KidsViewSummer 2008 KidsView Online - http://www.glencoewest.org

KidsView Staff:

For the Mathathon, students get a booklet or a CD rom and do a lot of math problems. Each problem they finish raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Kids at West School came in early in the morning to do the Mathathon booklets. They worked in the lunchroom because there is a lot of room. Our students tried their best to raise money for St. Jude just as kids all over the world are trying to raise money for the kids at St. Jude. The Mathathon started Monday April 14 and ended April 17. There were 250 problems in each booklet and CD rom. Students used the CD rom at home. Parents and grandparents or anyone could sponsor you or give a flat donation. The math problems are different for each grade. Everyone in West School can do it. Mrs.Moninski is the Mathathon teacher at West and a math teacher. At West we raised $ 29,003.51.

By Jenna B.+ Olivia J.

Go Green Night was attended by Glencoe families on April 3rd. Everyone learned a lot to make

their homes greener! There were many activities. First, in the library, the Green Bag Lunch company brought yummy samples. This company provides healthy lunches using organic food and “green” packaging so it is almost waste free. There was also Green Bingo and Whole Foods was giving out bags for students to decorate and be used on Earth Day. A tea company served organic tea without any chemicals in it. In the gym, there was an animal show with snakes, lizards and owls from around this area. A guy named Ricky Recycle put on a show, telling about recycling and how you can make the world a better place to live! On the other side of the gym you could play a game called “Oh Deer.” Outside in the hallway there was a display of green cleaning supplies. Another activity was recyclable art projects made out of CDs. SWANCC brought in a lot of different products made out of recycled bottles, cans and other materials. There was a raffle for the shoes that West students made in art class. Many people won a class shoe! There was a planting activity too. Kids planted seeds and some of the seedlings will be planted in the West School garden.

Go Green Night!Go Green Night!

Recycled products and the EPA

By: Chloe K.

Jessie A.Erin A.

Lauren A.Ally B.

Emily B.Sabrina B.Dylan B.Bari B.

Jenna B.Paul B.

Lucas B.Celia B.Jack C.

Samantha C.Henry E.

Andrew F.Eric F.

Eliana F.Chloe F.

Wil G.Charlie G.Oscar J.Olivia J.Ravi J.Mia K.

Chloe K.Madeline K.Sabrina K.Danny K.Sam L.Billy L.

Tatum M.Enya M.

Jessica N.Carolyn N.John R.

Roman S.Andy S.Lily S.

David S.Bianca S.Indigo S.Ariel S.

Hannah V. K.Chayla W.Ceejay X.

Editors:

Ms. SalzmanMs. Melamed

On display in the front hall was the Green Flag that West won! Finally there was a demonstration of our daily lunchroom recycling. Go Green Family Night was really fun and full of information!!

WEST-This year every fourth grader created a dance about saving the environment. For example Mrs. Mullenix’s class’s dance was about the ozone layer and Ms. Schwetz’s class danced about ways to recycle. The process began right after winter break when every fourth grade class got an environmental topic and studied all about it. Next, they met a dance instructor from the Thodos Dance Chicago Company and talked about what they had learned. After that, the students started to talk about how they could express their ideas and what they learned in a dance and also what music would fit with their dance. Some classes had more than one song. After we created the dance and chose music, we practiced. In the computer lab, every fourth grader created a design about their topic and it was ironed onto a t-shirt to wear for the dance show. Then it was finally time for the dress rehearsal! All of the third graders came and watched. Last but not least, it was time for the real thing! All of the parents came and watched the fourth graders dance and I hope you enjoyed the show!

The Fourth Grade Dance Performance

By: Colin M.

The Green Flag Award By: John R. & Billy L.

The Green Flag award was won by everyone at West School. West was awarded this flag because we Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It was given by the Center for Health, Environmentand Justice. In order to win the award, the recycle club filled out a special survey. West teachers then wrote about what we do to Reduce, Recycle and Reuse at West. The survey asked what we recycle. We recycle batteries, printer cartridges, cell phones and pop tabs. Every day in the lunchroom we separate recyclables from our lunch trash. We also save vegetable food scraps to put in our compost bin that will help our gardens grow. Right now we are collecting Crocs. That is how our school won the Green Flag award! We are so proud!

Author, Debbie Dadey visited West School on April 29. Dadey was born on May 18th, 1959 in Kentucky. She has written over 125 books including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series, The Worst Name in Third Grade, The Ghostville Elementary series, and The Swamp Monster in Third Grade series. She wrote her first book with a little help from Marcia Thorton Jones. While at West she told us about her books and what it’s like to be an author. She says, “At times it can be tough but it’s always worth it.” Her first book was Vampires Don't Wear Polka - Dots. Bailey School Kids books were not a series at first but became one around her fourth book. A publisher called and asked Ms. Dadey, “Could you please write six more books for your series?” She agreed and the series continued to grow! Then one day she asked her son if he wanted to write a book with her. He wasn’t too excited and complained about having to write a book with his mom. She said, “Come on - the best

Debbie Dadey By: Madeline K.

part about writing a book is that you can make it up.” So she asked him questions and came up with the book Swamp Monsters in Third Grade. He loved writing the book so much that they wrote 2 or 3 other books together. Her daughter got jealous and wrote a book that didn't succeed, so Ms. Dadey is now working on a book with her daughter. It was great having a well known author at West School sharing her books. It seemed like it was over in a second. At least we have great memories!

