Category: Uncategorized

Slice Of Life: The Girl Who BROKE My SHOULDER

8521581 on

I was in third grade at Liberty Elementary School, otherwise known as THE WORST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD!!! Anyway, it was recess, and everyone went outside. It was warm, and perfect weather. My group of friends decided to join another group of friends and play Sharks and Minnows. In Sharks and Minnows there is a shark who mis in the middle. The minnows have to try to get to the bases on the other side as much as possible without getting tagged. Id they get tagged, then there are two sharks, and so on. We were playing and it was very fun. I never got tagged to be a shark, and we were laughing a lot.

Then a girl from the playground came over. Her name was Briany, and she was in my class. She was the stupid type, who always asks stupid questions and ALWAYS got a two on everything. ( the grading system was 0-4. Zero being terrible and four being perfect. She also had an Ariana Grande type laugh and would laugh at everything, especially when she did something stupid, dumb, or clumsy.

She came over and I got a bad feeling. I tried to ignore her. I continued playing, until she became the shark. “Three…Two…One…GO!” She annoyingly laughed. We all ran and everyone got to the other side except me. I tried to dodge her and run past, but she “tagged” me and pushed me to the ground.

I fell to the ground with a huge THUMP! My head slammed to the warm concrete. For a few seconds I felt nothing, and the girls panicked voices sounded like they were underwater. My vision was blurry. That’s when the pain hit.

My knees and calves were scraped badly. My head felt like a hammer was pounding it. My arm was scratched and I felt the pointy gravel poking my skin. The worst was my shoulder.

The pain felt like a poisoned knife digging into my skin. Or like white hot needles piercing my bones. Everyone seemed blurry and far away. The voices came closer, and I saw my teacher. She is Mrs. Houston, and she is tall with dark brown hair in a bun.

“Can you get up?” She asked concerned, leaning toward me.

“N-noo….” I moaned.

“Come on, let’s get you to the nurse.” Mrs. Houston said kindly. She grabbed my hand and slowly pulled me up. I stood, knees shaking. We walked for two minutes to the nurses office, but it felt like two hours. Every step was a sharp knife in my shoulder and a painful gasp. The whole way i kept on saying, “I think its broken…” while holding back tears. My teacher kept on replying,

“Shh…Its not broken, don’t worry.”

We got to the nurses office, and when i sat in a chair if felt relief from not having to walk more. Most of the pain was gone from not moving. The nurse asked me my name and i told her. She then called my mom and told her to pick me up. I felt dazed and sleepy.

My mom came, and we drove to the hospital, and the whole way I explained what happened. We got to the hospital, and waited in a room FOREVER! Because, you know, child’s shoulder is probably broken? Let’s make them wait an hour before a checkup! The doctor FINALLY took me to get an x-ray, and a long time after, told me it was BROKEN! I was so sad and angry at Briany! I wanted to smack her!

 

***

After that I have crazy news! The school never TOLD HER PARENTS!? My mom had to tell her parents when the school PUT BRIANY IN MY 5th GRADE CLASS! She broke my shoulder, and they put her in my 5th grade class!? Anyway, Mercer is AWESOME because if someone does something bad to you, they get there parents called, and they don’t ignore bullying. In 5th grade I got bullied my Leslie and Shrina and the school DID NOTHING!!! But HERE if they did that they would actually have had their parents called!!! Summary- MERCER IS AWESOME!!!

Nicolaus Copernicus and His Great Findings

8521581 on

A Childhood

Image result for nicolaus copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus is one of the greatest astronomers of all time. Not only did he revolutionize the way of thinking, he kept working when no one else believed in him, and he was right all along.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland, in the year 1473. His father was also named Nicolaus, and his mother’s name was Barbara Watzenrode. Nicolaus grew up wealthy. As a young boy, he was introduced to many things early on in life. He would often watch the ships carry their silver and gold, and he also learned to sword fight at a young age. Sadly, at the age of ten, Nicolaus’s father died of an unknown illness at the age of sixty three. Fortunately, his uncle Lucas Watzenrode took over their family as head of the house, and made sure the boys got a good education. Lucas was a wealthy merchant, and six years after taking care of Nicolaus, became a Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, where he served until his death in 1489.

