and plump bushes. Then I see a wolf the size of a lion. I’m about to run but before I do, I look into its eyes and the look that it gave me was pleading. I hear a little trickle coming from behind the wolf and that’s the moment I realize that his leg had been cut open and is gushing blood. So I grab a couple of big thin leaves that resemble band-aids. I tie them around the bleeding wound and the wolf thanks me by bringing me to a bush with raspberries that look like they had come straight out of a picture. They were plump, pink, and in perfect small groups that I could easily take one and it wouldn’t fall apart.  I eat them as the wolf walks away.

As I finish eating the raspberries, I see something coming towards me. It looks about the size of a dinosaur. I look for a place to run or hide but I am trapped by thorn bushes and vines. One of the thorns prick my finger and soon enough it oozes out blood. Just as I am about to be ripped to pieces by the giant forest monster, I wake up to my cozy room and heavenly bed. It was all just a dream.

Quinault rainforest 1610…

The first thing I remember was a mix of the damp ground seeping threw my clothes and the sun scorching my face. Hi I’m Jack, Jack Fletcher and I’m, was a sailor with my father on our boat the hourglass, bound for the fabled land of Japan, but we were caught in a freak windstorm and blown off-coarse, next thing I know the ship’s upside-down and I’m here, wherever here is.

I’m really scared, not just for me but for my father and our crew, as far as I know I’m the only survivor.

This forest I’m in is nothing like the ones I’ve seen in England, there are still trees but they look different and some weave along the forest like the trunks of elephants father told me about, father, I can’t stop thinking about him and his whereabouts.

The thought of father distracted my stomach for a little while but soon I realized that there was a bush of ripe and hopefully not poisonous berries, the berries must have filled my mind as well as my stomach for soon a thought that there might be civilization here crossed my mind, as soon as that happened I started running.

After a day’s journey through what seemed like an everlasting forest I saw shapes in the distance and started running and what I came upon was a village consisting of only ten or so huts! All of the villagers that happened to be outside when I ran through there small strip of land gawked open-mouthed at the golden haired stranger, “Hello” I said having only the tiniest sliver of hope that they would understand “I’m Jack” the villagers said something in a language I didn’t understand and several more people came out of the huts and gawked like the rest had, only this time it was different one of the men looked like they were from Europe like me.

The man looked shocked then bolted back into the hut he came out of, I followed him inside then he said “leave or they’ll know I’m a fraud”! “wait” I said “what do you mean a fraud”? “I’ve been telling them ideas of our native England” “how did you know I was from England”? I enquired “your accent” he replied simply, “hold on” I said “if you don’t want them to know that you’re a fraud and I want to leave to find my father then why don’t we leave together”? He thought for a moment before replying “yes”

*  *  *

     We decided to leave at dusk and head for the raft we made the day before. Finally dusk came and we and we headed for the raft, we pushed the raft into the water together, one step away from the forest and one step closer to my father.

Shadow Spinner, a novel by Susan Fletcher, is adapted from the one of the old tales of the Arabian nights. Serena, Lindsey, Vivek, Arianna and Yi Lin studied this novel in Literature Circles this term. What follows is a modern day interview they’ve recorded with the characters of the novel, after a little time travel, of course. Here, the characters of the novel reflect on past events. Just click on the link and listen….

ShadowSpinner13

Well hello Bloggerclass!

It’s certainly been a while since we’ve posted… It’s definitely time to get things rolling again. Quite some time ago, you wrote some wonderful stories prompted by a Flickr photo I put up on the Smartboard. The photo on this page is a similar one to the links indicated in this piece.

We had our TAG conferences, a lesson on Word Choice, and redrafted our work a couple of times. Now it’s time to publish! I can’t put the photo on the blog because it is rights-protected; but you can click on this link to see it.

I also look forward to putting up podcasts of you reading your stories in your own voices. This gives the story a wonderful, personal connection!

Remember to make interesting comments on at least two posts.

I was hiking in the pouring rain for at least an hour! The rain came thundering down like large pebbles from the ominous grey sky. I was tired and drenched from head to toe.

Suddenly, it stopped raining and the clouds were whitening. In front of me looked like a setting form a fairytale book. There were trees everywhere. I reached out to touch them. My fingure tips danced on top of the bark. It was rough and strong. The bark was the colour of an ice cream waffle cone. I looked up. There were pieces of hair like moss haning off the twiggy, witch like fingered branches. The moss was army green and felt damp and cool. There was drops of water slowly trickling down the soggy moss then melting into the forest floor. I looked down, below me were twigs that made a snapping and crunching sound when I jumped on them. There were bushes of leaves flourishing from the doughy, soft mud. Some leaves were the colour of a large emerald gem others the colour of a miniature, bringhy, green pea. My feet sunk into the mushy, squishy mud. I bent down to touch the mud, it felt cold and gooey. My fingers sunk into it almost like quick sand. I got up. I could hear the voices of birds happily chirping in the distance. I could also hear the slender tree branches swaying in the wind playing an orchestral symphony of sounds. It was music to my ears! The smell of the forest lingered though my lungs. It smelt crisp and fresh but at the same time, earthy and wooden. If I could taste the forest I would inagine it would taste lke a cinnamon stick, sweet and fragrant – washing a sence of comfort over me.

“Swish, snap,”

I slowly and cautiousy turned around. My mind was racing with the possibilities of what made the sound. Maybe a bird, a squirrel or a bear?

“Swish, snap,”

There it was again! I looked down in front of me. There was a medium sized, blood red forest frog. It’s black devious eyes stared at me with curiousity and wonder. I stared back at the little creature. After a few long seconds it gracefully hopped back into the dense forest, leaving tiny foot prints on the mossy groud.

Before I could enjoy the many more splendours of the forest, it started to rain again as I heard lightning overhead. The skies were once darkening and I reluctantly began to walk quickly through the peaceful forest, hoping to one day visit the magnificent forest once again.

Lindsey

For Lost in the Forest podcast, Click on the following link:  AlyseRainforest

I sprint through the forest panting, trying to get away from my friend Jimmy who is chasing me. I’m climbing over and under logs, jumping over tree branches trying to get away, I finally hear his footsteps gradually stop. I am so relieved that I didn’t lose this game of tag.

I stop running to catch my breath and I find myself sitting on a tree stump looking at the beautiful setting. There are three long tree trunks stretching across the path, all covered with green fluffy moss. I hear the birds chirping and the sound of the fast flowing river. But there is one thing I have never seen before. I see red spiky ferns as well as clovers on the soft moss that look like a land of flying butterflies. I stand up from the stump and plant my feet on the cushiony moss. I make my way over to a tree and feel the sticky sap dripping onto my hand. I climb up to the highest tree and close my eyes and just listen to the peaceful sounds of the forest. As I climb back down the tree, the crispy bark slowly falls off. I can see the fading light peeking through the trees.

It’s getting darker. I start to worry because I’m out here in the forest all by myself.  I take one last glimpse at this beautiful view and then try to make my way back to my camp sight. I maneuver back through trees over and under logs trying to get back before darkness falls. My heart is racing. I’m very scared. The pink sunset is quickly disappearing.  I run as fast as I possibly can and finally see a tent. I am hoping have found my camp site when I see my parents, my friends and my friends parents all searching for me. When they see me they are so relieved. As I catch my breath, I tell them the whole story of that beautiful place.

Grunt, groan. Gee this uphill hike in this rainforest is super tiring! I stopped for a quick breather. The sight upon me was amazing! I was absolutely breathless. I’ve never seen anything like this.

Trees were so tall; I could see just their skinny and barky trunks. Stringy vines dangled above all around like birthday streamers. “Wait,” I thought to myself. “Am I even in a rain forest?” Everything was so beautiful, but at the same time kind of optimistic and fake! I decided to see if the rain forest was real, so I started walking to a waterfall looking hedge. As I walked, I could hear dried leaves rustling and crunching beneath me. I very gently placed my hand on the hedge. Right that moment, I knew that EVERYTHING was real! The world now felt so wondrous and magical. I felt as if I was in a fairytale. The feeling of the hedge was layered, bumpy and you can feel thick leaves all over. It was so genuine! I rushed with excitement to the birthday like streamer vines. They were thin like yarn!

Everything smelt so crisp and fresh. I’m pretty sure that my winter mint gum came to life! I could smell healthy new wood from strong trees, and an old burnt smell from previous fires. I picked up a leaf that had fallen right at my feet! I ripped it in half. A light green liquid oozed through my fingers. It felt cool-so energizing and refreshing. I was in awe! I decided that I needed to rest for a bit to absorb all this new excitement. I backed up a few meters. From this new further distance I could see a small patch of blood red berries. They definitely stood out in front of the rest of the rainforest which was green! Just by looking, I could taste those bitter, sour berries. Yuck! As my eyes gazed over at other directions I was able to taste everything else. A leafy bush left a tingly taste. I looked over at a maple tree. The light brown syrup tasted very sugary!

I thought that I had only been here for a few minutes, so I was very shocked to see that the sun has almost reached the top of the sky. Animals were waking up. I could hear squirrels, rabbits, and other rodents scurrying through buses. I could hear woodpeckers picking at trees, and song birds singing cutesy little tunes. Da-da-dada! People were coming to this beautiful part of this rain forest now. I really knew that I should leave, but I couldn’t find the courage to do it! I had to tell myself over, over and over again that I would come to visit again. In a soft whisper, I murmured good bye,” to the forest. With that, I took one last long stare and triumphantly left to continue my hike…

I awake lying on the damp cool forest floor. I get up and breathe in a gust of fragrant air. I don’t know where I am and I don’t know how I got here. All I remember is my name is Rick Jameson. I don’t hear anything but the wind rustling the leaves and the odd click or chirp from birds overhead. The forest is filled with beautiful dashes of colours and damp plants with wet dew on the leaves but there’s still a slightly creepy feeling that makes me uneasy. I call for help to see if anyone is near until my throat is raw. I wait for a few minutes but no help came. I know I am on my own.

