Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Dreamwalking (The Graveyard Book), by Josie

Dreamwalking (The Graveyard Book), by Erin

Nick (The Graveyard Book), by Grace

Bod (The Graveyard Book), by Erin

Nick (The Graveyard Book), by Alana

Poems, by Erin

The Graveyard Book, by Grace

Miracle on the Hudson, by Anna

Recently on flight 1549 the pilot uttered three words that made complete strangers reach out to each other and pray. Those words were “We’re going down”. While everyone was in a panic and thinking of “What Ifs,” in the cockpit Captain Chesley Sullenberger had to make a choice, land on land or land on water which had never been successfully done in a plane that size. Sullenberger made the choice of landing on water which he did safely, but the next step was getting everyone off the plane. Chaos broke out as people tried to get out of the plane and into the life raft. Then everyone’s sliver of hope grew as they saw Captain Vince Lombardi’s ferry approach the plane ready to save people. Other boats came to the rescue and divers jumped into the freezing waters to save those who had fallen in. In the end the people’s prayers paid off when all 155 people (including the crew) were rescued and the first successful commercial plane landing on water had been carried out.

Fireboy (continued), by Michael

Steve Had just turned 13 and it was summer, summer was Steve’s favorite time of the year he had kept so many villains in jail. When it was summer nothing ever happened he was walking to the park to play when he saw sand man ripping the park down he got so pissed off he ran 69 miles per hour and nailed him in the face and he fell in the gutter. He put the lid on and shot his fire as hot as a laser and sealed the man hole. He ran home and told his mom what happened, she said take a rest you probably just got to thirsty and saw that. The next day Steve went to the library when he was walking he thought he would take a short cut and tripped over a man hole and sand man shot from the hole and started choking Steve.

He didn’t know what to do at first because he was so stunned but he gained his concentration and grabbed sand mans huge fist and turned it to stone because his hand was so hot it shrunk his hand into a wincey hand and flew out of sand mans grip. Then he started to lose control of his wincey hand and it disappeared Steve then got an idea so he flew home to tell his mom what happened but as usual she said “Steve stop saying dumb stories or I’ll take you to the doctor”.

The next day Steve had a brilliant idea he remembered how yesterday sand man’s hand disappeared so he tried to build a trap. After one week it was brilliant all he had to do was lure sand man to the park then try to heat him down. The next day he went to the park and started yelling “sand man!!!!!! Come and fight”. Sand man jumped out of the man hole and lunged at Steve but luckily he shot him with his hottest fire laser and pinned him against the steaming metal soon the park got so hot it disappeared with sand man into nothing because his fire laser he was working on was so hot. The next day he felt so bad about what he had done that he made a coffin out of sand and used his laser to make it a solid object and put it in the cemetery.

The Diary of Hans Stevens - Part 2, by Hunter

December 7, 1941

I found Tony’s body I flipped it over… he had some cuts and browses but he was alive. He was hurt but he was walking, I was hurt to, but I still helped him to get to the hospital. When he was there I ran to an airplane so I could shot down some zeros.

There were all but 50 airplanes not touched by any bombs. I ran to the plane that was closest to me. When I got to the plane I jumped in to it. When it started up I put it in to full throttle and it went in to the air. There was a group of zeros fling over my head. I pulled back and let them fly over me, so I could have good firing aim, the dog fight begins. I started to aim at a zero and began to shot at it. It took a couple of rounds to take it down. When I took it down I yelled “yes!” I shot down around nine out of ten zeros after that. The last one was an ace; this is going to be a challenge. He flew up I followed, the ace started to dive (this wasn’t a move I’ve fully mastered) when I started to dive my tail ruttier stated to shake violently, I thought it would brake off. When the ace stopped diving he flew in a straight line, I thought again that this is going to be easy, I was horrible wrong. He flew left he flew right I thought I will never get him. But then I said in my mind angrily “Never say never!” I shot so many rounds at him that I almost ran out of ammo. I finally shot him down. So I landed on the plat form, and I was met by ten men saying “Congrats” to me for shooting down so many zeros and bombers. After that I went to see my Tony when I saw him he was doing well, he was talking and every thing. I told him every thing that I just did. I told that I him that I thought it was over… but I was wrong (again).