Classroom Connections

Have you heard? There are authors at West School! Mrs. Ross’ 4th grade class worked hard on creating books. We want to tell you how it was done! First, the students read a nonfiction Time For Kids book. The choices were Look Out For Lava, Pony Express, Angel Island, Life In A Canyon, and At the Center of the Earth. After reading one of the books, we planned a story based on the book we read. For instance, At the Center of the Earth takes place in Mammoth Cave, so if you read that you wrote a story set in Mammoth Cave and included facts from the book. After writing their stories, students received a blank hardcover book to put their story in. Next for illustrations we found pictures on the internet, printed them, or scanned them onto other pictures. We could also draw pictures and scan them onto other backgrounds. Finally, we made the cover, dedication, verso page, acknowledgments, and an “about the author” page. The class presented the books and described the process to parents, siblings, and other relatives who came to see and read their finished books in the library. Students wrote comments in their classmate’s books. It was a big hit! Here are the comments from some students in Mrs. Ross’ class. Rose G. said “I liked that each book had a different character. I also liked being the first person to finish so I could help other people.” Haley H. said, “I liked writing the story and doing the illustrations.” “The project was very exciting and it also taught me new things,” thought Blake. “My favorite part was putting in the illustrations,” said Zack. Hannah W. said, “I liked the fact that anyone can do whatever they wanted to. You took a boring nonfiction book and turned it into a fun fiction book with real facts.”

The Ross BooksBy Bianca S. and Eliana F.

Have you heard the news? NO! Seriously? No! Well, the Schwetz class is making books! They are the coolest of cool books. First of all, each book is based on a fictional story set in a National Park in the U.S. The books that Samantha and I wrote take place in the Grand Canyon during the time of the Pony Express. Some of our classmate’s books take place in Hawaii, Mammoth Cave, and the Redwood Forest. The books needed at least 11 pages and colorful, detailed pictures. First, we read the books to get facts about the National Park. Then we went into the lab to type a story. We worked on the story for about 1 1/2 weeks and then rewrote, added, and edited to make sure the story included: 7 similes, 3 metaphors, 9 strong verbs, 3 idioms, 2 onomatopoeias, and 14 descriptive adjectives. This means:Simile: comparing two unlikely things using like or as. (He was as scary as Dracula.)Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things that have something in common. (He was a scary bat.)Strong Verb: A verb used to spice up a sentence. (He stuttered, “She is gone,”)Idiom: An expression whose meaning is not the same as it sounds. (He let the cat out of the bag.)Onomatopoeia: a word that makes the sound it describes. (the train went, CHOO-CHOO!)Descriptive adjectives: An adjective that is more EXCITING! (sweat dribbled down his chin as he waited for his test score.)For the illustrations, we could draw our characters and find backgrounds from the Internet. Finally, we created a publishing company name.

Schwetz Class Is Making Books By: Sabrina B. and Samantha C.

For a “go beyond”, we could make a dedication page. The process was really fun. I hope you visit our class to see the books. We worked really hard!

Schwetz books

The Smartboard is like a touch sensitive white board because you can draw on it. Teachers can use them to create fun and different lessons. The classes at West that have them now are Ms. Arsenijevic, Ms. Sacher, Ms. Mooney, Ms. Schwetz and the computer lab. Ms. Ross, Ms. Buchanan, Ms. Berkley and Ms. Mullenix are getting new Smart boards next year. Smartboards are provided to our school by the Glencoe Education Foundation. SMARTboards are awesome!

New SMARTboards Last March, all of the third grade classes went to the

prairie for their last visit of the year. Somme Prairie is 70 acres long. There are only two small prairies in the whole reserve, so we should try to save as much as possible. One thing the third graders do on the prairie is cut down buckthorn. Buckthorn is a plant that prevents other plants from growing because it takes up a lot of space. In the winter, buckthorn looks like a big stick that got stuck in the ground. In the spring, it looks like a green plant and it grows very fast. Cutting it helps the prairie plants have room to grow. In the spring students also spread seeds for the new prairie plants. Last winter, kids slid on the ice and went on hikes. They also, of course, cut buckthorn.

The Prairie By Carolyne N.

Major Thomas Peopping went to Iraq six months ago. Afterwards, on April 8, the Major came to Mrs. Meyers’ 4th grade class and

told us about his trip to Iraq. Major Peopping is an orthopedic surgeon. An orthopedic surgeon operates on broken bones. He barely operated on American soldiers but he did help take care of Iraqi prisoners and criminals. Peopping lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his family. Peopping went to West Point Academy and then joined the army. Major Peopping took a 12 hour flight to Iraq, which is a distance of 6,736 miles. First he went to Kuwait

By: Eric F. and Jessica N.Soldier Visits West

for training. After having a Thanksgiving feast at a McDonalds, Major Peopping boarded a plane for Baghdad. Five months after he first landed in Baghdad he returned to American soil. Major Peopping’s airplane landed in Atlanta, Georgia. He then made his way here to West school. While he was here he told us about what he does. He showed us a slide show of the hospital he worked in and the barracks he lived in. His barrack was a brick building but his room was nice. We are happy that Major Peopping is back home and safe. We wish the Major good luck because he’s going back to Iraq in 2009.

Classroom News continued...

Last fall, the third graders played hide and seek in the tall, tall grass. They also took the seeds off of various plants. They went on hikes to visit all parts of the prairie too. Everyone had a great time and they hope to visit again soon!

By: Andrew F.

A SMARTboard is a white board thatis connected to a computer, laptop, DVD player and more.

Earth Day is a name used for two different observances, both held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. Theseare “intended to inspire awareness of andappreciation for the Earth's environment.”What is the history of Earth Day? Howdid it start? Senator Gaylord Nelson had an idea to get President Kennedy to make people think about taking care of the Earth. The Senator went to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. On April 22, 1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe. This year on Earth Day, Glencoe had an Earth Day Clean-Up, in which kids and their parents walk around Glencoe to clean up trash. There are many different places to clean up because the village wants the whole town to be clean! The different places were: Green Bay trail-north end, Central School, Friends Park, Kalk Park, Village Green, Wildflower Sanctuary, Lakefront Park\Bluff, Green Bay trail-south end, Skokie Lagoons and Little House. Parents could also volunteer and help pass out bags. After the clean up, volunteers celebrated with hamburgers and lemonade. We hope you’ll do the Earth Day Clean-Up every year! For great Earth Day games go to this web site: resources.kaboose.com/games/earthday.htlm?source=topnvan& amp.