In 1491 Nicolaus and his brother Andreas began studying at the University of Krakow. Many students there spoke Latin, so Copernicus changed his last name from Kopernik to its Latin form, Copernicus. His uncle Lucas wanted Nicolaus and Andreas to become canons in the church so he encouraged them to study canon law. However, Copernicus studied liberal arts. Nicolaus and his brother Andreas did what many scholars did after two years at university, and they went to another school in 1494, where they arrived at the University of Bologna after a two month journey to study canon law, mathematics, and astronomy in 1496.

A Canon in the Church

 

In 1497 Nicolaus became a canon of Warmia, Poland. Then, in 1500, Nicolaus saw a lunar eclipse, something that helped spark that interest in Copernicus. In 1501, Nicolaus went to the University of Padua to study medicine. Two years later, in 1503, Nicolaus got his doctorate in law from the University of Ferrara. In 1509, he began his work on Little Commentary, a book about how the Earth spins on its axis and rotates around the sun, not the other way around. Sadly, three years later in 1512 his uncle Lucas dies and Nicolaus takes his position as canon at Frombork Cathedral. Unfortunately, in this year Nicolaus is plagued with bad events, and his brother got Leprosy, a disease that causes deformations and causes you to slowly lose body parts. Andreas left to Italy 1508 with other Lepers and died in 1518. On a positive note, in the same year Copernicus acquired a job to illustrate a map of Warmia. The map was so accurate that the Teutonic Knights tried to steal it to find easy routes into the city.

On The Revolutions Of The Heavenly Spheres

Image result for nicolaus copernicus graph

Nicolaus Copernicus’s graph of the sun-centered universe.

Nicolas began working on his life’s work, On The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. He set up an observatory to view the heavens, and discovered that what he learned at university did not add up to his calculations. He used tools like the sextant, which measured the distance between two objects, and was also used by sailors. He also used an astrolabe, an instrument that used latitude to find and predict the location of the Sun, Moon, and stars. Another tool, the Jacobs staff, was an instrument that measured the angle between objects. His book was divided into seven sections.

Section 1: This section was about the planets rotations. Copernicus was actually very close to calculating the planets. He calculated Mercury’s trip around the Sun to be eighty days, when it is actually eighty eight days. He was off on Saturn by about a year, and was close on Jupiter by a month and a half.

Section 2: This part was about the equator and the lines of latitude and longitude, which were really hard to calculate in that time period since they did not have modern equipment.

Section 3: This chapter is about solstices and equinoxes. Solstices are the longest and shortest day of the year. The longest day of the year is on June 22, while the shortest is on December 22. Equinoxes are when the day and night are the same length. This happens during fall and spring on March 21 and September 23.

Section 4: This category is about the Moon. It includes its size, orbit, and distance from earth and the other celestial beings.

Section 5 and 6: This branch focuses on the planets. It focuses on their size, shape, orbit, distance from Earth, the Sun, and each other.

Copernicus’s Influences

 

Copernicus influenced many people after his death. But sadly, he never got to see his final work published, as he kept insisting it needed corrections. However, some say that while on his deathbed, he saw a copy of On The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. His book sold for $200, which was more than some people made in a year back then. At first, the Church was not concerned with his work, as very few people read it and it was not very popular.

Giordano Bruno was one of the many people who was influenced by Copernicus. Although, Bruno chose to study magic. He believed in Copernicus, and was not a very good spokesperson for him since back then magic was evil. The church put him in jail for eight years, and when done they asked him if he would change his thinking. He said no, and was burned at the stake. Because of this, in 1616 the Church banned Copernicus’s books, and changed them till they resembled their own geocentric theories.

Galileo is also a very famous astronomer, and he was inspired by Copernicus’s work. He believed in Nicolaus’s theories, and got to use a telescope when they were invented. In 1633 Galileo was put under house arrest and had to write that he didn’t believe in the heliocentric universe and agreed with the geocentric universe against his will. He lived the rest of his life under house arrest.

For 200 years, the Church had Copernicus books banned until 1835 when they were removed from the banned books list. In 1922 the Church admitted they were too harsh on Galileo.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a great astronomer who believed in himself when no one else would. He is a great inspiration for all and helped science advanced with his findings.

Bibliography:

Bortz, Fred. The Sun-Centered Universe And Nicolaus Copernicus. New York, NY. 2014.print

 

Somervill, Barbara A. Nicolaus Copernicus: Father of Modern Astronomy. Compass Point Books, 2005.

