300. My Favorite Song - Illustration

299. Declaration of Independence

How Did the Declaration of Independence Come To Be? 
Harini Senthilkumar

In the early 1760 and 1770s, the North American colonists disagreed with the British policies about taxing and the frontier policy. When the North American colonists tried repeatedly to protest, they realized that it failed to change the British policies. Despite these protests, the colonial leaders decided to rejoin with the British Government, but most members of congress were declining the offer to declare independence.

In 1775, Benjamin Franklin, who was a member of the Secret Committee of Correspondence, told French agents that the colonies were leaning towards independence. In 1775–1776, the members of the Continental Congress were on the same page with Britain and independence was the only path available to them. On December 22, 1775, the British Parliament prohibited trade with the colonies. Congress responded in April 1776 by opening colonial ports.

On February 1776, colonial leaders were discussing the possibility of forming alliances and began to draft a Model Treaty that would serve as a major step for the alliance with France. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee proposed the resolution of independence for the American colonies in the Second Continental Congress. Other members of Congress were coming around for the idea, but some colonies were not quite ready.

However, Congress formed a committee and told Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams reviewed Jefferson’s draft. The committee presented the final draft before Congress on June 28, 1776, Congress then adopted the final text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

298. Flying Solo Essay

Harini Senthilkumar

October 3, 2017

Flying Solo Essay

On April 28th a 6th grade class has no teacher. Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher, is a book that presents this scenario. Mr. Fabiano, their teacher, doesn't come for the day, and the substitute teacher gets sick and was unable to come. This information was missed and the class was left to run by itself. In this chaos, three children face challenges that they have to overcome.  

Rachel White is a selective mute. A selective mute is a person who chooses not to speak because of a trauma. In Rachel’s case, her trauma was caused when a boy in her class named Tommy Feathers died in his sleep. Fortunately, Rachel admitted that she was finally able to forgive herself that she was being rude to Tommy. Rachel's other trauma is that her parents got divorced and her dad moved to New Mexico, and Rachel thinks that the divorce is her fault. She solves this challenge by telling herself that it wasn't her fault that her parents got divorced and that she was just expressing what she felt.

Bastian Fauvell has a lot on his plate. He is moving to Hawaii so his dog, Barkley is being quarantined. He is also a bully because he feels “the best defence is the best offence”. He gets in a fight with Rachel White when she said that Tommy looked up to him. That leaves Bastin crying about Barkley. He knows what to do in this situation but he knows that he would regret it. He goes over to Sean O’Day and gives him Bastin’s dog.He also realises that he will try to make new friends in Hawaii. He faces lots of challenges but, he faces them.

Sean O’Day is another student who has many challenges. Seans dad is an alcoholic and doesn't care of Sean. Since he is lonely, he, badly wants a dog, Luckily, Bastin, whose dog will be quarantined, gives his dog to Sean. Rachel's kindness  is shown when she shares her bag of chips with Sean and then allows him to walk her home. Throughout the story, the two quickly become friends. Sean O’Day now has a friend and a dog.

Rachel, Bastin and Sean have difficult challenges that they have to face. By the end of the story, the three students begin to work on solutions for their problems. Rachel accepts what she did to Tommy and is able to move on.  Rachel finally speaks. Bastin gives Sean Barkley and Sean toughens up and asks Rachel to walk home with him. Fortunately, they all solve their problems one by one.

297. Crash Book Report

About the Author

Jerry Spinelli, who is a world-renowned author, has written over 30 books!! He initially wanted to write for adults, but changed his writing for kids.

When Jerry was a child, he wanted to be a cowboy, but, during 11th grade, his ambition changed to be a baseball player. When he wrote a poem about a football game, it was published in his hometown, Norristown, PA. This was the first start for Jerry to become an author. 

Jerry Spinelli, now, 76 years old lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, with his wife and six kids. Even though Jerry is an older author, he's still cooking up some more juicy books for his young readers. 

Vocabulary

 1.   Infantry- “First, you wipe out all the infantry with the machine gun, then you go after the tanks.” (23)

      -Soldiers or military units that fight on foot, in modern times typically with rifles, machine guns, grenades, mortars, etc., as weapons. (noun) (dictionary.com)

2.   Tinsel- “And the lights on our tree will be all different colors, and there’ll be all kinds of balls, and tons of tinsel, you’ll think there was silver. (109)

•  A glittering metallic substance. (noun)

             (dictionary.com)

     3.     Dinkiest - “In fact, I found out since then that it really was a garage once, until someone changed it into the world’s dinkiest house.” (7)

• Small, unimportant, unimpressive, or shabby. 

