This year, I learned a lot of themes, ESLRs, and academic topics. From those themes, ESLRs, and academic topics, I chose three topics that I thought I want to write about. What I chose are all ESLRs about my Anne Frank project and Poetry Unit. The reason why I chose ESLRs is because I wrote many ESLR essays in this class, and I was pretty confident with ESLRs. I don’t think that I know everything about ESLRs, but in my mind, I am confident to write essay using ESLRs, and I chose to use Anne Frank project and Poetry Unit to write this essay, because I think Anne Frank’s thoughts are one of the important things that we should learn. For Poetry Unit, the reason is easy, it’s just I liked that unit more than other unit. So here, I would like to say that this year, I learned a lot of important things that I should learn, and these three that I am going to talk about is what I learned this year.
First, I want to say that I thought poetry was the boring and unbearable thing ever in the world. The reason why I thought this way was that it was always long, and I couldn’t understand. So starting poetry unit seemed like worst unit that I can have in Grade Eight English. However, when I started poetry unit, it wasn’t bad as I thought. I actually thought it was fine. Through poetry unit, I learned how to write poetry, how to read poetry, and more. In this unit, I was able to be a Self-directed Learner, Academic Achiever, and Effective Communicator. First, I think that I was a Self-directed Learner when I was making poetry book. I needed to be a Self-directed Learner, because I had to keep poems that I wrote so I don’t have to write every single poems at last minute. I also had to write extra poems or haikus for poetry book. By doing all work, I managed time and used organizational skill, which is being Self-directed Learner. Second, I think that I was able to be an Academic Achiever during this unit. When I started this unit, I didn’t know how to write poetry. Well, poetry can be written in any ways, but I didn’t know anything like metaphor, how to rhyme words well, and I had more that I didn’t know or how to use. However, now, I can write poetry by myself. By learning how to write poetry, I was able to show progress in poetry writing, which is an Academic Achiever. Lastly, I think I was able to be an Effective Communicator by participating in Poetry Night, because I read my poetry in front of audience and I was able to show creativity to convey ideas, and be loud and clear.
Teen Life Project was very interesting assignment that I had in Poetry Unit. This was my first time to use technology such as computer and complete assignment with people in other country like U.S. However, at the same time, it was challenging. Through this Teen Life Project, I was able to be a Self-directed Learner, an Effective Communicator, and an Involved Citizen. First, I was able to be a Self-directed Learner, because even though there wasn’t exact due date, I was able to organize and manage myself to do work that should be finished. Second, I was able to be an Effective Communicator, because communicating through computer is not easy as talking to each other like face to face; however, I tried to write understandable writing to introduce myself, and to post my poetry on wiki page. Lastly, I was able to be an Involved Citizen, because if I wasn’t involved in this assignment, or interact with other group members, I couldn’t finish this project. I think it was important to involved in the situation. However, I wasn’t as involved as other member, so if I got chance to do project like this again, I would like to be more involved in the situation.
Anne Frank’s diary was the second book that we read in the class. In my opinion, it was a diary that makes people think about mercy and revenge, and which is right. At the end, my group made a memorial. Through this project, I was able to be a Self-directed Learner, an Involved Citizen, and an Effective Communicator. First, I was able to be a Self-directed Learner, because in order to finish project, we had to manage time to finish it together. I was able to be an Involved Citizen too, because I collaborated with my group members to achieve group goals, to finish project and I also interacted with my group members. I was also able to be an Effective Communicator, because I collaborated effectively, and shared and communicated ideas with others. As a result of being a Self-directed Learner, an Involved Citizen, and an Effective Communicator, I think my group and I did good job.
Overall, I learned more than what I wrote here as a eighth grader. It was exciting and difficult, but what I did was something very important. For example, Teen Life Project. This is my first step to communicate using wiki space, and I felt it was more like business. I would like to use what I learned in this project in future, like when I received assignment like Teen Life Project. I also learned a very good way to communicate, and how to read documents in front of audience. This can be useful in many situations, such as presentation. I also think reading Anne Frank’s diary was important, because thinking about mercy and revenge is not usual. It was a great chance to think about mercy and revenge. This is what I learned this year, and I would like to use these tips that I learned in future.

