We Can Change the future!!!!!

Yes the website says that it saves a couple million watt hours. The home page is black and it is definitively black and when you type something and search it the page is still black. But Blackle is not that perfect. Once you click on the link it turns white like Google because it is the information from Google. Blackle is just like Google except there are no images and when you get to the page with the information is not “black” anymore. Are they working in an idea to make all the pages black? They should because you spend the most time on the page with the information but that page is white and not saving energy. I understand why they don’t have pictures, probably because they can’t make the pictures black. People would complain they wouldn’t go on Blackle. Blackle would lose money and people would not be helping the Earth. But at least they could make the page with the information black.  Blackle on Twitter is saving more energy because since Blackle is writing on it, it’s black and saving more energy. But if you go to Twitter from Google it is not black because Blackle is not on it. I hope Blackle finds a way to make all the pages black to save more energy!!!!

HOPE THIS INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!(the world needs to be a better place)

I will be telling you about our celery experiment we did in class.

My thoughts were about how the xylem and phloem are like veins and arteries but with different things too. The xylem, like arteries take what the cells need to the cells. Phloem, like veins take what the cells don’t need given to the cells that don’t make there own food but for humans it’s different. Veins take the CO2 to the heart to go back to the lungs to be exhaled. The phloem and xylem make a vascular bundle. The green part of the plant makes its own food during photosynthesis. We eat food to get the sugars we need. We both need food to survive. But mostly we need water to survive. We have one system that circulates around our body and plants have two systems. We set different variables to test. But I think the one we put red dye in it showed the best result. I learned a lot from this unit.

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The Twilight in me (sarah reveals)

Well class, today I’m going to talk about an awesome series of books by the name of Twilight. This book is about vampires and this one girl named Bella that is involved with them. There are four books Twilight, the first one, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. The vampire family is vegetarian for vampires (I guess that’s what you could call them). They only suck the blood of animals. It’s like us being vegetarian. But anyway there will be a list (yayyyyyyy). And here it is. P.S. -It’s about Twilight.

The things you never knew about me:

1.  I am obsessed with Twilight

2. My favorite character is a vampire (Jasper for people who know him)

3.  I hate Jacob Black (Bella’s/main character’s bff)

4.  I think the vampire’s super strength and speed is awesome!!!!!!!!

5.  I love puppies! Especially Weiner dogs (That has nothing to do with twilight)

6.  Alice is my second favorite character. She is also a vampire(jasper’s girlfriend).

7.  To people who have read the twilight series………..You are AWESOME!!!!!

8.  To people who are on the 1^st book do not read #10!!!

9.  TWILIGHT IS AWESOME!!!!!(the book and before the sun comes up).

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10.                I can’t believe Edward left her!!!!!!

This is my realistic fiction story. You can comment. That would be awesome!!!!

I hope you enjoy my story!!!! My story is about a dog!(of course!!!!)

Maddie Come-Home by Sarah(me!)

Kiki sat down next to me at lunch and said, “You okay Sammi? You look a bit blue.” She knew I didn’t like her calling me that but ever since I came to The Karter Pavilion boarding school I couldn’t stop her.
I said, “I’m fine, just thinking, and…”
“I know, I know, it was just a joke!” Kiki exclaimed.
I stared down at my pasta and said, “Kiki, I was wondering…”
“About how we can get Maddie back?” Kiki interrupted me.
“You always finish my sentences!” I said quickly so she wouldn’t interrupt me.
“That’s what friends are for!” she said teasingly.
“But seriously Kiki, how?” I said in despair.
“I don’t know but let’s go to the meadow and think,” Kiki said casually.
“Fine!” I said, “But if we get caught it’s all your fault!”
“FINE!” she shouted.
Sometimes we go to the meadow but we’re really not allowed. I get nervous even though we never have been caught. We get our shoes on. Kiki wore her blue rain boots and I wore my green and white converse shoes. We wore our Manchester United sweatshirts. It takes me longer to put my shoes and Kiki complained, “Come on mate, hurry up!”

