This year in science class, one of the units we covered was Simple Machines. During this unit, we learned about levers and gears. Ms. Langteau, our science teacher, taught us a fascinating way to learn about levers. She gave us each a small fulcrum and a wooden rectangle about one foot long, and we put the wood on top of the fulcrum. Then, she told us to put two washers one inch away from the fulcrum, and one washer two inches away from the fulcrum and it balanced. Ms. Langteau then taught us about gears. We looked at a bicycle and changed the order of the gears and we found out that if there was a small gear in the front of the bicycle, then it would be easier to peddle, but if there was a big gear in the front, it would be harder to peddle.

This subject went on for about a month and a half. I really liked doing it because it was fun to be able to touch the objects we were using. I also liked doing the unit because it taught me about how levers and gears work. Now, when I am walking around and I see levers and gears, I am able to understand them. I think that Ms. Langteau did a great job of teaching us.

-CH

The Harry Potter series is great overall, but my favorite book of all of them is the 5th and book.  I think this one is the best because the characters are more confident. The book is about Harry, a boy who is a wizard. Almost every book has the enemy Voldemort. Harry has no parents because they were killed by Voldemort.  His only friends are at Hogwarts, a boarding school that teaches the students witchcraft and wizardry. He meets two friends, Hermoine and Ron, and they all go on amazing and fun adventures. Harry, Ron and Hermione show more confidence by taking a huge risk in order to save someone.

J.K Rowling is a great writer and just pulls you into a whole other world where the adventures never end.  So, why Voldemort did not succeed in killing Harry is the puzzle. Why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry and what prevented him are the two questions that have to be answered to put together the puzzle. The 5th book is just a little puzzle piece of this bigger puzzle and is about… Dumbledore, his principal at Hogwarts.  A club is made to stop Voldemort. This club creates friendship and hope between the different students from the different Houses.  Harry meets his Godfather again and makes a deeper bond with him. He also meets little creatures and learns their story. The friendship and mystery are what I love about this book and I hope you enjoy it too! So, if you like fantasy and magic you should really read this book.

PW

Moneyball by Michael Lewis is a non fiction book about Billy Bean the general manager for a baseball team called the Oakland Athletics.  He knows how to manage a baseball team well.  He is a smart manager because he does things like he does not draft players because they look good or are in highschool.  Billy Bean developed a program that tells him and his assistant Paul Deposta how many runs you lose or save by having one player instead of another player.  Billy Bean is also very good at trading in the middle of the season.

I really liked the book because it taught me a lot about how to manage a baseball team.  The only problem with this book  it is only availible in the high school library so you need your parent’s permission to read it.

When You Reach Me is an amazing book filled with many mysteries. It is written by Rebecca Stead who is an outstanding writer. It all begins when Miranda is walking with her best friend, Sal, home from school. Sal is punched in the stomach bya stranger for no reason at all. After that day Sal and Miranda’s friendship was never the same. Miranda becomes friends with another boy in her class, Colin, and another girl, Annemarie. who has recently also broken up with her best friend. While this is all happening Miranda is getting strange notes. Saying things like “ I am coming to save your friends life, and my own.”  Miranda freaks out when she gets a note containing some of her personal information for example:  “ P.S. yawns do serve a purpose. They cool the brain by giving air high into the nasal passage, which was the effect increasing alertness.” The same day Sal got punched Miranda was holding a poster about  mysteries of science and there was a question on it asking why do people yawn?  This freaked out Miranda a lot and she really wanted to find out who was sending her the letters? If you want to find out then you better read this book!

I loved this book because it was so mysterious and once you’ve opened it you definitely will not be able to close it! It is all about mysteries and the moral is really good! I think Rebecca Stead is an amazing writer. I don’t know how she came up with the idea for this book but she is definitely extremely smart and has a huge imagination! She writes descriptively and  will touch you! I give everyone a HUGE recommendation to read this awesome book!

