Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Stories from the Bible

By Nicole



           I chose the character Noah. Noah is a character in “Noah and The Ark.” Noah builds an ark to save himself, his family and the animals. An important choice Noah made was to follow God, listen to God, and to be kind to others.
          The consequences for the choice Noah made have to do lots of work, like searching for food for the animals and themselves. They also have to find two of each kind of animal and bring them onto the ark. The second consequence is not having help from any of the neighbors to build the ark. The third consequence is they have to stay on the ark with the animals for forty days and nights.

       I admire Noah for his choice because he followed God; he was kind and warned people that God would bring a flood upon the village. Noah listens to God and does what God says. He’s kind to people around him and warns them of their evilness. 

Friday, October 24, 2014

Prometheus

Prometheus
By Esther
                Prometheus was the Titan of wisdom and trickery. Prometheus is Zeus’ uncle and fought with Zeus against the Titans in the Titan War.
                Prometheus was not like his brother, Atlas, Cronus’ general. Prometheus liked mankind and wanted to give mankind the gift of fire. In one myth, found in “Mythology Greek Gods, Heroes, & Monsters,” it says, that Prometheus gave mankind the fire that he stole from Mount Olympus in a fennel stalk. Another myth, found in, “Jaw Dropping Geography Fun Learning Facts about Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses,” says he used one of Zeus’ lightning bolts.  Another myth, found in “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods,” says that Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, helped Prometheus get the fire from the hearth of the gods.                                                                                                                                                                              When Zeus found out what Prometheus did for mankind he had a horrible punishment for him. Prometheus was bound in chains on Mount Caucasus, and each day a mighty winged eagle would appear and eat Prometheus’ liver. Each night his liver would regrow, only to be torn out again the next day. This is according to, “Mythology Greek Gods, Heroes, & Monsters,” by Lady Hestia Evans.
                Prometheus, again showed his kindness toward mankind, when Zeus demanded that men give him sacrifices. Prometheus tricked Zeus by wrapping two bundles of oxen. One was bones, wrapped in fat and the other was meat wrapped in a stomach. Zeus, chose the bundle of bones with fat for his meal and that is what men sacrificed from that time on, according to “Mythology Greek Gods, Heroes, & Monsters.”
                Prometheus was a good Greek Titan and liked by mankind for the kindness he showed to them.

Evans, Lady Hestia, “Mythology Greek Gods, Heroes, & Monsters,” Candlewick Press, 1825
Riordan, Rick, “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods,” Disney Hyperion, 19 Aug 2014
Roche, Jess, “Jaw Dropping Geography Fun Learning Facts about Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses,” Thought Junction Publishing, 11 Sept 2014


Honor and Bravery

Honor and Bravery
By Hannah
The Greeks admired honor and bravery in their heroes. Perseus was brave and Jason was honorable. Perseus is from the myth “Perseus and the Quest for Medusa’s head.” Jason is from the myth “Jason and the Golden Fleece.”
                Perseus is brave because he went after Medusa and chopped off her head. Perseus also faced a sea serpent by turning the serpent to stone and rescues Andromeda the sea serpent.
                Jason is honorable because he keeps his promises to all the people he meets. Jason also needs to rescue his dad’s kingdom from Pelias the terrible.

                The Greeks see their heroes brave, honorable and not selfish. 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Compare and Contrast Essay