We got to the meadow and it was very muddy, “Drat, this is utterly horrid!” I said in despair.
“It isn’t that muddy over here!” Kiki yelled. I carefully made my way to where she was standing and sat down. It was wet but not muddy.
“Kiki, my butt is going to get wet!” I shouted.
“At least it’s not muddy!” she said as she laughed hysterically.
I was trying to scrape the mud off my shoes. “So, about Maddie.” I said hopefully.
“Sam, you know Ms. Adderson, with her there might not be a way.” Kiki said in an apologetic voice.
“Kiki, don’t ever say that, I know Ms. Adderson will be a problem but there’s always a way!” I said but inside I doubted what I had said.
“Okay, okay, but we need to sleep on it so let’s get some tea and crumpets from Josie and…” she said.
“Do our homework!” I said in a demanding voice.
“That was what I was going to say!” she said with a sly grin on her face.
“Sure,” I said sarcastically. Kiki was a good student but she hated homework.
“Wake up Kiki!” I screamed in her ear the next morning. She was never a morning person but I was.
“Uh, go away!” she mumbled.
“We have to go to breakfast Kiki!” I said urgently. Ms. Adderson hated when we were late.
“Oh!” she said and jumped out of bed and swayed dangerously from side to side.

“Come on!” I yelled as I ran down the hill. I was wearing Kiki’s green and orange striped rain boots because it was very muddy. She was wearing her red with black pokka dots rain boots.
We sat on a dry patch of grass when a van was driving by in front of us on the road. It was driving very slowly because one of the back tires was flat. The two men climbed out of the truck and went to the trunk. We ducked down quickly behind tall grass. From there we could hear the dog barking in the trunk. I looked up and saw that the van had Hillside Dog Shelter written on the side.
I nudged Kiki and said in a whisper, “I bet Maddie is in there.”
Kiki responded,“How? I thought she was already there.”
“I thought I heard Ms. Adderson say they were changing locations.” I said in an agitated voice. Suddenly a Labrador puppy jumped out of the trunk and ran into the forest. The two men were so busy with the tire that they didn’t notice. Kiki and I exchanged curious looks. And then the van pulled out and drove away.
”Come on Kiki!” I said like something was stuck in my throat.
“What?” she said absentmindedly.
“The dog!” I said in awe.
“Oh, right!” she said, “Let’s go!” We started running but then a construction truck was speeding down the road just as the puppy came running into the road. I felt an adrenaline rush and ran with all my might. The truck was so close but I didn’t care. I ran into the middle of the road and picked up the puppy and ran to the other side. I just made it! Relief started to flow through my body. I crossed to the other side and gave the puppy to Kiki who was licking my face. I sat down.
“I think this is Maddie.” I said eagerly.
“It can’t be, that’s impossible,” she said disagreeing. She was so stubborn and never believed anything unless she had evidence.
“I remember when I was younger I was chewing gum and it fell on her. I took it out but a little was still there. It would be on the side of her neck.” I said hoping that would be enough evidence. I was very superstitious. Except that I knew it was Maddie. I turned her neck and ran my fingers around her hair searching for it.
“There it is!” I shouted, “I remember that it was pink!” I pointed out the pink dot to Kiki.
“Maddie or not, let’s get her in!” Kiki said in a worried voice probably thinking about Ms. Adderson.
“Where are we going to keep her?” I asked uncertain.
“In your bottom drawer, of course!” she said.
“Okay let’s go!” I said in hurry. Wondering how she came up with an idea so fast.

“Hurry up, Sam!” shouted Kiki as we climbed up the never-ending staircase.
“You hurry up!” I said in despair.
“I’m in front of you!” Kiki shouted.
“I’m the one with the puppy, she weighs a ton!” I screamed.
When we got to our dormitory Maddie slipped out of my hands and began running everywhere.
“Get her, Kiki!” I yelled in total shock. Kiki dove for her and caught around the waist. She picked up Maddie and calmed her down while I opened my spare drawer and put an extra blanket on the bottom.
Kiki put Maddie in the drawer and exclaimed, ”She does weigh a ton!”
“Told you so!” I said happily.
“Now stay here, Maddie, I don’t want anyone to see you,” I said.
I looked at her and felt an electric shock shocked go through me because I had my dog back.
“Let’s go, Sam!” Kiki said stopping my train of thought. We can’t be late for lunch!”