-SJ

My Life In Pink And Green

This book will make you wonder what’s next and you will have a hard time putting down. Lucy (the main character) will take you and your mind on a trip through-out her world! When you finish this book you will want the author to write another book so that the story can continue. You will also want Lucy to be your friend, I know I did. She is a good listener and a good friend. I recommend this book because it will give you a roller-coaster trip through a world of wonder! As you can see I loved this book!

-IS

The book Step Fourth Mallory by Laurie Friedman is an amazing book. It is about a girl named Mallory and her best friends named Mary and Joey. She is starting fourth grade on the completely wrong foot!!! She tries to be good but all she does  is break the rules. She tries to apologize by giving her teacher fashion advice. But that just makes everything much much worse.

I really recommend this book to other people because it is an easy, simple book and it is very enjoyable.

-LP

Rangers Apprentice Book 1: The Ruins of Gorland

John Flanagan is a very passionate and imaginative writer. He’s written seven books in the series and plans to write even more. The author makes the series realistic by including details such as the Skandians, who live up north with helmets that have horns, just like the Vikings. But enough about the series. In this book, John Flanagan does a great job of creating magical creatures and yet gives the book the essence of real life. One example is of the Wargals, who are part dog and bear but walk on two legs. They are very strange creatures. Yet the people in the book still live normal lives.

I would highly recommend this book because it makes the reader feel like they are there looking at the scene. For example on page 138, the author writes, The noise from the thicket was indescribable. The furious baying of the dogs was joined by the blood-chilling screams of the angry boar. There was a crashing and snapping of bushes and young saplings. The very thicket seemed to shake. Then, suddenly, the boar was in the clear. This book would be great for people who like fantasy, fighting, even mystery. I loved this book. I hope that if you read it, you will love it, too.

MG

Herbert’s Wormhole by Peter Nelson and Rohitash Rao is about two extremely different boys who are neighbors named Herbert and Alex. They originally don’t even care about each other. But the situation changes early on in the book

Herbert enjoys taking apart and putting back together small kitchen appliances and inventing machines. Alex likes video games.  Alex has another neighbor besides Herbert. Her name is Sammi, and she is rushed back and forth all summer long, being ‘mini-vanned’ to soccer, ballet, karate, wrestling, acrobat circus, extreme gymnastics, and more!

Alex ends up meeting Herbert, and when they put on the new and improved alien slayer 3-D suits the adventure begins.

I think that Peter Nelson and Rohitash Rao’s style of writing makes you forget what is going on around you. You feel as if you are the people that you are reading about. You feel scared, sad, happy, excited, etc. when the characters you are reading about at the moment do.

I really loved Herbert’s Wormhole. I loved it because it was funny, interesting, and left you wanting more with every chapter! If you like time travel and aliens, or want to hear about T-ball without gravity, a bunch of new objects, people living in the same world as aliens and are perfectly okay with it, banks to put your memory, and one very mean, mental, and slightly misunderstood alien janitor, and comedy thrown everywhere, you should really read Herbert’s Wormhole.

-MH

The Story of King Arthur and his Knights retold by Howard Pyles, is an amazing book.  When I got the book I wasn’t very thrilled, but from the moment I started reading I just couldn’t stop. The book’s main character is King Arthur. The first chapter of the first story talks about how Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone.  They had this sword-pulling competition three more times to see if Arthur really was the true king of Camelot.   Full of adventure, this story is told in thorough detail.  It feels like Howard Pyle takes you to the time of Camelot.  The author also teaches various lessons through the stories, which can cause the reader to  reflect on their own life.story, including you, would realize that they too may succeed in things they try.  They need only passionately pull the sword of their dreams out from the solid Iron of their situation.  Think about that won’t you as the story continues.”  Once I heard that, I was touched.  This is one of the few books that changed my life and I really enjoyed it, as I hope you will too!

-rd

This Book is not Good for You

One of the fun and unique things about this book is the author’s crazy writing style. For example, he starts the book off by accusing the reader of poisoning him! I laughed a lot while reading this book. The other thing I loved about this book is that the author presented the fifteenth chapter of the book on the first page!

Read this book, you will love it!

-ka