Winter Break- How to stay productive

       I am spending half of my winter break at home and half in Michigan. In Michigan, we are meeting my mom’s family to have another Christmas celebration. The next day, we are having yet another Christmas celebration with my dad’s side of the family. Even though we are going to be busy part of Christmas vacation, I will still try to be productive on my winter break. I will continue to read almost every night, even when I’m in Michigan. Also, I don’t know if this is considered productive but, one of my friends and I are doing a thing where we write down what we did each day of break and then compare each others. This will give me some practice on writing, so I guess this might be productive. I’m also going to catch up on my missing book reviews for school. I might also do some other productive things that I haven’t thought of yet. To whoever is reading this, Have or I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

Incentive Day

 On my map tests, I went up on all of them so, I got to have the full incentive day. I think the the choices for incentive day were open gym, board game room, electronics room, drawing room, and two movie rooms. I don’t like sports very much so, I didn’t choose the open gym. I have no electronics and I don’t enjoy using them, so that lowered the list down a bit. The movie room might have been my choice but, they were showing Cars and The Grinch That Stole Christmas. I’ve seen The Grinch That Stole Christmas tons of times and I am not interested in seeing Cars. That lowered the list a bit. I love drawing and I love playing board games, but I can do drawing any time but, there aren’t always people for me to play board games with. So, that was the choice. I decided to pick the board game room. I am excited to see what it will be like.

Forgiveness

       Forgiveness is the act of forgiving someone. Forgiving is when someone forgets about something you did and they aren’t mad at you about it anymore. Have you ever heard the saying “Forgive and Forget”? When you forget about what someone does, you are forgiving them. It is good to forgive people. Have you ever heard “Do unto others as you would want done unto you.” If you did something bad, would you want people to forgive you? Whenever you are not sure whether to forgive someone, think of this quote. Think, if I did what this person did, would I want them to forgive me. Most of the time, the answer will be yes! So, you should always forgive other people for things they have done.

Honesty

       Honesty is the act of being honest. When you are honest, you tell the whole truth, even if it might get you in trouble. If you are an honest person, you would tell the truth all the time. But, there is a lie called a white lie. A white lie would be not telling someone about a present you got them or a surprise for them. It would also be saying how you love their new shoes, even if you hate them. A white lie is telling a lie, but so someone else’s feelings don’t get hurt, or so you don’t ruin a surprise. White lies are the only exception to a lie. But, if you are lying so you don’t get in trouble, like if you stole something, but when your mom asks you about it, you say you don’t, that is not a white lie and it just isn’t right to do. Lying isn’t right to do and it could hurt yourself or someone else. That is why you should have honesty.

Map testing #1

       Before we started Map testing, I was really nervous. Our school’s incentive for getting a better score on your Map test was if you get a better score on two of your  Map tests in the winter than you did in the fall, you get to have a fun block four on the 21st of December. But, if you don’t, you have to get a work room where you just sit, and do work. This was really stressing me ,and probably everyone else in our school, out a lot more than we had to be. But, it did make me do my very best on the Map test. I did end up getting a better score on all three of the tests, though. So, on the 21st, I am going to have a fun bock four. I can’t wait!

Slice of life- A normal day

      Every week day, I get up in the morning and get ready for the bus which leaves at 7:15. Lately, when I put on my coat and open the door, a blast of cold wind hits my face. When I walk outside, I see the green grass has gotten a shade of white from the frost. Usually, I hear the big garbage truck coming down our street, picking up everyone’s trash. As I run down the alley to the bus stop, I feel the cold wind on me, as I struggle to run so I don’t miss the bus. Once I get to the corner, I can see the bus stop, with all the kids, talking and waiting quietly for the bus to arrive. Once we wait there for a while, we can hear the loud sound of the yellow schoolbus coming around the corner.  We can faintly see the other kids already sitting in the hard, grey seats of the bus. Once the bus gets to our stop and opens the door, we all pile in. Since the schoolbus is very small, sometimes kids need to sit in between the seats or cramped into a seat. The bus ride to school doesn’t take very long though. Sometimes the bus gets stopped by a train and that’s when we might be in there longer than expected. Whenever the bus makes a stop, we jolt foward, sometimes hitting our heads on the backs of the seats. When we get to the school, everyone gets out of the bus in one straight line. Once everyone gets out of the bus, the front of the school is full of activities. I can hear lots of shouts and laughter while everyone runs around, having fun before school starts. Then, after lots of kids arrive and the front of the school is packed, they let everyone into the gym. There we wait until it is time for school to start.