I walk in one direction (unknown to whether it be north south east or west) for a while. I find a clearing filled with radio, stereo, video equipment, and best of all, a few bottles of water! I gulp down the refreshing liquid and grab an empty duffel bag filling it with anything I think might be useful for getting out of the rainforest. I grab the remaining water bottles, and grab a flashlight and a big handful of batteries as it was starting to get dark out. Out of the corner of my eye lay a canvas tarp over a blanket. Curiously I open the blanket. Under it lay: a small digital camcorder, some provisions, and a machete. Knowing of the creatures in the jungle, I clip the machete to my belt, slip the provisions into the duffel, and turn on the camcorder. There is nothing left on the camcorder but a video log left so I turn it on. It goes like this: “this is Alex Sanchez. I’m gonna start going north because the map says there’s a village there. I hope I find something because I’m starting to feel lonely. I’m the last one. It got Rob and Murray when I was sleeping. Keeping watch was what got them. It was behind them. It’s behind YOU!  It’s always behind you. If anyone has watched this than it’s coming for you”. (He whimpers for a minute then says): Never. Look. Behind you.

I’m utterly chilled to the bone by this video log but kept the camcorder on because it has a small compass in the upper corner of the screen. I’m headed north so I can reach the village that the man on the recording talked about. It is the hope of finding it that keeps me going. After a few hours of walking through the dense slightly creepy jungle, the sun sets and the sky fades from orange to black and the moon starts to rise. I’m too tired to walk any longer so I sit down on the ground and lean against a tree. I can’t get to sleep because I’m scared from the recording. After an hour, I fall asleep. It feels like moments later when I hear a cracking of a twig. I open my eyes and stuck there on a tree is a small book. I get up to check it out and I grab the book. There is only 1 page in it and it says:  HEAD NORTH, FOLLOW THE PAGES – Alex. It is beyond me to see why he didn’t just wake me if he was here. I walk north for a while and find the next page left by Alex. THE HUNT HAS STARTED.

I look behind me and I see a tall figure behind a thicket of exotic flowers and vines. I call to him thinking that it could be Alex but then I remember what Alex had said – “don’t look behind you”. I feel a sinking sensation in my stomach and then I see the arms. The other arms. Not he, but it had 4 other tentacle like arms sprouting from its back. I choke back a scream and sprint away. I don’t know where I am running to but soon I come to a cliff and without knowing it I’m falling through the air. Everything feels like it’s happening in slow motion. I see the exotic flowers, the treetops, vines and more flora flashing before my eyes until I splashdown in a pool at the bottom of a small waterfall. I take a moment to breathe and assess what just happened. I think I’m safe so after the whole time in this forest, I take a moment to carefully observe and film my surroundings and the jungles beauty on the camcorder. There are so many magnificent flowers and plants, the cooling spray from the waterfall. I’m enveloped in the beauty of the jungle until I turn around. A note lands on the ground. END OF THE LINE. I look up and the camcorder’s screen snows over. I drop it and I scream but nobody hears me. It grabs me with its tentacles and raises me to its face… (The camcorder fades to black).

The steady drops of water fall to the ground from the thick canopy of leaves that covers the forest in a blanket of green. The wafts of woody smoke drift through the trees from the still smoldering coals of a campfire. The pale early morning sun rises up and shines between the trees, welcoming early morning hikers. I use the moss as my compass as I walk between the gnarled trees. The rustle of a squirrel above arouses me from my daydreaming. I rub the grogginess from my eyes. My tent is covered with a thin layer of dew. I walk up to the thin river to the right of our camp and watch the steady stream of salmon rush down the river. Suddenly off the to the left I hear a swish and the fast galloping of deer. I pause for a moment and then leap across the makeshift driftwood bridge I had built the day before. I find myself walking toward the clearing where the sound came from. I walk up to the arrow wedged into the ground and pull it from the dry mulch.

I realize too late what the arrow means and find myself face to face with a tall man in leather boots and a long black coat. In one hand he has a bow and slung on his back are a quiver of arrows.

“Isn’t that a bit of an old fashioned way to hunt?” I ask despite the nagging reminder of my moms voice telling me not to talk to strangers. He answers in a deep raspy voice but I don’t hear what he says I’m too busy searching for where the poor deer he had shot at had ran off to.

“Do you want to come with me for my next hunt?” He asks. I know I should say no but a spark of adventure had already gotten into me. So I tell him that I’d go back to my campground and ask my mom. I get back to my tent and tear a piece of paper soundlessly from my sketchpad and quickly scrawl down a note for my mom to read once she wakes up.

“She won’t be too worried about me”, I think to myself. I walk back to the clearing and smile at the hunter,

“She said yes”, I say trying to mask the hint of lie from my voice.

I follow him into a thicker section of the forest. We walk for around half an hour without any words exchange any words. Finally he asked me what my name was.

“Um……..just call me Justin” I reply. We pass some early morning hikers a few minutes later. The guide looked suspiciously at us and his eyes fixed on the bow and arrows. He seemed anxious as he hurried along past us. Eventually I lost track of where we were, my mind was consumed in my surroundings the sun had now come up and was shining vividly through the cracks between the trees, casting long shadows on the rough forest floor. The further along we went the more my imagination unwound. The roots that shot out of the ground looked like octopus tentacles shooting out in defense. The whole thing reminded me of a lord of the rings movies when they are deep in Mirkwood. We came to an abrupt stop. The hunter pushed me down with him behind a fallen log. A fawn had paused to take a drink from the nearby stream. He pulls out an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it onto his bow. He was about to pull back on the string of the bow when the siren broke out.

A forest ranger stepped out of the trees and looked straight at us. So, what were we supposed to do? We bolted. I took off in one direction while the hunter ran off in another. The ranger chased after him but I didn’t stop running. I came to a wide hollow tree and squeezed through an opening. I kneel there for what seems like hours Finally I went outside to see if I could get any bars on my cellphone to possibly contact my mom. All of a sudden I heard a rustling in the bushes in front of me. With no hesitation I began to sprint I looked back over my shoulder and saw no one was following me. I was relived. I looked up into the blue sky, panting. But instead of seeing the sky I found myself looking into the stern face of a forest ranger.

I jumped back in surprise. The ranger, seeing this as an attempt to escape grabbed me by the arm and made me walk with him. He explained that hunting was illegal in this area of the forest and when the hikers saw them with the bow and arrows they had called the rangers who had set up the decoy deer as a trap. We made it back to my tent where my mother was standing with a police officer who had the hunter in handcuffs I threw myself into her arms. She acted worried but as soon as the officers left with the scowling hunter, she started yelling about how she had to call the police after she saw the note I had left her. But I wasn’t listening, I was just happy that it was all over and I was safe and sound…..

A shiver ran down my spine, as I heard an animal stalk me, I couldn’t make out what animal it was because of the density of the trees. Step by step I could hear the thud as the leg crushed the vegetation. This thing was big but not huge, young but not a baby. As I got ready for the animal to pounce at me, but the animal turned out to be my friend Ernie. “Ernie did you try to kill me?!” I said, “Maybe” said Ernie. “Ernie did you find the jeep?” I said. “No” Ernie said sadly. “We better hurry” I said nervously. Trekking in an unknown forest and you don’t know what’s out there its really scary. Then suddenly I saw a note on the ground reading “DON’T TREKK IN THE NIGHT OR IT WILL GET YOU” I thought “Um… MOMMY!” Then Ernie found a second note saying “THE FUN HAS JUST STARTED”.

But after that I found a camera showing a guy giving tips and information about this monster that lives in the forest and that kills trespassers. Luckily after walking in the dark with tips that could save your life we found a cabin. I searched through the cabin. The cabin looks like it could fit 2 people or 2 people and a kid. The cabin had heating, plumbing and electricity. I looked at the refrigerator it had frozen meat and a juice box. But quickly I found out that the cabin had an underground radio station. Ernie and I tried to call a SOS but the signal was weak. “WE need higher ground” I said. Ernie and I left the cabin and walked into the unknown.

Finally we reach a hill big enough to boost our transmission. But as I turned on the radio I heard a scream. “Ernie1” I shouted. I tried to find the place where the scream was, but it was too late. Ernie is gone. I went back to the place where I left the radio and transmitted a SOS. After 2 minutes of paranoid thinking a person spoke. “We got your SOS, where are you?” the radio said. “On top of Sun hill, in the Dark forest.” I said in relief. After 2 months of wandering in this forest and losing a friend I’m coming home.

Hello, Bloggerclass!

It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything, so I thought I’d try out something new. I’ve created a little Math tutorial on how to solve percentage problems using equivalent fractions, which is what we were learning in class today. Look in the Math folder at the top to find the link, and let me know what you think (rhyme not intended!). Would you find this helpful? Maybe you could make your own tutorials and have them posted …

What would you like to post on the blog next? How about our Rainforest stories?

Hi Bloggerclass,

I know you’ve been working hard on your socials and science projects, and I did not intend that the substitute teacher send home worksheets over the weekend. These can be completed in class. Make sure you get outside and have fun!

Thanks for all your hard work,

Ms. Angel

Me? Nervous? Noooooo!!! Are you kidding me?!? I’m as cool as a cucumber!!! I never get n-n-nervous… Ahhhhhh!!! Okay! I was hyperventilating!