Earth DayDid you know that every day you leave the lights on you contribute to melting a glacier? So what, it’s just a stupid glacier, you may think. But what if that glacier, way up in the North Pole, so far away from you was an animal’s home? A polar bear, to specify. Every glacier YOU help to melt because YOU leave the lights on could be the home of a living creature, and when that iceberg melts, that creature flounders around and eventually dies. Because you left the lights on. Yep, that’s part of the global warming problem. But even as you cause it, you can also help fight it. Instead of regular light bulbs that release heat as well as light, go save a polar bear with incandescent light bulbs. And that is only one of the many things you can do. TURN OFF LIGHTS AND OTHER POWER EATERS LIKE THE COMPUTER WHEN NOT IN USE! Global warming is supported by its buddy greenhouse effect. This is when the earth stores heat like a greenhouse. This heat stays with us. Two super villains now, huh? And this time Batman can’t help us: we need to be the heroes of this story. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO!!! You are probably thinking right now. Well then let me tell you: follow the three R’s:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! So now I hope that we all know we are responsible for the earth’s condition. We also know that you can help our planet but it’s your choice and no one can force you - it’s still a free country. Just a polluted one! No joke. Please just turn off the lights a little more, and do the 3 R’s regularly. Think of the polar bears and think cool. We can work together - just try. Please!

By Chayla W.

• Wash out old glass jars and use them for a fishbowl instead of buying one

• Use washable plates and bring a reusable lunch bag. All these things help make earth a better place to live, and help its animals and people thrive and protect our planet from becoming a toxic waste dump.

Environment EnergyBy: Ariel S.GLOBAL WARNING!!

Before I went to my Grandmother’s house one night, I asked a few classmates if they wanted me to laminate one of their Winning Ways at West papers. They all said “yes!” When I showed up at my grandmother’s house, I had a stack of Winning Ways at West papers under my arm. “Grandma, can we laminate these papers with your laminating machine?” I asked. To my surprise, she told me “I can laminate them, but it would be hurting the environment.” I was astounded. I wanted to help the environment by laminating, not hurt the world. It turned out that I didn’t realize the laminating material is plastic! So, as a result, the laminated paper would never decompose, but just sit in the dump forever. So the moral is - If you can avoid laminating a paper, you should. But if you have to, try to put many papers in the machine at once, so you don’t have many scraps of extra plastic to waste. You might think that one little scrap doesn’t make a difference, but if 100,000 people thought that, there would be one 100,000 scraps of lamination just sitting in the dump, forever. I hope you learned a lesson from my little story and next time you want something laminated, think twice before you do it.

By Eliana F.Laminating Danger!

Tips for Reusing:

Rave ReviewsThe Truth About Margaret Peterson Haddix By: Bianca S.

Margaret Peterson Haddix is a very famous author. She was born on April 9, 1964 in Washington Court House, Ohio. Haddix's first novel, Running Out of Time, was published in 1995. Haddix originally wrote primarily realistic fiction but has turned almost entirely to science fiction. Some science fiction books of hers are Double Identity, Turnabout, and the Shadow Children series, a sequence of seven novels. The first novel in the series, Among the Hidden, was published in 1998; the last, Among the Free, in 2006. Other books are Just Ella, Escape From Memory, and The House On the Gulf. Here are a few reviews of her books.

Among the Hidden is about a boy named Luke who is a Shadow Child - a.k.a. an illegal third-born. Each couple is only entitled to two children, because the government (the Population Police) fear that there won’t be enough food for everybody. Luke hates living in his attic. One day a family moves in behind him. They have a third child, too. Her name is Jen, and she wants the right to exist! Since there are many sequels, I strongly suggest you read them all.

Turnabout is about two 100-year old women who are given a choice between two things - death or becoming younger. They both choose getting younger. What happens is that an agency gives them an injection that makes them become younger each year. Soon, they’re living large in 2086. One of the girls is about to turn 15, so she will get her driver’s license taken away. The two girls start to worry about who will take care of them when they become too young.

Double Identity is about a girl named Bethany. Her parents are overprotective and, suddenly, they drop her off at her Aunt Myrlie’s house . But she never knew she had this aunt! Bethany finds herself lost in a world where everybody mistakes her for a girl named Elizabeth. Who is Elizabeth? And why do they think it’s her? Suddenly, Bethany’s parents drop off a package that contains four different birth certificates with four last names from four different states - and 100,000 dollars. This is a good mystery you won’t want to miss.

The House on the Gulf is about a very poor family. Britt’s older brother, Bran, suddenly lands a job house-sitting for an elderly couple called the Marquises. At first Britt is excited, having never lived in a real house before - but then she is suspicious. Bran is super overprotective of the Marquise’s things. He hides their mail, locks all their pictures away and doesn’t let Britt visit the neighbors. Britt investigates and finds out more about the house and the people who live there. So whose house is this really, and what’s going on?

Last but not least, Escape from Memory is about a girl named Kira who thought she was normal. But when her friends hypnotize her at a sleep over, Kira reveals secrets about fleeing from a war-torn country - and she never knew she had them! Suddenly, her ‘mother’ is kidnapped and a strange woman who calls herself “Aunt Memory” takes her to her birth country, Crythe. But Aunt Memory has some secrets too. Now Kira must talk to the entire city of Crythe and plead for her mother to be let out of their grasp.These are not the only books, they’re just some of my favorites. So read all the Haddix books that you can!