True scary\funny story

       Hello, here is a true scary or funny (it depends on how you look at it) story.
One day, when I was probably six or seven years old, my family and I were just hanging out in the back yard. Then we noticed that there were a bunch of dolls in the alley. My neighbors usually leave out things that would go to the garbage, unless someone sees them and takes them. The dolls we saw were in pretty good condition, so, my mom said I could take one of them. I walked over there and looked at them. There were about maybe, thirteen or fourteen of them all together, just in a big pile. The one on top was the one I picked, though. I took her down and saw that she was one of those big dolls, that at the time was just a little shorter than I was. Now, she is about to my waist. I carried her in and my mom looked at her. She said we had to wash her clothes and maybe wash her off before I could have her, but, that was fine with me. That night, I sat her right by my bed as I went to sleep.
       In the middle of the night, I woke up and saw that the doll wasn’t there. Then I completely freaked out, crying and screaming. I was convinced that the doll had come alive and walked away. But, my mom knew instantly what the problem was. She yelled from her bedroom, “I moved the doll so you wouldn’t be scared of it when you woke up! She’s in your closet.”
       I have never really been scared of the doll, but, thats not the case with other people. My brother hates her and thinks she’s the devil or something. I always find him hitting and punching her. My mom gets mad though, because she looked up the doll and found out she could be sold used for $115, and that’s what she plans to do when I grow out of her. Also, when I have friends sleep over, they make me hide her somewhere, because they are terrified of her.
       I know this story wasn’t very scary or funny, but, it was scary enough, right.

Superhero/Supervillian

         My supervillian’s name is The Unknown. He is 307 years old and weighs 1/12 of a pound. He is 3 inches tall and he has a thin face and a pointy chin. His skin is a light bluish color. The Unknown grew up poor but has become rich from stolen money. From the stolen money, he gets about $1,000 an hour. He is the youngest of 45 brothers. He and his brothers all hate each other. He is not married and has no children. As a kid, his mother barely even knew he was there and ignored him a lot. A lot of his angry energy is towards her. It is guessed that he some sort of a mental illness, but is not proven. His long term goal is to conquer the world so someone will finally notice him. He knows that others don’t know he’s there or don’t care. The way The Unknown deals with anger by stealing and terrorizing things. Some on additional notes are, he never got paid attention to as a kid because he had forty-five other brothers. Also, since he was really small, no one else paid attention to him either. He wants to rule the world so people will finally notice him. He seems pretty evil, right. But, does he have a reason to be?

2nd quarter goals

       I had plenty of goals for quarter one, some of them I accomplished, and some I didn’t. One of them was to get no falcon fouls. This was one of the goals that I accomplished. Another of my goals, which was for the whole year, was to finish 10 books by the end of the year. In the first quarter, I finished 4 books, which is almost half of my whole year goal. If I continue at that rate, I will have read more than my goal by the end of the year, 16 books. I am also starting to set goals for the second quarter. One of my goals I set for myself for quarter 2 is, I will try to write more on my blog posts. I feel like I haven’t been writing as much as I could so, I will try to write a couple more sentences on each blog post. What will you try to do this quarter?