Outcasts, by Kyle

Lightning flashed across the ash filled sky, it seemed to go on forever in this world. The boy lay peacefully sleeping in this foreboding world. His father had died years ago before the war and he had laid in his crib much like he did now unaware of the hardships to come. Every time a child reached 13 they were given the choice whether they were going to stay in the city, or venture out and explore. This child had chosen to explore the world and try to survive. The thing he didn’t know was that almost every explorer had died before him if they didn’t run back first. The days had seemed to slowly creep by while he starved unwilling to try the plants knowing they could be poisonous, and having his rations run out. But as he awoke he heard the almost silent footfall of this newly exiled girl. The boy struggled to get up, the hunger draining all of his last energy. The one thing he did manage to do is get a croak from his dry mouth. The girl startled at hearing this and wondering what had made it, wondered over to his rock. She almost stepped on him, having trouble seeing him through the layer of sand and silt on his face. “What… who are you!” She exclaimed after seeing him. In his rough dry voice he replied “I need water” sounding rather pitiful and weak. She backed up for a minute then her humanity winning over her logic allowed her to give him a sip from her canteen. She had a father who frequently left the city and now knew all there was to know about surviving in this barren oasis because of him. Her skills had allowed her to forage from the plants and knew ways to gather water from bone dry soil. She had decided to stay for the night and help him, there was no harm that it could do. They said nothing after those first words knowing there nothing to say and being content just knowing that there was someone else around. Soon they drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep not waking till afternoon. She was about to leave when she thought of how nice it was to have someone else around for once, in this filthy, solitary desert. Once she left him she knew she would never find another person to quench the loneliness that this place starved her of. She slowly drifted off into a happy unperturbed sleep.
The boy awoke next to the very girl who had just saved his life, and now seemed peaceful even elegant in a way. He noticed his strength had come back to an extent that pleased him, knowing he had the ability to do something without the constant starvation pains. To his surprise she woke up moments after he did. She startled used to being alone at all hours of the day. She then came to her senses grunting some form of a hello before wandering over to her pack. She checked the pockets thoroughly until she found what she wanted. She pulled out some sort of plant and something that resembled a pocket knife but with a flashlight at the end. She strolled back to the boy who seemed stunned at the fact she had food other than the rations they started out with. She spoke up then and said” here eat this it’s good for you” she handed him a piece of the brown plant. The boy prodded at this newfound sustenance at first, then savoring every bite it was gone. “My name is Tess what about you” asked the girl. the boy thought whether he should tell her for a second then cautiously said”My name is Luke and I never thought I would have to be saved when I left the city” “ Don’t worry It’s better than dying isn’t it plus, if I didn’t have my father to teach me I’d be in the same place as you” Tess added reassuringly before sitting down again. “Anyways” said Luke trying to shrug it off ”you’re going to have to show me how to survive out here and get stuff like that plant.’ So she did over the next months he mastered the skills that she learned. He harvested plants found small crabs hidden in the sand created a packed shelter and more it seemed they would make it as long as they kept moving. They talked about their old lives about the decision to leave the city and what life could have been like if they had stayed. One day they decided to make camp so they setup the small tent and made a fire from her flint. Halfway through the night they heard a meek grumbling faint but loud enough to just barely be audible. Tess looked around wondering what the noise could have been or if it was just her imagination. Then it happened again the muffled noise seemed slightly quieter this time. She woke up Luke so they could go find whatever it was that was making it. The night seemed dreary and blurred from lack of sleep but they soon found the cause of the sound. It was a teenager slightly younger than them with brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a t-shirt with a thin coat, over it they put one of their blankets over him and hauled him to the fire. Luke soon wondered” so will we keep him?” “I don’t know but… we can’t just leave him here I mean I didn’t leave you, and were much more stable now then I was when I brought you in.” Tess said determinedly “ so it’s decided then where keeping him and we can teach him just like you taught me, I mean it’ll be nice to have someone else around no offense” Luke added, so they kept him.
“what where am I who are you” the newly adopted boy murmured only half awake “ you’re safe and taken care of there’s nothing to worry about. Do you want breakfast.” Tess once again said reassuringly treating the boy just like she had treated Luke. But she knew they were both very different…….. Luke just waking up mumbled around for a bit then remembering the new boy got up to observe him. Tess had served him breakfast and made him comfortable she was now up and about setting up a more permanent camp. Luke found it an opportunity to talk to the new boy so he walked over to him and sat down then said “ what’s you’re name” “It’s john, what’s her name.” replied the boy seeming eager to figure things out so Luke soon replied “ She’s Tess we’ve been surviving out here for months how’s the breakfast?” “Um it’s good she just made it for me with this weird plant I’m still starving though if you don’t mind could I have some more” So with that Luke walked over to the sack reached in an outside pocket and took out some more of the delicious plant, which happened to be named sugarcane. He walked back over to john gave him some and slumped over on his hay bed wondering. How could I help him but most importantly what’s gonna change now that he’s here.

