Of MIce and Men Haikus

For my new blog post I created a series of haikus that describe the main points of the book Of Mice and Men.  Of Mice and Men is a book by John Steinbeck that we have been reading in Unit 2.  Haiku are Japanese short poems that have 3 lines and that follow a 5 syllable, 7 syllable, and 5 syllable pattern.

The standards that I followed in this post are:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

I used sensory language in my poems.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10
By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

By retelling the main points in Of Mice and Men in my poems, I show that I comprehend the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

I used the haikus as an effective technique to show well structured event sequences from Of Mice and Men.

Lennie and George work

Together on the big ranch

Curley is their boss

Candy is their friend

They talk about buying a

Ranch all together

Lennie gets a pup

He pets it all day and night

He loves it so much

They almost have all

The money to buy their ranch

Curley gets angry

 Curley fights Lennie

Lennie breaks Curley’s right hand

Lennie meets Crooks now

Lennie did not mean

To kill his puppy, now he

Worries George is mad

Curley’s wife talks to

Lennie about the dead pup

Lennie pets her hair

Lennie can’t let go

He accidentally kills

Her and then he flees

People chase Lennie

George finds Lennie in the woods

George tells Lennie to

Imagine their ranch

Then George pulls out his own gun

And puts Lennie down

George tried to protect

Lennie from Curley’s revenge

George is a good friend

Song Perceptions

For my blog post I chose to embed a video of a song called Ghost On The Dance Floor by Blink 182. I chose this song because I like it and it has a lot to do with perceptions. Tom DeLonge, the song's writer, has said "Ghost on the Dance Floor" is specifically about "hearing a song you shared with someone that's passed."[1] He also said that "It's about being somewhere and hearing a song, which you shared with someone who has passed away, but you can feel them that night."[2]

Some lyrics that illustrate this are:

• "Where the song was slowly starting, the memory felt so real."
•  "If I never leave this dance floor, I'll never leave you here."
•  "Yea I, I saw your ghost tonight, the moment felt so real."
•  "To know you're almost mine, but dreams are all I feel."

In general, songs can mean different things to different people depending on what's happened in their past or where they were the first time they heard a song. Different perceptions can change the meaning of songs for different people.

The standards I used in this blog post:

1.  CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2.B
   Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.
2.  CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2.C
   Spell correctly.
3.  CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1
   Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

I hope you like the song as much as I do.  




1) Heisel, Scott (October 2011). "Re-Start The Machine". Alternative Press (Alternative Magazines Inc.) (279): p.93–102. ISSN 1065-1667.

2) "10 Things You Need to Know About the New Blink Album". Kerrang!. August 2011. p. 6

The House on Mango Street

In the story "The House On Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, is proud of her heritage. So am I! To elaborate on this, I made a thinglink image by adding pictures and typing information about my heritage. 

I will now explain what common core standards I used in this blog. 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6 is all about using technology and the internet which I did at thinglink.com. I also had to use internet links to embed the images into the tags on my thinglink image. 

Also, I demonstrated CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.10 which is taking time and doing research and revision which I did research about my family history. 

And finally, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D which is answering in diverse perspectives which I did by talking about my culture when I could have written an essay about Esperanza's heritage.

   

Extra Credit

Today I got on the bus for a new and exciting week of 4th grade.  At lunch I decided to sit with this boy.  We talked about favorite video games and then, snap!  We became best friends.

It was just your regular Tuesday.  I had lunch with my best friend Sam.  I went to L.A. with my other best friend Ian.  And I went home so I could relax.

Ugh.  It's already Wednesday.  Ugh.  I don't feel well.  Well I guess I'm sick so I'll go back to sleep.

Ok it's Thursday and I just got off the bus and I walked home.  Once I opened the door my mom was crying.  I asked my dad what happened and he told me that my grandmother died.  I stared to cry and cry.

It's been two days since I heard he news and I went back to school.  I missed two days because I was still grieving.

It has been one week and today is the funeral day and all I can think about is that this is my last day to see her and when they lowered the casket I clenched my fists and tried not to cry even though the tears never stopped.

Five years have passed now.  Back then I was quiet and only helped myself.  Now, even though I'm still quiet I want to help others.  And I know I have grown as a person.  I'm sure that my grandmother, wherever she is... I bet she is very proud.

I Am Poem

I am from One Piece DVDs.

I am from manga and Attack on Titans.

I am from my PS4 on my TV stand.

I am from the beaten up basketball hoop out front of my house.

I am from Koby’s beat up old mustang.

I am from the Frisbee stuck in the tree and the mailbox.

I am from my dog’s bed to my PS3. 

I am from the Wii U, making each Amiibo work.

I am from my computer and my video game stack.

I am from my mom’s car and dad’s car.

I am from the playground in the neighbor’s back yard and the woods where we all hung out.

I am from under the tree in my front yard that looks like a fuzzy, green spider.

I think back to all the memories.

I am from good memories – happy and joyful – sad memories are still with me too. 

"A Christmas Memory"

For this blog post, I used Prezi to create the presentation below, which illustrates how I took a story read in class, "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote, and connected it to my life.  

This blog post connects to the unit theme, The Search for Identity, because my relationship with my grandmother helped me shape my identity.

I was inspired to create this because the story was similar with my life experiences and the relationship between the cousin and Buddy reminded me of my relationship with my grandmother. 

CHECK OUT THE PRESENTATION BELOW FOR SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF HOW I RELATED TO THE STORY!
                     

The three standards I used in this blog post are:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6 - I used technology, Prezi, to produce and publish this blog post.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.5  - I used digital media in my blog post to give evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1 - I  used standard English grammar/conventions in my blog post.

"Song of the Open Road"

What I created for my first blog for the unit, The Search for Identity, was a selfie in the road.
I was inspired by  The poem "Song of the Open Road."

What I did to create this was I went into the street and took the picture of me in front of an open road. I think it connects to the unit theme because in the poem Walt Whitman says "open minded I travel the open road."  He says this after he was done with all the negative things in life.  The words that Walt Whitman uses in "Song of the Open Road" make me feel like the person is much more confident in his choice to change and evolve. This is most evident to me in the lines "Henceforth I ask not good fortune,I myself am good fortune" and "Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing." These words are strong and confident and I can infer from these words that this person is choosing to get past things in life and concentrate on living life to the fullest. This person used to whimper and postpone, but they have decided not to anymore. 

I, for one, have had some bad experiences in my life but it has been a while since then so now I'm more happy and open minded.  Like the person in Walt Whitman's poem, I am choosing to change and evolve.  I am choosing to leave all the negativity behind and to be positive.  I've learned that I am in control of my choices and my attitude.  I myself am good fortune.   The picture relates to the theme in "Song of the Open Road" as well as the essential question in the Search for Identity unit because in my search for identity, I've experienced bad things but they helped me to grow as a person.   They are part of my identity just like choosing to be positive and travel the open road will be part of my identity.