              (adjective) (dictionary.com)

     4.   Claptrap - I guessed I was getting a little tired of all this claptrap.” (21)

•   Pretentious but insincere or empty language. (noun)

            (dictionary.com)

5. Juking - “We started thumping each other, juking, throwing body blocks.” (39) 

• To make a move intended to deceive an opponent. 

             (verb) (Dictionary.com

 Character Analysis:

        Crash- 

                      Crash is a boy who is aggressive and competitive. It shows when he was six years old and he makes fun of Penn, and he shows his aggressive side. When Crash was fighting with Mike Deluca in the cafeteria, he showed a bit of his competitiveness.

         Webb- 

                          Webb is the opposite of Crash. He is very sportive. When Crash was making fun of him, Penn didn’t care, and kept being nice to Crash.

          Scooter-

                            Scooter, who is elderly, played flag football with Crash, Abby, and Crash’s dad, and Scooter forgot about being older, and he was playing like a little kid.

Summary

 In the story, “Crash,” a six-year-old boy named John Coogan, also called Crash, meets a boy named Penn, who, unlike Crash is quiet. Crash soon dislikes Penn, and tries to prank him in any way. Crash eventually gives up on pranking until someone new comes to town.

     Mike Deluca, who's exactly like Crash, tries to convince him, to continue playing pranks on Penn. Mike's idea backfires when something happens to Crash’s grandfather, Scooter. 

    As Penn, Crash and Mike head into 7th grade, Crash starts to change, and everyone around him notices. 

Literary Devices

In the book, Crash, Jerry Spinelli uses metaphors, repetition, and imagery. 

Metaphors - 

            Page 30, “it was like watching a cat watching a squirrel.” 

Repetition - 

             He uses, “Bam! Bam! Bam!” on page 14.

Imagery -  Page 102 - 103 when Crash accidently tackles Scooter.

Theme

 The book Crash, had many themes, but one main theme in the book is friendship between Crash and Mike. On page 29, Crash says that he knew that he and Mike were going to be best friends from the moment they met. And later in the book when Mike and Crash were in the cafeteria, they began fighting! So, the principal said that Mike and Crash were known for their competitiveness and they both have the same interests.

296. Funny Poem - By Ice Cube

I sought 

about the day so hot

while in the cold

yet, I was told

an ice-cube would melt

295. Cute Koalas

CUTE KOALAS

 BY: H A R I N I

Koalas. Koalas are interesting animals. Here are some awesome and fun facts!! Koalas live in Australia, they also eat 200 to 500 grams of Eucalyptus leaves. Koalas are sweet and very soft!! The average koala sleeps up to 22 hours!! That is a big nap time!! The average lifespan of a koala is 13-18 years in the wild!! That is only 5 years to live!! Koalas live in trees because that's where predators are least likely to hunt or eat them!! Also, if you ever see a koala stay back because even though it is cute, it is a big threat to humans!! Happy Koala Cuddling!!

294. Davey Crockett Saves Cranston

Davy Crockett Saves Cranston

One day, the citizens of Cranston were lounging near the beach, but the next moment they were running from a hurricane!! This monstrous hurricane traveled from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Atlantic!! The citizens were sure that the hurricane would go away, but they didn’t know that it was coming back for revenge.

Sally Sugartree, Davy Crockett’s best friend, was skimming through the morning newspaper as usual when something caught her eye. She read that the city of Cranston was going to have a massive hurricane. Sally knew that there was only one person for this job, and she was wondering how to reach him when she saw Davy Crockett walking past the trees!!

She shouted to him, “Davy! Davy!! There’s a hurricane coming to Cranston, and people say its a terror, but I know you can stop it!!”

Davy replied, “Hey Sally!! So you say there's a hurricane, eh? Well you were right,  that is a job for me!!”

Davy spotted the hurricane under the dark, foggy sky and jumped right into the eye of the hurricane, while screaming,“I will save the city of Cranston from this monstrous hurricane.”

He then grabbed the winds around it and he threw it into the ocean  and Cranston was saved yet again by Davy Crockett.

293. Combat Kinkajou

Combat Kinkajou!!

