Fire on Cave Island, by Christian

Fire on Cave Island

"I believe what I see and I don't believe what I don't see." Billie Wind said this because she doesn't believe in animal gods, the giant serpent and the little people who steal stuff and live underground. In the book, The Talking Earth, by Jean Craighead George, Billie Wind is a Seminole Indian girl who lives in the Everglades in a village called Panther Paw. She's the only one in the whole village who doesn't believe all of those things. She gets punished by the elders for not believing and they ask her what she thinks her punishment should be. She says, "'I think I should go into the Pa-hay-okee, the Everglades, where the spirit dwells, and stay until I hear the animals talk, see the serpent, and meet the little people who live underground.'" (page 3) A new door opens for Billie Wind when she begins her adventure.

Cave Island was one of the most important parts of the story, especially when it got burned. In the book, Billie Wind got stuck in a cave about one or two weeks. She was lucky that she was safe from the fire. Billie Wind learns a lot on that island, especially in the cave that was full of tools that she could use. She learned that her ancestors lived there and she discovered that they dug a hole in the cave to get fish. Billie Wind says, "'Petang, you have told me how the fish got into the pit. When the glades dry up, the fish are not dead, as we've always assumed; they are down in the underground pools and rivers waiting for the rains to return and fill the pa-hay-okee so they can come back to the saw grass.'" (page 47) She also discovered one of the medicine bundles and decided not to take it. A lot of medicine bundles were missing, there's only three of them left, and there's already one in her village. Billie Wind also learned that the fire was the great serpent that her village was talking about. It is also a important to her that she uses her patience until the fire is out.

I chose this part because it really was exciting. I also like that part because she met a new animal friend, it was a river otter who she called Petang. Petang is the same meaning as river otter, but it's just Seminole Indian language. I also chose it because Billie Wind thought that she would die on that island. It was getting sad, a little. I also chose that part because Billie Wind's adventure would have been shorter if she didn't get stuck on that island. It is also one of my favorite parts of the whole story.

I also remembered some connections in that part of the story. One is when the island got burned. It reminded me when I was in the Philippines. On the other side of the street from where I lived, a house got burned. It made me feel scared and unhappy because the power was out for almost a day. I think Billie Wind felt scared just like me. It also reminded me when I got stuck in a basement for around 45 minutes. I was playing pool and the door was locked. It was like when Billie Wind got stuck on that island. I felt angry and trapped just like Billie Wind.

I hope that we could continue on the story. I learned a lot of things so far. I hope I could learn more things in that story. It was one of the best animal and traveling books I ever read. I really hope you’ll like it.

Christian, grade 5
June 2008

Gray Foxes

Gray Foxes

Gray foxes have gray fur with a little white on their ears and a little on their sides. They have a little black on their tails. They are as big as a dog and have bushy tails and ears like a cat. Baby gray foxes are cute.

Gray foxes live in caves and around forests. They like to live near trees and farms because they eat chickens. The dad watches the babies while the mom goes out to get food. Foxes eat hares, eggs, chickens and rabbits.

Gray foxes are the only foxes that climb trees. They climb trees to get away from predators like hunters. Owls, hawks, bobcats and eagles eat baby foxes.

The gray foxes in my picture are eating hares. The mom is back with two more hares for the babies because they're still hungry. The daddy is still watching them at home in their cave.

I like gray foxes because they can climb trees and cats can too. Gray foxes are soft and furry.

June 2008

Beaver Habitat by Kory

Beaver Habitat

There’s lots of different habitats and my favorite habitat is the beaver’s because they’re cool. I like how they make their dam and then they make their house. They have a lot of predators and one predator is a bear and in my little picture, a bear stole a beaver because it was hungry. If a predator is coming beavers quickly go under water and go in their lodge. They do cut down trees and this is how they make the pond. They cut trees down and then they use the branches and the wood to block off the water so the water that was going to go further down the stream all stops and makes a pond and that’s where they make their lodge.

