Aviva's thoughts on prejudice...

Imagine, not being able to go to the same restaurant as others, not being able to use the same washroom as others or even getting kicked out of your own home for living in a neighborhood with others who don’t want you. This can all happen from being judged on your color or religion.

You might be thinking that you would never do something like that to someone else. But, people do this all the time. Many people say prejudice things everyday without even realizing what they are doing and the harm they are causing.

What I have learned about in class is that prejudice means pre-judging someone. I feel that this is wrong and can only hurt others. Some examples are like the Jews getting judged just because of there religion or the blacks because of the color of there skin. People are judging people by the way they look.

What happens very often is you will see someone with piercings all over and think that they are very awkward or strange. People pre-judge bigger people and assume negative things instead of looking at what type of person they are inside. This also goes on every day at a normal everyday school all over the world. Kids pre-judge other kids just because of what they wear or the way that they look. Everyone should be treated equally and should not be put down for looking differently. You just have to get to know them before you pre-judge (prejudice) them.

Another thing people do is stereotype. Stereotyping leads to being prejudice. I think that stereotyping is an awful thing and that we should try to prevent it from happening. Some very common ones are “Jews have big noses” or “Chinese people are bad drivers”. There is no point of saying any of these comments because they make the world a bad place to live in, full of negative thoughts which don’t help but only hurt others.

These stereotypes and prejudiced sayings, lead to consequences that people do not deserve. The Jews in the holocaust suffered consequences for no reason. In class we watched the movie Daniel’s Story. After watching that it really made me think about how over 600,000 innocent Jewish people like us died for nothing. Or how black people could not sit on the same benches as whites or even drink from certain water fountains. Once a again the Blacks and the Jews got the consequences when they did not deserve them.

All of these terrible things have been going on for a very long time. There has been nobody successful in putting a stop to it. I wish that all of this could come to an end, and the whole world could learn from their lessons. Even though this seems impossible I still hope that it can happen one day.

Homework for October 16 6A

Hook and Outline due on Wednesday

the lining of heaven and hell

Dawn. A sliver of the moon is still shining. The sun is rising. A hairline of hell’s gate is still open. A red day. Blood has been spilt by the devil himself. Hell’s gate finally closes. The blue sky is slowly reappearing. All is quiet. The trees are being blown, leaves flying in the air. Autumn, 1431, October 22nd, the day no one can forget, the day Sarx was born. I’m from Elizix and have moved to Hitrae, the nicest city in Exrek or the universe. My name is Exen. I am a warrior of my own kind, protecting the human race. We fight all: apes, tigers, demons, the undead, and most of all we are at constant war with the minions of Sarx and Zerk, the greatest demons that are known to the universe. Yet we are trying now to kill Zerk and Sarx, but we cannot locate them though we did find Zerk’s lair. The demons are too strong and we had to flee the Onyx Sanctuary. I am now living my life in Sondo, a once happy city, but not since Zerk’s minions have come here. We cannot be very happy any more and I don’t think we’ll ever see happiness in Sondo again, not until the human race kills Zerk and Sarx. And we are never in harmony with the tigers or apes anymore. Yet that may be the only way we can ever defeat Zerk and Sarx. “I hope that Sarx will die soon brother” said Kniscare. “Me too, Kniscare,” said I.


by: Yoad
PS: hope you liked it I'm just starting a book and this is my first page so hope you liked it and thank you for taking your time.

A shot in the arm...

If you haven't done so already, please bring in your immunization forms to me (6A), or to Mrs. Elias-Smith (6B) by tomorrow.

Emma's brave adventures in tonsilectomy!!

My Adventures in Tonsillectomy
By Emma Kallner

Definition: A tonsillectomy is a surgical procedure in which the tonsils are removed. Sometimes the adenoids are removed at the same time.