Polar Bears, by Erin

Angles Among Us, by Taylor

Angles Among Us, by Taylor

Angles Among Us, by Taylor

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Newsflash, by Anna

Hannah Montana Gets Robbed by a Monkey

Yesterday Hannah Montana was on her tour bus minding her own business when out of no where a monkey smashed through one of the windows. He had a pair of safety scissors which he pointed at Ms. Montana. He asked for a million toasters but Hannah refused. The monkey saw what she was doing; the toasters were too pricey so he thought he could negotiate so instead he asked for two-hundred packing peanuts. When Hannah refused again he lost it and came at her with the scissors. The bodyguards managed to tackle the monkey but Hannah is now in intensive care from receiving a severe cut on her finger.

Picacchu Outsmarts and Angry Hulk, by Michael

The characters are Pikachu :( he is a nice caring little mouse and is 1 foot tall, he also has red dots on his cheeks where electricity shoots out from). Hulk :( he is a mean selfish green human and is always hungry and eats anything even people).


One day Pikachu was taking a walk when Hulk jumped out of the bushes and said need to eat. Hulk tried to eat him but Pikachu used thunder and stopped Hulk from eating him. Pikachu said I know where there is a lot of food and lead him to a grocery store and said here your food is. So Hulk ran in and started eating little did Hulk know Pikachu was calling 911 and said there is a giant Hulk eating all the food in the grocery store.


When hulk saw him calling the police he was furious. Infact he was so mad he started chucking watermelons at Pikachu. Pikachu had to think quickly so he dodged and dived behind a big box. Hulk got even madder and he lost his temper, Hulk was about to destroy the whole building by punching it down.


But the police came and put Hulk to sleep and took him into a titanium zoo and was there for eternity but people can’t live forever so he died, who knows when though, While hulk was in prison the rest of his life, Pikachu was a hero and was honored the rest of his life and got a huge mansion. The end

The Diary of Hans Stevens - Part 1, by Hunter

December 7, 1941
Tony: he is a strong young man, he is also only 18 and he enlisted in the army. Hans: a strong tall young man, he also enlisted in the army with Tony at 18.

We were training at Pearl Harbor today. My friend yelled “Hay Hans!” I yelled back “Yeah!” Tony started to run to me. When he got to me he was out of breath. He started to talk to me “I heard that were going to Europe and Germany.” “Really?” “Yes really” “That… that’s awesome! But I have one question why are we going again” I asked “Were going beca…” Boom! Boom! “What the heck is happing!” I yelled. “I have no idea!” Tony yelled back. BOOM! A plane was fling over us. It wasn’t one of us. The plane dropped out a bomb. BOOM! The bomb hit about 50 yards away. “I think those where Japs” I yelled to Tony. “There zeros” said Tony. “What should we do?” I said nervously. “I have a plan” Tony said. “And what is that” I said like a jerk. “My plan is to go and tell the general” “he already knows I guess” I said unsure about my self. “And if he doesn’t…” Tony said. “He’ll hear the bomb setting off.” I said. Another bomb exploded. “Let’s get moving!” yelled Tony. We started running to a building. The closest building was an airplane mechanics. We ran to it wandering if we will live or die. I saw an airplane I ran to it. I got in it and a bomb went off. It blew the whole building sky high. I want to know if Tony was still alive…