American Idol rocks! American Idol is a television show for all ages where people who think they can sing try out in 10 different states. Over 1,000 try out but only about 30 make it per state. There are three judges: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. In my opinion, Simon is the meanest judge. He thinks the performance or song is bad most of the time, or he really likes it. Paula is the nicest. She likes the performance about 99 percent of the time. Randy is the judge that doesn’t really like the performance so much, but he doesn’t hate it. Once you make the first round you are on to the second round which is in Hollywood! In Hollywood you have to sing in front of the judges, and you have to do a lot better. Hollywood week is also the week where you get to play an instrument, which was new this season. When you’re done with Hollywood week you move to the top 24. The top 24 gives contestents a chance to use background music. Then you have to be really, really good to reach the top 12. The top 12 isn't a lot different from top 24, but if you are not really good you will get voted out quick. In top 12 there's a professional singer and the contestants have to choose one of their songs. This year contestants sang songs by the Beatles, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Last year, Idol started a program called Idol Gives Back where viewers can donate money to poor children in Africa, New Orleans and other places So be sure to donate! Watch American Idol!

There is a great Tv show, Dancing with the Stars, in which celebrities are paired with famous ballroom dancers and compete to win the fabulous disco ball trophy! This season the stars are: Adam Carrolla (radio host), Cristiån de la Fuente (international film star), Shannon Elizabeth (actress), Steve Guttenberg (movie star), Mario (R&B star), Marlee Maltin (Academy Award winning actress, she's also deaf), Penn Jillette (magician), Priscilla Presley (actress, producer, entrepreneur and was the wife of Elvis), Monica Seles (tennis champ), Jason Taylor (NFL man of the year), Marissa Jaret Winkour (Tony Award winning actress), and Kristi Yamaguchi (Olympic champion figure skater). The judges are Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Toniolli. Also, there is a ballroom kids competition. During the week, some kids perform and the judges pick their favorite couple and the favorites face off in the finals. Whoever wins is the Dancing with the Stars Junior Champion! The professional dancers are: Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Tony Dovolani, Jullianne and Derek Hough, Kym Johnson, Jonathan Roberts, Fabian Sanchez, Edtya Sliwinska, Fabian Sanchez, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, and Louis Van Amstel. This last season was Season 6. The dances the couples have to do are the Pasodoble, Viennese Waltz, Mambo, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Samba, Tango, Fox-trot, Quickstep, to name a few. The finalists get to do a freestyle. There also is a group dance! The judges score up to 10. The hosts are Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris. On the results show one couple gets eliminated and there is a bottom two. Whoever gets the least number of votes from the viewers in the bottom two goes home. I think Dancing with the Stars is one of the best shows on television!

Reviewed by: Sam L.

American Idol Danc i n g Dan c i n g w i t hw i t h th e th e S t a r sS t a r sReviewed by: Enya M.

If you like adventure and monsters and creatures thenthe Spiderwick books are for you. The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Tony DiTerlizzi,are about 3 kids named Simon, Mallory and Jared Grace. They find a field guide to the Spiderwick world that their great uncle Arthur made. There is a Brownie named Thimblack, a Griffen named Bryon, an Elf named Leaf Horned Elf, an aunt named Lucinda, a Phooka, and many more amazing creatures. There are also goblins that want the Spiderwick Field Guide. In the first book Jared, Mallory, and Simon find their Uncle Arthur's secret room and get the field guide. Then they meet Thimblack. In the second book they find the Seeing Stone which allows them to see the creatures in the Spiderwick. Simon gets captured by goblins and they have to save him. In the third book they meet a leaf horned elf and Thimblack steals the guide and the elf traps Simon until they get the guide back. These are the things that happen in books 1 to 3. Read them and see the movie for sure!

By: Lucas B.“Jack Flack to Lady Ace. Come in Lady Ace. I have to tell you about this awesome movie called Cloak and Dagger.” Cloak and Dagger is a wonderful 80’s film about a boy, Davey, and his imaginary friend, Jack Flack shown in the picture. Davey makes up a lot of stories so people start not to believe him until he witnesses a murder! The only people who believe him are Jack Flack and “Lady Ace”, Davey’s neighbor and his best friend. The person who got murdered gave Davey a tape and said “ Don’t let those people take this Cloak and Dagger tape.” Davey is in for a lot of trouble. He gets chased by spies who want the tape. Davey has a friend, Morris, who is a video game tester. He looks at the Cloak and Dagger tape and finds out that it has information about an Air Force plane. Slowly his dad starts believing Davey. The spy that wants the tape is missing her pinky and ring finger on her right hand. They look like they are sweet grandparents but don’t believe what you see! The grandparents are really, really bad foreign spies. They get the tape and are going to the airport. What will Davey do? They get to the airport and start shooting all the security guards. They get on the plane and take Davey with them but there is no pilot. Luckily they didn’t know Davey’s dad and they didn't know that he was a pilot. So Davey’s dad pilots the plane to save Davey’s life. You’ll have to watch the rest of the movie to find out what happens!

Reviewed by: Lauren A. and Hannah V.

Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl is a movie about a pirate named Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, the star of Sweeney Todd), a princess named Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly, from Atonement) and a blacksmith named Will Turner (Orlando Bloom from Troy). The first movie was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. In the first movie, (there have been 2 sequels) Elizabeth finds a boy in the water who is a pirate. She pulls him onto her father’s boat and sees his necklace with a skull on it. She takes it and years later she gets involved with Jack Sparrow and ends up on his pirate ship. The pirate boy grows up to be a

Review by: Ravi J. and Andy S.

You should see this movie if you really like movies with action. You can rent it at The Glencoe Public Library.

blacksmith. One day Captain Jack Sparrow comes to where Elizabeth Swann lives. He gets captured by the army but when another pirate’s "un-dead" army attacks the village, Will Turner breaks Jack Sparrow out of jail. They steal a boat and go to find Elizabeth Swann who was captured on another pirate ship. See the movie to see if they save her.

