Rats Blog 12/14/12

Jacob

12/14/12

            In reading groups we are reading a book called Where The Lilies Bloom. This book is about a family with a sick farther. The main characters name is Mary Call. Mary Call is trying to keep her family together during the tough times. Her father, Roy Luther, has made her keep some promises if he dies. She is to let Roy Luther go quietly, not call a doctor, and to keep his oldest daughter, Devola, from marrying their land lord, Kiser. Soon Roy Luther dies and Mary Call must take action. She finds a book for wildcrafting and intends to make some money. Some of the themes in this book are keeping the family together, keeping Kiser away from Devola, and Southern Literature.       

Snowflake

I’m a snowflake

Falling to the ground

I’m going to try to make the floor shake

I’ll stand out

Be the one snowflake you can tell from the others

But in a week or two I’ll be gone

And the butterflies will flutter

Am I worried about that?

No, not really

Because in my life I’ll be that biker

That pops all the wheelies

Or maybe in my life, I won’t make a sound

But for now I’m a snowflake falling to the ground     

Weekly Blog 11/30/12

Jacob

11/30/12

            Last week we went to the Genesis shelter. The Genesis shelter is a place where homeless babies and there families can have a temporary home. After a while though they need to move on out of the shelter and find their own home. While they are living there, the baby’s family members try to go out and find jobs. The shelter gets donations that they use to help the babies and their families. A lot of the time the families find homes and can rebuild their life. Most of the donations that the shelter gets are items that the baby can use, like diapers, or bottles. We also went to a place called the Georgia Justice Project. This is a place where adults can talk to homeless kids that have a criminal record. They try to talk them into ways they can turn their life around and get them a home and job. One of our students dad runs the project. He says its always rewarding helping people in need. After going to these places and seeing all the people in need I felt as if I was responsible just for having more than them. It was a strange feeling and I think that all of us need to help a little.    

  

Weekly Blog 11/16/12

Jacob

11/16/12

            On our trip to Foxfire this week we learned a lot of things. We learned that growing up is tough in the mountains. People had to make a lot of things themselves, like toys. They were always diligent with there work and lived in single room houses. They had to make there own tools to do all this work on the mountains. I liked the blacksmith area the best. I think Foxfire is important because we need to learn how other people lived back in those days.   

                                                What I’m Thankful For

1                                                                      Music

2                                                                   Good times

3                                                      Warm heat during the winter

4                                                      Cold air during the summer

5                                                                   Lazy days

6                                                                  My brother

7                                                                    Friends

8                                                                     Films

9                                                               Movie making

1                                                      A roof above my head

1                                                           Second chances

1                                                                Mistakes

1                                                                Summer

1                                                                 Family

1                                                             My fast feet

1                                                                Choices

1                                                         Food on the table

1                                                               Learning

1                                                               Seasons

2                                                                Stories  

Weekly Blog 11/12/12

Jacob

11/9/12

            This week we have been learning about the Appalachia culture. Long ago Native Americans, Europeans, and escaped slaves came to live in the mountains. Later people from all over came for the rich farm land and lumber. Soon the culture of the people began to mix. Coal mining started. Music and dance was a big thing to do up in the mountains. You usually taught yourself. Families were close and made arts and crafts, such as a cornhusk wreath. Next week we are going to Foxfire Museum, were we will learn more about the people that lived there.      

Appalachia Poem

Work, Work, Work

Everyday we’re working

Whether it’s building the house

Or planting the crops

Sometimes working in the mines

It’s work

I want to build an instrument

Father says that will take time we don’t have

The roof is almost on our small house

It’s been hard moving up to the mountains

Yet we’re free

I know that back down there is no freedom

Here we can do what we choose

And if some work is the cost of that

I’ll buy it  

Blog Post 11/2/12

Jacob

11/2/12

            The Trail of Tears was when all the Cherokee walked on a trail to leave their territory for the white settlers. President Jackson made troops come into the Cherokee grounds to grab the Cherokee to walk them on the trail. They were first forced to stay at prison camps until fall. When fall came, they started walking on the long trail. People started dying in the first few weeks. It was a sad time of death for the Cherokee. The things they had on them when there were taken is what they would wear for about a year. Some had to hike though the snow with no shoes on and little clothing. About a fourth of the Cherokee population was wiped out.  

Walking

As I walk

Sometimes I see death

People lying on the side of the road

But they deserve better

They treat us like animals

Give us little to eat

No clothing

To keep us warm

My feet

They feel like they have frozen solid

 Without shoes it is hard

Walking

It feels like that’s all I know

We’ve been walking for so long

So cold

So cold

I am truly chilled to my bones

-Jacob

Jacob's Blog 10/26/12

Jacob

10/26/12

            This week we went to Dahlonega up in Georgia. While we were there we went to a museum that taught us about the history of the gold rush. We learned about the gold belts in Georgia and where they’re located. We saw a giant machine that crushed the rock and found the gold for people. We learned that the machine never turned off and it was hard to repair. If the miners worked there too long they would lose hearing because it was so loud. We also learned that there is gold in the bricks in the building of the museum. After we left the museum we made our way to the mine. I learned that in the mine, the mine is actually the biggest gold mine east of the Mississippi. We also learned that the mine is not fully dug out. A lot of it is still buried in mud. Gold is holding up the mine. The gold is worth a lot of money but if they go mine it they would all die. Some things I liked in the mine where the track that ran though it. I don’t really know why but it made me like the place more. I also liked the gold panning. I didn’t get anything but it was still fun to do. I also enjoyed the movie they showed us at the museum. Dahlonega was fun but it didn’t beat Cloudland Canyon.  

