"Think, Then Think Again…"

  This is a link to the poem The Charge to the Light Brigade, by Alfred Tennyson

Link

  This is my interpretation of The Charge of the Light Brigade.

• What  is this poem about?  Be specific!!!

This poem is about the six hundred who went to war.  These six hundred would not let any obstacle stand in their way.  No matter what they just kept on fighting.

• Who are the main characters involved in this battle?

The main characters of this poem are Lord Cardigan against the Russian Forces.

• Why was this poem written?  Justify your answer!!!

I think that this poem was written to express the determination and strength of these soldiers in the face of tremendous danger.

• Pick five vocabulary words and define their meanings.

1.  Sabres- A heavy sword.

Flashed all their sabres bare

2.  Hell- In the poem it says “Into the mouth of Hell”  so that must mean that the six hundred were about to go to war against the Russian Forces.

 Into the mouth of Hell

3.  Noble-  I think that in the poem the word noble represents how brave the British were.

Noble Six Hundred!

4.  League-  I think a league is a form of measurement.

Half a league, half a league

5.  Boldly-  I think that in this line boldly means courageously.

Boldly they rode and well

• What do like or dislike about the way the poem was written?

The author of this poem did a really good job making the reader feel how brutal and violent the war was and how brave the British were.  For me the only downside to this poem is the beginning isn’t really “catchy”.

• What feelings do you get and why?

In this poem I get the feeling of hate.  This poem makes me hate war more than I already hate it because of the way the poet describes it.

On Thursday, the Puxi 5th grade and the Pudong 5th grade met at SAS Puxi Campus and played games.

We were all separated into 4 teams namely Bantings, Bells, Edisons, Franklins.  I was on the Bantings team.  Each team had a chance to play all the games below.  We would all rotate every once in a while to switch to another game.

The 5th graders played mostly challenging games that day.   Namely capture the flag, four ways punctured drum and survivor.

Capture The Flag: Capture the Flag was my second most favorite game because we won against the other team by A LOT.

Four Ways Punctured Drum: Four Ways Punctured Drum was my favorite game.  Our team, the Bantings was divided into four.  Each small group had to “save Shanghai” by transferring the water from one drum to the other drum using Tupperware.  But the drum you were transferring water to had holes everywhere so you have to plug pipe cleaners in it to stop the water from flowing through the holes.  When we are done with our drum we had to go help another group until we were all finished.  After all of us are done we have to join forces and fill up the last drum with holes without pipe cleaners.  We were the only group who “saved Shanghai.”

Survivor: Survivor was my least favorite game.  It’s a game where you are picked to play a character and then you have to write a speech of why you should stay.  I got out second because I was a plumber. 

These are a couple random poems that I have written in the past couple days. Tell me what you think about them by commenting. Hope you like it.

Boredom

Staring into blackness thinking…

Thinking about my life…

Almost tasting freedom and then,

POOF- GONE

Back into the real world

Life and Death

First there is Life,

then there is Death.

Death chases Life,

but like always,

Death wins.

The poem I’m about to show you now is my most favorite poem in the world. It’s by the almighty Shel Silverstein. I hope that you also enjoy it.

Jimmy Jet

If you liked that then you should go check out Shel Silverstein’s website.

Shel Silverstein’s Website

  This is a link to the poem Casey at the Bat, by By Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

Link

  This is my interpretation of Casey at Bat.

• Why was this poem written?

I think this poem was written as a form of entertainment.  Back in the 1800’s people didn’t have televisions, radios, gameboys, PSPs, etc.  People back then only had the paper to entertain them. 

• What happened in the poem and what are some clues that show this.

The main idea of the story was that Mudville Nine the baseball team was down by two runs with one more inning and one out to go.  Mighty Casey was now at bat.  Casey made two balls go by without any effort hoping to hit the last one, but he didn’t. 

These are three of my favorite lines, but I also think that these are the three most summative lines. 

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain.

 And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again. But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.

• What is the main lesson we learn from this poem?

The two main lessons that I learned about this poem are people make mistakes no matter who they are and remain humble.

• What is Casey really like and what proof do you have that he is like this?

I think Casey is a bully who is good at baseball, but not good under pressure.  I also think he is very arrogant and maybe even cocky a jock because of the many ways he shows off.  I say he’s a bully because of how the author says he sneers, grunts, pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.  I think he is good at baseball because of this line:

For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

I say he is not good under pressure because he loses the game in the end.

• Pick at least 5 vocabulary words and define them in the context of the story.

Violence- I think this means that he meant business.  Casey hit the plate with all his might and strength.

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

Shattered- Shattered means that Casey swung his bat really hard.

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Stern- I think stern means the same thing as violence, he was serious.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

Scornful- I think scornful means that when Casey took one serious look at the audience they knew that Casey would win the game.

But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.

Mighty- Mighty means that, the Casey they were all counting on just lost.

But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.

• What emotions do you get when reading this poem?

I only had feelings at the very end of the poem.  I was really shocked that Casey let the crowd down.

• What are some good images that the author has used to paint a picture of what the game was like.

I think that the best image the author has painted is the crowd cheering wildly and Casey acting all calm and confident.

•  Why are these good images?

I think that is a good image because for me this is the whole scenario in the poem.

• Can you see any techniques or styles that this poet has used?  If yes can you describe them?

He used music by rhyming and made very good description of the characters and the scenario.  Another very good technique that the author used was building my emotions (as a reader) and then all of a sudden making Casey lose.

The student led conference was an opportunity for me to share my learning with my parents. We looked at various curriculum areas and made an evaluation of what our class had done last quarter. I led my parents through a series of talks for them to have a closer look at my learning.

Me as Learner:

Since the “me as a learner” part was the first part of my student led conference, I don’t think I did so well on it. I was still getting use to the idea of a student led conference so I don’t think I was fluid enough.  Although the writing on my “me as a learner” page was my favorite, I still believe I could’ve presented it better.

Art (My Choice):

When I was presenting my “art” page, I kind of did it in a rush.  Since this page was optional I didn’t put as much writing and effort as my other pages.   

Mathematics:

I believe that I did the best presentation in math.  This is because I know math very well as a subject and I had fun presenting it to my parents.  The main reason that I thought it was fun is because I could tell that my parents also enjoyed it and they were actually learning something.  Also, I think I have gained enough confidence by this time of the presentation.

Reading:

I think reading was also one of my best subjects in the presentation.  I was very fluid and proud of my skills as a reader. 

Science:

Science was also an exciting subject for me.  My class has done so many exciting things particularly Invention Convention that I just couldn’t help being proud. 

Social Studies:

Social studies was another weak part of my conference.  I didn’t write much about social studies so I guess that means it didn’t turn out very well.  I also didn’t enjoy it as much as science, math and reading.

Technology/ Digital Literacy:

I didn’t write much about technology and digital literacy because it was optional,  but I believe I presented it real well.  I presented it with lots of confidence and fluency because I have a good deal of knowledge and interest with technology.

Writing:

Writing was probably my second to most favorite (which is math) in the whole student led conference.  I think that overall I feel that I have so much to learn as a writer but I also have a lot that I have already learned. 

The article I read is about how women are gaining weight by eating food that they think are low on calories but actually are very fattening.

This is a great article about what women should start and stop eating. On the side bar of this article are actually twenty links on what women should stop eating and start eating. I think that everyone (women and men) should read this article if they want to eat, live and stay healthy.

Link to the Article

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