President Barack Obama, 2/24/09

“In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity – it is a prerequisite. It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. So tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. . . . And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American. These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children. But it is up to us to ensure they walk through them. In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a parent – a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child. I speak to you not just as a president, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home.” -President Barack Obama, 2/24/09

This quote is an inspiration to high school students like me and most of my peers. It encourages us to stop wasting both our time and life and to start focusing on long term goals of higher education and descent careers. As foster children we most often have a harder time succeeding in life but we have no excuses to give up or just not try at all .as students with a difficult past I have an obligation to my self not to let my make the rest of my life af bad as the first half was or not to cause another child to suffer like me.

Rhyme

At first, I thought rhyme was words that sound alike, but I learned that rhyme is the repetition of the accented vowel sound and all subsequent sounds in a word.

An example of a poem with end rhyme is below. The title is Seek Not My Heart, and the author is Kit McCallum. The rhyme scheme is aabbccddeeffaagghhii.

Oh gentle winds 'neath moonlit skies,
Do not you hear my heartfelt cries?

Below the branches, here about,
Do not you sense my fear and doubt?
Side glistening rivers, sparkling streams,
Do not you hear my woeful screams?

Upon the meadows, touched with dew,
Do not you see my hearts a'skew?
Beneath the thousand twinkling stars,
Do not you feel my jagged scars?

Seek not my mournful heart kind breeze,
For you'll not find it 'mongst these trees.

It's scattered 'cross the moonlit skies,
Accompanied by heartfelt sighs.
It's drifting o're the gentle rain,
A symbol of my silent pain.

It's buried 'neath the meadow fair,
Conjoined with all the sorrow there.
It's lost among the stars this night,
Too far to ease my quiet fright.

No gentle winds, seek not my heart,
For simply ... it has torn apart.

On my poetry pretest, I don’t know what my grade-level was. On my posttest, I hope that I will be at the least a C or B grade-level.

25 Random Things about Me

I’m overly addicted to manga. I enjoy the fact I seem to be one of the few who know what manga is. I’m in love with the Hellboy series. I’ve never made out with a boy. At times I wish my hair was longer but I still like it short. I ware my Allstar shoes almost every day. I wear my Fullmetal Alchemist necklace all the time. I’m constantly going back and forth between cats and foxes for my favorite animal. My sister loves four-leaf clovers and she was born on St. Patrick day. I’m going to dye my hair red for prom. I don’t have many favorites because I like too many things .I’m doing this for a class project. The only person I really hate is my house-parent. I’m terrified of roaches. I hate the rain. I want to move to Seattle one day. I would rather read manga than watch anime. My favorite color is orange. I sleep too much. The only sport I like is swimming. I love looking at the moon. I don’t have many friends. My sister broke my laptop three year ago and I’m still mad at her for it. I like almost all music. Whiskey Lullaby makes me cry.

Imagery and Figurative Language

At first, I thought imagery was a picture, but I learned that this was wrong. Actually, imagery is descriptive words appealing to the five senses. I also learned about figurative language. I used to think figurative language was similes and metaphors, but I learned that figurative language is..... The three main types of figurative language are simile, metaphor, and personification.

figurative language

The best figurative language game I played tonight is Simile Matching Game, because it was easy. In order to play this game, I had to match unfinished common similes with the correct word. I played this game twice before I won. If you want to play this game, go to this link http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/cet/flashactivities/similes.html . (___/6)

Another enjoyable figurative language game is Metaphor Battleship, because it is more than just answering questions. In order to play this game, I had to guess were the ships were and then answer a question. I only had to play this game once before I won. If you want to play this game, go to this link http://www.quia.com/ba/42131.html?AP_rand=163810965 . (___/6)

My least favorite figurative language game is Fling the Teacher, because it was hard. In order to play this game, I had to answer questions in order to fling the teacher. It took me five tries in order to win the game. If you want to play this game, go to this link http://www.newton.k12.ks.us/tech/fling3.html. (___/6)