             By: Harini Senthilkumar

       Have you ever wondered what kind of cute animals live in the rainforest? Well, a lot comes to mind, but, I am going to be talking about kinkajous who are cute and incredible animals! One quick fact is that these kinkajous are extremely talented, for example, they can turn their feet around so that they can run backwards and escape from predators!! They are native to Mexico, Central American Rainforests, and South America Rainforests! They also live for about 23 years! Keep reading to learn how the kinkajou looks like, it’s defence mechanisms and much more about this marvelous mammal. Onwards!!

Red or Brown? Who Knows?

                                                                                            

A kinkajou weighs about 4.4 to 7 pounds.

A kinkajou’s fur is of gold and wooly, which overlaps to gray. They have an oily substance in their fur that helps them swim well.Kinkajous are short haired and they also have prehensile2 tails. A full grown kinkajous tail is at least 16-24 inches! That's a pretty long tail! Their long tail helps them when they are trying to reach something, they can hang their tail on a tree branch and it can help the kinkajou like another arm.  

Heaps and Heaps of Food!!

Kinkajous have an enormous appetite. Let’s see what's on their menu. Just like us, kinkajous eat many different kinds of fruits and nuts. Some other different kinds of food that kinkajous eat are flowers, small insects, mammals,  birds, and eggs. These little animals sure do eat a lot!!

Nocturnal Habitat!!

Kinkajous have remarkable manipulative abilities3 just like raccoons. Kinkajous like to sleep together like one big fuzzy blanket!! Kinkajous may be curious and playful but, if they are awakened during the day, they get really vicious!! They usually come out during the night because they are nocturnal which means that they have the ability to see in the dark. In order to be on a kinkajous playful side, they can't not hear any sudden movement or loud annoying noises, if they do hear that then they will be harmful and dangerous! As you can see kinkajous are fun and playful, but, they also have a dark side!!

Kinkajou Threats!!

Kinkajous maybe cute and friendly, but they are being hunted for their fur and meat, some are also hunted for fun!! What fun is it to hunt poor innocent animals! Ocelots, Foxes, Margays4 and much more are all predators of Kinkajous, and it hurts to say that people are also a cause to the endangered kinkajou. Farmers cut down rainforests to make plantations and farms. Like many animals, kinkajous also have a way to protect themselves from being eaten or hunted. They have a poisonous bite which contains a sticky species which is called bacterium. Farmers probably don't think of the animals or the undiscovered species! Soon, there won’t be any rainforests or any animals until humans stop cutting down rainforests for farms or businesses!

___________________

3   Means the ability to move more quickly and grasp things with hand or feet

4   The margay is a small cat which is native to Central and South America                                                     

292. Margaret Chapel

An eighteen-year-old girl named Annette wandered through the cemetery carrying a bouquet of roses. She placed it near a grave that read, William Havensburg, 1932-2008. She closed her eyes and thought of the treasured moments with her father. Tears rushed to her eyes and her heart ached of the terrible disease that took her father's life. She quickly wiped her tears away and told herself that she had to let it go, after all, her father was never coming back. She got up and left the cemetery with a broken heart.

“Annette!! Annette!! Where are you?!” cried her friend, Margaret. Margaret had been her best friend since her father died, because she was the only one who got how she felt when her father died. She was the one who cried with her, talked with her and sat together in silence. She got it because her father had died as well. Margaret swung open her friend’s bedroom door and peeked inside. There was a somber looking Annette,  gazing at a couple of old notes from her father.

Margaret sighed loudly and sat beside her friend. It had been months since she told her friend to let it go, but, it was no use. It was as if her father’s presence was still in her eyes. She looked at the notes with her friend and she wondered if her father had left her some notes like Annette’s father had left her. She raced back home, only to find...nothing. A cold, darkness filled her. Had Annette’s father wrote notes to her, but her own father hadn’t? Had her father not cared about her?

She knew that her father wished she was more like Annette. Brave, smart and talented, whereas she was the complete opposite. Margaret decided to go to their family lawyer. She could see if her father left her something in his possession.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Margaret looked inside and saw someone sitting in a brown leather chair. On his desk was a computer and a mysterious ornate black box. She walked in and sat down. The man looked at her and said, “May I help you? Miss…?” “Margaret.” “So, why have you come here, Miss. Margaret?” “You can call me Margaret, Miss. Margaret won’t be necessary. I have come here to see if father has left me anything in my possession. And I would like it now. Please.” “Well, you certainly know what you want. Let me have a look here. Margaret Chapel, Do-Do-Da-Do. Aha!! Here it is!!”

