Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hero book Chapter Summary

Chapter 4, Two Heads Are Better Than A Hundred, Summary.

50 Word Summary:

The gods give Hercules gifts as they think Hera is up to something. Hercules and Iolaus are sent to defeat the Hydra. He cut the heads of the Hydra then burned the neck so the head didn’t grow back. They return and Hercules is ordered to kill the golden stag.

Complete Summary:

Hermes, Athena and Apollo give Hercules gifts to help him on his travels and journeys. They believe Hera is up to no good. Hercules is sent to kill the Hydra with Iolaus ,by the king. When they find the Hydra, they start to chop its heads off to kill it. For every head that is chopped off, two more heads start to grow back. Iolaus tries to convince Hercules that they should just take one or two of their heads and leave. They would say that they killed the Hydra. Hercules believes that this is wrong and untruthful and that he has an idea. Every time Hercules cuts of one of the Hydra’s heads, he would burn the neck so the head couldn’t grow back. Hercules and Iolaus finally kill the Hydra and return back home. The king is impressed and in disbelief. The king then sends Hercules to go and kill the stag with the golden antlers.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

My Name

Stephanie, my name is from Greek origins. It means “Crown” or “Crowned One”. It comes from the Greek male name, Stephanos.

My parents used to live in a small town north of Kuala Lumpur, called Kuala Lipis. They would commute from there to Kuala Lumpur for doctor’s visits when my mum was pregnant with me, a two-hour drive. To pass the time they would discuss and decide baby names as they drove along. They both agreed on the name Stephanie after Princess Stephanie of Monaco. My middle name, Grace, was chosen after an old family friend and also Princess Grace of Monaco.

I have always been happy with my name. It isn’t to short or to long; it’s in the middle. Kind of like Goldilocks and the three bears! Most people can say it properly and not mispronounce it or misspell it. I can’t remember a time where I have ever wanted to change my name, nor can I remember a time where I was teased about my name.

Lots of my friends shorten my name and just call me Steph. My brother used to call me “Di Di” when he was small and couldn’t say my name yet. He got it off a cartoon in which the older sisters name was Di Di. He never calls me that anymore. My parents sometimes call me “Pooks”, after a book I used to like when I was small.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Classic Greek Myths

During humanities today, we watched two short films on classic Greek myths. The first was about the great inventor, Daedalus and his son Icarus. The second was of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Out of the two films viewed, my favourite was the story of Daedalus and his son Icarus. I preferred it to the other story as it was faster paced. It went from one exciting event to the next. I enjoyed the characters more than the story. I found the character’s personalities were very unpredictable. Daedalus was surprising, one minute he is creating and building, the next he is flinging his nephew over a building!
Some themes that are common in the two stories include regret, sadness, loneliness and hatred. Daedalus regretted killing his nephew and blamed himself for the death of his son Icarus. Theseus regretted not putting up the white sail on his ship, which caused his father to commit suicide. Daedalus lived the rest of his life alone and in sorrow. Theseus lived in sadness, knowing that if he had put the white sail up, his father would have still been alive. Both men had enemies or the hatred for something or someone. Daedalus had King Minos searching for him all over Greece and Theseus hated the Minotaur for taking the lives of innocent people.

Overall I enjoyed both of the stories. After hearing several Greek myths, I have noticed that most don’t usually have a happy ending!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Bio Poem

Stephanie
Fun, Kind, Smart, Responsible, Kind and Honest
Sister of Bryce Vesel
Who loves pandas,performing arts and her family
Who feels happy with her family and friends, also when reading, dancing and acting
Who needs food, her computer, and her family and friends
Who gives company, kindness and respect to her friends and family
Who fears haunted houses, venomous snakes and failing a class
Who would like to see Egypt, Disney World and the terracotta army in Xi'an, China
Who shares her experiences, jokes and memories and secrets with her friends
Who is twelve years old, tall and learning Mandarin
Who is a resident or Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Vesel

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The End Of The Road


Sixth grade has been fun, but sadly it must come to an end. Here is a reflection I filled out to reflect on my performance throughout sixth grade.

REFLECTION

1.
What piece of work and learning are you most proud? Explain.

The piece of work I am most proud of is my blog. I believe I have put the most time and effort into it. I spent a lot of time throughout the year working on my blog at home and at school. I have used it to showcase a variety of my work in sixth grade. The reason I am so proud of it is that it shows how much I have grown throughout sixth grade. When you compare my early blog posts to my more recent posts you can see the difference. I include more personal thoughts.

2. What were your greatest challenges? Explain.

My greatest challenge was homework, but really only towards the start of the year. When I first came to middle school, I found that there was a lot more homework here than in fifth grade. I found it hard to deal with at first, I would stay up late doing work and be tired in the morning. As the year progressed, I got used to the amount of homework I got and gained better time management skills.

