"When you have a choice to make and you don't make it, that in itself is a choice."
A historical example that can show the validity of this quote is the Holocaust. People knew what was going on, and they made a choice and decided not to say anything. Even though those people did nothing, they still made a choice to not do anything.
This quote is very connected to the holocaust, for the reason I said above. People made the choice to not do anything about the brutal treatment of the Jews. But also, the Jews didn't really try to do anything and they made the choice to not do anything. Frankly, they couldn't really do anything. Other countries had a choice to make and help the Jews and stop this treatment, but they didn't, and that was their choice to not do anything.
The types of things that prevent people from standing up for people or for what they know is the right thing is how people will think of you after. If your group of friends was bullying a little kid with no friends, and you stuck up for the kid, your "friends" will diss you and bully you now too. It's sad that doing the right thing actually doesn't help you, your only making things worse for yourself. Sometimes you have to just do it, you have to get in other people's business and not be a bystander. You have to not care what people are going to think about you, and if they were your real friends, they would get where your coming from and would understand it's the right thing.
There has been many instances in my school and in my life where someone has not
stood up for the right thing. For example, my friend and I witnessed someone being talked mean to and being trashed talked. If my friend and I did the right thing, we would have told the people who were trash talking to stop and made them stop and apologize.
From,
Seth
Monday, June 12, 2017
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
The United States Holocaust Museum
We will be visiting the United States Holocaust Museum while we are in Washington, DC. Please view the upcoming special exhibits and the permanent exhibits. Choose two things that you think are interesting and want to see while you are in the museum.. In your comment-
1. Identify the exhibit or topic with a title
2. Explain what it is and why you are interested in it
3. Create a hyperlink to the description of the exhibit.
Example:
The Final Solution
I am interested in visiting the floor titled The Final Solution of the museum because of reading Night and Elie Wiesel's experience in Auschwitz. I would like to learn more about the concentration camps. There is a section on Anne Frank that I want to see as well. I am especially interested in watching the video called Voices of Auschwitz.
1. Identify the exhibit or topic with a title
2. Explain what it is and why you are interested in it
3. Create a hyperlink to the description of the exhibit.
Example:
The Final Solution
I am interested in visiting the floor titled The Final Solution of the museum because of reading Night and Elie Wiesel's experience in Auschwitz. I would like to learn more about the concentration camps. There is a section on Anne Frank that I want to see as well. I am especially interested in watching the video called Voices of Auschwitz.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Reader Response blog
Dear Ms.Casassa,
I am reading Seeker by Arwin Elys Dayton. The main character is Quinn and she changed a lot and Im not even half way done with the book. At first she really wanted to be a seeker but now things have changed she is really depressed because of what she had to do when she went on missions. She often sleeps in the barn with her horse. Before she liked her dad but now that he makes her kill and do awful things she hates him and doesn't want anything to do with him. John another main character was kicked out of the program and he attacks Briac because he has his mothers anthem and he killed his mother. Quinn could have given it to him but she didn't because he was causing harm and hurt her mom and also killed another member by accident. She really has changed.
Sincerely,
Brennan
I am reading Seeker by Arwin Elys Dayton. The main character is Quinn and she changed a lot and Im not even half way done with the book. At first she really wanted to be a seeker but now things have changed she is really depressed because of what she had to do when she went on missions. She often sleeps in the barn with her horse. Before she liked her dad but now that he makes her kill and do awful things she hates him and doesn't want anything to do with him. John another main character was kicked out of the program and he attacks Briac because he has his mothers anthem and he killed his mother. Quinn could have given it to him but she didn't because he was causing harm and hurt her mom and also killed another member by accident. She really has changed.
