ELAR

This page is all about what we did in our ELAR class this year.

We have learned and done so many fun things this year. We learned about greek mythology, greek and latin root words, and wrote our own memoirs( mine will be inserted at the bottom of this page.

This first one is my Hatchet Mini Essay that we did at the beginning of the year. It was the first piece that we wrote this year.

This second one is my informational writing and retelling assignment. It was a fake news article that we wrote for one of the articles and writings that we had read.

    Old York Times News

Plane Crash in the Canadian woods leaves 13 year-old boy stranded for 54 days

13 year-old Brian Robeson was just found about a week ago. He had been involved in a terrible bush plane crash after the pilot had a heart attack.

The plane was just uncovered by government officials to find severe damages to the engine and the pilot still inside. Brian states that “ I tried to keep the plane up but I had to find a landing place. It was one of the scariest moments in my life”, in an interview with Ross Lecrow, the reporter from the scene itself.

Brian also states that “I felt like I was born as the new Brian 40 days ago”, in another interview with Kate Smith, our other interviewer and news reporter for the situation.

The end of the situation left the young Brian relieved but still very damaged. No one knows what caused the pilot’s heart attack and we still have doctors working on more information.

Brian had also suffered other                 On another note, 

injuries such as a moose attack,             engineers have been 

a being quilled by a porcupine, a            persistently examining

tornado ripping his shelter apart            the damage that was 

and a near bear attack. The                      plane itself. It appears

young Brian was placed under                 that the entire plane 

observation for the injuries just               was submerged under

under four days ago. He seems                 water causing damage 

unharmed but medical officials                to the engine and

will keep the public updated                    several parts of the 

through the process.                                  internal mechanisms.

The third piece is my memoir that we wrote on a memorable experience from this year.

My Memoir

He took one sip and his eyes widened. Of course, I was terrified because I had no idea what was about to happen. Now how did we get to this point? Well let’s start at the very beginning.

My first grade teacher was very strict, and she did not like to be interrupted for any reason. She even disliked when my GT teacher came to pull me from class. The one thing that she didn’t like the most was being interrupted for little things like water. So she came up with a system for this. The system was that if you didn’t have a water bottle, she would give you a very small cup at the beginning of class for you to use throughout the day in the sink in the classroom. The only problem with this is if you were late and didn’t have one from the day before, you would have to face asking her for a new cup or to go to the water fountain. I personally thought that this was a bit extreme. 

This one time, a boy that sat in my group named Santiago was late. And of course he didn’t bring a water bottle and he had already thrown his cup away from the previous day. He was very shy at the time so he asked me what he should do. I replied “ Couldn’t you go without water until later?” He didn’t want to and was very insistent. I thought about how to help him during the morning announcements and then I got an idea, which would later result in being a really bad idea. 

The idea was to wash my own cup from the day before with the soap and water from the classroom sink since I didn’t have a cup from the day that this happened. I had made some pretty silly decisions up until this point like when I had thought it was a great idea to double-knot my backpack straps to a pole, which then resulted in a teacher having to cut it away to free me. There was also the time that I had tried to balance my open scissors on my pencil tip. Of course it fell and almost cut my friend. Out of all of that, this was probably worse because I didn’t think about what could and did happen. Of course, little me went on with this terrible solution and told the boy my plan. We both thought it was great and continued with it. Looking back on it now, I can already see what was coming. 

Once I had found the cup in my tornado of a desk, and found the right time to conduct this plan, we walked over to the sink where we would normally fill up our water. Just then, one of our table-mates named Christian came over and started spewing out tons of questions. It was a terrible time since we were trying to be quiet about it. But we had to tell him what we were doing otherwise he would start drawing attention to us from the whole class, which would send our idea down the drain. This made everything harder and took longer. We kept the story simple and then I proceeded to wash the cup. This is where things get tricky. I had finished washing the cup but not rinsing it. There was still a ring of soap along the edge, this was not the best situation since this boy was very impatient. He grabbed the cup and filled it with water not caring to notice the soap bubbling in this cup of torture, and drank it. 

Now we’re back to where we started. Christian and I had no idea what to do. Luckily, he spat it out immediately and looked very flustered. I thought he would get mad and tell the teacher, and if I got a bad mark I was DONE FOR. We ended up laughing it off and told all of our friends the story. Although it got resolved, this still remains a memory from that year in first grade.

The fourth piece is my persuasive essay. We wrote it on one of the debate articles. Mine was about Election day.

Election Day Should Not Be a National Holiday

-CC Stengel

One of my friends has a parent that is an essential worker. Her dad has to work as a doctor every day of the week, even if it is a holiday. Something that has been taken into consideration is whether or not Election Day should be a national holiday. I believe that this wouldn’t make a difference or even make things worse than it already is.