After lunch we came back up to the room. Kiki and I ran to the drawer and pulled it open. She wasn’t there. “Maddie!” I yelled in a whispered voice so she wouldn’t be scared. No answer. I knew she would come. No movement. “This is bad, very bad,” I said and all Kiki did was nod her head very slowly. For the next hour we searched the room upside-down to find her. We moved beds, dressers, and bookcases but still no Maddie. We called her about a million times. Still, no Maddie. Kiki and I plopped down on our beds and I said, “I didn’t even have her for eight hours and now she’s gone.”
“We’ll find her somehow.” Kiki said exhausted.

We were getting ready to go to supper when we heard Liza screaming and balling, and Ms. Adderson yelling at her. Another one of Liza’s tantrums I thought. Then all of the sudden we heard Ms. Adderson scream, “What is that filthy beast doing inside my boarding school?” Kiki and I looked at each other with wide eyes and started bolting down the stairs. Liza’s screaming had stopped and she was laughing. When we got down we looked at Liza with Maddie on her lap and Maddie licking her face.
Ms. Adderson looked at us and said, “You two, explain yourselves!”

We told her the whole story and she simply dismissed us to our room without a word. I went around the corner and picked up Maddie from Liza, said thanks and left her with a curious look on her face. We ran up the marble stairs to our room. “What is she going to do?” we said in unison.
“Maybe she’ll let us keep her!” Kiki said and all I did was clutch Maddie tighter and nod my head.

We had been sent down to the assembly hall. Kiki’s guess was a lecture but I thought we were going to get kicked out.
When we got there the whole boarding school was there not just us. “Girls,” Ms. Adderson said, “A lot of strange things have happened today. And I would like to announce my solution. The first thing that crossed my mind was to get rid of the dog but, as it cheered up Liza I looked at it a different way. Since all of us could use some cheering up around here I decided we could keep just one dog.”
I couldn’t believe it! I could have screamed in joy but I decided not to. It just couldn’t be possible! “On one condition,” Ms. Adderson kept going. Of course, I knew she couldn’t be that nice. “My condition is that Sam and Kiki keep it out of my way and take care of it. I don’t want Josie taking care of it! If the other girls want to help they can but I want it mostly to be your responsibility.” I felt like this was the happiest moment in my life. Kiki and I looked at each other with huge smiles on our faces.
“Thank you so much Ms. Adderson.” I said practically jumping out of my chair.
“Yes, thank you very much. We really appreciate it.” Kiki said. She was a lot better than me at not showing too much excitement. The little girls were excited about having a dog but I was excited because I had my Maddie back.

We’ve been talking about HF strategies in reading and the book I’ll be referring to is “AlCopone Does My Shirts” by Gennifer Choldenko. The first strategy I’m going to talk to you about is Readers examine the main character by walking in his/her shoes, asking, “How would I feel?” I’m picking this strategy because most main characters have a problem you can relate to. For example, when Moose is getting in trouble and he didn’t get any money out of the scheme, but the warden, Piper’s dad, doesn’t believe him when Piper has the money but the warden didn’t suspect her. I would feel unfathomable (which means not being heard or understood).

The next strategy is Ask yourself “Who has the power”. A lot of the time Moose doesn’t have the power. For example His mom has the power when she has to teach piano and she needs Moose to take care of Natalie (Moose’s older, but they pretend she’s younger, sister). That day she’s working he plays baseball and he wants to keep playing baseball but he has to look after his sister. I made an inference during my reading and I will share it with you. I inferred that Piper planned Moose to get in trouble when she didn’t give him any money.

