The Watsons Go to Birmingham

So I amazingly started reading this book and finished it up this weekend. I liked the book, but I thought it was going to be more about the birmingham bombing then it was. I was surprised that only the last few chapters were about it. It was really heart wrenching though. I felt like the book was very much centered around the relationship with his brother more than the bombings. The bombing was just an even that occured in their lives and changed their relationship.

I also want to know what was up with The Wool Pooh?? Who was that creature he kept seeing? I can’t seem to make up my mind whether it was something imaginary or what. I liked the book and feel like I can do a lot with it if I did a multi text study on it. I’m going to go ahead and read How I became Naomi Leonand see how much I like that one too. I also plan on reading Esperanza Rising. Emily said that it was really good and had to do a lot with immigration. I think this might be a good start to studying Mexico and Central America. 

I poem

I wrote an I-poem about Blackbeard. I took a different approach to it while still trying to be factual. I hope you all like it! I thought about it a lot.

I was Blackbeard

I was Blackbeard the pirate

Fierce, tall, violent

And

Misunderstood.

Yes, misunderstood

I was born Edward Teach

A young sailor exploring and wandering

I became a privateer

Patron of my country

Until parliament said STOP, no more

How could I stop?

The life of a Pirate?

Once a Pirate, always a pirate

I became Blackbeard the pirate

Fierce, tall, violent

And

Misunderstood.

I see the smoke fusing out of my beard

I put bows of red on my hair

I frighten all those around me

Who would upset a mad man?

Sailing on the Queen Anne’s Revenge

I had seven wives

Legends and stories and rumors

Spreading through the sea

Faster than Black Death itself

Is there any account of me murdering someone?

Who did not try to unleash his wrath on me first?

What would any normal man do

In such a situation?

I demanded respect

That’s what I did

Who was he who said

It is better to be feared, than loved?

I lived by this statement.

I left this world in the hands of Maynard

He sliced my head off and hung it for show

I may have died

But my name will live

I am and always will be

Blackbeard the pirate

Fierce, tall, violent

And

Misunderstood.

Me Map

I made a powerpoint for my MeMap. I decided to make it an interactive powerpoint other than just the typical click, next, click, next powerpoint. I geared it towards higher levels such as fifth or sixth graders. I think it would be wonderful for them to be able to see it and then perhaps create their own interactive powerpoint they can later post on their own blogs.

Me Map Powerpoint

These poems were really sad

I know this is a bit random and outdated, but I wanted to say something on those apology poems. I cried when I read the poem about the little girl apologizing to her father for making him angry and leaving her. Apparently he mailed her this long letter and they changed it into a poem. The poem talked about (I think) how he was “at the end of his rope” until he got that poem from her. He said she saved his life that night! It was bad! I was on the appalcart when I started crying and my boyfriend was sitting there really confused, cause I had just been laughing at some other poems a couple seconds earlier. I read him the poem but it didn’t mean nearly as much to him as it meant to me!!

I loved it. Very inspirational.

ARGG..Pirates

So first I’d like to mention that I absolutely LOVE the idea of doing a unit on Pirates in order to educate our students on certain literary and historical content. The way that the unit starts off is a great way to get students to become curious about pirates and excited. I try to imagine walking into a fourth grade classroom with pirate music playing in the background and all these pirate things surrounding me. I would immediately start to question what was going to happen and become increasingly excited about it.

The part where the students created their own wanted posters is a fabulous idea. I love that they get to put it on brown paper in order to make it look more authentic. Another mini lesson that I liked out of this unit is the one where they get to create their own crew and captain. This can teach students not only the basic of democracy and government but also about team work and community. I never realized how wonderful a unit could be by just using fictional texts along with informational texts. I really think that when I teach my upper elementary students I will implement this unit in there. They would absolutely enjoy it. I also think that this is something that could engage a lot of boys into reading who might have thought reading was stupid or pointless before.

So much depends on…

So much Depends on….

my lip gloss

My ECU pecil

(( I’ll get some pictures soon ))

My Pencil

Final Draft

So much depends upon my pencil

My short, stubby mystical pencil

Eternally there when I desired

Following me wherever I went

I’ve misplaced it so many times

It always manages to find me

In the bathroom of my high school

On the floor, sitting patiently

Hiding clandestinely in my bag

Following me up to school

A seven year journey

My pencil

Forever by my side

First Draft

So much depends upon my pencil

My short, stubby pencil

Always there when I needed

Following me wherever I went

I’ve lost it so many times

But it always finds me.

