37th Post (Where Children Eat And Sleep)

It's been another long while since I posted something, eh bloggers? I've been busy on this last month of school before I graduate! I have another geography assignment. I have to write a reflection about what children eat and where children sleep in the fictional country that I have created. I'm writing in first person, portraying a thirteen year old kid named Josoa from the town of Asali (Honey in Swahili. My name is honeybee in Greek, so I thought that honey and bees can be two significances for my country.) in my fictional country named Melburkie which is located in Africa. Click here for more assignment information. Well, here's my geography assignment, I hope you enjoy!

Hi, my name is Josoa. I'm 13 years old, and I live with my parents, younger brother and sister in a small town in Melburkie named Asali. Me and my family live in a small house. Outside my house, we grow our own fruits and vegetables from our tiny garden, but our main food that we grow is corn, and the town of Asali is known for their beekeeping, so we buy honey from the bees as well as a bag of rice that will last the family for about half the year, and we hardly eat any meat, only on special occasions. Some national dishes are Ganzasali, which is puffed rice with honey extract and Asalikornrole, which is a honey-flavoured corn casserole made with corn meal and vegetables. My family's favourite dish is the Loafamie, which is Melburkie-style corn bread with Asali Pidd, which is a honey based dip. Everyday, our family doesn't eat very much, but we always have enough to survive, and not starve to death.  

I have to share a room with my younger brother and sister. My younger brother and sister get a bunk bed and I get a sleeping bag, because in the town of Asali, we're only allowed to have two beds per household, because the government can't afford a bed for everyone due to all of the town's money going to more important things, like an education and food. So there's one uncomfortable bed for my parents in one small room, and then the unsupported bunk beds for my younger siblings along with my sleeping bag in a smaller room. My back hurts sometimes, but I'm used to it, I   always want the best for my family. My school is about three minutes away from my house, so I walk there with my younger siblings everyday to learn about work, education and prayer. I enjoy going to school, playing sports, especially soccer with my friends and helping my family. When I grow older, I want to be a professional soccer player, take part in FIFA and win the World Cup, so I can do what I love, and use the money that I make to help my family back home, so they can live a better life.

Well there you have it, my blog assignment is complete! If you made up a country, where would it be? What would it be like there? Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a good day! School will be over before you know it!

36th Post: Melissa's Childhood Top Ten

Do you like to reminisce bloggers? I sure do! For my next blog assignment, I have to think of my top ten childhood memories that I have encountered from under the age of ten. Four of the memories have to be books, and two of the memories have to be toys or games. Click here for more assignment information. Here are my childhood top ten, I hope you enjoy!

These are my childhood top ten. (NOT RANKED)

1.Going to Disney World with my family in 2005/ Hershey's Chocolate Factory/Universal Studios. (If you're planning to go, SPOILER ALERT!!)

One of my most special moments when I was a kid was when me and my family were going to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I went to Disney World twice, but the first time was more special to me. To get there, we had to drive through all these states. It took us a couple of days to get there. We first were at New York, then we were at Pennsylvania and we were going to go to the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was amazing! It definitely looked like a city that made chocolate, even the street lights looked like Hershey Kisses, and the chocolate was amazing! I was taking pictures with this cute Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups mascot, I saw this 3D show about chocolate that was so cool, and for a souvenir I got this cute Hershey Kiss plush that was holding a little tube of Hershey's Kisses in it. It was a nice city, but I stayed at this motel called the Rio Motel, and it was the worst motel ever. Then we went through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia then at last we made it to Florida and Disney World at last! We stayed in this resort called "All Star Movies" and all the hotels were based on movies. We stayed at he Mighty Ducks Hotel, and it was awesome. It was all hockey. There were posters and the pool looked like a hockey rink, but with water. Out of the four areas (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot an MGM Studios) I only went to three, because we only had three days there, and we wanted to go to Downtown Disney as well. In Animal Kingdom, I went on this safari ride and saw all of these animals like the giraffe and the ostrich and the hippo, etc. Also, I saw this 3D "A Bug's Life" show, and part of it creeped me out, because there was a part where it actually felt like bugs were crawling on your seat, and I freaked out. In Magic Kingdom, I went on this Pooh ride where we ride in a honey pot and explore. It was so cute, I love Pooh! Also, there was this Peter Pan ride and we got to fly in this flying ship or something like that, and that was so cool. Also, we went to this 3D show called "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience", just like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and it's like the characters shrunk us, and at the end, a dog sneezes and we get water all over ourselves, EWW! We ate at Planet Hollywood, and I loved the way it looked inside, and the food was delicious. Finally, we went to Cinderella's castle at night for some show, and the first thing that happens is that Tinkerbell flies in the air ready to make some magic happen. I thought that was so magical. I remember in Epcot going to Mission: Space which is a simulator where it actually feels like you're on a spaceship headed to Mars. I could actually feel the G-Force. There was this other ride called "Soarin'', and you were sitting on this hanglider thing watching bird's eye views of different beautiful places, and it was like you were flying, and that for me  was my magical moment. Also, the food was delicious, before we were even at Disney World I told my parents that I wanted to have breakfast with Pooh, Tigger and the other characters from Winnie the Pooh, and that came true, and I was so happy to do that, and the food was delicious. Also, I had dinner one time with all the Disney Princesses, and that was fun too. That was in the Epcot resort, and it Epcot, they have this thing called the World Showcase where you have different replicas of cities around the resort. Like China Town and Little Italy in Ottawa, but with more towns and cities to choose from, and bigger space. I'm pretty sure I had yummy Norwegian food when I was with the princesses. Then Downtown Disney was nice, we got souvenirs and postcards and stuff. After we went to Disney World, we headed to Universal Studios which was not far from Disney World, and there were all these different rides. There was a Spider Man 3D ride that was super cool, also there was a Jurassic Park flying ride that I enjoyed, (I'm so into flying rides!)  and there was a Dr. Seuss-Ville, and I went on a Cat in the Hat ride, and a One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride that was awesome. Then we started to head home. I loved this road trip, because it made me feel happy, and it made me feel like dreams really do come true, and magic can really happen. Also, there was the best rides, tourist attractions and food. It still is special to me, because I always reminisce and feel happy when I remember going there. I want to go back there so bad!

