Soundtracks of the Year

As 8th grade comes to an end, many memories and friends are left behind. Below is the name of the songs and why I decided to chose them to represent the memories for this year.

1. Wiz Khalifa – See You Again ft. Charlie Puth Furious 7 Soundtrack

This school year has been wonderful, especially with friends that swim with you for over 10 hours a week. I chose this song to honour all the friends that are leaving HKIS, especially the ones who I have known since I came to HKIS. I feel like next year will be very tough and I don’t know what I am going to do without them. Throughout the tough training sessions and hard times, many of them have motivated me to be the person who I am today.

2. Joel Adams – Please Don’t Go

Although this song is similar to the first one, I chose this song because I can relate to all of the memories that I had. Especially to my friends who were with me on PEAK and are leaving next year. Ive pretty much been thinking for a long time about how I am not going to be able to survive with next year because of all the people that are leaving HKIS.

3. Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya

Swimming is hard, especially when you have to live up to the standards that you think people have of you. Many times during swim meets and training practice, and sometimes even pressure from the parents. I feel like there is always something that I need to accomplish and hardships that I need to overcome, especially in 8th grade.

4. Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song

I chose the lazy song because this represents how I feel almost every single Sunday. Sunday is pretty much when I have nothing that I need to do and also my only day that I can sleep in. I chose this song because it is pretty much how I feel like every day in the morning. I also chose this song because sometimes this is how I feel every night when I come home.

5. S

SML Reflection

First of all, I decided to do a toy car that was made from scratch because all of a sudden while I was watching youtube videos, I came up with the idea and I thought that it was going to be something that was unique, especially because others in my group or class were all just buying the materials online and assembling it with an instruction guide, I thought that was just a waste of time, you are basically just learning to assemble something that is made for you. Throughout my SML I have faced numerous challenges of finding materials from scratch and also finding the correct gearing so that the motor can power all the wheels so that the car is able to move. For the materials I had to use resources at school to gain recommendations on where to find those resources. I am currently finding out how to correct the gearing. My project has changed from the beginning because at first I thought that I was able to make an RC unit car with steering but after the advice from the teacher I was able to find out that to install steering onto my wheels from scratch was going too difficult and was beyond what I am capable to do, noting that I have no prior experience. Overall I am quite happy with my product but I am still finding more possibilities to improve my car or make it even better.

Courage Reflection

Before the unit, I had no idea that racism was created/invented by humans to discriminate others. I had thought that it was something that was natural because we were taught about racism. I did not know that race was such a big issue during the civil rights movement and how many were being prejudice against. I think that race is definitely a factor when choosing something or the influence that we make on others. I think that many are more bias when it comes to race and also they are likely to treat someone differently based on the race. I think that this comes from different stereotypes about people based on a small experience based on a person belonging to the group. Even though it is not widely agreed by most of the community, I do think that racism has a big place in the world today. Many of our identities are still judged by others but are not publicly spoken. For example, I think that many of the people are judged towards the people that they are familiar with, or types of people who they are familiar with. I do think that it has a big deal when choosing the right person for school admission, jobs and even college acceptance. In my old school, they did not even allow local mainland school children to be accepted to the school. I think that this is incorrect because some are already prejudged without talent being shown to the school. This is basically being straight up prejudice because you are prejudging someone based on an experience or thought about them without even getting to know them. Many times I think that students do treat other adults differently than others. Simply because of race. Many of these experience happen on the bus or different classes the others, but I do believe that race and identity of the adult has a big factor in place. Although someones characteristics may not change if they are changed into a completely new person with different skin, eyes, hair, I do think that they will be treated differently than others, which is another example of how racism still applies in today’s world. For example, if you take someone who is part of a race that is largely discriminated in a certain area and reacts with those people, his self esteem of his ownself will be much different than if his hair, skin and eye colour is changed. Connecting to what I said earlier, I think that racism is based on our own experiences, things that we are taught and influence under our family and friends. This is simply because you are much more likely to treat someone better if you have familiarity with their race. Therefore I believe racism on different people purely depends on influence, I think that if racism was erased from the community and everyone didn’t judge anyone, even if the word racism was not even invented, I don’t think that others will judge people based on skin color, hair color, or eye color. We would all treat each other the same. Based on the people in our class and their presentations, I noticed how one person or a persons type of race was accepted by the person or community that their race was superior over another, which caused prejudice acts against the student. In this case prejudice is based on influence on the person and what stereotypes they have experienced or even taught which caused them to discriminate someone or make it unfair for one race over another.

