HOPE YOU LIKE MY PAGE!!!!!!!!!! :) :D :P :/ XD  

 

 www.churchstoke.powys.sch.uk/images/Class%203/animals/black-lab-puppy-face-thumb.jpg IT'S SO ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

   

 

 

 

 

1st assignment

 

 

Hawaii is a wonderful, beautiful place… so I’ve HEARD. That’s one reason I’d like to go there. There are many great agricultural items, such as bananas, pineapples and macadamia nuts. YUMMMMM!

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu on August 21^st, 1959! The state fish is – see if you can pronounce it – the Humuhumunukunukuapua`a, or the Reef triggerfish. I wonder what it looks like…  The state gem is the Black coral, and I want to know if it’s pretty or not. Last but not least, Hawaii is the 42^nd most populous state in the U.S. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to have a hard time convincing my parents to take me to Hawaii!

 

I'm sorry...I couldn't get a picture of the humuhumu....well, that one fish whose name I don't feel like typing out because it takes too long. But, it's a really pretty fish. You should drop what you're doing and go onto google images and look it up. 

 A beautiful view!  

Sources: 

• www.google.com (images)  
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/hawaii/             

 

Mount Rushmore is an amazing place. The presidents’ faces on the huge monument were designed by Gutzon Borglum, who also helped build it. It was done being built in 1941, and is located in South Dakota. There is lots of wildlife, and some of it includes the now endangered bald eagle, frogs, turkeys, coyote, skunk and bighorn sheep. Mt. Rushmore brings in approximately 2 million people each year! I always thought Mt. Rushmore would be a boring place, but now I really want to go. I'd like to be one of those 2 million tourists!

 

 

 

 

Sources:

•   www.google.com (images)
•   http://www.nps.gov/index.htm 

 

2nd assignment

Sharon Creech's Dream Essay

By: Alex

       Sal and Phoebe are different and similar in many ways.  Some of Phoebe’s paranoid feelings even rub off on Sal, but I’ll get to that later on.

       Sal and Phoebe are both confident to find their mothers. For example, Phoebe drags Sal to the police station and tries to  get the cops in on her whole “lunatic kidnapped mother” theory.  Sal is confident to find her mother’s final resting place, because she is willing to take the long road trip to Lewiston, Idaho, where she finds her mother’s grave and finally accepts that her mother is in heaven.

       In the beginning of Walk Two Moons, Sal doesn’t seem to be the slightest bit afraid.  But when Phoebe is extremely paranoid, some of that gets into Sal’s head; she fears – along with Phoebe – that the “lunatic” has kidnapped Phoebe’s mother.  Sal is mature through most of the story, so she knows Phoebe’s judgments about the “lunatic” are wrong – until Phoebe’s mother disappears.

       Sal is brave through most of the book, while Phoebe is afraid at almost all times.  When the “lunatic” comes to Phoebe’s house for the first time, Phoebe is so scared that she has Sal open the door. Sal, though, is always ready for adventure – ready for things like the road trip to Lewiston with her grandparents.

       Sal and Phoebe have several similarities and differences, but they share one thing in common – their determination to find their mothers (or, in Sal’s case, her determination to find her mother’s final resting spot).

 

 

 

3rd assignment

 

                        No Trees, No Rainforest    

By: Alex

 

            The Amazon Rainforest is a wonderful place, and it’s gradually getting destroyed every day of the week, every week of the month, every…well, you get the point. Forty trees in the Amazon get cut down every day, and the huge rainforest in Brazil produces much of Earth’s oxygen. Sad, huh? Lots of animal species live in the Amazon; so about half of Earth’s animal species may become extinct in the blink of an eye. Lastly, large amounts of medicines have been found in the Amazon’s wide variety of plants. Who knows? The cure to the common cold – or even better yet, the cure to cancer – could be waiting, and if all the contents of the rainforest disappear, we may never find them.

 

            First, the trees of the Amazon produce about 20% of the world’s oxygen, so if all the trees get cut down, that’s 20% of Earth’s oxygen…wiped out. That also means that people in and around Brazil won’t be able to breathe as easily. In fact, the whole WORLD will not breathe as easily.

 

            Second, the Amazon Rainforest holds more than 1/3 of Earth’s animal species, so if their home gets destroyed, that’s over 1/3 of the world’s animal species gone. Scientists won’t be able to discover new animals if there is nothing to see, and they won’t be able to learn more about the exotic ones already found.

