artifacts of a subculture

Three of the artifacts from the subculture that I am looking at are:
5th graders technology items such as the smart board, netbooks, IPads
School items : books, pens, desks, paper, lockers, crayons, markers
Outside objects: balls, jumpropes, footballs, other objects that they play on or around
some of the these objects I know a lot about such as books, pens and papers, and computers, but the smartboards, what are those?
I know about balls for playing baseball and football, but what about 4 square and some of the social games they play outside?
I hope that knowing something about some of the artifacts a 5th grader uses will not affect my interpretation of them until I actually go and watch them for a day in their environment.
The artifacts in their lives are important to them especially the outside items, as recess is important. It seems like the way they dress, some of the school supplies they have will say a lot about where they fit in and belong. I will hope to see this in my observations. I could research somewhat about the technology now being used in a typical elementary classroom and what some common playground games are. I could research the developmental level of a 10-11 year old.
The three most important things this artifact tells me about this subculture are this is a new generation of students who are learning in different ways than I did when I was in 5th grade because they now are learning in new ways in a modern world, yet I think I will find some of the same games played on the playground that I played there over 15 years ago.

#3 Reader's Journal A Long Way Gone P. 166

"When I was a child, my grandmother told me that the sky speaks to those who look and listen to it. She said, "In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything; every pain, every suffering, joy, and confusion." That night I wanted the sky to talk to me."

I find this group of sentences so powerful, it just shows that the author through all his suffering and bad memories, still holds a place in his heart for the good memories. At first he can't remember the good times with family, but slowly it comes back. How wonderful of a gift for those of us who had grandparents who loved us as Ishmael's grandma loved him.

She was so wise to look to the sky for advice and wisdom and to pass it on to her grandchildren. Even war can not erase what is good in someone's life. Ishmeal can always hold what his grandma taught him to his heart and all the gunfire and killing can not take it away.

I had a grandma who passed away when I was in junior high and I loved her so much, she was simple like Ismael's grandmother, and I mean that in a good way. She didn't care about material things, she just cared about me and my brother and we felt her love and still do. I'm so glad Ismael had a grandma. I think Ismael will find his peace again in the sky above.

Reader's Journal #2 A Long Way Gone

"I see that you look very sad. Your forehead used to glow naturally when you were just a child. Your parents and I used to discuss how unusual that was. We thought it was because you were happy all the time. Your mother said you smailed while you slept. But when you started your troublesomeness and were angry, your forehead glowed even more. We didn't have any other explanations for your forehead and how it related to your character. And here you are, it isn't shining anymore."

This passage show what a wise man Gasemu, Ngor Gasemu was. He could see the change in Ismael. When he speaks of troublesomeness, he means that depression has hit Ismael. He sees a boy who went from a happy glowing soul, to lifeless. He can tell that all the happiness is gone or hiding somewhere. I like when he says, even when you were angry, you had a glow. It means that a person who has feelings, either happy or angry, at least has feelings. To be angry or sad, it better than no feelings at all. I think that is what depression is, it is a nothing world, where you are like the walking dead. Ismael is at this state in his life. A forehead that doesn't glow, eyes that show nothing. These are all signs of what the war has done to him. He is no longer an innocent child, he is an empty shell, so no wonder the army can mold him. I really think later in this story after he arrives in America and starts the healing process, his glow to his forehead will come back. I hope so. We all need a glow on our forehead!