SS Government Unit Reflection

I think that overall I have learned much more about the history of US Government since the start of the unit. I did not realise that we had such an important document that contains laws to prevent history from happening. These are specifically created because of what they fought against during British rule. I think that I have learned better learning/studying strategies. Before this unit, I would never create my own notes, I would just memorise everything and hope I pass the test.

For future students of Mr Pierce, just make sure that they create simple but accurate notes so that they can remember the main points. Attached is a video about the three ring government and how they all contain powers but can limit the power of one branch. This video was really helpful because it gave another interpretation of the US government which was an easy way to remember the concepts of how it works.

Spring Parent Conference Reflection

 Improvement Brain frame ReflectionPhoto on 8-3-16 at 12.17 pm


Throughout the rest of the year I need to improve of my daily reading, often I do not consistently read 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day. I have created a habit that can hopefully help me to improve this problem. Alongside my books, I will need to read more of a variety of genres because most of my books are towards the fictional side. As for my work habits I need to improve on reflecting on my own work because I never go to homework help although some of my basic skills are lacking strength including embedding quotations, vocabulary and preparation for presentations. Alongside Homework Help or Support for Success I can use the resources that I have at my fingertips to strengthen these basic skills including WPP Online, No Redink, Newsela and now Vocabulary.com.

LA Goals

Quarter 2 Reading Goal
My Reading goal for Quarter 2 is to successfully spread out my reading time to 30 minutes, 5 days per week. I will know that I have achieved this goal when I look back at my planner at the end of Quarter 2 and look at the labels/markings on it.

Status: Completed

Quarter 2 Writing Goal
My Writing goal for Quarter 2 is to use a broader range of my vocabulary from my reading books as well as the ones on Quizlet. I will know that I have accomplished this goal when I highlight the words yellow in my writing pieces.

Status: Working in Progress

Quarter 4 Reading Goal
My Quarter 4 reading goal is to catch up with my reading and finish 35 books. I will know when this is completed when I see at least 35 books on my Wonder Words Wall and Reading Log.

Quarter 4 Writing Goal
My writing goal for Quarter 4  is to continue using (from quarter 2) a broader range of my vocabulary from my reading books as well as the ones on Quizlet. I will know that I have accomplished this goal when I highlight the words yellow in my writing pieces.

Quarter 4 Presentation Rubric
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Approaches to Learning Rubric
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Quarter 4 Approaches to Learning
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Quarter 4 Goals Presentation Rubric

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Grammar

Verbs: The Imperative Mood
The imperative mood is a sentence that gives a command. This mood is common in English sentences. Other verbs that are not in the imperative mood may express a hope, a possibility, a fact, or a question.

Example:
Do your homework!

Grade 8 Writing

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Photo on 21-9-15 at 12.35 pm #2Overall I think that I could have improved more on this writing piece. For the future I plan on spending more time by editing my piece and also organising my story so that the details are well planned. On the other hand, I think that I did a good job with my spelling and my conclusion.

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Writing Summative

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Poem Formative
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Persuasive Writing Formative

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Persuasive Writing Summative

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Overall I think that I have improved a lot from the beginning when we started the persuasive writing unit. My vocabulary and sentence fluency has improved a great deal and has gotten better over the year. One thing that I still need to improve on is verifying my sources and make sure to cite them correctly in my piece when I am quoting them.

6 Word PEAK story
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Literary Techniques in The Giver

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I think that the second time that I wrote my essay it was a huge improvement to the first time. Next time I need to take these types of writing practices more seriously and also focus on my grammar. During the first paragraph, I did not even write my name, core or date.

