Assignment #26: Where Children Eat and Sleep

Hello Blog Readers!

Welcome to assignment #26.

In geography class, we are creating our own, imaginary country, and Ms.Pollock wants us to do a reflection about what our people, in our made up country eat, and what their life style is at home. 

     My ideal home life in 'Clarizonia,' is nice, modern, beach houses. Since, Clarizonia is located near the Bahamas, the tropical region. In such a warm location to place my country, they grow coconuts, mangoes, and vanilla. In my country, the biggest industry we have is exporting the drink brand 'Arizona.'

 

Beach Houses. 

Arizona Iced Tea, is a big industry in Clarizonia. 

Anyway, I'm going to the second part of the assignment, and I'm going to write in a little girl's perspective, about living in Clarizonia, and how her lifestyle is.

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     Hello. My name is Lafonda Dillet. I am six years old, and I live in Clarizonia. I am in grade one. My favorite subject is art, because I like to color with crayons. I like to play tag with my dad, make sandcastles on the beach, and play with my dog, Biscuit. When I grow up, I want to be a nurse. Just like my mom. My favorite thing to eat is mango popsicles. 

Well I'm done my 26th blogpost!

Hope you enjoyed it! 

-Claire 

Assignment #25: My Childhood Top Ten

Hello Bloggers!
It's been quite awhile since I last posted on my blog, right?
Anyway, I have returned with a new post; Assignment #25.
Today, I'm posting about my favorite things when I was younger, with pictures, and a small paragraph. So here it goes! 

1. Lilo & Stitch (The Movie)
Lilo & Stitch was my all time favorite movie when I was a kid. I remember I bought a hula skirt from the dollar store, and a lei, and pretend to be Lilo. My cousin and I would take parts of the movie and reenact scenarios. I literally watched this movie over 100 times! 

I loved it so much because the movie was funny, and really cute, with quirky characters. It is still very special to me, because people I know would joke around with me, saying I look like Lilo! I wish I could watch it again, now that I'm older, but I only have it in VCR, and our VCR is broken. Maybe my parents could buy it for me, for my birthday! (May 23rd, just saying.) 


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2. Go, Dog. Go!
              By: P.E Eastman


When I was younger, I would read this book all the time! I liked it so much because of the colorful pages, and the cute dogs. It was 
also revolved around to specific dogs, who could talk, and that always made me laugh. It isn't as special to me as it used to be, because I guess I'd rather read thicker books, and magazines. 


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3. Webkinz 



Oh boy. I remember when I had one of these! When I was about 7 or 8, Webkinz where the coolest plushie you could have! You were connected to a virtual world with your Webkinz. That's why I liked it so much.


I had alot of them! But my favorite was my reindeer I got for Christmas, when I was about 8. His name was Blitzen, and he is still special to me because he's sentimental value. 


 
Reindeer Webkinz. 


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4. Glasses For D.W
                  By: Marc Brown



This was another favorite of mine when I was little. I was a huge Aurthur fan, so that's why I liked the book so much. It's not as special to me, but I like to read it from time to time. 


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5. Now You See It, Now You Don't
                                           By: Anne Mazer 







'The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes,' was my FAVORITE book series ever! The characters were really relateable, and witty! Especially Abby Hayes. But this was my favorite book out of the whole collection. The genre for this specific book was sort of mystery, and that's my favorite genre! It's not really special to me anymore, because I read it over, and it's a really easy book. 


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5. Love You Forever
                     By: Robert Munsch





I really liked this picture book because when I was little, I read this to myself. I read it as if it was lyrics to a song, so there was a certain tune to it. It's sort of special to me now, because it reminds me of how much my mom loves me, and still will love me in years to come. 


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6. Kraft Dinner!



My dad told me, that when I was about six, I was obsessed with Kraft Dinner. I guess I just liked the cheesiness to the pasta. I still like it sometimes, but not as much as I used to. I upgraded to tortellini and fedichinni!


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7. Vtech Laptop



This was my best friend when I was six. Haha, just kidding! But I truly loved it. I'm not really sure, but I think I got this for Christmas. Or birthday. I adored it so much because I thought it was the coolest thing! I had a 'virtual' dog, and a 'credit card' I'd use, to buy stuff for my 'dog.' The laptop was also educational. It had number games, patterns, spelling games and other fun games to choose from.