I chose music to look at the thing in three different perspectives, which are gender, classes, and race. I chose a song called CHE.R.RY by YUI. This song is about a girl who fell in love with a boy and she is waiting for contact from a boy who she likes.

First, when I see this song from boys’ view, I think some boys will be confused with this song, because this song is about love. I don’t think boys will like songs that are talking about love. I also think that this song is a song that boys don’t want, and it sounds girly. Girls might agree to this song, and they would think this is agreeable. However, looking from boys’ lens, I think boys will think this is uneasy to agree. I also think that boys will think it is not a song to listen from boys view. Looking from class lens, I think that this song is agreeable. From rich peoples’ view, I think this would be agreeable song. Looking from poor peoples’ view, I think this song is agreeable even though you are not rich. I think this way because even though you are in different class, something should be similar about love, and I think waiting for a contact is similar thing in everyone, especially Japanese girls. Looking from lens of race, I think there will be different thoughts. For example, this song is written by Japanese girl, so it should show that Japanese girls think this way. However, from lens of race, I think people in U.S. would think different, like they might think that waiting for a contact from a boy who you like would be boring, so they might contact from them; however, in Japan, some people might be too shy to contact from themselves so they might be waiting for e-mail or call from boys who they like.

I think there are more opinions about this song, because even though you look through some specific lenses, your thoughts are based on what you see and think. To be more specific, even if you take your lens and put gender (in my case, boys) lens on, my thoughts should have my opinion about how boys think. For example, I said “I think some boys will be confused with this song, because this song is about love.” this is because I think that boys usually don’t like songs about love, but there might be some boys who like songs about love. I would like to see this song in other ways by improving my knowledge and other things that affects my lens.

Lyrics: (Original is Japanese, but this is translated into English)
Too see original Japanese lyrics, click here.
Listen to the song: cherry-yui.mp3

It shakes in my hand
It was becoming to my small braveness
I didn’t like those smiley faces on e-mail
But if it’s from you, I feel happy

I heard that you shouldn’t reply e-mail as fast as you can
But I can’t do that

…I love him ah ah ah ah

I fell in love, maybe you haven’t realized
I wish on the starry night? CHE.R.RY
~message sent by you from my finger tips

Cherry blossom have bloomed
If I was able to change what you saw just now with what I can see from my window,

I would like a message from you
I can believe even if it’s lie

…I love him ah ah ah ah

I fell in love, maybe you haven’t realized
I wish on the starry night? CHE.R.RY
~message sent by you from my finger tips

The sweetened fruit is better; I want to grow it from small conversation ah ah ah ah

Beginning of love
My heart beats
I am waiting for you forever
I am going to send message with spring’s cold wind

I fell in love, maybe you haven’t realized
I wish on the starry night? CHE.R.RY
~message sent by you from my finger tips

In the poetry unit, I made a poetry book, wrote poetry, participated in Poetry Night, and participated in Teenlife Project. I had a good experience and fun time. I was able to communicate with students who were in different countries, and I was also able to experience some poetry that was short, long, funny, boring, etc. When I started this unit, I thought it is going to be really hard. I thought that poetry is long and boring writing that I cannot understand. However, I started to like poetry. If I rate how much I liked poetry in the beginning, it was about 2.5. Towards the middle of this unit, I started to like poetry and I found that poetry was fun. Right now, if I am rating how much I like poetry, I would say rate is going to be 4. I also found out that poetry was something that is free to write, and I had fun writing poetry.