 

EHIC Summary Writing Summative

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The Outsiders Literary Device Analysis + Reflection

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Reflection
Overall I think that I did quite well, especially for sentence structures and spelling. The text to speech was an extremely useful tool when I was editing my draft. Although I didn’t read my text outside like I usually did in summatives, text-to-speech was able to help me when I didn’t spell a word correctly because it was really easy to tell. Next time I wish that I had cited my sources earlier and added MLA citations to the end of my essay. Looking forward for improvements, I need to work on the sentence varieties that I am using to make sure that they include multiple sentence lengths and complexes and also my vocabulary that I am using.

Modern Macbeth Text 

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 Summative Double Entry Journal Rubric + Piece

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Grade 8 note taking for Macbeth – The Witches Scene BrainframePhoto on 6-6-16 at 2.03 pm #2

Grade 8 Reading

Popularity Reading Formative

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 My First Conk Reading FormativePhoto on 21-9-15 at 12.36 pm #2Photo on 21-9-15 at 12.36 pm
 My First Conk Reading Formative Reflection
Overall I think that I did pretty well. I understood the main parts of the story and what the author was trying to tell. I was able to successfully use an opinion, quote and details to support my evidence/answer. Next time I need to be more careful when it comes to answering two questions by adding another quote.

Reading Summative Reflection – Chinese Cinderella
Overall I thought that I did pretty well on this summative. I was able to correctly answer the questions and complete it with a paragraph for each part. Previously on the other formative reading comprehensions I failed to do so, but now I think that I will be able to do it consistently on other tests. I also enjoyed reading the story and it was great to learn about Adeline and her family.

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Language Arts Formative Reading Assessment America the Not-so-Beautiful

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Language Arts Reading Summative My Reprehensible take on Teen Literature
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I think that overall I did extremely well on this assessment as well as the previous ones in the past. I think that over the semester my answers have been more thorough and improved a lot. Looking ahead, I can add more details by supporting every single statement that I make with the evidence from the story

 

Book Club Discussion Recording Chapter 1- 26

Reflection
Overall I think that I did a decent job of continuing the conversation try to support both our ideas and asking more out of Matthew (sam was sick). I think that I did a good job of asking him questions which help uncover his own thinking eg. “What made you think so?” “Where about shows your reasoning” etc. I think that our talk was filled with good information and both of us were contributing very much. Next time I think that I need to think about communicating properly and not interrupting whilst my book partners are speaking this is because I did many times and it was not very kind because I wanted to say something very eagerly. Next time i should wait for my teammates to finish speaking and then say what I connect/predict alongside.

Book Club Discussion Recording Whole Book

Reflection
Overall I think that I did a better job than last time. The conversation was kept up by all of us contributing the same amount. I think that I did a good job of asking for more thinking and a thorough answer about the book which made my teammates think harder and give a better explanation. I think that next time I need to improve on keeping my words to myself and trying not to interrupt at times. Although this was quite accidental I realised that I was interrupting my team mates more than the other on accident and I think that next time I need to calm down, listen to what they have to say then add what I think about everything. Overall I think that I really enjoyed this book and it offered a perspective to how the main character reacts to the different challenges that he faces.

Book Club 8 Traits of Conversation RubricPhoto on 18-2-16 at 10.49 am

 

Everything Has Its Cost
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Reflection
Overall I am quite proud of my work. I think that my video was effective to show the main themes and literary devices and the relationships between all of them. I think that my video had good pictures and I was clear throughout the video. Another strength was my introduction because I told the audience what I was going to compare. Music was definitely a struggle for me because I wasn’t sure how to add music because I didn’t want it to be playing for the video. When I added mini sound tracks to the video, sometimes it was too loud and it was hard to hear what I was saying. As for next time, I think that I will need to adjust the volume level so that the music isn’t distracting the audience. Also some times when I spoke, I started to slow down a lot and it might have been distracting for the audience, I will need to make sure that it is clear and fluent.

 

The Outsiders Brain frame

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Sequencing Brainframe Chapters 1 – 12

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Reflection

I think that my brain frame was a success. Although I accidentally made a cause and effect   brain frame at the beginning, I was able to erase it and complete my sequencing brain frame for the whole book. Overall I spent a lot of time completing because I had to clarify my knowledge with the book. Throughout making the brain frame, remembering the details and the sequencing of the events (how many boxes, how to split) was the biggest challenge for me. I did not know how many boxes of events I should include my brain frame, worrying that I won’t spread out the events evenly. Overall I am quite pleased with my work because I put a lot of effort outside of class to work on my brain frame. My grade for this brain frame was ME.

