Room 613 Student Blogs - 2005/2006

I write this to you with sadness for our great leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died last night.  I’m sorry for the smudging; I can’t hold back my tears when I think about him.  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born on March 12th 1881 in Thessaloniki, Greece.  I was just born when he first became the leader of Turkey 15 years ago in the year of 1923.  In the years since he made many improvements in the lives of my people.  He gave women the right to vote, let women/girls go to school, introduced the Roman alphabet which is my second language and ordered all Turks to chose a family name.  He was given the name Ataturk that means father of the Turks. 

My favorite quote of his is “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country, therefore rest in peace.  There is no difference between Jonnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side.  Here in this country of ours…you, the Mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears.  Your sons are now lying in our bossom and are in peace.  After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”  I think that this was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s finest speech given at the Anzac Memorial in 1934.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lived a relatively short but fulfilling life which he dedicated to improving the lives of others.  Now you know why I and my fellow countrymen are grieving and why he will be greatly missed.

One day I asked Mr.Hetherington if I could take Mr.Bell home for February vacation and he said yes. So after that I went home and played with my freinds and Mr.Bell. On the 24 of February I went on a trip to Vermont for 4 days and I brought Mr.Bell with me. He liked the house my family stayed in and he stayed in the house too. I also went on Okemo mountain, but he couldn’t come. So when I came home he was excited to see me. After that great vaction I’m home and so is Mr.Bell.   

Phillies bear is a honored member of our class along with Mr.Bell (a bell). I got to take Phillies Bear home with me over a week of vacation. During this week Phillies Bear and I went lots of places.To start I had a little party with Kim and Amanda  (they each brought a bear.) He got to have lunch with Kim’s gigantic bear that took up the whole couch and Amandas purple bunny. The next day he decided to learn what the church i and many other classmates go to. We had a fun time drawing while listening to our teacher Mrs.Sharp read some of the bible. The next morning we got up early at 5:45 am to go to my gradmas who grew up in Philadelphia. That day we went to Bobs for new shoes and Marshals for a new suitcase, then we came home and made my grandpa lunch. After that we ran back out for a 1:00 movie (Eight Below) and then came home, made dinner then watched the olympics late on into the night. The next day me and my grandma went to a travel agency to plan our trip to Washington DC. The next day we stayed home [and]watched a couple of movies. We did lots of chores and more movies. The next day my dad and mom took the day off to go to Mystic Aquarium then out to a pub for a delicious luncn. On Saturday he met my bunny 40. He’s a very big BIG bunny. We let him inside our kitchen for the day because he was so dirty that I tried to give him a bath without much luck :*( .and that was my week with Phillies Bear.

Today I went to my friend Jared’s basesall practice, but it started raining while I was there. We went swimming in their pool and then went to see the movie 8 Below. How is it there in Connecticut? Cold? It’s about 70 degrees F here! I’ll bring some pictures and the sharkteeth I found back to school with me. I’ll keep you posted, bye.

I went to  stay with my grandfather on an island called Don Pedro. On the beach I was looking for shark teeth and found about 10. I left today and now I’m in Boca Raton with some of my friends. We just got here at about 8 o clock.

VS.

Let’s root for our country and go for the gold but that’s not the case this year, more people are tuned in to American Idol to hear Simon Cowell dis people than to watch the Olympics. In fact last Wednesday night only 15.4 million people watched the Olympics while a woping 31.1 million people tuned in to American Idol. “We are T.V. surfers” said Rick McKeel, a primetime junkie and Hanover county resident. ” We haven’t ignored the Olympics altogether, but if it’s between the Olympics and American idol, it’s American Idol all the way.” As well as American Idol, Desperate Housewives, Lost, House, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, and CSI are all higher in the ratings than the Olympics. It’s sad to say this but America loves reality and primetime television!

For more information

Other Information

If you didn’t know, I went to Florida over vacation. I have just landed in Fort Myers today after a 5 hour flight. I’ll keep you updated about my trip to Florida!

Sam M. posted an interesting statistic this morning about Rubik’s cube.

Did you know Rubik’s cube was invented by Erno Rubik in Hungary in 1974. One of his biggest challenges was to invent a mechanism to allow rotation of three rows in two directions. He finally solved the problem by using a central cylinder. Although invented in 1974, a failing communist economy in Hungary and western toymaker beliefs that the cube was difficult to manufacture and too complex to interest teens delayed the Rubik Cube’s debut outside of Hungary until 1980. Once introduced, the growth in popularity of the cube was explosive. By 1982, only two years after it’s introduction, it was estimated that one of every three households in the western world owned at least one of these now world famous puzzles.