 It doesn't work anymore, so I stopped using it for a very long time. It's not as useful/special to me. Cause, well I have an actual laptop!


***


8. Blue's Clues



This was one of my favorite shows when I was about 3 or 4. How ironic, I said I'm appealed to the genre of mystery, and I been watching 'Blue's Clues' since I was a kid. I just realized that. 
It was special to me because it felt like the host, Steve, was always talking and referring to me. And I would always interact back with him. This show is still special to me, because before Blue's Clues aired off TV, my little brother Ben would watch it, and I would remember some of the lines!


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9. Burritos



I think I was 8 at the time, when my mom used to pack me a burrito almost everyday for lunch. And it wasn't even the good kind. It was the refrigerated ones! I got so sick and tired of it! I liked it because it use to taste good. It's not special to me anymore. Unless it's the Taco Bell kind, cause I love those! 







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10. Pokemon Emerald


I admit. When I was I think 8... I was a Pokemon nerd. I don't know how much time I wasted playing my Pokemon Emerald on my Game Boy Advanced SP, but I'd say ALOT. I got it for my 8th birthday, because a couple of cool, older guys I looked up to played Pokemon. So, why can't I? 


It was actually really fun being a Pokemon nerd. It was like I was transported to a whole new, make believe world with strange creatures. (Aka the Pokemon.) It's not special to me anymore, since new and improved technology came out like ipods, cellphones, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Tumblr. 


***


So anyway, thanks so much for reading, and I hope you learned alot of new things about me, and my childhood.
See you next post,


-Claire

Canada & China

Hey Guys!

Welcome to assignment #23! Tomorrow, we are going to have two new exchange students who come all the way from China to learn more English, and our Canadian Culture.
So, Ms.Pollock has us comparing the two countries.

        

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>In China, an average male goes to school for 11 years, and the average girl goes to school for about two years.

>In Canada, both male and female go to school for 17 years.

I'm inferring that people who go to school in China have more challenging work than Canadian students in the same grade, because in China they only have 11 years in school. So I guess they have to learn so much more in school, to fit their school life expectancy.

            

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>In China, their common religions consist of; Taoist, and Buddhist. 3-4% of Christan, and 1-2% of Muslim.

>In Canada, our common religions are; Roman Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Baptist, and 1-2% Muslim. 
>Where we live, Canada seems as if the common religion in general, is Christianity. In China, they have their own general religion, which the two (Taoist & Buddhist), seem to be the same a swell
                                                   
                                                                    Taoist Symbol. 
                        
               Taoist Temple.                                                                               Catholic Church. 


***


>In China the common ethnic group is Han Chinese, with a percentage of 91.5%. And 'other nationalities' have a percentage of 8.5%. 
>In Canada, the common ethnic group here, is British (28%) and French (23%) origins. 'Mixed background,' has a percentage of 26%.
>Canada seems to have more multicultural backgrounds, than in China, when most of the people are the same ethnic. 


***
So yes, I'm done. Thanks to CIA - The World Fact book, for all this interesting information.
See you all soon!


-Claire

New Wrangler Jean Ad - We Are Animals

Good Afternoon Readers!


Once again, I had free time, and I wanted to do something with my Blog. Ms.Pollock had my researching something called 'New Wrangler Jean Ads. (We Are Animals.)'


We are animals? WHAT?
What kind of advertisement will this be? Let's just say..
wild.


Check out the video ad. (I don't think it's a commerical, it's just a video.)



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Here are some pictures for their campaign;






To be honest, the first time I saw the video and pictures, I thought it was bone chilling, and creepy. 
It just blew my mind! 
There aren't alot of clothing advertisement like this, and I thought this one was really unique, because no one ever thought of this idea before. THEY are portraying animals! 
When I was researching these pictures on this site;  http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/wrangler-we-are-animals-campaign/, there was a comment there that really stuck to me.


'Perhaps we are the only animals wearing jeans.'


That totally made sense to me since this is an animal related ad! 
Totally genius. 
Any thoughts on this? 


-Claire

Model's Airbrushed?

Hello Bloggers!

I really wanted to do something new with our blogs, so Ms.Pollock gave me a few things to research on. I chose the topic about models, and airbrushing/editing.