 

Reading Formative #1

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Reading Non-Fiction Formative #2

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Non Fictions Summative
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Shakespeare 400 Day

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Wonder Words Wall

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Affliction – A Cause of Pain / Harm
Heinous – Hateful/Brutal
Precedent – A reference for something
Culpability – Responsibility for a fault
Hordes – A large group of people/common group
Asylum – A Place for a group of people with mental disorders

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (x2)
Tyrannical – Using one’s power to achieve things in a cruel way
Foray – A sudden attack or invasion
Peculiar – Something unexpected or unusual
Despise – To look down with suspicion
Concession – Something that is granted upon request
Condescended – Emphasise to be superior
Onslaught – A fierce and/or destructive attack
Furor – An outbreak of public reaction (excitement or anger)

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Veer – A sharp turn or a change of direction suddenly
Gleaming – Shine brightly, usually with reflected light
Mortar – A type of weapon (gun)
Endure –  To resist or live through a hardship
Recede – To move or go further away than where you were before
Emaciated – Very starving usually from a lack of food or coldness
Merciless – To show no mercy or no forgiveness

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Exasperation – Feeling annoyed
Admonish – Counseling/teaching about someone else behaviour
Multitude – A large number of peopl
Glean – Gather of neutral products
Indignant – Angry at something
Formidable – Inspiring fear
Obnoxious – Disapproval of a protest

The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
Labyrinth – A maze, a puzzle that it complicated and hard to figure out
Chortled – A happy laugh, usually noisy
Defiant – Resistance through challenge
Tottered – To walk unsteadily, can be used as a word describing a person falling down
Incoherently – Expressing a feeling unclearly
Endeavour – To try hard achieving something
Illegible – Not clear enough to be read
Expanse – A wide and long range of an area going continually

Countdown by Deborah Wiles
Integrated – A group of people who react based on a set rule
Blathering – To talk about nonsense
Gist – The main idea
Rendition – A way of interpreting something, through a piece of work
Morose – Having a bad temper
Ominous – Having a bad impression for something bad to happen
Archipelago – A group of islands

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Premonition – A strong feeling of something unpleasant that will happen
Splotches – A drip of something little, usually liquid
Unami –  A savoury taste
Stamina – Consistent power/endurance
Glutamate – A salty acid
Novice – A newcomer or someone who is inexperienced
Seurat – A well-known french painter
Espionage – A practice of becoming a spy

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (2x)
Recede – To move away from the previous position
Abolish – To take away or remove
Shabby – Looking undefined or in poor condition
Revere- Feeling respected or admired
Delicately – Carefully, Cautious about doing something
Deliberately – Doing an action on purpose usually referred in a bad way
Abstract – Seemingly different
Indication – A notification of some sort
indefinite – Lasting for an unknown amount of time

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Drone – A low humming sound
Seep – The overflow of liquid in a particular area
Lurch – An uncontrolled movement
Exertion – With great pain and struggle
Turbulent – Uncontrolled area or vehicle, confusion
Abate – To lower in intensity

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Shanghai – forcing someone against their own
Verve – With great enthusiasm
Hysterically – Sarcastically doing something
Savvy – With practical knowledge
Accountable – Being trusted or imposed for something

Mockingjay by Suzanna Collins (Reread)
Squat – short and thick to describe something
Ration – a fixed amount of anything that is given to complete
Inseparable – unable to be separated
Verve – A great level of enthusiasm or energy
Amble – walking at a slow levelled pace
Canvas – the item that the artists pain on
Cumulative – increasing in amount

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
Abduct – to kidnap someone
Acute – Sharp quick very major
Obscure – Not known or discovered yet
Evenhanded – A fair judgment that is given
Verdict – a strong decision on an issue of fact about a civil or criminal case