Beavers have small ears and a back flat tail that is about one foot long. Their front feet are smaller than their back feet. Their back feet are webbed. Their body is about 3 feet long. Beavers can block their nose and when they close their eyes in the water they can still see through their eyelids. Their mouth is cool because they can eat in the water like this. Like you know how if we took a lip and we put it on the roof of our mouth and where our tongue is and some of our teeth would stick out. If they were not in the water then they could be endangered because all of the other animals would be eating them and eating them and they would hardly be alive.

Kory
June 2008

The Mommy Dinosaur Protects her Babies by Adilet

The Mommy Dinosaur Protects her Babies

T. Rex was trying to eat the apple tree and he sow something relly taste. It was Mommy’s dinosaur eggs. T. Rex loves to fight. He first he ate the apple tree but he can’t cros the volcano. He jumpit over the volcano and hes gonna fight now weth the mommy dinosaur. But he saw a beyoudeful brontosaurus dinosaur trying to be his girlfriend. The mommy dinosaur, T. Rex and the brontosaurus will fight. Three dinosaurs are engry and the mommy dinosaur rely engry. The mommy dinosaur kild thos two dinosaurs. She bit them on there legs and hede to. The egg crakt and mommy dinosaur brot the two ded dinosaurs and they had a good lunch time.

Adilet, grade 2
June 2008

A Carnivore Dinosaur and Herbivore Dinosaur, by Linh

A Carnivore Dinosaur and Herbivore Dinosaur

I tell you my story. One sunny day in North America in the forest, it is morning. There is a bird called Peteinosaurus flying. He looks like he has a little hair and has long wings with little sharp claws. T. Rex is drinking water. He is very big, and he has sharp claws and sharp teeth. And Panoplosaurus is drinking water too. He has eleven sharp spikes on his back. This dinosaur doesn’t have a big tail. T. Rex dad is waiting to T. Rex to finish drinking. Then another T. Rex attacks Diplodocus and he kills him. Blood comes out. T. Rex eats Diplodocus.

Linh, grade 2
June 2008

My Dinosaur Art Story, by Thomas

In my scene that I made, my art, the scene is a Spinosaurus battling with a Sauroctonus. Before they met, the Sauroctonus was drinking its fill, but not, however, as you might think he would drink -- like us. I imagine he had to scoop up the water and then swallow it because his mouth was a beak, sort of. Right when the Sauroctonus took its third gulp of water, the Spinosaurus did its deed. And here’s how: suddenly, the Spinosaurus dashed at the Sauroctonus. It wasn’t lucky enough, the Spinosaurus was too fast and locked his 66 teeth onto its victim’s neck. It only took a few seconds and it lay before him, dead. Finally, after one day of not being able to find prey, he could begin his feast.

The Spinosaurus’s habitat is sort of in the middle of the whole forest, because there most dinosaurs hide from predators. And the Spinosaurus was just about as big and as strong as the T. Rex. It had a big beak and daggerlike teeth, like shark teeth. It was pretty much a walker because most of its prey was not that fast. And it was a strong creature.

Why did I choose the Spinosaurus? Because it’s my favorite predator, except for the Velociraptor, of course. They’re both my favorite. All raptors are my favorite because they’re interesting. They had claws, and they were a type of bird. They were just an unusual predator.

But the prey that’s on there, I just made, and later I looked at all the dinosaurs in the book, and found the one that was most similar to the one I made. And it was the Sauroctonus.

Thanks for reading. But you should look at my friends’ pictures too, and you will learn some very interesting facts about dinosaurs.

The Therizinosaurus and the Gallimimus Friendship, by Cheickna

I make a dinosaur habitat and the dinosaur that I made is the Therizinosaurus and he is the king dinosaur for me. I’m going to tell you a little story about my art.

There was a beautiful sunny day and the Therizinosaurus was drinking water and two Gallimimus came for fighting him. And he doesn’t want to fight with them because he’s gentle but the little two said they want to fight. So he fight with them and the big one win.

