The Butterfly Project

“You wanton quiet memory that haunts me all the while
In order to remind of her, whom love I send
perhaps when when you caress me sweetly I will smile
You are my confidante today, my dearest friend

You sweet remembrance tell a fairy tale
About my girl who’s lost and gone you see
Tell, tell the one about the golden grail
And call the swallow, bring her back to me

Fly somewhere back to her and ask her, soft and low,
If she think of me sometimes with love,
If she is well and ask her too, before you go
I am still her dearest, precious dove

And hurry back, don’t lose your way,
So I can think of other things,
But you were too lovely, perhaps, to stay
I loved you once. Good-bye, my love!”

Gratitude

       As Thanksgiving is coming up, we start thinking about what we are thankful for in our life and the gratitude we have for the people who help us get through our days. Every morning, my mom gets up, makes my brother and I breakfast, and makes sure we get to school on time. I typically think nothing of it, because it’s such a normal thing. But, actually it’s a pretty big sacrifice. I think of some kids who’s parents just send them to school, no breakfast or anything and I become very thankful for the mom I have. Then I think even further to how my dad goes and works every day so that we can have the money to buy the things we need, like food and clothes. My whole family makes sacrifices each and every day, which gives me gratitude.

       I also have gratitude for the people who have taught me and who have made me who I am. This includes, parents, siblings, friends, and teachers, who have all taught me something, which has helped me live and be successful in everyday life. I think of all the things I know and all the things I can do and how if I hadn’t known these people, I might have turned into a completely different person. I’m thankful for the opportunities these people have given me, like art and robotics classes my parents have signed me up for and classes the school has given me. There are so many people and things to have gratitude for.
   

Quarter One Reflection

My greatest struggle in ELA during this first quarter was studying my vocabulary words. Every week, I would make my vocab index cards on Monday, then put them away, thinking I would be taking them out and practicing every day. But, by Thursday, I had not taken them out again. Then I remembered I had the vocab test the next day and freak out, studying frantically until the test, where I would do average. This upcoming quarter, I will remember to take out the cards every day, which will help me get a better score on my test, while also keeping the frantic studying stress away.

      Refugees have been the main topic throughout.the first quarter of ELA. Through reading articles, looking at websites, and finally reading a book, I have become aware of the refugee problems in the world. Refugees seek refuge in hopes of escaping the terrible circumstances of their former home. They leave everything behind, including their friends and family, just to get away from the war or diseases that they had to face. Then once they move, they are faced with more problems. From school bullies to drunk drivers, refugees might still feel unwelcome in their new home, which was supposed to make their life better. Bringing light to the troubles refugees face is important in helping to make their troubles go away, or it at least get better.

      During first quarter I only wrote four blogs, so I didn’t have much of a chance to see myself improve or not. But I can see improvement from my introduction blog to my other, later blogs. In my introduction blog, my writing doesn’t flow. I read it now and it just seems like I listed a bunch of facts. To me it almost seems like I put together a bunch of bullet points. There are no transitions or anything. But then I see my next blog and I have some transition and it’s not as choppy as my introduction  blog. Then I see my next blog, where I have a lot less choppy paragraph and have obviously improved at least a little bit.

      Now that the first quarter is over, I see many areas where I could improve my work in ELA. As I’ve already mentioned, one of my goals is studying my vocabulary words during the whole week. Another of my goals is to make sure I read every single night because I have found myself going one to two nights without reading. I also want to practice writing even when it isn’t assigned because I want to get better at writing and I have a lifelong goal to publish a book. This will also help me write better during the writing assignments. Some other goals I might think of along the way and stick to also.

OBAA lifelines poem

His new heart had been inspired

Your heart of gold

Weeps and smiles

Welcoming Angels

Is what it truly meant

to develop a heart

She looked

Like an angel

They would trust her

Most angels don’t look like angels

Beggars

Vagrants

Misfits

A twenty year old angel

Sing with us, sing to us

Take us to play soccer

Teach us

See past their disguise

This particular angel was well disguised

Ungodly odor

Nasty clothes

Muddy body

He was

an angel

My family encouraged me:

Don’t. Give.Up.

My lifelong angel, my mother Tsege

Sent from heaven

AoW #2

In Of Beetles and Angels, there is a family of five; Halieb,Tsege,Selamawi,Tewolde, and Mehret who leave their homeland of Sudan because of wars and rebel groups. Before Halieb and Tsege had to leave their home, they had a good life for themselves. Halieb was a well known doctor and they had a fine home and their kids had a good education. But, their life there ended once they had to leave. They went to a refugee camp, then eventually to America. In the article Syrian Refugees find Rare Path to Chicago, Fatima and Fadi lived happily in Syria. Fadi was a painter and Fatima was going to school to learn English. They had a good home and a child. But one day, “We were sitting in my house when … it was destroyed over our heads, said Fadi Adris, recalling the bomb that leveled the family home.” Once again, a story of a refugee family who had a perfectly good life and were forced to leave it because of war. This shows how war affects the people who are living in that area so terribly.