2. Visiting My Nana's House in New Liskeard, Ontario.

I remember going to my grandmother's house for two weeks every summer when I was little at New Liskeard, Ontario, which is about 6 hours north from Ottawa. It was great, we ate some home-cooked meals, enjoyed the country life and the farm and visited relatives, from my aunt and uncle that just live down the street to my cousins that live an hour away from my nana's house. My nana doesn't own the house anymore, my aunt and uncle who live down the street bought the house since my nana moved in to the retirement home. I loved this memory, because I was so relaxed there, and it was great to visit my relatives who live up there in a town people probably haven't heard of. It still is special to me, because I still go to New Liskeard at least once a year, but stay at a different place like a cottage, but it isn't the same as nana's, it was more fun. Also, in my house, I have a picture of a bird's eye view of the house and the farm and when I look at that, I think about all of the good times I had there. 

3. Spelling with Spezza.

I remember in grade three at R. Byrns Curry, I just got back at school from an illness, and all my classmates were wearing these Ottawa Senators jerseys, and I had no idea what was going on. I knew that my mom's second grade class won a Senators party, because they set their goal and read a particular amount of books, but I didn't know why my class were in jerseys and I wasn't. So I'm in class and these people come in, along with the Senators mascot, Spartacat to announce the winner of the Spelling With Spezza thing in my class. (Spezza is a hockey player on the Ottawa Senators, and we did spelling dictations to see who was good at spelling.) So, these people announce the winner, the winner is...Melissa! When I heard my name, I was shocked, I didn't know this was happening at all, I wasn't wearing a Senators jersey, I knew bub kiss about it. So I went to Spartacat, and I got some pictures with him. I won tickets to a hockey game, a poster of Spezza and other things. So, I'm at the hockey game with my dad, and there's this person talking to this kid that was right beside us about wanting to be on the jumbotron for Spelling with Spezza, and he didn't want to, so I freaked out, because I wanted to be on it, so I say I'm on Spelling with Spezza, so she asked my name, and I'm like Melissa, and they see my name, so I go with them, and I see Spartacat again, and I had to wear this Barbados shirt and hat on the jumbotron, and they told me that I was going to spell the word goalie. What an easy word, so I practiced spelling it. Then the actual thing happened, I spelt goalie right and I got more prizes. YAY! I was happy I stuck around. I was actually going to go home, because an hour before the game, I went to have dinner, but it didn't look too appetizing at all, and we had to wait a long time, so I threw up in front of everyone. I felt better though after. Mom wanted to get the jumbotron video of me, and she got it, and now today she still watches it, and it annoys me. I love this memory, because it was great to get all of those prizes, and to prove to a lot of people that I'm a good speller. It was also great to see Spartacat. It's still special to me, because watching that jumbotron video brings back memories, even though it's so annoying when mom constantly watches it.

4.  Reading Arthur Books and Watching Arthur.

Arthur the Aardvark, what a show! The show came out a year before I was on, and my sister was six years old when it came on, so she was probably why I watched Arthur, because she liked the show, and before the Arthur show aired, there were books by Marc Brown, a great author. I remember having the book "Arthur's Eyes", which was the first story out of two stories in the first episode, and other Arthur books that I don't remember right now. I love this memory, because I grew up with Arthur, he's part of my life. It's still special to me today, because I still watch Arthur today and reminisce from when I first watched Arthur.

5. Reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. SPOILER ALERT!

I remember reading this book all the time when I was a little girl. It was so cute, and it was done by this amazing author and illustrator named Eric Carle. This caterpillar was always eating different kinds of foods, and always getting stomach aches, then in the end, he was a butterfly. I loved this memory, because I was always happy reading that book, and it made me want to consume something. It's still special to me, because my mom kept that book in her closet, and once in a while, I read that book everytime, and it made my day.