The big one cry because he doesn’t want to fight the little two. He take care of them til when they were okay. And he told them that he apologize that he fight them.

The king dinosaur told them they could go eat something and drink water. So when they were done with talking, “Blah, blah, blah,” the king dinosaur told them goodbye and he go back where he lives to join his family. And he told the little two that he might see them later.

If you want to learn more about dinosaurs, you should look my other friends. They have some beautiful dinosaur habitat.

The Badlands

I chose this scene because this is the last place Sal’s mother visited before she died. This scene was important because they need to get to I-dee-ho for Sal’s mothers b-day in time. This part is also important because Sal’s mother sent a postcard from every place she visited and this scene is her last postcard before she died. “After driving for so long through the flat South Dakota prairie, it was a shock to come upon the Badlands. It was as if someone had ironed out all the rest of South Dakota and smooshed all the hills and valleys and rocks into this spot. Right smack in the middle of flat plains were jagged peaks and steep gorges. Above was the bright blue sky and below were the pink and purple and black rocks. You can stand right on the edge of the gorges and see down, down into the most treacherous ravines, lined with sharp, rough outcroppings.” (p. 143, Walk Two Moons)

Walk Two Moons Response
Grade 5

Sugar Maple Tree

I chose this scene because it reminds me when I was sitting in a tree and I saw a bird nest but I did not grab it because it was way at the top that I tried to get it, but the branch is too thick that the branch can snap. And I chose that scene because it was cool and it is one of the sad parts. And that part was a chapter of the Singing Tree when Sal was thinking about her mom and Sal was worried.

Walk Two Moons Response
Grade 5

Disco Party
Once there was a clan of cats who lived in the forest. They were bored and tired and restless. The queen was eventually pregnant and gave birth to five kits. One of them was the strangest, funniest and funnest kit of all. His name was Discokit. He looked mostly like the yin and yang sign, but he didn’t have those two dots. He was black and white and when he was happy, he got up on his two legs and used his disco paw to dance.
One morning, he went out to the woods to explore. By mistake, he stayed there all night. It was a rainy and thundery night. Poor Discokit caught a cold and was lost in the middle of the forest. He ventured far and met a monkey and a king cobra. They helped him get out of the woods and find his clan. Everybody welcomed Discokit back.
But then they were still bored, and they had no clue what to do. One night, the queen called them to have a meeting about why they were bored. Dappledkit suggested a party, and everyone agreed. And then Discokit’s dad, Scarpelt, remembered that Discokit had found a shiny and glittery ball and two machines. Scarpelt figured out how to use the machines by watching the two-legs do it. He found out that they could make music. Then Discokit had an idea that the glittery ball could be hung in a tree to make lots of lights, tiny as stars.
Discokit said, "Well, we should have some breakdancing kits". So they took a rotten log and put moss on it for the four kits to break dance on.
They had so much fun! Everybody danced, sang, talked and ate. All of the other clans and all their enemies were wondering what on earth they were doing. Discokit decided to invite all the other clans to the next party so that they would all be friends and there would be peace in the forest.

Grade 5

The Eagle and the Dragon

The Dragon and the Eagle

Once upon a time there was a dragon in a cave and he had friends and a house. There were two girls, one boy and their grandma. One of the girls was called Sarah Emily and the other one was called Emily. And the boy was called Zachary. They three kids played around a lot. They liked to play games like Monopoly, Candyland and Sorry.
One day, a young boy eagle came, saying, “I am far away from home, and my mom is all the way, all the way across the ocean. I have no food and no water to drink.”
So the kids and the dragon looked for food and for water. They found some crackers and some water and a tiny bit of popcorn seeds at their house. They fed the eagle but his wing was hurt when he crash landed into the grass by mistake. All the children and the dragon helped the eagle with his wing and he was all better.
But the eagle said, “Can I please stay for some days?”
“Of course,” the kids said. And the eagle played with the dragon and the kids. They had so much fun, the eagle decided to stay for a year.
Then his mom came and his mom said, “Well, looks like you made some new friends Are you ready to come home now?”
And the eagle said, “No, no, I want to stay here.”
“You can stay,” said his mom, “but someday you have to visit me.”
And they all lived happily ever after.