October 9, 2007 was one of the worst days of my life! It was the day I had a tonsillectomy. A tonsillectomy is when a surgeon takes your tonsils out. I was having my tonsils and adenoids out. Now I will tell you what a tonsillectomy was like for me.
The night before the surgery you eat your dinner and you go to sleep and by midnight you are not aloud to eat. So I woke up in the middle of the night and was really worried. It was so hard to get back to sleep. I woke up the next morning really nervous with butterflies in my stomach. The thing that was worrying me was the needle that they were going to stick into me to make me fall asleep. I was afraid that it was going to really hurt. I was also concerned that I would not go to sleep even with the needle. I eventually fell back asleep for a few hours.
In the morning I could only drink water until 9:30. I couldn't have any breakfast. We left home at 10:30 and quickly stopped in at school to get homework and to say good bye. It was nice to see some friends before I went to the hospital. It calmed me down for a little while anyway.
When we got to Children’s Hospital, we had to check in at the Surgical Day Care. There was actually a line up of other kids getting surgeries done. I looked at all the other kids and they did not look worried at all. I wanted to turn around and get out of there. When we got to the front of the line the nurse that was checking me in said, “Your surgery is at 12:30 and you can go sit over there on those benches till they call you”. I listened to my i pod while we waited to calm my nerves. Then the nurse opened the door and called my name to come in. I thought my heart was going to pop out as I was so scared.`
She brought me and my parents to a curtained off room. She asked me to get in to a hospital gown. After I changed, the woman came in and put a cream on my hand that makes it numb so I can’t feel the needle. The hospital calls it “magic cream”. Maybe they could have used all of that magic on something else maybe like on getting me out of there! I sat in that room for about 10 minutes and then the nurse brought me out to where all of the other kids wait for their surgery. It was packed!! Unfortunately, the only seat left was right next to the door where all the kids come out from surgery. This was not the greatest seat to sit in because when you watch all the kids come out from surgery it makes you want to cry not only because it makes you more worried but also because you feel bad for them. Imagine a little girl being rolled out on a bed after her surgery. She was crying and moaning and her face had lots of purple spots on it. My Mom told me that she had some laser surgery done on her face to get rid of marks. That is what I had to see over and over.
I had been waiting 2 ½ hours and no one had called my name. My surgery was an hour late so far. I was getting really hungry and more and more nervous. My Dad went to go ask how much longer it would be. The nurse said that the surgeon was running behind and there were two more people ahead of me. Yikes!!! That is the moment I thought I would just walk out of there and not do the operation. I got so mad at my parents for making me do this. It was going to be another 2 hours before my surgery and I didn’t think I would make it. The nurse gave me a bed to lay down in and I watched Seinfeld to get my mind off my nerves, headache and hunger. I started to get dizzy and a little nauseous from not eating. I thought to myself that this must be what it feels like on Yom Kippur. Finally at 3:15 when I was the last patient in a once busy waiting room, a nurse came to bring me into surgery. This made me cry. When I got into the surgery room I saw all of these silver bowls and tools. My Dad came in with me all dressed up in a blue cap, slippers and a yellow gown. That made me laugh a little.
My Dad held my hand as they put the gas mask over my face. I tried really hard not to fall asleep but the gas was too strong . I guess that is when they put the I.V. in my hand and started the operation. I was in surgery for half an hour and then they brought me out to recovery. My parents said I was really funny when I woke up. I asked for Popsicle's right away and had three by the time I got up to my room for the night.
I had to share a room with another girl that also got her tonsils out. I wasn’t too excited about this but that is all they could do. My Grandparents came to visit me and brought me balloons. I really appreciated that. I watched T.V with my brother for a while and then my Dad and Jeremy went home. It was just my Mom and I for the night. The nurses kept coming in to check my vital signs, give me Tylenol and ask how my throat was. It actually felt O.K. I couldn’t fall asleep though. There were lots of beeps and moans and noises coming from other patients. The IV machine kept beeping through the night. It was really annoying. I probably slept about 2 hours the whole night. My Mom tried to sleep in the chair beside me. She kept telling me to sleep but I couldn’t so I watched movies and my Mom got me more Popsicle's. In the morning the surgeon came to see me and said my tonsils and adenoids were very big. It was a good thing that I got them taken out. He told me about what to expect as I healed and said I could go home. Yeah!!
The days following were really hard. My throat hurt so much. I could barely swallow. I could only eat about three spoons of a Slurpee. Can you imagine turning down a Slurpee, milkshake and frappacino? I have started eating some soup and cannot wait to eat a big bowl of chips when I am better. It takes two weeks to feel better and three weeks to be completely healed. One more week to feel better. I can’t wait!
This has been my adventure with a tonsillectomy. Stay tuned as the adventure continues. The disgusting scabs are due to fall off any day now. I understand this can be the beginning of another adventure.