3. Reflecting on your growth this year, what did you learn about yourself as a learner?

I learnt that I work best during individual work. I find that it is much easier. When working in groups, some people tend to slack off as they figure the others will do it for them. I sometimes like working in groups, when everyone pulls their own weight.


4. To evaluate your work habits, choose 1 of the following from each
category and provide explanations.

a) Behavior

Perfect - the model student

Explanation:
I am very rarely the one that is always yelling or misbehaving. I tend to be one of the more mature ones in the class room. I do not usually talk to my friends during class. I try my best to be nice to everyone and to be as kind as I can be. I do my best to follow the middle school core values.

b) Participation


Actively participate in class

Explanation:
If a teacher is asking the class a question, I usually put my hand up. Even if I am unsure whether or not I am correct or not. I try and stay focused on what the teacher is talking about allowing me to respond if they ask a question. I will share my ideas and thoughts if needed in class.

c) Organization

Satisfactory

Explanation:
My locker is an absolute mess! I have stuff crammed, scattered and jammed in every which way. There are loose papers, old worksheets, etc., everywhere. Sometimes it is hard to even close it. In this sense, I am very poorly organized. Even with my locker being like this, I am able to find my homework, supplies, etc. for every class. I am able to organize my time during and after school in order to finish all the things I have to do. In this sense, my organisation skills are okay.

d) Effort


I usually go above and beyond what is required.

Explanation:
I always try my hardest to make sure I put my best effort in all my work. I usually do extra work or write more than necessary in a blog post or an essay. I will try and make projects as creative and as unique as possible, even if it is not necessary.

6. Is there any more information about yourself that you would like the teachers to know?
I would like my teachers to know that I am a fairly independent person. I will do things that need doing without being told to do them. I don't need people constantly reminding me what I am supposed to be doing.

7. What was your favorite activity lesson in Humanities this year? What did you enjoy about it?
My favorite activity in humanities was tic-tac-toe. The main reason I liked it was that it allowed me to be creative and artistic. I usually enjoy hands on activities which involve me making or creating something. Tic-tac-toe was all about that. The more creativity that was put into making it, the better the grade.

8. What activity do you wish we could have spent more time on?
The activity I wish our class could of spent more time on is our memory books. I was excited at the start of the year to create a book full of memories from sixth grade. Sadly as the year progressed we had other things to do and we forgot all about it.

9. Finally, cast your minds back to the first few months of middle school (when you arrived in Grade 6 ) what "Words of Wisdom" or "Advice" could you pass on to the Class of 2018?
I would tell them not to get stressed out about the homework. It can be hard to get used to, but if you stress out about it, it just makes it harder. As the year progresses, homework becomes less stressful and a lot easier to deal with.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Books, Books, Books



Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins

This book made me think about a lot of things. One of main things I thought about was how the society in the book was run. In the book, people lived in small huts, ate whatever they could find and wear clothes made out of old shabby materials and animal skin. (No this is not why it is called the hunger games!) The government in the book is very controlling. They force two teenagers every year into a fight till death game called the hunger games. Each of the 12 brings one girl and one boy into the games. Out of them only one person survives. They have to hunt and find their own food and water. They help bring wealth into the government.

This book challenged me to re-read books. After completing the book, I enjoyed it so much I was really tempted to re-read the book. I chose to do so and understood the book so much better after re-reading it again. I had found many important details to the story plot I had missed the first time round. This has taught me to re-read books.

Dont read this book if you are not prepared to read the other two in the series. Trust me, once you read the first book you will want to read the other two. Also be prepared to become obsessed with the book. For the next few weeks after completing the series, all I could think about was the books.

The Hunger Games is a great book. It covers many genres including sci-fi, fantasy, a bit of violence and romance.

Linked:

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Literature Circles #5:The Giver by Lois Lowry

Throughout chapters 16-18, the book 'The Giver by Lois Lowry expresses many themes of freedom and choice.


When Jonas transmits memories to Gabriel to calm him down, he made the choice to share some of his memories with Gabriel.By making this choice, he could lose the memory to Gabriel, who will not able able to return it. He did not have to or get told to do so, he just did. Jonas had the freedom to do whatever he liked with the memories that were shared with him. (eg. sharing them with Gabriel).


Also when Jonas decides to discontinuing taking the anti-stirring pills, themes of freedom and choice were expressed. By making the decision he has put himself at risk, what if something bad happens, what if there was another reason as to why people in the community took the pills. Jonas had his freedom to make his own choices, he did not alert his parents about this.


In chapters 16-18, more themes of freedom and choice were shown. When Jonas plays 'Good Guys, Bad Guys' with Asher, Fiona and the others, he decides to stop playing. He decided on his own will that he would not play anymore. He had the freedom to make his own choice and opinion about this game.


Overall, I believe that throughout chapters 16-18 many themes of freedom and choices were shown.