Room 613 Student Blogs - 2005/2006

Gulp (left), Room 613’s classroom plant, is happy and well-watered, in his summer quarters, Mr. H’s back porch.

We’ve had good times, and bad times in sixth grade. We’ve had time’s where we all laugh, and time’s where someone is toast. Anyways, we’ve all had many times, and they all are important in their own special way.

I’d just like to thank everyone for making all those “time’s” happen whether they were good or bad.

Also, I hope everyone has a good summer and I’ll see alot of you next year!

**Ps: This will be my last post on Room 613 Student Blogs. Thanks Mr. Hetherington for making the blog in the first place. =’)

-Sara

Well everyone knows what time it’s going to be right? And of course by that I mean summer vacation! I think the year has flown by. I hope all of the staff of grade six and all of it’s students can say that it has been a year to remember. […]… Have A great summer!!!

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR !

Recently our weblog was reviewed by 7th grade students from another school. As part of their assignment, the students of Room 140 were asked to read and blog about five student blogs from around the world. Room 613 Student Blogs was first on their review list and many students made very positive comments on your work. Here are just a few of the comments from the Room 140 students:
“I think that the blogs are very interesting. I think so because they are detailed and persuasive. The one that I liked the most was Room 613 Student Blogs because they had very interesting articles. One of them was The Poison Dart Frog. This article gives me immense information on the frog such as what it looks like, how it can harm us, and they also provide pictures of it.”

Way to go Kosta!

“I read multitudes of middle school blogs today were interesting and interactive, but some are not. There was one blog titled “Room 613″ and it was truly amazing. There blog had astonishing details and animation. There is an ocean of articles and information in this blog. In this blog I found a game called club penguin. The person who wrote this made that game sound exiting and not boring. The blog about Club Penguin told you how to play the game and was very detailed.”

Good Job SaraH.

“The kids in Room 613 have one of those blog sites. What makes this site so cool is that it talks about a lot of stuff, like as if they can right whatever they want, but isn’t that what a blog is for…YEA! They talk about the Three Gorge Dam, humorous photos, TV programs, science, space, etc. This blog also is like the normal life of a middle school kid, fun and interesting. It is very interesting and made me not want to stop reading it. Because of its perfect combination of pictures and text, it will always make a person wide awake and might teach them something in the process.”

And finally

WOW! You have a really creative and informative page. Love your pictures because it catches reader’s attention. The banana phone is really funny. Maybe that will be the next popular thing. The links where you got the information from is a very helpful tool. I like that you have multiple information. Such as science, some history, and important people. It’s like a one stop information page. Your writing is excellent as well, big words and great opinions.

Room 613 Students, I’m very proud of your accomplishments this year. Keep writing!

Mr. H.

As student council is coming to end and the new elections are being held next year I think. I better inform you all about it!

Student council is an excellent program. That is why you should run for it! The awesome activities after school are sure to keep you busy! There are also meetings every other Friday morning. We also hold dances, activity nights and fundraisers, such as the candy stick sale. Council members help collect food for drives and help out with things such as the upcoming art show. Also we get into most sponsored dances free!

There is also our director, Mr Jollif! He is very nice and fun and keeps us all in line. He organizes our field trips to conferences, our fun dances and activity nights. He also greets us every morning with an announcement sheet. Some(times) we can talk on the morning annoucements. Mr J also goes and gets us donuts, o.j. and bagels. All in all Mr J rocks!

Last but not least is the meetings. Each meeting is semi packed with fun ideas and thoughts for the up coming events. We discuss the last event we held and talk about how much $money$ we made. We have so much fun, sometimes we goof around but you didn’t hear it from me! Student council is the greatest activity in school and keeps you always busy!

So next year I hope you run for the fun and fantastic Student Council!

Oliver Twist

Just recently in the sixth grade chorus we finished performing the play, Oliver Twist.

