Jaelyn's Creative Writing Squid Assignment

Jaelyn's life science class was assigned a project based on a passage from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea where Jules Verne exaggerates seeing a cuttlefish.  Jaelyn was assigned the giant squid.    This was a collaborative effort.  She's much better at writing non-fiction reports than creative fiction.

The Giant Squid by Jaelyn

I am going to the deep, dark Hatteras Plains in my bright, yellow submarine to find an elusive Block-Nosed Giraffe Fish. I am so deep in the North Atlantic Ocean that all I see is a foot in front of my submarine light. Then, I spot a glow coming towards me. As it heads closer it’s blinding me like a solar beam from the sun. I am getting more scared. This thing looks like a giant squid on MEGA steroids. It’s the size of a battle ship. I see eyes the size of a hot air balloon staring into me like black holes from outer space. The next thing I know there are thirty tentacles all over my submarine. The suckers are the size of dinner plates with hundreds of daggers on each one puncturing holes in my submarine. Ink mixed with the frigid, salty water is slowly spilling in. It is suddenly pitch black and silent like time has been paused and then I hear a crushing metal noise as his giant beak snaps down like two iron anvils tearing my submarine in half. I take my last breath of air thinking “and I never even saw a Block-Nosed Giraffe Fish.”

Exaggerated	Unexaggerated
Glowing light as bright as a solar beam from the sun	Like a blue glow stick
Size like a squid on mega steroids or the size of a battle ship	30-44 feet long
Eyes the size of a hot air balloon or black holes from outer space	The size of a big persons head
Has 30 tentacles	8 tentacles
Suckers are the size of dinner plates	2-3 inches
Teeth on suckers are like daggers	Like miniature shark teeth
Ink is pitch black	It can be black, white, or a mix
Beak tore my submarine in half	It isn’t that strong but is strong enough to eat a sperm whale

Our Week

We've been working hard in school in the last week.  The kids finished their science reports.  I'm surprised by how much we are enjoying geography.  The curriculum is a little lame, with just a few questions to answer each day, but the kids are having to use all sorts of resources to find the answers. Yesterday, we used our wall map to find the name of the sea between Canada and Greenland (the world's largest island, in case you didn't know), an atlas to find the name of the plain that runs through North America, and we used google to find out what Canada's main industries are.  Caden and Allie continue to do well in Math.  Jaelyn is struggling with percentages.  Our math curriculum isn't a mastery curriculum where you beat a topic to death until you can do it in your sleep.  Instead, a topic is introduced and you do a small amount of practice and then review all their previous topics.  It's continual review.  It was good for Jaelyn last year so she didn't forget things, but it's taking her a long time to grasp it.  Maybe working 30 of the same problems a day with each new topic would be better???  We use IXL to reinforce language arts.  I'm thinking about adding a math subscription for Jaelyn as well.  Everyone has about 30 more lessons and then we'll be done with our math curriculums.  I think we'll go ahead and start on the next grade level.

Here's Caden's report on Tsunamis:

Tsunami by Caden

     A tsunami is a giant wave that means, “harbor wave” in Japanese.  Tsunamis are so big they can destroy entire cities.

Tsunamis are not regular waves. They are caused by tectonic plates rubbing together, underwater landslides, avalanches, or underwater volcanic activity. These violent movements create a giant wave known as the tsunami. The wave can travel over 1,000 miles, and when the tsunami comes into shallow water the waves gets closer together and can rise over 100 feet high. They come in as a series of waves called a wave train. Tsunamis are normally in the Southern, Pacific, and Indian Oceans because of all the tectonic plates.

We have had tsunami warning system since the 1940’s.  Scientists made a new system because the old system was faulty.  There where many false alarms. The new one has a buoy attached to a tsunameter. The tsunameter on the ocean floor detects the tsunami under the wave. Japan has the best tsunami warning system in the word.

I Love Thursdays

Thursday is by far my favorite day of the week. The kids probably agree, if we are only talking weekdays, of course. The kids love CHESSIE, our science co-op. They have gotten to do things I would never be able to do with them. Allie and Caden got to see, touch, and look inside sheep lungs, a heart, and some sort of animal brain. Jaelyn has dissected a worm and squid and had thankfully gotten over her squeamishness by the time her life science class got to the heart and lung chapter of her book. They also really enjoy the time to play with friends. We are severely lacking in social opportunities.