To learn more about the history of the cube, go to http://www.rubiks.com/lvl3/index_lvl3.cfm?lan=eng&lvl1=inform&lvl2=medrel&lvl3=histry

For 5 bells…. Name the Hungarian city where Erno Rubrik lived when he invented the Rubik Cube.

Do you have a Rubik’s Cube in your house?

If so, have you solved it? How long does it usually take you?

Here’s a few outrageous facts!

A Rubiks cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 combinations!

Bees have 5 eyes!

Sperm whales have the heaviest brains on earth!

An eagles nest can weigh more then a refrigerator!

Traffic lights were invented before cars!

Mountain lions can whistle!

Amazing facts came from the kids National Geographic magazine

As I wrote about before, Venice Italy would be an awesome place to visit! But did you know that since being founded over a thousand years years ago, Venice has sunk under about six feet of water! The city is a popular tourist attraction, but little known to most people, it’s slowly sinking. The city wont be completely underwater for at least another 1000-2000 years, but I still want to visit it while it’s there.

The coolist robot going is chibi robo. Me and my freind even made up a song. Chibi robo cleans,scrubs,cooks,and annihilates. But he is only 4 in. tall. He is a video game character. I am trying to make my own but first I must go to Home Depot  or Lowes. He will be a hard project. Me and my friends will even make a fan club.

(Here is a link )For CHIBI-ROBO! Which is Licensed by the Nintendo Company.

Mystic Aquarium

Mystic Aquarium is a wonderful place with lots of beautiful sea animals & even a Sea Lion Show! Mystic Aquarium is located in Connecticut, USA. in the town of Mystic. There are also alot of shops in Mystic too. There are many fish there that are very boldly colored, and look like they are in their naturnal habitat. The sea lions there are very well trained. I went to that show and there was a Sea Lion named Cocoa. She is the best Sea Lion. She was the big overweight seal. Their are so many wonderful things that Mystic Aquarium has, you should go visit their someday!

Here are some pictures of Mystic Aquarium and the Underwater creatures there.

I Hope You Enjoyed My Post About Mystic Aquarium!

On February 14, 2006, My teacher Tanya took me out for a lemonade today because it was my birthday. After school, mom bought balloons for Taylor and I for Valentine’s Day. There was a stuffed toy inside . My balloon said “It’s a boy”, and it had blue and orange ribbons and a blue balloon in the shape of a bow. There was another smaller long balloon inside the big balloon along with a little Hershey Kiss dude. Taylor’s was similar except she had a small stuffed bear with strawberry clothes.

After comida (lunch) we had my birthday party. Joel, Nayeli, Ariana, Sophia, Lucy and Taylor were there. After we played for a while, we brought out the piñata. It was shaped like a baby Spiderman, and it was filled with candy, gum and fruit. We hung the piñata, and they blindfolded me and gave me a broom handle to try to break open the piñata. They give each person the amount of time it takes to sing a particular song to try to break open the piñata before the next person gets a turn. Surprisingly, I broke it open before my first turn was up. Everyone jumped to the ground to collect as much candy as they could. Joel and I collected the most. The cake was next. It looked really good, but all of us Americans thought it was horrible. It soggy on the bottom, and the cake itself had a fruit flavor to it. Apparently when my mom asked for vanilla or chocolate cake without fruit flavor, they looked at her like she was strange and said they didn’t vanilla or chocolate cake. I got a few gifts: 2 hackysacks, a little keychain toy and two small baskets of chocolate. We tried to insert photo from our camera, but we couldn’t figure out how to do it.

These are just other Optical Illusions.

Stare at the lowest of the four dots in the middle for about 30 seconds then look at a white or light coloured wall. What do you see?

1) How many black dots can you see?

Creat to http://www.saintderanged.co.uk/?page=http://www.saintderanged.co.uk/OpticalIllusions.html

In Social Studies, we are learning about Iraq, Iran & Afghanistan. Also we have lately been talking about the former dicatator of Iraq Saddam Hussein. That about covers then general view of what were learning in Social Studies. 

By Sara H. 

In our Language Arts (L.A.) class we are learning Simple & Compound Sentences. We are learning/able to tell the difference between a Simple and Compound sentence. The Definition of a Compound Sentence is a sentence that has a comma and a conjunction word. A simple sentence is a sentence that does not contain either Of the symbols stated before.  -SaraH.