Oliver Twist is about a little boy named Oliver who is an orphan who finds himself living in a work house owned by Mr. Bumble but after Oliver asks for more gruel he gets transfered to an undertaker. Oliver doesnt seem to like his new home with undertakers so he runs away and is found on the street by a boy named Jack Dawkins, who offers him shelter in a house owned by Fagin. Fagin is a man who trains orphans to pick pockets for him. Oliver stays with them for awhile but once he goes on his first “mission” involving stealing a hankerchief Oliver becomes scared and runs away. Then he is found by owner of the hankerchief and a man named Mr. Brownlow, who takes care of Oliver for awhile while he is fainted but then Mr. Brownlow’s and Oliver’s relationship is ruined when a man named Bill Sikes finds him and takes him back to Fagins hideout. Will Oliver be happy to be back with Fagin? Will he want to return to Mr. Brownlow? Will Oliver become a pick pocket master? Read the book, watch another play or see the movie of Oliver Twist to find out what happens.

Anyways, It was a blast, however, we had a little problem with opening the curtains but eventually the whole play went good and everyone pulled off a great performance!

Last Wednesday Mr.Hetherington, me, Emily M., Sam M.,an Sara H took a trip to the state legislative office building for the CECA Tech Expo, a technology convention. While we were there we talked to many people about our grade’s very own website and the Room 613 podcast. Some of the other demonstrations at this fair were students with family trees, and some students even had their own handhelds. Our school was one of about 30 schools. We had our own table and our website set up on Mr.Hetheringtons laptop. We also had our third podcast playing. Many people had questions about these two things that our school experences and some people didn’t even know what these things were. My favorite part of the trip was getting to meet new people and telling them about our podcast and our website. Now you may think that Mr Hetherington did all the talking right? Well he didnt, while we were talking about our school Mr Hetherington was off looking at some of the other schools presentations. Well, that’s what we did on Wednesday on our field trip to the L.O.B

So you ask? How does she do it? I don’t know but Mrs.Stice puts on many great shows performed by the “DRAMA BABIES.” But anyway she can do it with help from many stage crew guys,and the lights camera action light crew up top! This proformance has Aladdin played by eighth grader Jessie K., Princess Jasmine played by sixth grader Maya K. and Aladdin’s trusty pal Abu played by Tim B, also a sixth grader. Also there’s Jafar, a mean man with the thought of one day becoming the salton but later becomes a…………. aha you thought I was going to tell you,sorry you will just have to come see the performances put on by Mrs.Stice the director of the shows.The show is on the nights Thursday April 6th, and Friday April 7th. The matinee was on the 6th but its over so….. sorry. So that’s some information about that aka “The DRAMA Club” DadadadadaDA!Yeppee!

This was by Robyn S.

Image from:http://www.ezthemes.com/previews/a/aladdinyms.jpg

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What do you usually think of a book compared to the play? For those of you that saw it, what would you rate it? Our class went on a field trip to see the play, The Giver and we thought there were some positives and negatives about it after we saw it. We had compared it to the book for accuracy, and for any parts missing. First, we found out that 15 out of 18 students liked the book better than the play. The National Theatre Club was on tour, and they had to fit a significant part of The Giver into an 80 minute production. As you know, you wouldn’t be able to fit every detail of The Giver into a play. However, they jumped right into the Ceremony of 12, and there was only 6 people attending. Even the little things, like braids not in Lily’s hair were caught. In the end, they were really rushed and they skipped all of the escape because they said he just left. He had reached Elsewhere in no time and people that never read the book wouldn’t catch on. Despite the negatives, there are positives, and one thing I found they did well was they had really good sound effects. The grabbing of emotion was well done by the Club. A whole play would be so hard to act that some parts are going to have to be skipped. When they took questions, they said sometimes they would alter plays, but most things can’t be changed even though they are. This was a good play to go to, but it could be better.

