TKAM Blog Post #1: Chapters 1-7

Prompt 1:

In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Dill said, “We’re asking him real politely to come out sometimes, and tell what he does in there - we said we wouldn’t hurt him and we’d buy him an ice cream.” “You all’ve gone crazy, he’ll kill us!” Dill said, “It’s my idea. I figure if he’d come out and sit a spell with us he might feel better.”. This shows that Dill doesn't feel that Boo is a "malevolent phantom" (8), and also shows Dill's determination to find the good in people. In addition, in chapter 7, Jem said, "When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was gettin' out of 'em, I couldn't get 'em loose. When I went back—" Jem took a deep breath. "When I went back, they were folded across the fence. . . like they were expectin' me." This also alludes to the fact that Boo Radley isn't a mean person, as there is no one else that would be able to sow up his pants. The presents left in the knot-hole also alludes to the fact that Boo Radley wants to befriend the Jem and Scout. A clear thematic idea shown in the book is that "We only fear what we don't understand" (Dan Brown) which is the case in this story, as Jem and Scout don't understand or really know who Boo Radley is, and therefore fears him.

Q1 Formative Assesment Reflection

FORMATIVE LANGUAGE REFLECTION
Everything went well except for the fact that I used "still" twice in a sentence, which made it repetitive. I could also try to incorporate more things into the sentences. One goal I would have would be to use all the types of compound sentences, not just 2.

FORMATIVE SPEAKING AND LISTENING REFLECTION
Everything for this went well, except that next time I should invite people into the conversation, and ask a question to do with the book. Two goals that I would set for the next speaking and listening conversation would be to invite people into the conversation, and also ask a question to do with the book.

FORMATIVE READING REFLECTION
I think that most of the reading inferences were good, except for one where I didn't find the right text evidence for one of the statements I made. I could elaborate a bit more on some of the inferences I made, and add more text integration techniques. The theme statement was also effective, but I could have added one or two more words to it.

I think the most challenging part of the discussion was digging deeper into the topic as everyone was only scratching at the surface of the story/theme. Our group eventually managed to dig deeper, which was a good thing. One thing I will do differently in the next discussion would be to ask more questions, and also increase the amount of text evidence that I talk about. The best thing that I observed during the discussion was that the reason George asked Lennie if he got in trouble to go back to the brush (where they were when George asked Lennie) was because (symbolically), if they were to go back there, they could continue from where they left off like nothing happened in the farm they were about to go to. 

Belief Systems

Human belief systems are something many people believe in, and they can come in many forms - religious, philosophical, or even just the idea of something. One value I believe in would be trustworthiness and loyalty, because without that it is hard to function in society. For example, if you are under pressure with an assignment or a project, and you needed a bit of help, if your friend was loyal or trustworthy, then it would be much more helpful. Family is also one thing that requires trust and loyalty. If this does not happen in a family, it could collapse.  I don't really have an artefact or symbol that shows my value or belief, as I am not religious, and I can't really represent what I value in just a simple object. Mostly, my values and beliefs have come from how I have grown up and the environment I have been exposed to.

IWP Writing Project

Download here.

https://drive.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/file/d/0B61HmHFkS3G8NzZfdXRvSHR0ZW8/view?usp=sharing

Drug Safety PSA for Health

Alcohol Presentation

Understanding Sacrifice Notes

ABMC - American Battle Monuments Commission

In charge of all burials of WW1 and WW2

Max Cleland, in charge of ABMC.

Find things that don't make sense or add up.

Contact someone who knows, is related, or has information about the person. 

Pay attention to details

The Pitch!

Convince the people that your story will work and will sell well

Also convince the publishers that your story will help increase awareness or help XYZ learn about something.

Vemork Heavy Water Factory Short Book

This short book is about the Vermork heavy water factory raid in Norway. Ten Norwegian saboteurs went to the factory and placed bombs inside the factory and blew up the heavy water that the Nazis needed to create an atomic bomb. 

Out of the Dust Reader Response

In this reader response, I learnt a bit more about really digging deep into poems, and finding again and again parts, and using them to create a thesis and crafting a reader response from that. The end product turned out well, and the images really supported the recording and my reading response, with good timing of the images. 

Ebooks or Regular Books?

In this speech, Aiden S. explores the many benefits of ebooks and why it should start to be used even more as an option to replace books. You can find the transcript of this speech here.

Picture found at 
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3681/9365641519_ab84697e21_b.jpg

PE GMO Video

CWW Podcast

Smart Fitness Goal

I want to improve my mile time to 6:30 (15 seconds from last time) by the second quarter mile run, by practicing running and building up agility, so I can do better in the mile. My reward will be that I would be happier that I got a better time than last.

Strengthening muscles video

Climbing Unit Video

Formative Reflection

1. I would find the rate of change of the story, and then find where the “y” starts (for example “Jack had 500 buckets of water at first”). Then, I would use the slope and y intercept to make the equation.
2. I would first use two “x and y” values to get the slope (y2-y1/x2-x1), then use (y2-y1/x2-x1) to solve for the x intercept, by making 0 one of the x values. Then, using the the y value found in the equation, I would use that to form the equation.
3. I would take two “x , y” values from the graph (e.g. 0,5 and 6,11), and plug it into the (y2-y1/x2-x1) equation to get the slope. Then, I would look on the graph to see where the line touches the y axis. If it is not clear, then I would use (y2-y1/x2-x1) to solve for the x intercept, by making 0 one of the x values. Then, like before, I would plug it into the equation.
4. I would place 0 into the x value in the equation, then solve for y. That would be my first point. Then, I would place another number in the x value, and solve for y. Then, I would have two points, and I would graph them.
5. If I am given a table of values, I would just take two points, plot them, and draw a line.
6. To derive y=mx+b using similar triangles, I would draw a triangle with the hypotenuse on the line on the graph. As all triangles that are similar to the triangle I just drew, I would find the two outer lengths of the triangle, which would be the slope. Then, I would see where it crossed the x axis. However, if I knew the slope, then I would know that all the triangles on the line would have the ratio 2:3 for the rise and run.  Then, I would know that the right triangle that (0,b) and (x,y) forms would have the ratio m:1. I would know that the horizontal side of the triangle is “x”, and “y” length of the triangle would be y minus b (y intercept). I would then know that (y-b/x)=m/1, which simplifies to y=mx+b.