6. My Burgundy Chrysler Neon.

Before I had my blue Pontiac G6, I used to have a Chrysler Neon, and I've had that for many years. My family went everywhere in that car. We went to Florida and all the states to Florida in that car, we went to the East Coast of Canada in that car when my family went camping, we went to New Liskeard to visit my nana in that car. It had comfortable seats and we had to crank the window open with the hand thing, good times. I was sad when we sold the car about three years ago. I love this memory, because it was like our other member of the family, we drove him a lot and everywhere. It's still special to me, because I feel like a kid when I'm in that car. I always look to see which person has our car now. I wonder?

7. Reading "Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut" by Margaret Atwood Illustrated by Maryann Kovalski.

I loved this book! It was about a princess who had this zit that grows, that's called a purple peanut, and in the story, there's all this alliteration. (Notice all of the P's in the story title.) There's a lot of words that start with the letter P in the story. I loved this memory, because I remember reading this book a lot. There were also great illustrations, and it was very descriptive. It's still special to me, I read the book yesterday and it made me grin.

8. Watching The Simpsons as a Kid.

Oh my goodness! I have watched The Simpsons ever since I was a baby, and I have loved it ever since. The show has been airing since 1989, that's a long time. I'm shocked, but really happy to have The Simpsons be part of me my whole life. This is a great memory, because to have watched a great show for so long is unbelievable, and it is still special to me, because I still watch it a many times as I possibly can.

9. Reading "The Elves and the Shoemaker" by the Brothers Grimm.

I remember this book. I didn't even know who the author was until now, because it didn't show an author's name. I think my parents got it at the Hallmark gift shop, because it says Hallmark on the book. It's so cute! The illustrations of the faces are beautiful, a little bit too beautiful, and it was great to have that as a children's book. I love this memory, because I had that book for a long time and I read it a lot. It's still special to me, it makes me feel like a kid. 

10. Playing Uno.

I've played Uno for so long. When I was much younger, I used to not play games, because everytime I lost, I would get so mad, but then Uno was bought, and everything changed, I always won! Well, not always, when I didn't win, I wasn't mad anymore, I just congratulated the person who won. I love this memory, because it changed me as a person mentally, physically and emotionally. It's still special to me, because I still play Uno today when my family has nothing to do.  

There you have it, there's my childhood top ten. Take some time to think back to your childhood and all the good times you had as a kid. As always, please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a good day!

35th Post (Canadian Political Parties)

Oh my goodness bloggers, it's been over a month since I posted something on my blog! There has been a lot of assignments and projects and stuff for the past few weeks, so I haven't been posting lately. Now that I have another blog assignment now, there will probably be more coming ahead. For my geography blog assignment, I had to think if I were eighteen years old or over right now, who I would vote for in today's Election as our Prime Minister, and pick three reasons why I would pick this person as Canada's Prime Minister. Click here for the assignment information. So here's my assignment!  

If I were eighteen years old or over right now, the Prime Minister from the following party that I would vote for in today's Election would be Stephen Harper from the Conservative Party. (That's why my font colour is blue.) 

  

One reason why I would vote for Stephen Harper, is because Stephen Harper has a university degree in Economics, and therefore is better able to guide Canada through the current world recession than Mr. Layton or Mr. Ignatieff, two of a few people running for the next Prime Minister of Canada. According to the Conservative Party website, voting for Stephen Harper and the conservative party would mean that their government would keep taxes low, unlike if you have vote for the Liberals, the NDP or Bloc-Quebecois, there would be an alliance between those three parties, so that will mean our taxes will be raised and our economic recovery will be stalled.
  The second reason why I would vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservative party, is because for the past couple of years, he has been the current Prime Minister of Canada, and has many years of experience doing the job, unlike the rest of the people running for the next Prime Minister of Canada.  
  The third reason why I would vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservative party, is because I find him more trustworthy than the rest of the people running for the next Prime Minister of Canada. For example, he has kept his promises to cut taxes for the middle class. Also, the Conservative party have all of this money to make all of these advertisements showing for example, that he'll lower taxes to have lots and lots of people vote for him and the Conservative party. I also find him more responsible than the rest of the people running for the next Prime Minister of Canada. He has been doing his duties for the past few years. 

He is a hard-working and responsible man, and a musician, LIKE ME! Those are the reasons why I think Stephen Harper from the Conservative party should be re-elected as the Prime Minister of Canada.

There you have it, that's who I would pick to be the Prime Minister of Canada if I were eighteen years old or over. I hope Stephen Harper gets re-elected tonight! Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a good and political day!  