 

Goble, Todd. Nicholas Copernicus and the Founding of Modern Astronomy. North Carolina, NC. 2004.print

 

Geez Lewes No Gold in The East

8521581 on

Entry 1- October 27 1845

Our wagon bumped in the autumn air. The wind was crisp and the leaved shone gold, just like what we were looking for. Father is in the front, driving the oxen. Mother is in the wagon with us, caring for Amelia, my little sister. We got off late, mother keeps reminding us. Amelia is sewing a blanket for the colder months. We are all exhausted, the bumping of the wagon keeps us up. Outside wagons go as far as the eye can see, and ahead in an endless row. It is cramped, for all our supplies clutter. The cookstove is in the back, providing warmth for us all. Mother is throwing bark chips into it. My friend Lora is in the wagon behind us. All around me I hear to creak of wheels, the huffs of bulls, and the shouting of men. I have to stop writing, for I see Indians.

Wild men! They were riding on horses without harness nor saddle, and with black and white feathers in their hair. More and more of them were coming. The wagon riders all began yelling, “Circle! Circle!”, and with a sudden lurch, our wagon took a sharp turn to the left. The other wagons began this too. I was panicking. “Whats going on?” I asked. “Indians.” Mother responded. All the wagons were in a messy circle, with no holes. Father took his gun out, this must be bad, I thought. Our oxen started pawing the ground from the sudden stop. We then heard hooves around us. Mother looked out the back of the wagon and let out a shriek. Father came stumbling over our valuables to see, and shot at the ground. A horse’s shriek let out, and the hooves galloped away. Soon, the circle broke out back onto the trail. I asked father what happened, and he said that the Indians would steal our oxen, so we had to make a circle to protect them. I was glad, for if our cattle got stolen, then we’d be stuck. I must stop now, for night is approaching.

 

Entry 2- December 16 1845

The cold weather bites at our skin. Winter’s chill freezes my bones. The only warmth is the cook stove, burning its small warmth. We are huddled under blanket, sister under the one she made in Fall. Fog comes out of Fathers mouth when he yells his command at the oxen. We are eating bits of dried fruit. Suddenly, the wagon stumbles to the right, and Father stairs to the right off the trail, letting the other wagons pass. Father tells us to get out. We step onto the dry grass, hearing the crunching under our feet. We get out, and see the oxen. There noses are runny, and the right one is weak. Father unclips the yoke from the head and the animal falls to the ground, heaving. Mother rushes in the wagon to get carrots and when she returns, the animal is barely moving. I put the carrot in its mouth, but the anal takes a shuddering breath, and his sides fall. He is dead.

I was getting worried, since without oxen we couldn’t pull our wagon. We stayed there all night, and just as I was falling asleep, a group of wild indians showed up, pulling a bull with them. Father traded some food for the ox. We soon hooked her up, and father was signaling to the wagons to stop. The line eventually got slower, and we were able to slide in. The new ox did not fall into rhythm so fast, and would try to go faster than ours. We buried the old ox over by the side of the road. I hope our other oxen don’t die.

 

Entry 3- March 17 1846

The weather is getting warmer. The grass is getting greener, and little buds dot the fields. The air smells like flowers and cooked meat. They is a brilliant blue, unlike the pale gray of Winter. The grass on the fields moves to the right in the wind. Hammering echos in my ears as fathers tighten wheels and fix reins. Oxen snorting replies. The day is busy. A few woman sit in the center, telling bible stories to children to young to do work. The are not dressed in Sunday clothes. They are wearing their dusty shirts and skirts. I see Amelia there listening intently. the wood in my arms gets heavier as I deliver it to my father. It scratches against my skin. I hoped that would be enough, since I wanted to join prayer.

Lora catched up with me. She held a armful of apples and carrots. She asked what I was doing, and I replied I was delivering wood for the fire. I gave it to father, and he said it was enough. Lora went to her mother and gave her the apples and carrots, which she dropped into a basket. I was about to go pray, when Lora asked me if I wanted to see her wagon. I said yes and we walked to the entrance. Inside held rope, axes, and all sorts of dried fruits. In one corner, was a small assortment of blankets, wich was where I guess where she slept. Near the blankest, lay a cookstove much like the one we have. Boxes were laid all over the wagons, and some items were held to to the ceiling and walls by ropes. We talked for hours about the trail, and what life would be like. Lora said she was scared of the Indians, and I said I was too. Soon my mother called for me, so I had to go. I said goodbye to Lora, and left to my wagon, where the hoots of owls lured me to sleep.