Fictional Story- “A complete new world” part 1

     “Crash!” I jumped out the window of my rocket just as it exploded in midair. I didn’t think I would have hit land so soon, but, sure enough, I hit hard on the rocky ground beneath me. Just a day or two before this, I had been happy as could be. I lived in Florida and I worked for NASA. I had been training for this trip for months and I was so excited to finally go into orbit. I had no idea what events would lay before me.
      All of my thoughts went through my head over and over again. I had no idea what to do. My eyes were temporarily damaged,so, for the moment, I couldn’t really see a thing. I tried to lift my body up, but, pain shot throughout my whole body when I did that. I must have broken a few of my bones or my ribs. Oh no, my ribs! The thought of having broken ribs startles me. With broken ribs, I would have to lay completely still for a few weeks until they heal. But, I can’t do that in a planet I do not know. And, if I couldn’t move for a few weeks, I would starve for sure. Oh, I do so hope I figure out what to do soon, or I might be doomed. I thought of all these frightening thoughts as I drifted asleep.
       I woke up in a startle. As I opened my eyes and saw three more huge,yellow eyes staring back at me! At first, I thought was still dreaming, so, I just closed my eyes again and went back to sleep. I was only out for about five minutes when,all of a sudden, I felt something wet and slimy in my face. Then, I felt sharp little daggers poking into my flesh. I flung open my eyes, but all I saw was the color black and maybe a bit of reddish pink. Now my whole head was covered in the wet, slimy stuff. I had no idea what was happening. Then, as I felt the tiny, sharp daggers dig into my neck, I realized what was happening. I struggled and struggled to get my head out of the monsters mouth. The sharp daggers were going even further into my neck, trying to rip my head off. I flinched and flung my body this way and that way. Then, I thought of probably the greatest idea ever made. I opened my mouth wide, and with all my might, I chomped down on the monsters tongue.
       The monster howled in pain and let go of my head. As it jumped up and down screaming and crying, I actually got a good look at it for the first time. It was a strange looking thing. It had bright blue skin with no hair on it. It didn’t really have a neck, it looked like his face was connected right to his body. It had three huge eyes that were a dull yellow color. Its feet were so huge, it looked like they were as big as it’s own body which was probably just a bit bigger than mine. It only had four toes on its right foot and seven on its left. It’s arms were there, but, there were just two fingers connected to the end of its arms. There was a terrible taste in my mouth from biting the monsters tongue. I wonder what those things ate. That thought made me shiver with fear. The monster was obviously trying to eat me so, they must eat humans. I wonder if there are more of them. I do hope not, imight not be able to survive here if there are. There’s no way I can get back, since all of my equipment was destroyed in the rockets explosion. I guess I will have to make do with what I’ve got.
        I managed to survive the rest of the night because I had injured that monster. I wonder why no others had come to attack too. Once I saw the sun rise up over the mountains, I decided to go take a look around this new planet. I first looked at the sun. It looked bigger on this planet. We must be closer to it. Actually, now that I think of it, I think this planet does have a much hotter temperature. I should probably take off my jacket. I reach to unzip it, but, as I came to a realization, I started to get a nervous feeling. When I jumped off the rocket, I must have somehow taken off my space suit. This was so terrible because without that, I wouldn’t be able to breathe, but, sure enough, here I am breathing as normal. Then came the question that I should have asked myself long ago. Where am I? Why hasn’t NASA found this planet? This is such a step for everyone! We (I) have found the first planet that already has breathable air besides earth! I have also discovered our first alien! I must tell someone! Oh, how I must tell someone! But... who? I looked around and I felt lonely, very lonely indeed.
        I need to get food, I thought, forgetting my loneliness. I had been without food for a day, or was it two now? I had lost track but all that I knew was that I was hungry, I really had no idea where I was going to get this food but I did know that I needed it. I looked all around me, until I saw I big bush. The bush might have berries so, I started walking over in that direction. Once I got there, I saw that my prediction was correct. The bushes were filled with big bundles of red and purple and yellow and green and man other colored fruit. I put one cautiously into my mouth, hoping that they weren’t poisonous. They tasted delightful, not like anything I had ever tasted. I don’t think they have this kind of fruit on earth, I wish they did, though. I stuffed bundles and bundles of this marvelous fruit into my mouth as fast as I could. Then, as I was distracted b this delicious fruit, I suddenly heard large footsteps creep up behind me. I turned around slowly, my mouth dripping with fruit juice, I saw the big, blue creature with its big mouth growling at me. I saw a devilish look in its dull yellow eyes staring straight at me.
               To be continued........
     
   

Gratitude

  Gratitude is the act of being grateful for something or someone.
      I am grateful for my parents. They always take care of me no matter what. If I didn’t have them, I would be miserable.
       I am also grateful for my teachers. They have devoted their time to teaching us. They are part of who I am today.
       I also have much gratitude for police officers and fire fighters. They help make our town a much better place.
       I am also grateful for my pets. They have brought me and my family tons of joy. They are the best stress relievers.
       I mostly have gratitude for my family. They have made me who I am today and they help me so much.