Have you ever seen billboards, or pictures with flawless models?
Something like this:
                          

Let me tell you, some of them are not even real!
Well, real people being edited.
Don't believe me? Watch this video;
                 

Amazing huh!? Check out the HUGE difference airbrushing made;
                            
                        

But honestly, why would someone go through all this trouble for public media attention?
I think people nowadays should show true beauty, and not somone who has just been edited, and unreal.
But what do you think?

-Claire

Faces of the World.

  Welcome to assignment #22.
This is a really long post, so sit back, relax, and read the rest of my post.

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Post A: Globalization; is when you want to spread things like companies, industries, and ect, to different parts of the world, and make it international.

Post B: I think that someone could take all these faces and find the average of the person by taking pictures of different people, and uploading it to a computer, and use some sort of photo shop to stack all the photos on top of eachother.

***
                                   

Post C: >Differences with our faces gives us our own identity, because it marks us of who we are physically. Sometimes our faces projects where we come from. Like if someone has smaller eyes, they could be, or their parents, be from some part in Asia.


                      >This relates to the point I made above. Our faces tell a story, like when two people from different nationalities, had a baby, and that shows more diversity to the coming generation.


                     > I think it's cool when two people from different backgrounds have a baby because the baby has two different perspectives, and practices. And also shows how unique they are. I know a friend who is half Filipino, and half Italian. See. How many people could say that? 

                                                +    
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Post D: >I think the picture below represents  the face of tomorrow, I mixed a few different entnicity. (Asian, Black and White.) And it represents, because alot of nannies, come from different countries in Asia, (like Philippines, Hong Kong ect.) who come to North America for nanny jobs. That's what my mom said, and that's how most people come to North America from Asia. There's another example for globalization. They're expanding they're horizon, and going to new places.


                    >My point in this one, is to elaborate on my last note. With alot of people coming from Asia, they could meet someone from North America. Who could be Caucasian, or another race. (I know alot of people who've done that.) And had a baby, who was half and half. 


                    >Once again, this will show more diversity when the child is half and half. It will project that they're not only from one nationality, but from several. Which I think it's a good thing, because everyone's different, and unique, physically. 

                                     
Part E: >I totally think my face represents my nationality, my family, and myself. I'm from the Philippines, well, my parents are. And the people there are naturally tan. And so am I!


                    >I also have, not HUGE eyes, and yet they're not really small. It's sort of in between. Most Filipinos, have the same eye shape and size as that. So I think I absolutely represent my  nationality, family and of course.. myself. 


That's it for now Bloggers.
Hope you enjoyed this interesting post, and your March Break, cause tomorrow's school.
Yay.
See ya!


-Claire

History Fair 4321!

Hello Ladies and Germs,

Welcome to assignment #21.
Last week we had our second annual history fair, and it was a success!
So I worked with Amy, and our topic was on maple syrup.

4 - The four most interesting things that you learned about your topic in your researching.

>Something I learned about our topic, was the fact that the Algonquin Tribe were the first people to discover maple syrup.

>Another thing I learned was the fact that the Algonquin tribe called it 'sizibuckwud,' which meant 'drawn from wood,' in their language.

>I learned that the Algonquin tribe were really resourceful. They would cut the tree with a tomohawk, which was an axe, made of animal bone or stone. Then they'd take a piece of birch bark, or reed, and place it underneath the cut, and let the same flow in their basket. Which was woven with birch bark, or made of deerskin.

>The last thing that I found interseting was the fact there is something called Maple Syrup Urine Diesease. (MSUD). It is a disease passed down from families, and you could get comas, siezures, or muscle spasms. They call it Maple Syrup Urine Disease, because when you have this disease, your urine has the scent of maple syrup.

3- Three things that you felt proud of on the day of the Fair.>One thing I really felt proud of on the day of the fair, is putting up our poster with confidence, and displaying all our hardwork with pride.

>Another thing I felt proud of on the day of the fair was when we were doing our speech. Our judges said they loved our two perspectives. I was a lost voice, from the Aboriginal tribe. And Amy was a European, who adapted our idea for tapping maple syrup.

>The last thing I felt proud of at the fair was when kids were coming up to our poster to learn more about our topic, and saying how interesting it was.

