Hungry FRIM

-Introduction

We 7th graders went on a field trip to Frim, where I went in 3rd grade as I was thrilled to see Frim again. We all stayed there for two days and 1 night. We all did at least 4 activities and hiked at night including on the afternoon. Our class linked the real world to 'The Hunger Games' (By Suzanne Collins)

In our humanities activity, our class pretended to be in 'The Hunger Games.' and in this activity we all chose materials in order to survive in Cornupia.

My group chose Flint, Twine, Tarp, First aid kit, and a sleeping bag. We chose flint to make fire to keep the predators away and to cook. For Twine, we chose this for protection and shelter, and for Tarp, it was for rain collection and shelter. The first aid kit was to protect ourselves and heal, and the sleeping bag was to make safe shelter, as we can climb above the tree and make our shelter.

However, we received two t-shirts, a plastic bag, a hand sanitizer, and a box of matches. Well, I didn't feel any anger but I just wanted the first aid kit, as it is a real good source to survive in the wilderness. I was quickly adapted to our new materials because the materials we got was pretty useful and we had various ways to use it. Because of the matches, I felt a little bit safer than before as we had a source of fire.

It was a little bit unfair in the first when we couldn't speak out as our group was District A. Later, I felt a little bit scared when Mr. Whiting and Ms. Gonnerman came to check our plans and our use of materials. We couldn't do the performance, but I felt relieved because since we didn't do it, we wouldn't get embarrassment. From the start, we never wanted to even perform as we had confidence in our plans. Our site we chose was a good place, as there was a source of water. However, there were dangers around us. There were a lot of groups around us, but we could eliminate one group by blocking the source of water for them by making a small dam. From the murderer that roamed around the night, we could easily escape them because of the river that flows by us. The one wish I wanted was having the flint because flint is a much better source than the matches because matches run out fast. I was rather worried if we could survive longer if we had matches, but I still felt good as the other groups didn't have the source of fire. I think our group was collaborative because we all planned before we acted and our shelter was safe enough. I think we all fairly discussed about our plans and thought before we acted. That was our strength.

I think this game helped us understand about the theme of the Hunger Games, and how difficult it might have been in the Arena. The Arena was full of traps and dangerous tributes. It gave us and idea of the feeling of how unfair the main character would had felt as we link it to the real world.

In this trip, I really enjoyed the Catch the Flag game, the Bonfire, and the Night hike. In the Catch the Flag game, it was just like the Hunger Games, and I experienced about how Katniss might have hid in the Arena, and avoided the dangers. The Bonfire was enjoyable as Niqui sang along with Ashleigh's beatbox. It was a highlight. Also, the smores was the highlight! I loved the melted marshmallows along with Nutella, including the crackers. In the Night Hike, I loved the fireflies shining around as they flew around us. The interesting thing was that female fireflies couldn't fly like the male fireflies. Instead, they crawled around the floor with their tails lit. It was my first firefly sight. Also the trees that covered the canopy layer was really pretty. The moonlight shined on the leaves and it shined through as it looked like glittering stars. The trees' leaves were like puzzles, as their shapes fit together, and it looked like the formed a stream. It was really beautiful.

The worst things were not bringing a torch, not being to just sit down outside our tents at night, and not being able to go to the canopy walk.

It was really hard to find our way in the night walk, because it was dark to see where we were walking. I tripped a multiple times but thanks to Niqui who had a torch, I could easily see my way. If I had brought a torch, Ashleigh, the person in front of me should have been able to see more clearly including myself.

The second thing was that it was really hot inside the tent when we wanted to sleep. My tent mates couldn't stand the heat so we opened the tent so that the cool air will come in. We chatted for a moment which wasn't a polite thing to do because we might have kept the others up. We sat outside our tents but kept quite, and later came back in and chatted for some time which we shouldn't have. We couldn't resist the heat.

Also, I wish we could have went to the canopy walk because if we saw the top view of the forest, it would have been fascinating as we could have seen birds like the hornbill if we were lucky. I've went to the canopy walk when I was in 3rd grade, and it would have been fun to go again and recall old memories. I wish we could have gone there as it would have made the trip much better.