My favorite country

        Honestly I’m not sure what my favorite country would be. Egypt is one of my favorite countries because it is very interesting. Here are some facts about Egypt:

• The official name for Egypt is the Arab republic of Egypt.
•  It’s capital is Cairo.
•  Two thirds of the worlds Arabs live in Egypt.

• The official language of Egypt is Arabic, but others languages such as English and French are also understood by many.
• The Sahara and Libyan desert make up most of the area of Egypt. 
  

       There are tons of other interesting and weird facts about Egypt. Ancient Egypt was also very interesting. The history of Egypt is very curious. There were many superstitions and odd beliefs. If you want to learn more about Egypt, here are the links I used for my research, http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/egypt.html
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/fast-facts-egypt/

My Favorite animal

      Whenever I’m asked what my favorite animal is, I am always sure of what my answer is. Without a doubt, my favorite animal is a guinea pig. Yes, almost two years ago I might not have even known what a guinea pig was, but now I am crazy about them. I have two pet guinea pigs, and (besides fish) they are the only pets I’ve ever had. Even though guinea pigs are rodents, they are actually pretty intelligent. Guinea pig can be taught tricks, such as, standing on their hind legs, turning in a circle, jumping over things, and much other stuff. Their life span is 5 to 8 years. Here is a fun fact about guinea pigs. “It is not known where the name guinea pig came from. Guinea pigs do not come from Guinea,Africa, and they do not look like pigs. Some people believe that guinea pigs were given the guinea part of their name by Spanish sailors. The sailors sold Guinea pigs for one gold coin, known as a guinea. Stories also say that the animals were given the pig part of their name because they squeal like pigs.” I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post. If you want to know more about guinea pigs, here’s a link,

https://www.factretriever.com/guinea-pigs-facts

Greatest achievement ever

        If I had to choose what my greatest achievement is, I don’t think I would be able to do it. I can get one close enough to my biggest achievement, though. The only one I can think of right now is when I got first place in the art contest at school. In art, we all had to draw a city, in 3D perspective and then it was put into the art contest. The judges decided which one was first, second and third place in their grade. It took them about a week to decide, and then, we had a big assembly where we also had first talent show and they listed off third,second, and first place for every grade. They did it from kindergarten up, so, fifth grade was the last to be called. I waited anxiously for my name to possibly be called for first, second or third place. And, I was thrilled and excited when they said “first place, Maya Miller!” I ran up and got my big, blue ribbon with a 1st on it. This was a great achievement!

Happiest day ever

There have been many very happy days in my life but I think that the most recent happiest day is when I got my first pet. It was in December, two years ago, when I got a guinea pig, Charlotte. She was (and still is) white with a big light brown spot on her eye.  The day I got her, it was snowing hard and I remember trudging through the snow to her old owners, Ellen’s apartment. When we got inside the building, we walked up 3 stories of stairs to Ellen,s home. She let us in her door and I saw my Charlotte in person(or maybe in guinea pig) for the first time. Ellen helped us carry their cage out of her house and into our car. Ellen said goodbye to my guinea pig Charlotte and Charlottes sister Andrea. We brought them home and this begun my friendship with Charlotte and Andrea.

Writer vs Singer

       If I had to choose to be either a writer or a singer, I would choose writer. I love reading and writing and when you are famous for being a writer, you entertain people, but also don’t need to stand up in front of an audience. Well, you only have to stand up in front of an audience to maybe give speeches, but that isn’t the same as singing in front of an audience. Also, when you are a writer people can enjoy your books forever and ever, even when you have passed away. I also don’t enjoy singing like I enjoy writing.

Best food ever

       I have eaten a ton of food in my lifetime and I can honestly say that I do not have a favorite food.  I like most food and I do not know what I would choose if I had to pick one food to eat the rest of my life. I know I wouldn't pick something that is meat, since I'm a vegetarian. I also wouldn't choose pizza because, I like it but I get sick of it if I eat it too much. I think that would be the same with any food, actually.  If I had to eat it the rest of my life, I would get sick of it after a while. And, I am sure that it would be the same with you, too.

News this week- 10/4/17- Trumps visit to Puerto Rico

       On September 20, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. Their whole island was submerged with water. Half the country didn't have electricity or running water. Any other president would be there to help within a day or two but, Donald Trump was there October, 4, 14 days after the hurricane. And, when he got there, he didn't help them much. He through people rolls of paper tolls! 

