It was an endlessly boring Saturday, you know, the way no girl wants to spend it. I was moaning on my bed like a dog in despair wondering what to do. My dad was online researching places to take me.

Shortly my dad bombed out, “Want to go to Sky Zone?”

I yelled, “Yes,” and ran downstairs as fast as lightning to put my shoes on.

Meanwhile, when we were approaching sky zone, I wanted to turn around and go back home.  Sky Zone looked like a big old warehouse.  I wondered what it looked like inside, a dirty old room with trampolines inside?

When we parked the car and went inside I realized by looking inside the place that I shouldn’t have wanted to turn around and go back home.  It looked so fun inside.  There was a huge sign that said Sky Zone with lights all around it.  I looked on the left side of the warehouse and that was where all the trampolines were.  All of them together looked like a floor with trampoline tiles.  The trampolines that everybody was jumping on were squares.  I couldn’t wait to jump.

We paid for everything and now it was time to jump.

I entered the trampoline court and I was in shock.  I have never seen so many trampolines in my life. 

I quickly ran over to the foam pit.  The foam pit was basically a huge pit filled with huge cubes made out of foam with trampolines in front of it to jump in the foam.  The worker brought me over to one of the trampolines and explained the rules to me.  When he was done explaining the rules, I jumped on the trampoline in front of the foam, higher, higher, higher and BOOM right into the foam!  I struggled getting out of the foam.  There were foam cubes all around me.  When I finally got out and when I stepped on the regular ground, my legs felt like Jello.  It was weird walking on the ground instead of the trampoline. 

Next, I walked over to the main trampoline court.  The best part about it was the trampoline walls.  You could even bounce off the walls!  I started off bouncing like a spring in the middle of my trampoline square. I felt like I was going to go through the ceiling like a rocket. I went very high. I was bouncing on my butt by jumping up and falling on my butt and going back on my feet.

Then I want over to the long trampoline. It was meant for gymnastics. 

After doing cartwheels, handstands and somersaults, I got off the trampoline to take a rest and quick drink of water.  By the time I was done with my drink, a man bombed out on the speaker, “Everybody that paid for 1 hour of jumping, your time is up.  Please exit the court room.  Thank you for jumping at Sky Zone.  Please come again!”

I left the court with my dad and starting bugging him asking him when we could come back. 

That was the time I was flying through the sky at Sky Zone!

Check out students' posters! Students researched an animal and created a poster that cleverly displayed the information they learned. 

Inspired by The Black Stallion by Walter Farley.


My Life as a Horse

His life is filled with lots of pride,
Swiftly he comes-faster with every magnificent stride.
The sun blazed down and sweat ran from the stallions face,
The sweat racing down with a quick a pace.
When the stallion halted he saw a boy,
Laying by a tree with not a bit of joy.
There the boy sat on the grassy ground,
He was just sitting there not making a sound.
The stallion galloped over to the tree,
The boy looked up and said “I am free”.
The boy got up and jumped on the stallions back,
The stallion quivered then made a crack.
The stallion reared then the boy fell off the stallions back,
The boy laid on the ground and just saw black.
The boy woke up and got to his knees,
When the stallion reared then suddenly freezed.
The stallion didn’t move he just remained calm,
The boy got up as fast as a bomb.
The boy got up on the stallions back,
But this time the stallion didn’t crack.
The stallion galloped through the pathway,
The stallion and the boy were on their way.

Have you ever wondered how Wi-Fi works? Have you ever wanted to know the difference between Wi-Fi and 3g? One cool fact about Wi-Fi is that Wi-Fi stands for wireless internet- faltering intermittent. Another cool fact is that Wi-Fi gets you internet access. Continue reading to find out more interesting facts about Wi-Fi.

How to connect to Wi-Fi

One interesting fact is that “Wi-Fi uses radio waves to allow electronic devices to exchange data or to connect to the internet.” Wi-Fi is sometimes not allowed in airplanes because the radio waves interfere with the way the airplane works because airplanes use radio waves to fly a little. If somebody uses Wi-Fi on an airplane, the plane could either crash or have the possibility to lose control and crash. (Wikipedia.com).