Cloak and DaggerThe Spiderwick Chronicles Review of Books 1-3

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl

If you and your friends enjoy a scare, this is a book you might want to share. The Revenge of the Shadow King, by Derek Benz, is the first book in the trilogy Grey Griffins. In this

“goose bump growing” story, four friends have formed a secret group called the Grey Griffins. They play a card game called Round Table in which the playing card’s monsters and faeries can escape through portals and appear. One of them, the Slayer goblin is almost as powerful as a truck and as fast and stealthy as a cheetah. The Slayer is after Max. Max is a boy from one of the richest families in the world. He is the leader of the group. By his side, Harley, who can barely afford food on his table, is second in command. Natalia, the smartest one in the group, has the dream job of being a detective, and is the researcher. Finally Ernie, the puny one and also the fraidy cat of the group, doesn't do much at all. Max finds a book called Codex Spiritus. The book has made Max stronger and more powerful to fight the faeries of Faerie Land, pass epic quests, go through mind bending spells, make new friends, and find Titania’ s jewel which is the key to save the world. Have the time of your life following the trilogy, The Rise of Black Wolf and The Fall of Templar.

Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince was released on July 16, 2005. It’sthe second to last book in the series. It was set during Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts,where Harry explores Lord Voldemort’s (otherwise known as Tom Marvolo Riddle) past. Before school starts, Voldemort and his Death Eaters cause problems throughout Britain. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has been forced to resign. At his home in Spinner’s End, Snape is sworn to an Unbreakable Vow by Draco’s mom. At Hogwarts, Snape is announced as the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Death Eaters continue attacking throughout the year. Harry realizes his true feelings for Ginny. Dumbledore privately tutors Harry using his pensive. Somebody kills Dumbledore, but I won’t tell you who. All I can tell you is that you need to read all of the books, and see all five movies (don’t tell anyone but movie number six is coming out on 6-21-08).

Reviewed BY: OSCAR J.

The Revenge of the Shadow King Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

And Don’t Miss...

Reviewed by Emily B.

Have you ever heard of Miniclip? Well if you have, you probably have heard of Off the Rails. It is a twenty level game in which two green men in sombreros characters are on a railroad cart. To move the cart you would press the left and right arrows again and again, and the faster you press them, the faster the cart goes. On the first few levels the only obstacles are little blue turtle shells which you jump over by pressing the up arrow or W. There are also coins that you can collect to buy fuel. As you complete more levels, it gets

harder. Some of the other obstacles that appear are moles that pop in and out of the ground, hay balls that won’t hurt you if you go really fast, and giant cows that you can’t jump over, you have to wait until they come off the ground. Another obstacle is a train. In some levels, a train follows you and will blow you up if you are too slow for it. On one level, there is a train in front of you and behind you, so you can’t go too slow or too fast. I hope now that I’ve told you a little about the game, you will play it next time you are on Miniclip.

Off the Rails Reviewed by: Eliana F.

This series by D.J. MacHale, is about a boy named Bobby Pendragon. He is a traveler. In other words he is a person who can travel in a flume through time and space into another territory. So far there are nine territories, First Earth (where we are except, 70 years earlier), Second Earth (now), Third Earth (1,000 years in the future), Denduron, Cloral, Veelox, Eelong,

Quillian, and Ibara. In the first book Bobby goes to Denduron for his first taste of a traveler’s life: saving Halla, which means every single thing in the universe. Saving a territory would be much easier if he didn’t have a huge threat: Saint Dane. He is no saint though, he wants to turn the universe upside down and rebuild it to his own liking. On Denduron the two groups of people (the Bedoween and the Milago) want to have a war. The Milago are poor and live in small huts. The Bedoween are rich and live in a palace. War has begun because the Milago want revenge on The Bedoween because they made them live poorly. Also, the Bedoween kill many people of the Milago. This is where Bobby comes in, he has to make peace between the Milago and the Bedoween. If he succeeds he will travel to the next territory and try to defeat Saint Dane. If he loses he will die a terrible death and lose a territory to Saint Dane. What will happen? Read the book to find out. I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy and adventure books.

The Series Pendragon Reviewed by: Indigo Stelian

Have you ever heard of this series by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry? I’m guessing not. They’re about the story of how Peter Pan came to be. But if you think Peter Pan is only for girls that like Tink (who’s actually really funny), oh, you are drenched in wrongness! A trilogy is a series that has three books. The adventure’s names are Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. Learn how Peter goes from an orphan on a horrible ship to a kid that lives with Indians on a lost island. These books are recommended, although they’re three or four hundred pages long. If you want to know what cool things happen, read this: Peter and his friends James, Prentiss, Thomas, and Tubby Ted are on a ship called the Neverland, being sent away from the orphanage to Rundoon, an evil place ruled by King Zarboff the Third and his man-eating snake. On the ship, Peter meets a girl named Molly. She’s rich and has a nanny called Mrs. Bumbrake who says Molly shouldn’t talk, or do anything with Peter because he’s an orphan. The penniless people on the ship get terrible food. This “food’’ is mice and rats and worms swimming in a black liquid that Tubby Ted won’t even eat. When Peter tries a plan to get something edible, he runs into a room with a sleeping guard in front of it, and decides to go in. In it is something so scary and hideous...You have to find out for yourself what happens next! And that’s just the first book. These books are funny, descriptive and the authors are really, really, good. When they are writing their books, they act it out to make sure the dialogue sounds right! Boys and girls, children of all ages, I say you should read this book. Ms. Arsenijevic’s class liked it!

Peter and the Starcatchers Trilogy

Have you ever eaten at Ruth Chris Steakhouse? If you haven’t you should! One of their specialties is steak. You can get it rare, medium rare, medium, and well done. You can also have lobster, pork chops, and lots of other things. Their appetizers are salad, soup, and shoestring french fries. Their service is really nice. On weekdays it is not that crowded but usually on the weekends it is crowded. Another good thing about their service is that it does not take long for the food to cook so if you are really hungry you won’t have to wait. The last good thing is your meal is never cold because they heat the plate to 1,800 degrees. The owner’s name is Ruth Farel. She was born in 1927 and died in 2002. Now her sons run the business. The first Ruth Chris restaurant in New Orleans burned down. But then they opened another one. Now they have over 80 of them all over the world. You will have to go there! We rate this 10 out of 10 stars!

