Eliza's Exciting News

Believing is important for many reasons because it shows that you care about things.  In my perspective believing is one of the most important things to have or to do.

I believe in believing.  Whether it is the Easter Bunny, going to church every Sunday, or having an opinion and sticking up for it, it’s all believing just in different ways.  Believing in something is more than saying you agree with something, it is putting your faith and trust into an action, someone, or something that you love or think is right.  Believing is going around and telling people what you have chosen to believe in.  I believe in many things such as going to church, trying hard in school, making changes, believing in God, along with many other things.

My parents taught me and got me to believe in pretty much everything they wanted me to.  They taught me things that I will always remember.  Some of these things are going to church and believing in God, respect, good manners, kindness, believing, and countless other things.

One time, at one of my soccer games on May 5, 2012, I learned a lesson about believing.  We were down 1-0 when the referee blew his whistle that indicated half time.  We all jogged off of the field panting hard as I took a sip of water and plopped down under the shade.  Our coaches told us that they were proud with the way we played, although that we needed to believe in ourselves to try and score a goal.  We got back out on the field and played hard.  I raced down the field and passed it to one of my teammates who swerved around a defender, shifted the ball in preparation of a shot and shot it with all of her might.  The ball whizzed through the air, past the goalies hands, and into the back of the net.  We had just tied the game up!  The crowd was screaming.  The other team kicked off at midfield and powered through our defenders, and scored.  Our team felt defeated and had no thought about winning.  I tried to keep everyone up by saying, “We can do this,” and “Come on, we can try to score again.”  The game went on for a little while longer, when our goalie punted it way up field where I was waiting.  I got the ball and sprinted toward the goal.  I shot the ball, kicked it, and scored.  Everyone came up and hugged me, the game was back at a tie!  Near the end of the game, when the ball was up near the goal, one of my teammates stole the ball from the defender and passed it to the center of the field, where I was standing.  I hit the ball with all of the strength in me and watched as the ball hit the back of the net and hearing the referees whistle blow.  The crowd was roaring, teammates hugging, and coaches yelling.  After about another minute, the referee blew his whistle with a tweet-tweet-tweet which meant the end of the game, and our victory.  I think this experience taught me a lesson in believing because we were down twice and we ended up winning.

As I said before, believing is important.  Always believe in what you do and life will take you far.

Next year in Sixth Grade, we will be receiving MacBook Airs.  All Fifth and Sixth Graders will be getting their very own MacBook Airs.   This means next year, I will have a MacBook also.  Of course, they will be monitored, but students will have many possibilities for learning.  Students will be able to use many of the applications on the Mac Book Airs such as iPhoto, Photo Booth, iTunes, iMovie, and many more.  I am really excited to have my own MacBook because I think it could help enhance learning here at Trinity School.  It could help by always having an answer to questions you can’t figure out and getting to experience new things like making movies, editing photos, researching, writing, and on and on.  I really want to try a hand in photography and editing pictures. I think having MacBook Airs will be a great fun and learning experience for everyone.  I am very happy with the decision.

What are your thoughts on TV?  What kind of effects do you think it has?  Many people in America have TVs.  People may take advantage of them and watch them too much, which can result in different effects.

You may agree that some kids and adults are watching too much TV.  TV does not require any exercise.  People should not be sitting inside while many others are outside getting the exercise they need to stay healthy.  Part of keeping your bones strong and body healthy is exercise.  From watching TV and not getting outside, people will lose social time with friends.  Also, people get “glued” to the TV.  By this I mean once a show or movie starts, people can’t stop watching it.  Lastly, kids and adults need real experiences instead of pretending that they are the characters or in the location of the show or movie.  There are many reasons why people think TV should be watched in moderation or not at all.  I think people should spend less time inside watching TV instead of going outside and playing with friends and getting exercise.  This does not mean stop watching TV, just make sure you get the proper exercise and social time needed.  TV is not always a bad thing.

TV can provide many upsides and advantages, such as creating jobs, providing important news, and many other things.  If you watch or use TV in these ways, it will not have such a harmful effect.  TV is an important part of the community and provides many things.  If you watch TV in moderation and in the times needed, TV will not have these harmful effects.

