Once upon a time, there was a forest. A forest filed with bears. These bears have daily routines and lived in a large area of caves. A bear family has just moved  into the forest and rented a cave in the “Rip Carlton” Hotel. The family: daddy bear, mommy bear, brother bear, sister bear and baby bear were all very happy after spending 3 days crossing the Bearlantic Ocean on the cruise. They were very satisfied with their new home.

They had a television set with the channel “Huntelodeon”. They also had fish-scale sofas and a kitchen with a large table. They moved all of their food into their refrigerator: salmon, wild berries and their favorite snack, honey.  Honey is very rare for bears to get or find as they would have to face off the aggressive bees. They even kept meat-sickles in their compact freezer. Daddy bear worked all night, mommy bear just knitted small warm jumpers, baby bear just read his little picture books while brother bear and sister bear watched the new movies, such as “Iron Bear 3″.

But one day, while they were shopping at the Grand Bear Mall, a small human girl named Goldilocks came to their house (bears never kept locks). She was 9 years old and was very hungry and tired as she wandered to the the bear family’s house. She crept in the house, and looked for something to eat. She tried some raw salmon. Cough! She spat it out in disgust (she wasn’t used to raw food). Then she tried some wild berries. Munch! They tasted better than the raw salmon, but a bit too sour. Then she came over to the honey. Yum! She ate all of it as she was unable to resist the delightful aroma of the honey. After eating a whole jar of honey, she came to the living room to watch TV. She came to the TV set and turned it on, but she wanted to watch “Nickelodeon” instead of “Huntelodeon”. Soon, she messed up the remote control and the TV blacked out.

Her energy has been restored after eating the honey, and now she wants to find a bed and start bouncing on it like a trampoline (like how she messes up her brother’s bed). She started bouncing on all of the beds. Daddy Bear’s bed was very hard and each jump caused it to rumble. Then Goldilocks came to mommy bear’s bed but it was too soft to bounce on. Then she tried the 3 sibling’s triple-deck bed, which was just tight. Goldilocks jumped everywhere , until the bed broke. At the same moment, the bear family came home. They spotted Goldilocks and ran to her. Brother Bear, Sister Bear and Baby Bear asked her joyfully: “Do you want to be our friend” (not noticing the chaos shes done). But Goldilocks was too scared to hear or speak. She instantly ran away.

The bears were very sad after that, as they thought Goldilocks denied their friend request. Ever since then, they’ve never interacted with a human being, as they think all humans are “mean” like Goldilocks.

One day, in the cold winter of Canada, a large fishing trawler came to dock at the seaside. It had a large catch after 2 wees out in the pacific; Herring, cod, mullet…You name it. But while the fish were being loaded onto a large truck, a small cod named Cody jumped onto the ground. Gasping for breath, Cody the cod began wriggling, trying to plop back into the sea. He got closer and closer and yes! He was about to jump into the sea, but suddenly, he began floating in the air. He was flying!

Oh no! It was a large man that picked Cody up. Was he going to eat him? Luckily, the man was the owner  of a fish pet shop called “Ocean Motion”. He led Cody to a large tank. Plop! Cody was relieved to see start swimming again after 2 weeks in a gruesome  trawler. Days passed. Cody was given shellfish and fish food for meals, and he even met a few friends: Pascal the parrot fish, Millie the mullet and Bob the bat fish.

But soon, a women and a boy came to the store. The woman was Mrs.Beckett and the boy was called George Beckett. They were looking for a fish to fill up their empty fish tank at home. They came over to Pascal the parrot fish. “Too big” they said. Then they came to Millie the mullet. “Too small” they said. They came over to Bob the bat fish, who didn’t want to get sold and started head-butting the tank. “Too aggressive” the two Becketts remarked. Finally, they came over to Cody. “I just love cod! This one’s just right!” The mother and son commented.

Before he knew it, Cody found himself in a medium sized tank. Wow, this tank sure must be old  Cody thought as dust covered all sides of the glass. Mrs. Beckett  cleared the dust as she and George surveyed Cody. George was 9, but still acted like a baby. Whenever his mom didn’t let him play the computer, he would throw a big tantrum. Adding insult to this, Georges older sister Kathy would turn on loud heavy metal music when ever she gets home. After a few weeks, Cody decided he could take it no more.