1938

Dear American friend,

As you know I am a citizen of Turkey. Much has happened that you have yet to hear. So without further ado, let me tell you! You know those hats that men would always wear? They were called a fez. Men started wearing them when an Ottoman sultan demanded his officials and soldiers to where fezzes. This was actually an advantage for the Muslim men because when they prayed, their hats reached the ground and made it easier for their foreheads to reach. Then in the year 1925, Mustafa Kemal (our president of the Turkish republic) showed up with a hat that had no brim, and western clothing. So being the dictator he is, Mustafa made all men wear these hats. Yuck! These poor men then had to give up their lovely fezzes because Mustafa made it a law that they shall no longer where fezzes. Many men disliked this law and wished the could have their fezzes back! If I had to do that, people might have thought I’d given up my religion! But for us, we just had to wear veils. So I thought! He then took our veils away. He was like taking everything away from us! Then we got to go to school, get jobs and vote! That was pretty good. But all this was new to us so we adapted pretty slow. Wouldn’t you? All of this took part after World War One. But Mustafa carried on again about how he wanted more changes to our government.

You know Mustafa gave the idea of western clothing? Well guess what else he did, he moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara, showed an alphabet that was related to the Roman alphabet for Western European languages. Then he printed new covers of newspapers, books and street signs in his own style. You may recognize this name Mustafa came to be known by, Ataturk. That means “Father of the Turks.” Pretty cool name! The government changed many times over the past five decades after Mustafa’s death, this year.

Well I’m out of time!

Write back as soon as you get a chance!

Hope all is well in America!

~ Katarina

We talked about Mesopotamia in class on Tuesday. We saw on the movie about a person who discovered a lost city named UR. This city was very old and was underneath the ground. There were lots of people looking for this city. A person found a cemetery with lots of dead people in it. A couple of scientists went in and found a tomb with a baby and a mother and found gold things that women wore. A person named Sir Leonard Williams was in Mesopotamia for 12 years and was a archaeologist who discovered ancient things like gold and rocks with writing on them.
There are many interesting facts we learned from the video. Farmers made farmland next to a river so plants can grow. There were luscious green grass trees all around the people who lived there. Also people lived and slept on the top of their homes so the hot air could escape from the homes. People would climb trees to get dates from them and make win with it. In the older times women would still make bread like we still do.
Some people learned to read and write. Lugal-gal meant big man in that language. A person discovered rocks with writing on them that people used when they were in school and home. I think it was in Egyptian. When kids were late for class they got beaten up. If they got beaten up all the time they could die.

Dear Amy,
Hello. How are you? In my last letter I didn’t explain to you exactly how much my life has changed. Our dictator (he called himself a president), Kemal Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal), has died, and my parents are glad. They hated the rules he set. He made all men abandon their fez wearing tradition, and he made all women uncover their faces. He wanted us Turks to be modern. My parents say that giving up these traditions showed that you had abandoned the Muslim religion. I do want to be modern, but that would mean giving up tradition. I don’t like how he came in and changed all of our customs. I do like that he gave women the right to vote. Our capital is now Ankara, which doesn’t really matter to me. We do have a new alphabet though, and now, everything is written in the Roman alphabet! That really affected me, because I had to learn a new alphabet. I’m adapting though. There are elections, but only one political party. That’s okay, but not if there is only one person to vote for (I don’t know if that would ever happen)! Anyway, I don’t know when we’re going to get a new president (or dictator). I hope that our Muslim tradition will be restored. My parents will be happy if that happens.
Write soon,
Omyia

Well it looks like another exiting season for nascar is coming our way! There’re alot of changes too, for example Mikey Waltrip is no longer in the #15 Napa chevey anymore and Jeff Gordon now has Nicorette as a sponser(of course he still has his famous Du-pont Chevey!) Also there’re are some new drivers for example, Denny Hamilin who just Sunday (the 16) won the Bud shootout at Daytona! (Jeff got stuck in traffic and one of the cars slowed down and took out Jeff. But it sure does look already like an exiting season with the rookie, new driver, Denny Hamilin winning the Bud shoot out! NASCAR FANS GET READY BECAUSE THIS WILL BE THE BEST SEASON IN THE 21st CENTRY!!!!!! Well as Darrell Waltrip always says ” bogity bogity bogity boys lets go racing!”

This is just another image from the website that Mr. H found the “rotating snakes”. I just thought you would be interested.

“Warning: This post contains some works of “anomalous motion illusion”, which might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick. Should you feel dizzy, you should leave this post immediately.”

