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Out of Adversity, Grows Character!

I love this so much, I posted it below two times. 
You won’t realize you’ve met a beautiful person until you realize afterwards that everyone else you’ve met hasn’t been. 
Out of adversity, grows character.
Tell about a person that you know that has come through very difficult times and it has made them more beautiful.
      
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Write about a Great Book

Ivan The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

An award-winner for so many reasons, this book needs to be placed in the hands of your favorite middle-school readers (and everyone else in the family) post-haste. Ivan is a silver back gorilla, kept in a mall zoo for over three decades. While he still has memories of his short life in the jungle and his family, he is content with his friends and his home – until baby elephant Ruby arrives to shake up his beliefs. Now Ivan must decide how he will continue to live his life, and whether he can ever be happy again. Emotional, sweet, funny and heart-breaking by turns, this is a beautiful tale that is sure to be an instant classic.

How about you? What books would YOU recommend to someone looking for a new read?

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Rant Like Rick!

Everyone has an opinion about something.  Rick Mercer (the guy in the above video) works with CBC and films his “rants” about certain subjects, often about a subject on the news, or something that’s affecting the majority of Canada at the time.  There has been a scholarship put in place called “Rant Like Rick” where students choose a subject that they feel strongly about, or that is affecting their friends or school, and they rant about it like Rick does!  The girl in the video below thinks that certain aspects of graduation is overrated.  Pick a topic that YOU have a strong opinion about… Go ahead, rant like Rick!

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Create Your Own: Cinquain

Poetry is used to create feeling and emotion, or a detailed mental image of something, even using very few words.  A cinquain is a type of poem that only has five lines and follows one of three specific formats:

Pattern #1:

1 word

2 words

3 words

4 words

1 word

Pattern #2:

Line 1 – A noun

Line 2 – Two adjectives

Line 3 – Three action words (ending in -ing)

Line 4 – A phrase

Line 5 – Another word for the noun (synonym)

Pattern #3:

Line 1 – Two syllables

Line 2 – Four syllables

Line 3 – Six syllables

Line 4 – Eight syllables

Line 5 – Two syllables

Brainstorm a person, place, or thing you want to write about.  Pick one of these patterns and write a cinquain on the topic of your choice!

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Your Expression: Favourite Song

Many of us have our favourite artists and favourite songs that we listen to on a regular basis.  The songs we listen to often say a lot about who we are, but what do we think about the songs themselves?  Using an appropriate subject, write about your favourite song using this outline:

1) What is you favourite song?

2) Give a brief description of what the song is about.

3) What audience do you think the song was intended for?

4) How does the song make you feel?

5) What kind of images does the song produce in your mind?

6) Is there a part of the song that speaks to you emotions more than the rest?  Is this because of the music or a specific lyric?

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The Seven Doors

There are so many possibilities when considering a fictional world.  If you could choose any of these seven to live in, which one would you choose and why?  How does it unfold?

 

Short description of each place:

Narnia: Magical world in the Chronicles of Narnia book series where ordinary kids become prince and princesses and the king, who they try to save, is a talking lion.

Neverland: The land where Peter Pan brings three kids from England.  In Neverland you don’t have to grow up and have responsibilities, you can play and dress up forever.  The only downside is the evil Captain Hook.

Wonderland: The dream land where Alice lands when she falls down the rabbit hole.  Wonderland is filled with talking animals and flowers, a disappearing cheshire cat, a mad hatter, and a queen of hearts who tries to get rid of Alice.

Hogwarts: The school for wizards and witches in Harry Potter where Harry faces the struggle between good and evil and has many adventures with his friends, Ron and Hermione.

Camelot: Is the castle and court associated with King Arthur.  It is a place where knights are deemed nobles and princesses are to be saved.

Middle Earth: The continent in which the Lord of the Rings takes place.  The hobbits, men, elves, and valar are on the good side while Melkor along with the orcs and dragons are evil.

Westeros: The continent in which Game of Thrones takes place.  It is ruled by a single political party known as the Seven Kingdoms.