“Stay calm, deep breaths,” I told myself. Okay so maybe I was a little , okay kind of a lot, okay I was REALLY nervous to skate!!! My arm was shaking as I was trying to do my makeup. Mascara got smeared, lipstick was smudgy. I seriously thought I was going to get sick!!! As I arrived at the competition, (Summerskate at 8 Rinks in Burnaby.) I literally felt sick to the stomach. Not only that, but my warm-up wasn’t good. But I pulled it off anyway, (well kind of,) and I started to lace up my boots. As I laced, my knuckles turned white as I pulled/gripped my laces so tightly.

“How are you feeling?” Asked my skating coach.

“Ummmmmm… I didn’t exactly want to answer that question!!! It was good thing I was saved by the announcer. I was called to the ice for my 6 minute warm-up. As I got on to the ice, I realized that it was freezing cold!!! I could feel my body tightening up. On top of all that, I kept on falling and popping easy jumps like a double flip. (A jump I should always be landing.) Out of the corner of my eye, I saw other skaters land the harder jumps. They did them with flow, grace…And they jumped SO high!!! I gulped and I was glad that I was the first skater, and the other skaters were called off the ice. I presented to the judges and struck my starting pose and sharp as I could. (I skate the tango.) When my music started I was a bit shaky/wiggly, but after I completed my layback spin…I began to relax and feel calm. During my solo, I skated with power& grace. I felt like a whole new person doing what I loved to do… Skate!!! For every element I performed, I just KNEW that I would land it. So, I tried to make each element better and stronger than the one before it. I didn’t even notice it, but my music was coming to an end. I heard the last few strong notes of my music and I very dramatically struck my ending pose. I held my ending pose my face red, and I was breathing fast and hard. I was smiling happily because I felt like I could keep on skating out there forever, but yet my 3 minute program was done.

Applause boomed out from all parts of the rink, and I presented to my coach confidently. My friends, family and coaches hugged and congratulated me telling me I’ve done a good job. I was so proud on what I accomplished and I felt GREAT!!!! I knew I skated fantastic and even random other strangers smiled at me! I ended up winning the event, and it might have been my best day ever! Not only that, but I was already getting excited for my next competition!!! To be continued PART 2!!! Autumn Leaves competition….. And I know I won’t get nervous!!! (Hehehehehe)

The End!!!!

What do you think a camp out would look like? Usually the way it would look like is roasting marshmallows, open fire, surrounded by nature, peace and quiet. But this story is a bit more unexpected.

When some of my family visited from Winnipeg to Vancouver during summer for two weeks they stayed at my house for the first week. My family that stayed were my aunt Rosie, my 17 year old cousin A.J, my other aunt Maria, my 7 year old cousin Kaitlyn and my 12 year old cousin Stephanie.

That whole week my house was so full! My two aunts, Kaitlyn and my dad slept downstairs, A.J slept in my brother and sisters room and Stephanie slept in my room.During the visit A.J and my brother Angel would always prank Stephanie and me. One time while Stephanie and I were outside fooling around in my front yard and A.J and my brother sprayed us with water guns! We were so wet and drenched that my aunt Maria didn’t let us into the house until we stopped dripping water from our shirts!

One night Stephanie and I were watching movies off her Ipad because we couldn’t sleep. It was so hot! Stephanie said ” man it’s so hot in here, I wish we could sleep outside”. That was when I got the idea. I crept downstairs to find my dad still awake so that’s when I asked him “can Stephanie and I sleep on the balcony?”. Surprisingly he agreed and let us sleep on the balcony. He got out all our camping sleeping bags and we laid them out on the balcony. The weather was perfect outside! It was warm but at the same time there was a tiny breeze that kept us cool too.

After my dad left Stephanie whispered to me “QuelonnaI’m worried”. I replied to “why?”.”What if Kuya A.J finds us on the balcony and prank us again?”. ( “Kuya” means big brother. You say “kuya” to your older brothers and your older boy cousins.) That’s when I thought of something. “We should fill up the water guns and keep them with us just in case Angel and Kuya A.J try to prank us again!”. So we filled up the water guns and kept them right by our heads. Soon enough around 3am we fell asleep.

The next morning Stephanie and I woke up to the sunrise and our early bird chirping. ( There’s a bird that lives on our roof and chirps every morning to wake my family up.) Since it was still early in the morning Stephanie and I decided to entertain each other with watching movies on the Ipad, YouTube and telling each other how life was in Vanouver and Winnipeg.

We were watching Avatar when we started hearing noises from outside our house. I was telling Stephanie it could have been A.J and my brother but she thought it was my neighbours cat or a squirrel.  But then we both heard footsteps and we both were panicking freaking out thinking it was A.J and my brother and not someone just passing by so we got our water guns ready and when that person came we sprayed them instantly! But then after we quickly stopped and noticed it wasn’t A.J or my brother so we ran into the house cosing the balcony door behind us.

It was ten minutes until Stephanie went to check if that person was gone. We quickly looked around to see if that person was around and then started to clean the balcony up. Once the balcony was cleaned up A.J woke up. Stephanie and I told him what happened and then he started mocking and laughing at us while saying “ha ha the one time you guys try to prank me you fail and get the wrong target! “. A.J mocked us about that for the rest of the week but soon we will get our revenge!

Keep those memoirs coming in, Bloggerclass. Your writing is vivid and has captured those small moments from the past… and you’ve now shared them with others! The first time I wrote a memoir, I was amazed how I was able to relive the incident as I wrote. Those memories had been locked into my memory, and by writing, they came alive and to the surface. It looks like this might have happened for you as well. Bravo!

Also, congrats on your Breadwinner/Human Rights pieces. And thank you for using copyright-free images to use as visual symbols for your thinking.

On another positive note, I’ve noticed how quickly you’re learning the technical ins and outs for blogging. I like your comment avatars,  your ability to post your writing, comments, edit your work, post images and more! I’m looking forward to using more computer and web-based ways to show our learning as the year progresses.

PS: The Ms. Angel avatar has something new to say, as of this writing.
PPS: Remember to comment. We all love to get feedback on our work!

Happy reading!

I push aside a bunch of leaves and look up at the water trickling the rocks. We are at a waterfall somewhere on a tiny island in Thailand. My mom, my dad and I walk through a small stream using stepping-stones and climb up onto a giant rock at the base of the waterfall. I’m already in my swimsuit so I start up right away, trying my best (but still failing) to place my hands and feet only on the dry spots. My parents quickly follow and we all manage to make it to the top in one piece.

The three of us are the only ones there so we decide to make the best of it, but after about three seconds a huge group of tourists start streaming out from the trees and into the small pools. I gape at them and complain, “We should have gone that way,” but we still have fun anyways. It’s so awesome that I don’t notice when minutes, then hours pass by, but soon my dad is telling me it’s time to go.

I want to go back down using the forest path but we left our shoes down at the rock so we have to climb back down. My dad goes first so I follow him down the waterfall, and my fingers and toes find the cracks in the rocks to use like a ladder. I’m about halfway down the waterfall when things start to go wrong, I’m still wet from the swim and my hands, and then my feet start to slip from the rocks.

I scream as I slide down the waterfall feet first and struggle to come to a stop. There’s a yell behind me but I can’t turn around to see where it’s coming from, I’m about to crack my head open on a rock but my dad stops me just in time and I breathe a sigh of relief. My dad gives a sudden lurch and I turn as he catches my mom sliding down the rocks. “Let’s not try that again,” says my mom.

After my near death experience we headed down to the restaurant and stuffed ourselves with Thai food in dripping wet swimsuits. After that we drove home and watched a movie marathon before falling into a deep sleep. That trip to the waterfall was one of the most exciting and scary things that ever happened to me and now I can truthfully say that I climbed up a waterfall and survived. Even though I almost cracked my head open on that rock I still had lots of fun and if I could, I would gladly do it all over again. Even if it means falling down a waterfall!

Today the sun is shining brighter than ever. The birds are chirping merrier than before and everything is perfect. Except for one little thing. It’s my first day of kindergarten and I am not happy about it.

I marched down the stairs in my pyjamas with a straight face and a loud “Hmf”. My mom was making breakfast and my brother and sister were getting ready for school. My mom looked at me with that face that meant she knew what I was trying to do. “Jessica, please go get dressed right now!” She said in a stern but polite way. So I did what I was told and I went upstairs to find the perfect thing to wear. I slipped it on and leisurely got ready for school.

When we got to school my siblings dashed away to their friends. My mom walked me to my classroom and it seemed that as we got closer my eyes started to get puffy and watery. My cheeks started to turn red but I held everything in. Right outside my classroom my teacher welcomed me to school. I said “bye” to my mom and slowly took my first step into my new classroom.

All the other kids were playing games so I found a quiet corner and started a fire truck puzzle. By the time the last student walked through the door the room was full of loud voices and sounds. Our teacher called us to the carpet but I wasn’t done my puzzle and this puzzle was the type where to put it away the puzzle had to be finished. I started to panic and tried to find where all the pieces went. My heart stopped when a girl walked over to me. “Would you like some help?” she asked.
My throat felt dry but I managed to squeak out a small “Yes please”. Quickly we put the puzzle together and took a seat on the carpet side by side.

On the carpet we played a game to get to know each other better. We had to say our name, what we liked to eat, and our favourite color. The first boy went “I am Jonathan I like pizza and the colour blue.” When it came around to the girl who helped me with the puzzle, I found out her name is Serena and she likes sushi and purple. when it got to the last person the bell went for recess.

All day Serena and I played together. We got to play house and do more puzzles and games. When the bell sounded for lunch the teacher let us go home with our parents. My mom was waiting right outside the classroom for me. I told her everything that happened that day. As it turns out, I was worried for nothing. The day had a few bumps but it was still quite smooth and I even think I found my very first best friend. I now I know I really did.

