Hat Day!!

Room 24: We showed our spirit by wearing our coolest hats on Hat Day!!

Play Performance

By:Jeffrey Our play performance Vacation To Mars is coming up! I am looking forward to the play very much. Over the last few years, I have gotten medium parts in the plays except in 3rd grade. In kindergarten, our village did The Three Little Pigs. I was one of the brick sellers. Portal doesn't do that play anymore but Mrs. Mains (our old principal) said that she liked that play a lot. My part was one of the brick sellers who would sell bricks to the pigs. In 1st grade, our village did Aesop's Fables and I was a storyteller. In 2nd grade, all of the 2th graders did Penguins on Broadway and I was a singing in the rain dude. In 3rd grade, our village did Character Matters and I was the Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. I had to stand on a chair and the teachers had painted some long green pants on cardboard. It perfectly fit. Last year, we did CALIFORNIA MISSIONS AND MORE. If you 5th graders don't remember, I was Administrator #2 and John Sutter in the second dress rehearsal. If you 4th graders want to know why I was Sutter, Shivani (the real Sutter) was sick that day so I backed up for her. This year, we are doing Vacation on Mars. What will happen this year? Will our play be as good as last year? Will we get good parts? We will never know what will happen. We just know that this year, the final play performance for the 5th graders and second-last for the 4th graders is coming up on December 10th, 2009.What part did you get? What part did you want before you got your part? What was your favorite play that you did before?

Soccer

By:Aditya Hey everybody!!! The favorite sport I liked to play is soccer. Soccer is a sport where you use your feet to kick the ball. I started playing soccer when I was 7 years old. The first time I tried to kick the ball, I couldn't kick it far. During soccer practice, I learned how to kick the ball extremely far, pass the ball to my teammates, and to do drop kicks. When I mastered those skills, I moved on to tricks like backward passes, side passes, and other tricks. Whenever my team wins a game, we always cheer and we always used to have special treats. If we lost to another team, we would think about it. I think soccer is a good game to play because if you're feeling bored or depressed, you can just try some drop kicks or shoot some goals. Have you ever played soccer before? For the ones who have not, are you willing to give it a try?

Walking to School

By: Shrila Have you ever walked or biked to school? It is a really good idea! Walking or biking, will help the earth a lot, by not polluting it. Before, I never have time to walk or bike to school. Now I realized how much it helps the earth, I decided to wake up early, get ready, and bike or walk to school. I also do the same thing when I walk back home. You may think that one person in the whole entire world might not make a big difference. But if you think about it, even if one person in the whole world tries to save the earth, it will still make a big difference. It might seem really tiring or hard, but it is actually really fun. I walk with my mom so I can talk to her along the way. At home, I never have time to talk to her. So walking is a good way to spend time with someone. Have you ever walked or biked to school? It will also give you a lot of exercise. But never bike alone unless you are in middle school. That's because there are many dangers in the world that can harm you and if you are walking with your parent or someone else, they will be there to protect you. So I hope you try this out! But if you can't, please try to share this message around the world so everyone will try to do this. For me, every day is EARTH DAY! How about YOU?!?!?!?!

Comic Books

By:Raymond

Hey everybody! Have you ever read comic books? Though they might sound like some uneducational books, they can really build up your vocabulary. For example, my favorite comic series, Calvin and Hobbes, have so many vocabulary words that it took me a long time to finish looking up the words in the dictionary. Another famous series is the Garfield. The books in the Garfield series also have a lot of vocabularies. Some people read comic books just for humor, and they help you relax. When you're depressed or unhappy, you can cheer yourself up by reading some comics. If you don't have any comics to read and your parents won't let you check out comic books from the library, try searching in your Saturday newspaper pile to see if there's any comics in there. Comics really are fun books! If you read comic books, what is your favorite comic series? If you don't, what would you like to read in the future?

Pets

By:Rachel

My brother has a rabbit and I have another one. My brother also has a fish. Its name is Riukee because it is a riuken goldfish. My rabbit's name is Hazel and she eats everything like rice, bread, bird seed that we put out for the birds, lettuce, tomatoes, leaves, petals, peaches, pears, paper, well, you get the point. I love my bunny because she is so soft and cuddly. I chose a rabbit for a pet because they are so cute and not too hectic to care for. For example, you can easily train your rabbit to use the litter box so it will not go to the bathroom all over your house, and you don't have to take it on daily walks, but you should let it out in your backyard about four times a week for it to exercise. Make sure that your backyard is escape-proof for your rabbit or else it will most likely escape. Hazel's ears are so big that if you unfold them they are nearly three inches wide and about half a foot long. She is brown with a black nose, paws, and tail. Her fur is pretty short, so it is very velvety. If you don't have a pet but thinking of getting one, you really should search on the internet first on how to take care of it and questions such as if it has a lot of energy, what kind of foods does it like, and maybe what size does it normally grow to. This is very important because if you're getting an animal, you would want to make sure that it won't grow to be so big that if it laid down on the living room couch it would take up all the space! What pets do you have right now? Can it do any tricks? What color is it? If you don't have a pet yet, then what pet do you want? Do you have a fantasy pet?

Inventions

By: Jonathan Have you thought of inventions that can help your daily life? I have thought of many, but I will list just a few here. Voice-activated lights - if you are sitting across a room from the switch, you don't need to walk over there to turn it on. Instead, you simply say "lights on!" then it will automatically turn on. Another invention I have thought of is a hover board that will float in the air but work just like the next generation of skateboards. I would LOVE to ride one because it will make traveling super easy. Finally, another invention I would like to see is an electronic paper organizer. With it, you won't have paper sticking out of your binder, and no more flipping back and forth to find your work! I believe anything is possible with our imagination, and sooner or later we can make it come true! What is your idea of an invention to make life easier?

