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?

Quest for Life in Space

By: Abhinav

On the occasion of successful repair of the Hubble space telescope to extend its life until 2014, I felt thrilled and amazed about how much the space technology has evolved over the years in space age, taking us into space, and on to moon. We learned a lot more about space. Sometimes, it all looks like a dream for me when watching a starry night sky. But we still don’t know if there is another planet we can live on, a planet with conditions like earth or a planet with life on it. That’s the quest scientists are on, a quest for life in space. Do you feel that there is another planet like Earth? Scientists at NASA sent out probes and rovers to Mars and Venus. With the success of Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars (check this link http://www.google.com/mars), the current focus is a human mission to Mars, the first attempt to land on another planet to explore the planet up close.

If we get to land on Mars it will be a greatest achievement for mankind. Do you really think we will be successful about landing on Mars? If we can, what would you do? Do you think The Red Planet (Mars) can be transformed into human habitat?

Being Lonely

By: Soraya Do you ever have a moment that you have no one to play with and feel kinda lonely?

I have those moments a lot. Now I am one of the oldest kids on campus, I try to make as many friends as I can. I solve my loneliness problem by asking if I can play with someone. Just recently, I made friends with a first grader who has no friends. Now I feel proud of reaching out, helping somebody that has no friends, and making a new great friend! I have times when I feel like I am invisible, and have no one to play with. Now, I just solve my problem by simply joining somebody or asking! It's great to have as many friends as you can so that you're prepared for a lonely situation. Now that I have many more friends, I am not worried for a lonely situation. Do you ever have a time when you feel lonely and left out? If you do, how do you handle it? How do you make a new friend?

Fright!!

By: Rebecca On Sunday August 16, 2009, I had a gymnastics competition. I was really nervous, so nervous that I wish I could disappear! My coach said that being nervous is good, because it means you are ready! We first did beam, followed by floor, vault, and ended with bars. I didn't do floor, because I didn't have my round of back handspring yet. After we finished our events, we had awards. I got the 2nd place on beam out of all the level four 10 and 11 year olds. I didn't get anything else, except the 8th place in all around. However, I felt proud of myself, even though I didn't receive a very high score. Last came the team awards, and our level four team got the 1st place!! We were so excited that we screamed when we heard the great news! I am so glad I did not disappear earlier!! Have you ever been nervous right before a competition? How do you handle it? Does it bother you? Do you feel much better once you start doing it? Please share with us your tips to ease the fright!

CEEF Epic Film Festival

By: Mihir

Hi Room 24 and Room 19! Last year I got an award from CEEF (Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation)!! Take a look from the link http://www.ceefcares.org/epicwinners.html

Let me tell you about the guidelines, judging, and awards. You need to make a movie that is either a documentary, instructional video, or a film based on an original literary work. You need to make a 2-minute film for an original literary or instructional video, or a 4-minute film for documentary. After you submit your video, it is sent to the judges, who decide which films are selected for semifinalists, finalists, finalist award nominees, and award winners in eight categories. They are best elementary school documentary, best middle school documentary, best instructional video, best screenplay, most creative, best soundtrack, best cinematography, and best animation. I got the best elementary school documentary award. Semifinalists get a certificate and blue ribbon. Finalists get a certificate. Award winners get a certificate and an iPod!!

Are you thinking about it but don't know where to start? First, think of what type of movie you're going to make. You can make an instructional film (how to do), a documentary (example: All About Eagles), or a video based on a original literary work. You can get a CEEF signup sheet in the Thursday folder. Send it to the office and they'll give it to the CEEF people. You can also sign-up online and fax it to the CEEF office. Then shoot your movie in an iMovie or Quicktime format and submit it to the CEEf office next to the CUSD administration building. The CEEF festival is in April. They first show semi-finalist movies, then finalists. They then announce award nominees, and award winners.

I hope some people who read my post will consider participating in the film festival this year! Before I became a Rockhopper, Chinmaya from room 24 also won an award, and you can see his film on the older post in April, 2008. To all participants, good luck on your movies!!!!!! Send me your comment and question, and I will be glad to share my experience with you!

New Class 2009 - 2010!!

We Are Ready For School!!

First Day of School

First Day Of School By Jeffrey School has started! Our textbooks are here, we all have new classmates, and homework is in our minds. There is also a bright side, though. We will all make new friends(especially the 4th graders and Sabrina), and we can all get with the nicest teacher of Rockhopper: Mrs. Yu!!! YAAAAAAAY! Usually, when school starts, we will get a million questions in our brain such as: Are we going to get a lot of homework? When is our first field trip? When is our village play?. When it is the first day of school, we will usually get them all answered. 4th graders: Do you think 4th grade is going to be this easy the whole year or is it going to get harder? 5th graders: How do you feel being one of the oldest ones(or leaders) of the school?

Instruments!

By: Ishan Instruments create music and harmony around the world! Instruments and the music they create lighten up our lives every day! If you are ever bored, you can try to practice by playing different songs, make up some songs of your own or with a band, or just fool around with your instrument! I have tried the clarinet and various other instruments but I like the drums the best! The reason I like it is because you can make numerous beats and bang around! After a while, I organized a band with a few friends and we had performed at the Portal's talent show! Our band name is: 9-1-1! Some people might think it’s strange but I like it! There are many types of music a band can make, but our band plays rock. Whenever I get bored (or need a break from the computer), I go to my drums and start banging around! I try to make up some new cool beats! I go to drum classes every Sunday and practice often. If you want to play an instrument well, it takes lots of dedication and constant practice! Don’t worry, after you work hard, it’ll all pay off! So what are my favorite bands you say? I like “Queen” (my band played We Will Rock You by the band Queen) and I like AC/DC! My favorite songs are from queen: “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.” My favorite songs from AC/DC are: “TNT”, “Thunderstruck”, “Back in Black”, “Shoot to Thrill”, “Black Ice”, “Let There Be Rock”…and these are just my top 6!!! I have many other favorite songs! I’m like a hard rock to heavy metal person. Basically, if its not hard rock through heavy metal, it’s not for me! So what instrument or instruments do you play? How long have you been playing it? What is your favorite band or bands?? What type of music do you like best? (rock, jazz, pop, etc.) What are your favorite songs? If you know any good songs (especially rock), feel free to post them, and inform me if it's a rock!!