How to get Wi-Fi in your home

Next, you have to have a Wi-Fi router in order to connect your wireless device to Wi-Fi. The wireless router allows radio waves to get to your wireless device so that your device gets Wi-Fi. (Wikipedia.com).

Keeping your Wi-Fi safe

Another important fact is that you should always make a password for your Wi-Fi. If you don’t make a password, someone could hack into your wireless device and steel all of your personal information.

The difference between Wi-Fi and 3G

Also, the difference between Wi-Fi and 3g is that 3g gets you internet access everywhere you go. Wi-Fi only gets you internet access at places with Wi-Fi routers. Usually, homes have Wi-Fi routers. If homes don't, the place can't get Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi all day

Lastly, you should automatically have Wi-Fi when you get home. The Wi-Fi router stays on all day so that when you leave the house and return home, your device will be connected to Wi-Fi.

As you can see, Wi-Fi uses radio waves to connect to your wireless device, you should always make a password for your Wi-Fi or else someone could hack into your device.    

In D.A.R.E class, I’ve learned how to protect myself and how to keep myself healthy by not doing certain things. These are some of the things that I learned in D.A.R.E class.

I’ve learned to say no to people that put peer pressure on me (if it happens). Peer pressure is when someone forces me or asks me aggressively to do something wrong or illegal against my will so I can be part of their “circle or group”. Example, if someone asks me to smoke a cigarette and I refuse, they say you cannot be our friend.

Another thing I learned is how bad tobacco and alcohol can really be. Drinking alcohol slows down the brain and creates all kinds of health issues. Some of the health effects are loss of coordination, poor judgement, memory loss, loss of self-control and slow reflexes. Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is illegal as well as driving under the influence is also illegal. Alcoholism also creates major family related issues.  Tobacco reduces the amount of blood that flows through the brain and creates breathing problems. It is illegal for anyone to buy cigarettes under the age of 18. If you smoke, you have the possibility of getting lung cancer, heart attacks, bad breath and yellow teeth.

Also, I learned about bullying. Bullying is when someone physically applies harm on you or someone that speaks to you saying rude comments about you. Bullying is also putting peer pressure on you in a way. A bully can make you do something without you wanting to. Remember, if someone is bullying you, tell an adult immediately and if they tell you not to tell an adult, tell an adult when the bully isn’t around.

Another thing I learned is to avoid people doing the wrong things. For instance, let’s say that you were walking home from school and you saw a bunch of people smoking and taking drugs. If you were going to make the right decision, you would avoid the smokers and drug takers and try to find a different route home. If you were to make the wrong decision, you would keep going the route that the smokers and drug takers were going in. That’s what not to do.

I’ve also learned to make the right decisions. I’ve learned to make the right choice to not smoke when I grow up and I also learned to not drink alcohol when I grow up and to not take drugs. All of these things that I just mentioned are bad for you. Taking drugs is bad, smoking is very bad and drinking alcohol is bad.

Lastly, I’ve learned the signs of stress. If you are stressed out, you may be sweating, yelling, dropping things and breathing heavily. To calm yourself down, you can count to 10 in your mind, take deep breaths, sit down or take a nap. Those choices may often help people calm down.

In conclusion, you have learned about the things that I have learned in D.A.R.E and I hope you learned some things and I hope you make the right decisions when you grow up.

Drug
Abuse
Resistance
Education

My most favorite two books are in the “Harry Potter” series and my favorite two characters from the series are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.  I’m going to tell you some of the things that they both have in common.

Harry Potter and Hermione both wanted to be in the house of Gryffindor in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. They didn’t want to be in the other houses because all the other houses were not as great as Gryffindor especially Slytherin because all the worst wizards came from there such as Lord Voldemort. He killed Harry’s parents when Harry was a kid.

Also, Harry and Hermione both love solving mysteries. In the first book, the both wanted to find the Sorcerers stone and in the second book they both wanted to find out who opened the Chamber of Secrets.

