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

KidsView Staff: Jessie A. GoGo GreenGreen Night!Night! Erin A. Lauren A. By: Chloe K. Ally B. Emily B. Go Green Night was attended by Sabrina B. Glencoe families on April 3rd. Dylan B. Everyone learned a lot to make Bari B. By Jenna B.+ Olivia J. Jenna B. their homes greener! There were many activities. Paul B. First, in the library, the Green Bag Lunch company For the Mathathon, students Lucas B. brought yummy samples. This company provides get a booklet or a CD rom Celia B. and do a lot of math Jack C. healthy lunches using organic food and “green” problems. Each problem Samantha C. packaging so it is almost waste free. There was also they finish raises money for Henry E. Green Bingo and Whole Foods was giving out bags for St. Jude Children’s Research Andrew F. Hospital. Kids at West Eric F. students to decorate and be used on Earth Day. A School came in early in the Eliana F. tea company served organic tea without any chemicals morning to do the Mathathon Chloe F. in it. In the gym, there was an animal show with booklets. They worked in the Wil G. lunchroom because there is a Charlie G. snakes, lizards and owls from around this area. A guy lot of room. Our students Oscar J. named Ricky Recycle put on a show, telling about tried their best to raise money Olivia J. recycling and how you can make the world a better for St. Jude just as kids all Ravi J. over the world are trying to Mia K. place to live! On the other side of the gym you could raise money for the kids at St. Chloe K. play a game called “Oh Deer.” Outside in the Jude. The Mathathon started Madeline K. hallway there was a display of green cleaning Monday April 14 and ended Sabrina K. April 17. There were 250 Danny K. supplies. Another activity was recyclable art problems in each booklet and Sam L. projects made out of CDs. SWANCC brought in a lot CD rom. Students used the Billy L. of different products made out of recycled bottles, CD rom at home. Parents Tatum M. and grandparents or anyone Enya M. cans and other materials. There was a raffle for could sponsor you or give a Jessica N. the shoes that West students made in art class. flat donation. The math Carolyn N. Many people won a class shoe! There was a planting problems are different for John R. each grade. Everyone in Roman S. activity too. Kids planted seeds and some of the West School can do it. Mrs. Andy S. seedlings will be planted in the West School garden. Moninski is the Mathathon Lily S. teacher at West and a math On display in the David S. teacher. At West we raised Bianca S. front hall was the $ 29,003.51. Indigo S. Green Flag that West Ariel S. Hannah V. K. won! Finally there was Chayla W. a demonstration of our Ceejay X. daily lunchroom

Editors: recycling. Go Green Ms. Salzman Family Night was Ms. Melamed really fun and full of Recycled products and the EPA information!! The Fourth Grade The Green Flag Award By: John R. & Billy L. Dance Performance The Green Flag award was won by everyone at West School. West was awarded this flag because we Reduce, By: Colin M. Reuse and Recycle. It WEST-This year every fourth was given by the Center grader created a dance about saving for Health, Environment the environment. For example Mrs. and Justice. In order to Mullenix’s class’s dance was about win the award, the recycle club filled out a special survey. the ozone layer and Ms. Schwetz’s class danced about ways to recycle. West teachers then wrote about what we do to Reduce, The process began right after Recycle and Reuse at West. The survey asked what we winter break when every fourth recycle. We recycle batteries, printer cartridges, cell phones grade class got an environmental and pop tabs. Every day in the lunchroom we separate topic and studied all about it. Next, recyclables from our lunch trash. We also save vegetable food they met a dance instructor from scraps to put in our compost bin that will help our gardens the Thodos Dance Chicago grow. Right now we are collecting Crocs. That is how our Company and talked about what school won the Green Flag award! We are so proud! they had learned. After that, the students started to talk about how Debbie Dadey By: Madeline K. they could express their ideas and Author, Debbie Dadey visited West School on April 29. Dadey was what they learned in a dance and born on May 18th, 1959 in Kentucky. She has written over 125 also what music would fit with books including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series, their dance. Some classes had more The Worst Name in Third Grade, The Ghostville Elementary series, than one song. After we created and The Swamp Monster in Third Grade series. She wrote her first the dance and chose music, we book with a little help from Marcia Thorton Jones. While at West practiced. In the computer lab, she told us about her books and what it’s like to be an author. She every fourth grader created a design 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 about their topic and it was ironed books were not a series at first but became one around her fourth onto a t-shirt to wear for the dance book. A publisher called and asked Ms. Dadey, “Could you please show. Then it was finally time for write six more books for your series?” She agreed and the series the dress rehearsal! All of the third continued to grow! Then one day she asked her son if he wanted to graders came and watched. Last but write a book with her. He wasn’t too excited and complained about not least, it was time for the real having to write a book with his mom. She said, “Come on - the best thing! All of the parents came and part about writing a book is that you can watched the fourth graders dance make it up.” So she asked him questions and I hope you enjoyed the show! 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