As I said in the first paragraph, I made poetry book in this unit. In order to make poetry book, I used Self-directed Learner. Getting more specific, I had to be responsible for my own work, I had to manage time, and organize time and work. The reason why I chose Self-directed Learner is that I had to be responsible for myself and write poetry and keep poetry. I also had to manage time because I had to make poetry book and I had to work on Teenlife project at the same time. When I was making poetry book, I was a Self-directed Learner. However, I wasn’t an Effective Communicator. The reason is that even though I was able to communicate and fix my poetry into better poetry, I didn’t communicate or talk to other people and fix errors. If I talked to other people and fix errors, I was able to be an Effective Communicator. Next time, when I got assignment like making poetry book, I would like to be a Self-directed Learner again by being responsible for my work and organized. I would like to be an Effective Communicator by being able to communicate and fix errors in my poetry. I think I did fine for making poetry book, and if I am grading myself for process, I would like to say that I did good job.

In this unit, I also had fun, exciting part where I can hang around with my friends, relax, and share poetry called Poetry Night. In Poetry Night, I used Effective Communicator. Getting more specific, I think Effective Communicator has to have good skill to persuade people, but at the same time, I think Effective Communicator has to have skill of being clear and loud enough so everyone can hear every single word. The reason why I chose Effective Communicator is because I had to be loud and clear so when I am reading my poetry in front of people who came to Poetry Night can hear me. However, in Poetry Night, I couldn’t be an Involved Citizen. The reason is that I didn’t communicate with other people who came to Poetry Night. I think the purpose of Poetry Night was to share poetry and relax, but if I think about what Poetry Night was like, I thought that it would have been better if I experienced booth. Overall, I think I did good job in Poetry Night, because I think I was able to read my poetry clearly and loudly enough that people can hear me.

I think Teenlife was most difficult part in this unit, because for me, it was little bit hard to write poetry, and do my best to finish all three projects. I chose Self-directed Learner for Teenlife Project. I had to be responsible and organized, because most of the homework had to be posted on wiki page. It doesn’t have specific paper that has to be turned in, so there were some possibilities that I would do homework after due date. The reason why I chose Self-directed Learner is that I was able to be responsible and organized enough to do works on time like I just said. I chose Effective Communicator as well as Self-directed Learner, because I wasn’t talking to my group face to face, so I had to be clear in my writing. Writing is one way of communication, and it can be confusing. However, I can’t fix it like if I’m talking, so I think I was an Effective Communicator. However, I didn’t use Involved Citizens, because I sometimes had confusion of what is going on at the specific time. Next time when I have project like this again, I would like to be an Involved Citizen and ask or communicate with my group and understand what is going on. Overall, I think I did fine, because I was able to communicate and post my homework on wiki on time. I was good enough except for the part that I didn’t communicate with my group when I had confusion.

Overall, I had fun and some straggles in this unit. However, I was able to enjoy poetry, and have fun at Poetry Night even though I was little nervous and afraid. All together, I think I did a good job in this poetry unit; I want to give myself C+ to B. It is because I had some problem of knowing what is happening at Teenlife in my group, because I wasn’t really involved. This is what I felt in Teenlife. I also have another reason, and it is that I didn’t check my poetry if it is okay, and I think there was some poetry that people couldn’t understand. However, I am proud of my poetry book. Summing up, I was a Self-directed Leaner, Effective Communicator, and Involved Citizen in many ways such as I was able to finish my poetry book and homework on time.

Lines that I couldn’t understand:
I pray thee mark me: I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated to closeness, and the bettering of my mind with that, which but by being so retir’d o’er-priz’d all popular rate: in my false brpther awak’d an evil nature and my trust like a good parent, did beget of him a falsehood in its contrary, as great as my trust was, which had indeed no limit, a confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded, not only with what my revenue yielded, but what my power might else exact, like one who having into truth, by telling of it, made such a sinner of his memory to credit his own lie, he did believe he was indeed the Duke, out o’ th’ substitution and executing th’ outward face of royalty with all prerogative: hence his ambition growing: dost thou hear?