The next strategy is Readers examine the main character’s relationships with other characters and ask, “Have they changed? Why?” I picked this one because Moose does have a problem with his mom. His mom didn’t pay attention to him because since Natalie was the only one with the autism, she thought that Natalie was the only one that needed her. Later in the book she realizes that Moose needs her too and they mend their relationship.

These strategies really help you with your reading and to understand the HF books. I improved as a reader and using the strategies. I want to set a goal for my self. The goal is to improve in my inferring and make more post-its about my inferring. I definitively recommend the book AlCopone Does My Shirts. You should use these strategies and I’m sure they will help you!!!

Have you seen our new podcast? It totally rocks!!! To listen to it click on the ITunes link. (A big CD with a note on it.) We are working on a series of Historical Fiction podcasts along with the rest of the class. We are introducing different ways to read and think about reading historical fiction. We talked about the book Morning Girl by Michael Dorris.

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We hope you enjoy listening to the podcast as much as we enjoyed making it.

We have now over 7,500!!! WE have 7,745 visits!!!!

Lets get to 8,000!!!! Only 255 more visits to goooooo!!!!!!!

-sarah

There are some things I hate and here they are:

mosquitos

flies

ants

brussel sprouts

esparigus(I don’t know if I spelled it right)

retainers

snakes

spiders

It goes on but here are some of my likes:

crabs(i don’t like to eat them!!!!)

dogs

cats

horses

converse shoes

pasta

white boards

biking

running

swimming

basketball

soccer

And so on.

You can see there are a lot more likes!!!!!

I really didn’t know what to write when I wrote this but I think you’ll like it.

I think life is unfair. Do you?

These are some reasons I think life is unfair:

I can’t get a dog.

My mom is allergic to dogs.

My dad doesn’t like dogs.

I can’t get a horse.

I love dogs but I can’t get ONE!!!!!!

I think you already figure out that I love dogs because i do!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have some reasons you think life is

unfair and you want to share it you can comment!!!!!(to me!!!)

By: SARAH

James Cook’s Accomplishments                                        Sarah

Have you ever heard of James Cook? You probably have and if you haven’t, I’m shocked. I would be shocked because Cook is an important explorer. Cook is an important explorer because he is an excellent captain. Cook was also an important explorer because if he hadn’t found Australia and New Zealand, then when someone else found them, they might have not been British. Also because he added to the world’s knowledge about the Pacific Ocean and the world itself.

James Cook was an excellent captain because none of his men died on his first voyage. That was amazing because fifty or sixty men usually died on voyages back then. Cook kept his crew alive by making them bathe everyday and air out their beddings and clothes twice a week. He also ran a very clean ship; he made his crew clean the ship. Cook checked their hands to make sure they were clean. He gave them breadfruit as a starch to give them energy and gave them citrus fruits to prevent scurvy.

If Cook had not found Australia and New Zealand the when someone else found them, they might not have been British. It could easily have been Portugal, France, or Spain. Then Australia and New Zealand would be speaking Portuguese, French, or Spanish. They actually could be speaking English but some one else might have been famous for discovering them. I’m not just making it up the idea of the different countries discovering them. France went to Tahiti and all three countries explored around that part of the Pacific. One wrong turn and any of them could have ended up in Australia or New Zealand.

He added to the world’s knowledge about the Pacific Ocean and the world itself. He actually made maps that had Australia and New Zealand on it. Also, when mapmakers found out about them, they added them to the maps. After the discovery people started to know more and get more interested in the Pacific Ocean. He helped other explorers with their explorations. Cook could have inspired some one to explore or maybe they took a different path because they didn’t know Australia and New Zealand were there and may have ended up somewhere else. After Cook, people started to know more about the world. He had three voyages and in those three voyages he was the first to land on a couple undiscovered countries back then, for example Australia and New Zealand. He also claimed Antarctica for England. By just exploring he opened a lot of new opportunities for England and other countries.

If you hadn’t heard of James Cook, now you know who he is and what he did. Some of you already knew, therefore you’re experts. He is an important explorer because he was an excellent captain, if found Australia and New Zealand then might not ended up speaking English, and he added to the world’s knowledge. In conclusion, James cook is an important explorer.