This column describes how Legos are literally "building blocks" for kids brains and imagination. They help a kid learn many life skills and help deliver some peace to parents.

Hyperlink to article: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

I believe that the line "In the end, that's the magic of these polymer bricks whose funny name is a Danish contraction for "play well." With Legos, kids build sturdy little creations – which, in turn, build sturdy kids. ?" This quote helps deliver the standing statement the author is trying to portray in her writing. When the author wrote this it helped sum up the entire column by providing a good finishing sentence that left the reader pondering. The author uses a lot of commas within the piece I have chosen, I believe this helps break up the sentence to keep it from giving the illusion of a run-on. Also the author uses a questioning statement at the very end, thus helping me infer that she is stating her opinion but also creating a question to let the reader create their own thought. The author also incorporates larger words such as "contraction" and " creation" which are larger then the other words, although they are not very big they are larger then the average in that passage. This was a perfect example of a finishing sentence.

Ramsey's writing format  usually focuses on what is going on in the society around us or about certain studies that may help our lives. When she is writing she usually focuses on the facts about what everyone knows then delivers what she has discovered, like when she said " in the era of violent video games and highly orchestrated "enrichment" activities, a humble pile of Lego bricks is still among the most captivating and creative sorts of child's play." We all know that video games aren't the best for growing minds and that Legos are a better substitute, but then she goes deeper and explains why Legos are better. When she goes deeper into the explanation you start to follow the facts and create an understanding on why (a certain subject) is better. "And out of all those wonderful things that adults want kids to master but never let them learn on their own – process, trial-and-error, deduction, elimination – chaos will turn to order. Meanwhile, a work ethic is built in: If you want to play with the toy, you have to make it first." She also incorporates passages like a over into her writing that tell you where you are or we're going wrong.

If I were able to ask Krista Ramsey 3 questions they would be:
1: why do you write about what is going on in the society around us?
2: would you consider yourself closely related to a reporter? 
3: where do you get your ideas to write about, news? Other authors? Online studies?

The book “Allegiant” is still a great book! I have continued reading and just cannot put it down. If I had to choose the best thing about the book it would have to be the amount of action and twist the characters encounter. When Veronica Roth wrote this series she made the characters come to life, she describes every detail immensely. The action continuously leaves you begging for more and the twists blow your mind! Although I did rate it a 10/10 there has to be a downside. If I had to choose the worst part of the book I would say it is the fact that she isn't^th book. Veronica Roth has such a great capability with molding words into astonishing books.  I hope she continues cranking out best sellers! 

going to make a 4

Throughout the wonderful spring break I discovered the book "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth. It is the 3rd book in the "Divergent" trilogy. This book came to me as I was driving to North Carolina, I had an 9 hour drive ahead of me so what better way to pass time then read! I picked up the book and just couldn't put it down, it is an amazing book. I read approximately 450 out of the 660 pages!

The book is about Tris and Tobias (main characters) who risk their lives to discover the truth of what is outside of their society. They gather a group of friends who sneak out of the cities protection in order to reveal the secrets that have been withheld from them. I won't go into to much detail because I don't want to spoil the book but it is amazing. I have read the other two previous books in the trilogy and loved them both. Veronica Roth does a great job publishing exhilarating novels that bring the reader to the edge of their seat!

 She uses lots of dialogue in the novel to describe what is being viewed by the character, also she uses vast amounts of diction that create a certain perspective. She added a new element that she never did before, she made divided the chapters into different characters. In her previous books it was all communicated through Tris, but now it is communicated through both Tris and Tobias. This element she inserted helped me understand as a reader how other characters are viewed in the eyes of Tobias. Overall it is a fabulous book, if you haven't read the trilogy yet START READING. They are amazing book and you won't be disappointed.

Danny Blakeman                                            Blogger           

This trimester I have learned a lot throughout the blogging experience. I have begun to read more and get really excited when I find a good book or understand a new word. I have been reading slower then I used to, I believe that I have learned to slow down and take all the details in. I have enjoyed those 2.5 books much more then I would have if I had just flown by. Also I have been remembering the details in the stories better and creating my own text to self-relationships.  Reading wise I almost reached my goal for amount of books, I read a total of 2.5 out of 3. Even though I haven’t reached my goal quite yet I hope to by the end of finals. My goal for the year is to read 12 books. If I read 3 books in 3 months I should be able to finish 12.