Soft sir, one word more. They are both in either’s powers: but this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too light winning make the prize light. One word more: I charge thee that thou attend me: thou dost here usurp the name thou ow’st not, and hast put thyself upon this island, as a spy, to win it from me, the Lord on ‘t.

If anyone can help me understanding these 2 lines, that would be great.

Lines that I understand:
Dull thing, I say so: he, that Caliban whom now I keep in service: thou best know’st what torment I did find thee in; they groans did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts of ever-angry bears; it was a torment to lay upon the damn’d, which Sycorax could not again undo: it was mine Art, when I arriv’d, and heard thee, that made gape the pine, and let thee out.

That stupid slave, Caliban. You know what kind pain you were in. your groaning made wolves and bears suffer. It was a pain that cannot be undo because Sycorax died. It was my magic that when I arrived, I heard you and I opened the pine tree and let you out.

If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak and peg thee in his knotty entrails, till thou hast howl’d away twelve winters.

If you speak one more word, I will put you in an oak tree and keep you there for 12 years.

These are questions that I thought while reading act 1 scene 2:
Is this scene based on other stories like myth or is it just made up?
Why did Shakespeare made Caliban speaks poetic?

In California, there was a fast moving fire. Orange County fire officials said it burned 2,000 acres of parched hillside and at least 3 homes. Authorities were forced to evacuate 500 homes. The fire stoked by hot dry winds and fueled by chaparral, spread to south and west. It threatened a lot of homes in Anaheim hills. For firefighters, it was a very dangerous and difficult firefight, because afternoon winds blew hard and two firefighters suffered minor injuries. However, wind slowed down later in the day made firefight easier. The area like Southern California is under a red flag alert and indicating a high fire danger.

Click here for the article

Biography
William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1883. He started to write poetry when he was in Horace Mann High School. He decided to be a doctor and writer at Horace Mann High School. He met Ezra Pound in University of Pennsylvania who became a great influence in Williams’ writing. Where he continued his medical practice throughout his life, Williams began publishing in small magazines and embarked on a prolific career as a poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright. He invented fressh and singularly American poetry, whose subject matter was centered on the everyday life and the lives of common people. He invented this fresh American poetry, because he felt Pound was too attached to European culture and traditions. He had heart attack in 1948 and a series of strokes, but he continued writing up until his death in New Jersey in 1963. 

Poem:
Landscape With The Fall of Icarus

According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring

a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry

of the year was
awake tingling
near

the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself

sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings’ wax

unsignificantly
off the coast
there was

a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning

What I like
I like this poem because it sounds like William Carlos Williams is trying to tell story about Icarus. It didn’t sound like poetry to me, but still, it was fun to read this poem.

What I don’t like
I didn’t like the way he separates words and phrases. Sometimes it is just a word, sometimes phrase that continues to next line and that confused me.
 
Questions
- Why did William Carlos Williams chose to form poem this way?
- Why did he write about Icarus falling?
- Why did he had a part that farmer ploughing his field?

Figurative languages
Onomatopoeia - tingling
Personification - the edge of the sea concerned with itself
Stanza - triplet

My name is Honoka, I’m 13 years old and I’m turning to 14 on January 30^th. I am from Japan, but I am living in Malaysia right now. It is very interesting to live in Malaysia, because there are a lot of people from a lot of country living in place that are international. I can experience the difference between some countries and cultures, so it is fun to know about cultures that are different from me. 

Things that I am interested aboutI think the interesting thing that happens in teens is that almost all teens are concerned about popularity, how cool they are etc. I am not that kind of person, but in my opinion, a lot of them are concerned about things like popularity. I think it is kind of weird to think about how popular you are, because you can’t say that certain person is popular. Everyone has opinions about everything and even though certain people look like if they are popular, but maybe some people doesn’t think that one person should be popular. This is issue that I am interested, but I think a lot of people are interested in these kinds of things whether if you are kind of person who wants to be popular or not.  

