Vocabulary Haiku

Logical projects,

Subjects are hysterical

Will they understand?

-Leo

My mom is working

My aunt is a guardian,

Taking care of me

-Sujey

I preferred ice cream

It is really good to eat

Is it good for you?

-Sujey

Preferred to not call;

Aram is an assistant

Only way to help

-Ruby

Climbing a glacier,

Trying to get wood for fire

Slipping and falling.

-Stephanie

Ms. Hickman was hurt

I had to resurrect her;

She was suffering

-John

It was abhorrent:

It took me hours just for one

Awful math problem

-John

Khanacademy

Scientific notation…

Nah, I’m just coding

-Rudy

Guest Post: The Summer of the LEGOs by Rah-San B.

                                                                                                                    

The SUMMER of the LEGOs

by Rah-San B. 6th Grade

            It was 2011, the school year was coming to an end, and I was amped up for summer. I had bought a few packs of LEGOs from a store around the corner from my house but I hadn’t played with them. I was all set to open those LEGO packs, hang out with friends, and take various art classes. Summer had barely started when my Dad pulled up in the truck with my brothers, Destine (a couple of months older than me)  and Osiris (age 5) and announced they were all going to be staying for the whole summer.  I hadn’t seen them for the entire school year (since we don’t go to the same school anymore) so I was extremely happy to have them over. I had a lot of action figures, and Destine had a few LEGOs. I knew it would be the most awesome summer ever.

            At first my brothers and I wanted to take turns using the computer. My oldest brother (who we call Paco),had introduced me to a game called Pokémon Indigo about about a year before and my brothers were interested in playing it.  It turns out they really liked Pokémon.  (My brother Destine had just recently attended a Pokémon TCG Tournament in Utah and made it to 4^th place. He’s very skilled at it now.) We finally decided to let my little brother Osiris use the computer more (what’s funny is he cried when we were using it, and he figured he could use it if he kept crying for the entire day). We only used the computer when we got bored of playing with action figures and the few LEGOs we had, and wanted to play some Cartoon Network games.  Destine and I were patient with him. Still we needed something else to do.

In the middle of summer, our dad came home with 3 LEGO sets.  They were the new Batman LEGO sets since the movie had come out a few weeks before. I got the 2 smaller sets, and Destine got the larger set. My sets contained the Bat Mobile, Two Face’s armored car, The Bank that two face is attempting to rob, and a few minifigures. My second set contained the Bat Wing, Joker’s Helicopter, and a few more minifgures (we later found out that the third set was Osiris’s but I saved him some time, since I already had built it). Destine’s Larger set contained The Bat Cave, Poison Ivy, Bane and his Mega Drill, Robin, and Batman’s Motorcycle. Technically, with all our sets combined we had some of Batman’s worst enemies and most of his vehicles, except the boat. Destine and I played with the LEGOs most of the time. When Osiris would want to play, we sometimes wouldn’t allow him, because we thought he would destroy our creations.  On the other hand, sometimes we wanted a new player to battle, so Osiris was in luck.  

            It was a summer of good food, as well. My favorite day was when we want to the really nice deli called Canters together. I got chicken strips  and cheese cake and Osiris ate lots of watermelon. A few days later we had some cantaloupes and coconuts. I thought the coconut milk would taste like cow’s milk, but boy was I wrong! It did not taste good to me. We had some mojo potatoes, chicken, and great fruit juices. We ate many different types of food that summer of 2011.

            When it was a few weeks before the end of summer, and I knew that my brothers had to leave, it made me kind of sad to think I wouldn’t see them again for such a long time. I sat on my bed in my room because I didn’t want to say goodbye. Then, something awesome happened. When I came back inside, I saw that they had left their LEGOs, which meant they had to come back for them. Right before the summer ended, they did come back and  Destine had even more LEGO sets and a giant LEGO head to carry them in. We played LEGOs again one last time. It had been a great time. It was the summer of my brothers and me playing, eating, laughing and making things, and whenever I see a little pile of plastic colored rectangles with raised dots on them, I think about my brothers and that special summer, that Summer of the LEGOs.

11-12-14: ESA's Rosetta Mission's Philae Lands on Comet 67P!!!

What a thrill to watch the scientists' reactions and see the first images coming back from 300 million miles away! Good day! Let's all do something this magnificent!

Guest Post: A Challenger is Approaching by Leo F. 8th Grade

A CHALLENGER IS APPROACHING

by Leo F. 
                            

(Tip: SSB4 people will know exactly what's going on.)

“You didn’t have to come.” 

It was a cold day, in the mountains. Everything was covered in snow and all the rivers became frozen. I turned around to see the man with the scar on his face with his hunting gun. It was obvious that he was the same man I met on the grass field. I tried to look behind him to see if he had that…that  thing with him.

I repeated the same words, ”You didn’t have to come.” 