Winter and summer
By Hannah
I am going to compare and contrast summer and winter. Not every place in the world gets to experience winter. Winter is cold and dry, while summer is hot and humid, at least near me.  
In the winter, you wear sweaters, long pants, coats, hats, scarfs, boots, and gloves, to help you keep warm. But in the summer, you can wear on sandals, t-shirts, and shorts, because it is hot outside.
In both winter and summer, you can go hiking, swimming, play on the playground, and snowball fights. In winter, you have to put on more clothes on to go hiking and play at the playground. Also in winter, you have to go inside to swim, whereas in the summer, you can swim outside or inside. In the winter, we have snowball fights, but these are made of snow and ice. In the summer, we have snowball fights, but we use flowers called snowballs.
Winter and summer is based off of your position near the equator. If I lived closer to the equator, I would have noticed there was little or no change, it would have been summer every day, but I live far from the equator, so I get summer, winter, spring, and fall.
In the summer, you can see plants that are all green and you can see flowers outside.  Although in the winter, you can see the evergreens covered in snow and you can buy flowers that grow inside your house.
In the summer, we play baseball, soccer and tag outside. We have fun at swim meets, held at outdoor pools. In the winter, we can go sled riding, skiing, and build snowmen or snow forts. They even have Olympics for the different seasons. The Winter Olympics, showcase skiing, bobsledding, ice dancing and skating. The Summer Olympics feature water activities, like swimming and diving, running marathons, and beach volleyball.

In conclusion, even though the seasons are different, they have similarities that make their season special and fun.  Summer and winter have the beauty and the fun.

Book Review by Nicole

“The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” Book Review
By Nicole
                I’m going to write a book review on “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis. It was published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950 in the United Kingdom. The illustrator is Pauline Bynes.
                The setting starts in a country house in England, where the children are sent to be safe from the German bombs being dropped on London during WWII. They find a room with a wardrobe, that leads them to a woods and a land called Narnia.
                The characters are Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, the Professor and the White Witch. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are the children sent to live with the Professor in his house. They find the woods through the wardrobe and Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus, Edmund meets the White Witch and they all meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Aslan, is a lion who helps the children to save Narnia and take the thrones that they are destined to have.
                The problem that they have to solve is how to remove the White Witch from her throne and return Narnia to its former glory. When they arrive, Christmas is finally able to happen and they meet Father Christmas. As they stay in Narnia, spring returns to Narnia and many come out to help the children and Aslan, to defeat the White Witch.  
                Father Christmas gave Peter a sword to help defeat the White Witch. He gave a quiver filled with arrows and a bow to Susan. He also gave her a horn to blow when she is in trouble. Father Christmas gave Lucy a dagger and a small bottle filled with a liquid that helps heal wounds and the dagger to protect her. When they reach the stone table, Aslan is there waiting to help fight the White Witch and save Edmund from the White Witch who calls herself the Queen of Narnia.
                My favorite part is where Aslan comes back to life and helps defeat the White Witch after bringing the statues back to life. The statues used to be enemies of the White Witch that she turned to stone. I recommend this book to everyone, because it is a timeless story that is well written. If you like “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” you will probably enjoy the other books he has written.


Part II

                I choose to write about Edmund. At the very beginning of the story, Edmund lies a lot and is very mean to Lucy. At night, he pretends not to be tired and was grouchy. When Edmund enters Narnia, he finds a lamppost and meets the White Witch who feeds him Turkish Delight. When Edmund and Lucy get out of the wardrobe, Edmund lets down Lucy and said they were just playing that Narnia wasn’t real. So, Edmund thought his plan was working until they all go into the wardrobe and the older brother and sister realized that Edmund had been lying to them. Edmund’s behavior at the end of the story changed and he became nicer to all of them.  

Sunday, October 12, 2014

The Storming of the Bastille

By Nicole

I’m going to discuss the Storming of the Bastille. The Bastille is a prison where the king’s enemies are kept and where the king stored his weapons. The people that lived around it were poor and could not afford food for their families. On 14 July 1789, the people decided to attack the prison, for gun powder and to free the prisoners. Many people died trying to get in the Bastille. Today, the French people still celebrate Bastille Day as their Independence Day. It is believed that this day was the start of the French Revolution. It’s a really interesting storing that’s true. 

French Revolution


By Nicole

I’m going to be talking about Rumblings of Revolution in France. King Louis XVI was the king of France and he didn't want a republic. The Third Estate is part of the National Assembly and is the working class. The National Assembly wanted a constitution with the King.   King Louis believed that kings get their power from God and did not want a constitution. So, King Louis XVI decided to lock the National Assembly out at the next meeting. The National Assembly decided to meet at the tennis court. The Third Estate wants a republic, but the king says no and no longer wants to listen to the National Assembly. History can be fun if you really like to learn about what happened back then.