2 - Two specific researching or presentation techniques that were helpful to make your project so wonderful.
>One thing that enchanced our presentation was the fact Amy and I did two views about our perspective on our topic - maple syrup.

>Another presentation technique we used was alittle bit of costumes and props, to enchance our speech. I dressed like an aboriginal, (with feathers, and all). And Amy was dressed as an old fashioned European, with a long skirt, and corsette.

1 - One suggestion to make the History Fair even better in the future.
>My only suggestion to make the History Fair better for the future, is that the judges will go to whoever will be judged first. Because me and Amy only been judged by one person, and were waiting for a long time for another one.

Digital Lit Circle Question; Black & White.

Welcome Sam, Noah, Jenna, Amy, Amanda, and Walid!

When Tom picked Bridgett and Denyse up to head to the skiing resort, and Tom's dad saw Denyse, why do you think he hesitated when he saw her?

Kiva, Free Rice, Girl Effect - SOLE VIDEOS.

Hello Wonderful Bloggers! Yes, it is us; Me, Zuhair, Qavi & Shahad presenting our SOLE topic, about Kiva, Free Rice, and The Girl Effect.
Here are some things I wanted to point out in our two videos!

>In Part 1, of our video, Shahad is talking about the online charity Free Rice. Please note that English is not her first subject, and yet, I thought she read what she needed to say, perfectly! Well done Shahad!

>Another thing I wanted to point out in our first video is that we made our own scripts/monolouges, and mimicked a charity tele-thon, for each of the charities we chosen. I thought it was fun, and more interesting than just describing what the charity was about.

>The last thing I wanted to point out is in both our videos, we were sort of improvising. I thought we did really good, even though we had a limited time to rehearse. Not bad fo coming up with stuff on the spot eh?

So why don't you watch the videos? Enjoy!

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Part 1.



Part 2.



Stick around for more, okay?
-Claire

If I Had $100 - Ethical Gifts.

Welcome to assignment #19.
In this assignment, we are given an imaginary one hundred dollars to buy a/an ethical gift(s) to one or more of the following organizations;
Salvation Army, Oxfam, Plan, or World Vision.

OR

You can choose a diffrent organization to place your imaginary money to.


The organization I choose for my ethical gift(s) is The Girl Effect.
Funny, I think I remember doing a SOLE presentation on this very organization. Coincidence? I think not.
 
I chose this, because doing research on The Girl Effect, made my think.. us girls from Canada, are very fortunate, than other girls in developing countries. (Like Africa, Rwanda, or Bangladesh). Girls should have the same rights as equal human beings, and just because they're a girl, they don't get some of the same privileges. Like not being able to go to school, married off, prone to HIV, no health care.
So I'm giving  my money to The Girl Effect, and help a few girls fight their legal case. And maybe one day, one of those girls will do the same. See? It's like a cycle.

***

The ethical gift I want to invest in is to help adolescent girls fight human right abuses.  Donating $100 dollars will help them fight their legal case, and to see that justice will be served!

So that's all from my ethical gift.
See you around?

-Claire

Kiva, Freercie, The Girl Effect.

Hello Bloggers, welcome to assignment #4, where I am collaborating with ;
Shahad, Zuhair, and Qavi.
Our blogpost, is about examples of diffrent charities online, where you can help donate to other people in the world.

Here are some examples ;

Kiva

Kiva is an online charity where you can give loans to help entrepreneurs in villages, who need a start in their business.

This is how Kiva works;
1. on the Kiva website, there are thousands of profiles of people, which contain; their picture, and their reason for you to lend them your money.

2. you browse through the site, and select who you want to loan your money to.

3. Field Partners distribute the money, to who you lent your money to.
4. Over the course of time, the person you lent your money to, pays you back!

That's how Kiva works.

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Free Rice
Free Rice, is an online charity where you can play a game by answering a few questions in a variety of subjects, and everytime you get an awnser correct, you donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme.

You kill time and feed hungry people through out the world!
Isn't that great?

***

The Girl Effect

This charity is called 'The Girl Effect,' and this charity helps adolescent girls in poverty get a good start in life. When you donate, you help give girls an education, health care, protection against HIV and early pregnancy.

