Nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica)

What does nopal mean?

Nopales are a vegetable made from the young stem segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. They are particularly common in their native Mexico. Nopal means cactus in spanish. Farmed nopales are most often of the species Opuntia ficus-indica, although the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible.

How are they sold?

Nopales are generally sold fresh, bottled, or canned, less often dried, to prepare nopalitos. They have a light, slightly tart flavor, and a crisp, mucilaginous texture.

Which are its health benefits?

Nopales are very rich in insoluble and especially soluble dietary fiber. They are also rich in vitamins (especially vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K, but also riboflavin and vitamin B6) and minerals (especially magnesium, potassium, and manganese, but also iron and copper). Nopales have a high calcium content, but the nutrient is not biologically available because it is present as calcium oxalate, which is neither highly soluble nor easily absorbed through the intestinal wall. Addition of nopales also reduces the glycemic effect of a mixed meal. Nopales are low carbohydrate and may help in the treatment of diabetes.

Which are its medicinal uses?

1. Diabetes: A quarter of prickly pear, half slice of pineapple and the juice of an orange or grapefruit. It is blended and liquified and taken daily, you lent ( do not eat anything before taking it).

2. Blood cholesterol (fat in the blood): Add 3 nopal roots to one liter of boiling water for ten minutes. The infusion is taken every day. There are no contraindications for any of them.

Nopales Recipes: http://http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/nopalitos_list.htm

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopal

"SQP3R"

UNDERSTAND FICTION: Read pages 17-21 and SQP3R in your BLOG.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is fiction?

2. Which ones are the key forms of fiction?

3. What's the plot?

4. What's a conflict?

5. Whom are the characters?

6. What's the setting?

7. What's the theme related to?

8. How do we apply the strategies?

MY PREDICTIONS:

1. Fiction's a story that's not real, it's about imaginative things.

2. One's about a single idea, and the other one's more complex.

3. The plot's the events happening during the story.

4. A conflict is the problem in the story.

5. The characters are the persons or animals involved in the story.

6. The setting's the place where the events take place.

7. The theme's related to the message the story leaves.

8. We predict what the story's going to be about before reading using our strategies.

ANSWERS:

1. Is a writing that comes from a writer's imagination.

2. SHORT STORY: revolves around a single idea, very short.

NOVEL: involves a more complicated plot, a longer work.

3. The sequence of events in a story.

4. A problem or struggle involving two or more opposing forces.

5. People, animals or imaginary creatures that take part in the action of the story.

6. The time and place in which the action of the story happens.

7. The meaning, moral or message about life that the writer conveys to the reader.

8. Previewing the story, then connecting, questioning, predicting and visualizing.

"Raymond's Run"

READ: Raymond's Run by Toni Cade Bambara Page 32.

A.- Summarize the events. (Write the plot in a cause effect sequence)

->First, Squeaky had two brothers. Raymond was disabled. She had to take care of him, as if he were her little brother. She was a Black girl whose family had not a lot of money. Squeaky was also a really good runner. She loved to run, and being in competitions of all kinds, like races, spelling bee contests, but what she loved the most was running.

->Then, Squeaky had a running rival, Gretchen. They were going to compete in the fifty-yard dash in the May Day program. Gretchen wasn't nice at Squeaky and Raymond. Neither were her two sidekicks Rosie and Mary Louise, but Squeaky was sure she was going to win the race.

->Next, The race day, Squeaky took her brother Raymond to the park and put him on the little swings, while she went to take her runner number and getting ready. The first competitions passed, and when all the runners of her category and she were on the track, she looked at her left, in the other side of the fence, and saw Raymond, there trying to run his own race!

->Finally, Squeaky won the race! She was very happy and very proud of herself and also proud of her brother. She saw he was a very good runner, and thought maybe she could be his coach!

B.- Explain the conflict and the attitude toward disabled people presented in the story.

*Everybody rejected him, said offensive things, thought he was less important and made jokes of him just because she was disabled. I think that's not correct, and it doesn't happen only in stories. Fortunately, his sister Squeaky was always there defending and taking care of him.

"Checkouts"

A.- Describe the characters and each of their motivations.
(The reason he or she thinks, acts or reacts in a certain way)

The girl: She felt her parents didn't understand her, by making her move to another city. She was also sad because of their moving to Cincinatti. She liked going grocery shopping, because it made her feel relaxed and could think about many things. She stared at the bag boy and felt nervous, because she had fallen in love. She always wore accesories on her hair, like a big orange bow.

The boy: He worked at the grocery store where the girl liked to shop. When he saw the girl he started feeling nervous, that's why he dropped the mayonnaise jar. He was motivated of going to work because of the girl, and he always waited for her to come back.

B.-Write predictions you thought of, while reading the story and explain which one became true. Make connections to your own life.

When I was reading the story, the first thing I thought was the boy and the girl would end as a couple, but it didn't come true. I also thought they would be nervous of seeing each other again, and it did become true. In our lives, almost every time we see our crush, we get nervous. ;)

C.- Write a synthesis of the story in your BLOG.

The story "Checkouts" is about a girl and a boy who met at a supermarket. The girl loved to do grocery shopping, and he was the bag boy. One day, while she was at the checkout line, and he was doing his job, they saw each other and got very nervous. The boy, accidentally, dropped a mayonnaise jar and it was where everything started. Seeing the girl again was the bag boy's motivation. He waited for her to come again. The girl came back, but it wasn't the same, they didn't share looks again. Their lives were different but after a few time, they saw each other again with their new dates! They only smiled.