Richard's Post

Raven's Tale By: Richard On Tuesday, March 25, 2008, our class went on a field trip to the performance of Raven's Tale, at the Sunnyvale Performing Arts Center. The performance was composed of four short legends and was approximately an hour long. It was about Raven creating the animals and bringing the sun to the world, the story about Raven falling in love with the spirit of the whale, the story about the fisherman's home, and the burning of the cannibal. I liked the storyline and the acting because the stories were interesting and the acting was attractive, but the part about the woman rooted to the floor's voice sounds a little freaky. Did you like the play? If yes, which parts and why?

Dhruv's Post

Mario: Past and Present By Dhruv Walia Mario was born in 1980. Nintendo Co. Ltd. was looking for the name of character in their first and all time hit game Donkey Kong. Can you believe he was named after landlord of a warehouse “Mario Segale!” Now you must be wondering how did Mario get his funny looks. Remember Mario was created in 1980 and the designer Miyamoto had a challenge to design a character with limited money. They used hat to avoid showing hairs, moustache and big nose to make it look funny. Mario’s outfit changed from game to game but the colors were blue and red. Mario changed with every new game. From Nintendo to Super Nintendo to Game boy to Nintendo 64 to Game Cube and now Wii. Mario looks the same but his games have improved with graphics and speed and fun. See below for improved graphics Pictures Some of the Mario’s all time hits are Donkey Kong (1981, Aracade), Mario Bros. (1983, Arcade), Super Marios Bros (1985, with this game he entered our houses), Super Mario Land (1989, now it was in our hands), Super Mario World (1991) Yoshi’s Island (1995), Super Mario Sunshine (2002). But the next landmark is yet to come which again changed the gaming systems and that is Wii. Now in Wii we do not use regular controller, but a motion sensor controller. You use strategies to unlock puzzles and mysteries and exercise with this video game. So now parents know while playing video games we are getting exercise also. Even parents can play with us. Here are my two latest favorites: The first one is SuperSmashBros.Brawl. In this game you can, use many characters you can use from Nintendo. Like Mario or Bowser. The objective of the game is to knock the other player of by fighting. There is also adventure mode. You can unlock many characters like Luigi or Ganondorf. The other game I want to tell you about is Super Mario Galaxy. The story of this game is Mario is going to a party but Bowser shows up. He kidnaps Princess Peach and takes her away. Mario jumps onto the castle but an evil wizard knocks him away. Mario wakes up at Planet Plant. Three bunnies wake him up and take him to a space station. In the space station a woman tells him that the only way to save Peach is to power up the station with Grand Stars. Once he gets six of them. He can go to the center of the universe and fight Bowser. Do you have any favorite videogames or games? Have you played any of the Mario games? Also do you have a Wii?

Rishita's Post

Orcas By: Rishita Mehta

Orcas are often known as killer whales, but they are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They have different ways of catching their prey, depending on where they live. The orcas living off southern South America will deliberately launch themselves at the sea-lions. In Polar Regions, orcas will surface under ice floes in order to tip penguins into the water. Orcas live in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and half of the Arctic Ocean. You can see orcas at any Sea World water show or you could go on a whale watching trip. You can do any of these things in your home state. An average adult orca weighs up to 10 tons. A calve (baby orca) is 8 ft. when born. Did you know: 1. The average dorsal fin size for a male orca is 6 ft. 2. Orcas have large, oval pectoral fins that are unlike a whale’s fins. 3. The white mark that looks like the orca’s eye is not the eye, the eye is located directly underneath the front tip of the white mark. Now do you like orcas? Why or why not?

Chinese Yo-Yo

Practice Makes Perfect! (Well, sometimes you need some talent too!) In Stone Fox, we read "When there is a will, there is a way!". Do you agree with it? Is there something you really want to achieve? How would you work toward accomplishing it? The performer Wei-lang Lin you are about to see in this short film is 18 now and he started practicing Chinese Yo-yo when he was a 5th grader ( your age ). Behind his almost perfect performance that won him the championship, there are thousands of hours of practice. Whether you want to be the greatest soccer player, the best pianist, a mathematician, or a doctor, there is no shortcut to success!

Outdoor School!!! By: Sandeep

Hi everyone! As you might know, Outdoor School is coming up in May. Last year the fifth graders went to Sonora Outdoor School. We had fun hiking up mountains and learning about Native Americans and how they survived. Guess what? This year we are going to Camp Koinonia on May 19th and stay there for four days!! 5th graders: What did you like about last year's Out door School? 4th graders: What do you wish to do this year at Outdoor School? Here is the link to the camp we will be visiting. Take a look!! http://www.campkoinonia.com/ '_' Sandeep

February Break By:Revanth

Hi everyone, it looks like the February break is over. I had lots of fun over the February break. First I went to my friend's house to play and we had lots of fun. Then, I went to Lake Tahoe. I actually went skiing for the first time. We stayed in Lake Tahoe for three days. After that I went to my friend's birthday party. Where did you go during the break and did you have lots of fun? If you didn't go anywhere over the break, what did you do during that time?

Giants Defeat Patriots in Superbowl XLII, By Aunoy

The Patriots had a perfect season. 18 wins, zero losses. On February 3rd, Superbowl XLII, the Patriots lost. They lost! How did they loose? Extraordinary playing by the Giants that is.

First quarter, the Patriots were down 0-3 after Lawrence "Prime" Tynes of the New York Giants kicked a field goal.

In the second quarter, Lawrence Maroney ran a two yard touchdown to make the score 7-3. In the second and third quarter Tom Brady, the quarter back of the New England Patriots got repeatedly sacked and hit. In the fourth quarter, the quarterback of the New York Giants, Eli Manning, throws to David Tyree for a six yard touchdown throw making the score 10-3. Still in the fourth quarter, Tom Brady throws a seven yard touchdown to Randy Moss, now making the score 14-10 with 2:42 still left in the game. Third down and 5, Eli Manning breaks two tackles and throws a 32 yard throw to David Tyree, who hold the ball with his helmet and one hand. First and ten, Eli throws a 13 yard touchdown throw to Plaxico Burress, leading the Patriots 17-14 with :29 left on the clock. Tom Brady throws to Randy Moss, trying to get the touchdown, but fails. With a turnover and one second left, the Giants win the superbowl, Coach Tom

Coughlin has his first superbowl win. Now for the question. Are you happy or sad that the Giants won or the Patriots lost and why? Want to watch the highlights again? Go to http://www.nfl.com/videos, click on highlights, and choose NFL GameDay: Super Bowl XLII Highlights. Enjoy!!

Are You Ready To Wear Red Again? Show Your Portal Spirit This Friday!

Dear Room 24, You look great in red last time, let's all wear red again this Friday on the leap day! What exactly is Portal spirit? Can you describe it in your own words? What else can we do to show Portal spirit?

Six More Weeks of Winter? What Do You Think?

John Griffiths, right, one of the handlers of weather predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, holds Phil as his other handler, Ben Hughes, pets him on the head Ground Hog's Day in Punxsutawney, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. The Groundhog Club said Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. Six more weeks of winter! No spring until March 15th? What do think? Do you like to have a longer winter?

Don't Get Sick! How?

It's the flu season and germs are everywhere. You friends are not feeling well and you think you are going to sneeze soon. Oh no! We don't want to get sick but how? Tell us what would you do to stay away from the germs and stay healthy.