34th Post (Canada and China)

Good to see you again bloggers! Today, a bunch of students from China came to our school to learn the culture of Canada and the English language for the rest of the school year. Two students from China are in our class, and will be learning with us. It's very exciting! For my next Geography assignment, I will be going to the CIA World Factbook, and I will be comparing and contrasting three pieces of information about China and Canada, and then saying something about it.  Click here for the assignment information! Here's my assignment, I hope you enjoy it!

After looking at the CIA World Factbook website, I have found three things that I would like to compare, contrast and talk about. One thing that I compared with Canada and China is that in China, 740 000 people are living with HIV or AIDS and 26 000 died since 2009 while in Canada, 68 000 people are living with HIV or Aids and less than 1000 died since 2009. It's sad that more people in China are living with HIV or AIDS, I wonder if part of why more people in China have HIV or AIDS is because Canada has better health care than China's health care.

     Another thing that I compared with Canada and China is that the age structure in kids that are aged from 0-14 years are 15.7% in Canada. However, in China, the age structure in kids that are aged from 0-14 years are 17.6%. It's really sad that in China, part of the law is that you only can keep one child, and if you have more children in the future, you would have to give the children up for adoption. It's really sad, I would be really devastated and scared if I was given up for adoption or if I were the parent having to give up the rest of my children up for adoption. 

     The other thing that I compared with Canada and China is that since this year, the average age that men are in China are 34.9 years old. However, the average age that men are in Canada are 39.8 years old. The average age that women are in male are 36.2 years old. However, the average age that women are in  Canada are 42.1 years old. Finally, the average age for men and women combined in China are 35.5 years old. However, the average age that men and women combined in China are 41 years old. I don't understand why decimals have to be included in the ages. It should've been rounded. I kind of thought that the average ages would be around the mid-thirties to the early fourties. I don't know why, but I just felt like I thought that. 

There you have it, my Geography assignment is complete. If you have a chance to look at the CIA World Factbook website, you should go and check it out, it's pretty cool. It's also a book, so you should get this year's edition at your local book store. You can compare things from many different countries from there. Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a great weekend!

33rd Post (Faces of the World)

I hope you had an excellent March Break bloggers! History has ended for my class, and now we are starting Geography! I'm really excited for Geography this year, and the first Geography blog assignment that I have to do is so cool. My assignment is about the idea of changing the human face, and I have to analyze and research about the idea. I'll be answering a few questions about what I've found out. Click here for the assignment information.  Here's my assignment!

Part A:  In my own words, “Globalization” is the unification or integration of countries around the world for a purpose, or when all countries around the world coming together and becoming one for a purpose. For example, the United Nations.  This is the Online Dictionary definition of "Globalization". 

 Part B:  One person would go by making these faces by taking a bunch of faces, each with different ethnic origins and skin colours, and this person would use the latest technology that's ever been created, and have all the faces combined to make one face, making it The Face of Tomorrow. Facial identities change over generations, because much more people are born each day, and the man and the woman who made the baby are different from each other. For example, the man could be  a black man, and the woman could be a white woman. So, even more faces with different ethnic origins and skin colours are revealed, and The Face of Tomorrow changes over generations. 

 Part C: One thing that I found interesting visiting "The Face of Tomorrow" website was that when all the faces from one particular city are combined to make that one face, the face is not an actual or real face, it's just a ghost. That interested me so much, because the combined face seemed really life-like it's impossible that it's not a real person from that particular city's face. 
     Another thing that I found interesting visiting "The Face of Tomorrow" website was that for each particular city, you can get a poster, showing all of the faces used in this project from that particular city in the middle of the poster, and on the sides, they showed the male combined face and the female combined face, and I feel like when I looked at all the faces, and then look at the combined faces, it seems like each face from the particular city has a little bit of a resemblance to the male combined face, and the female comined face.
     The other thing that I found interesting visiting "The Face of Tomorrow website was that they take different cities around the world that will have a great diversity while comparing combined faces from at least four different cities which I found pretty cool, and some combined faces from different cities kind of looked alike. So far, they combined faces from a lot of different cities, and more will be revealed on the website pretty soon, which will mean that there will be an even more ethnic origins and skin colours revealed on the website. It will also mean that there will be even more comparisons from combined faces from at least four different cities. What a cool website. I recommend you should come and check it out! 

  Part D:

 This is what I think represents "The Face of Tomorrow" the most. Two reasons why I think this represents "The Face of Tomorrow", because I think this addresses the effects of  globalization on identity the most, and the faces combined to make this face were a blend of different ethnic origins, genders and skin colours. Most people living in the world I believe are Chinese people, so when I selected my faces to make this face at Face Research, the most faces I selected were Chinese. I also selected faces with darker skin tones as well as people with people with lighter skin tones. I didn't select all the faces given, but I selected a few that I thought when comibining the faces to make that one, that face would address the effects of globalization on identity the most. I also think this is "The Face of Tomorrow", because I just predict that most people's faces would look like this in the future with a mixed tone and complexions sort if like that that face. More people though will be born with different identities, and the effects of globalization on identity will change in future generations, so I wonder what "The Face of Tomorrow" will be when I'm eighty years old.

