The Ride of My Life

My foot jammed underneath the foot brake - this was a manual ATV.  My heart races as I speed down the biggest slope on the whole mountain backwards.  I cannot move.  The ATV was hitting rocks that caused the handlebars to move side to side.  My friend, hollering my name behind me as I am about to bash into him.  Suddenly I hit a rock I turned to the other direction.  I continued to go down passed him the edge of the cliff is just behind me.  I get my foot to the break but I hit another rock and the ATV goes berserk it changes direction completely but I missed the cliff.  My heart slows down knowing that I am not going to die on this cliff but I do not know what awaits behind me.  My helmet slips round I am blinded and beginning to suffocate.  I near the end of the hill.  The instructors followed after me.  My friend jumps off his ATV and runs towards me and I keep thinking in my head "this is it".  There is a copse of trees behind me as I look over my shoulder.  The biggest tree lay ahead.  "BOOM".  I tumble off and hit multiple trees I am covered in dirt.  I close my eyes and think to myself "I am a survivor". 

I Resolute This Statment....

This year of 2011 I have two major resolutions. One is to get more organized, not only in school but also in my home in my work places or in my bedroom. The second is to learn Malay, to communicate with others.

The word "ORGANIZATION" used to mean nothing to me until today. Today is the day that I will begin to create a start for my new years resolution. In organization area there are a few things I need to work on. One, is in class I need to bring all my supplies in like a pencil various amounts. Several pens, at least one eraser, whiteout and some other supplies. Also in school I need to concentrate in class so that information is not everywhere. Also I need to concentrate so that I will do better in my work. My homework does not get done in time sometimes, I believe it is because I do not listen in class for the information. Or perhaps I just don't get stuck into it. I always loose things around my house, like binders,  homework, water bottles.... I need to learn to keep things in place.

Organization, not only at school but also at home. My work space where I do my homework is just a pile of junk sometimes. Other times it is clean, but when it is clean I can't find anything so I need to figure out a way to have my junk but to the side where I can still find everything but I have a clean work space. In my bedroom sometimes I think it is a bomb shelter. Everything is everywhere. It gets cleaned every other day but it doesn't stay that way for long. I have my clothes everywhere. There are toys on the floor, bed sheets everywhere. I think I need to find a way to organize my toys into boxes and learn to put them away. Make my own bed every morning. This Resolution has been the same for two years now. I have never gotten round to sticking to it.

The second is to learn Malay. Everywhere I go people try to talk to me in Malay and people keep saying learn Malay. I am living in Malaysia I need to learn Malay some places I go the teach me a bit and I still remember what they taught me. Another thing is sign's they are all in Malay. Directions are in Malay. I think Malay would be a good language to learn but I am just afraid if it will interfere with my Spanish or my after school activity. (If I do Malay for and after school activity). My mom may home school me because she speaks some Malay.

These are my new year resolutions that I will stick to.

000OOOooo O OMG

I am profile O that is an easy way to say it.  In other words my dominant side of the brain is

the right side, my dominant eye is the left, my dominant ear is the right, my dominant hand is the left

and my dominant leg is also the left.  The right side of my brain is the gestalt hemisphere.  This means that I like my knowledge to be passed to me all at once and in the format of a story or to be told directly to me. Mr. Whiting came to our class and told us all this information. Information on how to tell what our dominant side is. We spent that class trying to find our dominant areas.  In these few paragraphs I am going to tell you about how I learn best,what I need to do and the strategies that would help me in my learning and what I want my teachers to know about me.

 I feel I learn best when I have an idea of the "BIG" picture before I begin to complete my task. I like my information to be given to me by the start of a story or to be told to me in person.  I also learn best through using movement that means I learn well on white boards.  I am a visual learner.  When reading a book or writing a story I like to put myself into the position of the character so I can feel the emotions that the character would feel.  As I am a visual/kinesthetic learner I must physically do what is being learned.  As I learn I need to move especially my hands to process new learning.  I am emotionally and physically expressive at the moment one hand is typing for me and the other is playing with a yo-yo.  When I am relaxed I may preferentially listen for the details I prefer not to follow step by step visual instructions.  I tend to start imagining the end result of the movie or book and instinctively get it correct sometimes.  If everything is going well and there are not problems my learning is easy going but when I bump into a problem it seems my whole brain seems to shut down and my mind goes blank and if I am touching something I then start to imagine about it thus it could create a distraction during my learning.

