Aaron's English Blog

Prompt: I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for them because they look out for me and always support me. I am thankful that my dad is sad when he can't attend one of my games because it shows that he really cares about me. I am also thankful for when my mom brings me snacks while I am doing schoolwork. Summary: Today in class we got a new list of vocabulary. Reflection: This blog post made me think about how I am thankful for my family.

 Prompt: My most unforgettable meal was from a taster in a grocery store that I ate while my mom and I were shopping. We liked it so much that we took the menu next to the taster and made the meal that week. We spent the afternoon working on the meal together and that made it taste even better. It was unforgettable for me because it was a good bonding experience for me and my mom. Summary: Today in class we took a test on the short story that we read this week. Reflection: I think I did well on the test.

 Prompt: A time that I heard of one of the vocab words was in a movie. I heard a person being described as contemptuous. The person was generally unkind and mean to others. This context helped me understand the meaning of the word as I did not know it beforehand. Summary: Today we got a new list of vocabulary words. Reflection: I had heard some of the words before, such and carte blanche, in politics.

 Prompt: A time where a plot twist shaped my understanding of a situation was the movie "The Usual Suspects". The police investigated a weak, submissive man who appeared to be informing on his former criminal boss. At the end of the movie we saw that the man being investigated was the kingpin after all and was making up the story as he went. This plot twist reshaped my understanding of the story as it made me realize that the subtle clues hidden in the movie implicated the man from the start. Summary: Today we took a test on "A Rose for Emily". Reflection: I am glad that this was a group test as it allowed me to discuss answers with others.

 Prompt: A place that holds deep memories for me is the basketball court next to the elementary school where I live. It represents the changes that I made going into high school as I decided to pick a new sport. It reflects how I have changed over time as I had trouble sticking with a sport throughout elementary and middle school because I would get bored of it after a few years and switch. My choice to stick with basketball reflected how I have gotten better at sticking to my decisions. Summary: Today we started reading the story "A Rose for Emily" Reflection: I thought that the story so far was not very interesting.

 Prompt: The craziest news story that I have heard recently was the stealing of the crown jewels from the Louvre. This shocked me because I did not believe that this would be possible as crown jewels are usually under heavy security. It shocked me how simple it was for the robbers to take the jewels and how fast it happened. Lots of other people were shocked when this happened and it revealed that confidence in what you are doing can make it easy for people to think you are supposed to be doing what you are doing. Summary: Today we read and answered questions about the story "A Rose for Emily" Reflection: In hindsight, it was obvious what happened to Homer as soon as he went missing.

 Prompt:  A time when learning a new word made my writing stronger was when I learned the difference between affect and effect. Knowing this difference made argumentative writing easier as I was more able to develop arguments using cause and effect. I was also able to describe relationships between things better. This helped make my writing stronger because I was able to write better. Summary: Today we learned new vocabulary words. Reflection: I did not know some of the words that were on the list.

 Prompt: Something that my parents forbade me from doing was playing with balls inside the house. They did this because my brother and I would play with a stuffed ball that we thought was safe, however it would still knock things over. They said that we were not allowed to do this because it could cause damage to the house. They set this rule to teach us to respect the value of things that did not belong to us. Summary: Today we read the rockpile as a class. Reflection: The story was about disobeying your parents.

 Prompt: My mother has been the strictest when it comes to discipline. Her approach to discipline is more based on how she is feeling at the time. This approach means that if I am nice to her she is nice to me. It has taught me to treat other people the way you want to be treated. Summary: The Rockpile is about a boy who is disobedient and ends up injuring himself. Reflection: This makes me think about how my parents disciplined me.

 Prompt: A time when I stopped to appreciate the beauty or nature was when it snowed for the first time in a while last year. I was at home and woke up to see snow falling outside. It was very quiet as there was no school due to the snow. The snow made me feel calm because it covered everything in a layer of white and made everything seem more quiet. Summary: Today in class we worked on our poem one-pagers. Reflection: This one pager helps me understand the poem better.

 Prompt: A time where I had to set a boundary with a classmate was a time when I was working on a group project. One member of my group was not doing the work that they were supposed to and that upset the rest of the group. We decided to confront the group member about their lack of work. We said that they were not respecting our time my making us do all the work and made the group member do their part of the project. Summary: Today we worked on a common lit about the poem "Mending Wall". Reflection: I thought that the last discussion question was difficult.

 Prompt: A time when life changed more quickly for me than expected was when the Covid pandemic happened. At the end of my 5th grade year the schools shut down and we had to do school virtually. This made it hard for me to keep seeing my friends. It relates to "nothing gold can stay" because the fun that I had in my 5th grade year ended suddenly. Summary: Today in class we read a Robert Frost poem and answered discussion questions. Reflection: I thought the poem was interesting as it talked about the choices one makes.