Eliza

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This picture is about a mother cheetah protecting her cub.  She just lost her other two to predators.  The baby cheetah is safely under her mother away from any predators.  I really liked this picture because the mother is protecting her child just like any other mother would do for their children.  Even though they are cheetahs and we are humans, when it comes to protecting your child it is just the same, for all animals.  It made me think how animals and humans are not that different.

This image is of a mother cheetah with her last cub.  It was taken in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve and was taken by Piper Mackay.  It shows the love that mothers have for their children.  Even cheetah mothers and humans feel the same sometimes. This picture was from the January 2012 issue of National Geographic.

Mackay took this shot of a mother cheetah and her last cub- two others had just been lost to predators- in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve.  “It shows the commonality of what all mothers feel toward caring for and protecting their children,” she says.

Piper Mackay

Long Beach, Florida

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At Trinity School in Atlanta, GA, the 4^th Grade students participate in a fun and entertaining study of westward expansion.  They call this Wagon Train.   It starts the last week of February and ends 8 weeks later.  Wagon Train is a great way for 4^th grade to learn about the westward expansion.  Wagon Train has been going on in Trinity School since 1991.  That’s 21 years!

Students at Trinity School who have done Wagon Train years before, still remember the fun they had.  Drew Balser, a fifth grader at Trinity, said, “You have to take on a lot of group participation.”  Drew went on to say how much fun he had and all of the memories he has taken from it such as making the projects and watching the movie of what we had done that unit.

The teachers always look forward to Wagon Train, but it can put stress and extra work on the teachers.   “I have a love/hate relationship with Wagon Train, I love how the kids get excited and how they all cooperate, but hate the extra work and how it piles up and stresses the 4^th grade teachers out” quoted Miss Goebel, who has been a 4^th Grade teacher here at Trinity for 5 years.

All the adults love watching and seeing what the kids learn in the unit.  “It’s an engaging way for kids to get a feel of what happened back then,” included Mrs. Berry, Trinity Schools ULD coordinator.  Mrs. Berry enjoys watching Wagon Train as it progresses through the year.

Wagon Train is an entertaining experience for kids and even for the teachers.  Kids learn about the hardships on the trail and even play a game.  In the game the kids get to act out the role of a person heading westward.  The teachers love watching the kids work together to pass challenges and make tough decisions.  Kids get to decide what way they want to go, what to take with them, and what to do in bad situations.  Kids also run into obstacles where their character could lose his or her life.  The 4^th Graders call these fates.

“My favorite part was how it felt real with all of the fates and activities,” added Sophie McGahan, a current fifth grader at Trinity School, “I was also excited for the Big Extravaganza, which is a performance and celebration at the end of Wagon Train.  I was excited to show my parents.”  The Big Extravaganza is a huge performance put on to show what they have learned and made.  They sing and perform skits to their parents, and even teachers from around the school.

Teachers and parents love hearing from the kids after a day of Wagon Train.  No matter who it is or what they are doing, they always have a great time.  Each day is exhilarating and filled with loads of fun.  Wagon Train will appeal to anyone of all ages.

-Mary Alston and Eliza

Yesterday, we were challenged to make Parcoes.  Making the Parcoes took a lot of team effort, cooperation, and hard work.  Everyone had to work together to make the Parcoes to match their precise requirements.    As a team you had to create as many Parcoes as you could and meet the strict requirements.  I thought the Parcoe experience was fun and helped us see what real life is like.  I think it showed us that not everything is as easy as it seems.  That everything didn’t always turn out perfect.  I really thought that this experience taught us and showed us that.  I really liked it and hope we can do it again.

In class, we read Homeless Bird. This is a book about a girl name Koly who goes through tough times and manages to pull through them.  After reading this book, we had to write a blog post on certain things.  Below is an overview of the book, the theme of the book, and literary devices used in the book.   Read on to find out more about Homeless Bird and Koly’s adventures.

