Volleyball

I am currently on the school's volleyball team. We are not that bad since we have won two straight tournaments. However, we now have a really big challenge. The upcoming city league for international schools is really difficult since there are some few schools who have a really high sports level. There is especially one; an all-boys school who trains its kids 24/7. It is really difficult to beat them because they train a lot, they are really tall, and they are really strong. We have never beaten them but this year it will be different. This season, most of the great people in the other school have passed to a superior category and we are left with our best team and their substitutes from last year. I really hope we can beat them this year-

I hope I wasn't very confusing in the way I described my special situation. I love volleyball.

Figurative Language COMPLETE

These are the words that were on the board. I took photos of them :D

Figurative Language in "the grinch"

Onomatopoeia- Aaaaaaaa!!! (Syndey screaming)
Metaphor-
Simile-
Repetition-maybe be wasn't so bad. Maybe, just maybe.
Hate hate hate, hate hate hate, double hate, YOU!!
Hyperbole- only creature in a billion miles who hates Christmas
Alliteration- the whippo whip winds whiped
Assonance-
Imagery-what's the stinch!
Personification- every lamppost is dressed

Figurative Language

Onomatopoeia "pop"
Metaphor "you are my sunshine"
Simile "quiet as a mouse"
Rhyme "hall, fall, mall"
Personification "the lamp sat on the table"
Repetition "baby, baby, baby, ooo..."
Hyperbole "he's the fastest runner ever!"
Alliteration "Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"
Assonance "he saw a ball far away"
Imagery: appeal to 5 senses to create picture in reader's mind.

Evaluation of Peers PSAs

I wasn't present in the day that the presentations were being shown so I do not have the notes. I was competing in the National Math Olympics. I am sorry :(

Tennis Tournament

Last saturday, I went to the Country Club to play a tennis tournament. This was an internal tournament so it wasnt so important. However, I won it. I had the privilege to beat a close friend and another friend who was a bit harder to beat. It was a great experience and a great accomplishment because it is my second year in a row in winning the cup.

Preposition poster Critiques

POSTER #1

Interesting
Strength: it uses a really interesting use of pictures
Weakness: you can't read the letters.
Score: 8

Persuasive
Strength: it uses a very professional view of colleges
Weakness: it was presented really fast so I didn't understand most of the presentation
Score: 7

Word Choice
Strength: it put the word STOP in really big font
Weakness: it had very basic languages
Score: 5

Style
Strength: it showed the advantages of having a good use of prepositions
Weakness: it wasn't very decorated
Score: 7

Total score: 7

POSTER #2

Interesting
Strength: it is very colorful and it catches your attention
Weakness: letters are difficult to understand and it is messy
Score: 6

Persuasive
Strength: uses examples
Weakness: it is messy, therefore not really eye-catching
Score: 6

Word Choice
Strength: puts important words in larger fonts
Weakness: uses the word noob incorrectly
Score: 5

Style
Strength: it shows that it is supposed to be abstract
Weakness: it was shown sloppyly
Score: 7

Total Score: 6

POSTER #3

Interesting
Strength: It is well drawn and neat
Weakness: not very decorated
Score: 8

Persuasive
Strength: uses many examples to show prepositions
Weakness: none
Score: 10

Word Choice
Strength: Puts important words in bold
Weakness: It is all in one color
Score:8

Style

Strength: it is relaxing
Weakness: the presentation people had to tell what the style was in order to get it
Score: 9

Total Score: 9

POSTER #4

Interesting
Strength: It uses 3D objects to grasp attention
Weakness: it was messy
Score: 9


Persuasive
Strength: Uses examples
Weakness: Puts mainly the to-too-two relationship instead of the assigned at-to relationship
Score: 5


Word Choice
Strength: Capitalizes important words
Weakness: It is not very understandable
Score: 7


Style
Strength: Pilas con las Pilas style. It was creative
Weakness: The presentators had to demonstrate the style in order to get it
Score:7


Total score: 7

PSA Editorial

Child abuse is a major problem nowadays because it damages the lives of millions of children who will someday be worldwide criminals. It risks the world’s future by damaging the childhood and lives of people who can be future world leaders. It is also illegal according to the Declaration of Human Rights to abuse anybody. Abusers, if caught, will be sent to jail for more than a decade.

I would like to start off by giving the definition of child abuse. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) defines child abuse as, “any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child." This can include four major categories: neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and physical abuse.

Child abuse must be put to a halt because it is the most common trait that criminals in jails have. 84% of criminal inmates have been abused as children. This means that if child abuse is eliminated, most people in jail wouldn’t be there.  Also, “Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.”-http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics

Here is a fun fact: before there was a law against child abuse, there was one against animal abuse. The case of Mary Ellen Wilson, described in my group’s PSA Video, was the origin to the child protection law. A church worker went to check on her family and she saw a whip. When the worker saw Mary, she noticed that the little girl had several marks of the whip being used. The worker went to the police and reported the abuse that was occurring in the Wilson household but the police could not do anything because there were no laws against child abuse. There was, however, a law against animal abuse so the church worker debated that Mary was part of the animal kingdom and she had the right to be protected. She won the case and then inspired the creation of the law against child abuse.

Some cases are just horrible. Some include sexual harassments, brainwashing, name calling, humiliating, physical abuse and many other cruel ways. These make the victims feel unsure, unprotected and, in the long run, dangerous. What amazes me the most is that people would actually do this to innocent children. Why would someone actually take the time to abuse their defenseless child and ruin their childhood?

