This year in fifth grade we are doing a Christopher Columbus play. We are sitting on the rug figuring out roles for the play. My teacher, Ms. Moll is calling out the parts for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. She called out “Queen Isabella,” my hand shot up as fast as a rocket at blast off.  But I wasn’t the only one; my friend Olivia also wanted it too. I wanted that part so so badly. But Olivia got the part. I was happy for her but also disappointed for me. The next part that Ms. Moll is going to call out is King Ferdinand. I also shot my hand up for that part. I really wanted that part badly too. . I basically just wanted to be a part of royalty. It was me against my classmate Almir. I am just waiting for her to call my name, saying to myself “I want this part,” repeatedly in my head. “Izzy” said Ms. Moll. Everyone started giggling, you know because King Ferdinand is a man and I was a 10 year girl. But I wasn’t offended I laughed with them. I was proud of myself for getting that part.

 We started rehearsing a little bit later. Ms. Moll started with the main characters first because they started the play. Then after a good half an hour went by I heard Ms. Moll say I need the king and queen to the stage. The reason it took so long is because the kids needed to figure out what they wanted to say and make it make sense, plus there was four of them. Anyway, back to the king and queen. When i heard her call the king and queen you would have thought I was a three year old about to get a new toy I was jumping up and down. As soon as Olivia and I got to the stage Ms. Moll explained to us what we need to do.

• Come up with lines not memorize them
  
• Figure out what we want to say (obviously)
  
• Stay in character (most important)                                                                                                                                                                                                   

   I was really excited that we didn’t have to have a script in front of us to memorize because if we forget a line we wont be embarresed and look like a goof infront of the audience.                          

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

 Have you ever just thought of a random science or technology question and just say I wonder how that works? I have and my question is how do touch screens work? I did some research and according to Curosity.com “there are three basic systems that are used to recognize a person’s touch”. If you want to find out more read my essay.

Resistive system

  The first system that is used to recognize a person’s touch is the resistive system. In that two metallic layers cover the glass screen. One of them is conductive and one of them is resistive (curiosity.com). Another fact about how touch screens work is when the two layers of metallic are at rest, they are held slightly apart by spacers and then scratch resistant material covers the whole screen (curosity.com). The last part of the resistive system is when you press down on the screen the two metallic layers touch one another in the placed you pressed altering their electric fields. The computer calculates the coordinates of that spot and the device registers your touch accordingly with the software (curiosity.com). 

 Capacitive System

The second basic system is the capacitive system. The capacitive system works for making touch screens because it uses a panel of glass that is covered by an electrically charged layer (curiosity.com). At the point where your fingers make contact with the screen some electricity leaves the device and comes into your body and through your finger top and since there is only a very small amount of electricity it does not shock you. (curiosity.com). The second way that the capacitive system works is that circuits are placed in the corner of the monitor detect the decreases in charge and  relay that information into the computer (curiosity.com). The last way the capacitive system works is that the computer uses all the relative difference in each circuits charge to calculate where you touched the screen (curiosity.com). That information is sent to the touch screens driver software and then that moves the cursor (curiosity.com). 

Surface Acoustic Wave System

The last basic system is the surface acoustic wave system. The first way the surface acoustic wave system works is that it has four transducers one sending and one going at each end of the X axis and two more going at each end of the Y axis (curiosity.com). The second way the surface acoustic wave system works is that within the grid of the screen are reflectors that take the electrical signal sent from one transducer to the other (curiosity.com). Finally the last way the surface acoustic wave system works is that when you touch this kind of screen you disrupt the current reading for the receiving transducer. The location of this disruption is detected instantly and is relayed to the computer (curiosity.com). 

In conclusion, when you have a science or technology question I suggest to do some research because you could learn a lot like I did. I enjoyed learning about the three basic systems that make a touch screen work and I hope to do something like this again.

References                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Curiosity “resistive system” http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/touch-screens-resistive-system-recognize

Curiosity “capacitive system” http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/touch-screens-capacitive-recognize-touch

Curiosity “surface acoustic wave system” http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/surface-acoustic-wave-system-recognize
Retrieved on 2/6/14 

I am going to tell you about two characters Mac and Vince, from The Fourth Stall. I’m also going to tell you about their likes and dislikes, their similarities and their character traits. Like their style and behavior. Mac and Vince are two different people and here is why!

The first example is their likes and dislikes. Vince is very good with mathematics and numbers but on the other hand Mac is not as good. For example at their business in The fourth stall Vince keeps track of all the money and all the books but Mac listens to people’s problems. Another difference between Mac and Vince is Mac isn’t a fan of school but Vince is a little different he enjoys school . For instance, I read that one time Mac started daydreaming about one of the big problems he had to solve, in the middle of class.

They also have many similarities, one of them is they both LOOOVVVEEE the Chicago Cubs.  They love them so much they do cubs trivia with each other at random times. Another similarity that Mac and Vince have is that they both are good at solving problems .For example, when they have to solve a problem they always get to the bottom of it. The last similarities that Mac and Vince have is they are both very brave and sneaky. One time they snuck into the principals office and changed the test scores.

In conclusion, Mac and Vince have their own unique personality. But their many similarities is the core of their friendship.      

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 scrolling through TV shows on your TV? I know I have, I do it all the time. Do you ever see a show on obese kids losing weight? I have and it’s just not right. That’s why I think girls and boys around the world should be more active

I think girls and boys around the world should be more active because the kids that are not active could be lead to being extremely unhealthy. One part of being unhealthy is being obese. To me being obese is not only caused by being inactive but is caused by being lazy.  For example kids should be outside playing games instead of sitting inside staring at the TV and eating junk food.