Looking Great

Everyone the website is looking amazing. Thanks for putting all your work on.

From Jonah

Homework for October 15

1. Hook and Outline due on Wednesday
2. Reading Response due on tomorrow ( Tuesday)

My 2ND Fairy Tale Character Sketch By Jonah

The Hare

• He is clumsy and uncoordinated. He trips and falls all the time.
• He is slow and out of shape because he spends all his time creating his own inventions.
• He is kind and helps others. He is a big brother to a disadvantaged child.
• He is very well liked and has a lot of friends.
• He is a genius. He went to Yale, and Harvard.
• His family is very large. He has 3 brothers and 2 sisters. They are very supportive of one another. They love his inventions.
• His heroes are Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.
• He invents things to help mankind.
• He loves animals. He owns an animal shelter.
• He is very modest.

Stereotype Response By Jonah

Stereotype

What we have been learning in Tikkun Olam, made me a better person. When I used to look at somebody with tattoos, piercing etc. I would assume that they are bad. But now I learned that looks don’t matter it’s their personality. This lesson made me think of when I used to make mean jokes about other cultures. It seemed funny when it was not about Jews but when it was, then it was hurtful. This lesson affected my life a lot and made me look back at everything that I have done. Like, when I see Arabs I get a weird feeling. I guess what I am trying to say is that there are many stereotypes in the world. No matter how much we want it to stop, we can’t. We can’t change other people’s feelings but you can start by changing your own.

Another Jonah's Poetry Response

Ernest Mann

The first sentence in the poem is “You can’t order a poem like you order a taco”. To me this means that you can’t just order a poem, it has to come to you. You have to open your eyes and see the beauty in everyday things like “the odd sock in your drawer”. Naomi Shihab Nye, the poet was trying to tell the reader to let the poetry in to you life.

I like the title because giving two skunks for a Valentine like Ernest Mann is not your usual Valentines gift. Just because everybody thinks skunks are ugly does not mean they really are. By giving them as a Valentines gift he showed the world how beautiful skunks can be and the poetry in their beauty.

I think poetry can’t be forced. It is something creative and imaginative that finds us when we don’t except it. My favorite part is the ending because the poet is telling us that maybe if we look at something like a pencil, we can discover the hidden beauty inside of it. Overall I learned that we need to be open minded and get to know the people we don’t know very well. We may find out something new about them.

race to the fridge

the boy as short as a midget
came running home so fast that he almost slipped
his stomach groled as loud as a tiger growling
he was as hungry like no one fed him for days

he looked at the fridge like he was going to eat it
he ran towards it like it was a marathon
first slow as a turtle
then as fast as a cheetah

the floor was as slippery as cold ice
when he fell he could see the reflection of his bruses
his face his the ground as hard as a rock


p.s sorry for the other post i pressed enter by accident

by : Sharon A.

race to the fridge

my room

My room
My relaxing and peaceful place
where i listen to music
My sanctuary

My room
My organized and clean room like
walking into a hotel room
My personal space

My room
My window open
the wind blowing fresh air
that cools me down

My room
a place where all my emotions come out
a place where i have
dreams and nightmares

Prejudice

Being prejudice is horrible, because prejudice can lead to war and killing, we don’t need another Holocaust on are hands. Over twenty million people died between 1938-1946. There has been a whole lot of prejudice and racism going on in South Africa, from 1948 when the nationalist party got voted in and apartheid came about.

Apartheid ties in with prejudice because the whites were prejudice against the blacks. This meant that at the time the blacks didn’t get much money spent on their education. They had to go to different schools, washrooms, water fountains, public transportation, stores and restaurants because people were prejudice and racist. This lead to the establishment of the African National Congress (A.N.C.), an illegal black party, who were freedom fighters fighting to end apartheid and among them there leader Nelson Mandela. The A.N.C. also had some white supporters.

Apartheid ended when at least 85% of registered voters came to vote. About 68% of them said yes to talks that aimed at creating a new political structure where the black majority would participate in choosing South Africa’s government.