I believe that we have to act and protect the children who have been abused. We must donate to funds, make protests, and help children, ANYTHING! WE MUST HELP THEM!

PSA Project

We made a video about child abuse. Click here to watch it.

Poster of Prepositions Photo

This is our "stop misusing prepositions poster".

Storyboard of PSA: Child Abuse

We made a virtual storyboard that was made in Capzels.

Storyboard

Game of Prepositions

THE GRAMMAR RACE 2-6 players

Pieces: 40 flashcards, 6 player identifications (cars, drawings.etc), 1 playing board, 1 dice.

Object: the object of the game is to get to the finish as fast as possible while answering correctly the problems.

Procedure: 
At the beginning, each player gets an identification. Each player rolls the dice and the player with the highest roll starts the game. Gameplay goes counterclock wise.

The first player gets a flashcard with two sentences. The player has to identify the gramatically correct sentence and check if it is correct with the back of the flashcard.

If it is correct, the player advances one spot.

If it is incorrect, the player moves back two spots. 

The player to reach the finish line first wins the game. 

Here are some photos of the game..

Mind Map of Grammar

The second mind map we did was for prepostitions.

2nd Popplet

Mind Map of the Campaign

The first mind map was for my persuasive project. It is made on Popplet.

 Popplet Mind Map

15 facts of Child Abuse

FACTS

1. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) defines child abuse as,"any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child."
2. There are four types of child abuse: Neglect, Physical Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, and Sexual Abuse.
3. Child Neglect is when the adult in charge of the child does not provide the necessary materials needed to live. These could be hygiene, medical uses, education, and food. 
4. Physical Abuse is when the adult in charge harms the child physically. That can involve punching, slapping, burning, whipping and many other horrible actions.
5. Psychological/Emotional Abuse is the hardest to define. It is when the abuser hurts the child emotionally. It can involve name calling, excessive critisism, torture or killing of a pet, destruction of personal belongings and many others.
6. Sexual Abuse is when the adult abuses the child for sexual purposes. A list made by wikipedia shows the ways sexual abuse can be used: asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual contact against a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical contact, or using a child to produce child pornography.
7. The most frequent abuser is someone who knows the child but is not part of the family. This may be a babysitter, a neighbor, a friend of family. etc. 60% of all abusers fit in this category.
8. 30% of the times, it is a member of the family who abuses the child. 
9. 10% of the times, the abuser is a complete stranger. 
10. Women are the abusers in 14% of the boys cases and only 6% in girl cases. Men are responsible for the majority of abuses, whether in boys or girls. 
11. Today, 5+ kids die each day due to child neglect.
12. A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.
13. abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy.
14. Children with alcoholic or drug-addicted parents are 3 times more likely to be abused and 4 times more likely to be neglected than children with sane parents. 
15. Incidence of Reported Cases of Child Abuse: Neglect 54%, Physical abuse 25%, Sexual Abuse 11%, Emotional Abuse 3% and others 7%.

SOURCES

1. Child Abuse by Wikipedia
2. US Department of Veteran Affairs
   
3. Childhelp Organization
4. Childwelfare Factsheet
5. Primary Prevention of Child Abuse

Commercial Analysis

I watched a COLGATE commercial from the 1960s. It has the three rhetorical devices and I thought it was pretty fun to watch. Here is the link to the Colgate commercial (1960).

Analysis:


Style. The style of this commercial is jumpy and happy. It shows happy people and makes us want to buy the Colgate.


Rhetorical Devices:
   Ethos. In one part of the video there is a man who explains all the effects that the Colgate dental paste did in your mouth. It showed diagrams and pictures that showed how the Colgate eliminated most of the bacteria.

   Pathos. The jumpy and happyness of the video makes us feel happy about the product. Also, the white teeth and the "cleaner breath, cleaner taste, cleaner teeth" makes you want to have that kind of mouth.

   Logos. The expert used some facts such as "it foams in your mouth" and "it eliminates most bad breath for most users".

Style Brainstorm for Child Abuse

1.      Make the people feel sorry for the kids that are abused.

2.      Show how you can help child abuse.

3.      Effects of child abuse.

4.      Why does child abuse happen

5.      How kids suffer. What happens to the child after he or she gets abused

Pros and cons

1.      People get sentimental/ does not give hope

2.      Makes the person realize that they should help/ doesn’t show what happens

3.      Makes the person feel sorry and realize how terrible children are treated/ doesn’t give a solution

4.      Shows the start of child abuse/ doesn’t give a solution

5.      Shows the consequences of child abuse/ doesn’t show why it happens


The one we will use is the first one. We will show photos of abused kids and, with the help of music, we will make the audience feel sorry for the abused children. This will make the most effect on the audience because it does not hide the realities that occur in the world. 

Style

I believe style is the "voice" of the author that you can identify. For example, I can identify anything my sister Ana Maria writes WITHOUT knowing beforehand she wrote it. I do not know what it is, it may be her use of the word "like" when describing something. That voice that identifies the author is the style.

Many authors have been successful because of their style. A great example is Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series. His style is to mix suspense and humor and to make the reader chuckle in the most intense situations. That is basically why Riordan has had a successful career.

That is why style is important. It is your identity in the immense literary world.