Another reason girls and boys around the world should be more active is because not being active can affect their brain and body. When I get up from watching TV for a long period of time my eyes will hurt and my legs and my arms will be shaky.  If kids are lazy at home it will cause them to be lazy in everything they do, epically in school. This affects their grades and future life. Being inactive will also make you weak. So when you decide it’s time for you to be active you won’t have a lot of strength to be. This makes me realize that sitting around watching TV and being lazy isn’t as fun as you think.

The last reason I think girls and boys around the world should be more active is it could help their social life. I have made friends while being active at the park and the playground.  Being active will also help get along with other people because if you’re getting teased obviously you’re not going to get along with the people that are teasing you. 

Part of being active socially is being on a team, which helps you learn how to be in a community which could also help you later in life. I know this girl in my class who’s very sweet and nice but gets made fun of because of her size. I don’t think that’s right and if girls and boys around the world were more active that wouldn’t have to happen.

I used to think that eating junk food was fun, but it’s not. So I believe girls and boys around the world should be more active because being inactive could cause you to be extremely unhealthy, it could affect your brain and your body and it can affect your social life too. 

It was an early school morning.  It had rained the night before so it was muggy and damp outside. I yelled up to my mom “its 8:00,” she didn’t reply. I knew she wasn’t up yet. My dog, Harry was scratching at my back door to go outside and go to the bathroom. I was pacing up and down my kitchen getting my breakfast. I finally opened the back door for Harry. Then I walked to my front porch to get my shoes on. I saw the landscaper truck outside my house; they were here to cut my grass in my backyard. “Oh no I hope they didn’t open the back gate yet!”

I let my dog Harry outside. He ran around in the wet grass.  I have a fenced in backyard because Harry will run away if it’s not fenced in. After I finished I went to my front porch to get my shoes on. I saw the landscaper truck outside my house. I thought to myself I hope they didn’t open the gate to my backyard yet.  

I raced to my backdoor looked out the window, the gate was open. Then I sprinted back to the front                                          door. I didn’t see Harry outside. I quietly but quickly opened the front door and stepped outside. It was muggy and humid outside from the night before. I saw Harry up the street. I knew I couldn’t chase after him because he would run away. The only way I had learned to get him back into the house was to get him in the car. But obviously I couldn’t drive. I was trembling with fear. I saw him up the street about to pee on a bush. I snuck up behind him, grabbed his waist. I wanted to let him finish going to the bathroom but I wanted to get him in the house. So I got ahold of his harness and let him finish going to the bathroom. After he finished I led him back to my house.  “I am not telling mummy about this,” I thought to myself when I got inside with Harry.                  

My class was stampeding down the hallway from the waterpark to room 413. We were all tired and wet. Our shoes were soaking wet.  They were quaking like ducks as we walked. After we entered the classroom I jet packed to my private island, my hair was blowing in the air because of the speed I was going. As soon as I got to my island I pulled out my marshmallow chair and sat down at my desk. I took a sip of my strawberry banana smoothie and listened for Mr. Smith’s directions. He was roller-blading down the isle of island to his desk to get the worksheet. I was about to step off my island and Mr. Smith tripped over my foot. Oh no, I had lost my voice so I typed in my blue voice automated computer “I’m sorry”. He typed into his green computer “Watch where you’re going please”. I typed backed okay because I didn’t want to get sent to the Spiderman principal. I just knew that he would shoot me with a web and I would not be able to move or speak for a days.       

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 Isabella. I was born on December xx, 2003. My favorite activities are dancing and swimming at the beach. In my family I have 2 moms, 2 brothers, and 1 foster brother. A fun fact is that I am the oldest child in my family but the youngest child in the fifth grade at the Brooks School! We also have many family pets. My dogs are Harry and Sally, they are Cairn Terrier mixes. My cats are Kristin and Merry. My fish are Cupcake and Cutie.

My mom’s names are Laura and Paula. Paula works at Harvard University as the Chef Production Manager for the Graduate School and Laura works as a stay at home mother and professional photographer. My brothers are Brady and Jameson, and my foster brother is Carlos. Brady is the oldest he is 6 years old. He loves to do karate and just started kindergarten this year. Jameson is 2 years old and will be 3 in October. He loves all kinds of sports especially soccer. Carlos, my foster brother, is 3 years old and he loves basketball. I also love living so close to my grandparents in Medford. In fact, my Nana lives right across the street from the Brooks! My family and I like to travel during the summer. Every July we have a family vacation in Old Orchard Beach with thirty five of my family members. I love spending time away with all of my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle come from Jensen Beach, Florida. We like to do family activities like paddleboarding, going to the beach, eating at sushi restaurants and shopping.

A turning point in my life is a situation that is happening right now. We are a licensed foster home and like to help out children that need safe loving homes. My first foster brother Carlos is preparing to transition back to his mother after being with us for7 months, my whole family his going to miss him. We drove to Willamsburg, Virginia with him, we went Old Orchard Beach, Maine with him. He is a very sweet little boy, my favorite part about him is his big and soft hair whenever he is cuddling with me on the couch I just have to rub my hands through it! We will be very very sad when he leaves us to go back to his mother. We have grown so close to him and we will always consider him a part of our family. Carlos’ play buddy is Jameson. They are six weeks apart in age and they both love to watch Team Umizoomi and they both always have a lot of energy. Even though he is leaving us we hope to always keep in touch with him.