      In of Beetles and Angels, both Tewolde and Halieb died from a drunk driver hitting them Tewolde had his whole life ahead of him and a Halieb wasn’t yet done with his life. But it was taken away by someone else’s mistake. Tewolde was about to become very successful. He had plans with his life, but didn’t get to do them.“But Tewolde never talked to management...never graduated from high school... a drunk driver killed him... My father is not here... one night...a drunk driver stole his life.” This shows what dangers could come with moving America. This could have never happened in Sudan, where are know cars and definitely no drunk drivers. In the article Syrian Refugees find Rare Path to Chicago, while Fatima is still in Syria, her brother and father get shot to death in the streets due to the war going on around them. “violence caught up to them and claimed the lives of Fatima Adris’ eldest brother, who was shot in the street, and her father,who also was gunned down.”
This shows that refugees really don’t have a choice to leave or not. For a refugee, it’s a matter of life or death. These events in Of Beetle and Angels and Syrian Refugees find Rare Path to Chicago show the dangers all refugees have to face.

            War effects many individuals and societies alike, not only the people who are in the war, but the people who live near the war or sometimes even far away from the war. The citizens of the area could be in danger of bombing and families might be pulled apart. People usually become refugees because of the bombings, destruction, violence, and war. War could ruin societies, making the crime rate go up and  buildings getting destroyed. War can effect areas and separate friends and family. War is terrible for everyone.

1st Book Blog- All the Wrong Questions: Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

    The book I am reading is All The Wrong Questions: Why is This Night Different From All Other nights? By Lemony Snicket. So far, I’ve read until page - . If you are reading this series or plan on reading the series, Do Not Read Further- Spoiler Alert, Spoiler Alert!  This book takes place on a train, that he had to jump onto while it was was moving, leaving a fictional town called Stain’d by the Sea, sometime in the past. It’s about a 13 year old boy, named Lemony Snicket who is on a journey to save the town Stain’d by the Sea, defeat the villain, Hangfire, and prove that his chaperone,S. Theodora Markson is not guilty of murder.
       I like what I’m reading in this book because it is full of mystery and suspense, and those are my favorite qualities of a book. My favorite genre is mystery so this book is perfect for me. This book follows Lemony Snicket figuring out clue by clue to get to the mystery of Stain’d by the Sea. It leaves on total cliffhangers and is a perfect book for anyone with a longing for adventure.
       If I could talk to the author, Lemony Snicket a.k.a. Daniel Handler, I would ask him if anything, what inspires him to write such creative books. I would be interested in knowing this because I would like to write books like his when I grow up and because I’m interested in that. I might also ask him if he’s always wanted to be an author or if he had no idea that he would be writing books as a living. It’s always interesting to find out if a successful person also at thought or knew they would be so successful so, it would be nice to know about that.
       

Welcome to my blog

               My name is Maya Miller and I am 12 years old and in 7th grade. This is the beginning of my seventh grade blog. I live with my mom, dad, brother, and two guinea pigs. My brother’s name is Isaac and my guinea pigs are Charlotte and Andrea.

         During my free time , I like to read. My favorite book is The Westing Game. My favorite authors are Lemony Snicket, who is the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events and All The Wrong Questions and Pseonemous Bosch, who is the author of The Secret Series. 
       I also like to draw and act. My favorite TV shows are The Office and Modern Family. My favorite subjects are ELA and Science. I also like to write and want to possibly be an author when I grow up.  I hope you enjoy reading my blog this year.

I commented on Alejandra’s blog, Clementine’s blog, 

End of the year

It’s unbelievable that the end of the school year is already here. I have accomplished so many things, while I’ve also not done so many things I wanted to do. At the beginning of the school year, I wasnt as good of a poet. I wasn’t as good of a blogger. I wasn’t as good of a reader. I wish I could have finished at least one more series of books this year, but I didn’t. I accomplished not getting any falcon fouls this year and I accomplished getting tons of falcon dollars. I think it’s been a pretty good year.

Two poems by ME

The the first poem I wrote is with onomatopoeias:

Rainy Day:

Plip plop Plip plop

The rain is falling down

Plip plop plip plop

I see thunder in the sky

Crash! Smash!

It’s powerful but calming

The second poem has personification in it:

 Pizza:

Pizza comes in veggie, in cheese, 

and pepperoni too

All these flavors made just for you 

As I bite into the crust, 

the ingredients climb into my mouth

And slide down my throat 

And they settle in my stomach, 

leaving me a satisfactory taste

Three positives of the week

       For this blog, I will be sharing with you three good and positive events that happened to me this week. The first thing that happened to me was on Sunday, which is technically part of this week, around 4:00 PM. I was at my play practice for The Sound Of Music. Mrs.Chlumsky, the musical director, assigned me a line! I was super excited since I had never had my own line before. It was a small line but it was still something I got to say. She told me to say, “Has anyone seen Maria?”. It’s short, but I still can’t wait to say it.
      The second thing that happened was on Tuesday morning. I had finished my math MAP test, and I got a score nine more points than the winter one. This was exciting because it meant I only had to get a better score on one more test to be able to go to the incentive. I couldn’t wait until the next day to see if I would get the incentive.
       The third positive thing that happened was we successfully finished the play for the first time. It was the second time there was an audience in front of us but the first time we actually finished it and it wasn’t a complete and total mess. So, that’s a positive.
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Map testing #2

The last time I did map testing, I was really nervous. I was nervous I wouldn’t do well and I wouldn’t get the incentive. This time, I’m more anxious than nervous. I know map testing starts tomorrow but I really don’t want it to. I now have experience at how long and tedious it is, so I am just waiting anxiously until tomorrow. The incentive is pretty much the same now as it was last time. If I do better on two of the tests, I will have an incentive room of either a movie, tech, or game room. This time, there is an extra incentive too. The extra incentive is if I get better on these Spring tests than I did on the Fall tests, not the winter tests, then I will get a surprise incentive. I just hope I get at least one of the incentives, and if you are doing MAP testing too, than I wish you luck.