Ryan J (Science Project for Mr. Larwence))

The Black spotted Lemur was just recently found in the Tiberian Jungle in Tuswania. The lemur has many behaviors that affect its living in the jungle. Here are some of its instincts and behaviors. The lemur will hunt and put its prey (usually a rat or other small animal) up in its tree. This lemur is very territorial and will kill any animal if it comes into its territory. This lemur can run at speeds up to 65 mph! WOW huh? This lemur will usually learn to swim at an early age too. The lemur will usually sleep about 14 hours of the day and will only come out during the late part of the day. The Lemur also, as an instinct, will run from any known predator. Also if it hears a loud sound or something that may cause it harm then it will STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, and if the coast is clear then it keeps doing its business. The lemur will carry its baby lemur on its back to keep its gentle skin from touching the ground; the skin will get tougher as it gets older. The baby lemur will start with what looks like a Ring Tailed Lemur’s tail but once again as it gets older it will get its leopard tail. This animal will grow short but very sharp claws which will allow it to climb trees better.

Court Ship Maneuvers

While Ryan J was strolling through the Tiberian Jungle looking for the recently discovered Black Spotted Lemur he saw two of them looking as if they were doing some sort of Courtship maneuvers. So he decided to watch the two Lemurs and see if they were mating. Sure enough they were. He had discovered the courtship maneuvers of the Black Spotted Lemur. He was kind enough to tell us the maneuvers and here they are……..1. The Male will rub against the Female. 2. Then he will push her head down while the female is resisting with all her strength to see if the sperm will be strong enough. 3. Then they will mate (And live happily ever after ha just kidding!) 4. The job of the male is now done. The female will now raise the offspring and teach it everything it knows.

The Black Spotted Lemur may not be the only new species. There could be many many more as we are coming into this new era. Stay tuned to the World Report News Paper as we look for “Unknown Species”

If I could go anywhere I would go to Flordia. The reason why I would go to Flordia is because I would like to see the place also I would love to go to some places like Disney land. The reason why I want to go is because I want to see my old teacher in 5th grade.

Kemel Ataturk

Dear Joe,
I can’t believe what happened! The leader of my country, Turkey, Kemel Ataturk finally died. Maybe life can go back to normal like it used to be so long ago. Did I ever tell you about Kemel Ataturk? I can’t believe I keep calling him that! His real name is Mustafa Kemal, and always will be. He had no right to do what he did. Let me tell you the story.
Long, ago before Kemel barged in and ruined our religion, life was different. We wore the wonderful religious hat called a fez. Fezzes were made especially for praying so they wouldn’t fall off your head. And what did Kemel do? He banned fezzes and forced us to wear hats that fall of during praying! It’s an outrage! He also made us wear his kind clothing, and gave equal rights to woman! Women should wear veils just like they used to! Women should not be able to vote! Voting is a man’s right. Now we all walk around like idiots in brimmed hats! I guess Kemel didn’t understand that changing what we wore on our heads didn’t change what was in our heads. I also can’t imagine why he moved the capital from the great Istanbul to Ankara. The thing that made me mad the most was the fact that the reason they changed his name to Ataturk was that Ataturk means “father of the Turks”. Some father! He was supposed to be president, but got the powers of a dictator and controlled us! Anyway, he just died, and I hate to admit it, but I’m a little bit happy.
Well, see you later, and write back soon!
Love from,
Alparslan (1938)

I was just finshed feeding my little pigs and I was thinking of writing about them. Also I have to tell you that I have 8 but if you want some let me know. Oh did I tell that around Christmas my mom pig had babys and they are sooooo cute.Each of them have their own colors of fur like Daddy pig is brown and white and then Mommy pig is black and white and 3 of the babies are also black and white and the others are white and light brown. If you were wondering what they need if you want one, they need food you can get at Walmart, and some gerrn hay and a cage and a stick you can find in your back yard. Trust me they are easy to handle so just get one!!!

I think that Mr.Hetherington rocks because he always teaches somthing new,and not the same thing over and over again. He is a very friendly teacher who loves to teach Socal studies,well most of the time. Every time we have a test he lets us kids play Jeopardy the day before the test. When we learned about religions in Mr. Hetherington’s class he got me interested in my family’s religion alot more than I already was. We see movies on what we’re learning about most of the time. Mr.Hetherington taught me a new way to study which was by making mind maps, which is alot like two column notes. One of the really nice things he does is give all the kids a Friday treat unless he out of them. When Mr.Hetherington teaches class he doesn’t make it so long and boring, but he tries to get us kids interested in History and everything else.