Another thing they both have in common is that they both trust Hagrid with their secrets. For instance, in the first book, Harry, Hermione and Ron (their friend), went to Hagrid’s cabin to tell him who they think stole the sorcerers stone. They both trust Hagrid to keep their secret safe.

Lastly, they both know how to cast spells on the things. Such as, they both know how to make things float by simply saying “Winggardium Leviosa,” and the object floats.

Now I will tell you some of the things that Harry does that Hermione doesn’t.

First of all, Harry Potter is a risk taker. For instance, in the first book (Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone), the flying teacher tells the students not to fly on their broomsticks while she takes a student to the hospital wing, but a student named Malfoy took something of the kids that went to the hospital wing and started flying away with it and Harry was about to go and immediately Hermione stopped Harry and she told him that he was going to get in trouble. As you can see, Hermione is prudent about certain things.

Next, Harry doesn’t pay attention in class that much. In the first movie, Harry was writing on paper when Professor Snape was talking. Other like Hermione, she pays attention in class so much, she corrects every mistake that someone makes. As you can see, Hermione is the smart one!

After that, Harry plays Quidditch. Quidditch is a wizard sport that is almost like football. You have to throw balls in a hoop and if you catch the golden snitch, you automatically win the game. Hermione doesn’t play a wizard sport. As you can see, Harry may be more athletic than Hermione.

Lastly, Harry Potter doesn’t have a family to go to on break. The Durleys don’t treat Harry like family. Other like Hermione, she has a nice, sweet family to go to on break. Hermione’s family treats her like family. As you can see, Harry must be a lonely man.

Now I’ll tell you things that Hermione does that Harry doesn’t do.

Hermione is prudent about certain things. For example, When Harry was about to get on his broomstick to get the thing that Malfoy took, Hermione said “NO! You are going to get in big trouble!” As you can see, Harry doesn’t think before he does his actions.

Next, Hermione is really smart. After every mistake that somebody makes. She studies for every single pop quiz. Harry just wanders off in class writing in his notebook. As you can see, Harry isn’t the smartest one.

After that, Hermione doesn’t play any kind of wizard sport. Harry does play a wizard sport that is quidditch. Professor McGonagall spotted Harry riding his broomstick and she made him the new seeker for quidditch. As you can see, Hermione may not be more athletic than Harry.

Lastly, Hermione has a family to go to for breaks. Hermione’s family is really nice, but Harry’s family is really mean and rude. The Dursley’s make Harry live under a cupboard! That’s a family that I wouldn’t want to live with!

As you can see, Harry and Hermione are both very different, but the are both the same in many different ways.   

          

Students task was to write a well-structured opinion essay filled with evidence supporting their claims. Special features include:

• A strong, clear thesis statement
  
• Three unique, powerful reasons
  
• Meaningful personal experiences
  
• Facts and evidence from others
  
• A strong introduction and lasting conclusion

Students could write about any topic that they felt strongly about. We hope you enjoy our essays!

Have you ever been to a skating rink and saw a person skating without a helmet? Did they fall and get a head injury? Well I saw it before! That’s why I believe people should wear helmets while figure skating.

I believe people should wear helmets while figure skating because helmets help you not get hurt. Helmets prevent you from getting the most major head injuries. Like cracking your head open. I once was wearing a helmet while I was at my figure skating lesson and I fell. Did I get hurt...no. Helmets are solid protection against your head.

In addition to that, people should wear helmets while figure skating because helmets make the world a lot safer in general. Not only for figure skating, but for other sports too. For example, people should wear helmets while skateboarding because if you fall, you can get a concussion. The pitcher in baseball should wear a helmet because the baseball could bounce off his head. You should wear a helmet while biking because if you fall off your bike, you can crack your head open. I once went to a baseball game and I saw the baseball bounce off the pitchers head.

This connects for recitals for figure skating too. I think people should wear helmets for figure skating recitals too! It doesn't matter that people look ridiculous wearing a helmet when they are skating like pros! All that matters is people's protection.