March, 28 2006, our school’s 6th grade went to go see a play as a field trip along with many more schools. The play was based on the book The Giver. I would say my favorite part of the play was when Jonas first saw color, because I thought it was really cool how just all of a sudden the color all around on the stage turned red. I also liked it because of the creativity the crew did with the lights. Just to shock people they changed the lights red for one second. The drama was great, the make up was great, [and] I loved it.

Jonas is a male, 11, growing up in a colorless, feelingless world. It’s December in his community and almost time for ceremonies throughout the community, but Jonas is worried. When he is skipped for assignments he is even more fretful! Then suddenly as the apology leaves the head elders mouth he began to relax. He was selceted to be the new Reciever of Memory. He goes through painfull, endless training.

It has now been a year and Jonas has witnessed many different memories, and his father releasing a newborn. Jonas is horriefied of this process and to comort him and put him at ease he stays with the Giver. They make a plan for Jonas to run away to “Elsewhere” and his memories will be transmitted to the community. Jonas is ready to leave the next day when a voice on the loud speaker tells [him] that Gabe will be released. Jonas steals Gabe, extra left overs from dwellings around the community and his father’s scooter. They reach the other side of the river and then walk and walk and walk. And then ahead of them in the distance is a community waiting for Jonas, and the newchild, Gabe.

The Giver Theater Review

Have you ever seen the play, The Giver? If you haven’t here is a review to get you prepared to see it.

The production starts with you entering the room. Then you see the set, which is made up of paintings for backdrops and there are two projectors to show the announcements made by the elders of the community. Then the theater part of the productions begins shortly.

The Giver is about a boy named Jonas who becomes the next reciever of memory. The story is an exciting one, you never know what will happen next.

There were many great features in the play. For instance, the acting and how the actors stayed in character even when it wasn’t there turn to speak. Also, the costumes were grand because they were grey to give a visual that the community can’t see color. Another good thing about the play was that, with the small number of props they had, the production was still very awesome. However, one bad thing about the play was that sometimes It was a little hard to hear what they were saying. Overall, the production was fantastic though!

Now when you go see the play The Giver, you’ll know what to expect about the acting, but the end of the story will remain a surprise!

On one night as I’ve been told Mr.Hetherington’s laptop made funny sounds and he didn’t know what to do. Also he was at a meeting and he was about to do a little presentation with his laptop as so I’ve been told. So now Mr.Hetherington said,” ooo no now i’m so dead I can’t do my presentation”. After he said he turn off his computer and as he turned it back on it didn’t turn back on. [He finally borrowed one from Mr. C. to finish his presentation.]
Now he dosen’t have his computer and he dosen’t know what to do so he [had to buy a new one.!!!!!!!!!!!!]

The new Computer:

Today we enjoyed listening to Indian music while working on our “History of India” tables. Here is a link to the site, which has an incredible selection of music from the worlds largest democracy. You can choose from many styles of Indian music, including instrumental, IndiPop, folk music, and vocal. The music is also sorted by it’s region of origin. My personal favorite, so far at least, is Hindi. Take a listen (it’s free) and let us know what you think.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/

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.

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.

As you may have heard, John is a finalist in the Connecticut Defenders Coloring Contest! John needs all the support he can get so make sure to visit http://ctdefenders.com to vote for John! When you get to the site go to Kid Zone the press the button that says coloring contest, after that go down to the bottom of the page and VOTE FOR JOHN And as Mrs. E says ” A vote for John is a vote for you!” Remember that if John wins, the mascot of the Connecticut Defenders WILL COME TO OUR SCHOOL SO LETS GET OUT THERE AND VOTE FOR JOHN!!!

In December the 6th graders of our school and many others in Connecticut colored a poster handed out. John in our class is a finalist. If you want to see his poster or vote for him click here.

In Science Class we are learning about genetics, heredity and Mendel. We have started a “bean project” which we will be creating our own family base on the beans we pick out of the cups at school. We are expected to make at least 3 generations. And we can also make it any theme you’d like, my theme is super Heroes “The Kent Family”. We have to have three partners to fulfill our expectations.