As for me, I love those 4 hours of freedom. Today, I spent it at Panera working on report cards. Some might say I was having a parent teacher conference. Lol.

Who needs to smile today?

Still Sick

Ugh. I'm still sick. Why is it the kids have so much energy when they are all stopped up, but I end up feeling like I got hit by a Mack truck for a week? The crud is moving from my head slowly into my chest. I'd say I'm mid move....still stopped up with pressure, but coughing a whole lot more.

We've done school around the couch today. We are coming to the end of MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD. It's heavy, but the kids have done great reading it. It's given us a totally different perspective on the American Revolution. Allie is really showing improvements in her reading abilities. When she slows down, the words come out in the correct order. I imagine there's some sort of dyslexia thing going on there with the way she swaps words and letters in words around. Caden has picked out our next book. It's called JUPITER PIRATES: THE HUNT FOR HYDRA. I'm not sure the girls will be thrilled with it. Lol.

The kids all did math on their own and them regrouped around the couch for boggle (today's spelling) and writing/science. Caden is working on a report on Tsunamis and Allie is working on a report about the Aurora Borealis. Jaelyn is writing a creative paper about the giant squid modeled after a passage from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. She has to exaggerate 5 features. I helped her with brainstorming and outlining today. It's going to be a fun paper.

I think they'll double up on geography tomorrow and wrap up today with some quiet reading while I take a nap.

Science on a Sick Day

Don't try this at home or without your mom!

Writing Opinions

So I copied and pasted the kids stories earlier in the week, but I never sat down to share my thoughts. It's fun to watch their writing progress.

Jaelyn's biggest issue is phrasing. She writes things weirdly. She doesn't speak like that. I don't know why she writes like that. She hates when I make her read each sentence out loud. There's something about hearing it out loud versus in her head that's makes her understand why I'm telling her it sounds funny.

Caden is an amazing writer in his head. He can tell you everything he wants to say, but when you tell him "good, write it down," he struggles. With this, we worked closely with his detailed outline and we worked on simply getting each thought down as it came. Part of the problem is his tribute with physically writing and part seems to be getting it from his brain to the paper.

Allie can spend a page writing about something without saying anything at all. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. There were many reasons I wanted to bring Allie home and this was definitely one of them. Her opinion is short and to the point, but she and I spent a lot of time (and scrapped a lot of her work) to come up with something with substance. "It's off the chain, people," doesn't mean anything unless you are Mel B on America's Got Talent. Am I wrong?

Caden's Opinion Paper on Percy Jackson

PERCY JACKSON

THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER!

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Since I was little, I have liked to read. I have read Harry Potter, Artemis Foul, and the Dragon in the Sock Drawer Series. Last year I discovered Percy Jackson. I knew that I should read it because I liked the movies. Now I’ve read the whole Percy Jackson series, and it is the best book series ever!         

The author of the Percy Jackson series is Rick Riordan. His books teach about Greek and Roman mythology. There are three main gods. In Greek form they are: Zeus the god of the sky, Poseidon the god of the sea, and Hadies the god of the underworld.  In Roman form they are Jupiter the god of the sky, Neptune the god of sea, and Pluto the god of the underworld. Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) meets many other myths. One is medusa who can turn people to stone with her snake hair. Another myth is the Minotaur in the labyrinth.  He has the shape of a man but the body of a bull.  You do not want to get stuck in the labyrinth with the Minotaur.  Percy Jackson and most of his friends are demigods, which means their parents are a God and a mortal.

Percy Jackson’s adventures are all over the world. Percy Jackson almost died during a quest when he was fighting a monster on the St. Louis arch. Another time he went to Alaska to save Thanatos, the God of death. A different quest he went to the sea of monsters (the Bermuda triangle) to save his camp.

  Percy Jackson, the book, was so good it was turned into a movie.  Not one movie, but two movies with more to come!  The adventures, the knowledge of mythology, and the funny characters should make you want to read the Percy Jackson book series and Rick Riordan’s other books, too.

Jaelyn's Opinion Paper on Hamsters

Hamsters are the Best Pets Ever

Since I was little, I thought that having a hamster would be so cool. Whenever we went to the pet store, I always had my dad pick me up so that I could see all the hamsters.  When I was 10, I asked my dad if I could get a hamster. He said I could buy a hamster if I could be good for 3 months straight and save up the money. From then on, I was researching all about hamsters. Last year I saved up the money, I needed to own hamsters. I think that hamsters are the best pets ever!