 

Interviewing My Brother Who Says I’m Kidnapping Him

8521581 on

Hello! Today I will be interviewing Connor. He is my brother, and just so you know, HE DOES NOT GO TO MERCER. Today I will be asking him ten questions about himself. Here we go!

 

Question 1: Tell me a little bit about yourself?

Answer: “Uuuuhhhh… I’m just gonna do this for the money because like, I’m better than everyone cause I have a robot. Yeah. And I am nice, I’m in Hufflepuff, and I’m better than everyone listening-listening to this to this. Okay? Good. I’m nine years old.” – Connor

 

Question 2: Who do you hate the most and why do you hate them?

Answer: Well, there’s this boy named Max, really stupid boy, like scratchy voice. You know-you know those kids? Good. Ok. So he has this scratchy voice, and one time on the bus, it’s the first time not the second time but were not talking about that today. No? Yay. Ok. And so- and one day, I not like this anymore but I wouldn’t let him sit in my seat, and he was like pushing me a little with his butt-with his belly and stuff and it was just weird. N-nothing inappropriate happened. And then he punched me in the shoulder and I punched him back and then we- and then we were fighting. He pulled me against the bus- he put me against the bus wall and I kicked him in the chest to his seat and then we just carried on with our day thanks to the SAT Patrick that saved my life. Good job Patrick. And so then- and yeah ever since then I hated him since and he’s been a little stupid boy ever since.” – Connor

 

Question 3: What was your greatest embarrassment?

Answer: “Uhhh ok before I say anything I just want to say this is against my will and I’m being kidnapped by my sister. Ok, so, one time during story time by the gym- at the gym at my school everyone was there like the whole third grade. And there was this story and there was questions being asked yaaas. And so like I thought like- is it me? And then he said yes cause I thought the kid behind me was- was like that. And then I was singing there for a second and then everyone looked at me and I was embarrassed a second and yeah. Ok.” -Connor

 

Question 4: What was your greatest achievement?

Answer: “Saving us from England, all of us Americans. Stopping WWll. And inventing the light bulb and electricity with it. Also discovering that diamonds are really dinosaurs eyeballs.” -Connor

 

Question 5: What are your hobbies?

Answer: “Well, one of thems to play Fortnite yay. Two- the second ones to to play with my robot cosmo yeah that’s right I have a robot all you PUNKS! Also I like to play with toys and go on my ipad and watch TV and yeah and go outside. Typical kid stuff. Not stuff like dumbos, like- the somebody-like some people out there.” -Connor

 

Question 6: What is your earliest memory?

Answer: “My earliest memory… So really, the first day I can remember that I actually was alive, was one day everything, it was like blurry for like two seconds, and then everything came to me. And my mom was in front of me, and I knew her name for some reason. Then I saw-and I knew my house was here for some reason. And then I saw my sister and all of a sudden I remembered my sister, and it was just cray-cray. And yeah, and that’s how my life started.” -Connor

 

Question 7: Have you ever been outside the country?

Answer: “ Oh yeah I’ve been to Europe and in Poland. This Summer I’m going to go to Paris. *GASP* But only in the airport tears. Aaaaaand I’ve also been on a Disney cruise. Yeah. Disney cruises a lot of them. And yeah. Save me from my sister.” -Connor

 

Question 8: What is your favourite book series?

Answer: “ Diary of a Wimpy Kid it’s a legend its funny. My second one is Lego Star Wars I really like that it’s just amazing it’s like funny, sad, but it’s also a little cringy which is really sad, but hey, you gotta pay a price for good books.” -Connor

 

Question 9: What is your favourite TV show?

Answer: “ What is my favourite TV show? You see, Teen Titans its- its really funny it’s just goofing around superheroes. And I also like Nicky Ricky Dicky and Daaawwwn. And yeah. But one TV show I-but like- what I really hate in TV shows is like, its abet between the boys and girls, but then the girls win and its STUPID. Ok.” -Connor

 

Question 10: What is your favourite fruit and who will you shove that fruit in the face?

