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For school we have to write a post on one of our assigned post this week.  So I am going to write about Minnesota…

Prince

Prince was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7th 1958.  He is a well known singer and actor.  He also is a songwriter.  His birth name is Prince Roger Nelson.  He was named after a town called Prince Roger.  Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2004.  (I have been there in New York but I think it moves around it’s a lot of fun!) He has many top sellers such as: Kiss, Purple Rain and many others.  He also stared in a movie called Purple Rain (Directed by: Albert Magnoli, 1984).  It has many awards such as: Oscar and three other awards. That is all about Prince.

Mall of America (MOA)

Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in America is located in Bloomington, Minnesota.  It has over 520 stores.  20 sit down restaurants, 30 fast food restaurants, 36 specialty restaurants and 14 cinema screens.

How it Became.

In 1982 Minnesota’s two baseball teams moved from Bloomington, Minnesota to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Losing them was a blow to the people of Bloomington but it gave the city 78 acres of land.  Three years later The Bloomington Port Authority bought the old stadium land and began a enteraining proposal for the development.  In 1986 Ghermezian Brothers signed a historic agreement with Bloomington Port Authority to make the largest retail and entertainment complex in America.  It was a day to remember, Cold winds blowing up to 35 miles per hour.  Headlines said, “Why Minnesota?”  Mall of America opened on that August day in the year 1992 (August 11, 1992).  That is the birth of MOA, Mall of America.

Facts on Minnesota

• 25 Statues of Liberty’s can fit in side of Mall of America
• The origin of state name is:  from the Sioux Indian word Minnesota meaning sky-tinted water
• Capital St. Paul
• Song is Hail Minnesota
• Bird Common loon
• Fish Walleye
• Flower Pink and white lady slipper
• Tree Red norway pine
• Drink Milk
• 12th largest state
• Largest Midwestern state
• Minnesota can get to 11 degrees Fahrenheit
• Minneapolis has the biggest population in Minnesota at, 382,618
• Common shrubs, thimbleberry, sweetfern and many verities of honeysuckle
• In 1997 36% of Minnesota was forest land (well not anymore!)
• Minnesota’s two national forests Superior and Chippewa together cover 2.7 million acres
• In Minnesota there are 4 major pro sport teams: Twins (baseball), Vikings (football), Timberwolves (basketball) and Minnesota Wild (hokey)
• The University of Minnesota is a big ten school

• Minnesota has many well known people born there: Judy Garland (Dorothy Wizard of Oz), Sinclair Lewis (Novel Main Street) and Bob Dylan (Singer) these are only a few of them.
• 50states.com
• Minnesota Inventions: Masking and Scotch tape, Wheaties cereal, Bisquick, HMOs, the bundt pan, Aveda beauty products, and Green Giant vegetables
  
• Minneapolis is home to the oldest continuously running theater (Old Log Theater) and the largest dinner theater (Chanhassan Dinner Theater) in the country.
• The first Automatic Pop-up toaster was marketed in June 1926 by McGraw Electric Co. in Minneapolis under the name Toastmaster. The retail price was $13.50.
• The first open heart surgery and the first bone marrow transplant in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota.
• Hormel Company of Austin marketed the first canned ham in 1926. Hormel introduced Spam in 1937.
• Candy maker Frank C. Mars of Minnesota introduced the Milky Way candy bar in 1923. Mars marketed the Snickers bar in 1930 and introduced the 5 cent Three Musketeers bar in 1937. The original 3 Musketeers bar contained 3 bars in one wrapper. Each with different flavor nougat.
  
• Author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on Plum Creek near Walnut Grove.

That is all about Minnesota for now.

When You Reach Me is definitely something that mystifies me. It is a book by Rebecca Stead. It takes place in 1979 Upper West Side Manhattan. The main character is a girl named Miranda. She lives a normal life with mother who is about to enter a game show from the 70’s called The $20,000 Pyramid. Her mother works at a law firm but is not a lawyer her boyfriend Richard is.

The title is confusing until you start reading about the notes. In the book there is a metaphor about how you don’t really get life until your veil lifted. Your veil isn’t lifted until the very end. And when it is everything makes sense.  Until you read the book you will not get why this book When You Reach me is mystifying but when you do get a chance to read it which I highly recommend your veil will lift and you will be happy it did.  (This link will link you to our house blog where you can learn more.)