My last reason why people should wear helmets while figure skating is, helmets prevent any kind of head injury. Perhaps if you fell off your bike and you’re not wearing a helmet you’re probably going to crack your head open. Same thing goes with other sports too. If you’re not wearing a helmet and you fall doing a sport such as figure skating, you have a 50% chance of getting hurt really bad. If I were you, I wouldn’t take the risk.

This is important because people are taking the risk of cracking their head open. I want people to wear helmets because I don’t want people getting hurt.

I used to think kids shouldn’t wear helmets because they are pros at skating, but now I realize not all kids are good at skating and they should wear helmets.   

It was one of those extremely muggy fall days like when your mom makes you wear a thick coat. The air was super thick and the leaves were scattered all over our house. It was raining in the form of mist. It was not a good day, I could tell. I was locked up in my house watching a lame movie while munching on popcorn. What a fun day I thought sarcastically to myself.

While I was watching the movie I was confused. My cat Lucy always curls up in a ball next to me while I’m watching a movie. I decided to go to start searching for her. I paused the movie and got off the couch and started looking.

I was starting to have scary thoughts. What if I never find her? I tried to ignore the thoughts and keep looking. I looked in my room first, then my parents room, then my cats room. Nowhere to be found.

I saw something that was very unusual. The basement door was opened. Nobody has been down there for the past…..day! Maybe Lucy went down there I thought frantically to myself. I went down the creaking steps. My heart was booming. I started searching the basement for her. No sign of her. I knew I should start making lost cat signs.

The garage door was open! I knew this was the day I was going to lose my cat. I started making kissy noises. “Lucy, Lucy,” I said in a panicky voice. I was searching the whole garage for her. I couldn’t find her. I thought to myself, it’s too dark! Maybe I should turn the light on. Right when I turned the light on, I saw an amazing sight. It was Lucy sleeping near my bike. I was so happy! I woke her up and carried her back in my house.

That was the time I almost lost my cat and the last time I hope. 

Papi, Pedroia and Victorino. Lester, Koji and Salty too. 
Wham Bam! Is that a grand slam? 
If Papi’s up to bat, you can bet it’s true.
Red Sox rule
Cardinals drool!
That’s the rule!
Oh yeah, that’s the rule all right.
The crowd gasps in fright, as they all drink a can of Sprite.
 Victorino is truly victory.
He brought us to the World Series.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was walking down a pathway to a Haunted house. My dad was taking me trick or treating and I thought this was the perfect place to start. My dad waited for me in the car because he thought the house was intimidating. There were cobwebs, cracked gravestones, bones, skeletons, broken branches and pumpkins everywhere. I thought this house was decorated in a disturbing way. I heard screeching, howling and moaning coming from the inner part of the house. There was a clock on the top of the house. It read mid-night. I heard a sound. “AWOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH”, it had to be a werewolf! I was petrified, but I was brave. I knocked on the door. “TRICK OR TREAT”, I screamed in a frightful sound. The door opened. Nothing was there. Then, within a blink, a bloody, smelly, headless, rotten zombie was standing at the door. He had a knife smeared with blood all over it. Its eye was dangling out of its eye socket. I screamed “forget about the candy,” I ran away and hid behind a bush. The zombie came out of the house and started searching the streets for me.

I really didn’t care about the zombie. I thought it would be fun to have a few screams and have a look inside the house. I slowly stepped into the house. The only thing I saw was a little glass of a purple drink. I wanted to drink it. I had a sip of that stuff. Within a blink, I saw zombies, ghosts, vampires, witches and so many more monsters.

I started to walk around the house. I went inside a closet. It was full of caskets. One of the caskets had a mummy inside. I went upstairs after I saw the closet. I saw a zombie burning trespassers. I didn’t want to be burned so I ran past all of the monsters and exit the haunted house.