Answer: “Ok. So my favourite fruit it is… PINEAPPLE PINEAPPLE WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA SPONGE – PINEAPPLE- SQUARE PANTS. WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA? PINEAPPLE SQUARE PANTS! I CAN’T HEAR Y- Ok you get it. I like pineapple and there all good. And I’ll shove it up Alexanders face. Also there way better than my sister.” -Connor

Well that was enlightening! Connor gave us some… interesting replies. Some of the replies, were a little bit completely not true, but when I asked him to redo it, he said that that was his final reply. One of my favorite replies is when he began singing the Pineapple song very loudly. But still, it was fun to interview him and learn a little bit more about him. This was really fun to do because we would laugh after every question.

Harry Potter but NORMAL

8521581 on

I have read the Harry Potter series a million times (just kidding only two times). But what would Hogwarts be if it was a normal magical school without the threat of Voldemort, or worse, Umbridge? I think there should be a spin off book series. It would be fun because it would add new adventure to the Harry Potter franchise. Each book could have the life of someone from that house. Maybe, there could be a whole seven books for each house.

One of the series could be about the Ravenclaw at Hogwarts (my house). It could show the life of a Ravenclaw student, but normal, and no crazy threat like dementors or a basilisk. The book could show the riddles Ravenclaws have to solve and how they work together to solve them. The series could also shed more light on Ravenclaw, since the Harry Potter series mostly shines on Gryffindor and Slytherin. Ravenclaw is known as the quirky and creative house, so I bet it would be like Tumblr as wizards. A Ravenclaw book could show that Ravenclaws are not stuck up but are funny and sassy. Also, the sassy roasting would be hilarious. Since I am a Ravenclaw, this would be very interesting for me.

The next series could all be about Gryffindor House. Even though I know we readers have a good idea of Gryffindor already, we haven’t seen that in normal circumstances. I bet that series would be about a group of friends who are the Griffindoriest Gryffindors in the house since Godric Gryffindor. I imagine the group would always get into trouble such as sneaking into the Forbidden Forest, entering the third floor corridor, or jumping into the lake and playing with the giant squid. The teachers will never  know and that will be the best part of the books, because there will always be narrow escapes out of detention.

Another series could be about Hufflepuff, just one more non-represented House in the Harry Potter series. This series could be about the friendliness and loyalty in Hufflepuff. I don’t really know that much about Hufflepuff, since I am not one, and they are not talked about much in the books. I do know that Hufflepuffs are hardworking, patient, loyal, kind, and fair. A Hufflepuff series would be sweet, but also probably involve a dramatic love story. (I don’t know I’m weird, okay?) A Hufflepuff series would also be very fun, because they are right next to the kitchens, and they could eat snacks whenever. I imagine, the protagonist would have a black market, where they sell snacks for sickles and knuts. But, that wouldn’t be a very Hufflepuff  thing to do, and I imagine them just giving them out for free.

My final book in the series could be about Slytherin. Slytherin is hard to describe, but I imagine them as the “whatever it takes to get what I want” house. Please tell me in the comments if I am wrong, and please explain it to me so I can understand, but I will try my best. I imagine the Slytherins getting the free food from the Hufflepuffs and then selling it to the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. The protagonist would probably be the leader of the black market, or be one of the sellers. They would probably ask/ probably sneak into the kitchens, grab the food, and go back to their house. Then they would put a price on the snacks, and go telling the houses to meet in the Room of Requirement and start selling (The Room of Requirement is a room in Hogwarts that will grant the needs of a student). Next, the sellers could keep 25% to 50% of the income and the rest goes to the boss. And the Slytherin students, being the sneaky snakes that they are, would bribe other student with the money (mainly Ravenclaws) to do their homework. That’s how I imagine the Hogwarts Houses as their own book series. Hope you enjoyed, bye!

Blood Spillers

8521581 on

Everyone was in Midnights room. The curtains were drawn, and a piece of paper lay in front of them, bearing the names of the soon to be killed.

The Firescales always wanted their slaves back, even after 200 years. The SkyScales were created from a female FireScale and a male SeaScale. The FireScales took the dragonet away, and when discovered his powers, used him for a terrible event. Soon they had fifty SkyScales after capturing a bunch of SeaScales. They used the SkyScales to clear smoke from the volcano, using their powerful wing beats to blow it away. When the SeaScale queen found out, a war unfolded for twenty years. Finally, the SeaScales queen’s daughter, Princess Shellseeker, killed Queen Firestarter, ending the war. All the SkyScales started their tribe far away high in the mountains, where if a FireScale came the thin air would kill them.