Part E:  I don't really have a face in mind that represents myself, my nationality and my family, because I didn't really think of any face. I'll keep you posted. One thing about my own identity that is shown the world by my face is my lips and my eyebrows, because I got those features from my grandfather who was French. Another thing about my own identity that is shown the world by my face is that I have a freckle face and a fair complexion that I get from both my parents who are Irish and Scottish. 

There you have it, my first ever Geography assignment is complete! Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a good day!       

32nd Post (DigLitCircs Discussion #6)

Hello again bloggers. We have come to the LAST Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles for Sketches by Eric Walters. This is so sad! I've had so much fun discussing the book Sketches by Eric Walters with my peers as well as peers in Oshawa. I would like to thank Andrianna, Karran, Arianna, Haneen, Sara and Hannah for discussing Sketches by Eric Walters with me. I really had fun with you guys discussing the book, agreeing on one thing, disagreeing on another thing. Some discussions, we had up to thirty comments. We've had some great times during our awesome discussions. I hope you guys enjoyed the book as much as I did! Sara will be posting the question for the last discussion! Click here for Sara's discussion so far! I know that this last discussion is going to be awesome as usual and will end us off with a bang. Thank you for staying tuned to all of the Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles discussion for Sketches by Eric Walters. I highly recommend that you read Sketches or any other book by Eric Walters, they're amazing! Thank you, and enjoy March Break 2011!  

31st Post (History Fair Reflection)

This is my third post that I posted today bloggers! I'm busy as a bee! So as you may know already, our school had the History Fair last friday. We have to do a 4,3,2,1 reflection about the History Fair. It's been a while since I did a 4,3,2,1 on my blog. Click here for the assignment information! Here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

4 Most interesting things you learned about your topic.
One interesting thing that I learned about my topic was that the Aboriginals invented gum, and what they would do was that they would take sticky sap off a spruce tree and they would just chew it, and that was called Spruce Gum until the the 1800's when sugar was added and was just called gum. I thought that was really cool, and lots of people still use gum today, they even chew it at school, hoping they won't get caught.
     Another interesting thing I learned about my topic was that to make syringes, they would use the bladder from a small animal, usually a squirrel as well as a hollow bird bone to get medicine inside a human being. I thought it was disgusting, but at the same time, I thought it was fascinating how the Aboriginals would use almost anything to help them survive on their own land.
     The third interesting thing I learned about my topic was that they would use different kinds of snowshoes for different types of snow. For example, snowshoes that have pointed tips were the best selection for walking over snowy land with lots of vegetation. I didn't think that the Aboriginals made that many types of snowshoes, I thought there was only one designed pair of snowshoes for every kind of snow. To me, that seemed very cool.
     The last interesting thing that I learned about my topic was that the Aboriginals grew many different varieties of corn, and it's true. We eat corn in many ways, there's plain corn in a bowl, creamed corn. corn on the cob, popcorn, etc. I love corn, you can eat in different ways, and to have learned that the Aboriginals grew it first makes my love for corn even better. I'm so happy to have done this topic, and I learned so much from it, and I hope everyone else learned something about it as well.

3 Things you felt proud of on the day during the fair.
One thing I felt proud of on the day during the fair was my ability to answer questions. I was worried that I was going to flop on that, because I'm kind of a quiet person, but I felt like I answered the questions fine, and I'm proud of myself for that instead of being upset and stressed about it.
     Another thing I felt proud of on the day during the fair was the many times I presented my speech to students as well as teachers and judges. I felt like people understood what I was talking about and that I provoked emotion in my speech, and I think that the speech definitely enhanced my presentation a lot, and I'm proud of that.
     The last thing I felt proud of on the day during the fair was that I made it to the Regional Fair at the Ottawa War Museum. Out of one hundered and sixteen projects, twenty four from our school move on to Regionals, and I was one of them. I didn't expect it at all that I'm going to Regionals, and I feel extremely proud of myself for all the hard work and time and effort that was put into this presentation, and making it to the Regionals definately makes me feel proud, and I'm happy to have accomplished it after being stressed out about it.

2 Specific researching or presentation techniques that were helpful to make your project so wonderful.
One specific researching or presentation technique that was helpful to make my project so wonderful was that I found two books at an Ottawa Pulbic Library that really helped me a lot, and I got a ton of information from those two books. One book was named, A Native American Thought of It: Amazing Inventions and Innovations By: Rocky Landon and David MacDonald. The other book was named, Native North American Wisdom and Gifts By: Bobbie Kalman. I'm happy to have gotten those books. I also found this website, Click Here! and that helped me a lot too. I'm happy to have found that website, I got a lot of information from there too.
     The other specific researching or presentation techniques that were helpful to make my presentation so wonderful was that I imangine myself winning the lottery, and what that does is that I get nervous to super excited to present my project. I used this trick every time I have a music performance as well, and it works, so I'm happy I did that before I started presenting.