 

            Lastly, the Amazon Rainforest has been nice enough to give us plants that contain the cure to many diseases. Who knows? As I said before, the cure to the most problematic diseases could be sitting in the rainforest, just waiting to be found. If scientists don’t pick up the pace, then thousands will possibly die from cancer, and the common cold will overpower America. I believe that the Amazon is the best supplier of the next big thing.

 

            All in all, the Amazon Rainforest gives us 20% of our oxygen, it houses a large majority of Earth’s creatures, and if scientists work harder, the world will become a much better place. If all the trees get cut down before those against deforestation can do anything about it, all the wonderful things – oxygen, animals and new medicines – will disappear.

 

 

 

4th assignment

 

 

 

Everybody Has Feelings… Even Aliens

 

By: Alex Gosselin

 

 

 

         Alarms suddenly went off at my attempt of sneaking into the UFO and making a trip back to Earth.  I had become the queen of Mars just three days ago after aliens abducted me from my backyard.

 

 

 

         I hurried back to my throne, hoping the aliens wouldn’t see I was the “thief” of the UFO.  My throne was rigged with a high-tech security system, so I had to scan my ID card, say a command and punch in a special code.  This process, which was very time consuming, got me worried. My panic made me say the wrong command and forget the correct code.  Just as I was allowed into my royal chair, I saw aliens coming over the horizon.  They had seen my footprints – the only ones of their kinds on Mars - that led to my throne.

 

 

 

         I was drowned in panic, making it hard to breathe.  Just as I sat down, the security system became my best friend for the time being.  It shielded me from the angry words of the aliens who had caught me red-handed.

 

 

 

         “Oh, mighty ruler,” started the head jail keeper Z3YAR4, “we acknowledge your power over Mars, but we at the jail have agreed that you must stay in the jailhouse until we decide to free you.”  The glass between the aliens and I muffled their voices, so I was just barely able to hear.

 

 

 

         “Jail? That’s IT?!?!?! She should be killed, and we’ll vote on the new king or queen of Mars!” shouted one of the angry aliens of the mob.  My heart beat faster and faster as I thought of the endless list of ways they could kill me. 

 

 

 

         I sat in my personal bubble, thinking of other safer ways to escape the red planet.  I knew the aliens would leave me alone some day; I just had to be patient.

 

 

 

         Hours passed, and I happened to doze off.  With the aliens’ voices distant, I dreamed of a way to get into the UFO without getting arrested.  It was the perfect plan. Completely fool proof.  So easy I should’ve thought of trying it earlier.

 

 

 

         When I woke up, there was no longer the buzz of an angry mob of aliens.  It seemed a little too quiet, but that was normal for Mars.  A slight breeze lifted some small clouds of red dust.  I figured this was my chance to shine.

 

 

 

         I pushed a button on my throne, freeing me of my bubble that was limited in space.  As I stretched, enjoying the fresh air, I heard nothing but the sound of dust landing on the surface of Mars.  With the dream in mind, I crept over to the biggest UFO on Mars, the one I tried to steal earlier.  I spotted a little box that read UFOSS.  I knew what this stood for – my dream had deciphered everything: Unidentified Flying Object’s Security System.  I thought about how stupid someone must’ve been to make the security system so obvious.

 

 

 

         I opened the small box, and I saw tons of blinking lights and colored buttons.  I tried to remember my dream.  The process was extremely easy; I just needed to punch in my code.  But, once again, I was very nervous.  If I put in the wrong code, the familiar sirens would go off again, tattling to everybody about my break-in.

 

 

 

         I took it slow, one number at a time.  103658… what came after that?  I knew there had to be more numbers to it than that.  I panicked, sorting through the possibilities.  After a long moment that got the gears in my head moving a mile a minute, I remembered.  1035890451032.

 

 

 

         The doors opened.  A feeling of success dropped to the core of Mars when I saw Z3YAR4 come up over the red hills.  I tried to run inside the UFO, but I was too slow for the alien’s hovercraft.  Z3YAR4 stepped in with me.

 

 

 

         “What do you suppose you’re doing, great master?” he asked me, sounding very calm.  “I hope you know you’re not going to get away with this.”