One Saturday morning, while all of the Becketts were all asleep, Cody spotted a good opportunity for his escape.  George had left his skateboard right beside Cody’s tank (which had an open top). Cody decided it should be an ideal getaway vehicle. In a flash, Cody leapt out of the water-onto the skateboard (looks like his acrobatics lessons all paid off). The skateboard zoomed through a gap in the door. It was a bumpy ride, and Cody continued down the city road on the board. He struggled to evade the obstacles and people, and did a decent job, He finally finally lost control of the board and expected to slam into a shop or wall, but instead plop! He fell into the sea with the skateboard. He was home!  Later on, he made an exhibit of the skateboard that saved him. He also wrote a book based on his adventure called “The Adventure Of Cody The Cod”. He soon became famous and a very well known cod in fish history for his encounter and escape from human beings.

By, Cody the Cod

PS. George was really sad and confused when he found his cod and best skateboard missing when he woke up

Cheetahs are the fastest land animals on Earth. They can sprint 110km/h at top speed. But did you ever think about why they were called Cheetahs? And did you know they were one of the slowest animals when they first existed? The story goes like this:

One sunny day, the animals of the jungle held a race. The king of the forest, the Lion was racing too. He announced: “whoever wins this race shall be declared the fastest animal of all. Many other animals were racing too: The Boa, the Giraffe, the Elephant  (other animals from other places also took part because they wanted a better reputation), the Mouse and lastly the first ancestor of the cheetah.

This cheetah was called “Speedster”, which was ironic as he was as slow as a worm but was as wise as an owl. He decided that if he wanted to  win this race,  he would need to use his mass amount of knowledge to ace it.

The race was about to begin, and Speedster lined up with the others. The starting gun fired: BANG! They’re off! They started whizzing past each other. The Elephant was in the lead, but Speedster had made a good plan. Earlier, he hung up piece of cloth soaked in pepper. When the elephant reached the pepper area, he veered into a pond as the pepper blinded him. PLUNK! He fell into the water. There were 5 remaining racers left.

Finally, the little agile mouse scattered to the lead and was soon out of sight. Once again, Speedster was ready for it. Earlier, he lay a piece of of rich Parmesan cheese on a plate near where the mouse was. The mouse got attracted to the cheese and he soon ditched the race. Why bother racing? He didn’t even have breakfast anyways.

That leaves 4 remaining racers. The flexible python slithered to the front. Speedster didn’t care, as he had another trick up his sleeve. He took a bird whistle and blew into it. A large predatory bird dived down and struck the python. The python was then airborne- in the bird’s beak of course. He had no chance of winning, especially when he was going to be a bird’s lunch.

That left 3 racers- Speedster,  the Lion and the Giraffe. Speedster read a lot about giraffes before knew their weakness in racing: their height. Part of their route is through an area full of vines and plants. Before he knew it, the giraffe became a tangled mess.

Finally, it was the last 2 racers: Speedster and the lion king. The lion king was probably half a mile in front of him, but Speedster heard some rumbling in the bushes. A hunter! He quickly ducked behind a tree and remained unseen by the hunters. Sadly, the lion wasn’t as fortunate and soon fell in a trap. That left Speedster as the last racer (and the champion). He was given a trophy, but many animals have spread rumors about how he cheated in the race. His species was soon known cheetahs (redirected from “Cheater”). But other cheetahs wanted a better reputation and they exercised day and night, truthfully becoming one of the fastest land animals to the present day,

Hello fellow readers,

Its been quite a while since I posted last. In this post, I’ve put in in a voice recording to show my understandings about how to simplify fractions and to show my teacher Ms.Kinsinger that I’ve completed an assignment. I hope you all enjoy my recording and for younger students and children who haven’t learned simplifying fractions, I hope this would help you guys remember how to do it in the future.

Recording:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Very Brief Script:

One way to simplify fractions:

Find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numerator and denominator. In order to do this, you need to come up with

a list of common factors of the numerator and denominator. Then, view the list

Find the largest number that appears in both lists. That is the GCF.

Example:  4/12

List of factors of 4= 1,2,4

List of factors of 12= 1,2,3,4,6,12

4 is the largest number that appears in both lists. Thus, 4 is the greatest common factor.

After that, divide the numerator and denominator both with 4, so the fractions become 1/3. 1/3 is the simplest form of 4/12.