Friday, February 20, 2009

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Alana

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Greta

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Hunter

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Arvind

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Erin

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Ria

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Taylor

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Grace

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Nate

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Jess

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Kenrick

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Will

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Alyssa

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Josie

Album Covers We (Dis)Like, by Kate

Haiku by Carl

Haiku by Carl

Black Cat at the Door (Coraline), by Alexa

Lost Souls Under the Bed (Coraline), by Jess

Coraline, by Kate

The Governess (Coraline), by Greta

"A game, you say?" (Coraline), by Monica

Haiku by Alana

Haiku by Alana

Haiku by Grace

Haiku by Grace

Haiku by Grace

Haiku by Carl

Haiku by Alana

The Graveyard (The Graveyard Book), by Alexa

The Black Cat on the Brick Wall with Bright Green Eyes (Coraline), by Kate

Something in the White House by Jessica

October 17, 2013: Will Carlson, security guard, was patrolling the White House gardens when he saw the figure of a man. As he got closer he started to make out the features of the mysterious man’s face, it was George Clooney VIII, President of the United States!
Will was puzzled - he could have sworn that he had just seen the president in his office. “The president must be going for a late night stroll,” Matt thought to himself as he continued patrolling the area.

The next morning Will walked into the dining room and found Mr. Clooney drinking his morning cup of coffee. “How was your walk through the garden last night?” said Will. “What are you talking about? I was in my office for hours last night,” said Mr. Clooney as Will left the room scratching his head.

Later that day Will was walking through the many halls of the White House when he heard a muffled voice, Will followed the voice, gun in hand. As Will inched farther down the hall, the voice got louder and louder and louder until it seemed as if the voice was only feet away, but all that Will saw was a closet door. He jiggled the knob but it wouldn’t budge and then the voice behind the door went silent, as if the speaker had disappeared. Will thought to himself, “It’s time for some detective work.” Will quietly turned back.

To be continued……..

The Lazy Man on Sunday by Josie

Once there was man named Opal Snotgrass. He was always teased by kids because he was lumpy and his named was meant for a girl so he grew up being lazy and lumpy.

Opal had a good life after his childhood. He got married to his wife Max and had 4 children Allie, Jenna, Chad and Luke. But he was still lazy he always forgot to remember important stuff like taking the kids to practice so that now was Alex’s job to do that. He still had a week day, Sundays because that was when football was on. Super Bowl Sunday you could not even talk to Opal. Opal worked as a casher at Target. He was pretty good at that job because all you had to do was stand around.

One Sunday Opal got off from work he went in a hurry to watch the football while his wife was trying to talk t o him all he thought a bout was “I wonder if the Bears will do better than last Sunday “I hope so” so while his wife was trying to tell him that she was going to drop the kids of at soccer practice all he could think about was the Bears. So his wife just gave trying to talk to Opal and just went. Later that day the football game was interrupted by “Breaking News three kids and there Mom died” he started to remember what happened earlier that day. Oh No those are my kids, my wife why did I let this happen to them?

Moral of the story:
Always pay attention and don’t be lazy

Barney Blows Up a Big Booger by Carl

There once was a purple dinosaur named Barney. He lived in a magical land of fighting dinos. Barney was like no other, he blew up a lot more things than the other dinos. Barney blows up mail boxes and trash cans and even cars. Barney wants to be known for blowing up big things.

So today he is setting off on a journey to blow up a very big thing called a Booger. Barney sets of to a far away place called Dorgor. On the way to Dorgor he saw elephant this elephant is very dangerous. If he sees you he will take you to his jail. And Barney is very unlucky so Barney got caught but the elephant did not catch Barney he managed to get away.

