They Said He Couldn't But He Did

Grew up in hard neighborhood
Didn't have respect
But then he ran for President of the United States
He had a good campaign
He was not ashamed of his past
He used it to push himself ahead
He is not ashamed
But he played a fair game
His words
His life
Based on hope and change
That said that he couldn't
But look at what he did
He made it this far
And now he is on the presidents wall of fame
He says that will change the way we live today
But not everyone believed him
They said he couldn't but he did
Now look at what he has done
He is the first left handed president
That may not be important
But on his side he has one
That helps him stand out
And it helps him fit in
They said he couldn't but he did
He did a great job
Running his campaign
They said he couldn't but he did
Now he lives in the White House
And counts a lot
Congratulation Barack Obama
They said you couldn't but you did
Now he did his fair share
He did all he could
And now he is at the top
John McCain did great
But not as good
Barack Obama did what he should
Now he is President of the United States
They said he couldn't but he did

Piece of Cake

Last week the 8th grade took the state wide ELA test. Some thought that it was hard. But out of the three books the second one was the easiest and the third one was the hardest. Some people in my class didn't get to finish and that just made me wonder 'Did they try s hard as they say?' The only answer to my question is another question. "Did you give it 100%?"

I would have said yes. But now that I think about that test was a piece of cake. Hopefully that cake tastes good. Because if it did I will pass the 8th grade and continue on to high school and then on to college. the test could have been a little harder but that is just me.

I am so extatic that this test was the last ELA test that I would have to take if I pass. Wow what a great test to begin the new year. Seriously I think that the test makers slcked off just a little bit becasue last year the 8th graders thought that their state test was hard. This years test was as easy as 1 2 3.

But maybe that is because this 8th grade is and always will be the smartest 8th graders that 339 has had in the year of 2009. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. But the teachers we have are awesome. So great job Ms.Johns, Ms.Levine, Ms.Kaelin, Mr.Blanchard, and Mr.Goldsmith. You guys and ladies have helped us a lot. So this is our thanks to you as the class of 2009.

Inaugural Poem Response

I think that the poem Praise Song for the Day by written and recited by Elizabeth Alexander means that we should be ecstatic about our new America. Now that Barack Obama is our new president we should praise that everything is going to change. Barack Obama is going to be a great president and he is going to help us change everything because if he has come this far and has given us hope why in the world would he let us down now?

This poem makes me feel like Elizabeth Alexander wants us to see how eveything is going to change soon. For example, she states in the poem:
We cross dirt roads and highways that markthe will of some one and then others,
who said I need to see what’s on the other side
I know there’s something better down the road.

We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain: that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce,
built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of."

This tells me that she wants no that she knows that with Barack Obama on our side he will right what was wrong.

Some of the pharses that I really liked from the poem are:

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

And to me those phrases connect and say to me some people learn to accept each other no matter what is happening between them. Also that love is the most powerful thing in the world and no matter what that will always stay the same.

This poem really relates to Barack Obama and his life because she states in the poem:

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,

That means that people like Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth, Malcolm X,etc. have died fighting for the future of people like Barack Obama. They fought for the rights for African-Americans to have bright long futures.

Readers Response #20

Title of book: Breaking Dawn

Author of book: Stephenie Meyer
Pages Read: Page 1 - Page 756
Chapters Read: Chapter 1- Chapter 39

The book Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer is a very great book so far. This book is all about romance but with a twist. One because one of the main characters is a vampire. And the other reason is that he is immortal and the life of his life is mortal(which means his heart doesn't beat and hers does).

Bella Swan is one of the main characters(she is the one below)

You have to watch read Twilight(or watch the movie), New Moon, And Eclipse in order to know what is going on between Edward and Bella to know how strong their love is.

In this book Edward and Bella get married and have a baby girl. Bella decided to name her Renesme Carlie Cullen(hers and Edward's moms names are Renee and Esme, their fathers names are Charlie and Carlisle and their last name is Cullen). She has hard skin like Edward, chocolate brown eyes like Bella, Edward's color hair and Charlie's type of hair(brown and curly).

Like Edward Renesme gas a special talent. She can show you what she is thinking just by putting a hand on you. Bella also has a special power which is to shield. Bella can stretch her shield very far from her body and anyone in her shield is protected well enough so that they don't get hurt.

Only one problem really happens in this book. The Volturi(a very powerful coven of ancient vampires) think that Renesme is an immortal child(a new vampire which is a child that was bit and never ages). Though she is half mortal and half immortal she is non-venomous. She bites people all of the time and they are still perfectly fine.

Another not so big problem happens in the book. Once Bella became a vampire she and to keep that secret from her father Charlie.

Readers Response # 19

Title of book: Eclipse

Author of book: Stephenie Meyer
Pages Read: Page 404- Page 629

In the dead silence,

all the details suddenly fell into place for me

with a burst of intuition.

Something Edward didn't want me to know.

Something Jacob wouldn't have kept frome me....

It was never going to end, was it?

Readers Response # 18

Title of book: Eclipse
Author of book:Stephenie Meyer
Pages Read: Page 1- Page 404

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destructive ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird

Some of the major themes in To Kill a Mockingbird are racism and justice and equality for all.

The author reveals these themes by showing Atticus taking on the Tom Robinson case because he is black even though he knows that he isn't going to win because black people don't get fair trials in Maycomb, Alabama.

I think that the characters will each learn something from the Tom Robinson case. For example, Scout learns that no matter what people tell you keep your head up high and say "Yea whatever those words mean nothing to me." And i think that Jem learned more about Justice for all because he tries to explain it Scout but she doesn't understand it as easily as he does.

The lesson that Harper Lee would want me to know by the end of this book would most likely be that no matter your race, no matter your color at the end of the day you are still part of society and no matter what people tell you don't let them bring you down because thos ewho tease you are the ones that hace no self respect for themselves.

Readers Response # 17

Title of book: New Moon
Author of book: Stephenie Meyer
Pages Read:Page 1- Page

These violent delights have voilent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume.

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 6

I knew that they were both mortal danger.

Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole.

I could feel my heart racing in my chest,

the blood pulsing hot and fast thriugh the veins again.

My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin.

It was like there had never been any hole in my chest.

I was perfect-not healed, but as if

there had never been a wound in the first place.

Test Prep Action Plan

My goals for test prep are to pay every bit of attention, to get a four, to do acuity at home, and to try to come to Saturday academy. To keep up with my goals I will read more often and that will improve my reading skills, when I get home I will do all of my homework and then do acuity, If I can read more pages in the book then I plan to I will definitely pay more attention, and to come to Saturday academy I will bother my mom until she says yes. The hardest question on the test for me would be the vocabulary questions because if don't get what the word means I tend to ignore it and I tend to get frustrated about not knowing what that word means. What I can do to improve the questions/ passages/ or Test Books for me would be to read and to think between the lines to try to comprehend what the vocabulary words mean.

"To My Parents: What I've Learned so far in ELA."

Dear Mom,

Some of my biggest accomplishments so far this year in ELA are my memoir entitled"Farewell", my political essay entitled"Who Will Win?", my blog in which you can visit any time by going to the website http://coraima802.blogspot.com.

My favorite unit so far has to the Strategy Unit because the five habits that we learned about Activating Schema, Making Predictions, Questioning, Visualizing, and Making Inferences really helped me apply that to everything that I read and that was great for me.

Us using technology in school has really helped because we don't waste as much paper and that has helped the environment because we don't kill as many trees.