When I went back in my dad’s car, I told him about my journey in the haunted house.                                                                        

Today was the day I was going to hang out with my friends Leah, Rose, Marisabel, Fitzy, Gavin, Gabe and I. I saw everybody chilling in the Jacuzzi. I reminded them that we were all going to hang out today. As they jumped out of the Jacuzzi, I was staring at their lookalike raisin toes and fingers. They all dried off then, changed. We all decided we were going to see a hockey game first. Fitzy was super exited. He asked us, “Who are we going to watch?????????” he said with a cheery voice, “The Bruins vs. The New York Rangers”. We all grabbed a shot of soda from the soda fountain then went to the TD Garden. We got front row seats. I could feel the chill from the ice whenever a hockey player skated by us. As we were watching the game we were screaming “GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!” When the game slowly ended, we stared at the scoreboard. The Bruins won 5 to 2. The New York Rangers STUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After the game, we all went to Dunkin Donuts to get a free iced coffee and donut. As we were munching on the donuts we were all riding huge hawks to Universal in Orlando FL. We are all multi taskers. We are going to ride all the roller coasters there. We first went on the Ripin Rocket Rollercoaster. We all took a seat in a car. I started to write my will. The car went up and up and up and suddenly, I heard screams from in front of me. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” I screamed as the mini car went down a big dip. I almost vomited. The ride went in so many loops! I was so scared. I was brave enough to let go of the bar. I felt like I was going to fall out of the car. About 30 seconds later the ride was over. I felt so dizzy.
About an hour later the school bell rang and it was time to go home.

Check out some outstanding student work from the first homework project of the school year, All About Me. I've listed the requirements of the project here; below is what some especially creative students did with it.


Job 1. Mini-biography: Choose two from the following:

• Writing about yourself, your life, and your family – funny stories, sad stories, amazing family facts, etc.
  
• Describe the best book you have ever read.
  
• What was one of the proudest moments in your life?
  
• Describe a turning point in your life.

Job 2. Predictions: Write predictions about where you and three of your friends will be, and what they will be doing with their lives in: Ten years time & Twenty years time.

Job 3. Compliments: Write a page of compliments to friends and family, the kind of thing that you may have thought but never said. Try to include as many classmates as possible.

Job 4. Portraits: A page (or pages) of photos and/or artwork expressing your personality and what makes you YOU.

Hi. My name is Anna Mercina. I am nine and a half years old. My Birthday is on November xx. I was born in Medford, MA. in the year of 2003. I am a fifth grader at Brooks Elementary School. I am also an only child. I have two amazing parents. John and Patricia. I have been on many trips with them. We have all been to Buffalo NY, Orlando FL, Greece, Canada, New England and Cape Cod. A couple of those places have relatives of mine in them.  I have many friends and relatives. I also have three pets. One cat and two fish. The fish are goldfish. Their names are Swimmy and April. I am not sure if they are boys or girls. My cat’s name is Lucy Belle. She has grey fur, yellow eyes and two very thin ears. You should know a couple of interesting facts about me. #1, I absolutely love to sing. #2, I love to dance. #3, I am an animal lover. #4, I love to do art. #5, I am a musician. Those were some interesting facts about me. Now I will talk about my hobbies. My hobbies are learning Greek, doing gymnastics on my front lawn, drawing, go to Greek festivals, reading and much much more ! Now I will tell you about my mom and dad. My mom works for a financial company. At home, she is a kind mother, amazing cook, game player and reader. She is one of the best mothers in the world. Now the best part… my dad. He is the best dad in the world! He is loving, smart, funny and nice. If somebody knows of anybody more loving and funny than my parents, name it. Anyway, my dad tells me super funny stories of when he was a kid. They are HILLARIOUS !!!!!!!!!!! My face can’t stop bursting with laughter when he tells me one of the stories.

Now, another part of this biography is to tell you about one of the proudest moments in my life. The proudest moment in my life has to be my very first violin recital. It was scary. I forgot two of the songs! I didn’t know what to do, but I just practiced a lot. Then I remembered the two songs and I played them well. When it was time to get on stage, my legs were shaking! I was so scared. All the cameras flashing in my eyes, people shouting good luck to their kids then, I had a seat. It was my classes turn to perform. Then I played the songs with no fear. When the recital was over my parents were so proud of me! Then I knew I had completed my very first violin recital.

That was a very long Mini-Biography and I hope you enjoyed it.