I may have difficulty writing because my eye and my hand is not working together because my brain works faster than my head and I tend to forget things while writing that is why it helps to have a visual on the whiteboard or a piece of paper that I can copy from.  My left eye scans from right to left sometimes I get difficulty reading or writing languages that is why I did not last long while learning Mandarin in my old school.  Usually I appreciate metaphors and examples when associating with problem solving. 

I believe I need to have some sort of item in class to play with while learning for example stress ball, pencil, eraser.  Also it would help me to do lazy eights or drawing while learning.  I need to have visual learning so I can remember thoroughly also when learning I need to have the process planned out on the board not as in a schedule but as in a main idea.  I need to sit at the front of the class need the white board and also at the left side - where Fynnola is sitting.  But it also needs to be a place where I can quietly play with something without disturbing other students. Also because I need to wear glasses I need to sit near the whiteboard that I can see more clearly.  I am short sighted that means that I cannot see in the distance also sometimes with my classes I get a reflection off the white board which gives me trouble seeing so if I was to sit close to the board I would be able to see perfectly.  

One strategy that would help me out is by doodling on my page also I could do lazy 8s for my eye and hand coordination.  Also I need something to play with as I said before that would include a stress ball, pencil or eraser.  Also I could note things down in my planner or on a piece of paper.  When I am under stress and my mind is all blank I can do some of the technics to relieve stress like massaging where the jaw meets also I should listen to music while working.  It says I should have a good balance of art and at the moment I am doing art on my wheel which I believe has relieved some stress.  I need to use input from my own knowledge, other people's knowledge and knowledge I have learned to help me learn.

I would like my teachers to know to put me at the front left hand side of the classroom so it is easy for me to see.  Also I would like them to know to use a dark colour on the whiteboard so I can see more clearly and I would like them to know if suddenly my mind goes blank it means I am under some kind of stress either in the classroom or outside. Also I like my information to be given to me by the start of a story or to be told to me in person. Also I would like them to know that if I have some sort of squishy toy its just because it helps me to concentrate.

This is just some information on ME and who I am as a sixth grader

Lit Circle Blog Post

1.The benefits of working with a classmate.
Some benefits of working with a classmate are... well now that we have a friend to work with you can ask questions about the book while working on it. So if you do not understand one part you always have you partner to help. Another is if you need help for example you cant think of a question and a response to go with it, you can ask you partner. Another benefit is that you can split the work. So if some reason you can not get a part done your partner can help you.
2. Challenges  obstacles which you overcame (tried to overcome).
A challenge I over came was the ability to create level 2-3 questions. Now I am able to create mostly level two questions but at times my brain explodes and I create a really advanced level three question. Another challenge I overcome was to be able to find a good passage. Now I realize a good passage is a really interesting paragraph than contains action maybe mind twisting events. It must contain some information that is really interesting.
3. New understandings that you gained about the novel.
Having a partner helped me understand the novel in a few ways one way is that I could see some parts about the novel in different point of views. Like when he was making the fire I thought that he would not succeed but Dhabitah said that he must or else he will not live. 
 

Literature Circle

1. How your groups discussion helped your understanding of the novel.

The group discussion helped me to understand the novel by ......if I had any questions including my discussion questions my group would help me to understand and to resolve those problems.  Also they had their own opinions to or against things which I had never seen from their point of view it had made me realise new aspects of the story.

 

2. Connections that you made during your discussion

One connection I made was that my Mum and my Dad have been divorced once but not from each other.  The next connection is that I was once stranded on an island i was when I was in Langkawi and I canoed to another island and was surrounded by crabs.  My Dad was in the canoe but I could not move any further.

