Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Old Yeller: A Loyal Dog

By Tux

The title of the book that I read was OLD YELLER by Fred Gipson. It happened during the time of the cowboys. In late 1800’s after Civil War, it took place in Texas at the time when Travis' father had to go and make money for the family. He made Travis in charge of the family.
The character in this story is Travis a 14 year old boy who acted like his father and a bit rough to Arliss, his younger bratty brother. Travis lives with his Mom who sure is good in cooking. Another character was a dog that saved the family’s life, Old Yeller, a dog who knows to handle about everything like cows, hogs, especially bears.

The story began when the father of Travis told him that he will be taking charge of the family while he is gone from home for a long time. Travis took care of the family, just like how his father did it and he even acted like his own father. Then, Travis ended up finding a dog eating the family’s meat. Day after day, Travis is starting to find out that the dog could be a good use for the family. They called the dog, Old Yeller. Most of the time, Travis did not like the dog because he hates his behavior and the dog would yell all the time like as if someone was going to kill him. Then Arliss would come to save the day and throw rocks at Travis.

I think the best part of the story was when Travis was saved by Old Yeller from a bear and Yeller was now part of the family. The saddest part of the story was when Old Yeller was bitten by a hydrophobia infected wolf that Travis had to shoot him. But he was sad because Old Yeller was his most favorite dog. Travis would never forget him.

The book showed love and care to something that was of great use to them. I think the book is GREAT because it shows how to be responsible and that making tough decisions in life can make you a grown man.

Drawing Eduardo's Story

By Matthew

The book that I read was "Adventures of a Child of War" by Lin Acacio-Flores. I made four drawings about some of the scenes in the book. I hope you like them...

Drawing #1: In World War II, Eduardo is wearing these shoes because his mother has to cut the front part of it. His mother has to cut his old shoes because he is growing bigger and his shoes did not fit him anymore. Eduardo cannot buy new shoes because there are no shoes for sale during the war.

Drawing #2: One night, every one was carrying sack of rice one by one. They got the rice confiscated by the Japanese Army. They made the Japanese guard drunk so that they can get the rice from the bodega. Eduardo’s father was also carrying two sacks of rice. The others were also carrying more of those because they needed to eat. In the picture, Eduardo was carrying half a sack of rice. But he did not know that the rice was spilling. When he got home, his mother told him that the rice was spilling to the ground. He used the broom to sweep off the rice. If not, the Japanese will follow the line of rice to his house and they will know that they got the rice from the bodega.

Drawing #3: Japanese soldiers jumping out of the jeep while the other one was holding a flag and said BANZAI! The Japanese soldiers were wearing boots, trousers, and hats with cloth to shield their ears from the sun. Their rifles have knives at the front. They use the knives to kill.

Drawing #4: Japanese aircrafts bombing the whole town while Eduardo and his papa were watching a scene of the bombing. The airplanes have a design of the Japanese flags—which is a red circle that symbolizes the rising sun. When the bombs dropped, they exploded and the town was destroyed and houses were on fire.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Different Ballet Styles

By Sam A.

There are a lot of ballet styles from different countries in the whole world, but instead of mentioning all I would only mention 3. These are coming from United States, France and Russia.

The first ballet style is from the Unites States. Its characteristics are energetic, fast and rapid but graceful.

On the other hand, the ballet style from France is pretty and decorative. They also have amazing steps.
Last but not the least, the ballet style from Russia is forceful and showy. They have strong dancers. They also adopt foreign styles.

From the three different ballet styles, I choose the Russian's because it's so nice to have forceful and showy dancers. Russians also have nice hands and body figures. That's why i choose Russia's ballet dance style.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Living During the War

By Matthew
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There are five things that I learned about living during World War II. First, the Japanese aircrafts bombed the country. So many people died. Second, the Japanese army was getting food like pigs and chicken, rice, and vegetables. They get the food because they had to feed themselves. The Filipinos managed to get food by getting vegetables from their garden such as camote leaves and katuray flowers. In order to make rice last longer, they cook lugaw instead of steamed rice. Third, the Japanese army captured the big houses of the rich Filipinos. It is because the Japanese soldiers can make it into their barracks. The owners of the houses went out into the streets. Fourth, the Japanese soldiers did not allow the Filipinos to have meetings. For example, if one person was talking to his neighbor, they will get caught. The Japanese did not like them to talk because they might be talking about a plan to fight back. Finally, the Japanese army took control of the gasoline stations because they had to refuel their trucks, tanks, and airplanes. The Filipinos had to walk or ride the bikes because there was no fuel for the cars. The Filipinos needed candles and kerosene lamps to light up their houses because there was no electricity.
I think the life during the war was sad and really hard. I think that war will be game over. It means like no more war anymore. I don’t want war to happen again because I don’t want to die. But if war happens, I will fight back.