Even after 200 years since the war ended, King Scorch still wants the SkyScales back, so he created groups of assassinators.

Most where NightScales, since they were perfect for assignations and killed both sides during the war. Two were his dragonets who agreed with the plan. The third was a poor SeaScale. He was told he would die when he saw his sister get killed by Twinkle for being a witness. He then went and killed his sister for Twinkle asking if she would spare him.

One or two murders a year, mostly SkyScales, and soon the war would begin. They called themselves, The Blood Spillers.

Of this assassination gang where Midnight, Twinkle, Shadow, Ruby, Shoreline, Molten, and Flicker. Everyone was tense, except Twinkle, who was reading the list bouncing, but suddenly stopped. Shoreline was looking awkward, being the only SeaScale in a group of FireScales and NightScales.  They were all whispering.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Midnight yelled. “Ok, we have the list from Volca-”

“King Volcano.” Ruby interrupted.

“WhatEVER! King Volcano sent this yesterday with five names on it. Eagle, Horizon, Daffodile, Dove, and Pearl.”

“WHAT!” Yelled Twinkle. “We can’t kill Pearl! Shes my bestfriend! Why do we need to anyway? Just kill Horizon.”

“She saw you covered in blood.” Shoreline stated.

“So what? I just told her I tripped.” Twinkle smirked.

“Whatever, fine,” Midnight said crossing off Pearls name.

“Wait- why do we have to kill Daffodile? She’s an EarthScale, not a SkyScale.” Flicker asked.

“Because she’s the one who found one of Ruby’s wing sapphires next to Dawn’s body.”

“That could have been anyone’s! Anyway, I think we should kill Eagle, he didn’t give me a quill when I asked for one.”

“Are you crazy? Eagle is the most popular dragon in school! Everyones gonna be MAD suspicious.” Exclaimed Shadow. He leaped out of the pitch black corner and crossed Eagles name off the list. Only two names remained. Dove and Horizon.

“We should kill Dove, she is the queen’s daughter.” Midnight suggested.

“But Horizon is the son of Storm, the most wealthy SkyScale. He would be destroyed, thus ruining their economy.”

“But Dove i-“ Suddenly a huge Firescale came in. She had slammed the door and the cave shook. She had smoke rising from her scales and a bad temper on her face. She was eyeing the paper with the names suspiciously. She picked it up, examining it.

“What is this!” She cried.

“Uh-nothing!” Shrieked Shoreline. He was looking terrified.

“Why does it have students name on it?” Asked the FireScale.

“We-we were writing names of students we hate! We cross them off if we decide the majority of us likes them, and we keep the ones we all despise.” Twinkle perked up. She looked very nervous, smiling too wide with white gleaming teeth. The FireScale eyed the paper more. Before flicking It across the room as she slammed the door shut.

“Ok, back to business, we should kill Dove because she’s the queen’s daughter, plus she’s super week, and Horizon would need three of us to kill him.” Midnight explained. She had another reason. One, Dove was always nice and perfect, super annoying. Two, Dove had a super rare enchanted necklace that prevents her from taking harm, and if Midnight took the necklace, it would make it look a lot less suspicious when there were scratch marks on her body after killing someone.

“FINE we’ll kill Dove. Who wants to do it? I could!” Cheered Twinkle.

“No. How about… Shoreline.” Midnight suggested with a evil grin. Midnight knew Shoreline only killed once, and this would rip his heart in half, since Dove was his other sisters best friend

“No no no I can’t!” Screamed Shoreline hyperventilating. Midnight put her sharp tail near Shorelines neck.

“Do it.” Midnight sneered. “Or die.”

“Berries” Shoreline whispered.

“What?” Midnight asked. Shoreline whispered again. “Berries? Like poison? Fine, but not exciting.”

“Guys.” Molten said alarmed. “Break is over.” Immediately the whole cave went into chaos. Dragons were grabbing their things, and where all racing out the door. If Midnights room mates came in, then all of them would be found out.

“Saturday! Midnight! Forest!” Molten shouted over his shoulder at Shoreline, whose eyes were wide with fear.

Different Difficulty Books Goal 2 Quarter 3 Lexile Level

8521581 on

Hello! Today I will be writing about my Quarter 3 goals. For Goal 2 I chose Investigation Of Lexile Levels. This goal means I have to choose three books. One under, at, and above my lexile levels. A lexile level is created based on a few attributes. Sentence length, word difficulty, book length, and the material inside the book. You can have a book about a serious topic, but if the words are easy then the lexile will go down. Enough about that, let’s get started!