Grade 1

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

It here grass and house. There looks like the river and sun and bird flying. This is my flag. I like Kazakhstan. I have Kazakhstan one house, seven sheeps, one dog, one puppy and sixty my chicken. Every day more, more egg. One hundred egg!
Ali and Anarbik my friends in Kazakhstan. Anarbik is crying. Anarbik throw rock for Ali and Anarbik go home before Ali throw one for Ali a rock.

Grade 2
12/14/07

kindergarten thoughts

I’m making a house. The house all the people eating inside. People that’s eating at the house. They are eating fish and some noodles. My grandma and my grandpa and my mama and my daddy and the daughter.

*****

It’s in the summer. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky at V’s house. The other house has different people and the Pokemon came out. And then Pikachu’s friend Piplup came out and Charmander and all the Pokemon. They all came out and they were playing all together. They pushed a big rock.

*****

Pikachu and Piplup there’s a friends and Ditto came and these are playing around. They’s just playing. And he’s a picking up the rock and he throw in the tree. And Ditto said, “What happened?” And Piplup said, “I got mad.” And they talk other and they go home and Ditto come and said, “Where’s Piplup and Pikachu?” And he can’t find them. He called ‘em and Pikachu and Piplup pick up the phone and they talk other and say, “Where are you?” “At home,” they said.

*****

The butterfly in the mountain and there’s a rainbow inside the mountain and there’s a cave with footprints outside. Nobody know who’s footprint was that. But they knew it was gonna snow. And that’s all.

Rescue of the Princess

The Rescue of the Princess

Once upon a time, there was a castle and it had a big, big stained glass window. And there was some crocodiles on the water. There was a princess, a prince, a king and a queen and they lived in the castle. The princess was named Misty and she liked jewelry and candy and ice cream. She liked to design t-shirts, skirts, pants and all kinds of clothing. Misty liked to smell flowers because that’s what princesses like to do. She also liked to play ball with her brother.
But one day, a dragon called Seeta came over and took the princess away from the king and the queen and the prince. Seeta was also named the Beast of the East. Seeta brought Misty to her cave and gobbled the princess up without chewing her. Misty was terrified Inside the dragon’s belly, she could see meat and rocks. Suddenly somebody spoke to her.
“Hi, your majesty.”
“Who are you?” Misty replied.
“I am a warrior of yours and I have been trapped inside here for almost a year, eating all this meat. Seeta never chews her dinner.”
“What’s your name?” Misty asked.
“My name is Sir Lancelot.”
Meanwhile, Seeta went back to the castle and took the prince, Ash. Since Ash had a sword, while he was getting swallowed up, he stabbed the sword into Seeta’s neck and ripped open her stomach. He saved the princess and Sir Lancelot!
The princess, the prince and Sir Lancelot went back to the castle and lived happily ever after.

Grade 3
12/10/07

A Chinese House

A Chinese House

I saw a Chinese house. I knocked on the door. There was a king inside. There were two gods blocking the door. The king just took out his fans, he has 8 of them. He taught me how to get a dragon out of the Chinese cloud. I tried but I didn’t do it. Then the king did it by himself and out came a dragon from a cloud. He gave the dragon some food and he put some in my hand. So, I gave it to the dragon. Then the king taught the dragon to blow fire out of his mouth.

Grade 2

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I made this picture because I think this would fit to a book that I read called, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. It’s about a boy that is trying to fix a machine that his father had discovered in an attic by an old museum. Eventually, the museum burned down and Hugo’s father died in the fire because he was in the museum at the time and the old guard had forgot that he was in there and locked the door. Hugo is raised by his uncle, but once his uncle didn’t come back and he decided he wanted to escape. Hugo was running outside and he found the machine that his father was trying to fix. Then, he took it to the train station, where he was living, and he tried to fix it. And the clock, I drew that because it fits to the book because it involves lots of clocks. The boy secretly fixes the clocks at the train station.