Reaching 50 assigned blogs!

       I am way past 50 blogs, but not assigned blogs. All the slice of Life blogs were not assigned, so that is 31 blogs I technically didn’t have to do. So, I have only really done 45 assigned blogs. That’s why I am reaching 50, because I haven’t quite gone there yet. Once I have finished those 50 blogs, I will be glad that I have lasted this long and I am almost done with blogs this year. I also wonder what these five blogs I still have to do to get to fifty will be. Whatever they are, I’ll talk to you again then!

Song analysis- Yellow Submarine by the Beatles

This is a song called Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. This song has many things that are like a poem. For one, it has repitition. Repitition is when one thing is repeated over and over. Poems have lots of repitition and so does this song. This song repeats “we all live in a yellow submarine. Yellow submarine, yellow submarine” between verses. 

This song also has some rhyming, just like poetry. The words “green” and “sea” don’t exactly rhyme, but when they sing them, they sound like they rhyme. It’s the same with “aboard” and “door”.

Greek Day

       I walked into social studies, my accordion, pencil case, and helmet in hand. Yes, there was a helmet in my hand. It was a Greek, paper helmet I had made a week before for Greek day in social studies. I sat down in my chair and put down all my things. I could see some of the other crafts other people had made. There were lots of flower and leaf crowns of different colors and some origami animals and even a Greek God Zeus figurine. After everyone had filed in, Mr.DellaCroce, the social studies teacher stood in the front of the class with a wooden thunder bolt in his hand. He held it up and told us what we would be doing. Everyone took their craft and lined up with their assigned group, which was supposed to be our city-states of Ancient Greece. I was in the city-state of Troy with three other people, Miranda, Solana, and Andrea. We walked outside to start our Agora, which was the market place of Ancient Greece.

Poem analysis-OVERDUES by Shel Silverstein

This poem is called OVERDUES and it is by Shel Silverstein. In case you can’t read it on the picture below, it says, “What do I do? What do I do? This library book is 42 years overdue. I admit It is mine but I can’t pay the fine should I turn it in or hide it again. What do I do? What do I do? Burn the library to the ground until it’s just a mound of ashes and debris. Yes, yes I see! My courage I’ll muster, torch it like my old Block Buster!”

This poem might be a limerick because it tells a short, funny story. It tells the story of a person wondering what to do about his overdue library book. It also could be a sonnet because it rymes and it has about 14 lines. But, this poem is most likely a free verse. Free verse poems are poems that don’t exactly follow any specific pattern. This probably isn’t a limerick. Limericks do tell short, funny stories, but they also have five verses. It also isn’t exactly a sonnet because sonnets have 14 lines, not 16 like this one. So, OVERDUES by Shel Silverstein is probably a free verse poem.

   

Favorite Poem

I don’t really have a favorite poem but I have a favorite poet. My favorite poet is Shel Silverstein. His poetry is combined with words and illustrations that make the poem funny. I think most good poems should have a picture to go along with it, to help you understand the meaning of it. This is one of my favorite of his poem:

This poem might not make as much sense or be as funny without the picture. Most of Shel Silverstein’s poems are limericks. “A limerick is a poem that is often silly or whimsical, written in five lines with an AABBA rhyme scheme. Often, limericks tell a short, humorous story.” I think that is why I like Shel Silverstein’s poetry, I like humorous things better than serious things.

Chicago History project- Robin Williams

         For my Chicago history project, I am researching Robin Williams. Robin Williams was born on July 21,1951 in Chicago. Robin Williams’ parents were Laura McLaurin and Robert Fitzgerald. He was married to Valerie Velardi and Marsha Garces before marrying Susan Schneider. In all he had three children. Their names were Zelda, Zachary, and Cody. Robin Williams was a stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, film producer, screenwriter, TV director, husband, and father. He was in 67 movies and 30 TV shows. His first TV show was Mork and Mindy and his first movie was Popeye. He started his career as a stand up comedian in the mid- 1970s. He won four Oscar awards from 1988-1998. He died on August 11,2014. Robin Williams is important today because of his success. For his awards, he got 64 wins and 84 nominations in his life. The movies he was involved in have brought entertainment and joy to thousands of people’s lives. “You know what music is? God's little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between living beings, everywhere, even the stars.”      -Robin Williams

Spring Break

       My favorite day of Spring Break was Easter Sunday, which was also April Fools day. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning. The reason I was up so early was to set up for my April fools day pranks. I brought a few bags and bins down with me, trying to be as quiet as I could. I carefully set down the stuff and open all the cupboards in my kitchen. Then, I put all the stuff that was in the cupboards in the bins and bags and brought that upstairs. Finally, I filled the cupboard with balloons I had blown up the night before. That was the biggest trick of the night. I also did some mini tricks, like putting toilet paper in the shoe toes and food coloring the milk. I also toilet papered my brother’s room and put a fake mustache on my dad. By the time I was done, it was already 5:00 and my brother was waking up. This night had been the highlight of my Spring Break.