The Lottery - Shirley Jackson (Reading)

1) What would you call this story? Why?

I would call this story "The Lottery's Black Box". The story centers about the black box which is confusing as when the people pick out a piece of paper for themselves, they were all curious about who the "chosen" one was. The reactions of each person left me in wonder why some people kept their distance from the black box, and some people looked as if they were excited. That is why I centered those thoughts in to that title.

2) What did you think was going to happen? What clues in the text led you think this?

This story kind of frightened me because recently, I have read the Hunger Games, which they pick out a name from the jar, and the person who was picked out was the tribute the participate in the Hunger Games, a game of death. I thought, being picked out of the black box was not pleasant because the term they use for "box" seems really, dark, and mysterious. However, the result was different. Being picked out of the box was a pleasant event for them. They described the day of the lottery as the fresh warmth of a full summer day. Flowers were blooming, and people were smiling. These evidences let me think this.

3) How did you feel when the end of the story was not given to you?

My face was in the expression of confusion. The story was straight forward from the start, and the ending was chaotic for me. What did the story really mean? I had no idea what was going on besides the lottery. I couldn't tell the people's emotions towards the "black box". It was frustrating. I wanted the answer immediately. I wanted more information so that I would fully understand the text.

4) How did you feel when you were handed the mystery paper? What did you think was in it? Did you follow the instructions? Why/Why not?

I felt scared. I feared the paper and what would be inside it. Well since the mystery paper had a lot of text, I thought it was an ending of the story. Our class was divided into two groups of black dots and blank paper, which I think that blank and black dot have a different ending on its own. I did follow the instructions. I never opened it in school, and waited, and waited. I forgot about the paper until 6 o' clock. I followed the instructions because I thought it was worth to save it until we got home.

5) How did you feel about the black box and the black spot/blank paper? Explain.

The black box, black spot, and the blank paper made me think, is this something like separation between human beings? I was also a little bit frightened of what would come next because the black color represents as death to me. I thought a crisis was going to happen.

6) How did you feel when you read the end of the story? Explain.

I couldn't fully understand the end of the story, but I could tell someone was upset against the lottery, as the words that it wasn't fair, made me think, "here comes the war of fairness." It was also confusing because I felt that the story didn't connect with the ending. The one theme I came up with is that the peaceful village turned into a war of the fairness of lottery.

7) Were your predictions correct? How did you feel about that?

My predictions weren't correct as I thought the black box sent misfortune to people, but people in the story felt different about it. I felt rather frustrated about this story, as the parts in this story were quite hard to understand and because my predictions were wrong, I couldn't interpret the text in my mind.

8) What would have helped you to make a better prediction?

Reading the title would have helped me, because titles are the main keywords that describe this story. So if the title was there, I would have understand a little bit. Also, if the text had the setting of where it was, and what the time setting was in the story, the story would have been easier to read.

9) Why did the author leave these voids in the story?

I think the purpose was to make the reader feel the same as the people in the story. When we received the mystery papers, I think it was to make us feel nervous about the paper. Like what was in the paper. All in all, I think the voids in the story made us purposely confused and wait for the outcome of the ending.

10) Explain the power of the void in this experience.

a. No title/ author information

b. No ending

c. Text clues and foreshadowing throughout

d. Mystery paper

e. Delayed ending

f. Anything that created tension and conflict for you

The power in this story, overpowered us from reaching the real meaning. The title that wasn't showed to us, made us confused and more curious to know what the story was. But then, the story didn't tell us all of it's background information, including the paragraphs of this story. The foreshadowing was incredible as it made me confused for the whole time. The mystery paper made us nervous and curious about the outcome, but then the ending in the mystery paper was delayed. I can't describe this feeling in many words, but I would say that it was frustrating.

DomiKnow Profile

1. I learn best when......
Teachers explain slowly about a specific and simple instructions, and this learning style is an Auditory learner. My profile learns best by focusing on the auditory details, and processes by analysis of verbalization, including writing. I feel this is right, as I prefer a teacher to explain all the details I need, instead of a teacher handing me a packet of writing and read the whole thing. I like it when the student and teacher discuss all the ideas in the unit together, because this helps me understand the unit better.