3. Predictions

I believe that Brian will find food and water and he will be able to survive for a while longer.  I believe that his parents will notice that he is gone and start a search so that they can find him.  I think that Brian's parents will get back together at the end of the book.

 

How Does the Geographical Location of Malaysia Make it Wealthy

The main reason that Malaysia is wealthy because of the geographic location is that traders used to ship in or pass Malaysia and Singapore to go across to the Pacific so when they passed they would stop to trade.  Ships would send in large amounts of different items to trade and also the people would come from many different places, some wealthy some not and if they were wealthy they would bring in very expensive items.  Yet the poor people when they came they had items that were not found in the country so others wanted to buy them.  Some traders would stay in Malaysia for part time or even life long to trade for their job so when they returned to their country they had enough money to live.  When the wealthy people came to live in Malaysia for life long that also bought Malaysia money, this would have given more poor people houses, education and jobs.  The rich people would trade in their expensive items for the items Malaysia had to offer example palm oil, wood, tin and rubber.  The rich people who came were impressed because they may have had expensive items but did not have what Malaysia produced.  Also that is when they started to farm they would plant their own crops which bought in more visitors because they had a stable food supply unlike some countries when they need to go out every day and hunt and gather.  The Malaysian people were smart and they started up school for educational uses this bought in even more visitors who had children and then they could go to schools and get an education in other trades and about countries.  For the people who lived in cold countries Malaysia is just off the equator and visitors would come here to get warmth.  These were a few of the examples of why Malaysia is wealthy.

The Day when the Giants Attacked

One day I was with my family in the mangroves building our new home in Kuala Selangor.  We were about to make my bedroom or my hole as the humans call it when suddenly my sister got squished and my Dad and Mum started screaming because we all thought she was dead when suddenly the thing moved and my sister was okay.  UGG.  Me and my sister don't get on very well we always fight and we hate each other so when she got squished I started laughing and it was a disappointment to find out she lived - whatever back to the point.  I went up to the surface of the mud to see what that thing was and it was a giant, the giant had long hair and whenever she touched the mud she would scream so I thought it would be funny to pull a prank on her since she was such a sissy girl.  So I was thinking of my plan then I had it the most wonderful idea so without anyone seeing me I slivered up to the girls foot and no-one saw me so I slipped into her shoe before you know it she felt some slivering going up her leg.  She did not know what it was so she checked her leg and saw ME.  She screamed like crazy her boot was caught in the mud so her foot slipped out of the boot and she started squrming around.  I was laughing like mad because I would not come off.  She was getting really frustrated with me so she grabbed me and threw me away next thing you know I am back in my hole.  My mum and dad both looking really mad at me and my sister who looked as scared as possible were all frowning at me.  Then my Mum started giving me a lecture on why you should not scare the giants because they were going to eat us or kill us or something like that.  Then above us a shadow cast, it was a boy with a big head then he picked my sister up she was screaming like crazy he tried to eat her then my mum said I had to go and rescue her.  I squggled up his hand and broke my sister free she grabbed me and hugged me "Eeewwww".  I went up to the surface right away when I got there I saw huge people and the biggest man I had ever seen (Mr Smith).  Zooooom.  A boy dashing across the mud field he nearly stepped in my hole but as I see next to the boy there is a girl stuck knee high.  When I looked farther behind them I see a man and some kids doing stuff with these sticks I just ignored them and then one of my friends came along he was screaming.  He kept asking me over and over what these things were and I told them I did not know but my parents had told me so many stories of how they devour us.  They told me that they will just pick us up squish us chew us to death and then eat us whole.  He was in shock he said "what filthy beasts".  Now the whole mud area was packed with people one kid stood in there for about an hour and still remains I heard a woman calling "okay guys it is time to pack up and leave" then the people started dashing towards the exit.  The one person still remained.  I thought I should help him out a bit so I crept up and went into her sock and she looked at me and picked me up and threw me away.  Then she started to walk "yes I had done it everyone was cleared out of the area".  Woohoo guys lets celebrate.  We lived through the war.  Yeeeehaaaaa. 

THE END