In the bathroom of my high school

On the floor sitting patiently

Hiding secretly in my bag

Following me up to school

A seven year journey

My pencil

Always by my side

My lip gloss

My lip Gloss

So much depends on my lip gloss

Resting on my cherry lips

Giving them a scrumptious essence

Glossing everything in its path

Glittering up my world

Polished

Sheen

Shiny

All day long

First draft

So much depends on my lip gloss

Sitting on my lips

Glossing everything in its path

Glittering up my world

Keeping my lips sleek and wet

All winter long.

Beginning of a writer, and her name

When I was in the fourth and fifth grade I used to keep a journal where I would write up all the things I observed around me. I would also write about what I was feeling in general. I would write things about my classmates (nothing mean) and some of my friends found out I was doing that. They always had this bad habit of copying me, so they all decided to get their own notebooks. The only difference is that mine was personal and theirs was used for evil. By evil, I mean that they would put somebody’s name at the top of their page and would say bad things about them. They exchanged with their friends so they could do the same and so on. The school caught on to these ’slam books’ and finally eliminated them from our school. I was not allowed to have my notebook with me in class any longer and thus finished my career as a writer (for now). I got turned off to the whole writing process, because they made it seem like it was wrong. I got to middle school and decided to start again (since I was in a new school). I made a club with my friends called the “scream” club where we would write plays, draw comics, exchanged letters and notes to each other all in this one notebook. We delegated who had the notebooks at which times of the week, and I would get them on the weekend cause I was voted as the ‘leader’ of the notebook. We filled up at least two or three notebooks a year. After I got out of middle school I came to high school and did the same thing with my friend Sarah. We had our own notebook we called the purple notebook, and during the beginning of summer we got together and decorated a sketch book. Inside that book we wrote to each other all summer long (we were going to travel a lot and figured that we wouldn’t remember absolutely everything we needed to tell each other). On the first day of school, we exchanged our notebooks for the other to have. I loved that! We did it every summer after that, including our first YEAR of college, and even as late as this summer that just passed. That has pretty much been the extent of my writing career.

As for my name, Raquel, it is the Spanish version of Rachel. No, I don’t like to be called Rachel. I’m Spanish, and like my name the way it is. I used to want a pretty trendy name like my friends had when they were writing Britney, Ashley, Stephanie, Heather all over their notebooks in pretty bubble letters. I learned to actually really love my name. I was named after my mother. She actually wanted to name me Christina, but my dad didn’t want to so she just gave me her name. My middle name is my grandmothers from my dads side. I must also mention that my mothers name is Raquel and so is my grandmothers. They want me to name my daughter Raquel, but I’m not too sure about that (maybe middle name?).

I’m sure you have wondered and wondered again about my nick name. I mean.. Rockie? First off, isnt that a guys name? (It isn’t by the way!)

It all started in the 4th grade. I had this teacher who said he would give us all nick names. Well, Not EVERYONE, but mostly all of us. He started calling me ‘Racky’ which was absolutely horrible! I hated it when he called me that! So one day, He messed up and called me ‘Rockie’. I think he realized how much he liked it, and I liked it too. That became my official name! I used it a lot and when I came to North Carolina some people couldn’t say the name ‘Raquel’ (They would pronounce in all these horrible ways) so I said they could call me Rockie.

As for my last name, I have two. My name is Raquel Mercedes Ramirez Rovira. This does not mean that Rovira is my last name!  My last name is Ramirez, and the Rovira is my mothers last name. In my culture, we put both the moms and dads name. Dads first, and then the moms. I know that here, they do it just the opposite, and it bugs me when  people see my name and say I’m Raquel Rovira (That’s my mother, not me!). The school usually gets it right, it’s whenever I have a job and they give me my paychecks, credit cards, and so on under my mothers name. (It works when I use her credit cards, with her permission of course, and they ask for I.D and I can show them the Rovira and Raquel in my names…so sneaky).

One last thing about my last name. There is an accent on the i in Ramirez. No, I’m not in a hurry writing my i’s and it comes out looking like a slash. There is an accent! Too bad I have no idea how to get an accent on my last name on here. Otherwise, I’d do it right away.

Thanks for listening

My first Notebook Entry

I’m pretty much as open as they come. Dr. Frye told us that we could write our notebook entries in our blog if we wanted, and I decided to do that.

“I did something today that I have never done in my entire life. I’m not sure it was the right thing to do, but the temptation was too great. She made it sound like it was so amazing that I had to crack it open and take a peek. I opened up the book Peter and the Star Catcher and read a few pages. A few pages turned into a couple more and then to just one more chapter. I’ve never read a book that is to be assigned in class before it’s actually assigned. Now I can’t put it down. I’m sorry!”

I know we aren’t going to talk about the book until the end of the semester and that some teachers don’t like students to read ahead… like I said though, I was tempted.