I bet you're all wondering why it's called 'The Girl Effect.' Well, did you know that out of 100% of children that don't go to school, 70% are girls! That's more than half! They deserve the rights as equal human beings, and given opportunity to healthcare, education, and a clean, developed enviroment.

Click this link for the video,for 'The Girl Effect.'

As Free As a Bird - Poetry of Hope

Hello lovely Bloggers!
Thank you for stopping by my page!
Welcome to assignment #14.
In the month of November, we learned all about the Holocaust, and what the word 'ghetto' actually meant.
So Ms.P has us writing our own poem in the eyes of the Holocaust, about hope and freedom.
This poem is completely written by me.
So here it goes..

As Free As A Bird
by: Claire Garcia

I pray,
that one day,
I will be as free as a bird.
To majestically soar,
up, up high.
To the flawless clouds,
in the painted, blue sky.
To freely observe the world,
in my eyes.
And squander,
wherever I'd like.

But no.
I am trapped in this ghetto.
No freedom,
just this prison.
Among the thousands of other strangers.

Yet,
the birds still sing to me.
Singing a song of hope.
Alittle bit of happiness evokes my soul.
And I know...
there is still hope.

Letters of Remembrance

Hello Lovely Bloggers!

Because of Remembrance day, Ms.Pollock has us doing assignment 11, which is coincidentally the assignment is #11, like November the 11. (11/11)

In this blog post, we must write a letter or journal entry in a soldier's perspective, or someone impacted in the war. Like a family member, friend, or loved one.
I decided to write in the perspective of a little girl, (about 10 years old) whose father is in the Afghanistan war.
So here it goes...
***

Hello Daddy!

Or General Davidson, which ever one you prefer.
I miss you so much! So does Mom, and baby Greg.
We hope your doing fine.
So anyway,
thank you so much for the card you sent me for my 10th birthday!
I love that everyone signed it! Thank's alot dad!

So we had a birthday party at home, and I invited all my friends. Like Molly, Dana, Reilly, and the guy I've always been writing about to you... Jason.
Mom made her famous chocolate cheesecake, which was absolutely amazing! As usual.
And you know what the best part was?
Mom FINALLY bought a puppy!
It's a wiener dog. We named it Buttercup, because it was a butterscotch-y color.
And you know how much I love butterscotch pudding!
My birthday was a blast!
But I think it would've of been so much better if you were there.

Anyway, I'm going to go now.
Mom is nagging me to take Buttercup out for a walk.
Just so you know, I pray every single night for your safety.
So please, becareful.
Come home for Christmas!
Can't wait to see you.
Love you tons.

-Ashley

Eric Walters Response - Part 2.

Welcome to part two, of my Eric Walters Response.
Assignment #16.
In this post, Ms.Pollock has us doing a short story, or one small chapter about an issue we think is important, and base the character on our self.
Here is alittle summary of my short story;

       Claire Garcia is a thirteen year old girl, who has a passion for basketball. She decides to join the 'Ottawa Jaguars' basketball team, for boys and girls, 13-14. Only to discover the standards are really high, and she's the ONLY girl on the team! But being on a team with mostly guys, has advantages. She makes new friends like Jayson, Philip, and the cute, but vauge Mikey; who she's totally crushing on. Being the only girl on the team; Claire feels out of their league, and doesn't think she fulfills their expectations... or Mikey's. Often, she always feels like giving up. Through hard work and sweat, Claire strives to prove herself to the team, and to her shady crush. But is it possible for her to catch the eyes of her teammates and Mikey, at the same time? Or will getting the attention of one, be more important than the other.
There's just one thing for sure;

it's not going to be easy.

***

CHAPTER 1.

