This is my English page!! Below is my personal narrative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Having To Say Good-bye

 

By Matthew  

 

 

On a Saturday morning in 2007, I found myself walking outside. But I really didn’t want to reach my destination.

 

When I woke up that morning, I sat up and remembered. Today. Today it happens. But why does it need to happen at all? I got dressed and ate breakfast. Then I left. I we out the front door. Left and down the hill. Left at the fork in the road. Up the hill to the apartment buildings. 1610. Sasha’s house.

 

Sasha Napolov was my best friend. He was in my class in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and would’ve been in my third grade class if he hadn’t moved away. When I got to his apartment building, I rang the doorbell. His father answered the door, and greeted me. I gave a weak smile. When I entered, about five feet from the door was Sasha.

 

“Hello Matthew”, he said.

“Hey Sasha”, I replied.

 

I noticed that the living room, which once consisted of comfy chairs and plush couches, was completely empty. We ran in circles around the perimeter of the room, playing a makeshift game of tag.

 

At that point it was about 10 o’clock, and I hadn’t eaten much, and Sasha hadn’t eaten at all. So his mom made pancakes and set out fruit.

 

We both started eating right away. The pancakes were great (which I frequently praised, and to this day, haven’t had better ones), and the fruit just as tasty. After that, we dashed upstairs to his room and played Monopoly. After he had won (which surprised me a great deal, because in previous games he had made some pretty numbskull moves), we played Sorry. That I won. Next we went downstairs, and asked his dad to set up a tent. We always hung out in this tent.

 

We had a sort of “club” going, and we kind of worked on it here and there. We started it in kindergarten, so it kind of got off to a cheesy start. So far, it consisted of rectangles of construction paper cut with wavy scissors, and hole punched a gazillion times. These were our “passcards”, and every chance we got, we hole punched them more.

 

After about half an hour of that, Sasha’s mom came and said that my mom called saying that I had to come home.

 

So I left. I didn’t say anything. Neither did he.

 

As I walked home, I tried to imagine not having a best friend for a while. But who else would be my friend? As soon as I walked in the door on the first day of kindergarten to see a strange kid rolling checkers sideways down a monstrous track of dipping slants and clever turns made out of your run-of-the-mill little kiddie blocks, I knew he was my friend.

 

And I just couldn’t imagine it.

 

I wanted to have him around to play with, or even just more time to say good-bye. I didn’t like the whole process  – to have to say good-bye.

 

 

 

 

Also, my persuasive essay:

 

 

 

 

            Drive down the air vent. 180 degrees right spin. Extend claw. Swivel. In a place where no human can fit, and a job needs to be done, what happens? Robots. Robotics is a field that is very helpful for most things, and beneficial for the mind. But robots can’t make themselves. Okay, they can, but I’m not talking about that general assembly line stuff, I’m talking about special-purpose vehicles with extensive and careful programming. And if a job needs doing, whose going to make them? We need more designers, and that comes from kids. More robotics classes should be open to kids, in and out of school. Robotics teaches kids the ability to make a structure, how to have precision in work, and also, it is just plain fun to see something you make with your own two hands skitter around.

 

            Firstly, robotics gives kids experience with how to erect a structure that can fit the environmental challenges, and serve a purpose. Having this skill, children can later benefit from it by job qualifications, and knowledge for a possible situation. For example, if there was and earthquake, and you were trapped in your house, and you couldn’t reach your cell phone to call for help, what would you do? You could first of all use rubble to make support beams so more debris wouldn’t fall on you, and you could build a robot to retrieve your cell phone to call for help. Without that knowledge, you could’ve been doomed!

 

            Also, to participate in robotics, you require precision and refinement in your work. If you needed to build a chassis, you couldn’t just throw some pieces together, you would need to choose the parts carefully, and if that design didn’t work, you would have to refine that design. Those skills can be applied in many a situation. To have precision, and be able to rework designs is something that can be beneficial for yourself and to others for a lifetime.

 

            And all in all, robotics is just fun! Even if your robot spins around, or twirls a motor, it was still fun to build and program. A plain useless robot still gives you experience in the field. And even if it doesn’t work, or works, but not as projected, you learn something that you didn’t know before, and have the knowledge not to do that again!

 

            So really, robotics entertains kids, educates them, and teaches them how to take pride in their work, plus pay attention to details. And it’s really fun! I hope you build a robot too!

 

 

 

Here's my PSA:

 

 

And my banned book video report:

 

 

 

 

Video 7.wmv

 

 

 

And my sci-fi story (first chapter)

 

 The Fight for Life Itself.doc

 

 

And my book review: 

 

 

 

 

The Leviathan

 

     The Leviathan is an alternate ending to history, in the time period of World War I. Not only is it an alternate ending, the world is composed completely different fighting forces. There are two main powers; the Clankers and the Darwinists. Anyone else is neutral. And once you pick up the book, there's nothing in the world that can stop you!!

 

     The Clanker force is spread throughout the world, with the main Clanker power in Germany. The Clankers build gigantic, monstrous, robotic war machines. They mainly use gigantic walking machines, from four to six legs for battle, and two-legged walkers for ordinary transportation. A couple of the gigantic war transports have eight legs, in spider formation. All of these machines do not run on electricity, but rather gigantic, steam-powered boiler chambers. A lot of the joints on these walkers run on pneumatics, so the mechanical parts are airtight. They also make gigantic zepplins, that fly with unbelieveable speed. These are to counter the Darwinists' air beasts (explained later). The Clankers arm these monstrosities with heavy duty armor, and gigantic cannons with frag bomb shells. Other special weapons include Tesla cannons, and Spandu machine guns.