The other issue that I am interested in is natural environment. In Malaysia, there are a lot of monkeys. You can even find it in school. However, those monkeys were living in the forest before. The forest was at the back of my school, but that forest has been destroyed to make condominiums. I think there a lot of condominiums in Malaysia that you don’t even need to make them, but people still make them just to make money or just for human. I thought that is very cruel for animals and plants that were living in the forest. 

My opinion about my schoolI think my school is very interesting place to go. I think school is doing things that interests students and it is great to know students in other school. I think I also have good education, because I was able to learn English easily in this school and I am having fun learning new things. Our school also has a lot of activities and we also have chances to go to other school and play sports there. Some students from other school come to our school and have some games too. I think this school is giving a lot of chance to know new things, new friends etc. 

Differences about the place that I born and the place where I live right nowAs I said, I was born in Japan and I am living in
Malaysia right now. I think there are a lot of differences between Japan and Malaysia, because in Malaysia, you have a lot of people who came from a lot of different countries. However in Japan, it is hard to find a lot of people who came from a lot of different countries. I mean maybe people will go for holidays, but not to live there. So the of good thing about living in international community like Malaysia is that you can have a lot of chances to know different people from different countries. Where in Japan, I think it is hard to meet with people from different countries. 

So these are my opinions and things that I’m interested in.I hope you learned something from this. 

Thank you for Mr. R for giving us this chance to talk to people in world.

Anne Frank Memorial

As part of our Anne Frank unit, we had to either design a memorial for Anne Frank or create a commercial that would spread her message to everyone. My teammates and I decided to design a memorial. Below, is a description of it, reasons why we used the objects we used, who did what and the ESLR’s that we completed.

Light is all you can see when you enter the memorial and cautiously step onto the moving travelator disguised as a railway line. Far away in the distance, you can hear the faint noises of moving trains and horns. Then suddenly, pictures before the Holocaust appear on your left and a few precious moments of Anne Frank’s life before the dilemma appears on your right. As you gaze at these pictures and listen to the calm uplifting music, the corridor in which you are passing tightens, the light disappears, shadows fall upon you and you can distinctly here Hitler’s voice making a speech just inches from your ear. You look around but everything is covered in darkness. Soon, Hitler’s voice dies down and the marching sound of soldiers can be heard. Suddenly, you see a small light up ahead. As you reach this light, you realize that it is a spotlight on a can, filled with the gas used in gas chambers and another light is on a small model of a bed in the camp. Between these two is a wall screen, projecting pictures of people being taken away from their homes and put into trains. There is also a timeline about the Holocaust and what happened during Hitler’s reign. The train sounds get louder but you are stopped in your tracks. On your right, is a timeline about Anne Frank’s life. You are allowed to leave the travelator and wander around the place, however, you have to finish your journey.