Sincerely,
Brennan
Rule of Three
Dear Ms. Casassa,
This week I am still reading Fight for Power by Eric Walters. This book just keeps getting better and better. Feelings with Lori and Adam are progressing after Todd gave Adam some advice. Where I started reading this week was in chapter seven. It takes off with Adam and Lori on a private roof top some kids in the compound made to get away from all the drama and stress. As they get talking, shots ring out and two guards are shot. There has been a sniper attack from the old recked towers on the outskirts of the compound. Fortunately, no one else gets hurt, but the compound needs to come up with a plan to execute the attackers.
Adam has changed a lot throughout the story and throughout the series. In the beginning of this book Adam kills two of his own men. He has to do this because they turned on him an they were going to kill him. But, before this book, Adam didn't even carry a gun on him. Now, he has two guns and a grenade on him at all time. This just shows how much he has changed. Adam has also become more of an adult too soon. He is still only a sixteen year old, but he has to change and form into an adult to protect his siblings, girlfriend, and the whole compound. In the first book, Adam and Todd are trying to finish a last minute report for their high school class. In the next couple weeks Adam is fighting for his life and trying to provide his family with basic necessities. Throughout the story, Adam matures very quickly, and it is kind of disappointing because he will never go back to where he was that one day in high school.
It really surprised me that Brett and his men turned on the compound. The compound provided them with plenty of safety, food, and entertainment. So why would they betray the compound? This is a question I have yet to find out. I also thought about what would happen if the scenario that happened in this book happened to me and my friends and family. My friends an I practically live on our phones, what would we do if we didn't have that? It really made me think about all the things I take for granted everyday. Just the simple things, that the people in this book do not have.
From,
Seth Burdick
This week I am still reading Fight for Power by Eric Walters. This book just keeps getting better and better. Feelings with Lori and Adam are progressing after Todd gave Adam some advice. Where I started reading this week was in chapter seven. It takes off with Adam and Lori on a private roof top some kids in the compound made to get away from all the drama and stress. As they get talking, shots ring out and two guards are shot. There has been a sniper attack from the old recked towers on the outskirts of the compound. Fortunately, no one else gets hurt, but the compound needs to come up with a plan to execute the attackers.
Adam has changed a lot throughout the story and throughout the series. In the beginning of this book Adam kills two of his own men. He has to do this because they turned on him an they were going to kill him. But, before this book, Adam didn't even carry a gun on him. Now, he has two guns and a grenade on him at all time. This just shows how much he has changed. Adam has also become more of an adult too soon. He is still only a sixteen year old, but he has to change and form into an adult to protect his siblings, girlfriend, and the whole compound. In the first book, Adam and Todd are trying to finish a last minute report for their high school class. In the next couple weeks Adam is fighting for his life and trying to provide his family with basic necessities. Throughout the story, Adam matures very quickly, and it is kind of disappointing because he will never go back to where he was that one day in high school.
It really surprised me that Brett and his men turned on the compound. The compound provided them with plenty of safety, food, and entertainment. So why would they betray the compound? This is a question I have yet to find out. I also thought about what would happen if the scenario that happened in this book happened to me and my friends and family. My friends an I practically live on our phones, what would we do if we didn't have that? It really made me think about all the things I take for granted everyday. Just the simple things, that the people in this book do not have.
From,
Seth Burdick
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Charcater
Dear Ms. Casassa,
This week I am reading the third book in the series, The Rule of Three, Fight for Power by Eric Walters. This book is the last book of the series and is shaping up to be a good one. The book takes off where the main character Adam, has come back from being kidnapped by a member of his community who turned on him, Brett. To survive, Adam had too kill two of his community members that sided with Brett and were going to kill Adam. During the kidnapping, Brett shot one of the community leaders, Herb. He is the most important resource in the community and if he dies, the community dies. Fortunately, Herb was found alive. The main characters are the ones I stated above, Adam and Herb. There is one other who I didn't mention, which is Adam's Mom, She is a police officer and controls the security of the community, she is the head of police team. The most important person would be Adam or Herb. They both bring a lot to the table. Adam is probably more important because he and his father are the only ones that know how to drive the planes, and those are the communities best safety and defending strategy. Every main character is good, the one that is bad is Brett, but he isn't really a main character. A character that I know someone like them is Pete. I would relate him to Tucker. Adam likes this girl and all the time when he talks to her Pete picks on him and that's something Tucker would do to me as a funny friend.