Ruth Chris Steak House By: Mia K. and Lily S.

byReviewed by: Celia B

in captivity. The Chinese Government has banned hunting pandas to protect them. There are only 700 pandas living in the wild today. Pandas can grow up to 350 pounds and when they are born they are only 5 ounces. 99% of a panda’s diet is bamboo. Because they have to chew the bamboo they have really strong jaws and that gives them a big, round head. Pandas may eat other food too such as honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges and bananas. Pandas are part of the bear family which also includes the black bear, polar bear and brown bear. I think pandas are the #1 bear!

Panda Bears are an endangered species that only live in the wild in the mountains in China. According to the latest reports China has 239 pandas

Awesome Animals

Rambunctious Rabbits By: Paul B. and Roman S.

Panda BearsBy: Sabrina K.

Rabbits are very interesting animals with an interesting body structure. With the rabbit’s curved backbone and strong back legs they can get away from predators. Also, a rabbit’sback legs are so strong they can do flips running down a hill. When they stand on their backlegs it means they’re curious about something and if they grind their teeth it means they’re happy. Rabbits love to eat blueberries, parsley, cilantro, lettuce, bananas, and Cheerios (pet rabbits). Taking care of your rabbit is hard work but once you get the hang of it, it is fun. Before you get a rabbit make sure you have space to let your rabbit run around. The rabbit can be in a play pen or a rabbit cage. Make sure you don’t have cats or dogs because something BAD might happen. It’s not a good idea to leave your rabbit unsupervised. Tape any wiring high up so your rabbit can’t chew them. Rabbits are very curious animals and like dark places. Your rabbit might climb under a bookshelf or jump onto the couch. Rabbits can be bred in many different colors. Rabbits can be blue, orange, black, white, gray, brown, and mixed colors. The largest kind of rabbits are the Giants and the Lops. The Lops’ ears drag on the ground. Giants are just big. Most people think the Dwarf breeds are the easiest to train because they’re the smallest but really the medium sized are easier because the dwarfs are hyper. To pick up a rabbit, slide your hand under it, then put your other hand under him so he feels stable. Don’t get mad if your rabbit kicks, some rabbits don’t like to be picked up, just don’t drop him! Rabbits can get many sicknesses. The worst is spread by wild rabbits and is called Myxtamosis. There is no cure but it goes away in time. If you let your pet outside keep them away from wild rabbits. Make sure that your rabbit eats all of its food and isn’t at the back of its cage because it might be sick. When you buy one, ask the owner to open the rabbit’s mouth so you can see if the front incisors are lined up correctly. Also, feel the fur to see if there are clumps. You want a rabbit with sleek, shiny fur. The last thing you need to check is inside their ears. The rabbit’s ears should be nice and clean. Also, don’t cuddle your rabbit even though pictures of rabbits show them being cuddled. They don’t like it. Female rabbits have a big clump of fur on their neck and when they have babies they take some of that fur and line their burrow with it so the babies are comfortable. Also, mother rabbits rub their chin on their babies so if another rabbit comes that smells different they make that rabbit run away. The only kind of rabbit that lives in a warren (a big group of holes that are attached together) is the European rabbit. Rabbits are very furry and lovable animals and once you get to know them they will love you back.

Dwarf Rex .

White’s Tree FrogsWhite’s Tree Frogs are a kind of frog that lives in Australia, New Guinea, Honduras, Brazil, El Salvador, Congo, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Singapore. A White’s Tree Frog can be any color from light green to light blue to gray. They can also change colors. My White’s Tree Frog is green and sometimes changes to a brown. The colder and less humid it is, the darker color it becomes. They are not usually afraid of humans and like very moist habitats in trees or near ponds. They enjoy eating crickets and other small bugs. The average life span is 16 years and the oldest one recorded was 21. Some scientists think that a White’s Tree Frog can partly control their body temperature. In the summer some might wander into peoples’ homes looking for someplace moist. Their scientific name is Litoria Caerulea. They are nocturnal. Their average length is 4 inches. Males are usually a little smaller than females. The males also have looser skin. Babies can be an inch long and they will grow up to be about four inches long. A frog can lay 200-1000 eggs a season! It takes about 5 weeks for a tadpole to become an adult. White’s Tree Frogs are also called Whites, Smiling Frogs, Dumpy Tree Frog or White’s Dumpy Tree Frog. White’s Dumpy Tree Frogs have little white freckles all over their body. White’s Tree Frogs make great pets .

By: David S.

Mrs. Boggs has been working at West School for 18 years. Wow!Mrs. Boggs has been in the lunchroom for “the best ultimate trifecta” - kids, food and fun. She started to work in the library eight years ago when Mrs. Feldman was wonderful enough to invite Mrs. Boggs to become one of the library ladies. Mrs. Boggs inventedthe Pin Test. She got the idea from the saying, “it is so quiet thatyou can hear a pin drop.” In the test, Mrs. Boggs gets everyone in the lucnhroom quiet and then she drops a pin into a pot. If we can hear the pin the students pass the test. When asked how many times have you done the Pin Test? Mrs. Boggs whispered, “plenty of pins have pierced the pot.” Flunking the test is not an option for her! Mrs. Boggs’ favorite color is green, green and more green. She was born in Chicago. Mrs. Boggs became smart by listening to kids. She was amazing to think of the idea for Waste Free Wednesday. It is a whopper of wonder where kids bring lunches in reusable containers. Outside of school she enjoys reading, working out, riding her bike and hanging out with the library ladies. Mrs. Boggs’ nickname is “Fancy Nancy”. One day Mrs. Boggs had a fabulous idea and invented the Golden Broom Award. She got the idea many moons ago while watching the Olympic games. The Golden Broom is awarded to the class that does the best job cleaning, recycling, and behaving in the lunchroom. The Silver broom is given to the runner up. I enjoyed interviewing Mrs. Boggs.

By: Tatum M.Mrs. Hand is a third grade teacher at West school. Her full name is Susan Harriet Hand. She was born in Los Angeles, California. She went to Northwestern University for herundergraduate degree and National Louis for her masters in

Talking with the Teachers

Charlie Interviews Mrs. BoggsBy: Charlie G.