Making a day dedicated to this seems like a good solution, but there would still be the exact same problems that we have now, even without it being a holiday. You may be thinking ‘well there would be more voter turnouts’ and I do respect this opinion but there would be even more people in lines to vote. There have been people in the past that have pulled some tricks such as when advertising for it, giving a completely different date for when to vote. The same amount of people might miss Election Day from these tricks alone. Another point that I can make for this is that there are many other ways to increase the voting percentages instead of making it a huge holiday, some of them being to mail-in votes or expanding earlier.

A second opposing point could be that it would be better for the kids in school for an extra day to study or relax. Although this might benefit the students, it won’t benefit the majority of parents that are essential workers since they have to work. It would put them in a stressful situation since they would have to find last minute child-care if the child doesn’t have family near that can help, which can be expensive. These expenses may not be possible for families in financial issues or debt. Some parents really rely on schools so that they can work and provide for their families.

Although it would be a holiday and most people would be able to go and vote, essential workers would still have to go to work. It wouldn’t be fair to them because they would need to work that day. So it wouldn’t make that issue any easier. I believe that it wouldn’t be fair if it was made into a National holiday since they haven’t thought of all of the different situations that people are in, such as the one that my friend is in. Her dad wouldn’t be able to take off work, along with many other people. These along with other points should be taken into account before making these decisions. 

People would also most likely have to wait even longer in the long, hot lines. Some might think that it is pointless since it’s at least 2 hours of waiting just to fill out a little piece of paper. It would probably take the whole day just to get halfway through the line since there are way more people there. This could also potentially delay important businesses since they are bending their schedules for this holiday once a year.

Having this day as a national holiday would bring tons of hassle and stress to the community that could be easily prevented, and some would just live their lives exactly the same as they have for all of these years. With this being stated, Election day should not be a National holiday. 

Source Citation (Include your sources below the line.)

____________________________________________________________

https://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=OVIC&u=j015910

https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday

The fifth piece is just a quote versus truisms bank for reference.

Quotes and Truisms

This is your list of quotes and  truisms! If there are some that you don’t think are any good, take them out. Add some of your own favorites. Use this as a resource when you write. 

If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.

- Albert Einstein

Better slow going somewhere than fast going nowhere.

Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it.

Tough times never last, but tough people do.

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

- Lao Tzu

Never wrestle with a pig--you both get dirty but the pig likes it.

50% of the solution is to put your hands on the problem.

The man who thinks he knows everything will eventually find he knows nothing.

Stand for something or you will fall for anything!

Anger is one letter short of danger.    

Character is easier kept than recovered.

A man who desires revenge should dig two graves.

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue; to the end we should hear and see more than we speak.

--Greek Proverb

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

It's the empty can that makes the most noise.

Dogs don't love people, they love the place where they are fed.

--Burundi Proverb

One grain of sand can tip the scale.

Life is a ladder -- some will climb up it, others down.

--Bulgarian Proverb

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

If a link is broken, the entire chain breaks.

--Yiddish Proverb

In order to get where you want to go, you first have to leave where you are.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.

If you have planted a tree, you must water it too.

--Tamil Proverb

 Success is a journey not a destination.

The teacher has not taught, until the student has learned.

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.

--Sicilian Proverb

 Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Many things are lost for want of asking.

Words are like spears: once they leave your lips, they can never come back

--Benin Proverb

Walk with your slippers until you can find your shoes.

--Sicilian Proverb

Men learn little from success, but much from failure.

Arabian Proverb 

Bad decisions make good stories.

All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it.

--Spanish Proverb

A rising tide lifts all boats.

It takes a thief to catch a thief.

A small house will hold a hundred friends.

--African Proverb

A thief thinks everyone steals.

Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.

Well begun is half done.

A wound inflicted by a friend does not heal.

--African Proverb

Bloom where you are planted.

A broken watch is right two times a day.

When you come back from a trip, bring something for the family -- even if it is only a stone.

--Lebanese Proverb

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

It takes all sorts to make a world.

It takes two to tango.

Experience is a comb which nature gives to men when they are bald.

--Chinese Proverb

Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

A bad craftsman blames his tools.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

From those to whom much is given, much is expected. 

Fortune favors the brave.

A half truth is a whole lie.

Handsome is what handsome does.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns to you.

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.

Nothing to be feared in life, but understood.

Put a beggar on horseback and he'll ride it to death.

Slow and steady wins the race.

There are no small roles, only small actors.

What goes up must come down.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

--attributed to Goethe