Dear American friend,

I live in Turkey and have lived there my whole life. I live in the time period 1938. After World War I my life changed dramatically. One thing Kemal Ataturk, President of Turkey changed in 1938 was the capital from Istanbul to Ankara. Another change was I used to wear a veil but now Ataturk changed the law so we’re not allowed to wear the veils. My brother also used to wear a fez, which is a felt hat with a flat top, and had no brim. The non-brimmed hat made it easier to touch the ground with his forehead when praying. Now he wears a brimmed hat that shows that he has changed the law. Also, I used to go to school at home but now I go outside my home. Ataturk changed our language. At first I had a very hard time reading but I am used to it now. Because now books, newspapers and street signs are changed to the new western language. The new alphabet is somewhat of based on the Roman alphabet. Did you know that Ataturk means “Father of the Turks”? The government has changed to become a republic. Turkey has modernized from our old traditions. I forgot to mention because of the new rules, my mom now has to work. Before she stayed at home and did all of the housework and chores. Also, all women can vote because all women and men have all the same rights now. Ataturk died a few months ago. My family was happy that he died so he doesn’t make our town any different. But we are happy of some of the new laws so we are more modernized. I hope that you have learned about Turkey in 1938. Good-bye American friend.

Your friend,

Tracy

Dear My American Friend,

Here in Istanbul, Turkey, things haven’t been the same as it used to have been since 1925. Everyone here has changed the way they dressed by males wearing hats with brims than a fez, which is a felt hat with a flat top. Females don’t wear veils to hide their faces in public places and are going to school now! Well, it’s official, Kemal Ataturk, meaning “father of the Turks”, a.k.a. Mustafa Kemal has changed our way of life permanently. Mustafa Kemal was our powerful president of Turkey, but he more likely had all the power making him a dictator of this republic and his was the only political party to be allowed to run for office. But one day in 1925, he was found wearing Western clothing with a brimmed hat and made a law to ban all fezzes and veils from that day forth. After World War I, Kemal wanted to make great changes to Turkey, so he ended the rule of the Ottoman sultans, making Turkey now a republic, but that wasn’t enough for Kemal. Making Western clothing the fashion that was sweeping the nation for all people, thanks to Kemal, and he moved to our capital, Ankara, and introduced the Roman alphabet. Everything changed for 5 decades since today when Kemal died now in 1938 and everything should be back to normal in time, maybe. All for a good cause, I guess.

Your Turkish Friend,

John Akmed

~Can You Caption It?~

You will find the picture to do the Caption on Below.

Rules:

• Must Keep The Caption School Appropriate.
• Put The Caption In A Comment In The Post To Enter.

Additional Information:

There is no prize, this is just for fun. Also their are no winners or losers. Have Fun!

Caption Picture:

Funny Dog Pictures Below. Enjoy!

1. This dog was interesting, It matches the towel very nicely, or is what I think is a dog just a towel?

2. I amagine this dog saying “I may look tired, but man can I drive!” or something like that…

3. “Guess Who This Is!” I think the cat is saying.

4. “Happy Birthday Brianne!” Thats What These Dogs Are Having A Birthday Party About!

5. Beach Pups!

Okay, Thats all of the pictures for the Dog Version.

The 2006 winter olympics is being held in Torrino, Italy. The U.S. snowborder Shaun White, competed in the olymics snowboarding the Half Pipe. The Half Pipe is a snowmade pipe with it’s top cut off.

The red head from California, 19 years old, spead down the HalfPipe at 46.8 seconds, recieving the gold medal. The U.S. was hoping for a repeat of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where they received gold, silver, and bronze medal. But instead a guy from Finland took bronze. Silver went to another U.S. competitor, and Gold was received by the Flying Tomatoe, A.K.A Shaun White. This is what you said after receiving the gold medal, ” I’m a little overwhelmed right now. I can’t explain it.” Shawn was a favorite in the Olympics, and expected to take first. Congrats on your first olympics medal Shaun!

Dear Ben,

My dear friend,

I have so much to talk to you about. Since World War (I) ended things have changed in many ways. Turkey is all thats left of the Ottoman Empire. All the rest of the empire was divided up by Britain,France and Italy.

Our president has changed and now it is Mustafa Kemal. He is of the Turkish Republic. Some of his changes are good and some are not. He is known as the “Father of the Turks.” I am not sure how I feel about him. He has told the men they can not waer anymore fezzes. He made it against the law. Fezzes are a flat topped hat with no brim. The fez hat made it easy for men to kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads when they prayed. He has the men wearing a western hat instead. This is hard for some of our men because they feel like they are being pulled from their faith.One man that I know put bandages around his head so he would not have to wear the hat Mustafa wants him too.