I like this book because it shows a lot about Paris and they speak a couple of French words like “croissant”. Then they have all these kind of mysterious stuff. The other thing that is interesting about the book is that there’s two parts and they’re each divided in 12 chapters like 24 hours. You never know what happens next in the story. It’s very mysterious. In every chapter more and more characters come. And I really had a pleasure reading it with my tutor Connie.

Grade 4

Be free to express your culture!

OUR WORLD

We did the picture of the world because in this party there is going to be people of the world with different cultures and different backgrounds. There are seven continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, North America, Australia and Antartica.

Today we are here to celebrate our culture and to have fun getting to know other cultures.

Be free to
express your
culture !
Grade 6

Mystery Animal, by Philip

Vermont Animals - Mystery Animal...

By Philip

Can you guess what animal I am describing? It is cute, clever, part dog, different colors and can do cat stuff. If you’re thinking it’s a red fox, you’re right! I’m going to tell you about red foxes: where they live, what they eat, how they hunt, and other stuff.

Red foxes eat rabbits, voles, mice, rodents, snails, insects and eggs. A red fox is silent when it’s hunting its prey. Then it jumps, grabs its prey with its claws so it wouldn’t go away, and then kills them with its teeth. Red foxes are clever and they can trick their prey.

Foxes are in lots of stories. They are usually tricky and clever. Like if they were trying to catch a mouse and it couldn’t swim, the fox could say he could swim for him and the mouse would jump on his back. And the fox would jump and open his mouth and eat the mouse whole.

The female red fox, or vixen, chooses the strongest male, or dog fox, because if it has a baby the baby will become strong. The dog fox and the vixen will stay together forever if they get married. Litter is the name for all the cubs in a family. A baby fox, or cub, cannot see or hear for ten days after it’s born. When the cub is one-year-old, it’s strong enough to leave its den, or hole. Foxes go away so quickly from their parents!

Red Foxes’ habitats are in woodlands, hay fields, brushy areas, meadows and parks. A red fox borrows another animal’s home under the ground, like a badger if it died, because fox aren’t good at digging.

Thank you for reading this. I hope you had fun. I hope you like what I wrote and what I taught you about red foxes. Before I end this report, I want to tell you what I would like to do if I were a red fox. I would swim, jump, run and enjoy having a fox’s life.

Deer, by Melodi

Vermont Animals - Deer

By Melodi

One day, I was in my car and I saw two deer, and they were looking at me really strange. They had really big ears and a lot of spots. And then they ran away. But the funny thing was, when my dad stopped, we had some things in my car, where I was sitting, and when he stopped, all those things fell down!

Anyways, I’m Melodi and I’m learning a lot about deer because they’re my favorite animal. I think that the deer I saw were fawns because they had spots. Do you know what fawns are? They are baby deer. A mother deer is called a doe, and a father deer is called a buck. I learned it from my book, and you could do it too.

Did you know when bucks are young they have really little antlers coming out? And then when they are one or two years old, the antlers grow bigger. Bucks’ antlers grow in spring, and fall off in winter. Isn’t that amazing? And the antlers get eaten by rodents. When the antlers are small, they’re really soft because they have velvet on them. When the velvet comes off it looks bloody, but actually it’s not bloody. Inside the velvet is red. Do you know how bucks get the velvet off the antlers? They only rub it off on the bark of trees.

Another cool thing about deer is their footprints. When they walk, their footprints look like hearts. And when they run, the heart shape opens, and you can see their little toes that look like your fingernail. Deer have four toes. Two are really small and two of them are big. Deer have hooves that are so sharp, that if a wolf is attacking them, they can kick him and hurt him with the sharp part of their hooves.