All of a sudden, as you continue, the corridor opens up into a large circular room that is intentionally split in half. On one side, is a curved wall filled with pictures from a concentration camp in Germany, a PowerPoint presentation on how the war affected everyone in Europe and halfway is a door leading to another room. Enter this room and you will see eight touch screens, each showing a different camp in
Germany and you are able to walk through each one with a running documentary. On the other hand, the other side has seven pictures of the seven people who hid in the Secret Annex for two years and their helpers from the outside. The other side also has a separate room with eight touch screens as well. These eight touch screens take you through the Secret Annex and the different rooms in it, with written information. After visiting all this, you step onto the ‘railway line’ and leave the room. In a little while, the travelator splits into two and you choose your path. The left takes you through a corridor with wall screens depicting the aftermath of the Holocaust and the thousands that died. The place is very bright and the music is peaceful yet sad. A sense of respect and awe fills over you as you see the many brave people who stood up for their religion. Take the other path and you also feel the similar emotions. It is bright in there too and the music is the same. The wall screens explain what happened to Anne Frank and the six others who hid in the Secret Annex. If you wish, there are corridors leading back to the split of the travelator and you may take the other path. Both the paths lead back to a room that is filled with sunlight and electrical light. In the middle, on a pedestal, is a picture of the Diary of Anne Frank and several pages from within. There are two windows on either side, a little higher than usual and an open glass window on the roof. The walls have different quotes from her diary such as “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death.” Once everyone has seen them, the light dims down and the doors are closed. Spotlights come on and beautiful white doves are released from the two windows and they leave the room through the open window on top. The room has a dramatic yet tranquil music and a voice says these words, “Anne Frank always wanted to live on even after her death…her wish has come true. Her diary was discovered and now it has become the second most read book. She has carried on living, not only through her diary but also through each and every one of us. Remember that Anne Frank was only one voice among millions.” A door opens in front and everyone is allowed to leave. Outside, there is a shop where people can buy the book, The Diary of Anne Frank and various quotes from her diary engraved on a framed piece of paper.

Images, Sounds and Symbols

We used various sounds, images and symbols to stir emotions in this memorial. The sounds we used were: sad, dramatic, uplifting, calm, Hitler’s speech, trains, soldiers marching and a sound achieved from nature would be the chirping of the doves. The speech made by Hitler, trains and soldiers marching were used to create a sense of fear and anger because we wanted the people to feel how it was like to be in that depressing situation which the Jews had no control over. The sad and calm sounds were used to create sadness among the people but still make them realize that Anne Frank, a 13 year old child, was able to face this traumatic time with a positive reaction. The uplifting sounds were used for a sense of happiness and order before the Holocaust and a sense of relief after the issue ended. The dramatic sounds were mainly used only for the doves because we wanted the audience to pay attention to the doves. The chirping of the doves was used to create a sense of hope for the audience.

The images we used would fall into many categories: before the Holocaust, during the Holocaust, after the Holocaust, the Secret Annex, Anne Frank’s happy moments and the seven who hid in the Secret Annex. The images from before the Holocaust and Anne Frank’s happy moments showed how all was good in life and everything was in order. The images of during the Holocaust, the Secret Annex and the seven who hid in the Secret Annex, was meant to show how one person was able to change the lives of millions because of his dislike for that particular race. People were forced to change their lifestyle in order to save themselves and their families. The pictures depicting the aftermath of the Holocaust showed how the Holocaust had changed
Europe and the lives of people forever. The people who survived were scarred for life and millions lost their lives.

The Symbols we used were the gas cans, the duplicate of a bed at the camp, the travelator disguised as a railway line, the doves and the open windows. The gas cans and the bed at the camp symbolized the torture and pain at the camp while the moving railway line symbolized the seemingly never-ending journey that the Jews had to go through. It also symbolized the anticipation and fear that the people had to face. The open windows implied the ideas of freedom and hope that Anne Frank had and the doves signified hope as well. Another reason the doves were symbols was because they hopefully told everyone that if a young 13 year old girl can remain hopeful during the Holocaust, then why can’t we be hopeful and think positively during our daily lives.

Which is the most powerful? We would say that the sounds and music in the memorial is the most powerful. This is because, nowadays, music is a very important aspect of everyone’s life, so therefore, listening to music would spread the effect we wanted everyone to have. Music is very powerful also due to the fact that no one can stop themselves from hearing it. People can choose not to look at pictures or symbols but no one can prevent themselves from listening to music.

Please realize that this memorial is for all ages. The older ones, however, may find the Holocaust and pictures too gory, so we designed the place in such a way that the people are allowed to choose which side interests them the most: the information about the Holocaust or Anne Frank’s life during these stressful times.

ESLRs

For this project, we completed many Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLRs). This project basically covered all the required ESLRs such as, Critical Thinker, Academic Achiever, Involved Citizen, Effective Communicator and Self-Directed Learner.