Turkish women have so many changes happening. We always wore vails to cover our faces. Now we are not allowed. Mustafa Kemeal thinks woman should be equal. I feel this is a good thing. Now woman get to go to real schools.We no longer have to be home schooled. We also can work in Government and business. He is letting us show we have a mind. Also we can vote, but I think it is pointless because our president is known as the president of the republic, but he is in fact a dictator. So elections are held and women can now vote, but our vote is meaningless because (we have) only one political party.

Not only has our clothing style changed,but also our alphabet has changed. He is changing every thing to a new roman base. Months in(to) (his) rule, he has ordered all newspapers, books and even our street signs to be printed in this new style.

Well my friend that covers alot of our changes. Please write back to me and let me know what your thoughts are on your new leader.

Your Friend,

MaryP

You may know who Mustafa Kemal is because of many reasons. For one he was the President of Turkey. About one year ago in 1938 Kemel sadly died. Everyone will remember Kemel but they all have their own opinion on his rules that will live on. Some people did not like some of his rules. Like no more wearing fezzes. He wanted everyone to wear “Western” clothing. If you were wondering, a fezz is a cylinder shape hat with a tassel on the top. They wore this while praying and bowing. They wore these particular hats becasue if they had a brim, the brin would hit the floor when they bowed down and knock the hat off. Kemel also passed a ban where women no longer were allowed to wear veils. Of course the men didn’t worry about that and neither do I. Personally I do not care for veils because even though they covered your face it was see through so the other people could see your face anyhow. One of the things that I appreciate is that he gave women rights like men to make them more equal. We will always remember him in many ways.

Your friend,

AlexC

Dear Ally,

How are you? Ever since Kemal was the leader life has changed so much. First, women can’t wear veils anymore! Also, men can’t wear fezzes either. Instead of fezzes men have to wear a hat with a brim! What’s up with that?! A man faked an injury and wore bandages around his head just so he didn’t have to wear a brimmed hat! Still, Mustafa Kemal has done many great things too. He gave the right for women to vote (awesome), he let’s women go to school and get an education (thanks), and Kemal gave women the right to take jobs too. He changed our lives so much, but in a very great way. All of these changes happened after World War 1. Can you believe it? About the fezzes, he thought that changing what goes on their heads would change what goes on in their heads. Like, how they think. Don’t ask me. I have no idea what was going on in his head. Anyway, Kemal also thought that he should modernize Turkey by having us wear Western-style clothes!

Later, Mustafa Kemal moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara! What was he thinking? Oh well, it doesn’t bother me that much. After that though he introduced the alphabet based on the Roman alphabet. A few months after the introduction of the alphabet, Kemal ordered to have all of the newspapers, signs, and books to be printed in the new style.

You know how I’ve been calling him Mustafa Kemal? Well he was later called Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk means ” father of the Turks “. Even though he was the president of the ” Republic “, he was infact a dictator! Everyone thought so. It wasn’t fair! Although, he died just this year. Even though he was a dictator I still feel bad about his death.

Your friend,

Kim

1/31/38

Dear Mr. H.,

Greetings!!!! I am a citizen of Turkey in the year of 1938. The leader of Turkey was Kemal Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal). He came into power after World War I, when all the Ottoman Empire was conquered except for Turkey. The Ottoman Empire stretched from Austria to a portion of Morocco. The Ottoman Empire had been around six hundred years. Constantinople was the capital of the whole Ottoman Empire. The capital was named after the great emperor Constantine. We chose the wrong side in World War I; it was the United States, France, and Great Britain against Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. Turkey’s main religion is Islam because we have mosques, are biggest mosque is the Blue Mosque. After the war, in 1925, Kemal Ataturk banned people from wearing fezzes. Fezzes made it so it would be easier to touch their foreheads to the ground when praying. Fezzes were a sign of the past to Mr. Ataturk. Kemel Ataturk also wanted the Turks to dress in western clothes. For women, he banned people from wearing veils. Kemal Ataturk thought that men and women should be equal. Kemal thought education was important and he built schools so the children wouldn’t have to learn at home. Kemel gave women the right to vote which was quite unusual. Mr. Ataturk introduced the Roman alphabet used in the western countries. He ordered all writing sources to print the new language. He also changed the capital from Istanbul to Ankara. This made me feel like everyone respects me and that we should be thankful for the rights we have. On the other hand, being a Muslim, I didn’t like the banning of fezzes, but, the western countries wouldn’t treat us poorly. I am enjoying learning the new language but it takes practice. Kemel Ataturk was one of the greatest leaders in Turkish history because he gave us rights we probably would never get. Ataturk has made life more modern than before World War 1. He has made Turkey a better and well-developing country. We are in mourning after the death of Kemal Ataturk this year. He made a big affect on me and my country.