As I said before, Koly gets into some really tough situations and always finds a way to make them better or turn them around.  One example is when Koly gets dropped off in Vrindavan.  Koly remembers important things and people which help her when she is in Vrindavan.  One of these things is Raji, the boy who pedals the rickshaw.  Koly remembered him and went back to him for help.  He brought her to Maa Kamala’s widow house and she found her a job, gave her a roof over her head, and food to eat.  Other times, Koly did not adapt as well.  One of these times was when she slept on the doorstep.  She was guilty and selfish and chased people away when they tried to share the doorstep.  She ate the food the family that lived in the house of the doorstep she was sleeping on even though a little, hungry child stood watching her eat her food.  Another is when Koly says she wishes not to spend the rest of her life in a sea of orange marigolds.  She hasn’t gotten used to the work and is complaining to Raji and the others.  Koly is not pretty good at adapting to tough times, but sometimes she doesn’t do as well and she doesn’t look on the bright side of her life.  Instead she looks on the down side.

Throughout the book there has been a recurring theme.  This theme is hope and will.  Koly has to have hope throughout the book and the will to keep going.  Koly had hope that her Sass would come back and the will to keep going even though her Sass left her alone in a big city with no one and only 47 rupees which is Indian currency, even though she knew that is where Koly would probably spend the rest of her life.  Even though she had to sleep on a doorstep for a couple of nights, she went to look for her Sass each day. Even though Raji did not return for several weeks to learn to read and write, Koly waited in the courtyard for him to come.  Koly has to keep going and keep her hopes up and not look down on her life.  Koly did not give up hope when Hari or Sassur died.  She kept going and moving on and trying to stay strong.  She kept her hopes up even when Chandra left.  She had the will and courage to stand up to her Sass and try to be grown up and make her own plans such as the ones she made to run away even though she didn’t.  She couldn’t give up and she had to act mature and like a grownup to get through the tough times.  For Koly, having hope and will brought her through the tough times and helped her out.

In this book Gloria Whelan, the author, uses many literary devices.  Many of which are used to describe Koly’s life to other things.  To describe how she feels or felt.  Most of them are metaphors or similes.  A few examples are when Koly, at the beginning of chapter eight, says, “I suppose part of me had known all along.  The thought had been waiting like a scorpion at the edge of my mind.  Now it stung me, and I nearly cried out in pain.”  Gloria Whelan uses a scorpion and it’s stings to represent how Koly felt when she had realized that her Sass had left her in Vrindavan, the city of widows, all alone.  It was representing how the thought had occurred but she shoved it aside.  Now, it finally settled in and felt like a scorpion sting.     Another is when Koly thought to herself “I feel like a newly caged animal that rushes about looking for an open door that isn’t there.”  She is talking about how she felt trapped and scared in a new house without her family. She had just married Hari and she was forced to leave her family.  The Mehta’s lied about Hari’s age and he was very sick.  One final example is when Koly and Raji are at the Yamuna River bank, far away from town, and Koly tells Raji, “You are lucky to be leaving the city where one day is like another and you hardly notice the weather.  It’s like living in a glass bottle.  You’ll be happier on your farm.” Koly is talking to Raji about him moving back to his town and rebuilding his house.  She refers to living in a glass bottle because you hardly notice anything in the peace and quiet of a small village with a roof over your head and food to eat.  Gloria Whelan often compares Koly’s life and feelings to other things.

Reading Homeless Bird made me realize that what we do here and how we live is not the same as other cultures around the world.  It made me feel grateful for what we have and what our lives are like and how we live.  It makes me realize that we have a very good life and how Koly lives was very different than ours.  Homeless Bird was a very good book and I recommend it to all people.  You must be someone who can take sad books.  The reason I say that people who read this book need to be able to handle sad books is because there are many sad and depressing moments in this book.  It was a great book to read during class and I recommend this to other classes to read as a class book.  I enjoyed reading Homeless Bird a lot.

This holiday break we were challenged to give the Gift of Time. The gift of time is not necessarily a physical gift you receive but more of a lending of someones time and effort to do something for someone else.