     'My first practice..' stated Claire. 'I'm so excited!' She changed into her new, pink, basketball shorts from Nike, a baggy white shirt that said 'Yes, I'm a girl who plays ball,'  and her fresh, purple Nike's. She put on her purple gym bag stuffed with water bottles, and modeled infront of the mirror. 'Ok, I'm ready.' she told herself confidently.
     'Mom! Let's go! We're going to be late for my first basketball practice!' hollered Claire from downstairs.
'I'm coming, calm down Claire,' replied Mrs.Garcia. 'We're going to be there on time.'
Claire recently joined the Ottawa Jaguar's basketball team, which she is super excited to play for. All she could think about was making new friends, getting her own jersey, and just playing basketball.
'Ok, I'll wait for you in the car!' cried Claire with a smile on her face. She grabbed the Toyota car keys, her orange basketball, and headed outside.
      She swung the car door open, inserted the keys in the ignition, and tried to sit still patiently while waiting for her mother to come out. Five minutes turned into ten, when finally her mom walked out, and locked the door. 'Thanks for making me wait Mom. I appreciate it.' she said in a sarcastic tone.
'Next time would you like to bus there?' remarked Mrs.Garcia. 'No Mom. Your just trying to jack my swag,' joked Claire. 'What's swag?' questioned Mrs.Garcia. 'is that a clothing brand?' Claire couldn't help herself from laughing in her mother's face.
      
     After an awkward fifteen minute car ride, with Claire trying to explain the slang word 'swag,' to her mom;
they finally reached the gym. Claire jumped out of the car, and sprinted inside the building. The first thing she heard were the melody of bouncing basketballs in sync. She walked down several hallways until she found the gym where they were practicing in. Claire pushed the doors to let herself through. Her smile dropped.
On the court, was 7-10 guys, doing lay-ups. Absolutely no girls. Just her.

    Her mom caught up with Claire, patted her on the back and said; 'Ok Hun, go practice with them.'
'Uhm.. Mom. I kind of don't want to do it anymore.'
'What? Why?'
'Because, they're all guys..'
'So?'
'And they're really, really good!'
Claire started to observe them. They would sprint full speed, jump atleast one metre in the air, and sink the ball in the net.
'See mom!' pointed Claire. 'I'm not as good as them..'
'Claire, it's just a practice. Get your basketball and join them. I didn't drive all the way here for nothing.'
'But Mom-'
'GO!'

     Claire rolled her eyes and turned away to set her bag down. She took out her basketball, and dribbled to the fellas, who were lining up to take some lay-ups. 'Claire, honey!' yelped her Mom. 'Your shoe laces are untied!' Claire couldn't hear her. 'What is it Mom?'
'Your shoe laces!' Claire gave up on trying to listen in, so she ignored her. 'CLAIRE!'
'What!?' She turned away for a second, and walked backwards while dribbling the ball. 'Yes?'
'No, wait. Look where your going!!'
'What-'
In an instant, Claire was on the floor, with a huge headache.

    'Hey, I'm so sorry,' apologized a boy, about her age, helping her up. 'I bumped into you by accident while making a lay-up, and you sorta wiped out.'
'Oh,' was the only thing that came out of Claire's mouth.
'You.. ok?' asked the boy. Claire nodded slowly, still wondering what happened.
'Ok, good. I'm Mikey by the way.'
'Uhm, I'm.. Claire.'
'It's nice to meet you. And by the way, you better watch where your going next time,' Mikey applied. He smiled at her. 'Are you going to join us or what?'
'Uhm, yeah. Just let me.. tie my shoe laces.' she implied.
'That's a good idea. We don't want another accident, do we?' grinned Mikey.
Claire giggled. 'We sure don't.' Mikey got back to the line-up. Claire started tying her shoes.

      Something that Claire didn't understand, is why she has butterflies in her stomach, and she can't stop smiling like a manic. And something else she didn't understand is how she got that floor burn on her knee. Whatever, it's another collection to the hundreds she already has, she thought to herself. But the thing that really scarred her wasn't the floor burn, it was Mikey's smile engraved in her memory.
Right off the bat, Claire knew this was going to be one heck of a basketball team.

Eric Walters Response - Part 1.

Hello Fellow Peers!
Welcome to assignment #16!
A few weeks back, we had such an amazing author come in, named Eric Walters.
He wrote ALOT of books, based on teenagers, and about realistic issues.
Here are some books I researched, and found interesting. With also, intriguing messages behind them;

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I think the message in this story is to stand up for what you think is right, not what everyone says is right.
(Listen to your heart. Don't go with the flow.)



The moral in this book, is that your own opinion matters, and you should do it for yourself, and not hold back just because of what others think.



The message in this novel is; never let anyone pressure you into something you know is wrong.

So that's it for this post!
Part 2 will be posted up shortly.

-Claire