 

 

 

         “Well…” I must’ve sounded quite uncertain as I tried to think of what to say.  All that I could think of was “Well, I, um…”

 

 

 

         “If you would like to go back to your planet of birth, you may.  With you being the chosen master, I thought you would have a huge sense of generosity, care and respect.  I never would’ve expected YOU of all people we’ve had visit Mars to try and steal our main UFO.” Z3YAR4 had made a powerful mini-speech, and that got a point through to me.  And after all of my attempts at stealing, I finally realized that everybody has feelings… even aliens.

 

 

 

         “May I use this UFO to go back to Earth?” I asked with improved generosity.

 

 

 

         “Yes, you may.  We’ll miss you, great queen.  Even if you did try to take what’s ours,” Z3YAR4 responded.

 

 

 

         “Thanks a lot.  I’ll really miss you guys, too.  Tell everyone I said goodbye for me, okay?” I asked.

 

 

         “I will.” He stepped out of the UFO to let me go.  As I sped into the starry night, I looked down to see many aliens waving at me.  I waved back, wondering if I would ever see Mars again.  Maybe they would decide to abduct me again.  As I dreamt of coming back, I didn’t know it, but the UFO led me right past Pluto.  

         Z3YAR4

 

 

5th assignment 

 

 

SHOULD I

By: Alex Gosselin

 

Laying in bed

Thinking about what

Tomorrow will bring and

The decisions that will have to

Be

Made

 

SHOULD I

Go to that

High school party

Should I tell my friend I

Hate

Her

 

No

 

                                        SHOULD I

Be who I truly

Am

          And show my colors

 

Yes

 

SHOULD I  

Think about

These “SHOULD I’S”

Until my head hurts

And

I can’t take it anymore

 

No

 

But, SHOULD I

Still make the right

Decisions,

Choose the right path in

Life, take the road less traveled

By

 

Yes

 

I SHOULD 

 

 

 

6th assignment

                                                                          BOOK REVIEW

 

 

                                                               Caught Between the Pages

 

 

Book Review

By: Alex Gosselin

 

         Caught Between the Pages by Marlene Carvell is an excellent book for young adults.  PJ Barnes, the main character, is a smart student, but a bad one at the same time, skipping school and putting off homework.  The captain of the soccer team, Brian Carson, bullies him. 

 

         One day, Mrs. Jordan, PJ’s English teacher, asked him to stay after school…again.  But, it wasn’t to make up for missing homework or schoolwork.  “Did you happen to find a blue journal mixed in with your pile of homework?” she asked.  Of course, since he never did homework anyway, PJ said no.  But, when he returned home, he was curious if Mrs. Jordan’s journal actually HAD gotten lost.  Sure enough, there it was.

 

         PJ’s mind soon explodes with curiosity – he can’t just see the bright blue journal sit there, messing with his head.  He ends up finding some huge pieces of information in that one 8 and a half by 11 journal.  He even finds some things about himself!

        

PJ’s life is like a rollercoaster from then on, with more down hills than up hills.  His mother gets into a serious car accident, and some older high school trouble makers offer PJ $40 to tell Brian that he owes them money for drugs they sold to him.  Even more suspenseful things pop up between chapters, but you’ll have to read the whole book to find out what happens to PJ.

 

I absolutely loved how this book was so realistic.  Any high school student – regardless of behavior in school – could find it easy to connect to some of the characters, and even I could, too.  I would very highly recommend this book, but only to young adults because it has frequent swearing and drug references.  I could NOT stop reading, and the chapters ended in a way that made me curious about what would happen next.  If you like chapters that end with suspense, then this is a great book for you.

 

 

*See photo of cover at bottom of book response* 

 

 

 

 

BOOK RESPONSE 

 

 

 

   Caught Between the Pages… Rewritten

A poem by:

Alex Gosselin

 

PJ.

Bad, smart student.

Temporary holder of neon blue notebook.

 

Brian, a.k.a. Carson.

Bully who thinks he owns the soccer team.

Drugs hospitalize him.

 

Coach Lockwood.

Or, Loudmouth Lockwood.

Nickname says all.

 

Mrs. Jordan.

English teacher.

First name is WHAT?!

 

Frank.

Stepfather of PJ.

In to cars, food and cars.

 

Caught Between the Pages.

Excellent book.

Read it.