      ""I would not have done that," said Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico's lone nonvoting representative in the U.S. House, about Trump's paper-towel-throwing gesture. Speaking Wednesday morning in an interview with Radio Isla, the pro-statehood official said everyone has a different way of "conducting oneself." She then said that the focus has to be on getting adequate funds for recovery, and ensuring that airports and ports are functioning."-www.nbcnews.com

      Instead of throwing paper towels at them, he should have been trying to help their country rebuild and get back on track. After he did this, he "told reporters all he got was "thank yous" after his visit to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday."

      All other presidents actually helped and comforted the victims of a hurricane. Donald Trump did not.

      

      

If I were president...

If I were president, I would try to make everyone united.

• I would help Americans be united with everyone around the world.
• I would allow anyone to come live here to start a better life.
• I would make it a law that ANYONE can go anywhere here.

If I were president, I would let anyone come to live here.

• No one would be "illegal" because everyone would be welcome.
• There would still be checking at airports, but, as long as you have no weapons, you are free to come to America.
• There would be no bans on countries.

No guns would be allowed.

• The only reason for guns is to kill.
• There would be no gun shops ANYWHERE.
• There would be no guns allowed to enter the country.
• The only exception would be that police could have guns, only for use of their job.

THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE...

News last week-9/11

Today is 9/11/17. This means that exactly 16 years ago today, was the terrible event of 9/11, when the twin towers got hit by the planes and collaped, killing hundreds. This was a horrible event but, it also helped us today. Because of the event, the airports have become a little safer. Now, they check people down more carefully making sure they have no weapons or anything dangerous. Also, now, they don't allow any liquid that is in a medium or big container. 9/11 was a horrific event, but at least people learned from it and made our world a bit of a better place.

A slice of life- A day at the beach

As I watched the other kids playing in the playground next to me, my mom, Isaac, and Rosie were enjoying the day with me. I caught the scent of  the guacamole I was eating. I could hear the seagulls above me, begging for my food. In the background, I could hear the kids screaming, and laughing and playing. As I laughed and talked to my babysitter, Rosie who I had not seen in a year, I felt the nice, cool, Canadian breeze on my arm.Then, as I walked away, I thought," it will probably be a while until I'm at a beach in Canada again.

Digital Citizenship

As more and more students interact digitally–with content, one another, and various communities–the concept of digital citizenship becomes increasingly important.

Which begs the question: what is digital citizenship?

"Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use. 1. Digital Access: full electronic participation in society. Technology users need to be aware that not everyone has the same opportunities when it comes to technology."

           Since, I (and you) have the opportunity to share ideas, thoughts, and information using technology, we should be respectful with it, since not all people have the technology to do the things we can do and I'm sure they would like to. I don't know if you will be respectful with your device while you are blogging, but I will. I will make sure that I won't post anything that is inappropriate, violent, of not related to the topic. I know that I will be respectful with my device. I hope you will too.   

Environmental problems- global warming

      One of the major environmental problems in the world is global warming. This means that over the past 50 years, the average world temperature has increased at the fastest rate in world history. Global warming has been caused because gases are trapped on earth from pollutants, so, the heat can not go back to space. This causes the world to heat up.  That can lead to shortage of water which could lead to shortage of food which could lead to disaster. If people don't start doing something about this, very terrible things can and will happen.

The WE Movement

"WE is a movement that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world. Today, we are millions of passionate youth, women and men working together to shift the world from “me” to “we.”" The WE movement is important to us all because if we succeed with this, our world will be much better. We has five main beliefs.

1. Me into We - We are all brilliant and We all have unique gifts and We can all help to change the world.
2. We is Everyone- anyone and Everyone can make a difference.
3. We are the Change- We are defined by our daily efforts. If we don’t take action, who will? 
4. We are a global community- We are involved with each other in a global connection – with our friends, our families, our communities and the world. We ask, what else can I do?
5. I am We-WE is a movement that exists for one reason: to make the world a better place.

Now, take the pledge. Become a member of WE and help to change the world.

Welcome to my Blog

 Hello, I am Maya Miller and this is my first post of the 2017-2018 school year. I am in Ms.Haury's ELA and I look forward to sharing my posts with you and seeing your comments. I hope you enjoy reading my posts!