“Today’s the day I finally am going to go to Carlos Bakery” I whispered to myself. At 6:45 in the morning, (it’s 3 hours ahead in New York so back home it would be 4:45) me my sister and my parents were getting ready to leave. We grabbed a taxi, and we were on our way to New Jersey.

Our cab driver had no clue where we were going so we had to look it up on our phones. But we got there soon enough. When we got there, I took a bunch of photos of the outside and me standing in front of the bakery. Usually there are long line ups outside of Carlos, but this morning there weren’t any line ups. But inside, it was a whole new situation.

“Number 36!” was the first thing I heard when I walked in. There was a man who gave us a ticket and told us to wait for our number to be called. I don’t remember what number we were but it was far from 36. So we just had to wait for our number to be called. My dad was waiting outside, so it was just me, my mom, and my sister who were waiting. I decided that in the meantime, I would decide what I wanted to buy.

When we were about halfway to the front, I had decided that i wanted a canoli, a lobster tail, and a t-shirt. After another half an hour, we got a visitor! It was Buddy’s (the owner’s) mom! Everyone at the bakery calls her ‘mama’ as it is a family run business. When she came out, everyone was very happy to  see her. She was eating and explaining how every morning she eats a red velvet cupcake for breakfast. She went to the back to finish her cupcake the came out shortly afterwards to take pictures.

“Where are you from?” She asked with her jersey accent. My mum replied because  I was to shocked to say anything. “Vancouver, Canada” Then she said that her son Buddy has done a few shows in Canada. I got a couple of pictures with her and I was really happy that i got to see someone from the family.

By the time we got our order taken, ‘mama’ was in the middle of the crowd. Then my mom paid for our morning goodies. It was time to say goodbye to Carlos bakery, but instead I said see you later, because if you know me, I’m gonna be living in New York when I’m older.

The whole experience of Carlos Bakery was amazing! Since I watch the show, it was even more amazing because then you actually think ‘ya this is where Cake Boss shoots’ it was the experience of a lifetime and I can;’t wait to go back!

Arianna

It was a hot summer day and I was on a big red bus packed with people. On the roof of the bus were 2 big red rafts and 6 kayaks. All I could see when I finally got off the bus was a fast flowing river, lots of rocks, trees and very steep banks. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a mix of emotions. I was worried, scared, excited, nervous, all at the same time. Wouldn’t you be to?
First we learned all the rules about the safety of river rafting then we got divided into two groups of 6 people and 6 more on kayaks. In my raft was myself my mom my brother and 4 other people including the guide. Once we were all settled and knew a all the rules clearly we set off into the white waters of Spokane.

The waters were calm at first and then a few dips and rapids. Since it was over 35 degrees out that day, it felt so refreshing when the splash of cool water came up right in my face. So far I loved the trip. We got to see riverbank houses, animals on the riverside, birds, and millions of swallows’ nesting holes on the side of the steep sand banks. My favorite part was when we had splash fights with our raft paddles against the other raft and the kayakers. My dad was in a kayak and I soaked him with the squirt guns that the guide gave us. It was great fun, I was all wet and it felt like I could paddle forever.

I didn’t realize that my feet were so wet, they started to slip off the raft next thing you know I felt a gust of wind on my face and the freezing water on my feet. I had fallen off the raft. Luckily, everybody had a life jacket on but I was still worried. I had all the safety rules going around in my head. The one that was scaring me the most was that I could hit my head on a river rock. I pointed my feet down stream with my head back remembering all the rules. The guide took out a rope and threw into the water as I was slowly going down stream but unfortunately it didn’t reach me. He tried again, it worked, I grabbed hold of the rope as he pulled me in, grabbed my life jacket and heaved me onto the boat. Fortunately I didn’t hit my head on a rock. When I came onto the boat I was shivering from head to toe. I was soaking wet, my teeth were chattering and my legs were trembling. I thought I was going to die but I didn’t. I was cold and dripping wet and wanted to go back some place warm but we couldn’t just stop right in the middle of the raging rapids so we had to continue down the calm and not so calm river.

My first experience river rafting left me exhausted, very tired and wet but I was also proud of myself for surviving the angry rapids. Again, I had a mix of emotions.  I just really wanted to get back to the hotel so I got back on the big red bus loaded the rafts and kayaks back on the roof and crammed on the bus. I was dripping water everywhere but I managed to get back safely. It was a very interesting experience and definatlyone that I wont ever forget.

I stared blankly with no expression on my face. In front of me were swings spinning higher than ever and Atmosphere was the name of the ride. On top of me were people hovering in the blue sky screaming and laughing. Believe it or not, my family wanted to go on that? Oh no, no way I’m going on that! My stomach started to tingle, butterflies were all over my body as the wind blew by.

“Why don’t we go on the mini version first? You know, to get warmed up.” I asked my cousin.

“Yeah, sure.” She replied. My stomach suddenly felt a little better now. The wind breezed through my face. That relaxed me. We walked toward the mini one. It was the same but it didn’t hover as high in the air. I walked up and sat down on the swing. I buckled up. The swings started soaring in the air. It felt crazy. My feet were just hanging there. My arms were loose in the air. It felt so free. As the ride slowed down, I looked around. My feet just glided through the ground. I quickly unbuckled and got off. Whew! Glad that’s over with!

“Hey! I heard there’s another version of atmosphere here! It’s bigger than this one but smaller than the biggest one! Let’s go on that!” Exclaimed my cousin. My heart suddenly sank. Another one? Really? No way.

Mixed messages were squirming around in my body. I know I don’t want to go on it, but somehow, I want to. I just followed my family. What was I supposed to do? As we approached the ride, my heart raced faster and faster. My feet were frozen and my hands clutched. What was I doing? I thought to myself as I walked toward a swing. Suddenly, without thinking, it started to move. What are you doing? A voice exclaimed in me. My hands held the chains tightly. The swings swung around in the air, soaring like a bird. My feet hovered right on top of a tree. The tip of the tree! My stomach tightened and I didn’t feel good. I clenched my teeth together so I would not throw up. But it slowed down so my stomach untwisted and my heart slowed down. It was over! I got off and I felt dizzy. My legs trembled and my feet were numb. I hate this place! But I didn’t feel finished yet…

Words flowed out of my mouth. “Let’s go on the biggest one now,” I suddenly said. “Yeah!” said my sister and cousin in a chorus. We walked toward atmosphere. I was shocked. My eyes wide open. My body shivering. “Uh, I’m actually not so sure about this. I don’t think I’m going to go on.” I said. My family lined up. It was a long wait. I kept on mumbling, I don’t want to do this. Do I? No. Well maybe I kind of want to do this. No! I am not doing this! Suddenly, just like a river flowing down a stream, I said to my aunt, “Actually, I want to go on.” I wanted to do this! It won’t be bad.  So when it was our turn, I slowly walked toward the swing, unsure about it. My teeth cluttered as the atmosphere spun around in the air. My body ached with butterflies. The night was cold and it started to rain! It felt free. My hands let go of the chains and it felt good! I saw the city light. The people on the ground were like ants now! I was laughing, screaming with excitement. I pulled my hood onto my head. I truly felt like a bird! What a sight! It felt somewhat relaxing. It wasn’t long before atmosphere slowed down. The night seemed finished. A thunder of disappointment came through me now that it was over. Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all… just maybe.

  When you’re having one of the best days of the summer there is nothing worse than having to go home. Unfortunately, the parents had arrived. After one knock at the door, everyone sprinted as far away from the door as they could, like we were running for our lives. We obediently followed Maia into the basement, trying not to make a sound. All the lights were off when we came tumbling down the stairs. But it felt like something or maybe someone was missing… “Devon!”

“Devon, where are you?” Maia whispered. When Maia flicked the lights on we just stood there, with our mouths wide open, stunned to see that Devon was sitting on a giant rock. Yes, Maia’s grandparents had a rock in their basement. Some people would ask what’s so special about a rock. Well, this wasn’t just any rock, this is Maia’s very own rock that she can climb any time she wants. Wouldn’t everybody want a rock?

This happened in the summer. Olivia, Hailey, Devon, Anna and I went to see Maia for her 11^th birthday. She had come back to Vancouver to celebrate this. Maia has been sailing around the world and is currently living Australia. After splashing around in Maia’s pool, we came inside to change into our clothes, then to explore the house. But, after that knock at the door, we did the first thing that came to our minds: run, than hide downstairs.

We all agreed it was love at first sight, the rock was beautiful, we climbed on top and just sat there, pleased with ourselves for finding this wonderful thing. Devon and I must have been thinking the same thing because we both casually walked down the rock and started singing: “When I grow up I wanna be a rock, I wanna be a rock in someone’s basement!” everyone started laughing hysterically. We suddenly heard the pounding footsteps of the parents and Maia quickly hushed us by hollering “Attention!” Devon and I started singing again “Attention, Attention!” And kept repeating the tune to a silly dance.

It was such a fun day full of surprises, none of us wanted it to ever end. Ever since that amazing summer day we all had a special place in our hearts for rocks. I learned that when you’re with your friends, even something as simple and boring as a rock can cause a good time and one of your most cherished memories.

Do you want to hear a story about an animal with fatal poison? Well now you are.

It was a crazy combination: my mom, her crazy and my crazy friend were hiking. It was nice being around all the nature, we went hiking for about two hours then we went to the car.

Just before we got in the car, my mom’s crazy friend picked up some pine cones to add to her collection. She put the pine cones in the back seat with me, my friend, my twin Matt and the dog. Suddenly a black scorpion came out the pine cones. It was pretty small and almost stung the dog. We stopped the car and jumped out. The scorpion went in the boot of the car. We called animal control but they could not understand us. The scorpion was in the boot so it could not sting us.