1 Suggestion to make the History Fair even better in the future.
One suggestion that I have to make the History Fair even better in the future is that we should look at other people's projects, because didn't get a chance to look at what other people did, because either they haven't been judged enough to look around or they didn't have permission to look around, and looking around is a nice break from standing there talking about your project in one place for two straight periods, so that would be my suggestion.

There you have it, my History Fair 4,3,2,1 is complete! Please feel free to check out the video of my History Fair presentation on my blog which is two posts down, and make sure to check out the video of me singing which is one post down. Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and have a good night. Three more school days left until March Break!  

30th Post (My Black History Month Performance Video)

We have reached 30 posts so far, that's a lot, and there's still more to come! Exactly a week ago, we had our Black History Month assembly at our school organized by my teacher, Miss Pollock, and let me just say, it was the best Black History Month assembly ever, and I'm so happy to have been part of it! I sang the song "God Bless the Child" originally done by a singer named Billie Holiday who was a black woman. Here's the video of me singing, and I hope you enjoy it! Playing the piano for me in this video is my music teacher, Mrs. Laszlo, and playing the drums is Will in my class. I'd like to thank her and Miss Pollock for making this all possible! Thank you, and have a good day! Like I said before, we're getting closer and closer until getting our week off!

29th Post (History Fair Presentation Video)

Ello again bloggers. Last Friday, my school had the History Fair, and all the grade sevens and eights were competing. In the History Fair, you had to pick a topic involving History, and make a three- sided poster board, speech and a three-dimensional item about your topic, and you had to present it to the class. My project was on Native Inventions that we still use today, and for my speech I was a Native girl talking about the different inventions and how we helped the Europeans survive on their land, but in return, they took our land. My project got selected to go to the Regional History Fair at the Ottawa War Museum on April 20th. Wish me luck! Here's my presentation, I hope you enjoy it and learn something from it! Thank you for watching it, and have a good day! We're getting close to March Break! 

28th Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #5)

Good day blogger mates! We have come to the fifth discussion of our Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles for Sketches by Eric Walters. Arianna from Oshawa will be our host for this discussion. Click here for Arianna's discussion so far! To think, after this discussion, we'll have our last ever discussion of our Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles for Sketches by Eric Walters. So sad, we still have this discussion and next discussion though, so keep making these discussions thought-provoking and beautiful! I know this discussion is going to be another awesome one! Remember, stay tuned to all the Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles for Sketches by Eric Walters! Thank you, discuss and have a great Sunday night before you go back to school tomorrow!

27th Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #2 Summary)

Hello again. I was the host for the second Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles discussion for Sketches by Eric Walters, and I now have to summarize the discussion, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it.


In the second discussion for Sketches by Eric Walters, we had a total of thirty comments and here's what went down. Everyone had a lot of great responses, and I thank Andrianna, Arianna, Karran, Haneen, Sara and Hannah for contributing! 


At first, Haneen said that Ashley was being selfish when she found out that Dana gave the Chicken McNuggets to the stray cat, and Karran and I agreed, however Sara disagreed. She thought it was Brent that said she shouldn't have fed the cat which was true. Hannah re-read the section of the book where that happened, page 45, and she agreed with Sara. Hannah read page 46, and suggested that Ashley was being selfish, but it wasn't about the cat. Brent asked Dana if she ever stole anything and Ashley said that Dana didn't have time to steal anything since she was too busy taking piano and tap dance lessons. These were all good points.

I talked about the new words I found such as zine, saunter, squat and mangy, so if people didn't know those words, now they knew. Also, Haneen pointed out that learning new vocabulary is an excellent part of reading.

Haneen asked if we were any one of the characters in the book, who would you be? Karran said that he would be a mix of Brent and Dana, Sara would be Ashley, Hannah would be like Dana, Arianna made us laugh by wanting to be Pumpkin but then she said that if she really had to pick, she would be Dana, Haneen would be confident like Ashley, courageous and aware like Brent and sweet and caring like Dana, and Andrianna and I were undecided.

Andrianna also predicted that if any of those three had not ran away and they met before, they wouldn't be friends at all, because they have nothing really in common except for the fact that they are out living on the streets of Downtown Toronto. Maybe Brent and Ashley would be friends, but not Dana. Hannah also asked why Brent, Ashley and Dana won't stay at a shelter, and Sara thought they felt that an abandoned place would be safer than a shelter.


My question was: In this section, we met Spencer, Anna and their dog Squat, and in the beginning of the second section, Dana was petting a stray cat, and giving the cat the rest of her Chicken McNuggets. The young people have very miniscule amounts of food out on the streets of Downtown Toronto, but they're very caring to animals like Squat and the stray cat, why do you think that is? We thought that people out on the streets, such as Dana, Spencer or Anna care for stray animals while they're trying to survive because they are generous and were being empathetic. They can understand what the animals are going through, and felt like the animals needed care as much as they did. Also, people like Spencer and Anna have Squat because it's like raising their own kid. Also, animals want to feel loved too, and people caring for animals will kind of be like a distraction to missing your loved ones back home. Animals will love and always be there for you no matter what. Stray animals might look a little rough, but they have a heart on the inside.  