Margaret Chapel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ornate black box

“One minute, let me just open it and-” “Ahem.” “Oh, um.. Yes?” “Sorry to interrupt, but is that my box? That thing, on your desk? Right in front of you?” “Where? Oh! Um, yes!! I think it is. Well, here you go!! Have a nice day.” “Thanks!!”

Margaret smiled and she was about to ask for the key, but, the strange man, was gone. She skipped to Annette’s house and tried to tell Annette the news. She was about to leave when she realized that she was mad at Annette. She saw the box of letters on Annette’s bed and she went over, picked them up, and ripped them. Of all the times Annette could have walked in, she walked in now. Right when Margaret was holding the ripped letters in her hand. “Aahhhh!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!?”

Margaret had a smirk on her face and said, “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m ripping up the letters!! Duh!” “You don’t know how much those meant to me. I thought we were friends, but, I guess I was wrong.” Margaret suddenly came to her senses and said, “Oh no!! I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to.” “Oh, yes you did Margaret. I will not put up with you anymore. We are no longer friends...”

Margaret trudged out and cried to herself, looking behind her and saw a very angry Annette. It wasn’t pretty when Annette was angry, her face was red, her nose was scrunched up, her face was twisted and she looked at you as if you were the cause of all her problems. Margaret felt sad and she was sure she saw Annette smirk, but that couldn’t be true. Annette never smirked.

Annette looked at her friend and smirked. She was sure that her friend didn’t know about her past. She knew that her friend thought she was brave, smart, and talented, but she couldn’t wait for her friend to find out who she really was. She had changed long ago, maybe before she knew her friend, and even before Margaret was even born. She is, the great, powerful, Armella!!

I, Armella have something to say. I am currently 458 years old and I’m after my friend, Margaret. Margaret didn’t do anything wrong, the only reason that I am going after her is because Margaret’s great-great-great-grandmother, Nadia, tried to capture me!! She then successfully captured me and took my powers away and she also said that I would not get my powers back until after 250 years!! Luckily the 250th year just passed and I am now eligible to use my powers!!

I know that Nadia is powerful just like me and that I could probably get her spirit back. Unfortunately, Nadia needs to have an inhabitant body so she can fight and move around. I wondered who, when I decided that her granddaughter, Margaret, would be the perfect candidate!!

I used my powers to conjure up a potion, then I said “Nadia, Nadia, wherever you are, come out….NOW!!” I saw a puff of...pink smoke?! And I saw Nadia!! She looked very different than I remember. She was wearing a pink necklace, pink dress, pink shoes and well, everything were pink!! I asked her if she remembered me and she said that she spent her time wondering and she realized that there should be peace and harmony!!

I stood looking dumbfound and just stared at Nadia. She smiled and floated away!! I sat down and began thinking. I, Armella have to let the author speak because I need to think. Armella sat down thinking and she knew that she had to change to good, but, how would she? She decided to ask for help from Nadia. “Nadia! Nadia!! Where are you?”

A bright and cheerful voice replied back, “I’m here, I’m here!! So, what is it that you need help with?” Armella told Nadia that she wanted to be nice, so Nadia said that she would try her very best to make Armella nice.

“Oh, come on!! You’re not even trying!!” Nadia told Armella that she had to use her powers for good by helping people out. Armella was attempting to move a tree that fell, but she was just moving it farther. Giving up and losing hope, Nadia told Armella to drop it. They ventured along a path when they saw an old lady sitting on a bench. Nadia came over and asked her what was wrong. She then came back to Armella and told her that the old lady needed some money.

Nadia told Armella to conjure up some money and to give it to the lady in need. Armella shook her head violently, and said that she was not giving away free money to a lady. Nadia walked away disappointed. She thought helping Armella was going to me much easier, but she was wrong. She had to tell Armella the hard truth, that she just couldn’t be good. She had to be who she was.

Nadia trudged over to Armella and told her that she couldn’t help and that she had to stay true to herself. Armella was a bit sad, but she told herself that she didn’t have to take over the world. She could just do small things like walking an elderly person across the street, or prevent global warming. She was going to save the world, one step at a time and she was not going to be lonely. Nadia was with her and together, they would help the world.