2nd example: 3/27

List of factors of 3= 1,3

List of factors of 27=1,3,9,27

3 is the largest number that appears in both lists, thus it is the GCF of  3.After finding the GCF, you simplify it, making it 1/9

3rd example: 4/8

List of factors of 4= 1,2,4

List of factors of 8= 1,2,4,8

4 is the largest number in both of the lists, thus the GCF is 4. Then, after simplifying the fraction you get 1/2.

What does sportsmanship mean to you/look like to you? Give some examples.

Sportsmanship is when you play a sport by following the rules of it. Cheating is not an example of sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is also when you are positive to your teammates even when they fail to complete something or miss a shot. In that case instead of saying “come on Bob that was terrible”, you can encourage him and say “nice try Bob!” or something that doesn’t hurt anyones feelings.

Why is it important to follow the rules of a game?

Following the rules of a game is really important. You can learn more about a game by actually understanding the rules and concepts. Also, following the rules of a game allows you to get better at a sport and actually play a sport because if you don’t play by the rules of a game properly, you might get disqualified. I have some personal experience on this matter because in basketball and football matches I’ve played before, they have specific rules and you aren’t allowed to know people over or it might be a foul. In handball, you can’t have contact, and if you have contact it would be a hand over so the other team would have the ball which isn’t a good thing.

Why are good team strategies important to success in team games? Give examples of strategies for team handball?  How would you create and/or deny space in team handball?

Strategies are crucial in many team sports. They allow players the ability to outsmart enemy players and go for the game objective. Some good strategies in team games and handball can be passing consistently to your team mates because it would be harder for the other team players to intercept the ball. Some good shooting strategies are faking shots at a goalie so when the goalie moves to the direction you faked shooting, you would have a clear shot at the goal. In team handball, we can create space by moving into open areas so receiving passes would be easier. We can also deny space by marking an open player or the ball handler so it would be harder for them to maneuver and the ball handler would have a chance of a 3-second over time.

What is a strategy you/your team used in “Capture the Flag” to be more successful?

An effective strategy my team used in capture the flag was sending a decoy striker and a real striker after the decoy draws the opponent defenders away. The decoy takes away most of the enemy defenders, leaving the real striker a clear shot for the flag. I find this a really common strategy as many teams use it, but it is very effective.

Describe why having strong skills helps your team be more successful? Give some examples of skills with a specific team sport in mind.

Having strong skills are important because they allow you to be more advanced in game techniques, which allows you to be a hard player to beat. There are many different skills in different sports. Some examples are: In soccer, you need to be flexible and alert to be a goalie and block shots taken by your opponents. In basketball, you need to have dribbling skills to make it harder for opponents to steal your ball away.

Why does a team that is very physically fit have an advantage over a team that is not fit?

The team that is physically fit has an advantage because their players can be more agile and strong, and have more sporting skills. They would also have a higher chance of winning because they should be able to intercept balls away from their opponents and cooperate well.

This week, I’ve just come back from grade 6 camp. We went to Zhaoqing, mainland China because our teachers wanted us to learn more about Zhaoqing’s culture, delicacies and to develop our independence. Right when I reached Zhaoqing, I knew this camp would gobsmacking! With the high mountains and the clear blue lakes. it was as beautiful as an art piece by Michelangelo. At school, we were sorted into colour groups that were lead by one grade 6 teacher. I was sorted into the blue group which was led by my Chinese teacher Ms.Huang. We’ve been at camp for three full days, and it will be a very precious and relaxing memory.

At camp, we’ve done many fun activities: ink stone carving, bamboo paper making, Chinese painting, catapult building and cable-walking above a river. I am going to talk about the catapult building first, and it was a great chance to test our creativity and calculations. We went to a very big piece of land, which had a tile roof supported by four thin struts, allowing us to see our sorroundings and be sheltered from the spluttering rain. We were sent into three groups and we were told to build a catapult using seven pieces of bamboo and six pieces of rope. We were given 20 minutes to build it, with some help from the Dragonfly instructors. All the groups built them differently and my catapult had a tripod. It was tied together strongly and we started to launch them into action. A Dragonfly instructor narrated: “We are at war, and the Mongols have come to invade. Genghis Khan has come, sword in hand. We shall use our catapults to defend our land.” We all readied our catapults and lunged the launcher forward, shooting a water balloon at Jason, a Dragonfly instructor who acted as Genghis Khan.  We also shot at some friends who were picked as the invading Mongols. Water balloons flew everywhere. After the madness, it was even madder! We started a civil war with the other catapults and we shot at each other. But near the end of the fight, our catapult broke down and the loaded water balloon flew into the air – and landed on my fellow teammates head, who of course got wet. Soon, it was over and we returned to our camping grounds in Nine Dragon Resort.