Sincerely,

Your friend from Turkey

Jake S. 6E

News Flash…

We have just discovered where Mr.Easy came from…. wait our Easy Button heritage tracer machine is working wait… There there it is! The easy button apparently is from sector 3 from planet E-Zbut-ton! Wow so Mr. Easy is from sector 3 from planet E-Zbut-ton! Ok so now we need to send a space probe to see if it’s true.

20 years later

Yes thats right we just spent $60,000,000,000 dollers to find out if Mr. Easy really came from planet E-Zbut-ton but hey it was worth it. Ok maybe it wasn’t but we already got the ship there so no turning back. We have radio signals with the astronauts. “Billy Bob can you hear me?” “Yes sir I can”. “Ok” “yah” “sure” ok to tell you the truth (whisper) I didn’t think we would get this far!” Now let’s get down to business. “Ok Billy now all you have to do is look around the planet” “Roger” Ok now that he’s looking around we can turn on the screen and watch the “wonderful” view of this new planet…… Holy COW THERE ARE THINGS UP THERE! Oh they’re just taking Billy to their camp(oh by the way the things are easy buttons!) This is bill-y chhh… BANG!!! Ok that was weird!

Well looks like we will never find out the whole truth about Mr. Easy! AND I SPENT $60,000,000,000 DOLLERS ON THAT SPACE CRAFT! Oh well. See you next time on the

” That was easy show”

Dear New American Friend,

Hello. Apparently, the Unites States and Turkey are much different. Our former leader, Ataturk (who was called the “father of the Turks”) has just recently passed away. Like your culture, when he was alive, we could wear much of the hats you wear. He also made some rules about hats in general; he said that this hat (which we can now wear), a fezz, was not allowed to be worn. The reason people were so angry about this rule was that since we are very religious and pray five times a day toward Mecca (holy city), we must have our heads touch the ground. Well, since most hats have a brim, every time our heads touched the floor we hit our heads! So, we made a hat without a brim. He decided to just ignore people’s wanting of it; not to be mean, but his real intention was to give us new ideas. BY that I mean we have worn these hats for a very long time. So I guess you would say, “Out with the old and in with the new.” That isn’t the only rule change he made; he also wanted to give women equal rights, voting, getting educated, getting rid of the veils that covered women’s faces, and even the right to do a job. I agreed with a lot of these rules (except for the fezz rule). Hopefully, soon, we will have a new leader. Bye for now.

Your new Turkish friend,

Pedro

(by Matthew M.)

Dear American friend,

All of us men in Turkey have been wearing a hat called a Fez for almost a century. It is a circular hat with a flat top. Since there was no brim on Fezes, it made it easier for Muslim men to touch their foreheads to the ground when they were praying. In 1925 Mustafa Kemal, the presedent of the Turkish republic, was wearing a Western style hat with a brim. He told all of us that we had to wear the Western style hats. Many of us were very upset with this new law. The lives of women were also changed. Turkish women wore veils to cover their faces in public. Then Kemal told all Turkish women that they could not wear veils anymore. Girls in Turkey used to go to school in their homes. Kemal made them go to school outside their homes. Kemal wanted everyone to have equal rights. He gave all women the right to vote and the right to take jobs in business and government. Kemal wanted to make everything modern. That’s why he made all of us stop wearing Fezes. He changed many more things like moving the capital from Istanbul to Ankara, and introducing an alphabet based on the Romen alphabet. All newspapers, books, and street signs were printed in the new style. Mustafa Kemal was eventually called Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk means “father of the Turks”. In 1938 he died. My life and everyone else’s has changed a lot because of Kemal Ataturk.

Sincerely,

Your Turkish friend

Here are some funny photos I found on the web! Check them out!

Talk about nosey!

Since when are cats and mice friends

yah what!

“I love TV!”

Hope that you thought these photos were funny! And thank you Sara for making that other post which inspired me! I think that me and Sara should do funny photos together!