Last time I was about to start making the drawings for our Alice In Wonderland.  Well now we’re only finished!  All we have to do is make one more picture and then scan it in.  We is my partner for our comic and I.  In our comic of the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland Down the Rabbit Hole we brought a character we know her sister!  Well instead of just calling her Alice’s sister we used the real Alice sisters name Lorina!  In it we made the sister more responsible of her little sister Alice she comes along to protect her but instead just comes along.   In  my classes study of Alice in Wonderland we watched Dream Child.  Dream Child takes place in the 1930’s when 80 year old Alice Liddle or the real Alice comes to New York for Lewis Carrol’s 100 birthday!  But Alice is being haunted by Lewis Carrol and doesn’t know what to do about all the reporters.  But we will soon find out why Lewis Carrol is haunting her! The story is rather creepy.  That is the update on Alice!

Two weeks ago we (my class) had to read The Green Book.  We had to because we are studying the Pilgrims and the people in the Green Book (T.G.B.) are like the Pilgrims from the future.  Why here are the reasons.

Starting statement on why T.G.B people or the people of Shine are like the Pilgrims: They both came on a poor ship because they were poor.

Another statement: In both stories, one fictional one non-fictional, there are people or things that at first scare them but then become there friends.

Final statement: Even though in the beginning both the Shine people and the Pilgrims are scrapping for food in the end they live quite comterble.

These are three reasons why T.G.B and the Pilgrims are similar.

In class we are learning about Alice in Wonderland. We did many things to become experts and be able to make the most amazing comics we can. This is how we did it:

First Ms. Edinger read Alice in Wonderland while we (my class) read a different book along. Then we learned about Lewis Carrol (Charles Dogdsen) and the real Alice. Ms. Edinger read from the annotated Alice where we learned more about Lewis Carrol and Alice in Wonderland. In the book there were lots of poems but they were paradies of the real poems of 1800s that kids would have to memorize.

Then while all this was going on we watched a documentery of a family from 1999 who had to live how they did in 1900. We did this so that we could get a feel of what living in the time of Alice was like.

After that we studied comics (or graphic novels.) Because with a partner we will make Alice in Wonderland comics. But before that we all chose the chapter we wanted to do. Most of the kids got there first choice of the chapters but my partner and I didn’t. Instead we got to work together which is good because we are really good friends (and we have been for 8 years.)

After we got our partner and chapter we made ten scenes for our chapter (Done the Rabbit Hole chapter one.) and wrote a script. We could take out things we thought we didn’t need or keep it all the same or put our own twist on it. (That’s what we did.) So now we are still on the script stage. I had a lot of fun doing all these steps.

“…after many difficulties in boysterous stormes, at length by gods providence vpon the ninth of November followings, by breake of day we espied land which we deemed to be in Cape Cod and so afterward proued.” Mourts relations.

Thats what one of the Pilgrims said in a book called Mourts relations refering to their journey to America.

At Dalton 4th graders have 3rd grade buddies. Our buddy class have pen-pals or buddies in New Orleans. This is a paragraph written by my talented 3rd grade buddy about their relashionship with pen-pals or buddies in New Orleans. This is her well written paragraph:

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I have learned that there is a really fun park in New Orleans. They have a jazz fest each year. The latest hurricane was hurricane Ike. They go to a charter school. I have learned some stuff about my buddy like that she is excited about having me as her buddy and that she likes soccer just like me. My class and I went to Isham park to plant daffodils to raise money for their school. We planted six hundred bulbs it was so much fun. I love having a relationship with these really nice people and I think they love it too!

My 3rd grade buddy,

Z.P.