 

     The Darwinists, who are named after Charles Darwin, modify and create animals. Another reason why this book is an alternate history is justified here, because in this world, Charles Darwin not only made gigantic discoveries about life in general, he also discovered life chains, and how to modify them. So Darwinists fabricate animals to assist them. All of the Darwinist creations create and consume their own energy. So just like regular animals (of this time), if you feed them, they will "work". Some of the main categories of fabrications are mammothines, fighting bears, tigers, and hydrogen breathers, which are the most important. Hydrogen breathers are animals that are fabricated so that they have bacteria in special sacs, that fart out lighter-than-air hydrogen in massive amounts, and thus creates a flying animal. The two main hydrogen breathers in the book are Huxleys, which are basically flying jellyfish, and Whale Ships, which the Leviathan is one of.  A whale ship is a ship that is based off of whale life chains, with hydrogen additives, and thousands of other species.

 

So now that you know what Clankers and Darwinists are, here's the plot:

 

     The main characters are Alek and Deryn.  Prince Aleksander of Honsburg is a Clanker prince, whose dad is a king, and mother a commoner. He and the other four people sworn to him (Count Volger, Master Klopp, Bauer and Hoffman) are some of the major characters. Alek's parents were killed in Serbia, which started the war. He and his men set of in a Stormwalker (a two-legged walker) with a quarter ton of gold, to try and get to the Alps, where a war-prepared castle awaits use.

 

     Deryn Sharp is a female Darwinist, and who at 15 wants to be in the British Air Service. That violates two rules; you must be male and 16 years old. So, she poses as 16 year old Dylan Sharp, which she made up, and proceeds to serve on the Leviathan.

 

     The two characters meet in the Alps where the Leviathan crash landed, and Alek and his men were living in the castle. Alek and co. help get the Leviathan back on the air, and then he and his men board the Leviathan, strap the Stormwalker engines to the air beast (ooh, Clanker, meet Darwinist), and off they go.

 

     I can only say these things without giving away the ending: the Leviathan picks up a strange woman with mysterious cargo, and the Leviathan goes to war.

I hope you read the book, and enjoy it like I did!!

 

 

 

And my research project:

 

Leonardo da Vinci: A life 

  

            Try to imagine the 14^th century. Put yourself in that time. There is not a lot of technology in use, and poverty is a pretty regular thing, due to a few, hogging, and rich individuals. Then try to imagine yourself as a kid in that time. There were many great philosophers, painters, and engineers to look up at for inspiration. So was the case of Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. Of course, we know him as Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest painters of all time. Leonardo da Vinci was a great man who made many astounding accomplishments, and inspired many important people.  

  

            Leonardo’s early life was pretty full. Leonardo was born on April 15^th, 1452, in Anchiano, which is near Florence, Italy. He lived there as the illegitimate son Ser Piero Da Vinci, who was a notary, for 8 years, and then moved to Florence. Ser Piero wanted Leonardo to be a notary, but he refused to accept that. In 1464, Leonardo was introduced to Andrea del Verrocchio, who taught a painting workshop, and was well renowned. Leonardo took up an apprenticeship with him when he was 12 years old. 

  

            Many people inspired Leonardo to become who he was. Verrocchio was one of the keystone people, who inspired him at a young age. The brothers Evangelista and Giovan Abrogio de Predis helped him paint a centerpiece for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception in the Church of S. Francesco Grande, which helped inspire him to become a constant painter. Also, Lorenzo de Medici helped him with other designing jobs, and suggested possible living locations. 

  

  

            Leonardo became a painter, and engineer, and also a great thinker. He painted many well-know paintings such as the Mona Lisa, or The Last Supper. The Mona Lisa was commissioned to him by Francesco del Giocondo for his wife, Lisa to celebrate their new house and second-born child. He is very well known for designing a gliding machine, which he never built, but as we know now, would probably work. He painted many centerpieces and objects for churches and cathedrals, and also at a time worked as a military engineer. He was also interested in anatomy, and dissected more than 30 men and women, and drew very detailed drawings. Leonardo studied nature a lot, but what he really liked was watching the flow and ebb of water. 

  

            So Leonardo Da Vinci was a very smart and well-rounded person, who inspired many people, and did many great things. He painted many famous paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, and designed many cool things, such as his flying glider or armored car. He made a big difference in the world around him, and he made them to last. That is the kind of role model we should look up to.         

  

  

  

 

Citations:

 

Da Vinci and his Times: DK Eyewitness books Inc. 2006.

 

Leonardo. n.d. Wed. 29 February 2012. <http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/>.

 

Renaissance Man: Scientist. n.d. Wed. 29 February 2012. <http://www.mos.org/leonardo/scientist.html>.

 

The Life Leonardo: A Brief Biography of Leonardo da Vinci's Life. n.d. Wed. 29 February 2012. <http://www.robinurton.com/history/Renaissance/vinci.htm>.

 

All cited sites and books are copyrighted. Respect it!!