We quickly drove home and when we got home my mom and her friend looked for the scorpion at night. This is because scorpions are nocturnal. When they found it, it was crawling on the back seat! My mom’s friend kept it in jar and fed it bugs and we never saw it again.

   Would You rather eat soup and drink corn juice? Or would you rather hear a  story about the cool game called Laser Tag? Well, since I don’t feel like drinking some corn juice right now I think I’m gonna tell the story!

Ahhh… I remember it like it was yesterday. It was early fall in March 13th. I was just getting ready for Daymon’s Birthday. The sun felt especially hot and scorching for a morning. For some reason I was wearing a black shirt which made it hotter for me to resist the blazing warmth of the sun. As I got to his house sweat drizzled through my skin. I rung the doorbell which made a doorbell sound(of course). As the door opened I shrugged, only to see everyone there.

   “Am I late!?” I asked in disbelief. “Yes”, said Daymon and Guillaume sarcastically. “Yes”, sarcastically said Daymon and Guillaume. “Is everyone here?” I asked trying to ignore the sarcasm. “Ummm… Yeah! I think so, There’s You, Me, Guillaume, Yuma, Gavin, and Seth. Practically everyone’s here!” he continued. Before he could talk more his mom shows up. “All right kids! Let’s go play Laser Tag!” she said.

    I went to Yuma’s car while the others went to the other car Daymon owns. I was with Yuma(of course). POOOF! We were already looking at the stadium.

I was in awe looking through a glass window, looking over the “battlefield”. “Woah!” I was Amazed. Speechless. And Restless. Since it was my first time playing, I couldn’t wait and help but be curious at how it would feel if my friends and I were to battle against each other.

    It was our turn. “FINALLY!” I said in excitement. “Dude….. Calm Down!” said Daymon. “No, YOU CALM DOWN!” I attacked back. “Okay… Let’s go get our gear now Claudio!” said Guillaume as he calms me down. We started suiting up and began playing. I got REALLY excited, So excited it’s ridiculous. smileyface.JPEG

    RIIIIINNGGG!!!! The bell rung and the game begun. Laser’s shot everywhere. I didn’t know how to play, so when Daymon was in front of me I panicked and said
“RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”
As Yuma was about to shoot me I stealthily took cover and tried to shoot Yuma, but accidently shot Guillaume instead. “OH MY G-” Guillaume cuts me off. “Dude…..” he said as he stares at me. He then shoots me which took off some points from me.
“WHAT THE HECK!” I yelled. He smiles.
Out of Nowhere Devon, Daymon’s little brother Ran straight to us shooting aimlessly, then Gavin shoots his gun while Seth shoots him at the chest. The game ends with me being the 11th in rankings.

   That was a really fun memory. It was exhilarating, an experience I won’t forget, Well I really can’t since there’s a scar on my knee when I “stealthly” dodge Yuma’s attack. I hope I get to do that again. Now I’m thirsty where did I leave my corn juice?

Snorkleling in Hawaii

“What, what, what is that? Is that a shark?” I asked myself

There was a huge black shadow coming towards me. My mind was racing with questions, curiosity and well, I was a bit frightened of the possibilities.

I was relaxing on the cramped tour boat with the sun shinning down onto my skin turning it a golden brown. The sky was clear and blue and the water was so perfect it almost looked like a cartoon drawing.

I looked down at the salty, greenish blue water dying with anticipation to jump in. The water was so clear I could see the tropical fish roaming around the floor freely.

When the captain announced that we could go in I just jumped into the water carelessly not worrying about the scary sea creatures lurking the ocean floor. Once I was in the water I felt so relaxed. All my thoughts washed away and my mind was blank. The water made me feel calm and cool. I was practically in a daze.

After swimming around the boat I decided to go a bit further. I swam to a rocky area where there was nobody around. I looked to my left then to my right. On the right side of me there was a huge black shadow coming towards me. It looked like a shark. I was too scared to move or think. I thought I was going to die! The shadow swam closer to me, so close that I was too scared to swim away.

The sun beamed down from the sky. The vibrant rays drifted right towards the shadow. I could now see that the shadow was actually 5 sea turtles! I was so relieved. I wasn’t going to die!

The sea turtles were all different shapes and sizes. They swam around the glistening light and looked as if they were playing tag with each other. I took a closer look at the mesmerizing creatures. One of them was emerald green with streaks of gold shinning on its’ back. Others were a lighter green with almost a silvery, blue streak weaved onto its’ shell. They were magnificent!

I watched the turtles swim around a huge rocky area. Finally, after several minutes of just watching the turtles I took my eyes off of them and swam back to the boat. I hopped onto the boat to let the sun dry me off. I was so speechless after what I saw and could not even say anything for a minute. I looked down at the calm water to see if I could see anything else but I did not. Just when, the boat was starting to leave the snorkeling area, in the distance I saw a dark sea creature, it immediately reminded me of the same five turtles I saw earlier today. I took a closer look at the strange sea creature. It was the same five, beautiful turtles I had just saw! The turtles swam gracefully towards the deep blue sea with the sun shinning on their backs leaving a trail of glistening sparkles dancing in the waves.

Imagine you walk onto a basketball court expecting to play basketball and instead find a bunch of screaming lunatics holding buckets of hot mashed potatoes.

At my summer camp, Camp Miriam, everyone has there own interest groups, this is a story about three of those interest groups. First there’s my group Sports, who play sports, then there’s Larping who L.A.R.P which stands for live action roleplay, so basically they beat each other senseless with pool noodles on long sticks, and last but certainly not least there is Underground Society who walk around chanting while banging pots and pans.

Scene of the battle: The Thunderdome (basketball court), Sports and Underground Society vs larping! Sports and Underground Society’s weapons: hot mashed potatoes, Larpings weapons: pool noodles on sticks. As my team waited patiently in The Thunderdome we see Larping rise over the hill and on to the battlefield. We came out strong but ran out mashed potatoes and resorted to the underhanded tactic of stealing Larpings pool noodles (I know pretty devious).  After that things got REALLY out of hand and I was struck in the back of the head with a bare stick, soon after that the fight was called a draw and both teams walked off the battlefield.

The first day when I saw my flute teacher, she asked me why I wanted to learn the flute. My answer was because I like it look like and sound. I want to started learn flute because I saw other people play that it look so perfect and I wondered I can play it, then I asked my mom if I can learn it, and she said you can learn it when we summer go back to Taiwan.

My flute teacher asked my mom if you want to buy 「Yamaha」 that is more cheaper that her flute, afternoon my flute teacher used message to asked my mom which flute you decided and she wrote how much is Yamaha and other flute, my mom was not sure if I can play that for a long time so her answer was Yamaha.

Next class my flute teacher brought the flute and books then she taught me how to play make sound but that was so weird and I tried many times and that was so hard to make loud sound. After that I tried too hard then I feel so tired. Then teacher taught me how to play tone, I went back home practice many times, sometime I made weird sound. After many lessons I played a song I heard it before and also that was my first time to hear flute played that song.

Last 3~4 lessons my teacher gave me a song that is really pleasant to hear and also I like that song, it is really high tones so that is so hard to make it perfect. Until I come here I still practice that song, but now I still play that song. That was my first time to learn flute, only one summer but I learned a lot of things, now I made notes to make me remember them. And also if next time I forget them I can use notes to remember.

Now I still play the flute also I join school band, I think music is important to me because if you can play any instrument and you can might your instrument is most band have that instrument and you might feel so proud of you. Before I learn that I saw it look like is so beautiful and that why I want to learn that but when I start to learn flute and that I so hard to do it, make it nice.

“Quick! Run!” Maia barked at us. We knew we were in trouble for the wet feet in the house. “Faster! My grandparents can yell louder than you think!” Why was she yelling? Did she WANT us to get caught? First there was the wet feet, then yelling really loudly. Were we ever in for it. We obeyed bossy Maia, and we sprinted down the stairs FASTER than our legs could carry us, tripping and tumbling into the musty, grey basement… is that what I think it is?

How did this crazy situation come to be? Well, Olivia, Mia, Hailey, Anna, and I were invited to Maia’s “Hey! Welcome Back/11^th birthday party”. Maia (aka “Maia I”) had been sailing dem seven seas for over 3 years now. Now Maia and her family live in the land of Down Under, but they flew back to Vancouver to celebrate her birthday with the lot of us, and a handful of good family friends.

After a fun splash around in the pool, we headed into the big West Van house that Maia’s grandparents had. We marched in no problem, forgetting we were each as wet as a dog. Maia’s grandparents won’t like this. Anyway, after we all slowly got changed into our fuzzy clothes (they were a LOT warmer than the cold pool) we thumped down the stairs to go outside. We saw something that could end up being scary. A HUGE puddle (probably half of the pool water) was sitting there, almost expecting us to clean it up. No way that we were going to clean it up! We stared at the mess blankly for a couple of seconds, waiting for Miss Maia to tell us what to do. Then, we heard a bunch of thumps… the parents were lumbering our way.  Maia herded us downstairs into the basement.  “Go! Faster!”

I was first down the concrete stairs. Even though it was mid afternoon on a sunny Saturday, not much light shone through the tiny white framed window. A streak of sunshine came in, just enough light to reveal a GIANT rock. It was as high as a bunk bed and as wide as an average living room. The dry, dirty smell gathered in my nose, which made it kind of hard to breathe. The room was cold. I climbed onto the rough, hard rock, scraping my knee a couple of times. I heard more trips, tumbles and stamps come down the stairs so I scurried up the rock fast. The group whispered my name, “Devon? Devon!” Maybe if I kept quiet it would spook them out if they found me, just sitting there on the rock. It did. So maybe they screamed a little bit when they flicked the lights on.