Dear Fredrick in America,

Just 2 weeks ago our leader Kemal Ataturk died so I decided to tell you a bit about him and what he has done to our country, Turkey. Ataturk was a great leader. One of the great things he did was give the women in our country the right to vote. Even though there was only one party to vote for, Him!! But the women could now vote for governors and other smaller political leaders. The only thing I disagreed with him about was the fact that he outlawed the fez hats! I personally think that the fez hats were a part of our traditional religion and that that was a bad thing to do. But away from the negatives, Ataturk modernized our country and I believe that our country would still be too ancient to survive without him. Also, without him we wouldn’t have all these modern things like, busses, trams, skyscrapers and cars. So now that Ataturk is gone first off we don’t have our great leader to lead us but we also don’t even have a leader. Who will lead us next? Well that’s all I know about Kemal Ataturk, Your friend in Istanbul, Turkey, Muslima Alli

In math I had a pickle during snack. The next day I got a 100 on my social studies test. Then the day after that we had a math quiz and what did i get on it……… drum roll please……100 i got two 100’s in one week. Talk about a lucky pickle!!!!!!

Personally I believe that the war in Iraq is necessary but you can think different if you want to. The Iraq War is not to just make the Iraqi people more like us but also to save them. Some people think the reason we went in there was just change their country, which is true, but we also went in there to save our people! If we left Saddam Hussain in power then he would have most likely attacked our country too! Also he would have killed many more innocent Iraqi people lives. Also we went to their country to free them. Freedom doesn’t come free! I am glad that we have freed them and now they have a new constitution and elected a new president.

Did you know about the smallest fish called Paedocyris Progenetica? The fish is in the carp (family) and lives in acidic tea colored water in Sumatra in Indonesia. Its body is completely see-through. Its head has no strong bones. It has bizarre grasping fins. It is about a quarter of an inch long. It is a male angle fish and its habitat will disappear. If you want more information about it go on http://www.timeforkids.com

This post is dedicated to anyone who needed to get a smile today! ———————————

Watch Out! Their are people undercover everywhere you go!

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A kittens and Birds were never friends…Untill now….

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What? Green helmets are in this year!

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Unlike the picture with the cat and bird before being friends…This bird just wanted revenge!

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Sometimes friendship in three’s is the best…

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Hang on Fridays Coming…(I saw that Quote on a poster…)

Okay, Thats the last one. I’m making a Dog Version too, So Watch for It. I hope I made someone have a good day today with this post. Bye! Sara XoXo

This past February the 40th aniversary of the super bowl took place with the Sea Hawks and the Steelers. (yah Sea Hawks) The Bowl was very close starting with the Sea Hawks scoring a field goal and starting off the game with a 3 point lead! But the Steelers fought back and scored a  touchdown and took the lead. The score was now 7-3 Steelers. Then the Sea Hawks fought back and scored a great touchdown! But….. The ref put out a flag! (I don’t think it should have come out but it did) The player that scored the touchdown pushed off the player guarding him and then scored the “touchdown”. Therefor, the touchdown did not count. Then later the Steelers intercepted the ball during what would have been a touchdown play for the Seahawks which would have put them in the lead! They ended up scoreing agian! The score was now 14-7 Steelers. Then miraculously the Sea Hawks got the ball and scored. The score now 14-14 tied. The Sea Hawks desperately needed a touchdown to win. But things went opposite for the Seahawks as the Steelers got another touchdown in the mid-fourth quarter. The Sea Hawks tried desperately to get at least one touchdown but they failed and the final score was 21-14 sniff sniff… Steelers:-( (sorry Steelers fans but I was rooting for the Sea Hawks) The Super Bowl was over but it will be one to reamember

I bet that you loved the Super Bowl but did you love the commercials? Did you know that for just 1/2 of a minute you would have to pay a big price of $2,500,000!!!Furthermore that’s for only 90,000,000 (people) to watch that one commercial. Just think how many commercials some people have. Some have more then 5. Even more, some people are starving and our world is more in-tuned with commercals! Long-time watcher of the bowl, DoreneM says ” People need to know what’s happening in the world so they can help and help other people.”

The French citizens are ready for a new leader who is honost, and in touch with their daily life. Well, I think they have a winner! This person isn’t going to be like other presidents, because this person is a woman! This ladies name is Segolene Royal. Royal is a mother of four and is speaking for her heart against television violence, pornography, pedophilia, and teen pregnancy. Although she has not won yet, she looks like she will. Coming shortly after the surprise election of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (in Spain), supporters of Royal began reffering to her as “la Zapatera”.

http://www.msnbc.msn.c