For my lower lexile reading, I chose Dork Diaries, Tales From a NOT-SO Friendly Frenemy. This book is written by Rachel Renee Russell and the genre is Realistic Fiction. This book is part of a series of many books and the lexile is 740L. The series follows a young girl named Nikki, and the story is told through her diary. The book is about a Student Exchange Program at her school. Middle schoolers from different schools will go to other schools to build school relationships. In the earlier books Nikki’s enemy, Mackenzie, went to a different school, North Hampton Hills International Academy. For Student Exchange Week, Nikki has to go to North Hampton Hills for one week, and she is dreading it because she doesn’t want to see Mackenzie ever again.This book was very easy to read. I probably read it under two hours (I read it a long time ago so I forgot). The words are very easy, and each paragraph is two sentences. One third of the book is pictures. Because of the complexity, the lexile level was below mine. I read this book because I have read this series since third grade, and I own a few books from the series. Even though I am in sixth grade, I still like to read Dork Diaries for the story and the drawings.

My second book was War Of The Worlds by H. G. Wells. This books genre is Sci-Fi. I chose this book for the book that was at my lexile level. This books lexile level was 1170L. Even though this book was at my lexile, I hated it. Maybe its because it’s Sci-Fi, but this book was so boring! The words droned on and on and on and on. Just read one chapter and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I read it for a week and I only got to page twenty! I don’t even know how! The book is about martians slowly invading Earth. The martians have a death ray that can kill anything with one stroke of the heat ray. The martians come to invade Earth through UFOs. The book is about a man trying to survive during the apocalypse.The only reason I read this book is because Mrs. Banks showed it to me, so I checked it out at her library. I chose the book because I wanted to try a new genre, and the cover looked cool.

My second book that was above my level was A House Divided by Elizabeth Massie. This books genre is Historical Fiction. This books lexile level is 1000-1400. Mrs. Banks also showed me this book as a choice for my goals. When I saw the cover, I thought I wasn’t gonna like it, but I tried to read it because I liked the Little House On The Prairie books. I LOVED this book. It was so thrilling to see how teens would live during the civil war. The book is about Susanne and Stephen. They both live with their aunt and uncle on a farm in Gettysburg. Uncle Silas is bedridden and complains, while Aunt Darcy has somewhat lost her mind. One day Aunt Rudine and her young twelve year old son, Simon, come to live with them because Aunt Rudine got divorced. Aunt Rudine is a horrible woman who believes in etiquette and fanciness, while all Susanne wants to do is help on the farm and ride horses. Stephen gets so fed up with all of this that he goes and joins the army. He believes that Simon can do the chores, but the family get more angry with each other. The author shows three points of view. One is the narrator’s point of view, and the other two are journal entries from Susanne’s and Stephen’s diaries. I really liked this book, and I think it was fairly easy to read, and I guess the lexile went up only because of the war scenes.

Those were the books I chose for my lexile level reading. This was very fun to do and I will do it again. This goal helped me open up to other book genres. I will starts reading more Historical Fiction because I liked A House Divided so much. That’s all for today, bye!

The Dragons Secret Language

8521581 on

Wings Of Fire is a book series written by Tui T. Sutherland. The series is about a war among the dragon tribes. The SandWing queen has died by scavengers, so the three sisters ally with other tribes to overtake the throne. The NightWings make a prophecy that states in twenty years five dragonets will stop the war. In Phyria, the dragons have their own language. They use words like scavengers, animus, and words like SeaWing or SkyWing.

The word SeaWing or SkyWing refers to a type of dragon. A SeaWing is a water dragon who lives in the ocean. A SkyWing is a dragon who lives in the mountains up in the sky. They also have big wings and like flying. A dragon type has the main part of their environment plus “Wing”. The dragons use this alot when referring to other dragons, like, “Hey IceWing, get down here!” Instead of dragons saying, “Pink scales, go over there!”, they use *BLANK*Wing to make it easier. It is pretty easy to guess where a dragon lives and what they look like by what their name is. If I say SandWing, where do you think a SandWing lives? In the desert? CORRECT!!!