Fourth quarter goals

       Since quarter four is the last quarter of the year, I will need to do some goals I set earlier in the year. In quarter one, I set the goal for myself to get no falcon fouls the whole year. I have done well on this goal so far, but I won’t know for sure if  I will accomplish this until the end of this quarter. In ELA, I set the goal for myself to read ten books. So far, I have read fifteen books, which means I have already completed this goal. For this quarter, I’m setting the goal for myself to read another five books. That would mean I did double the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year. Last quarter, I gave myself the goal of writing more on my blogs. I didn’t really succeed on that one. Throughout the third quarter, my blogging has stayed about the same length. I will try this goal again for fourth quarter, too. These are only a few of the goals I am setting for myself this quarter.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/31/18

       We walked into the Racine Bakery, the smell of freshly baked bread hitting my face. There were crowds of people everywhere so we had to dodge and duck many people, just to get to the front counter. We waited in line for a few minutes, as I looked around the room admiring the cakes, cookies, and other treats laid out in front of us. I just stood behind my dad, breathing in the wonderful scent of freshly baked goods. Once it was our turn, my dad ordered a dozen bacon buns and four paczkis, which are basically buns filled with cream. While my dad waited to get the order, my mom, brother, and I went to entrance to wait for him. Once he came, with treats in hand, we pulled the heavy door and walked out. We were headed to watch trains and eat paczis.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/30/18

       I sat on my knees on the carpeted floor of my bedroom. My friend, Ava, sat across from me. In between us there was a huge coloring book. It was a color by number coloring book, where you colored a hexagon a certain color, according to the number that was in it. We had no idea what the picture would be, there was just a couple hundred hexagons, with different numbers in them. I looked at the line of different colored markers we had sprawled out on the carpeted floor. I randomly chose a red colored marker and pulled off the cap. I carefully balanced it on the other page of the book and started coloring in the first shapes. We both just colored and talked for at least another hour.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/29/18

       I carefully took the spoon out of the paint container. I brought it over to the sink in art class and washed the black paint off of it. As the water rushed out of the sink and hit the spoon, the paint slowly washed away. Once I did this spoon, and the spoon from the white paint container, I put the lids back on the paints carefully, trying not to get paint on my hands. I did get my hands covered with paint, though, so I walked back over to the sink and washed my hands with hot water and soap. Once my hands were washed and dried, I walked back to my seat and stacked all my things neatly on top of each other. Then, I put my iPad bag, with the iPad in it, over my shoulder and picked up my accordion, book, and pencil case. Finally, I stood behind my seat and waited for my table to be called to go.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/28/18

        I sat on the couch for just a few minutes before heading upstairs to bed. I sat there, with the iPad rested on my lap. I heard the soft music of the the iPad my brother, Isaac, was playing with. He sat on the other side of the couch, next to to my piles and piles of school stuff. In between us, I saw my bright pink accordion, pencil case, backpack, and a bunch of papers. Right in front of me, there was a high, wooden table with a book and pencils on it. I was leaning on a soft, beige pillow with the guinea pigs on my lap. The iPad on my lap was leaning on the pillow and my leg, so I could easily see the screen. The top of the iPad screen said, “blogger.com” and the blogger page was pulled up. I tapped the white space in the middle of the screen and started typing.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/27/18

         I sat on the couch in my backroom, my dad sitting next to me with the computer on his lap. My brother, Isaac, was laying on the floor in front of me with his legs up on the coffee table. My two guinea pigs were laying down next to me and in my lap. As I pet them, they made a soft humming noise, which was them purring. They both faced the TV, as if they were watching it. I too watched the flashing colors of the television. Every once in a while, one of them would move around or look at me as if to say, “do you have any food for me?”  When they did that, I just smiled at them and looked back at the TV. This is how my family and I spent our Tuesday afternoon.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/26/18

       I heard my mom call my name from the kitchen. I stood up from where I was sitting in front of the computer and headed into the kitchen. I saw my mom standing there with the glass of juice in her hand that I had asked for. I ran over and took the glass from her. I said thanks and dashed back to the living room. The computer screen had turned black so I had to tap the buttons a few times to get it started up again. The screen I had been on was still up, though. I quickly pushed some buttons and started typing.With an idea finally, I sipped on my juice and wrote my slice of life.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/25/18

       I heard the faint "click" as the heater kicked in. A few minutes later, warm air was blowing on my face. I was no longer cold but my face was burning up. I turned around and went on to my stomach. I then pulled my markers from underneath me and started drawing again. I was getting the perfect amount of heat now and I didn't want to move. So, I put down the drawing materials I held and just enjoyed the heat. My house had been getting very cold and I was glad when the heater finally turned on. I calmly just laid there and slowly fell asleep.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/24/18

       I pulled open the garage door and ran outside. I rushed to the backdoor and waited while my dad and brother caught up with me. My dad pushed the key into the keyhole of the door and turned the door knob as the door opened. I walked up the stairs to see my mom waiting for us. The taste of ice cream was still in my mouth and I wished the nice time my dad, brother, and I were having wouldn't have ended. As soon as walked into the kitchen, I remembered instantly what I needed to do tonight. I ran into the living room and pulled out our computer. Unfortunately, it said the battery was running low so I had to quickly find the charger and plug it in. Once it was charged enough, I pulled up my blogger and started my slice of life for the day.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/23/18

              I walked into the huge band room to finish make up PARCC testing. I followed the other people also taking make up tests and sat down. I had never been in the band room before and it was a lot bigger than I imagined. Huge lockers covered the walls with instruments inside, outside, and on top of them. One of the walls had a big pile of guitars stacked high and scattered everywhere. The other wall was filled with instruments cases, probably with instruments inside them. I would estimate that there were a couple hundred instruments in this room. In the front of the room, there was a big whiteboard with a bunch of desks facing it. Like the other kids, I sat in one of the desks and took out my iPad. Once I had my testing ticket, I got on TestNav and started the test.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/22/18