They only noticed me at first, and it took a while to process the fact that there was a giant rock in the basement. Watching them think was more entertaining than you think. When they finally realized what was happening, they agreed with me that even though that this place smelt bad, it was the coolest rock ever. That rock inspired us to create a song: “When I grow up, I wanna be a rock; I wanna be a rock in someone’s basement!” After we sang it a couple of times at the top of our lungs, Maia remembered that we were in trouble. “Stop!” We couldn’t hear her. “You guys!” We still couldn’t hear her. “Attention!” Mia and I heard her, so we made up a song about that too. “Attention! Attention! Attention!” It went on, and on, and on. I knew that this song was going to last forever in all of our hearts.

I chose this memory because it told me that some things as simple and boring as a rock can be funny, unique and memorable when you’re having a good time with your friends. This experience reminds me how I can have more fun with anything and everything.

Have you ever done something Dangerous before? Have you ever one something dangerous involving sharks and stingrays? I have!

Dolphin Cove Jamaica (in between Ocho Rios) is where the fun began one sunny day. There were a lot of things to do including: a jungle walk where you would interact with and hold different animals, a mini boats ride, a jet boats ride, food, entertainment, and then there were the main events (The Dolphin Experience, Swim with the Sharks, Snorkel with the Stingrays).

My family and I went on the mini boats ride first and we zoomed overtop of he blue waves. I was enjoying it; my sister was screaming the whole time. We still had some time to kill before the shark show so we went on the jungle walk where we held, fed and interacted with various jungle creatures. After that we headed over to the shark tank where I was briefed on what to do in the show. The main and most important rule: KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THE SHARKS MOUTHS! As I waded into the tank, I had second thoughts. But there was no going back…

I sat on a submerged stone bench and 1 of the 4 sharks sat on my lap like a dog! I said “Fins Up” and the shark flipped upside down! I patted her belly then fed her a fish.

The rest of the experience was snorkeling around the shark tank. I loved every second of it. I was going to go take a quick rest when my mom showed me over to the stingray pool. I held a stingray named Chips. He was slippery and felt slimy but he was actually smooth. We were running out of time so after holding the stingray, we skipped snorkeling, dried off, ate a quick lunch from the main concession and watched people limbo for prizes. We checked out the gift shop, and then we drove off to our villa bringing with us fond memories of the day.

     Have you ever had so many things go wrong at the most inconvenient time? You probably didn’t think it was very funny back then. But when you look back at it now, you can’t help but laugh? That reminds me of the time I messed up in Europe……..

      It all started the first day we arrived in Italy. We landed in Rome on the 150^th anniversary of Italy’s independence. We took a cab to the apartment we were renting in the center of the city. The lady who was renting the apartment to us suggested we go down to the little pizza restaurant across the street to have dinner (we were really hungry after the 15 hours in the air). We got to the restaurant and it was not yet open for dinner so we decided to go look around for a bit while we waited for it to open. When we came back the line was HUGE! But we decided to wait anyway because we were super hungry. We ended up waiting two whole hours to get in and then another half hour to get the actual pizza. But it was totally worth it. The pizza was scrumptious.

      The next few days in the eternal city went fairly smoothly. On the last day my dad and I went to go pick up the rental car from across town. On the way we decided to stop at a few places like the Pantheon, The Trevi Fountains and the Spanish Steps. We walked for about two hours before finally getting to our destination. We went up to the counter to fill out the papers. The lady asked for my dad’s passport and he reached into his bag and the colour drained from his face. He rummaged through the bag. We had to mentally retrace our steps back to try to figure out if he could have dropped it. Finally (after much panicking) we decided to call my mom and ask her to fax it to us. After we got that sorted out we drove out of the chaotic city of Rome to go to Tuscany.

After peaceful sereneness of Tuscany, we drove to Milan. On the first night my mom said she found a restaurant with great reviews on “trip advisor” that we could go to for dinner. We walked for about an hour looking for the restaurant. The reason the walk took so long was because we had walked in a big circle from our house, so if we had turned the other way out of our apartment we would have been there in a few minutes. When we went in to the restaurant we asked how long the wait to get in would be and the waitress told us it would be more than an hour. After that mistake in Rome we were not going to wait to get in. So we ended up going to this restaurant called  “Le Tres Gazelle”. There was no line up there. In fact, there were no actual people inside besides the staff who were “working”. (Don’t worry this will make sense later). So anyway, we sat down at the table the waiter showed us to and ordered. The pictures of the food on the menu looked great, but when the actual food came it looked nothing like the pictures. What we got was microwaved pizza and soggy steamed vegetables. The half cooked pasta and cold sauce that came next was even worse. Well, you get the point. We read later on a review website that a critic rated the restaurant the worst in all of Italy and that the food there was a disgrace to Italian cuisine. Of course, just our luck to find the worst restaurant in all of Italy. We left Milan a few days later still trying to wash the taste out of our mouths.

We flew out of Italy from Venice International Airport London, England. (We stopped there for 4 days on the way back home). On the first night we went out to go have dinner with my mom’s friend and her family. My family and I walked to the restaurant to meet them there. We were overwhelmed by the all the people, and how busy it was outside. At one point we were lost (again) and I thought we had stopped to look for directions. All of a sudden, a huge screen above a music store started playing a Michael Jackson music video. I stopped to watch it. Meanwhile I thought my parents were right next to me looking at our map, but they had actually walked away not knowing they had left me behind. I turned around about a minute later to help my mom with directions, only to see that they were gone. I waited 5 nerve-wracking minutes until I saw my dad’s worried face pop up out of the crowd and yell my name. I rejoined them and we had a great next few days.

Now, I know I make it sound like a terrible trip but it was actually one of the greatest experiences of my life. I’ll never forget it (especially some parts ).

THE END

 The day was on January 27^th, 2012, and I would remember that day because that was his moving away party to the U.S., last birthday party with us. It was a laser tag party in a Richmond laser tag arena. Josh Lee, his older brother David Lee, Federico, Gabe, Simon and other CARR students were there. We went into a dark laser tag arena and it was a haunted house. I put target pad on, my laser gun was ready and my teammates were ready too. My best teammate was David Lee. When the game started, I could hear yelling like it was a real war. When I press the laser gun to shoot, I could hear BEW BEW sound. Our team was shooting the opponents and I would also feel nervous. I didn’t know my opponents were hiding and got me on my target pad. My lowest point was -1000 because once I accidently shot myself on the target pad, but my highest score was 45000. The secret to get higher point is to SHOOT YOUR OWN TEAMMATES!!

In the second round, “strangers” kids were playing with us too! That made it harder to play! We were screaming again while we ran away from the opponents. I stayed with David Lee and we both got a pretty high score after the second round.

When the game ended, we couldn’t stop talking about what happened during the game. Everyone said “That was the best party ever.

This day made it a memorable day and I thought I was lucky that I got invited to this action-packed laser tag party. Even though I was tired when I got home, but this is worth it.

26.Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

           In the “Breadwinner “ Parvana and her sister Nooria are not allowed to go to school because they’re women, the Taliban made a lot of rules about women that restrict them from being free and feeling equal to everyone. One of their biggest rules that is not at all fair is that women are not allowed outside unless they’re wearing a burqa and are either with a boy (it doesn’t matter what age) or have a note

This right means that everyone should be allowed to go to school, no one shall be denied to school no matter what their race, colour, gender, wealth, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to. The Breadwinner takes place in Afghanistan in the 1990s.During that time the Taliban took over and they created unfair rules that affected a lot of people, one rule they made was they banned women from going to school and they also arrested the people that were educated.

To me this rule seemed unfair, sexist and rude. Education is something everyone needs and should be accessible to everyone. If no one had education then no one could teach it and then we’d all be uneducated and then none of us be able to keep this world from moving on. This book reminded me that some people in different countries arent as free and as lucky as me

I’m writing about the right to go to school, to play, and to learn to be responsible. In some parts of the world children don’t get to use this right. Some kids have to stay home from school so they can work to bring in money, some families don’t have the money to send their children to school, and in some countries, government or certain people don’t believe that girls should have the right to education. Also sometimes the government wants everybody to get the chance to go to school but the community just doesn’t have enough money to start one. Or if there is a school, the books are sometimes so old you aren’t really learning as much.

This right is violated in The Breadwinner when the Taliban came to Afghan and said that women and girls couldn’t go to school or get an education. They were stuck inside never even seeing the sun (because the windows were painted black), which also meant they couldn’t play or learn to be responsible. If you were a boy, even though you could still go to school, you probably wouldn’t. You’d probably be out working all day trying to sell your family’s last few possessions so you and your family could eat. Working doesn’t just mean you’re not going to school, it also means you’re not having any time to play.

This right is important to me because without it I wouldn’t be who I am today. This right lets millions of kids go to school, get education, and later get a job, but there are still thousands of kids who can’t, like all the the girls in The Breadwinner. For my picture I chose a young child sitting on a stack of books, reading. It suggests that the child is getting an education and knowledge, something that everybody has the right to access.

The Breadwinner: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”

My topic for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

In The Breadwinner this right has been seen many times. This right has come in when Parvana and Shauzia saw the men’s arms being cut off, when The Taliban beat Parvana and her mother in front of the jail, when they beat Parvana’s father and mother at Parvana’s home and in a few more parts of the book.

What I think about The Breadwinner and this right is that Parvana’s life all around her had that right broken. This right has taught me that no one is allowed to be harmed and that everyone should be protected from cruel acts and no one should be abused.

I chose the Universal Declarations of Human rights as my topic. My chosen article is article 9, which states that “No one  shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Arbitrary arrest means random arrest, or arrest without a reason. Detention means someone is detained unreasonably or for a long time without being put on trial. Exile refers to a person being banned from entering or staying in that person’s home country. I think this topic plays a huge part in “The Breadwinner” because the main character, Parvana, went through a long, tough journey after her father was arrested.