Critical Thinker: We managed to accomplish this ESLR because we used information from various sources, such as the internet and one main book and solved problems using a variety of strategies. One example of this would be when we had a PowerPoint presentation and didn’t know how to fit it into the project. Eventually, we altered our memorial and made space to place the presentation.

Academic Achievers: We did this ESLR by accessing information from a variety of sources. We gained knowledge from the diary of Anne Frank and found information from the internet.

Self-Directed Learners: We accepted the responsibility for our own learning by realizing that in order to accomplish this project we needed to get the information for ourselves. We took creative risks to develop untried ideas and demonstrated competency in goal setting, time management, and organizational skills. We did this by trying different ideas for the memorial and setting time goals to complete this project.

Involved Citizens: We achieved this ESLR by trying to improve other people’s lives by designing this memorial. We wanted others to know what happened during the Holocaust and learn a lesson from a simple girl that would make them a better person.

Effective Communicator: We were effective communicators because we demonstrated out creative talents to convey ideas by excelling in the task we were given. Fred used his good knowledge of computers, Honoka used her artistic talents and I used my good writing skills. We listened respectfully and asked questions to facilitate understanding and achieve insight by asking questions when we didn’t understand the other person’s thoughts about the plan of the project. We collaborated with each other to achieve goals by coming to a compromise in order to finish the project. We conveyed information through visual and written sense by creating a blueprint of the memorial, the PowerPoint presentation and writing the required information. Finally we demonstrated awareness of the role of the audience by realizing that some of the people that would come to the memorial may find the pictures too gory, so we separated the memorial.

Who Did What?

This project was quite complex and due to the time restraint, we had to divide the work equally among the three of us. Our team managed to complete the project and we are extremely proud of ourselves. After deciding what to do, all three of us sat down together and jointly came up with the creative ideas and excellent plans. Honoka and I (Arathi), planned out the memorial and Fred designed the short movie on a PowerPoint document. Although we planned separately, we still advised each other and took the comments into consideration. Afterwards, when the real work began, Honoka worked on the blueprint of the memorial and Fred completed the PowerPoint presentation and wrote a description explaining it. Finally, I did the write-up: the description, the reasons, the ESLRs and who did what. Honoka and Fred were very efficient in completely their tasks and the final outcome is really good. I also believe that I did a good job of completing my task as well. We believe that this project was very interesting, partly because it allowed us to openly express our ideas and partly because it meant working with others and collaborating with them. Thank You Mr. R for this interesting project!

Movie:

Step 1:

Q: Where did the Aztecs originally live?
A: The Aztec originally lived in Atzlan, somewhere in North West Mexico.

Q: What prompted them to relocate?
A: In among the rushes, at the edge of a spring, they saw an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake; it prompted them to relocate.

Q: Where did they end up and why?
A: They ended up in Tenochtitlan, because Aztec welcomed Spanish but then they both started to fight each other. Soon Moctezuma II fell and Spaniards took him back to palace. Then Spanish won the war on August 31, 1521. They returned to destroy houses and build Mexico City.
The Spanish had firearms & Cortés received help from thousands of Aztec enemies. By these reasons, Spanish were able to win.

Step 2:

Q: The Aztecs ended up in the middle of a lake and built their new capital Tenochtitlan. What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake?
A:The good things about living in middle of the lake were you can have protection and you can grow crops. The bad things about living in the middle of the lake were they can get destroyed easily. The water can come into the city.
They had a temple to Huitzilopochtli and it was most important temple. They first started to build their city with sticks, but then they started to build with rock around 1418. Moctezuma I build the base, tizoc continued with it, and then Ahuizotl finished the temple.

Step 3:

Q:Which gods were worshiped?
A:Most important was their sun god, Huitzilopochtli. Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Chalchiuhtlicue were worshiped.

Q:The pyramids were built for what purpose?
A:The pyramids were building for sacrifice.