       
      I walked up to the front of the room where we were getting our new iPad cases. I tossed my old iPad bag on the floor under the table like everyone else was doing and took the small wrapped package from my teacher. I headed back to my seat and sat down. I slowly pulled the clear packaging of the bag. The first thing I noticed was that it was extremely small. It was almost the same size as the iPad itself. I unlatched it and opened it to find a piece of paper inside and one of those tiny packs that say "do not eat" on them. This was immediately collected by my teacher and thrown away. The inside was very soft and didn't make it easy to slide the iPad inside. But I managed to slide it in and watched as all my classmates got used to their own cases too.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/21/18

       I sat down on the rug next to our old wooden coffee table. Not knowing what to do, I started examining our living room. To the right of me, there was a long, short table that held hundreds of Legos making up a city my brother had begun to build. There were Legos all over that area. I saw them underneath the table, on the chairs, and even across the room. Next to that table was a huge, fancy doorway leading to our front door. I turned my head to the other side of me and saw the old, high couch with a bunch of pictures of my family over it. There were lamps on both sides of the couch, one slightly shorter than the other. On the wall behind me, there was a big game cupboard with games spilling out on all sides. Finally, there was another doorway leading to our dining room. After this short look on my living room, I turned my head back to the front of me and started on my Slice of Life post for the day.

slice of Life Challenge 3/20/18

       I ran down the stairs and dove into our newly bought couch. It was freezing down here in the basement so I pulled the blanket that my mom had on her over me too. My brother was on the other side of her with the blankets over him and earphones on  his head looking at his iPad. Everything down here looked red because of the old OPEN sign my mom had gotten my dad for his birthday. It was hanging right above the couch we were sitting in.  We all looked at my dad as he called our attention. He had just set up his old turntable and he wanted to play some records for us. We watched as he carefully put the record into place and music started filling the room. My dad walked to the front and pretended to play the drums with the beat of the music. I sat there wondering if this would become a regular thing for our family, which actually might not be such a bad thing.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/19/18

        I sat on the couch in the living room with a computer on my lap. I looked down and saw the intricate pattern of the couch fabric and the huge rip that had been worn away from the many years of people sitting on it. I took my finger and traced the lines of the pattern, trying to take my mind off of things. I quickly let my head fall back and slam against the backboard of the couch in frustration. My head was full of ideas of what to write about, but none seemed right. I stared at the empty screen of the computer, wondering why I was having so much trouble tonight thinking of what to write. I thought of the last few weeks and all the things my family and I had done. I just couldn't put any of these stories into words at the moment. Suddenly, I recalled back to things my teacher had told us about writing our slice of lifes. I quickly wrote my slice of life in which you are reading now.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/18/18

       I walked into the dark living room. I flipped on the light switch and saw as the whole room lit up. Then, I quickly turned it back off, not wanting to ruin the peace and quiet. I walked over to the rocking chair next to the window and sat down. I sat there, looking out the window to the night sky. I saw a row of houses, some with their porch light on, some with it off. The moon light made everything look eerie. The street lamps shone down on the grass and street. There were cars parked on all sides of the street, making the scene look even more creepy. I sat there in silence, watching the still scene in front of me. I saw nothing move except the slow rock of the chair I was sitting on. After a few minutes, I went back to the kitchen, glad to see another living being again.

slice of Life Challenge 3/17/18

       Our car zoomed down the highway. I could feel the cool air hitting my face through the open window. I watched as we drove past businesses. I saw people walking, trees blowing, and everything swaying peacefully with the wind. The loud music from our car pounded in my ears. My mom slept in the front seat, next to my dad who was driving. Every few minutes, my dad would start singing along to the song that was playing. I just sat there, my eyes closed, absorbing everything I could in this calm drive. Though I didn't want it to end, I was glad when we finally stopped the car at the restaurant we were eating at tonight. We all got out of the car and walked in. It was finally time for dinner.

Slice of Life challenge- 3/16/18

       I watched the flashing lights on the screen, making the images of the movie I was watching. I heard my mom call my name to tell me my dinner was ready. I walked over to the kitchen and took my plate from my mom. There was a bowl of Curry from last nights dinner in a bowl balancing on the plate. There was also a bean burrito that my mom had just cooked. I poured myself some water and balanced everything on my plate as I walked to the backroom. I sat down on the couch and balanced my plate on my lap. My dad and brother sat next to me, also watching TV.  Finally being able to settle in, I took my fork, and started eating.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/15/18

       I saw the garage door slide open as my mom hit the button on our car. She drove slowly into the garage and parked the car. I carefully pulled the handle on my car door to open it. I slid on my backpack and jumped out of the car. Then, I walked around the car to the door that led to our backyard. I pushed it open and walked outside, followed by my mom and brother. Once I was outside, I ran to the backdoor of my house and waited there until my mom came with the keys. I watched as she slid the key into the keyhole and turned. Then she turned the handle and opened up the door. My brother and I pushed our ways inside and walked up the steps leading to our kitchen. I pulled off my coat and backpack and hung them by the stairs. Then I sat at the kitchen table and got myself a snack. This is how almost everyday ended on a school day in my house.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/14/18

        I hurried past groups of kids; talking and getting ready to go into class. I rushed to the line going into science, my first block. I followed as they started making their way into Ms.Coalson’s room. I took my seat and unloaded all my things. I watched as everyone filed in, going to their seats. Once everyone was in, Ms.Coalson walked to the front of the room and started giving us directions. All we had to do was finish the project we had been working on. I was done with that, so I got some free time.  I pulled out my book and went back to reading it, which I had spent almost all of excel doing. It felt like I was only reading for about five minutes, when she called our attention again. I walked to the turn in bin to turn in my project. Once everyone got back to their seats, we started our lesson. I couldn’t wait until my next block (ELA), where I could read some more.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/13/18