In Wings Of Fire there are creatures called Scavengers. These creatures stand on two legs, have tiny hands, no weapons, and hair on their head. They…are…HUMANS! Dragons refer to humans as scavengers. This is because the humans in the book like to collect treasure. In the dragon world, dragons cannot understand humans, and some dragons eat them. I know, gross. Few dragons keep them as pets. Some dragons keep them as pets because they think Scavengers are animals like a dog or a cat. Smolder the SandWing keeps a pet scavenger named Flower. Winter kept a pet scavenger named Bandit. Sunny and her friends think that scavengers are smarter than they seem. Scavengers are described throughout the book wearing human clothes, roasting chicken, and riding camels, like normal humans.

These are the words in Wings Of Fire that wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t read the books. There are many other words, like animus, Eye Of Onyx, and The Diamond Challenge. I would NOT want to be a scavenger. I wouldn’t like to be eaten, by the way. If I was a dragon, I would be a SeaWing!

Enemies in War, Friends Across the Fence

8521581 on

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a book written by John Boyne. This book’s genre is historical fiction. The book is about a boy at the age of nine, living in Germany during World War II. His father is a commander for the Germans. Hitler moves Bruno’s father and his family to Poland, near a concentration camp. Bruno is very mad about this and hates his new house. There’s no one to play with, and the house is shabby and small. When Bruno goes to his new room he looks out the window. He sees hundreds of people, working in a fence, wearing striped pajamas. Bruno wants to be an adventurer, so he sets out to the concentration camp where he finds a small boy, Shmuel, sitting there. They become friends and Bruno soon learns about the horrors of the concentration camp, and what his father is really doing.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I give it a four out of five stars. It’s a very simple book that anyone can read, even younger readers. It doesn’t have a lot of challenging words, even though it is a sensitive subject. This is not a five out of five because it does not have a lot of stimulating vocabulary. It’s very interesting to see World War II from a child’s point of view. Bruno thinks his father is great, but we all know him to be evil because he is a Nazi capturing Poles and Jews. The reader realizes from early on that Shmuel is a prisoner, but Bruno is not aware of this, instead he thinks Shmuel is just another kid he can play with. For instance, Bruno asks Shmuel through the fence questions like, “How did you get here?” “Why don’t you come for dinner?” and, “What do you do over there?” This makes the reader feel sorry for Bruno and Shmuel, and makes the reader want to find out if Bruno will ever discover the truth.

 

Magic And The Dragon Dream

8521581 on

A few nights ago I had a dream where I was at Hogwarts and a dream about dragons. The first dream was about Hogwarts. I was thinking about how awesome Harry Potter was when I drifted into sleep. I was a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, I don’t remember. Me and my friends were talking about what we thought it was like in the Slytherin common room. We ventured down the stairs, and the entrance to the Slytherin common room looked very different from what it said in the books. If you went down the golden spiral stairs and took a left, you came to a huge golden room with the Slytherin door. From the room you could still see the low stairs. I was on the ground and my three to four friend were on the stairs (I couldn’t remember).

Just so you know, I saw a meme that day of Malfoy in a video game saying, “Nice earmuffs, Potter. Did your mum make them for you?” So maybe that’s why I saw video game style, eleven year old Malfoy coming down the stairs with his friends Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy sneered at me and asked me what I was doing there, and no joke, I replied, “Trying to get into the Slytherin common room.” I didn’t even try to cover up! Then I vaguely remember this, but we started joking and laughing! We all just stood there, laughing, and I remember Malfoy pretending to crack an egg on my head. In the end, we didn’t get into the Slytherin common room. But that brings me to my next dream.

That same night when I had the Hogwarts dream, I was reading Wings Of Fire The Dark Secret. Listen, this book was about a NightWing, but I dreamt I was a red SkyWing. I was a SkyWing, and I think my brother and mom were one too, but my dad was probably a NightWing, and we were all on a train! The train was mostly yellow-orange and was very bumpy. At one point I asked my dad if I could fly outside the train, and he said I could, as long as I don’t lose them. Now, I don’t know if my dreams are weird, but they just randomly cut to different scenes on the same topic. So one moment I was on a train, the next flying in circles with the train nowhere in sight. I was low to the bright green ground, and gray stone surrounded me. Moss was on top of the cliffs, and the sun was shining brightly. It was very beautiful. A nearby dragon was above me. I think we were racing. That’s when my dream ended. It was such a good dream too! I hope I have another flying dream.