Step 4:

Q:Who are the different members of Aztec society?
A:The Aztec society was divided into 3 classes- slaves, commoners, and nobility.

Q:What are their roles?
A:If they were one of the slaves, the children of poor parents could be sold, usually for only a certain time period. Slaves could buy back their freedom.

Commoners were the biggest social group was known as the macehualtin. These people were engaged in agriculture and the common trades. They worked the land in family and were allowed to kept their produce, but the calpulli collectively owned the land itself. The lowest group of commoners was not allowed to own property. They were tenant farmers; they just got to use the land and never be owners.

Step 5:

Q:The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called?
A:The Aztecs did not use letters to write with they used small pictures called glyphs instead of words. The Aztec spoke a language called Nahuatl (pronounced NAH waht l).

Q:Did they use any other forms of communication?
A:They wrote letters using small pictures called glyphs.

Step 6:

Q:How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop?
A:The main food of the Aztec was a thin cornmeal pancake called a tlaxcalli.
Maize, a type of corn, was the Aztec’s main food source.

Q:Did they trade and with whom?
A:They had trade, but people in the country as like traded it if they were using money. Trade occurred between the people who live in Aztec cities.

Q:Did they have a currency (money)?
A:They didn’t had any money. They traded their things to get new things.

Step 7:

Q:Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view. Find an image depicting this event.
A:Spanish view
they arrived in 1519, reached on eastern coast of Mexico. They traveled in small boats; brought 508 soldiers and 100 sailors. Cortés had beaten his adversaries and returned to Tenochtitlan. He managed to meet with his besieged companions, but the situation wasn’t good. Cortés forced Moctezuma to go onto the palace roof and order his subjects to end their siege. However, the people did not listen to the tlatoani; when he tried to speak; he was showered with a hail of stones and was wounded. Moctezuma died a few days later; it is not known whether he died of his wounds or was killed by the Spaniards. The Spaniards decided to escape. They moved at night because the Aztecs usually suspended their struggle after sunset.  The Spanish defeat is known as the Sad Night, because Cortés wept at the foot of an ahuehuete tree.
Aztec View
The first major American civilization to fall to the Spanish was that of the Aztecs. The Aztec Empire was new. It dated from approximately the fourteenth century.
At this point, the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II was troubled by the reports concerning about the invaders. A very religious man, Moctezuma beileved that Cortez was Aztec god Quetzacoatl. Luckily for Cortez, his arrival coincided with the year that a prophecy regarding Quetzacoatl was to come true. For this reason, and because of Cortez’ white skin, Moctezuma assumed that Cortez was Quetzacoatl. After Moctezuma died, the new Mexica leader was called Cuitláhuac, an experienced warrior who had always been opposed to the Spaniards. Under his command, the combat skills of the Aztecs became stronger.

Step 8:

Q:Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refers to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?
A:La Malinche are slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, and mother of the first Mexican. Many Mexicans revile the woman called la Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor and harlot for her role as the ego of Cortes as he conquered Mexico. They ignore that she saved thousands of Indian lives. All historians believe that she was a daughter of a noble Aztec man. La Malinche did not choose to join in Cortes.
Mestizo means a person of mixed racial ancestry. For example, in Latin America, there are mixed American Indian and European, usually Spanish or Portuguese, ancestry, or, in the Philippines, of mixed native and foreign ancestry.
Mexican still revile La Malinche so she influences today from Aztec culture.
Spanish also burned books so it influenced Aztecs culture.

Mr. R talked about HTML in class, but only few people took notes about it.
I thought it would be better to just have it on the blog, so I made a page called “HTML”
If you want to, you can copy those HTML from my page.
There are HTML about word like bolding etc. and about links.

Enjoy!

Last thing…
I deleted those HTML that I had because it was wrong.
I don’t know why, but I couldn’t fix them.
They are in the HTML page, so you can check it any time you want.