       I walked into my excel, ready for the day. I carried my empty IPad bag on my shoulder and accordion, pencil case, and book in hand. I walked over to where I sit and put all my stuff down. I rested my iPad bag against the table leg and stacked my other stuff on the table. No one else was at my table yet so I pulled down all the chairs at the table. Then, I walked over to the iPad cart and took out my iPad and slid it into the case. Finally, I took a seat at my table. I opened the book I was reading and read that until breakfast was called. But, I kept reading while eating the NutriGrain bar and drinking the milk. This is how I spent the rest of excel, reading and eating. Once it was time to leave, I threw away my garbage and headed out the door to first block.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/12/18

       I turned the dial this way and that, unlocking the lock on my locker. I heard the quiet “click” and opened my locker. I took off my backpack and set it on the floor in front of my locker. Then, I unzipped my jacket and hung it on the hook in my locker. After that, I unlatched my backpack and pulled out my accordion. I held it at my side while I also pulled out my pencil case and book. I balanced those on my accordion while I set my backpack at the bottom of my locker, I put my iPad bag over my shoulder, and closed my locker. Finally, I slid my lock back onto my locker, and clicked it shut. That is when I head to my first room of the day.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/11/18

       I heard the floorboards creak as I walked to the living room. I had just finished the game of Chess with my dad and my mom and brother were playing the boardgame Allowance. They were sitting on the floor by the heater, halfway through a game. I sat next to them to watch. The board was filled with bright colors, almost neon. One at a time, they rolled the die, then moved their piece. There were huge stacks of fake money. Every turn, they either took form their pile of money, or added to it. This went on and on until my mom won. Then, I went upstairs and went to bed.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/10/18

      As our car drove,into the forest preserve, I could already see how muddy the path that we would take was. We piled out of the car and stepped onto the hard gravel. As soon as I took my first steps on the path, I knew how this walk was going to be. My shoe completely sunk into the deep mud. I took a few more steps and heard the “squish-squash”ing of my Converse shoes falling through the mud. That made me decide to walk on the side of the path, surrounded by the trees. I had to trust and turn in all directions to keep from getting poked and scratched by the thorns and branches. This was a pretty small but fun adventure for a normal Saturday.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/9/18

       I pushed open the heavy door and walked inside. I saw a bunch of kids who were also trying out for the Sound Of Music musical my school was putting on. My audition was supposed to be in five minutes, and there were about forty kids in line to go into the gym for auditions. There was a lunch table pulled in front of the Emerson gym doors. Two teachers sat there, calling people for auditions and taking their paperwork. Some of the kids in line were practicing for their auditions. Some were just talking. I took a seat next to my friend who was also trying out. We practiced our lines while waiting to be called up. 

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/8/18

        I rushed out the door, hoping not to miss the bus. I was already minutes late, and I really didn’t want to miss this bus. I could feel the air rushing past me. I was only about half way across the alley and I was already running out of breath. I could hear dogs barking and jumping up to see who was running. I ran with all my might and as I turned the corner, as the bus pulled in. I slowed my pace to a speed walk, knowing that I would be there by the time the last person got on the bus. I made it there just as they were about to leave, out of breath and tired. Since I was the last person on the bus, I had to sit in the middle, between two seats. I was tired, but at least I made the bus, and was on my way to school.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/7/18

       I sat on my couch and looked out the window to our backyard. I saw a squirrel sitting on our fence staring at me through the window. I recognized this squirrel because of its bright orange stomach. This was the squirrel that had run to our door and scratched on it until we opened and gave him some nuts and apples for days and days. As soon as I saw it, I rushed to the kitchen, cut a slice of apple and grabbed a pile of walnuts. Then, without even putting on a coat, I rushed out the door to see him sitting there, his eager eyes staring at me. He stood in his hind legs, begging for food. I kneeled next to him and gave him a walnut. He excitedly grabbed it and strated munching on it. I couldn’t believe this squirrel actually trusted us enough to let me practically feed it out of my hand. After he ate all the walnuts, I gave him the apple. This was his favorite treat. He snatched it up and ran around the corner of our deck. I rushed back in the house to get some more food for him and went back to wait for him to come back for more. A few minutes later, he rushed back up to me, almost coming into the house. I had to throw the nuts farther away so he wouldn't come into the house. I wish we could have let it in the house, but we didn’t know what it would do in there. After all, it was like we had a pet squirrel.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/6/18

       I walked to the living room to get my backpack. I looked inside it to find my I.D that I hadn’t been able to find before. I put the I.D on and brought my backpack to the kitchen. I rested it on one of our kitchen chairs while I packed it. I picked up my huge, heavy accordion folder which had all my school papers and notebooks in it. I struggled to slide it into my backpack, but once I got it in, there was a lot more space. Then, I put in my pencil case, which was full of the new colored pencils I got this weekend. Then, I carefully slid in the artwork I had been working on the night before, which was due today. The last time I did this, the artwork slid out of my backpack, and I never found it. I didn’t want that to happen to this one, so I carefully secured it in my backpack. Once I got everything in it, I  latched it, and put it on the stairs, next to my iPad bag and iPad. Finally, I put on my coat, backpack, and iPad bag. I was at last ready to leave for school.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/4/18

        I headed upstairs stop get pajamas on. My dad had just gotten a movie in the mail and he couldn’t wait for my family and I to watch it with him. Once I came back downstairs, I thought they would be all ready,  but they weren’t. My brother and my dad were having an argument about which music was the best and my mom was busy folding laundry. I headed to the back room to get the movie started. My mom had pulled out the mattress that was usually under my brothers bed so we could have more space to settle in. My dad went downstairs to finish what he was doing and my mom, brother, and I settled in to the movie. Once my dad came up, we started the movie. This was a great way to end the day.