In the beginning of the book, the Talibans took over Afghanistan and did not promote education. The Talibans were afraid that educated people would gain power and rebel against them. But Parvana’s parents were both educated. Her father was arrested because of this. He did not commit any crime but was taken away by the authority (Page 30 and 31 stated “Why did you go to England for your education?” the soldiers yelled at father. “Afghanistan doesn’t need your foreign ideas!”). This is clearly an arbitrary arrest and later detention because it never mentioned the father was given a fair trial. Parvana also saw many terrifying incidents with men being arrested or thrown into jail because they were against the Taliban. Many of the men were beaten or violently hurt. This is also an example of arbitrary arrest and detention described by article 9.

This article taught me that a lot of places in the world don’t have the values and beliefs that we have in Canada. In this country, we all have the opportunity to be given a fair trial before we are proven guilty in court. I think that this really shows that in Canada, we all have the right to be respected and to have the opportunity to share our thoughts and beliefs. We are free from arbitrary arrest, detention, and exile. We are fortunate to be in school and to have the right to education without the fear of being taken away by authority.

For my final project on the “breadwinner” and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I have chosen right number 11 : innocent until proven guilty. This right means that you can’t be arrested without proper evidence or a good reason. This right is not used when the Taliban arrest Parvana’s father even though he didn’t do anything wrong.

If something like this happened in Vancouver I think that the police would be fined for false arrest and the person who was arrested would be set free. In my opinion the Taliban could only do this because at that time Afghanistan was so corrupt that nobody could anything about it.

Written by:Eli

I picked this picture to show the strength and determination of the Afghan people.

P.S this is one of my favourite quotes.

Everyone has a right to education. Education shall be free, at least in elemenrty school.

I chose this statement becuase I think it relates to this story, Breadwinner.  This statement relates to the story because in the Breadwinner, the girls were not allowed to got to school. And personaly I think everyone has a right to go to elementry school for free, so they can get a good carreer, stay healthy in life and have enough money for food, water, and shelter etc. Elementry school shall be free for them becuase they’re already in a not such of a rich country. But when it comes to university I think they should pay money because university is a lot of money here, and I think they should pay at least a bit of money for their own education.

This is againist human rights becuase the talibans are not allowing the girls to go to school at any age of their life. So then the most of the girls won’t get a education when their older, but for Parvanna she’s lucky that her dad went to university and college.

My personal reflection is about everyone, having a right to get an education from learning to, having fun, making new friends and to be taught by professional teachers.

ARTICLE 5: NO ONE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO TORTURE OR TO CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING PUNISHMENT.

How would you like it if you were put through cruel punishment or torture? In my opinion, Article 5 is one of the most important Human Rights. Where we live is a very beautiful place, but across the world in Afghanistan people live in a war torn country. We are very fortunate to live in Canada where these rights protect us, but some people don’t have this protection.I understand that this right is crucial and should always be respected.

In the story “The Breadwinner,” the Taliban had taken over Kabul, they had also violated peoples rights. When 11 year olds Parvana and Shazia witnessed the way the Taliban punished the prisoners of Kabul, they realized peoples rights were being violated. The Taliban had tortured the prisoners and severed their limbs.Even prisoners have  the right to not be subjected to torture or cruel punishment.

Imagine having this right taken away from you. I believe that these rights are vital and that everyone deserves them. No matter who we are, or where we are in the world we should all have these rights, and they should be respected.

I chose a picture of a bear trap as an example to show the inhuman nature of torture.

Rights Of The Child: Article 7

7-You have the right to go to school for free to play and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful.

In “The Breadwinner”, Girls aren’t allowed to go to school, work or even go outside. They are forced to stay in their homes doing housework. The boys are the one who goes to work and help their families from starvation and sickness. If they even go outside they get hit by the Taliban and sent to prison. Everyday someone gets bombed or abducted even if they haven’t done anything.

This part of the story was in the introduction of “The Breadwinner”

I think this isn’t okay for the children or the families. Their families get worried as they wait for their child to get home. My parents would be worried sick if any of my family members are away, alone.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

This right was broken near the beginning of the book, when the Taliban came into Parvana’s house. They were looking through all of their belongings and hitting everyone in sight. They punched Parvana’s dad then took him to jail. But Parvana stood up to the Taliban and kicked them out. They had her father for quite a long time. But she eventually got him back.  The Taliban tortured her father and they torture everyone that they don’t like. Even if they didn’t do anything wrong.

If something like this happened to me, I would probably call for help or just crawl into a little corner since that’s the kinda person I am! I don’t think that something like this would happen though, because Canada is a peaceful place and the Taliban or anyone like the Taliban would never be in Canada.

Right – “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.”

I chose this right from the Declaration of Human Rights Article 5. Nobody deserves to be tortured, or to be punished physically. If someone has been proved guilty, they might deserve to be sent to jail, but never should anyone be sent to be tortured. Torture is suffering, and nobody needs to suffer, even if they deserve it. Think about all the family members who loved that person. Do you think that they want that person to suffer?  Nobody should have to suffer, and it is our responsibility to ensure that this never happens.

This right is violated in The Breadwinner when Parvana and Shauzia want to sell their items on their tray to the ‘soccer’ crowd watching the game. As they approached the stadium, Parvana and Shauzia were confused when they saw that the crowd was not cheering. They wondered what was going on.  Many men walked slowly and miserably onto the green field. Shauzia thought that these men were prisoners, but could not understand why they would be at the soccer game? The man at the front of the line was untied, and ordered to lay his hands out on a table. Why was there a table in the middle of a soccer field? This was all too hard to process. A man swung a sword high in the air, and sliced off the prisoner’s hand. Is this what Afghanistan had turned into? Parvana and Shauzia were shocked. This poor prisoner was probably arrested by the Taliban for no solid reason (much like Parvana’s father) and now he was a victim of inhumane punishment, and his hands were severed. How do you think this has affected Afghanistan’s reputation? Do you think this is what Afghans want to be known for? No. Parvana, her family, and many others were disappointed in the Taliban’s behaviour towards these Afghans.

I think this right is basic, and it should definitely be respected by ALL countries. This right is important because it is helping to protect all people’s bodies, and health. Especially when there is not much health care provided in that certain area, nobody wants to be tortured, and nobody needs to see people being tortured. This can leave a scar in their mind, and a reputation that cannot be changed. When people see such things happen, it changes their perspective of the world. Do we really want to live in a world where you might get your hands cut off? No. This is why we need to start knowing what is happening NOW in other places, and how we can stop it, bit by bit.

The main character in The Breadwinner lives in Afghanistan. In the book The breadwinner, Afghanistan is controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban are mean people who take the prisoners into a stadium and cut their hands off. Sometimes they take prisoners into jail for no good reason. For my project on The Breadwinner I’m doing number 11, Innocent until proven guilty.
The rules of this right are that someone must have proof before judging one another and that if someone has not committed a crime they are innocent. This occurs in the story when the Taliban disobey one of our rights, and take Parvana’s dad into custody. This is wrong because he has committed no crime so they have no right to take him to jail.

The Breadwinner and the UN Child Rights Declaration UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child law number 10 states that:

“You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your health, and your moral and physical development.”

In the novel “The Breadwinner” there is a violation of law number 10 because Parvana has to work for the family’s food, money, and supplies. She has to support the whole family by working every day so that Fatana (her mother), as well as Nooria and Maryam (her sisters) can scrape by while their father is in prison. The violation of Law #10 is illustrated throughout the entire book, as Parvana is the moneymaker of the family at her young age of 11 while her father is away for months. It’s a lot of responsibility for a girl her age and it shouldn’t be her burden to carry.

I partly know how Parvana feels about having the burden of responsibility on her shoulders. She has to work for money, food and supplies; that is a lot harder than doing chores and taking care of my little sister each day like I do.

  A few weeks ago,my colleagues and I were assigned on a task to write about how the events in the book The Bread Winner. I’m doing mine on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child # 1: All children have the right to develop even if they have a different political opinion, race, or skin colour.

The right is violated in the book when Parvana has to masquerade as a boy multiple times in order to go outside and enjoy normal life. An example is the part when she had to dress up as a boy to fetch water to support her family, can you image if you had to do that? She knew she had to do it because her other family members were either depressed because of the temporary loss of their father or were too tired. Another example was when her Mom told her that women had to be accompanied by a boy if they were going onto the buss or if they were outside.

I chose this image because it kind of describes how the civilians of Kabul feel, they fear their Taliban controlled government.
The Taliban should fear the civilians because, as soon as they get sick of the supression, they are sure to rebel and become secret” Vendettas” and rebel.

I feel sad after reading this book because, some people take these rights for granted while other people struggle to maintain these rights in their countries.

From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I chose article 26. Everyone has the right to education. In the book Breadwinner, Afghanistan was taken over by the Talibans and after the war, the Talibans did not let any girl go to school including Parvana.

The Talibans forced Afghanistan people to their rules. They were unfair to people, especially to girls. Parvana’s dad got thrown in jail because her dad had good education and the girls who lived in Afghanistan couldn’t even get outside. The Talibans were really mean and unfair to the Afghanistan people who has the right to work and go to school. The country needs smart people but the Talibans won’t let the people go to school, and why would they lock people up for just being smart?

I think the Talibans should look at the Universal Declaration of Human rights and think for a second, “Am I treating people fair?”. if people have no education, they can never have a job and they will fail even if they get a job. All the women has to wear this uncomfortable thing called a burqa and it covers your whole face and your body.