      

Weekly Blog 10/19/12

            On Tuesday, we went to a place far up in Georgia called Cloudland Canyon. When we got there it was amazing. The canyon was filled with red, orange, and yellow trees. It was huge too and completely breathtaking. When we hiked down we saw a stream that just seamed to sparkle. It looked like something out of a nature documentary, which I don’t find interesting, but experiencing the view is another thing. The last thing is when we went a bit deeper and saw a giant waterfall. If you focused on one stream of the water falling down it looked like sand or snow slowly falling. Also, we saw a giant rock over hanging made by a stream. Nothing much else to say about that. Before we went there we learned that trees grow in the shale, which is a type of rock. When we went we saw that the trees were growing on the side of the wall. We also learned that all the waterfalls are only waterfalls after it recently rains. On Monday it rained and then we saw that the waterfall was defiantly active when we were there. We also learned that the walls are made up of layers of rock.

            While we were there, we had to film movies about the vocabulary words we’ve been learning about. My group was Josh, Luke, and me. we made a movie about two 10-year olds looking for a man that didn’t share snack with them.

            I really liked this trip. The only thing I would fix is shortening the bus ride a little. But the canyon was amazing and I think everyone really enjoyed it. 

Waterfall

The way I think of it

Everything has a journey

To embark on

Even water

The water is flowing

Flowing closer and closer

To the edge of the cliff

It will fall off of

But water knows that it must do this

It’s part of its journey

It flows off the side

And with a hard thump

Flows down into the river

Below the cliff

To start over again

Like the sun and the moon

-Jacob Dannenfelser

Blog 10/12/12

            Last week we all took a trip to Arabia Mountain. At the mountain we took loads of pictures. The pictures we took were mostly about the different ecosystems. We also took frequent breaks to write poetry along the way. We could choose what form of a poem we wanted to write. We probably hiked up the whole mountain and around the whole mountain. The hikes were tiring and made our feet sore. On the side of the mountain we measured the weathering pits and took pictures of them.

            We took a trip to Stone Mountain a while ago and the two mountains share similarities and differences. Two similarities in the mountains are they are both made of granite and both have had quarry work done on them. Two differences are that Stone Mountain it taller and Arabia is shorter, and Arabia Mountain is older than Stone Mountain.  

                                          Small pond on mountain

                                          View from the top of the mountain

Path Movie

Weekly Blog 9/20/12

This week we learned a lot about the history of Atlanta. We learned that because of all the railroads in Atlanta the city was expanding and changing shape. Because of all the railroads we were building we were able to trade with the rest of the USA. With all this trading businesses were able to be made and people were getting rich. Schools were being built and gas companies were being made. But Atlanta was separated. They divided the city by race. One side of it was white and the other was black. Soon a race riot started. Whites thought that blacks were harassing white women so a group attacked every black they saw. Some were killed and many where injured. Eventually they fought back and everyone started to stand down when the army was called in. Racism wasn't the only problem in ATL. Crime and job shortages were a big deal in this time. In 1930, Atlanta unfortunately became home to the Ku Klux Klan. When World War II was happening, women and children were working in the factories since the men had left. Whites moved to the suburbs. This brought federal laws to the city. As you can see we have come a long way since then and it's very hard to imagine living in that time period.

Oakland Picture and Poem

At Oakland we were asked to take separate photos of different letters to spell out a word. After we finished that we were told to write a poem on that word.

What’s tragic

Death is tragic

Loss is tragic

Tragedy is like a boat without a place to go

It finds a way into your heart and stays there, a float

Tragedy is the sun

It rises up and then eventually leaves

A face with no smile on it is tragic

Thoughts can be tragic

What can we do

What can we do to take tragedy out of our lives

We can’t do a thing

And that’s tragic

Tragedy

That’s tragic 

Oakland

            Today at Oakland Cemetery I learned so many things. I learned a lot about different people of Georgia but my favorite people have to be the Rich Department Brothers. Their department store was the first and the first to have an elevator and a plate glass window. Those are the windows with manikins in them. 

           Besides walking around in the heat all day, I really liked Oakland. It felt like I was really looking into the past and blew my mind. The architecture is amazing and really fancy. The way it was all laid out was really cool. 

             

Weekly Reflection 9/7/12

This week in school we learned a lot. We learned what a watershed is. A watershed is a body of land affected by water. We also learned that Georgia has 52 watersheds. Another thing that I learned was what the word inhibit means. Inhibit means to block out or to stop. The word is a good thing to do in class if you’re getting distracted. I think I did pretty well this week. I wanted to improve my hand writing this week and I think I did well. A goal for myself next week would be to work on doing some quality work.  

Weekly Reflection 9/5/12

Hi I’m Jacob and I’m a student at Howard. I’m 14 years old and am in Ms. Whitt’s class in 8^th grade. I like film making and acting in movies. I team up with my friends and make home movies on the weekends. I have a younger brother that’s here in the middle school. His name is Josh and he’s 11. I like running. When I run I fell good but I don’t like running competitively. I also want to learn how to play the guitar. This year I’m looking forward to the trips we get to take. They sound really interesting and so far this year in Transition is going great. The teachers are helpful and everyone is friendly. The year looks good.