 I unfortunately really struggled with using goodreads, no matter how hard I tried I just didn’t pick up on it. Next trimester in English B I hope to understand goodreads better. I have always had trouble finding good books that stick to me and make me want to read. When I do find a book that I love I just can’t set it down and I love that feeling. Having pleasure when reading is fantastic because it is like TV but a healthy stimulant.  I think goodreads will help me find more good books to enjoy and embark on. 

 Throughout blogging every week I have noticed that I use a lot of my own opinions on the story rather than facts. I wanted to insure that I had plenty of opinions so people decide for themselves if it is worth reading. I find it better to look at how other people view the story, anyone can make a summary sound good, but the real matter is if the story really is good. My goal when blogging was to get readers excited about reading the story and want to find out what happens.  I think I also did very well trying to improve my vocabulary each week. I have gained a great deal of words that I use everyday. I have even started to do “Word of the Day” trying to advance my knowledge.

The quality of my blogging has vastly improved since the beginning. In the beginning I used very little text to ….. Referencing and my vocabulary was very poor. Throughout the blogging my vocabulary has exceedingly increased and my writing elements have become common. You can tell I have improved because I use much larger words and I compare text to text in this sentence: “This element that she incorporated is very similar to what they do in the book “BZRK” compared to my older versions of “The best thing about this book is the intense action scenes that are described so well.” Those examples show that I have improved. 

Recently I have started the book “Allegiant” by the author Veronica Roth. This book differs from the other 2 books in the trilogy because it has more than one protagonist that you read as. By this I mean each chapter is a different person that you are reading as. I find this element that she chose very revealing, it brings out the inner thoughts of characters that you had wondered about. At the same time I feel that it makes the story hard to understand due to the fact that the two characters are very different.  This element that she incorporated is very similar to what they do in the book “BZRK”. I did a review on the book “BZRK” and only gave it 3/5 stars.

 This story plot so far is very fluctuating, it can be very mellow and then complete chaos. Personally I like it when a plot fluctuates because it leaves you on the edge of your seat anticipating what’s going to happen next. Also the main character is very bipolar, she is so unpredictable which is why I love her, I think she acts a lot like me.

 The vocabulary in the novel is very straight forward and uses a decent amount of slang. The slang I think just shows how all of the characters are still young and even though they live in a different time they speak similar. On page 77 it says “Learning about factories. I can’t wait” he smirks” This just shows how similar they speak because of the sarcasm he used. So far I think this book is very well written but hard to comprehend the transition between characters. 

Today I am blogging about concussions. I decided to do this after having a very severe one during my football season this year. I got illegally blindsided resulting in an immediate concussion. This changed my life because I was taken out of football for 3 weeks, I have trouble concentrating, and my grades have lowered. I was extremely lucky though; I continued to play that game and continued to get hit. Usually when you continue to play you get something known as second impact syndrome. This is when you continue to play and you get a concussion on top of a concussion. This can lead to severe permanent brain issues and even death. I read a blog on the effects of concussions and read about how to prevent them and how the national drug association is trying to limit them as much as possible. Check it out!

 

Article on Concussions:

I have just finished the book Insurgent which is the 2^nd book in the Divergent Trilogy. I am about to start reading the book Allegiant. This is the third book in the trilogy. I decided to read it after reading the first 2 books and completely loving them. 

 I predict that in this book Tris (the man character) will end up dying or she will find out go to the outside world and discover something very serious. I also believe that the outside world will capture her and perform tests to try to discover how to make more people divergent.

 I think the entire colony will leave and go after the outside world either causing serious chaos or death of all of them.  I am a little pessimistic about the book after hearing some of the reviews.  About 45% of the reviews said it was a terrible book and it isn’t worth reading. Im reading it anyways and i will post agin to keep you updated.