Another thing I’m going to write about is the ink stone carving. For the ink stone carving, we went to a gaunt shed pretty far away from where we were camping. We listened to a local instructor, who showed us the ink stone and the carving tool.  He demonstrated how to use the tool safely and to carve deeply. We started on our rocks, and it was already shaped into the form of an ink holder. We sat down and started to carve. It was fun to scrape along the rock and make different designs, and on the main side of the stone I tried my best to imitate the puma in the “Puma” branded shoes. I also wrote my Chinese name in a small font and put small stars on the rim of the stone. On the ink face (where you put the ink), I wrote “Be Lucky Forever” in Chinese, since I ran out of some good ideas to put there. Most of us finished earlier than the deadline, and we played some games with each other. After everyone finished, we headed to Dynasty restaurant for lunch, where we had yummy pizzas, spaghetti and fried rice.

Camp was an amazing experience and I learnt many new things, such as the games “Ninja” and “007″.  Also, I learnt to never give up and to feel free to try out new things, as I have done so at camp. In various activities, we showed leadership, cooperation and communication which will help us on our social skills. Everyone worked well, and when conflicts happened, we resolved them as a group. Camp was a memory that can’t be explained in just a few paragraphs. I miss all the Dragonfly instructors a lot, and I hope next years camp would be just as good.

Howdy! It’s been some time since I posted a real post about what happened about school. I had my 3-way learning review with my mom and my homeroom teacher Ms.Kinsinger yesterday at school. In the 3-way learning review, we have a conversation about how we think of what I’ve done so far this year and to talk about my goals.

We were warmly welcomed by Ms.Kinsinger into the classroom. I sat down at my desk and Ms.K started asking me about my strengths in class. I said I was very good at math and I used creativity in many different forms, like films and design. After a couple of more questions, we came over to my 3 goals. I talked about each one, each coming with 2 strategies to help me achieve the specific goal. For my first goal (organization), my strategies were to buy an accordion folder so I can be both organized and unable to be loose any work. My second strategy for this goal is to check my desk and locker in an effective routine to make sure they are organized. For my second goal (planning before doing the real thing), my strategies are to make drafts and graphs to plan out a task before making a final copy, as it can completely change the quality of it. Last but not least, for my last goal (to be most productive in work), my strategies are to find a place where I am most productive (which I recently found out: my good ol’ desk) and to give myself small objectives to complete in the time given so I complete my task on time.

So, after explaining my goals, it was Ms.K’s turn to speak. She said I did well at school and she added into my second goal about planning before making a good copy. She said that before writing a reflection you can put in impothat is planned has a great difference of quality than that of a reflection without a plan. After Ms.K, it was my mum’s turn. She said my weaknesses includedrtant points and notes so you won’t forget them in your final copy of the reflection. Also, she agreed with me that a reflection  planning and self-control. She says I sometimes choose a wrong choice, which ends up in bad quality and wasted time. She also says that I am tempted to use the computer each time. Ms.K said it is normal for me, as I try to develop it now.

The 3-way learning review was a precious chance where I get to know many of my strengths and weaknesses from my mum, teacher and myself. I am determined to use my strategies to achieve my goal as soon as possible. I am also determined to beat my weaknesses (self-control, work quality). This way, I can be a more-descent person.

This week, I read a book called Peter Pan. Peter Pan is a fantasy tale written by J.M Barrie. This book stars three siblings: Wendy, John and Michael, who dream of a boy named Peter Pan and a place called Wonderland. They shared their dreams with their parents, who said it was a “bunch of baloney”. But one night, Peter Pan and his fairy friend Tinker Bell fly to the children’s bedside and takes them on a terrific journey to Wonderland. There, they meet the Lost Boys, the Redskin tribe and the vicious pirates led by fearful Captain James Hook.