Now that he has past the elephant everything is easy. But then he met the big wall guarding Dorgor it is very tall so he can not climb it. After along time belly flopping it he got through. Right when Barney got into Dorgor he had to hide because there were so many boogers. He had to wait for the right time to throw his dino bomb and when he threw it he got three boogers. Then he got his boogers he saw they were very very fat. When he got home the dino were outside cheering for him. Barney got the award for blowing up the biggest thing in dino history.

Now Barney is living in a machine playing video games and counting his dino bucks he got for selling the fat boogers.

The Golden Fish by Monica

A long time ago far far away a girl named amber sandeen found a fountain covered in mist. The fountain was in a field of wild flowers it was very beautiful but not as beautiful as the fish inside the fountain. The fish was golden with little specks of silver. Then the fish disappeared and who is to blame? Just the little girl but the girl was a cat and not what you think. So what do you think happened to that pretty golden fish? Did she poof! Into thin air or did she go down whole into that bad bad cat

?

Newsflash by Anna

An Accountant's Biggest Fear:

Recently, CWN (the best place to get the latest gossip) sat down with Bradley Bonner, a hard working accountant, to find out what really is an accountant’s biggest fear. Bradley says he speaks for all accountants when he says, “Our biggest fear is going to the beach and meeting a hippie”. Read on to see what else he had to say on the subject.

Reporter: And why is that so scary for you?

Bonner: Well, a few years ago a former colleague of mine went to the beach and met a hippie. The scary thing is that we never saw him again. People say that he first went to join the Monks because the hippie said that that was a good way to gain inner peace. Another rumor is that after he became a monk he decided to join the Peace Corps and is now in Africa traveling with them.

Reporter: I see. And why is finding inner peace so bad?

Bonner: You can’t find inner peace in a suit, and taking off the suit is like going to the dark side, like in Star Wars

Reporter: Thank you for your time Bradley, and for answering our pressing questions.”

Tune in next week when Kristy Krutz will interview the world largest doughnut.

A Random Way to Entertain Your Dog: A True Story by Anna

On Thursday night my mom was annoyed by Daphne (My dog) and she wanted me to entertain her so she could get some work done. I went to my room and gave Daphne her bone but she eventually got bored of it. I had recently heard that dogs are amazed by bubbles, so I took out some bubbles my friend Erin had given me at the 50s party. When I got Daphne’s attention I blew one and she went crazy. She was jumping here and there, trying to catch one, only to have them pop time after time. When I stopped for a moment to watch her it looked like she was licking her lips because she liked the taste of the soap. So if your dog is ever bugging your mom just pull out the bubbles and you’ll both be entertained!

A Dazzling Murder by Greta

There she lay. Nobody would find her on the dangerous dock under the moonlight. The ocean seemed to call out her name. “Liza, Liza come out come out where ever you are.” Tears were steaming down her cheeks. Liza wasn’t alive, she was dead. She was killed by her own sister. She used to be a beautiful girl with long locks of honey spun hair, fair skin and a smile of gold. A long cashmere dress trailed behind her in a mournful way. She missed her family even her sister. She was killed in the most fashionable way.

She was adored by all she charmed everyone even the cranky old lady down the street. But her sister on the other hand was not proud or charmed by her sister. She hated her like a dog hates fleas, even more.

The night she was killed was the night of her 15th birthday party. All the guest were there, she had a chocolate fountain and lots of good sweets. Long story short she was pushed in to the shore of a lake and drowned of the cold shock.

Authors note: some people say I have a sick and twisted mind. If you think so to write a comment!!! And wait for chapter 2 coming soon to the CON KIDS blog! For Greta’s first novel! P.S writing a novel is harder than you think!

Monday, February 16, 2009

2/17

Today we went to a restaurant caled Guhaa.

The chicken was great. We also saw a giant buddha statue.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Perform Open Heart Surgery!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/lcs/heart.htm

2/10

I am out of that wretched place where I almost got crushed to death, and I am soooo grateful; those tourists were LUNATICS! That's the good part. The bad part is that I am on the train AGAIN. AAAAH!