Meet Mrs. Hand

teaching. She was a probation officer for Juvenile Court in Chicago. She became a teacher because she likes working with children. She has taught third grade for 16 years. When she became a teacher at West School the principal was Jenny Wojchik. She has been teaching here for 14 years. She loves all her students. Her favorite subject in school is reading. Her favorite book report this year is the World of Science book report. She has children of her own named Jessica and Ben. She also has twin grandsons and they are almost one year old. She baby-sits them often. When she’s not at school she likes to travel a lot, read, and garden. I had fun interviewing Mrs. Hand!

Super FITZGERALD By: ERIN A. and JESSIE A.

Mrs. Fitzgerald’s most embarrassing moment happened in the summer after 2nd grade. She was in day camp and it was very exciting because she got to ride the bus for the first time. On the first day of camp her counselor had her sitting in the sun almost all day. She asked if she could sit in the shade when she started feeling a headache. The counselor would not let her move to the shade. Well Mrs. Fitzgerald became sick and threw up on the bus ride home. Mrs. Fitzgerald has tons of favorite colors such as yellow, gold, blue, red, orange, and green. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. “I love the food and getting together with family,” she said. One of her favorite foods is carrots unless they are hidden in carrot cake. She said, “my favorite band is The Beatles and has been since I was 3.” She likes the book To Kill a Mockingbird and when she was in 3rd grade her favorite book was James And the Giant Peach. “Shrek” is the movie she likes best. Growing up she lived in a house in Highland Park. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a tree house. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s first name is Amy Aileen. Her parents named her after a song called “Once in Love With Amy.” When Mrs. Fitzgerald was a kid some people called her field mouse because her last name was Field. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s proudest moment as a parent was recently when her daughter Amber learned how to read and her daughter Erin donated her hair to Locks of Love. Mrs. Fitzgerald has family in the area. Her parents still live in Highland Park, and her grandmother and aunt live in Wilmette. “I think the biggest difference from when I was growing up in the world is computers. When I was in school I had to type papers on a typewriter, and there was no Internet,” she said. When she was in school the most popular clothes were Adidas shoes and Jordache Jeans, neither of which her parents would let her have. She said, “The haircut of the day was a Dorothy Hamill haircut. She was an Olympic skater, and it looked horrible on me!”

Mr. Young

(Mr. Young)By Danny K.

Hi, my name is Danny and I interviewed Mr. Young. I think he is a very interesting person and maybe you would like to read about him. His full name is Shep H. Young. His wife’s name is Sally. He has two daughters, Hattie and Margo. He was born in Michigan City, Indiana. He grew up in Chicago. Mr. Young now lives in Glencoe. Before he came to Glencoe he lived in New York. His parents live in Highland Park. He went to Beloit College, Parsons Design College and is graduating from National Louis this June. Beloit College is in Wisconsin, Parson’s is in New York and National Louis is in Skokie. If Mr. Young could be a specialist teacher he would be an art teacher. If he had a choice to be any grade teacher he wanted he would choose 3rd or 4th grade. He has so many favorite books I couldn’t fit it all into this article! His favorite color is green. His favorite animal is a dog. His favorite vacation spot is Italy. His favorite vehicle is an Audi. He loves roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. His favorite sport is tennis. It has been great having him student teach in Ms. Mooney’s class.

Here at West School we got the scoop on the Shapiro’s. Mrs. Shapiro is a 3rd grade teacher who had her second baby in March and is staying home with the new baby and her son, until next September. We miss her but we found out some information about how they are all doing. Simon is three years old now. He was born on March 25, 2004. Simon's favorite T.V. show is Dora the Explorer and Word World. Simon likes to go to the park on the weekends and ride his scooter. His teacher’s are Miss Rose and Miss Marsha. When he grows up he wants to be a fireman or Batman! Right now his favorite color is orange. Now more about Talia. Talia was born on March 22, at 1:16 a.m. Now she weighs about 10 pounds. We wondered what Talia’s favorite baby food was but she is only old enough to have formula. Talia loves to go on walks, visit friends and family, hang out at home and come with Mrs. Shapiro on errands. Mrs. Shapiro was a little surprised when she found out she was going to have a baby and very surprised when she found out she was having a girl. She thought it was a boy. Simon wanted to name the baby, Ainslie, which is their neighbor’s name. Over the summer Mrs. Shapiro is hanging out with Simon and the baby and they will probably all go to New York to visit Mrs. Shapiro’s sister. Mrs. Shapiro has been sleeping because Talia is a good baby and sleeps at night. Marly their dog gets along great with the baby. She is a dog that loves kids! We are looking forward to having Mrs. Shapiro back at West School in the fall!

The Scoop on the Shapiro Gang

By: Bari B. & Ally B.

By: Chloe F.Ms. Burgess loves the restaurant Blue Stone. Her favorite subject when she was in fourth grade was reading. The subject that she likes to teach most is math. But the funny thing is, she hated math when she was in fourth grade!

Her favorite grade when she was in school was fifth. She lives in Evanston and the things she loves to do outside of school are ride her bike, swim, laugh with her friends, knit, and read. Ms. Burgess collects antique children's books, which sounds very interesting and cool to me. Ms. Burgess loves to travel and she does it an awful lot, personally I think that is awesome. Her favorite places that she has traveled to are Prague, Sweden, and Helsinki. Last summer she went to Austria, Prague, and Sweden. The place that she would like to go next is Patagonia. That is a sneak peek at Ms. Burgess’s life!

