Madison's Avenue

In our class we are reading The Homeless Bird as our class novel. In The Homeless Bird the main character is a girl named Koly. Koly is thirteen and is already getting married! I know it sound weird but Koly is getting married at thirteen because she lives in India. In India some people have arranged marriages. Koly is arranged to marry a guy named Hari, but that’s all she knows about him! On the day of their wedding Koly wore a sari (a Indian dress) and the time came, she got to meet Hari! Koly thought that Hari looked skinny and young, Hari was only eleven years old. After Koly says her goodbyes to her family, she goes to Hari’s house. Koly soon finds out that Hari has a disease called tuberculosis. Hari’s parents took him to a place to go into what they believed to be holy water. That same night something tragic happened! Hari died. Some of the characters that Koly met so far is maa (mom) baap (dad in) Hari (her husband) sass (mother in law) sassur (father in law) Chandra (sister in law. The Homeless Bird is a great book so far and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

In values class we are learning about the gift of time.  To introduce this topic we read a book called The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills. In the book, there is a girl named Minna. It’s getting cold outside and Minna needs a coat for school. Quilting mothers then decide to make a coat for her with different scraps or rags that they could find. Each scrap or rag had a story behind it. Minna may have not had the fanciest coat, but it had a lot of thought and love in it. I learned that even if you don’t have the most fashionable or expensive items, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important to you. The teachers gave us an assignment to do a gift of time over winter break. My gift of time was to baby-sit my grandmothers neighbors baby. When the baby got to my grandmas house, he looked at me and smiled. I could see his gums since he had no teeth. The baby was so cute! He was only nine weeks old! I was so anxious to hold him. The first thing that I did when the baby got there was introduce myself to him. The baby liked me and started to laugh. My grandma thought he was hungry so she gave him some milk. Then, we burped the baby. I didn’t know why people had to burp babies; no one burps kids after they drink. I asked my grandma and she said that they burped babies so they could make sure they digested their food. Next, we played with the baby. Then, my grandma said that I could hold the baby! I was so exited and scared at the same time. “ What if I drop him? “ I asked myself. Then I just decided to pick him up. He was so light! It felt like I was holding a little teddy bear, except it was alive. The baby then got comfortable in my arms and rested his head on my shoulder. I felt so relieved and happy! I really enjoyed baby-sitting. I think the reason why I enjoy babies so much is because I am an only child. Overall, what I learned was that if you spend time with someone it is not just beneficial for him/her. It is also beneficial for you because you get the gift of making someone happy.

1. How many times does Justin Bieber say baby in the song baby?

2. What sea animal are Narwals closest related to?

3. Who was Justin Bieber discovered by?

4. What dog is closest related to a wolf?

5. What material are pyramids made out of?

You don’t have to answer all of the questions at the same time, and if you reply please write the question and answer in one sentence. For example: Justin Bieber was discovered by …. There is no cheating allowed, so no going on the Internet and finding the answer. The first person to answer all five questions will get a prize and will get to come up with two of the next trivia questions. I will announce the winner as soon as I know. Bye!

This week was very fun and interesting. On Wednesday we had a Wordly Wise project on lesson 6. We had a math test on the same day. Everyone did great! Our trip to the high museum was exiting too! We got to see a great variation of artists. They talked about artists who follow the rules, and artists who don’t follow the rules ( such as Pablo Picasso ). We also just started our book club. In that, there are different groups of people reading different books. Each person in the group will have a job each time. It is a group effort and if you don’t do your job then your group will get a zero. This week was great!

This week was very fun and we had an extremely tight schedule. We had a math pop quiz on Wednesday, Thursday, and were having one on Friday. We are going to go to the High museum on Wednesday, November 9th. We have a Wordly Wise test on lesson 6 and a math test on Tuesday, November 8th. We also, have a Wordly Wise project due on Monday, November 7th.  We are meeting with Carmen Deedy on Thursday November 3rd. She is the author of many childrens books. My advise is for everyone to study, study, study!

Hey everyone!

For Halloween I am being Jennifer Lopez. I know it sounds crazy, but it doesn’t sound as crazy when I tell you that Eva and Emily E. are also going to dress up with me. Eva is going to be Steven Tyler, and Emily is going to be Randy Jackson. So if you have’nt figured it out yet we are the American Idol judges. We are so exited for this upcoming Halloween, but after that we have to worry about what to be next year. Please post any ideas you have for us to be next year.

Thanks!

Madison

This week was very busy with tests. We had our social studies test on Wednesday on Mesopotamia. Everyone did great! Also, I think that most people were exited about buddies. We got Ms. Connie’s class. We did an activity with our buddies and we got to decorate a pumpkin. Now our pumpkins are displayed at the front of the school. We are now on our 5th unit of Wordly Wise. Our test will be on Tuesday th 25th. We will have River Kids on Wednesday the 26th, and our science test and field trip is on Thursday the 27th. Don’t forget that we have our Halloween party on the 28th!

- Madison

There once was a girl who had great posture. The girl was going to a party but she didn’t know what the proper attire was. The girl chose a dress to wear but it was a tentative decision.  The girl turned on the television and heard that there was going to be an eclipse . She knew exactly what to wear! The girl had an innate sense of fashion. She made her own dress and was off to the party.

My essential question is “who were some of the most important gods/goddesses of Mesopotamia and what effect did thy have in a Mesopotamian life”. I chose this topic because I like to learn information about what things people believe in. I especially like to see if the beliefs affected the people who worshiped them. An interesting thing that I also enjoy to research is if people still have the same beliefs in something. In early Mesopotamia, the Sumerians believed in gods and goddesses. Each city was assigned to a god or goddess. It was somewhat tricky though, because the same god could represent two different cities but the cities could call the god different names. In Mesopotamia, people built large temples to worship the gods. They believed that the gods visited the temple.  There was a theory in Mesopotamia that gods and goddesses had control of everything in the world. So for example, if it were raining one day the Sumerians would say that that god of weather was angry. People had so much respect for gods that they thought that kings were descended from gods. That’s probably why they worshiped kings. The Mesopotamians also had another theory that there was a place either above the sky or below the earth, which had servants and soldiers for gods. The place is believed to be were the gods met up to talk about the fates of humans. The Sumerians respected gods so much because there was a story that was passed down for years, in the story it tells about how the gods worked hard everyday to eat food. Each god had a job on the field that they had to do everyday, (that must explain how each god is in charge of something). So yes, gods did affect a Mesopotamian life because it taught them to be obeying, and most of all it gave them someone to worship.

There was once a girl who inflated a balloon. The girl was very light and a superb wind came and the wind propelled the girl and the balloon aloft. The girl suddenly plummeted to the ground, and when she stood up she didn’t even have one single scratch on her.