Graphic Novel: Bob in the Woods

In class, we are doing a graphic novel unit. We got to read graphic novels and make our own. It was really fun, but it was a long process.

The process:

First, I had to have an Idea. Since we only had a few weeks, I didn’t want something that would just keep on going. So I chose a groundhog that lives in the woods near our school for my character. Next I had to make a story and immediately I thought, villain and hero. But sometimes you can be your own hero and that’s what I wanted to do. So, I made a small problem over food. I had a story, now I needed a draft.I spent a lot of time on my draft, probably more than I needed to. But, eventually, I just did stick figures for my draft instead of detailed drawings, and brief pieces of text. Finally, it came to actually making the graphic novel. I had to really focus on this because, I am horrible at drawing. I can’t draw a good stick figure! But after I had feedback I got the hang of it.

My reflection:

I think my writing skills have improved through this project because, with a graphic novel I could’t put in all the details. I had to show emotions and actions through the illustrations. The writing is only dialogue. But, even with the problems,  I think this project was fun because it was different. I got a practice at art, and I practiced writing a fictional story that is completely made up. My reading was a little different. It was hard at first switching from one format to another because I was used to the regular novel form. So as you would expect, I kind of got bored. But then, after finding the right type of story and books, I kind of liked it. Yes, there were a few books I didn’t like, but I got through them.

Right here is my graphic novel. If you cannot find it for some reason, you will find mine and a lot more here, http://blogs.scarsdaleschools.org/cboyer/graphic-novels/

Capstone #2: Interview

For my Capstone interview, I contacted my uncle who knew a military engineer and gave him my questions. He forwarded my questions to the engineer. I was extremely satisfied with my answers.

I had around 8 pages of answers, and about 2 paragraphs per answer. I didn’t use all of the answers because I didn’t think they would be useful in my presentation. Once I actually got the answers, you might be thinking, “What would you do with them?”. Well, the same as any other research, take notes on it. I learned about the different engineering behind tanks, different types of armor and what the most common weaponry is. For example, I learned that the most common weapon type on tanks is, a Smoothbore gun. This is usually the main gun. I got a good amount of research and notes from the answers. I think they really helped me in finding more about the engineering of tanks, and I also got a few good search terms and links from it.

I thanked the engineer and I am very grateful that he took time out of his (probably extremely busy) work to answer my questions.

 

 

El Resturante

In school, we took a grade field trip to a Peruvian restaurant. Aside from a full stomach I learned how to order in Spanish and how to say polite things in Spanish. Some of the things we learned were:

Lomo Saltado – 
 
Está Rica – It is delicious

Está muy buena – The food is very good

 Me pasas              Por favor? – Pass me             please.
That is just a few of the stuff we learned. The food at the restaurant was really delicious. I think my favorite was the Pollo Saltado.  I think this trip was fun because it was almost like a break. Overall this trip was really exciting and it was an interesting learning experience.

Passion Project: Final

In class, we have a project called Passion Project. It’s where we research a topic of our choice. It’s basically a mini Capstone. For my topic, I chose the life of a Roman woman. I researched on various different websites, books, and even e-mailed a few college professors. I showed my research in a brief slideshow and while I presented, I talked off of my slides. Overall, I really liked this project and it was a great experience and I definitely learned a lot from my topic.

This is the slideshow I have made.