Learning Circle Group: Places and Perspectives Middle School - PPM2 Sponsoring Teacher: Khuzama AlMomani Sponsor School: Pioneer Center for Gifted Students City: Zarka Country: Jordan Name of Project: Knowing You Made by Scarborough, Maine, USA

6 of Our Favorite Quotes “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” “Goals are dreams we strive to achieve.” “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.’ “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned in life: it goes on.” “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”

3 Quotes we Agree With and why “Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.” We think life is more important and too short to worry about political issues. Then again, we’re all kids. “I make you smile for the simple fact I'm good at it, I’ll make you smile just so I can sit and look at it.” Smiling is good - it makes people happy when they see another happy person. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” We think to achieve peace, you need to stop the war first.

3 Quotes we Disagree With and Why “Children are to be seen, not heard.” We disagree with this because we believe children should be allowed to voice their own opinions. “What goes around, comes around.” We think there is a chance that someone in the circle of unkindness would stop what’s going around, putting an end to the negative chain reaction. “Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.” We believe anyone can and should enjoy life no matter what your social class.Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.

3 of Our Favorite Books Ender’s Game - this book takes place in a future where an alien race is attacking the humans. The main character is a six year old genius named Ender Wiggin who goes to a Battle School in the stars to train to be a commander of the army. He goes through a very tough time that strains him both mentally and physically. He is isolated from everyone else on the ship along with his friends and family back on Earth. By the time he is nine, the teachers in the Battle School are ready to give Ender his final test – and Earth’s final battle. The Hunger Games - this book is about people from different districts (which are sort of like countries) who are chosen to fight to the death against each other in an arena. The winner gets all the fame and fortune they desire. This book has a strong female role and I think that’s great because not a lot of books have that. Last Shot - it’s about two people in middle school who are chosen to cover the Final Four basketball games in New Orleans. While looking around before the games, they hear a conversation between a business man and the star player of MSU. They hear that the player is being blackmailed to throw the game between MSU and Duke. They decide to write about it and reveal the situation to everyone else.

5 People we Would Like to Have Dinner With Asa Butterfield because he’s my favorite actor. Asa is a sixteen year old actor from Great Britain. He played Hugo Cabret in the movie Hugo (2011), Norman in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008). He will be starring as Ender Wiggin in Ender’s Game which is coming out in America November 1st of this year. Kevin Garnett because he is good at basketball. He plays for the Boston Celtics and I have liked him since he joined the team. I like him more than others because I think he is better player on and off the court than anyone else. I would like to have dinner with Michael Jordan because of all the struggles he had to overcome to play in the NBA and how he handled them. After all that, he became one of the best players to ever play in the NBA. I am also amazed by his drive and his will to win. For example, he played a whole game with flu. I don't play or try as hard because I think that I can't win. I think it is very impressive that he didn't make it his freshmen year of high school and then he came back and was a starter the next year. This shows that he had an amazing determination to be the best that he could be and I find that inspiring. I would like to have dinner with Martin Luther King Jr. because he is an important figure in civil rights and what he did was inspirational to me. I would like to have dinner with Bill Gates because I am interested in computers and the economy. I also think it’s inspirational how he has so much money and still donates to charity and thinks he should pay more taxes.

5 of Our Favorite Places London, England The Virgin Islands Cancun, Mexico Cozumel, Mexico The Caribbean

London, England

The Virgin Islands

Cancun, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico

The Caribbean

Sources Cited