A passage that shows how Adam is like is the second paragraph on page 107. Adam says this quote that really shows how smart and wise he is. "The problem with liars is that they don't believe that anyone is capable of telling the truth." This quote just shows how smart he thinks. It describes that when Adam is with other people he is always outthinking them and always one step ahead of them, that is why he escaped the kidnapping from Brett. But it does not tell me anything about the problem in the book.
One of the minor characters is Lori. Lori is the girl Adam likes and her father is the community farmer. He plants the food and decides when to harvest and is very knowledgeable and very needed in the community. Lori is also the part in the story that takes away from all the bad. Like the whole book is about world destruction and the romance between Adam and Lori kind take away from all the bad.
From,
Seth Burdick
This week I am reading the third book in the series, The Rule of Three, Fight for Power by Eric Walters. This book is the last book of the series and is shaping up to be a good one. The book takes off where the main character Adam, has come back from being kidnapped by a member of his community who turned on him, Brett. To survive, Adam had too kill two of his community members that sided with Brett and were going to kill Adam. During the kidnapping, Brett shot one of the community leaders, Herb. He is the most important resource in the community and if he dies, the community dies. Fortunately, Herb was found alive. The main characters are the ones I stated above, Adam and Herb. There is one other who I didn't mention, which is Adam's Mom, She is a police officer and controls the security of the community, she is the head of police team. The most important person would be Adam or Herb. They both bring a lot to the table. Adam is probably more important because he and his father are the only ones that know how to drive the planes, and those are the communities best safety and defending strategy. Every main character is good, the one that is bad is Brett, but he isn't really a main character. A character that I know someone like them is Pete. I would relate him to Tucker. Adam likes this girl and all the time when he talks to her Pete picks on him and that's something Tucker would do to me as a funny friend.
A passage that shows how Adam is like is the second paragraph on page 107. Adam says this quote that really shows how smart and wise he is. "The problem with liars is that they don't believe that anyone is capable of telling the truth." This quote just shows how smart he thinks. It describes that when Adam is with other people he is always outthinking them and always one step ahead of them, that is why he escaped the kidnapping from Brett. But it does not tell me anything about the problem in the book.
One of the minor characters is Lori. Lori is the girl Adam likes and her father is the community farmer. He plants the food and decides when to harvest and is very knowledgeable and very needed in the community. Lori is also the part in the story that takes away from all the bad. Like the whole book is about world destruction and the romance between Adam and Lori kind take away from all the bad.
From,
Seth Burdick
Monday, May 8, 2017
Night by Elie Wiesel
Click here to view-Antisemitism in Everyday Life- Exhibit at United States Holocaust Museum. Look though the collection of Antisemitic propaganda. Choose three pictures from the exhibit. Summarize the pictures and explain how they are examples of antisemitism. What makes them propaganda? Choose one picture to upload on the slide show below. Include the image and a brief explanation of what makes it antisemitic. Be prepared to explain to the rest of the class.
Other Resources-
The Path to Nazi Genocide (video with mature subject)
Friday, April 28, 2017
The Giver Essay
Molly Amundsen
Language Arts
March 20, 2017
The Giver
Essay
Have you ever felt like there were to many choices to be made? Or that making decisions was to hard? Lois Lowry created a utopian society that eliminates all that. In The Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas lives in a Dystopian society where everybody is the same and there is no choice. Jonas changes over time through the book. As Jonas becomes the Receiver, Jonas begins to experience different feelings and emotions about his community. At the start Jonas thinks of his community as perfect but Jonas begins to question his community as he trains to become the next Receiver and by the end he wants to make major changes to it.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Holocaust Reader Resources
You can access the resources we have been using in class and The Holocaust Reader online by using links below. Please share these with your parents and discuss what you have been learning in class.