Dream Places

By: William Have you ever wanted to go somewhere? When I was little, I always wanted to go to China because I heard that China is a very beautiful place with many extraordinary tourism sites. Finally, I went to China during summer this year and let me tell you what I saw! To name a few, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the garden for the emperors called “I Ho Yuan”. China also has many beautiful Temples. Tien Tan is a place for the emperors to host ceremony for special events. I learned from T.V. that the Great Wall is one of the few places that astronauts can see from outer space. I think the Great Wall is a magnificent site, but I also feel sad because I was told many people were buried under the Great Wall. The Forbidden City is probably the favorite attraction for the tourists other than the Great Wall, because many emperors lived there while they ruled China. I saw many valuable jades, jewelries, and antiques that belonged to the royal families but now owned by Chinese government. The “I Ho Yuan” is my most favorite place in Beijing. It is a huge garden where emperors and their family members spent summer time in. I rode on a boat to a manmade island called “Quin Ming Island”. It is very pretty too. My mom also told me that Chinese invented noodles, dumpling, and chopsticks. In Old China, and their play is called Beijing Opera. Every royal family has his own auditorium to host plays. The stories are told about a lot of legends and famous historical people. One of my favorite legends is the “Red Cliff”, and my favorite character is Zhu Ge Liang - the most intelligent Chinese in history. I have also visited the “Tower of Lai Fong” and there was a legend related to it called “White Snake”. I learned so much this summer from our family trip, and I wish I could visit China again soon!! Do you have any places you want to go to? Please share with us!!

Ripstick

By: Mihir

It first started out with Americans inventing toys in the 20th century that would revolutionize the world, which are the rollerskates, rollerblades, and skateboards. Even cooler than that is the ripstik, a human-propelled vehicle in which both two wheels can turn 360 degrees. Well, how is the ripstik more rider-friendly than the skateboard? First of all, on a skateboard, you must push your feet to gain speed. On the ripstik, you only need to wiggle your legs in a snake-like motion. To do so, depending on what writing hand you use, you will face differently on the ripstik. When moving forward, right-handers will face right and left-handers left. After you gain speed, you can stop wiggling and keep on going forward, but if you start to slow down, start wiggling again. To turn, push your foot down on whichever side you wish to go. How do you get on a ripstik? Start by putting your left or right foot on the front of the ripstik while holding on to a staircase. Then, once the ripstik is upright, put your other foot on and start wiggling before you let go. You can also start by putting your first foot up and push off the ground with the other, and put your other foot on. I hope you enjoy reading my post and feel encouraged to give ripstik a try!!! Here is a link to help you learn even more - http://www.ripstikusa.com/ Are you ready to ride the ripstik now??

My Favorite Authors

Who are your favorite author(s)? What are some book or series that you read? Why do you like the book so much? One of my favorite authors is Dav Pilkey, and my favorite series is Dragon. Dragon is silly, naive, yet very caring and kind. I laugh when Dragon actually believes he could make friend with an apple, and feel sad when Dragon mourns for the death of his friend. Sometimes I think I am just like Dragon, a bit clumsy, can't resist the good food, yet also care deeply about people and animals around me. If you want to find out more about Dav Pilkey, check out his website at http://www.pilkey.com/. Someday, I hope to have a chance to meet him in person. Tell us about your favorite authors!! We will create a blog for links to all of our favorite authors in the world! 1. Rick Riordan, Percey Jackson -> http://www.rickriordan.com/ 2. Nancy Krulik, How I Survived Middle School. -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_E._Krulik 3. Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid -> http://www.wimpykid.com/ 4. Mary Amato, Please Write in This Book -> http://www.maryamato.com/

Can You Help?

By: Auboni Have you noticed, as the years pass, our environment is changing and so are our lives? One major change we are all experiencing is the rise of temperature globally - global warming!! The temperature has been increasing, which really explains why more places have longer periods of hot weather now. Right now I would not want to be a polar bear in the arctic, because the ice continues to melt, and some polar bears are losing their habitats! Another change we are facing is the shortage of water. Currently, less then 1% of fresh water is available to humans. That's because most of the water is either salty or contained in the polar ice. Unlike us, an estimated 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean water! Enough bad news? Now the news is on magazines like Time For Kids, or Disney Friends for Change. People start asking what they can do for our mother Earth. 400 cities in 74 countries had promised to turn off the lights for an hour to conserve energy. What can we do to save the Earth? I think I can help by always turn off the light when I leave the room. I can also help conserve the water by turning off the water when I am bushing or when I am scrubbing soap on my hands. Is there something you can do to save the Earth? Please share with us!!

Activities During Free Time

By: Vincent

During my free time, I have lots of fun activities to do. If the weather were warm, I would go to the swimming pool by myself or with my friends. Yesterday afternoon, I went to a pool party at Auntie Vivian’s house. My friends also went to her house. There were Jacuzzi, pool, and a water slide. At break time, we ate delicious chicken garlic pizza with Coca Cola.

If the weather were cold outside, I would stay indoors and play some experiments. The gift my mom gave me, an electronic circuit, is what I like to do. When I have enough of it, I could play my video games or watch movies. I also like to read books, and my favorite genre is science fiction.

These are the cool things that I do. What are your favorite things to do during your free time? Is there anything special you like to do on a hot summer day, or in a cold winter night?