There you have it, that's my summary. Please feel free to comment about any of the Sketches discussion, and stay tuned for what's coming up. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

26th Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #4)

Hello Bloggers hello! I hope you're tuning in to all of the Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles Discussions for Sketches by Eric Walters. The fourth discussion has begun, and I have to answer two questions this week. Hannah and Haneen are this week's hosts, and they have each posted their own question. Click here for Hannah's discussion so far! Click here for Haneen's discussion so far! This is going to be an awesome discussion times two, since there are two hosts and two questions! Stay tuned to all the Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circle Discussions for Sketches by Eric Walters! Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your weekend, and take some time to discuss something, anything!

25th Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #3)

Good to see you again bloggers. I was the host last week for the Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circle discussion for Sketches by Eric Walters, and it was excellent just like the last discussion! It was great to be the host for discussion number two, and I enjoyed it! I'm happy to say that the third Ottawa-Oshawa Digital Literature Circles discussion for Sketches by Eric Walters has begun. We're halfway through in the discussions, it's going by so fast! This discussion will be posted on Karran's blog. Click here for the discussion so far! I know this is going to be another awesome discussion of our book! Stay tuned to all of the discussions. Thank you, and have a nice day of discussing!

24th Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #2)

I hope you're having a great day bloggers! Today, I'm happy to welcome Andrianna, Karran, Arianna, Sara, Haneen and Hannah to our second ever discussion of Sketches by Eric Walters! As you may already know, my name is Melissa, and I will be hosting the discussion for section #2. In our first section, we had an excellent discussion! I hope this discussion will be excellent as well! In our second section, we had to read pages 43-76, and here's my question for you today!

In this section, we met Spencer, Anna and their dog Squat, and in the beginning of the second section, Dana was petting a stray cat, and giving the cat the rest of her Chicken McNuggets. The young people have very miniscule amounts of food out on the streets of Downtown Toronto, but they're very caring to animals like Squat and the stray cat, why do you think that is? 

Comment whenever you can. In two weeks, I will be posting a summary on what you guys thought of my question. Thank you, and have a super duper fantabulous day! 

23rd Blog (DigLitCircs Discussion #1)

Allo bloggers! Our class and our Oshawa buddies are coming together and doing Literature Circles, which is when you're in groups, and you have a different book for each group, and you read sections of it every week, and then once a week you discuss with your group about the section that you are reading, and you would also have questions about the book to respond. The thing that all of these books have in common is that they're by the same author which is Eric Walters. I'm reading the book, Sketches by him, and it's really good so far. To start us off, Andrianna from Oshawa was our host for the first ever Sketches discussion, and started us off with a BANG! Click here to check out the discussion so far! I'm really enjoying it so far, and I hope everyone else who's taking part of it is enjoying it as well! Next week, I will be the host for the second Sketches discussion, and I'm very excited. I need to think about a question, and decide how to welcome people! Stay tuned to all of the discussions of Sketches! I will keep you posted! Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and enjoy your weekend! 

22nd Blog: (Ethical Giving or If I Had $100)

Yo bloggers! My next assignment that I had to do was made by Miss Crosbie, the teacher of our Oshawa buddies. We're given 100 imaginary dollars and with that imaginary $100, we have to think of what charity and what kind of gifts that we will give using that imaginary $100. Click here for more assignment information.  You can also click here.  Think, if you had $100, what would you do with it? Would you spend it on yourself, or for someone in need?

If I had $100, I would give all my money to World Vision, because World Vision is one of the biggest charitable organizations in the world, and its focus is to help children and families overcome the obstacles they face during poverty in many different countries around the world. I always hated seeing commercials of different families struggling to cope with their own lives, and I always wanted to help with different charities, and World Vision was a charity that interested me, so I would choose to give money to World Vision if I had $100. I would purchase two hens and a rooster to someone in need. The reason why I would choose this gift, because when you receive two hens and a rooster, they can lay up to 150 eggs combined. With those eggs, it can provide food for you and you can also sell them for money. Also, some particular countries do not allow hens or roosters, so instead World Vision would give people in those particular countries other poultry animals, such as turkeys or ducks, etc. and that can be raised, bred or eaten. It would be such a great gift to give, and it's World Vision's most popular gift every single year. Another gift that I would like to purchase would be some musical instruments and art supplies for children. The reason why I would also choose this gift is because I have a huge passion in the arts especially music, and for a child to have never expressed their self in that way is unimaginable. With art and music, you can escape from rough patches and express yourself. It can change a child's life momentarily, and a child will burst into creativity. The arts needs to be shared with the world, and you can always rely on the the arts, it will always be there when you need to express yourself. I would be distributing my funds by spending $50 on two hens and a rooster and $50 on art and music supplies. That's what I would do if I had $100, how about you? 