Our Padlet on The Holcaust-click here
password is holocaust
The Holocaust-An video overview produced by the New York Times Upfront Magazine
Slideshow of images of the Holocaust
Bibliography for further reading
Interview with Jacqueline Murekatete
Scope Magazine Articles:
Fighting Hitler
The Boys Who Fought
Our Padlet on The Holcaust-click here
password is holocaust
The Holocaust-An video overview produced by the New York Times Upfront Magazine
Slideshow of images of the Holocaust
Bibliography for further reading
Interview with Jacqueline Murekatete
Scope Magazine Articles:
Fighting Hitler
The Boys Who Fought
Monday, January 23, 2017
February Scope Article
Choose an article to read in the February issue of Scope Magazine. Post a comment below.
Include:
Include:
- the title of article and the author
- six-seven sentence summary of article (please write more if you need to)
- a response or connection--What did you find interesting? Learn new?
- pose a question to the class (ex: Do you agree with the main idea? What did you think of the article? etc)
Monday, December 5, 2016
Trouble with Bears
Seth Burdick
October 13, 2016
Writing class
Alaska Story
It was every accountant’s average day at work, sorting through all of these lazy people’s taxes. Michael liked his job, no doubt about it. It paid well, and his boss was nice. Michael didn’t have a big house, with kids or a wife, he rented out an apartment room on the eleventh floor at the local Marriott. He lived in Michigan near Lake Superior. He went bass fishing almost everyday after work. Fishing was his passion. He loved bass fishing, the way the ate they bait, the way they fight once you got them hooked, and especially the way they jump out of the water and shake their mouth desperately trying to get the hook out. A couple years back his best friend took him salmon fishing up in Seattle, Washington. Michael was hooked. He caught many salmon, some big, some small, but mostly medium sized. He didn’t want to leave, he didn’t want to get off the boat, because that meant no more fishing. Ever since that trip he thinks about the experiences he had, how much fun it was. How much more fun it was than bass fishing. But fishing is an expensive sport, all Michael had money for was bass fishing. His job as an accountant only gave him around sixty six thousand a year. Half of that went to paying for his apartment, and the rest was spent on food, clothes, and bass fishing. There was no way he could pay for salmon fishing gear, and a plane ticket. But he wanted to catch big salmon. Like the ones you have to go out into Alaska and drive through the wilderness to never fished before rivers or lakes. Michael began to search through the taxes he had to sort out, when his boss came over and dropped a big orange envelope on his desk.
“What is this?” Michael asked.
“Open it,” smirked Michael’s boss. Michael opened the orange envelope and peaked into it with his right eye.
“It’s…” Michael exclaimed.
“4000 dollars, cash,” quietly whispered his boss.
Nothing but the truth
Nothing But the Truth
“Please all rise and stand for the saying of our national anthem…” Oh say can you see… “Is that someone humming?” What so proudly we hailed… “I don’t know no who that is, but you heard Dr. Doane’s request.” Through the perilous flight… “Is that you Phillip?” And the rockets red glare… “Just humming” Just humming, this seemingly unimportant dialogue sparks a country wide conflict. But what actually happened becomes less and less clear. In Nothing But The Truth by Avi, there is no absolute truth told by any character. Instead, each character alters the truth to their advantage.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Using IXL for Skills Reinforcement
You may have already started using IXL in Mr. Szeliga's class in math, we are also going to be using IXL in Language Arts. You will start with a review of the topics we have already covered this year.
Click here to log in to IXL.
Complete the lessons listed below.
Click here to log in to IXL.
Complete the lessons listed below.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Journey to the Center of the Earth--Legendary Sea Monsters
This week you read an excerpt from Jules Vernes science fiction story Journey to the Center of the Earth. The selection vividly describes a battle between two mythic sea creatures. Today you will learn more about the sea creatures. What is fact? What is just a myth?