Slice of Life Challenge 3/5/18

       I looked at all the work I still had to do on my art project as I cleared off the table to work. I piled up the dishes and all at once, dumped them into the sink with the rest of the dishes. Then, I piled up all the papers on the table, which was the majority of the things on the table. I put those on one of the table chairs and scooped up the rest of the things on the table and put them on the countertop. Then I washed off the table so, my artwork would get last nights’s dinner on it. Now, I was ready to finally get started on this drawing. I took out all my supplies, metallic colored pencils, erases, markers, paint.    I took out the first color pencil and started drawing a design. Even though I love doing art, I couldn’t wait to finish this and get on to something else.

Slice of Life Challenge-3/3/18

My brother and I walked around the corner to the toy store. My mom had sent the two of us in with our money so we would be more independent. It was afternoon and the sun was shining brightly in our faces. We walked around the store until we found the door. We opened it and I heard the little jingling noise of the bells on the door. As soon as we got in, my brother ran to the toy Lamborghini he had been waiting and waiting to get. He quickly chose the color he wanted and paid for it, before I could even start looking for what I wanted. I saw my brother go over to a stack of hand puppets and started trying them out. I walked to the lego isle to see if there was anything there I wanted. My brother was starting to get restless so I just picked out a five dollar set and told him I was ready. I paid and we started heading out the door, just as my mom came to meet us. I heard the little bells on the door jingle as we walked out to the car.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/2/18

       I sat anxiously in my chair in ELA, waiting for the end of the day, when I would see the cast list for The Sound Of Music. I remember two days before, when I had my audition for the musical.  Did I do well? Do I have a chance to get in? These questions go through my head over and over. I have a hard time to concentrate on anything else. I can almost feel the butterflies in my stomach. I look around and see my classmates writing their Slice of Life. I look around the room, trying to get my mind off the musical and cast list. I see all the signs and books in the room, which I had seen hundreds of times. I think of all the work that is due today, and how I need to get started. For now, my mind was off the musical. But, I still couldn’t wait until the end of the school day.

Slice of Life Challenge- 3/1/18

        I heard the clip, clop of the rain falling on our roof as I walked down the back steps to our door. I couldn’t find an umbrella so I would have to run as fast as I could to get to the garage and open the door. I looked to the side of me and saw my friend who we were driving to school today. On the count of three, we ran out. As I ran, I could feel the rain hitting my head and running down my back. My glasses were all fogged up and I could barely see a thing. We ran and ran and what was probably 30 seconds, felt like an hour. As soon as we reached the garage door, I pulled out the key and started trying to unlock it. It unlocked right away and we jumped into the garage, thankful for the nice, dry space. I hit the two buttons to make the trunk and the doors open. We got in the car and relaxed for a few minutes while waiting for my mom and brother to meet us. At least we were dry for now, until we got out to go in the school.

Slice of Life- 2/26/18

       As soon as my block four was dismissed, I hurried to my locker to get my things. I was going to The Sound Of Music workshop after school and I didn’t want to be late. I knew I would probably be early since I was moving so quickly. I fumbled around with my lock for a few minutes. Why could I just not get the combination right now? I finally got my locker open and grabbed my things and headed to the Multi Purpose Room, where the workshop was being held. I didn’t really need to be in such a hurry, though since I one of first ones there. I looked around the MPR, where I had eaten lunch at just a few hours before. All the tables had been pushed to one side so there was a huge open space in the middle of the room. There was one table on another side that held some instrument and other devices. I had been watching the Sound Of Music so much that the songs just kept playing over and over again in my head. I took a seat on one of the benches pushed to the side and waited for the directors and other students to come in. I couldn’t wait to begin.

Argumentative- voting ages

My argument is that voting ages should be higher. At the voting age right now, which is age 18, you would still be in school when you are allowed to vote. Should people who are still learning in school have the right to pick the president of the United States? Students have not learned all they can learn when they’re still in school, so they might make a bad choice about their vote. Also, people at age 18 aren’t allowed to do everything older adults can, so, should they be able to make such an important decision? And, most kids at age 18 would be in college so, they wouldn’t have time to actuall think about the important choice and just choose the first thing they think of. If the voting ages were higher, more mature people would be making the important choices in the world.

My Snow day

       On Friday, we had a snow day. It was the first one we had this year and I think the whole school was excited. On Friday morning, my mom called the school to see what was going on. I was so surprised, even though almost everyone had been talking about it the day before. I stayed in my pajamas and settled in the couch to watch a movie. My mom made my brother and I parfaits and settled in to watch the movie too. Once it was done, my mom went to clean the house a bit and my brother went to play on our computer. I took out my guinea pigs and just held them while I read for hours. The whole day went on and on like this. We relaxed and watched movies almost all day. Once my dad got home from work, I bundled up and went out to play in the snow.  I hadn’t had a day like this one in long time. I wish this day never would have ended.

Should students wear uniforms?