Animal Adventures

By Hannah
                In the article, “The Think Tank,” a scientist, Shumaker, says, “The most important thing to know is that they are all individuals. Just like people, they have different personalities and learning styles.” I chose to compare the dog and the orangutan. They’re different because the dog can be wary; on the other hand, orangutans are curious to find new things. I agree with Shumaker because he says that animals are like humans, they have different personalities.
Shumaker’s statement about animals being like humans, and having different personalities is true. Azy, an orangutan, works to find links. The scientist found it more interesting, when Azy made mistakes, than when he got it right. They could watch how he learned in “The Think Tank” article.
                When I read the about how dogs learn, it talked about how they are treat driven. They are not curious, like an orangutan. They will go to where the treat was the last time, and then look under the new object. Dogs are more wary than orangutans. Dogs spend whole days at home alone waiting for someone to come home. An orangutan, would find this boring.  

                I think that the scientist is correct in saying that all animals are individuals. They all learn different and have different levels of intelligence. Just as humans learn differently, so do the animals and tests need to be adapted to each species. 

My Family Loves Me

By Nicole
                My family loves me very much; I decided to talk about them. My animals are a cat, another cat, a kitten, and a dog. My first animal is one my cats named, Houdini. Houdini is a black cat that likes to get on high places, like the table, the freezer, and the counter tops. Houdini also has two white spots on him and he has greenish yellow eyes that look like gold eyes. His personality is loving and playful and he is also a male cat. The next cat I will talk about is Lucky. Lucky is a female cat that is shy, loving, and playful. She is also black and has three white spots. Now, I’m going talk about my kitten his name is George. George is very playful and sometimes loving. He has brown eyes and a pink nose. All the cats are short haired strays we rescued. Next up is my dog, her name is Lily. She is a mutt, her breed is beagle, red healer, and pointer her eyes are brown and is a medium size dog that is strong.

That is all my animals, so now it’s time to tell, you about my family. First, I will tell you about myself, Nicole. I’m homeschooled and my mom is my teacher at home. We use the website that is called K-12. I have lots of work to do, because we have to a 20% at the end of this week. I have blond hair and green eyes with glasses. Next, I’m going to be talking about my dad. My dad works at Teva for money so we have a house, food, and water, so we can live. I love my dad and he loves me. Next, person I’m going to talk about is my mom. My mom is my learning coach and works with me at home. When I’m struggling my mom helps me out and she also tells me what I need to work on. My mom loves me and I love her. Now I’m going to talk about my sisters. My middle sister is Esther. Esther is my one of my older sisters.  She is also a homeschooler and has blue eyes and blond hair. She is at 20% on everything although she still struggles with math. My oldest sister is Hannah. Hannah is also a homeschooler and she has blue eyes and red hair. She likes to stay up at night watching TV or reading a book. I love my family very much and they love me, too. 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Fierce Interdependence

by Hannah

My theme is Interdependence.  Interdependence is dependence of two characters on each other. I chose the stories, “Ode to Mi Gato” and “Stray.”
                In the story, “Ode to Mi Gato,”the author talks about how much he loves Mi Gato. Mi Gato needs the author to save him from an abandoned car. I feel this shows their fierce interdependence on each other. The author and Mi Gato had depended on each other because the author, need to love someone or something. Mi Gato needed someone to save its life.
                In the story, “Stray,” Doris saw the puppy trudging through the snow. She called it to the puppy, and the puppy came home with her. When Doris came home, she fed the puppy and gave it some water. When her parents took the puppy to the pound, Doris cried because she had saved the puppy’s life. This again shows that Doris, needed someone to love and the puppy needed someone to save its life from the winter weather.

                The theme of interdependence can teach the reader that there are many out there who need another to love or save. This theme is important because there are many stray animals that need homes with loving people. There are also many people, who need some companionship and having an animal provides the love they are craving.