There, Wendy, John and Michael learn about the Lost Boys and nature of Neverland. After having his hand bitten off by a crocodile because of Peter, Captain Hook seeks revenge on Peter by trying to capture him and the other Lost Boys. But then, Peter saves Princess Tiger Lily of the Redskin tribe, who in return protects Peter from Hook’s pirates. One day, Wendy talks to all the lost boys and tells them about the love and care a mother gives to her child. She also says that everyone has a mother somewhere, with leads all the lost boys into curiosity. Peter hates speaking about mothers (because he abandoned his own to live young forever in Neverland). The Lost Boys soon take Wendy as their “mother” to look after them.

But not later on, the Redskin tribe is secretly ambushed by the pirates, who massacre nearly the whole tribe. The pirates then make their way to Peter’s hideout, but Peter is ready for them and attacks the pirate crew. After defeating everyone besides hook, Peter encounters Hook at a final showdown. A couple minutes later-”Gulp!” Hook is kicked overboard into a waiting crocodile’s mouth.

Thus was the end of poor Cpt. Hook.

In this book, I learnt two main learning points. I learnt not to be too greedy, or sometimes things might not work out as you wanted it to happen. Also, it is always good to have a backup plan when organizing something just in case it goes wrong.

Today is the second  day of our Young American workshop. The same Young American group came over to the LLAC to start the workshop once again, and I even managed to know some of their names. At first, we did some improv practice that was really fun and dramatic. Everybody was sorted into groups of 6-10 and we focused on six fun activities. The first one was where we  were supposed to count to 20 with each person only saying one number once with no one else saying it at the same time. This was really hard, and after a lot of tries we finally succeeded. In the second activity, we were supposed to clap to each other at the same time  using eye contact. After several tries, we aced it completely. The 3rd activity was interesting and we had to connect to each other one by one and move. Then, we add sound effects by making sounds. In the end, using our movement and sounds, we create a machine and let the other groups guess what kind of machine we are making, We made a pizza machine, which is pretty weird.

Then we did some more related activities until it was break time. Once again, we went up to the Leo Lee Arts Centre to have a snack and come back down. Afterwards, we learned some more songs and we came back to out finale act. we reviewed the act and movement of the finale, and after reviewing it we learnt the rest of the finale. As our Young American instructors taught us the dialogue and actions, we did it with them. The last part if the finale was pretty fun, with singing and watching fake sports played by Young Americans Bill and Buddy. Then there was a fake birthday party and we surprised the audience. In the very end, we took a bow and closed the act.

We rehearsed some parts of the finale again and again, and in out last practice we did a fantastic job. I also danced and sang freely and listened to what we were told to do. I did a great job today. I hope I can get a big sleep for the grand finale tomorrow! Taking part in the Young Americans workshop inspired me to become an actor or designer. The Young Americans will leave the day after tomorrow for the US. I am sure to miss them! This will be a very deep and happy memory in my life.

By: A.J Butcher

This week, I read the first book of the Spy High series. This book is called The Frankenstein Factory. It stars the Bond Team with its 6 teen spies: Ben, Lori, Eddie, Cally, Jake and Jennifer. In this episode, they are sent to pass through their first term at Deveraux College (Spy High). They have failed all previous tests and if they fail the last one, they would have their minds erased and sent back to the normal society.

This is their last task and yet it is very dangerous. With no weapons, Bond Team have to focus on their cooperation and abilities to survive and save their cause. Amid the dangers, mutilated man-reptiles ambush them, ransacking them and stealing their communicators. Unable to contact Spy High, they continue on their own. They meet mysterious Dr. Averill, who secretly drugs them to sleep. When Bond Team wakes up, they find theirselves in a factory filled with guards and mutilated frankensteins! They find out that Dr. Averill (last name actually Frankenstein) has planned to mutilate every single human on the planet into mutilated zombies. He plans to use three of Bond Team’s teammmates  as examples and their teammates try to save them. Soon, they find a missing graduate spy=William Challis, who is infested  as a mutant. Finally, Will and some of his mutant comrades fight off the other mutants alongside the remainder of Bond Team. Will dies, but Bond Team rescues their captured teammates. They destroy everything in Averill’s lab, and the communication signals between Dr. Averill and his mutants are broken. Alas, Dr. Averill is slaughtered by his own pets. Since the world is saved, Bond Team aces the final task and continues their their spy work at Spy High.

-Do not easily trust people when you don’t know much about them. They might lead you into wrong descisions in life.

-Never be un-confident  every time. The more confidence you have, the bigger chance you have of succeeding.