Hamsters are not overly expensive. They don’t need to be walked so there’s no need to spend money on a collar or a leash. A hamster just needs a cage to live in. Hamster food only costs about $5 for a bag that lasts 2 months. They only need little sticks that you can get from outside and cardboard boxes that I get for free from the post office for chewing and scratching.

Hamsters don’t need large amounts of space. They only need a small cage that can fit in a bookcase. My hamsters are maybe 2 ½ inches at the most. My hamster supplies can fit in a small bin in my closet.

Hamsters are not that loud. A dog might bark and growl and a cat might meow and hiss but a hamster just quietly runs around its cage. I bought my hamsters a silent wheel and now I don’t hear a sound at night. When other animals eat or drink they might slurp or chew out loud, but a hamster just eats quietly.  

Hamsters are great pets to play with. I made a cardboard maze and put them in it. My hamster were so amazing to watch run throughout the maze. I put my hamsters in their balls and bring them down stairs to watch them roll all around my kitchen floor. Whenever I wear a jacket or long sleeves my hamsters race right up to my armpit. I have such great fun watching and playing with them.

Hamsters are the cutest animals ever!  The way that they twitch their noses like bunnies and rub their whiskers is just adorable.  When my hamsters eat they shove all their food in their cheeks and then their cheeks are fully loaded.  When I pick them up they spit it all out and their cheeks deflate like a balloon.  I carry my hamsters around on my shoulder like a parrot.  I just think it’s so cute.  Rats have long, ugly, pink tails, but hamsters either have little nubs like bears or little tails.  Their tails have fur on them so they are not ugly pink.  Hamsters have cute little black eyes that just make me want to kiss them.  They have great little feet that pitter-patter whenever they walk.

I was right. I have now had hamsters for 2 months and they are the best pets ever. To begin with, I got one, but I loved it so much that my grandpa took me back to the pet store to get a 2^nd one. It is very easy for me to take care of my hamsters, catnip and basil. Hamsters are the best pets that the world has ever seen.

            

Allie's Opinion paper about Blank Space

Blank Space

“Nice to, meet you, where you’ve been. I can show you incredible things.’’ Do you know where that’s from? It’s “Blank Space’’ by Taylor Swift, a music award winning star. I think “Blank Space” is the best song in the world.

            Blank Space has a good beat and rhythm. It calms me down to listen it in my room. The beat is not fast or too slow. At first you think it’s a mellow song and then you hear the loud beat of the drum. It makes you just want to move.

            I look up to Taylor Swift, the recording artist. I love the tone of her voice because it soothes me like the voices of angels. Taylor Swift has won 245 music awards. She even writes her own songs.

            Swift is a good story teller. I like the lyrics in “Blank Space”. They tell a perfect story of a kind of torturing love. The emotion in the lyrics me feel like I can see what’s happening, like in a TV show.

            I’ve listened to “Blank Space” about 100 times because it is magnetic. It has everything. It’s calm, soothing, and mellow. Then there are loud drums, guitar, and a good story with lots of emotion and feelings.

 

             

Macaroons

Jaelyn has spent the week reading cookbooks for macaroon recipes and learning about their history. She tried two different recipes today. Her first was coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate. Her second was almond macaroons that she planned to fill with chocolate. The coconut turned out well, but the almond was a total fail.

Projects

I know I've shared the quilt Jae made me for Christmas, but I thought Id share again since I finally hung it up. I see it every time I climb the stairs - several times a day. It's getting prettier with each passing day :)

I just finished a string quilt that I forgot to take a picture of before I boxed it for shipping (goofball). And now I've cut into my pretty Japanese parison material to make a new one block wonder. It looks like a jelly bean factory exploded so far.

Well Shucks

I was wrong. I was so excited that last friday was our halfway point. It wasn't. This Friday will be our halfway point!

Sent from my iPhone

Some Christmas Pictures

I finally pulled our pictures from Christmas off my camera and I am disappointed.  My camera battery died after a couple of pictures and then I put down my camera phone so that we could FaceTime with Grandparents.  I'll have to find a chair to prop the iPad in next year ;).  Our pictures are very limited.