The Most Nutritional Ramen

In our class, we had to create a healthy ramen recipe, and then find the nutritional values of the meal, and if there wasn't enough vitamins or macronutrients, we would change it to accommodate the allowance. As I really liked beef, I decided to make a ramen, that was healthy with beef. I used "fat secret.com" to find the nutritional values of my meal, and determined the amounts of each item by typing the ingredients and amounts in.

I used another website to find the daily macronutrient allowances daily for an average male adult.  It was this:

Protein - 68g

Fat - 69g 

Carbohydrates - 344 carbs

In total, my recipe had to get over 1/3 of the daily allowance. I almost did it:

29.26g of fat,

47.72g of protein, and

88.62 of carbs.

The extra 30 grams of carbs would be made up by eating a slice of bread with the ramen, making it:

118.62 grams of carbs. 

Here is the recipe: feel free to use this to cook your ramen!

Beef and Ginger Ramen

Ingredients

1 boiled egg

1 dessert spoon of pickled ginger

1 teaspoon of hot Sauce

15 leaves of baby spinach leaves

1 cup green onions

About 10 thinly sliced beef hotpot strips

1 cup of sugar snap peas (about 10)

1 packet ramen noodles

1 teaspoon sunflower oil

1 slice of lime

8 small slices of ginger

Seasoning (not all should be used)

• 2 tablespoons  onion powder
• 2 tablespoons  ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons  garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons  ground black pepper
• salt, to taste

Recipe:

1. Firstly, take 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
2. Mix the seasoning ingredients together, then add the necessary amount to the water for taste.
3. Add the ramen and cook till ramen is finished cooking.
4. Take out a saucepan, and fry the hotpot strips on a pan using the sunflower oil.
5. Then, fry the sugar snap peas with the beef oil leftover. Add the ginger and spinach leaves and continue cooking till cooked.
6. On the side, boil an egg, and when ready, take off the outer layer and cut in half.
7. Place ramen and soup in a bowl, and add egg, and chopped green onions.
8. When the beef is cooked, add the sugar snap peas, spinach, and beef to the bix.
9. Add the pickled ginger, hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime.
10. Garnish.

Vitamin B1: Ramen Noodles/green beans

Vitamin B2: Beef

Vitamin B3: Beef

Vitamin B12:Beef

Vitamin A: Eggs

Vitamin C: Green Peas

Vitamin E: Sunflower oil, bok choy

Fat: 29.26g

Carbs: 88.64g

Proteins: 47.72g

Calories: 1074

Ellis Island Reflection

1. I think people felt relived upon their arrival at Ellis Island, as they had gone on the ship for a very long time, and also spend all their money getting there, so once they got there it would have been quite relieving to find that you were near/on shore.

2. I think the screening process in the immigration would be very complicated, as many people would be arguing with some inspectors to seal their place in America. Also, it is quite easy to get sick on the boat, and because of that they would be deported back to America.

3. I knew we were taking a "ship" to go to another classroom, and I didn't really know what was going to happen, but when we got to the other classroom to do the "immigration" simulation I wanted just to get through. 

"Always Say Yes!"

Kwame Alexander’s Visit

Every year, an award is given to the best book in the world. This award is called the Newbery Award, and just last week, Kwame Alexander, the 2015 Newbery award winner has come to SAS! Want to know what happened when he arrived? Read on.

When Kwame arrived, I was really looking forward to first meet him. When I saw him up close, he always had a really excited vibe about him. This was because he was always really happy and upbeat, and all in all, really hooked me to poetry. The first time we met him, he started out with a talk about trying out different sports in his school, just to be cool, and he linked poetry to everything he did in middle school. An amazing quote from Kwame Alexander when talking about trying out different sports is this: “Never let the no’s define you, always say ‘Yes!’”

The next day, when he came personally to the library to give us a lesson on poetry, he started by asking us to list out the ingredients of a pound cake. After listing the ingredients, he then went on to say “Poetry is a pound cake.” Analogies were made: the ingredients of the pound cake were poetry rules, the idea of “made with love” is a metaphor to the emotion in the poetry. I really learnt how poetry is made up, and a quick “definition” our class came up with together is this: “An arrangement of the right words in a concise manner that uses originality, rhythm, repetition, figurative language, emotion, meaning, and showing rather than telling. Then, we started writing clerihews.

For me, this was my favourite part of the classes with Kwame. A clerihew is a poem that makes fun about a famous person. I really enjoyed this because we got to make fun of people in a nice way. The poem that I wrote was about a cricketer - Steven Smith.

The clerihew was:

Steven Smith

Shuffles like a sith

When he plays a shot

He ties himself in a knot.

In addition, there was going to be one last lesson with Kwame Alexander. In that lesson, we were supposed to write a list poem about what we learned that week, and Kwame randomly chose different people to come up and present their poem. I got chosen, and finally steeled my presenting nerves, and presented. I really learnt a lot about how a poem was presented that day, and at the end, we all got to get Kwame Alexander’s signature!

Wellness Prezi