Explore The National Geographic Site on mythic Sea Creatures
Explore the American Museum of National History
Now...invent your own Mythological Creature.
Click here to visit the Story Elves for ideas and tips. This is a great writing site too!
Explore The National Geographic Site on mythic Sea Creatures
- Click here to go to the National Geographic site to learn more about these amazing mythic sea creatures. Scroll down the page to read about the mythic Sea Creatures.
Explore the American Museum of National History
Now...invent your own Mythological Creature.
Click here to visit the Story Elves for ideas and tips. This is a great writing site too!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Dear Mrs.Casasa,
This week I am reading Crush by Gary Paulsen. Crush is about a boy named kevin who wants to ask Tina out.But theres another boy... I think the conflict is person v.s person because its kevin v.s Tina's new crush.On page 8-9 when kevin finds out about this new boy Kevin isn't very happy.I would'nt be happy because the person you liked just got taken away and now likes someone eles.
Kevin is thinking what will he do?And how will he get rid of him?What will Tina's reaction be about Kevin's idea?Will she be mad sad or will she not even like the new boy?Find out by reading crush!
This week I am reading Crush by Gary Paulsen. Crush is about a boy named kevin who wants to ask Tina out.But theres another boy... I think the conflict is person v.s person because its kevin v.s Tina's new crush.On page 8-9 when kevin finds out about this new boy Kevin isn't very happy.I would'nt be happy because the person you liked just got taken away and now likes someone eles.
Kevin is thinking what will he do?And how will he get rid of him?What will Tina's reaction be about Kevin's idea?Will she be mad sad or will she not even like the new boy?Find out by reading crush!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
"Exploding Ants" Thinglink
Click here to go to the "Exploding Ants" Thinglink. Find a short video (no more than 3 minutes) to link to each image. You may also add facts and information we learned from the story to the images.Log in information:
username: barnardla@barnardschool.org
Password: barnardla58
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Weslandia Enrichment Activities
Summary
When Wesley is out of school for the summer, he isn’t quite sure how to spend his time. Then he thinks of a summer project that will top all others. Wesley grows "swist" and creates his own civilization! In the process, he learns to make friends as well.
Activities
- Language Arts:
- Wesley created an 80-letter alphabet—most of which you can find inside the covers of the book. Attempt to write a message to a friend using his alphabet.
- Create your own book review of Weslandia.
- Social Studies:
- Discuss the necessary components of a civilization.
- Which of these characteristics were present in Wesley’s new civilization?
- Mathematics:
- Discuss Base 8. Do some addition and subtraction problems in Base 8.
- Discuss the history of sundials and how they work. Make a sundial for your school.
- Science:
- Wesley had a mystery plant. Team with a partner to solve plant mysteries.
- Wesley renamed the constellations. Learn the names of at least five constellations and be able to locate them in the night sky.
- Health:
- Draw the components of a food pyramid.
- Discuss Wesley’s diet. Was he eating a healthy diet? Why or why not?
- Physical Education:
- Exercise your mind by playing online strategy games.
- Wesley invented games that were rich with strategies and complex scoring systems. With a group of friends, create a new game that has several strategies and also a scoring system. Invite your classmates to play the game with you.
- Music:
- Listen to pan flute music.
- What other kinds of flutes are there? Write and illustrate a picture book about the different kinds of flutes.
- Art:
- Explore an online collection of different kinds of looms.
Watch How to weave on a cardboard loom
Another example of weaving
Weaving tutorial - Wesley set up a loom to weave his clothing. Using a piece of cardboard 3” by 5”, cut about 10 slits in each end, and using yarn, learn how to weave.
About the Author
- Chatting with Paul Fleischman and Kevin Hawkes about a Civilization As You've Never Seen It! (pdf). Candlewick
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Learning more about Mahalia Jackson
Click here to learn more about Mahalia Jackson on biography.com
Listen to some examples of blues music
Learn about one of Mahalia's influences: Bessie Smith
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
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