There you have it, there's my assignment, please feel free to comment. My friend Tara <- (Click here for her story) has gave some money to World Vision and has definitely inspired people including me to follow in her footsteps. I attended the "Make it Happen" conference along with Tara and 16 other grade eights in my school, and I learned a lot about different kinds of charities and how I could help. This year, I want to try to be more generous to people and to give more to people in need. Please show some empathy and make a change for people around the world who have less than what you have. Instead of recieving gifts for Birthdays or Christmases, etc., ask your family or friends to give you money so you can give gifts to people who have less than what you have, it'll be very appreciative.  Thank you, and have a good snowy day.

21st Blog (Black History Month Video)

Welcome bloggers welcome! January is coming to a close and we're heading to February. It's known for it's 28 or 29 days, and it is a month of many events and holidays. For Example: Valentine's Day, Family Day and Chinese New Year. Last year, Miss Pollock was my homeroom teacher as well as this year, and we made a video with our grade five buddies at the time about Black History. As you may know, the month of February is known as Black History Month, and it is the time to think back to important events involving Black History that changed the world. For example: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad or Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. So here's the Black History Month video by R7/8A and R5A: 2009-2010! Can you find where I am in the video? Thanks for watching, and enjoy the last couple of hours of January!

20th Blog (S.O.L.E. Video: Cyberbullying)

Are any of you bloggers cyberbullies? I hope you're not! On monday, I presented my S.O.L.E. assignment along with Amy, Reshad and Aaisha who were my group members. Our topic that we had to research about was cyberbullying, and as a group it went pretty well. Our presentation was videotaped with Miss Pollock's camera, because my class' Oshawa buddies are gonna see them and then comment on my blog about the presentation. So Courtney and Breah, this is for you and I'll be fine with what you have to say, it's your opinion! If you want a review on the assignment click here and here. Also, if you want to see our group's post about cyberbullying click right here. In this video, you'll see a description, a bunch of poems including a slam poem, a SENSE-ible poem and an acrostic poem and a unique way to stop cyberbullying from happening. I want you to notice that cyberbullying is terrible and no one should be put up with it as well as the different types of poems we used and how we used the media cart to showcase our work. So here's the video, I hope you enjoy our presentation! When you're done, please feel free to comment. Thank you for watching it, and have a splendid day!

19th Blog (Elephant in the Room)

Hi bloggers, here's a poem that I wrote about cyberbullying for part of my S.O.L.E. group presentation. Click here for assignment information. Click here for more assignment information. The rest will be posted on Reshad's blog. Here's my poem, I hope you enjoy it!

01/17/11                                                             Melissa R8A

Elephant in the Room

Boom boom boom!

There's an elephant in the room,

I don't know what to do,

but to just face it.

I pace in the hallway at school.

There's people glaring at me like I'm such a fool.

Head to my locker, turns out that behind me is a stalker.

I turn around, fist pound hard on my mouth.

Hard on the ground.

School-bound laughter haunting me,

but I can't hear them, only big stomps that chomp my pride away.

Boom boom boom!

There's an elephant in the room,

I don't know what to do,

but to just face it.

Erase today, face the future and head to my computer.

I open an e-mail,

Is it true, I'm an ugly fat female?

I get a text, it's someone saying I'm sexist.

Then I get something on MySpace, it's someone saying I'm racist.

What did I ever do to deserve this?

I scream and shout, so very loud,

but I can't hear myself, only big plods that block my emotions.

Boom boom boom!

There's an elephant in the room,

I don't know what to do,

but to just face it.

Take a mace to me.

These words are heavy,

Like a Silverado Chevy,

The message fits like jeans, Levy.

Oh wait, that's Levi!

I'm getting teary eyed.

This is the fifth time today that I'm gonna cry,

and so tears start to drop, plip plop,

but I can't hear myself sob, only clumps that stump my identity.

Boom boom boom!

There's an elephant in the room,

I don't know what to do,

but to just face it.

Why are you hating, discriminating, saying all these things?

Is this what you actually think, well consider me extinct!

To you, it may be endearing, but to me it's fearing.

I need to leave this land, drift away like sand.

I've felt so alone, even my family won't understand.

Well world, you win!

I'm gonna leave you alone like you asked, that's a sin!

I walk into a dark and gloomy room, feeling so doomed,

and I write a note telling my family that I'll always love them,

but I can't hear myself write, only bangs telling me to hang myself

Boom boom boom!

There's an elephant in the room,

I don't know what to do,

but to just end it.

I take a rope, make some room for my head, attach it to a hook,

and glance at myself at the mirror, one last look.

I'm too useless to live in this world.

SILENCE!

No more stomping, plodding, thumping or banging.

Just silence.

No more boom!

No more elephants in the room.

Do they know what they did?

They killed a kid.

The End

There you have it, I hope you enjoyed it. Cyberbullying is wrong and no one should be put up with it. Please don't be a cyberbully! Please feel free to comment! Thank you, and have a marvelous day!