F.W. de Klerk released Nelson Mandela in 1990, and the first democratic vote took place in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was voted into office.

Since then prejudice has taken a turn around against the whites. This because there is now affirmative action, which means a certain percentage of workers have to be black. So the least likely person to get a job in South Africa is a white woman. Also, a white man around 30 years old who is a qualified accountant would have a harder time getting a job than a black man in the same position. Even if the white man had more experience and more qualifications, the black man would get the job first.

I feel the world would be a much better place if no one were prejudice to one another. In Nelson Mandela’s words “Never, never and never again shall this beautiful land feel the oppression to one by another”.

Book review by Alex

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabaret

Author: Brian Selznick

Genre: Adventure

What it's about: The invention of Hugo Cabaret is about a boy who's father is a mechanical man. Hugo's father was called to go to a museum where he found a messed up mechanical man Hugo tolled his father to fix the man so that's what he did. One night Hugo's father didn't come back...

What I thought:I thought that this book was amazing. all the pictures were amazing. I thought that it was very gripping . I recommend this book to people who have a big imagination.

Book Review by Aleesha R.

Tittle: TTFN (ta ta for now)
Author:Lauren Myracle
About the book
TTFN is about these girls that are the best of friends. One of the girl's name is Angela her family is having a lot of trouble so there thinking of moving away. Angela does not wanna move away because she loves her friends Maddie and Zoe and she loves her home tome Atlanta and her school. Maddie is like the "bad"girl in the story. sometimes she can sometimes be bit sappy. Then there is Zoe she is like the person who lives her life safe, she doesn't take risks. later on in the book u couldn't say anymore she is safe. she becomes a medium "bad" girl. Also this book is written in MSN writing.

p.s. u should only read this book if u no what this means: ;)--)--(well i (L) ts bk its so cl

jk aleesha

Janine's "My Room Poem"

My Room
My own space
To relax in the
quiet sandy beach

My room
Where I can here
waves crashing
and the dolphins jumping

My room
Where I can
Image my
home in marine life

My room
My personal area
Where I can picture
my life loving dolphins

My room
My personal
space to play
with my dreams

Janine Nifco

Powerful thoughts from Marc L.

What is Prejudice?


Prejudice here, discrimination there. From leaving out the "geek" in your game, to the Holocaust. Both are the same idea, just on different levels. It starts out with a kid telling a racist joke which slowly can lead to fighting, war and or genocide. The consequences of prejudice are that there could be hatred of the group, person or race who pre-judges. Everyone has in some way or another been prejudiced against, and has prejudged others.

In my life I hear prejudice all the time, whether it be on television or on the playground at school. I care for all kinds of people, races and religions. If anyone I know pre-judges someone else, I would do anything possible to stop the bad vibes. Prejudice can cause conflict around me which upsets me. There’s often an unnaturally cold feeling in the air when bad things are said.

So before you go and judge someone else, think what the consequences could be. How would you feel being pre-judged by someone you don’t even know?

Marc L. :) -6A

Jonah's Character Sketch

The Tortoise

• He is muscular. He goes to the gym every 2^ND day.
• He is fast. He runs 10 laps a day on a track.
• He is a sore winner because he has never lost a race and his parents tell him he is the best.
• He is called names: (The Invincible, Ladies man, Cheetah and Jet.)
• Ladies man: He is strong, good looking, and famous.
• His family is mean. They only let him eat salad. They don’t let him have any friends and he can only run.
• He is very social. He is always interviewed by MTV, TRL, Sports Illustrated, on the red carpet, and J-14.
• He is a singer. He recorded a song with Will I. AM., Called I Got It from My Dada. He wrote and sings a song with Kayne West called Stronger.
• The Tortoise is rich, which is one of the reasons he is famous. He was on the show “The Hills” and in the Motion Picture “Supergood.”
• His attitude: With his friends and fans he acts all nice for publicity but for his opponents, he makes them feel like they are nothing.

Persona Poem by Jonah

The End

the end is near

the end is now

that is the only thing in my mind

as a water bottle being recycled

is no choice

I will be made into anything

I will never see my family again

I could see the recycling box

there were many other desperate water bottle

screaming for help

there is nothing I can do

suddenly the humans grip opened

my life was falling

the end is near

the end is now

By Jonah