In The Hiding Place  Corrie ten Boom tells the story of her life before, during, and after World War II. We see the war from the perspective of a non-Jew, who risked her life to protect the lives of the Jewish people. We see how hard it was to work in the “underground.” She tells us how much life changed during the course of only a few years. Her family goes from being a humble watch-making family to a family who uses those very watches as secret codes. They had to learn how to do things secretly, and it took a lot of training to not get caught. Even the walls of her house had to be moved for her to hide people. Corrie had so much love for people, and she could not turn anyone away. She had to be careful to let the right people in. She only made one mistake, but that was all it took to ruin their operation. We see how the terrible conditions in concentration camp turned out to be the perfect setting for sharing the love of Christ.

We can learn a lot about humility, self-sacrifice, and love from Corrie ten Boom. I enjoyed seeing the war from her perspective. She has amazing skills as a writer and tells us in detail the events that took place. This war was absolutely terrible. The disrespect that the Germans had for the human life was astonishing. The war was nasty, but in the darkest moments, Christ’s love shines the brightest.

After I finished reading her book, I wanted to show the world what I had learned. I made some of the quotes from her book into posters that will hopefully impact you as much as they impacted me. These are the lessons that I took from the book. They are the things that touched me the most.

Have you ever read The Hiding Place? What did you learn from it? Did these quotes have an impact on your life? Comment your answers below.

You can check out my classmates’ posts here:

Keegan’s post

Anna’s post

Pedro’s post

Joao’s post

When I read Anne Frank’s diary, I got to see inside of her mind. I saw a part of her. It felt so real. I feel like the things that she wrote in her Diary describe her. They tell us who she is. So, here is a look inside the mind of Anne Frank.

Do you want to see what my classmates thought of The Diary of Anne Frank and The Zookeeper’s Wife?

Anna’s post

Prakriti’s post

Our class wanted to learn more about World War II, so we decided to read books on the subject. I chose to read The Diary of Anne Frank. It was really cool to see a part of Anne Frank in her diary. She talks about the changes that took place in her life because of this terrible war. She shows what it was really like to be in hiding. We see the everyday difficulties that the Jews faced. I love this Diary because Anne holds nothing back, she just pours out whatever is on her mind. It would encourage everyone to read this book that is full of raw emotion. Anne realized that life in hiding was going to be her life for a while. She realized that others were living in worse conditions, or not living at all. She was grateful for what she had. She just lived her life, trying to be as normal as she could be. Then one day her life was taken from her. Anne was a young teenager, just beginning to appreciate life. She had hopes and dreams for after the war. She wanted to be a writer. Anne was just a child, who could have done great things for the world, but they killed her. The Nazis also killed many other people with real lives and emotions like Anne. It was truly a sad time in history…Anne is an amazing writer, and she does a great job of describing her life! Aside from the Historical aspect of the book, there is so much more to learn. This diary encourages other young readers to start a diary of their own. Anne never expected anyone to read it, but now many schools across the world require their students to read it.

My class has finished reading The Giver. We wrote down our thoughts as we read and then we discussed them in class. When it came time to show what we learned, we decided that a plain book report was too easy. We challenged ourselves to come up with something creative. And BINGO! We thought of something different. Introducing Hidden Reflections…

My class worked in groups or alone to come up with different posters showing The Giver. The  poster shown is my Hidden Reflections poster. I had to be creative in displaying the story without giving anything away. Only the people who truly understood the book will be able to understand what the poster means. I want to challenge you to find the “hidden reflections” in the post. See how many you can find. To tell me what you found, comment below.

(*Hint: you may need to zoom in on the picture)

Want to see more posters from my class?

Then check out these links

http://pedroglca.edublogs.org/2017/03/23/the-giver/

Keeping the dystopian theme, our teacher chose The Giver as our next book to read. The Giver, a mix of a utopia and a dystopia, was a really exciting book.

Jonas, one of the people living in this utopian community, is chosen as the Receiver of Memories. He gets to discover what life was like before “Sameness.” He experiences what no one else in the community is able to experience. There are both good and bad memories, and Jonas has to Receive them all. He becomes overwhelmed, and sees his community as a dystopia rather then a utopia. He wants things to change. As we read the book, we discover how Jonas deals with being selected as the Receiver. We watch as he changes the community.

My class just finished reading The Lord of the Flies. We journaled our thoughts and questions as we read and then when we finished, we did a book commercial. We were challenged to give our favorite parts of the book while not giving the book away. It was difficult, but here are the end results…

Check out the rest of my class’ book commercial here

http://joaoglca.edublogs.org/2017/03/10/lord-of-the-flies/

http://pedroglca.edublogs.org/2017/03/10/lord-of-the-flies-book-review

http://annaglca.edublogs.org/2017/03/23/lord-of-the-flies/

Are you planning to travel overseas? Here are some tips that will help you have a great time.