2. I need to .....
Urge myself to see the whole picture. I have quite a difficulty when reading a rubric, especially in math, where the teacher would write an instruction for an unit project. There are steps in the instructions, and I tend to read everything to understand the whole project but it seems to be difficult, as the steps are hard. It would be best for me to read the whole paper at once, so that I would maybe understand the procedures better than before. I guess this strategy would help me in completing projects, especially in math and Humanities. In fact, I need to improve on using my right brain by using the strategies below.
- Brainstorming
- Visualizing images in my mind's eye
- Using a picture and symbol mind maps for more fluid ideas
- Pay more attention to my gut instincts and trust my intuition
- Be aware of my emotions and express them
- Learn to accept to be comfortable with ambiguity and paradox
- Be physically active (non competitive activities) - Swimming, hiking, running, etc.
- Write poems or songs that contain rich images that don't rhyme
- Use metaphors in emotional stories wherever possible
- Practice saying things in new ways
- Talk more slowly with fewer words
- Play with impressionistic and free-form color painting, sculpture and dance
These suggestions above seem to fit me, as I really have trouble in expressing my emotions in words and I dislike sharing my emotions with everyone, even to my family. I fear that they'll laugh at it or ignore it. I'd rather keep it to myself and solve it on my own. Because of this reason, I express them in music and art. In music, my flute teacher constantly reminds me to "express" my feelings in the music using the dynamics shown. While playing, the teacher quoted, "You won't run on a thin layer of ice. Express that emotion." After hearing those words, I start to imagine of a famous figure skater named Kim Yu-Na skating, on the ice. She is known as the "Queen of the Ice" as her way of communicating with the audience along with music, is just amazing. Her facial expression, her movements in her hands are beautiful. When a quiet part comes out in my music, I express the notes as if Kim Yu-Na was gliding gently, and spinning on the ice. When an intense part comes out, I imagine her, carrying out an unique movement of her own, just how she did in the 2009 Short Program (James Bond Medley). It was her passion that lead her, so I imitated her. I followed her movements in music into dynamics. I think this is one of my unique ways in communicating with my gestalt brain.



3. The strategies that would help me in my learning....
Are strategies that will help me use my right brain which is the Gestalt. Ms. Lau, my art teacher once said that listening and singing along to the music that is playing would lead us out of stress. Since I'm an auditory learner, listening to music would be a great advice for me. Well, I do love to sing. While I'm doing my homework, I turn a variety of music which includes Pop, jazz, and classical. Mostly, I learn to Korean pop and sing along with it, and it actually helped me enjoy my homework in a way. Like Ms. Lau, I turned on some classical music to focus more. It was effective, as I enjoyed the melody flow. In addition, taking art lessons won't be bad either. Since I was young, I enjoyed going my art class, as I was free. Free in spreading out my feelings on a sheet of material using tools. One of the suggestions is to be aware of my emotions and express them. Art and music is my way of expressing my emotions.
In school, it would be a different story. To activate my concentration, it would help me to sit on the left side and a couple of rows back to access my right ear. If my teacher communicates with me by speaking, I would have no difficulty in focusing. These strategies would help me in my learning.

4. I would like my teachers to know this about me.....
Is that I don't really mind about the places I really sit in because I still learn comfortably in class. Humanities class is really comforting for me as our teacher includes everyone's concern in a particular activity, so that we won't have stress over the homework or projects. Our humanities teacher's teachings are really effective to us, as when we took the DBQ test, almost all of the class agreed that the DBQ wasn't that difficult. Our reaction was different to the other class. Humanities was never the class that gave me the stress. However, in math, it is quite a little bit different. I have difficulty in reading all the text that is written in the project rubric, as my project grades aren't high. It doesn't reach my expectations in my goals. However, this time, my math teacher ran through all the text with us and it gave little difficulty for me to understand it. In all, I feel more confident as a student. I would like my teachers to know that I like to go through the text or the procedures by listening to the details.