Behind the Scenes with Ms. Burgess

Ms. Burgess

All Sorts of SportsAll Sorts of Sports

By: Ceejay X

March Madness is a tournament that college Division I basketball teams play in every year to see who is the championship team. March Madness was born in Illinois because the first one to use that name was the Illinois High School Basketball Association. It is known now for the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. It starts with 65 teams. They put them in four brackets, North, South, East and West. Then they play and eliminate one team each game until the “Sweet Sixteen”, “Elite Eight”, “Final Four” and then the championship game. The tournament takes three weeks in different cities. How do they decide what teams play in the tournament? First, the first place team from each Division I conference gets to play. Then the selection committee picks the rest using team rankings, win-loss records and RPI data. UCLA has won the most times with 11 national titles and then Kentucky with 7 and Indiana University is third with 5 titles.

March MadnessBy: Henry E.

One amazing thing about Fukudome is that he was the youngest player to enter the Olympics in Atlanta. He was 19 years old and it was 1996. In the Olympics he played for Japan and they won a silver medal. His baseball team in Japan was called the Chunichi Dragons. He played right field. Fukudome throws right and bats left. In 2004, Fukudome won both the Central league M.V.P. and a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics. That probably was a great thing in Fukudome’s life. Fukudome’s first position was shortstop and he was picked in the first round of the Japanese baseball draft. After playing really well in Japan for several years, he agreed to come to the United States. Then the Cubs signed him with a 4 year $48 million dollar contract. Now he is in his first year of the American major leagues with the Chicago Cubs. He has had a great first season, hitting .308 with 17 RBI’s and also a slugging percentage of .432 so far. On opening day vendors outside Wrigley Field sold T-shirts to honor him. Now do you know who Kosuke Fukudome is?

Kosuke FukudomeBy: Will G.

White Sox 2008

With a terrible season last year, the White Sox acquired some new players. They are: Nick Swisher CF, Orlando Cabrera SS, Octavio Dotel RP, Scott Linebrink RP, Carlos Quentin LF and Alexei Ramirez CF. The lineup for the 2008 White Sox is: 1. Nick Swisher CF 2. Orlando Cabrera SS 3. Jim Thome DH 4. Paul Konerko 1B 5. Jermaine Dye RF 6. A.J. Pierzynski C 7. Carlos Quentin LF 8. Joe Crede 3B and9. Juan Uribe 2B.The White Sox also traded for the new players. The ones they traded away include: Jon Garland SP, Scott Podsednik LF, Tadahito Iguchi 2B, Darin Erstad CF, Rob Mackowiak LF, Ryan Sweeney CF and David Aardsma RP. So far A.J. Pierzynski’s average is around .260 to .280, not too bad. Nick Swisher’s average is around .200 to .220.White Sox injuries include Danny Richar for 15-days. Free agents next year include Joe Crede 3B, Juan Uribe SS, Orlando Cabrera SS and Jim Thome DH. Gavin Floyd, a pitcher, is doing pretty good compared to last year, he got a one hitter. I hope the White Sox have a great season!

Sports Sites

Yankee Stadium II is the replacement for the most famous ballpark in the world, Yankee Stadium, built in 1923. Yankee Stadium II will house 53,000 fans and is planned to open in April 2009. It will have a 58 by 103 foot high definition scoreboard and 12,000 trees around the stadium. Citi Field is the new New York Mets ballpark opening in April 2009. It will have a Jackie Robinson memorial, seat 45,000 fans, and have two restaurants. Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium are great ballparks, so I suggest you go to them now. Marlins Ballpark will have a retractable roof. (Miami Marlins is the new name). Opening in April 2011, Miami Ballpark is on the site of the Orange Bowl, the old college football stadium. Holding 37,000 fans, Miami Ballpark will be one of the few retractable roof stadiums. The Tampa Bay Rays are building a 35,000 seat retractable roof stadium Even though Tropicana Field was finished in 1998, it has a roof made of concrete and does not hold that many fans. Opening in 2012, Rays Ballpark is right on the waterfront of St. Petersburg, Florida. The roof is pulled open by heavy ropes. Twins Ballpark is the new outdoor Minnesota Twins stadium, expected to be finished in April 2010. The Metrodome, where the Twins now play was built for football not baseball, so the Twins are moving out and into a 42,000 seat stadium, the first outdoor Twins stadium since 1981. Crisco Field will host the Oakland A’s starting in 2012. The McAfee Coliseum, the A’s current home was also built for football. The 34,000 seat Crisco Field has a grass surface and is estimated to cost between $400-$500 million. Make sure you visit these old stadiums before you will never see them again. Then see the new ones!

MLB Ballparks of the futureBy: Dylan b.

Ray’s ballpark is a retractable roof stadium.

In 1988, William Writz who recently passed away and was owner of the Chicago Blackhawks and Jerry Reinsdorf who owned and was team chairman of the Chicago Bulls, became partners to build a sports arena that would take sports and entertainment into the 21st century. In the month of April of 1992 the construction began for the future home of Chicago Blackhawk’s hockey and Chicago Bull’s basketball. It would replace the Chicago Stadium which was the original stadium for the Bulls and Blackhawks. It was opened on March 28, 1929 and cost $9.5 million. It was the biggest at its time, larger than Madison Square Garden which sat half as many people and Detroit’s Olympia Stadium which sat 1500. One of the reasons the Chicago Stadium is so famous is because of its nickname “Madhouse on Madison”. One reason is during the Star Spangled Banner the crowd goes wild (which also happens at the United Center). Another reason it is so famous is because of the way the seats are designed. Let’s say that you sat in the seventh row - you would be around five feet away, but at the United Center if you were in the same seat, you would be ten feet away. The United Center has hosted 200 events since the opening. Some events are: The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Paul McCartney, U2, The Who, The 3 Tenors, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Great Eight Classic, Illinois College Basketball, Champions on Ice, Miley Cirus, NBA basketball, High School hockey State Championship and NHL hockey. The name may be changed in 2014 because United Airlines has a 20 year contact to pay 1.8 million each year for name rights. The United Center seems to be the biggest in the U.S but not in capacity. It fits 20,500 for hockey, 22,220 for basketball and 23,500 for concerts.

The United Center and Chicago Stadium By: Jack C.

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