“Well you didn’t say I couldn’t come, so I’m here. Beside I have the approval invitation right here.”, he responded as he took out the invitation, that had the official “S.S.B.” symbol. 

Then I spoke, “So where’s your… thing.  Is it here or not?” 

He looked at me and gave me a disturbing smile.  Finally he said, "Do you possible think I would come alone?"  He stepped aside and did a mysterious whistle and I could see something coming towards us. My vision was blurry because of the snow, but as it came closer, it became clear that it was the “thing." 

My heart stopped.

It came closer and closer and I realized the “thing” was … a dog with a duck on his back. A cute, furry little pet set! I smirked and said, “Is this really your challenger?!” I started to laugh thinking that it was a joke. 

Then the man said, “Duck Hunt… you are no longer on my command” At that moment I stopped laughing and was confused for a second. That’s when the dog jabbed my face with his front paws and the duck jabbed my stomach with its beak. That duck sure has a strong head and beak, I thought. 

I fell to the ground. For a second I thought I was defeated and I got ready to fight. Cute and furry? Yes, but a dangerous pet set, too! And that's how Duck Hunt and I were invited to SSB4. 

(FYI: I was a MII Character and Duck Hunt is… well, Duck Hunt.)

Guest Post: "The Ghosts Are Out on Burnside Ave." by John, 8th Grade

The Ghosts Are Out on Burnside Ave.

by John T.

          It was summer, four years ago. I and my friend, Dejean, from Belize, were up pretty late goofing off and eating junk food. Summer was probably the only time of the year not to worry about education. It was getting late, but we weren’t tired. After hours of playing with action figures and watching TV, Dejean suggested that we’d head for bed. Though reluctant at first, I eventually agreed.

             It was two a.m. I was in my top bunk bed, and Dejean was in the extra bunk bed on the other side of the room, for guests. My older brother, Patrick, was already asleep in the bunk below mine. Even though it was late, I wasn’t tired. The thrill and excitement of the summer spirit was still in me. So I laid there, in the dark, staring at the ceiling. 

            Another hour passed. I was pretty sure everyone was asleep now. Tossing and turning as the hours passed, I was bored. Honestly at this point, I wondered why I even agreed to go to bed. At some point I got really thirsty. I imagined getting a can of soda and chugging it down until my stomach couldn’t handle the acid of the drink. And so, after minutes of deciding, I pulled myself up to go get a drink. 

           Then I heard a noise. Then I felt my bunk bed start to rattle. 

           At first I thought it was my older brother, who moved in his sleep. But it wasn’t. The bed started to rattle again, slightly more violently than it did the first time. I started to get frightened. The bed rattled again, almost as if an earthquake had rattled it. I was paralyzed with fear; I couldn't yell for help.

            Hours later, I was still awake. The rattling had stopped, but the fear remained. I was still panicked. I was so thirsty. As soon as the sun started to rise, I finally fell asleep. 

           When I woke up everyone in their beds was gone. I inhaled a deep breath. I could smell the hash browns and eggs in the air. I hopped off my bunk bed, and headed for the kitchen. My mother, father, sibling, and friend were all sitting around the dining table. 
           

          My mom handed me a plate of food. After the long night I had, I wanted to share the story with my family. Everyone was fascinated, and they began to suggest I had been haunted by a ghost. Chuckling from behind me, Dejean finally came clean. He confessed HE had done those things to me, not a ghost. I had no idea how he pulled it off, but he pranked me. It turns out I was haunted by Dejean.

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Guest Post: "Pen Pals" by Ruby, 6th Grade

         On one of the last, hot days of summer, my mother said, “Ruby go get the mail.” I got the keys, opened the front door, walked to the mailbox, and unlocked the dusty, metal mailbox. I walked back inside the house, skimming through all the usual bills for mom and dad.         

         All of a sudden I saw the name of my friend, Ashley, on the corner of an envelope. I met Ashley in El Salvador. I was so excited to see a letter for me that I quickly, but carefully, opened the envelope.

         When I opened the envelope, I took out the letter. In the letter she told me how she was doing. On the front of the card there was a picture of a flower. The flower was pink with yellow. It had big petals of pink and small petals around the flower of yellow. The stem of the flower was green. The flower’s color was a pop of color because the paper was white. Inside the card it showed Ashley's writing. Her writing was neat. She wrote with a red and blue pen. You could tell it by the color of the words.

        One day later, I prepared a letter for Ashley. The color of the card was yellow. The front of the card had a flower. Inside the card I wrote in printed writing.  I wrote with a pencil. You could see the eraser marks on the card.

       People might say writing letters by hand is "old school," but I know writing letters to Ashley keeps our friendship closer. In a letter you can give more information than in a phone call. Also you can’t save your conversations with a person on your phone. Only a letter can do that.