       Should students wear uniforms? In my opinion, it is better for students to have to wear uniforms in school. With uniforms, students don’t need to think about what they will wear for school in the morning and they can just quickly get dressed and enjoy some free time before school. Also, when you are wearing a uniform, you remember that you are in school and not just chilling at home. Wearing a uniform shows that you are prepared for school and ready to learn. Even though it is good wearing a uniform, I can see why some people might prefer wearing whatever they choose. When you are wearing your own clothes, you can show your own style and feel comfortable at school.  To me, it dosent matter one way or another what clothes I wear, as long as I’m at school and learning.

The Art Of Presenting

        The art of presenting is how you can make your presentations interesting and understandable. When you are doing a presentation, you need to make sure you do the following things:

• Make eye contact with the audience
• Speak clear and loud
• Make hand and face expressions
• Don’t laugh so much that it isn’t understandable 

     If you do these things, your presentation will be a lot better. But, if you don’t have a good presentation, these things won’t matter as much. You need to make sure your presentation has the following:

• Good information 
• Not too crazy of a format
• Not an overwhelming amount of information 
• Not too little information 
• More facts than opinion, usually 

If you have all these things and present it well, you should have a complete, well done presentation.

Slice of Life- 12/25/17

       Our Christmas morning started at 4:00 AM. This Christmas we slept in the living room by the tree, on a mattress next to our heater. I awoke to the sound of my mom getting a glass of water in the middle of the night. I saw the presents under our tree and I couldn’t help but getting up. I went to the kitchen to beg my mom if I could open just one present. She was hesitant but once my brother woke up, there was no saying no to that. My dad was still asleep so my brother and I just opened gifts from each other. My mom also opened the gifts from us. After that, I fell back asleep on the mattress next to my mom who had fallen asleep while we were opening presents. Isaac insisted on staying up and building a lego set he just got. I woke again at 6:30. My brother was still working on the LEGO set and everybody else was sleeping. I woke up my mom and told her what time it was. She said at 7:00 I could wake up my dad to open the rest of the presents. I sat for a half an hour and read one of the new books I got. Once it was 7:00, we woke up my dad and opened the rest of our gifts. I spent the rest of Christmas morning reading and hanging out with my family. At noon, we went to church. It was a great Christmas Day so far, I couldn’t wait for what we would do the rest of the day.

Opposing view of orca captivity

       I don’t think orcas should be kept in captivity. They are too big of animals to be kept in such a small enclosure. It is proven that they are much happier in the wild, not kept in a large fishbowl. Even though I know it is better for orcas to be kept in the wild, I can understand why some people might believe they should be kept in captivity. It is true that the orcas at SeaWorld and other places like that have doctors and people to help and give them the things they need when they are hurt or sick but, would they be getting as hurt or sick if they were in the wild like they were meant to be? Another reason people might think it’s okay for Orcas to be kept in captivity is that they don’t put themselves in the position of the whales. If you really think about it, it’s like being trapped in a bathtub for the rest of your life, when you're used to being able to go wherever you want. Wouldn’t you get upset? If you thought orcas should be kept in captivity, I hope this changed your mind.

Blackfish- movie review

       The movie I will be talking about is called Blackfish. It is about whales at Sea World that were being aggressive to their trainers. It showed how poorly the whales at Sea World were being treated and why they might be becoming aggressive. There was one specific whale called Tilikum who killed multiple people. He was captured from his mom when he was only two years old. He was kept in a small cement cage for 25 years. He killed one of Sea Worlds best trainers in the time he was there. Him and other whales at Sea World were known for being aggressive to their trainers. At one point, Sea World sent four baby orcas to another place like Sea World in Puerto Rico. There was another killing there from Sea World’s orcas. It is proven that Orcas have never done any harm to a human when they were free in the ocean. Once they were in the prison of Sea World, they became angry and that is why they become aggressive. 

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

       The main difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction is unreal and cannot happen and nonfiction did happen. Fiction books have made up stuff like unicorns, dragons, and talking animals. It also usually includes some sort of magic in it. But, there is also realistic fiction. This fiction has not happened, but could happen. It is different than nonfiction because it didn’t actually happen. Nonfiction books though, have happened. They tells actual facts about what really happened in history. I personally like fiction books better. I like the suspense of what will happen next, since anything is possible in fiction books. But, in nonfiction books, it is pretty much predictable what will happen next. But, I like all kinds of books and I love reading. Don’t you too?

Winter Break

       On Winter Break, I went to Michigan from December 26th to the 31st. I did plan to read every night even when I was in Michigan but, in Michigan I was too busy relaxing and spending time with family. But, I did read almost every night when I was at home. I had been reading the series, The Sisters Grimm since the the beginning of last year and I finished during winter break. I don’t know if this is considered educational or productive but, I also played about 5 rounds of Monopoly with my family, which is kind of a math game. I can’t think of anything else I did that was productive during winter break, but I did enjoy myself and have fun, I hope you did too.

New Years Resolutions

      Here are some of my 2018 New Year’s Resoultions:

• Be kinder to my brother 
• Help with more chores at home
• Try to learn how to speak Spanish
• Memorize my multiplication facts above eleven
• Start up playing guitar regularly again

I think it is important to have goals for the new year so you can try to continue becoming a better and better person. Your goals can also help you have a better life. For example, if I do become kinder to my brother, my life can be peaceful, without all of our fights. It is also good for people to learn new things. That’s why I chose “try to learn Spanish” and “Memorize my multiplication facts above eleven” to try to become smarter in the new year. You should make New Years resolutions, too. Even though I am sure you have already.