My New Fish! by Olivia C.

Today (16/12) we went to Pets Mart. We got tiny feeder fish to put in our pond. But we also got fish to keep inside. They’re also feeder fish, and we’ll keep them inside for a while and then we have to put them in the pond.I got one, but my sister got two. My family has a cat, but having my own fish will be something that I alone am responsible for. Again, back to the cat, we still don’t know whether or not the cat will try to eat them.

I don’t know if my fish is a boy or a girl, but it doesn’t really have a name.  I was thinking of naming it Machli, and I was going to ask you for suggestions, but it’s really stuck. Still, if you got a fish, would it be a boy or a girl, and what would you name it? 🙂 Below are some pictures of the fish.

My sister's fish, Brutus (silver) and Bobbi (gold)

A Memory by Olivia C.

In our LA class we are reading The Giver. In this book, Jonas, the main character, gets to receive memories of the world before. If I were to give Jonas a memory, I would give him a memory of swimming in the summer. For me, swimming is very calming. And I love swimming. I love to be surrounded by nature too, something Jonas might not get to experience. I also think that in a controlled society like the one in which Jonas lives, swimming would be somethings new. I always feel a sense of freedom and content when I swim. I think that for Jonas, to know what freedom is would change his perspective on life.

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Assignments by Olivia C.

 

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In my LA class we’re reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. In The Giver, once you’re a Twelve (it basically means you’re 12 years old), you get an Assignment, which is like job. If I got an Assignment I would want to be either a Nurturer or someone on a Committee that passes laws.

A Nurturer is someone who takes care of babies. I really like babies :D. They’re just so cute and happy and I enjoy being around babies. I think it would be a nice way to spend your days. It’s also like being a pediatrician and I think that aspect of being a Nurturer would be really interesting.

I would also like to be someone on a Committee that passes laws for a couple of reaons. I love to debate. I was in the school’s Model U.N. club and I had a blast at the final convention. And it just seems like it would be quite interesting.

The Hunger Games by Olivia C.

 

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I am a huge fan of the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I’ve read all the books. For those of you who don’t know, set in future North America, The Hunger Games is  about a competition in which 24 tributes(1 boy and girl from each of the 12 districts of the nation Panem) are placed in an arena and must fight to the death to survive. And only one will be left standing. The Hunger Games serve as a reminder of the revolution called The Uprising that the rebels lost. In the Hunger Games many other things happen. I don’t want to spoil them if you haven’t read them. I looked at the People Magazine that talked about it, and they said that the Hunger Games are the biggest thing since Twilight. I went to see the movie and I had a huge debate with my friends about it.If you’ve read them, which team are you on? Team Peeta, or Team Gale, like me? Please reply with a comment.

Problems by Olivia C.

 

The Title Slide for My Project

In LA we had to do a tech prject. I made a video about how iPads are helpful at school. I had some problems. It took me a little bit to get the camera started and I had to figure out how to get on to my school account. It also took longer to process the video when I downloaded it. Other than that, it was easy and fun.

The Jaguar Stones; A Cool Book Series by Olivia

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Today two authors visited us. They are a wife and husband writing team: John and Pamela Voelkel. They have written a series called The Jaguar Stones about ancient Mayans and a 21st century boy named Max Murphy who teams up with a modern Maya girl, Lola to fight the evil Mayan gods. They came and played a slideshow with pictures. Then they talked about their experiance’s in Mezzo(Central) America. They had us imagine we were in the jungle and they sprayed us with water to be like rain. John Voelkel, was in a rock band so he taught how to ‘rock n’ and played his electric guitar for us. He was really good.John grew up in Central America and had some wacky experiences. Like this one. When he was a kid he was in Boy Scouts. He was taken to see a man who would take out the venom from snakes and sell it to people who made antidotes for the venomous bites. The man had all sorts of snakes in terraniums and John said it was not fun to sleep there. This man also made John some gross food. Here is the recipe for Monkey Stew, as dictated by John Voelkel:

MONKEY STEW

1)Kill a monkey.

2) Throw it in the fire and let the fur burn.

3) When the fur is charred take the monkey out and cut the fur off.

4)Next, chop it up, put it in a can, and boil it.

5) Serve, eat and enjoy!

Yummy right? The Voelkel’s were really fun! I ordered two autographed books  and I can’t wait to read their series.

 

My Spring Break by Oliva C.

 

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This past week we had spring break. I actually went to school during my vacation. Last year, I lived in Germany. And last week I went back and went to school with my old class. It was interesting to see what they were doing at school, but mostly, I just wanted to socialize.

Monday through friday I woke up at 6:35 and went to school till one.I then took the the number 24 tram to school. On monday the first two periods are gym and thursday we spent the entire day doing statistics! It was really hard going to French class because they were ahead and I had to operate in two foreign languages at the same time. It was great to see my friends and they were really sweet and gave me a giant lollipop holder as a goodbye present. It was so awesome! I am so grateful hat I got the experience to go somewhere for a year. I will always remember it and I think it really helped shape me as a person. I admit, it was weird to be going to school during vacation, but it was worth it.

Smile, A Graphic Novel about Braces by Olivia

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This weekend I went to the bookstore and bought some books. One of them was called Smile. Smile is a true story about the author, Raina Telgemeier. She was going to get braces but then knocked out her 2 front teeth and had to go through extensive dental care to fix it. I’m getting my braces this week so it was interest to me. Whether or not you have braces or will get them I would recommend this book to any girl, or boy if you don’t mind slightly girly books. Smile is  just a long comic. I thought it would last me the weekend but I ended up reading it in under an hour. One of my favorite scenes is when Raina is recovering from dental surgery and is just lying on the couch. Her little sister is playing Super Mario Brothers and her thought bubble says,”You can only watch your sister die at Super Mario Brothers so many times.” Smile also deals with some of the social problems Raina encounters through middle school and high school.  It’s a great book.