Once upon a time I was in high school.  I was quiet and did not have any friends but my grades were good and I was happy(ish).    My idol, my wonderful mother, died when I was of the age of five.  My loving grandmother, Big Mama, who then took care of me and my father, would say I looked just like her: skin the color of brown sugar, dark brown hair, and eyes the color of dark chocolate and was as beautiful as Cleopatra.  Sadly she died when I was thirteen and my father; a kind man got remarried out grief and sorrow.  His new wife was a kind woman with a spoiled not so kind daughter of her own. Minnie, my new sister.  Minnie looked just like her mother blond hair blue eyes but her blue eyes were dark, as dark as her heart.  Her best friend Katie could have been her twin blond hair dark blue eyes a dark heart. At home Minnie was nice but as soon as we got to school they were evil.
Ginger Ella
“Ginger stupid thing, do my history essay!” “Ginger I have a project coming up do it!” “Ginger be a dear and shut up!”  Ginger do this Ginger do that.  My head would spin!  It sorta bothered me.  At lunch I, Ginger, would sit alone and be lonely text my dad (he wanted to make sure I was not depressed like he was) finish my home work get teased by Minnie and Katie and go to class.  But one day that all changed!  One lunch while Minnie and Katie were taunting me they stopped in mid sentence.  “Whats wrong?” I asked them.    “Shut up!” they hissed in unison.  Then I knew why B.J the crush for every girl in the whole grade, the cutest, the funniest, the kindest, the smartest was about to make an announcement.  “As you know Halloween is in a two days,” he paused waiting for the clapping to die down, “by order of our principle we are allowed to wear costumes and have a Halloween party during lunch and only at lunch!” and with that he went back to eating his hot dog.  At that moment I knew this could make me a somebody and make B.J. notice me.
But how? With that question still echoing in my head I went to class.  Then in class I got a plan.  At home I got all the money I could from my room and bought the best Cinderella costume I could get!   The next day at lunch Minnie and Katie came to my lunch table. “So Ginger are you going to the party?” asked Minnie.
“Are ya, are ya?” echoed Katie.
“Maybe!” I answered enthusiastically. “Well maybe you would be lonely and you should not go?” Minnie said a little too sweetly then walked away with Kate at her heels.  Me, well I just e-mailed my dad like everyday and then walked  away  to class.  How I could make Minnie and Kate think I was not there.  When I got home I went to my room what I saw was really bad my costume was in shreds!  The next day at lunch and the day before the Halloween party I was asked to sit at the popular table.   “Hey you guys this is my sister the stupid head and the only kid who is not going to the Halloween party!” needled Minnie Then they all started arguing in who would B.J talk to the most and who’s costume was going to be better and left me out of it. “Omigod B.J is going to love talking to me!” said one girl. “Are you kidding he hates you but thinks I’m cooler than Miley Cyrus!” exclaimed another girl. “Anyone’s better than Miley Cyrus but not everyone is as good as me!” argued someone else. “Shut up B.J is coming over to talk to me!” whispered another girl.  But she was wrong because all B.J did was walk over tell me that the Halloween party was tomorrow and then wink at me.  I knew I had to go to that party.  The day of Halloween was here and everyone was thrilled except me because I was in the bathroom with all the other girls watching them put on their amazing costumes when I had not managed to get one. But that all changed when everyone left for the party during lunch when small tears trickled town my cheeks. “Honey just because I’m gone doesn’t mean that you forget what I tell you!” said a unknown voice. “Big Mama is that you!” I yelled. “Who else could it be your mother, she’s dead,” replied Big Mama, “well now I need to get you a costume?” “But how?” I asked “I just say the magic words and it will pop right on ya!” she replied “Can I have- I never finished because I already had on the most amazing Cinderella costume ever. “Thank you!” I said then ran into the lunch room where the Halloween party was taking place.

As I walked in the lunch room I noticed that all eyes were on me.  It was the weirdest thing mostly because I was used to being ignored.  The weirdest thing of all was when my crush came and escorted me to an vacant table.  Another weird thing was all the girls were eying me with envy and all the boys were eyeing B.J with envy.   At the vacant table I was amazed how interesting B.J. was and how nervous he looked! I talked and ate and he talked and ate. “Um-er- you look um nice!” he said nervously. “So do you?” I replied with a raised eyebrow. “Perty!” he added, joking.  I laughed, there was silence. “Well I gotta go!” I said a little too loudly.  Go I did, only thinking about one thing, making sure no one knew who I was.  Not knowing or caring that I had left my little silver sneaker.  The next day at lunch there was a huge commotion and a huge line of girls so I went in the line. When I got close to the front of the line I asked, “What are we waiting for?”  Then I saw B.J.  had a silver sneaker, my silver sneaker and he was letting girls try it on! When I got to the front of the line I was his last hope so when I tried it on and it fit you could imagine how happy we both were. “You were the person I talked to?” he asked. “Yes,” I said with a smile.  Then with a smile he said, “Come on Ginger-Ella!”  That was his nickname for me for the rest of high school and it still is and I was never teased or friendless or lonely ever again!

A Drowned Maidens Hair is a well written tale about a girl named Maud trying to be loved by keeping secrets that should not be kept.

It is a very good book for girls of the age of 9 to 12. It is written by Laura Amy Schlitz.

“Maud first appeared to me- I saw her vividly…Once I’d imprisoned Maud in the outhouse, her story began.” Laura Amy Schlitz.

It is a very original story, it has fantasy, feeling, wonder and mystery about a girl who is trying to find love where love is not wanted.

A few days ago my class wrote poems on the Amistad. Mine is called There was Cargo on the Amistad. It was inspired by Elizabeth Alexander’s Other Cargo. For my back round calloge I tried to make it colorful but not to wild. I made my poem short because I think that when poems are short it can seep in more and it makes more sence. I also think that when poems are short they are more powerful and have more feeling because they have so little in them.

Cargo on the Amistad

There was cargo on the Amistad

ribons and sadles,

bridles and silk,

beans books black bombazine.

There was cargo on the Amistad

motherless children

men, girls and boys,

all taken from there home.