I chose this picture because if you have no education you have no future and it reminds me of Parvana because she never had education and she will have no future if she continuous to not get education.

      Declaration of Rights of the Child: Article 9

Can you imagine working at only the age of 11 in the heat for long hours everyday? One of the Declaration of Child Rights is that children under minimum age (14 years) can not work. In the book The Breadwinner, Parvana, is a young girl who is obligated to work for numerous hours at only the age of 11. When most children her age are getting an education by going to school, having fun, getting exercise and doing most things an 11 year old would be doing, Parvana is doing hard physical work that involves digging up bones and being a street vendor carrying heavy trays in the heat around her neck for long hours everyday.

When Parvana works she is risking her life everyday. She could get taken away to jail by the Taliban by not doing what they like and there is also a lot of land mines that can set off when a child tries to pick it up. Parvana is going to work where she is not protected. It is dangerous and cruel. In the book it says that Parvana is tired and wants to be living the life of a regular 11 year old girl.

After reading The Breadwinner, it has made me more aware of what is happening around the world and how lucky we are to live in Canada where children have rights and there are laws to protect them. I am now inspired to do something about child rights and how important the safety of children in third world countries is. I will continue to follow the safety of children and try to help in anyway possible. Perhaps by telling others about how hard children have it in third world countries, or by one day volunteering as an educator in these countries. It is important for children around the world to not be exploited, but be given an education so that they can better their own lives and have a better future. If these children continue to work while under age, they will never improve their lives and the world will not be a better place for it.  I think that Article 9 of the declaration of child rights is one of the most important rules of them all because when children are in a safe environment they will be able to do things that regular children do. They will be able to go to school and get an education and be protected from being used in this horrible way.

I chose this image of a child releasing a butterfly to represent freedom from child labor. The butterfly signifies the children breaking free and changing their lives for the better.

Lindsey

In The Breadwinner, the main character Parvana, her family and whole Afghaistan people were ruled by the Talibans, who abused human rights and only allow men, boys to have the rights to work. The articles that I chose is article 23, that everyone has the rights to work and article 26, everyone has the right to have education.

After a war broke into Afghanistan, Parvana did not go to school, her family could not work, and the Talibans were in total control for Afghanistan. When the war settled down, the Talibans did not allow girls and women to work or study in school. In my opinion, I think this is TERRIBLE because then Parvana would not learn what she supposed to learn and her mother won’t get money to support the family. Her dad was thrown into the prison when the Talibans thought her dad had some good education and knowledge. The Talibans abused people to have rights to educate and work, especially for the girls.

I think the Talibans should be aware the human rights for the Afghan because this book, girls and women were not allow to go outside, except that you wear a burga which is really inconvenient and no right to do anything, which almost crashed Parvana’s family. It is also not good when you don’t have a smart man or woman, like Parvana’s dad, in the country.

This image represent that people all over the world have the right to do anything that is helpful to them and be brave to live in this world like this little super flying girl.

By Yi Lin

Everyone  has the right to freedom, and resistance within the borders of their country or state.  Everyone has the right to leave and come back to there country as well.

I believe that every human being deserves to be treated with proper health care, and the right to speak freely. It is a total violation of human rights because it is inhuman to see people be treated like that every day of their lives, some people all around the world don’t have the right to speak freely without being beat to death, shot, or put in jail for life. Look at  Canadians we have the right to speak freely without being punished.

Why do countries like Afghanistan, and many other countries have to suffer this poverty and pain every day of there lives and not places in Canada or America? Why do they all have to suffer this?

I think that reading this book has really opened my eyes on the major problems that are going on in our world and maybe moving forward I will be more aware of the situation and try to help solve the problem instead of just saying ” Oh gee I feel horrible and not doing any thing about it.”

Mitchell

The topic I have selected is The Declaration Of Human Rights article 23. Part of the right states that: “Everyone has the right to work.” In the Breadwinner, this rule is violated because in Afghan where this right is violated, only men have the right to work.

A second part of the right states that: “Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right for equal pay if it is equal work.” In the Breadwinner, woman are discriminated as they are not allowed to work. Since woman are not allowed to work, they won’t have work, therefore they do not have the chance to earn equal wages as men do. This is a severe form of gender discrimination to woman. This keeps them in a lowly position in society, as they will have to rely on men for everything!!!

And the last part of right states that: “People will work to just and favorable conditions of work.” In the Breadwinner, Parvana and Shauzia (as boys obviously) have to make money by digging up bones in graveyards. The conditions at the grayeyard are dirty. The book says that the graveyard area had piles of “Old bricks, dust and rubble all around from bomb explosions and rockets.” These are not favourable pleasant conditions to work in, and the right states work is to be done in favourable conditions. Parvana and Shauzia don’t want to dig up bones in graveyards, but  selling items at the Marketplace, and reading letters for Parvana was just enough money for nan and tea for the family barely!!! (Not enough money for soap, shoes, kerosene for lamps etc.)

I think woman not being allowed to have jobs, is very unfair and demeaning to them. Like the right says, I agree that everyone should have an equal chance for jobs and work. What happens if there is a family of 6 children (all girls), a mom and a dad??? If the dad dies or abandones the family, the family will have no way to make money!!! The rest of the family would just die!!!

Learning about Parvana’s tough and hard life makes me appreciate the lifestyle I have here in Canada. I would be very sad if I couldn`t go to school, get an education, and a decent job. Parvana does not have any of these opportunities, and I don`t think that`s fair!!! Sometimes I want stuff that I dont exactly need… I feel bad and selfish because Parvana probably doesnt get anything she wants-barely what she needs!!! Overall, I found it interesting to learn about other peoples’ lives, and I am excited to read about other cultures and countries lifestyles, and how they are treated there.

Human Rights article #1C

The book the “Bread Winner” is about a 12 year old girl who lives in  Afghanistan. Afghanistan is ruled by the Taliban men who are men that abuse the human rights. One of the human rights that is being abused is the right to be who you are. This means that the people in Afghanistan are judged by their religion, gender, race, language, or by what others think.

This right is abused throughout the whole book. One of the ways it is abused is towards females. For example girls and woman are not allowed to be out in public just because of the Taliban’s opinion. The only time females are allowed to go out in public is if they are wearing a burqua and being escorted by a boy. However females have to be careful and be brave enough because they are still at risk of being killed or beaten. An example of this in the book is how some girls, such as Parvana have to pretend to be a boy just so her family can eat and sleep. Parvana was so brave because if the Taliban did find out that Parvana was a girl, she could have been killed, and no one should have to pretend to be something they are not just to be accepted.

This book is a completely different life style compared to mine. I cant imagine a life like theirs and I can not believe what some kids have to go through. I think that most kids take for granite our free country and life styles we have. I do believe that the abuse of human rights is a problem that happens a lot and is something people should pay more attention to. As a final point, “The Bread Winner” is a phenomenal book that shows the hard lives that some kids live in around the world and a book that is enjoyed by many.

Written by,

Jessica

I chose the image of different coloured people to show that everyone is excepted and equal.

The human right that I chose is article 9, (no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile). I choose this right because in the book breadwinner this right is broken often. The Taliban soldiers arrest Afgan people for no reason at all. Nobody should be punished, arrested, or have detention without proof that they did something wrong or that they broke the law.

In the Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis, the Taliban soldiers broke this human right often. One example from the book is when Parvana’s father was taken to jail. Parvana’s father learned lots about history while he studied in England. He was very educated on this topic. The Taliban didn’t want this kind of education in Afghanistan so they arrested him for no reason and brought him to jail for a long time. This left Parvana and her family in shock and now Parvana’s mom has to care for all four children without any job or money.

I don’t think anyone should be arrested unless there is evidence that they did something wrong. In my opinion, and hopefully others, it wasn’t fair that Parvana’s dad went to jail because he was educated. The Taliban and all other groups in the world should respect everybody’s rights. It also wasn’t fair, because the Taliban took the dad away from the family so he couldn’t help out, work and bring in money. The Breadwinner definitely taught me that no one in the world shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

I choose this image because it represents how the Taliban arrests people for unfair reasons. It relates to article 9 in the Declaration of Human Rights because it shows people being arrested and detained.

The Right I Chose to Review from: “The Declaration of the Rights of the Child”

Article 2: You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal     way, free and with dignity.

The Violation of this Right in “The Breadwinner”

In the Novel The Breadwinner Parvana’s freedom and dignity are violated by the harsh rule of the Taliban. Her     family loses their previously luxurious lifestyle to a life of poverty and starvation. After her father is arrested by the Taliban and taken to the prison, her mother goes into deep depression. As a result Parvana is left with the responsibility of raising her younger siblings and helping support her mother. At this point all her freedom and joy are taken. The Taliban are not the only ones at fault for the violation of her rights.  It is also partly her mother’s fault because of her inability to support Parvana when she needs to. She learns that if she and her family are to survive she must learn to grow up very quickly. This doesn’t allow her to grow up in a healthy normal way. She also has to disguise herself as a boy in order to go out and work and support her family. Parvana has to cope with things that kids like me in the first world would never have to deal with such as watching out for land mines and being sure not to get caught dressing up as a boy. She is caught in a very tragic situation in which she is struggling to hold everything together while everything else in her life is crumbling uncontrollably.

Why I chose to focus on the Violation of this Right

It’s hard to think of anything in common between my life and Parvana’s. When you compare them, mine seems like heaven on earth. I have my own room and I go to school for free. Never would I have to work at a young age to support my family. I find it terrible how she was deprived of her childhood. I personally think this right should never be violated because of the fact that it involves the well being of children.

I chose this picture of the young boy carrying pails of water in the third world environment because it reminds me of Parvana and how she would carry buckets of water from all the way down the road and back to her house.