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PLAN AHEAD. Say you are in Madrid and you cannot wait to explore the city. You have no idea where you are going. Then, all of the sudden, you see a map of the city -but oh no, it is all in Spanish! It takes you 5 minutes to find a store that sells an English-Spanish dictionary, and then you try to translate everything into English, but you realize it is useless because there are not street names in the dictionary! You realize it is starting to get dark and you need to go back to the hotel. You take the wrong bus and have to walk in the rain to find your way back. Was there a way to prevent this? Yes, there was! You could have planned ahead. Before you go out on a great adventure, plan your route, find information about the places you would like to visit, and ask for advice from other people who have already been there.

FIND GREAT DEALS. Everywhere you go there is something I like to call “the tourist

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trap.” Locals know that tourists are willing to pay big bucks for things. They inflate the prices of tours, souvenirs, and even food. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do about it, but other times there is something you can do. You can use websites like http://www.budgettravel.com/ to find great deals ahead of time. You can go to the less popular markets where prices are lower, or you could even try to bargain with the shopkeepers. As for tours, most places have information booklets or pamphlets for free, and if not, then research and be your own tour guide. By saving money on these things, you will have more money to spend on other  things.

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TRY TO BLEND IN. Do you imagine yourself in Paris, looking at the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame? Just think, there you are in your “I Love Paris” t-shirt, taking photos with your selfie-stick, and trying to remember those French classes that you barely passed. Could it be any more obvious that you are a tourist? Try to avoid being the type of tourist that everyone expects. Before leaving your home, brush up on your French, plan to visit small local cafes that are not on the main streets, and wear clothes that blend in with the local people. Be sure to pack lightly, and try to shop for food in local markets. If you stay in an apartment instead of hotel, you will be among other locals and if might even be cheaper. Next time you travel, try stepping into the shoes of the locals, and you may see the country in a different perspective.

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Try New Things. While traveling, do not be afraid to try new things, because you may never have the opportunity again. You may actual enjoy eating something that looks gross! Do not refuse to go on an adventure, because it may just be the best adventure of your life. Come out of your comfort zone and just enjoy your experience.

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Remember Your Manners. You do not want to be tagged with having bad manners like these guys https://youtu.be/_6I5iWan77M . When planning your trip to a new country, look up the different customs and manners that you are expected to display. One of the worst things that you can do while traveling is  to offend the locals.  For more information about table manners around the world, go to http://yummy-planet.com/en/5-strange-table-manners-around-the-world .

I chose each of these posts to read because they sounded really interesting! I enjoyed this week’s challenge at http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org . These are my comments:

1. I responded to http://ethancaba14.edublogs.org/2016/04/27/oktoberfest/, saying:” Hi Ethan, Oktoberfest sounds super fun! I just have one question, do they play any games or other activities in addition to their eating? Thanks, Olivia. https://oliviaglca.edublogs.org ”

2. I read a very well written post at https://anna1111.edublogs.org/page/2/ .After I read a post about board games, I commented,”Hi Anna, I really enjoyed learning about the history of board games! One of my favorite board games is Clue. I have never heard of Farkle, could you write a post about it? -Olivia https://oliviaglca.edublogs.org/ ”

3. I thought that Bella did an wonderful job telling us about her favorites at http://bella8mds.edublogs.org/2015/03/31/a-few-of-my-favorite-things/ . I said to her,”Hi Bella, I was amazed at how well you write! It is quite amazing. Keep up the good work. Just to let you know, my favorite colors are turquoise and teal!- Olivia https://oliviaglca.edublogs.org “

I really enjoy playing Dutch Blitz. So for this week’s student blogging challenge, I researched Dutch Blitz at http://www.dutchblitz.com
Dutch Blitz was invented by Werner Ernst George Muller, to teach his kids numbers and colors. Now it is played by families all over the world.
Dutch Blitz is a fast-paced game, that will get your competitive side to come out.
To experience the Dutch Blitz feeling, you should bye a pack of your own. Have fun, but remember, it is extremely addictive.

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In Portugal, there is a really famous fish. It is the codfish. Portuguese people eat codfish in many different ways, and they eat almost every part. Some of the most famous dishes are codfish with cream or codfish with potatoes. Instead of potatoes, it is common to use little potato chip shavings. Portuguese people eat this meal for special occasions like Christmas and Easter. They buy dried codfish in the store, and then prepare it by soaking it in water for a very long time. So if you ever find yourself in Portugal, try codfish.

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