At our Holiday Party we wrote letters to patients in the Shepard Center. The letters wished them Happy Holidays and hoping that they were able to join their families and celebrate. The class took a group photo and inserted it into the envelope. Over Holiday Break, my mom delivered them to Shepard Center. They thanked us for what we did and said she would make sure they got to the patients.

I also spent time with my grandparents and cousins. My
cousins had never been to Atlanta so we took them to the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, The Varsity, shopping,
toured Buckhead and looked at Christmas lights, and to my
favorite resturaunt, Tuk Tuk. We walked around the neighborhood and took them to the park.

Giving the Gift of Time over the break felt great. I hope I can continue on giving the Gift of Time throughout my life. Remember, even if it is only a little thing it could help someone in a big way.

Eliza Normark

About every week we have to do a current event.  A current event is an event that is going on right now throughout the world.  Individually, we have to find an article either on a website, in a news article, magazines, etc.  At the end of the week we present our events to the class.  On notecards, we have to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how it affects the U.S.  The last one, we had find an article in the U.S., in the southeast, and it had to be upbeat.   Usually, it has to be outside of the U.S., but this week it was different.  My article was on the Northern lights sighting across the Southern U.S.

Who: Northern lights (Aurora Borealis)

What: Northern lights hit the Southern U.S.

When: The lights were first seen on Monday night

Where: Reports came from Arkansas, Tennessee, Northern Alabama, Northern Mississippi, and North Carolina.

Why: The energy particles interacted with earth’s magnetic field to cause the Northern lights.  This is called a coronal mass ejection.

How (it affects the U.S.):  It affects the U.S. because it shows that people as far down as the U.S. can see these lights.  This is also going to be looked at as a historical date.

Hope you enjoyed!

Pop! That was the sound my orange Fanta made when I opened it.  The orange bubbles fizzed in my mouth as I took my first sip.  The Fanta was cold and gave me a brain freeze.  I was leaning against the white kitchen counter of my aunt’s house and next to me were my sisters and my cousins who were also drinking their Cokes, Fantas, and Sprites.  We were all standing there, drinking our sodas, celebrating my tenth birthday.  The inside of the house was cozy and warm while outside it was below freezing!  My other cousins were blowing horns and playing with yo-yos.  The sound was so loud the parents had to come in and tell them to quiet down.  We giggled as they made faces.

Earlier that day my mom and I returned from the bank and pulled into my aunt’s garage.  Balloons were posted outside on the mailbox because today was here, my birthday had come!  As we hopped out of the car I wondered where everyone was.  Normally, everybody was outside playing basketball, chasing the dog, and doing outdoor activities but everyone was inside and not a peep was heard.  I was so excited because later tonight we would celebrate my tenth birthday!  The garage door creaked as I opened it and my mom followed me through.  When I opened the second door I heard a big “Happy Birthday!” coming from under the tables and behind the doors. I was so shocked! They had surprised me early and had cooked a wonderful smelling meal, gotten drinks, and fun little party gifts such as yo-yos, hand clappers, and bazookas. I was so overwhelmed!  We sat at the nice wood table eating the delicious dinner. The dinner was made up of chicken that was juicy, delicious, and soaked in gravy. The smell filled up the whole room and my mouth was watering. I filled my plate with homemade mac’n cheese and edamame. The mac’n cheese was so creamy and the edamame was steamy and salty. After dinner it was time for presents!

We all sat on the couches seeing the dark shroud the trees as it got darker and the moon rose higher and the sun fell behind the horizon. The fire was crackling and a warm glow was set on the room.  There were so many presents and I loved every one of them.  I picked up my final present, from my mom and dad, which was a long, flat, skinny box that would seem to hold a charm bracelet.  I knew this would be the best present by far, for my mom’s expression gave it away.  I lifted the lid off the box and saw another paper.  I took the paper out and unfolded it.  I saw a map with New York circled in red highlighter.  I knew from the second I saw it that I was going to New York.  I screamed out, “New York, New York, I am going to NEW YORK!!!!!!” I almost burst into tears of joy.  I ran over to my parents and jumped up on them and thanked them over and over again.  I will never forget this night because it was full of so many memories.  I loved that night.

-Eliza Normark