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Interval – The difference in time between one another
Resolutely – Admirably purposeful
Startle – Sudden feeling of shock
Competent – Properly qualified or in competition
Telepathy – Communication of thoughts and such
Recondite – The knowledge that has limited information
Beseech – Ask urgently
Astound – Stunned

The Giver by Lois Lowry
intrigued – excited one’s curiosity and interest
obediently – willing to obey; doing what one is told
abandoned – deserted; to leave something without intending to return to get it
ironic – expressing one thing but meaning another
palpable – tangible; something that can be touched or felt
hatchery – place for hatching eggs of fish, hens, etc

Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Elated – to make someone extremely happy
lunge – to make a fast dash movement forward
Decoy – a backup used to mislead someone
fumigate – to disinfect or clean an area
relent – harsh attitude
obscure – not discovered
partition – separation of countries through boundaries
especial – particular/better than normal

Conspiracy 365 #1 by Gabrielle Lord
Douse – pour a liquid over
musty – at a state of mouldy/damp smell
Buoyancy – the power of water floating
Squalling – a sudden power of wind
thrust – to push in a violent direction moving forward
undulating – smooth wave motion
profound – very great feelings (emotion/physically)

Off the Road by Nina Bawden
Conservation – Preservation of something
Enthusiast – a person who is very interested in a particular activity or subject.
Imbalance – lack of proportion or relation between corresponding things.
Rural – used subjectively, usually something that you are in favour of
Zeal – great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.

Conspiracy 365 #2 by Gabrielle Lord
Musty – a state of mould or damp (smell)
Paramedic – a person that is trained to do medical stuff
Bail – Payment of accused crime
Menacing – sugessting danger
Deranged – mad or insane
Paranoid – Shock
Abandon – to leave something behind without intention of getting back
Ironic – meaning something else

Conspiracy 365 #3 by Gabrielle Lord (Stop)
Lurk – remain hidden
Cenotaph – a monument of something elsewhere
culvert – a funnel carrying a stream
Fertilised – Clean up

The Outsiders
Conscious – having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts
Cowlick – a tuft of hair in a different direction from the rest
Sullenly – in a manner showing bad humor
Gallantly – a brave manner
Aloofness – unsympathetic in manner
Premonition – apprehensive
Doggedly – with obstinate determination
Delinquent – young offender
Ornery – having a difficult and contrary disposition

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Revolver – a pistol that can be charged multiple shots without reloading
Intimate – familiar with
harbinger – something that announces the approach of another
deft – neatly skilled in quick movements
draught – a current of cool air in a room
sift – pass through a sieve

The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Crude – a natural state
aft – near the stern of a ship or aircraft
ignite – burn or flame
shaft – a ray of a bolt of lighting

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

fiery – constant of fire
barge – a boat used to carry items
draped – clothes that are on loosely
targe – a target
implication – a conclusion that is drawn
gouge – a blade that is curved in

Looking for Alaska by John Green
cavernous – like a cavern size/shape or atmosphere
posed – at a specific point of expectance
hellfire – fires of extreme
ferocity – fierce, cruel or violent
linoleum – a material made out of canvas
vinyl – plastic consisting of chloride
weeping – tearing up
palatable – pleasant to taste
nourishment – food necessary for health

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
proffer – proposal that is asked for acceptance of disproval
loll – lazy
incredulous – unwilling to believe
pliant – easy to bend
contempt – feeling of non consideration
contrite – recognition that someone has done something wrong
scavenge – search or collect
wallow – keeping from insects (bites)

The Diamond of Dark hold by by Jeanne DuPrau
Tottered – To walk unsteadily, can be used as a word describing a person falling down
Incoherently – Expressing a feeling unclearly
Endeavour – To try hard achieving something
Illegible – Not clear enough to be read
Expanse – A wide and long range of an area going continually

The London Eye Mystery (progress)

abacus – a device for calculating

Week 1 Vocabulary
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Week 2 Vocabulary
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Week 3 Vocabulary
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Week 4 Vocabulary

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Week 5 Vocabulary
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Week 6 Vocabulary

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The Giver Vocabulary
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Macbeth Week 1 Vocabulary

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Macbeth Week 2 Vocabulary

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Macbeth Week 3 Vocabulary

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