2/10 (again)

So many of you were interested in my Sansa Gir post, that I ought to provide the account in full detail. You were in a protected car, while the animals (lions, tigers, sambar, and deer, etc) roamed outside. We didn't see lions for an hour. Oops. I'd forgotten: 18 hours a day= nappy time.

But then we saw them: a pride of them, majestic beasts, kings of the Gir. They had just killed a buffalo. It was an awesome experience, and I daresay you should try it (it's in Gjarat, India.)

2/8

Hi class,
My family and I are on a train to the city of gold, down in Tirupati (ti-roo-puh-tee). I have been on a train for 12 hours now. I am extremely and unconditionally tired.

Friday, February 6, 2009

2/

Hi class,

today I went to the Gir Forest, the only place with Asiatic lions in the world. Lions are my favorite animal, so I was psyched about going. I took a train to Gujarat (goo-jer-ut) and we got there in some 6 hours. Itwas the best day of my life.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

President's/First Ladies Biographies

Students/Parents:

Your assignment tonight is to begin reading the president or first lady biography you were given today at school. While reading, use the sticky notes I provided to mark places in the book that contain information about the following:

1. life experiences that shaped the person (education, role models, inspirational and/or tragic events, poverty or wealth, disability, etc.)

2. major accomplishments while president OR major influences on her husband's presidency

3. evidence of ethical values and/or life skills through their actions

4. quotations by or about your subject (these should be quotes from famous speeches the person gave OR quotes about this person that show how their contributions affected America's history)

I do NOT want or expect you to take extensive notes at this time. Rather, I want you to just read about your person to get an overview. The sticky notes will make it easier for you to go back later and take notes you will use to write your paper.

Come up with a system for your sticky notes. For example, when you find some information about one of the numbered items above write the number on the sticky note and put it on the page so that it sticks out and can be easily found later.

This will save you HUGE amounts of time and effort later when you do need to take more extensive notes.

I will be giving you time in class tomorrow and over the weekend to read these books independently. On Monday, you will be given a note-taking packet and you will be expected to begin taking notes to use in writing your report.

More details to follow....

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Hi class,

here are some words I learned:

1=USA, 2= Arabia

1 Band-aid= 2 plaster

1 trash = 2 rubbish

1 airplane = 2 aeroplane

1 bed = 2 mattress

1 shower= bath

1 dance = romp

1 labor = 2 labour

1 color = 2 colour

1 table = 2 desk

1 coffee = 2 tea

1 chocolate = 2 cocoa

1 tattoo = 2 henna/ mehendi

1 thug = 2 bandit/bundit

1 cookies = biscuits

Today (2/1) I went on a desert safari. We used a company called "Power Rangers" (sukkish name, isn't it?) and we were off. We went driving in the desert on the sand dunes, some of which were 700 feet high! You can't get that anywhere else in the world.

2/2-3

I'm going to be planesick all day (and tommorow) so I can't write much. Sorry 'bout that.

My Trip to india (and Dubai)

Hello class.
I apologize for the inconvenience of me not writing on the blog. This was due to the fact that there was no computer in Dubai. anyways, I'm in India now, and typing on an eight-year-old dinosaur. Enclosed are the details of my trip. P.S.: I'm not using home row, and there's nothing you guys can do about it.

1/29-30/09
The world was in a dreamlike stillness, even the vastest of cities mere specks on the blue-and-pink horizon.I was on the plane from Mpls/St. Paul to New york, Ny. The plane ride was AWFUL. the plane was tiny (a puddlehopper), and smelled like bad eggs. I boarded the plane at 5:00 p.m., and was supposed to leave at 5:10, but for the reason that the pilot decided to go on a 3-hour dinner break, we left at 8:00. After 3 hour boredom, we got to NY. I hate NY. after an eleven-hour flight, we were in Dubai, in the UAE!

1/31
Today I went to things called sukhs.There are 3 sukhs: the gol,d sukh selling gold, the cloth sukh selling cloth, and the spice sukh selling-well, you get the picture. We went to all 3. I get to swim with dolphins tomorrow!