The Ross Books Schwetz Class Is Making Books By Bianca S. and Eliana F. By: Sabrina B. and Samantha C. Have you heard the news? NO! Seriously? No! Have you heard? There are authors at Well, the Schwetz class is making books! They West School! Mrs. Ross’ 4th grade class worked hard are the coolest of cool books. First of all, each book is based on a fictional story set in a on creating books. We want to tell you how it was done! National Park in the U.S. The books that First, the students read a nonfiction Time For Kids book. Samantha and I wrote take place in the Grand The choices were Look Out For Lava, Pony Express, Canyon during the time of the Pony Express. Angel Island, Life In A Canyon, and At the Center of the Some of our classmate’s books take place in Hawaii, Mammoth Cave, and the Redwood Earth. After reading one of the books, we planned a Forest. The books needed at least 11 pages and story based on the book we read. For instance, At the colorful, detailed pictures. First, we read the Center of the Earth takes place in Mammoth Cave, so if books to get facts about the National Park. Then we went into the lab to type a story. We worked you read that you wrote a story set in Mammoth Cave on the story for about 1 1/2 weeks and then and included facts from the book. After writing their rewrote, added, and edited to make sure the stories, students received a blank hardcover book to put story included: 7 similes, 3 metaphors, 9 strong verbs, 3 idioms, 2 onomatopoeias, and 14 their story in. Next for illustrations we found pictures on descriptive adjectives. This means: the internet, printed them, or scanned them onto other Simile: comparing two unlikely things using like pictures. We could also draw pictures and scan them or as. (He was as scary as Dracula.) onto other backgrounds. Finally, we made the cover, Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike dedication, verso page, acknowledgments, and an things that have something in common. (He was a scary bat.) “about the author” page. The class presented the books Strong Verb: A verb used to spice up a sentence. and described the process to parents, siblings, and (He stuttered, “She is gone,”) other relatives who came to see and read their finished Idiom: An expression whose meaning is not books in the library. Students wrote comments in their the same as it sounds. (He let the cat out of the bag.) classmate’s books. It was a big hit! Here are the Onomatopoeia: a word that makes the sound it comments from some students in Mrs. Ross’ class. Rose describes. (the train went, CHOO-CHOO!) G. said “I liked that each book had a different character. I Descriptive adjectives: An adjective that is more also liked being the first person to finish so I could help EXCITING! (sweat dribbled down his chin as he other people.” Haley H. said, “I liked writing the story waited for his test score.) For the illustrations, we could draw our and doing the illustrations.” “The project was very characters and find backgrounds from the exciting and it also taught me new things,” thought Blake. Internet. Finally, we created a publishing “My favorite part was putting in the illustrations,” said company name. For a “go Zack. Hannah W. said, “I liked the fact that anyone can beyond”, we do whatever they wanted to. You took a boring could make a nonfiction book and turned it into a fun fiction book with dedication page. The process was real facts.” really fun. I hope you visit our class to see the books. We worked really hard!

Schwetz books Classroom News continued...

Soldier Visits West By: Eric F. and Jessica 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 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. New SMARTboards The Prairie By Carolyne N. Last March, all of the third grade classes went to the prairie for their last visit of the year. Somme Prairie is 70 acres A SMARTboard is long. There are only two small prairies in the whole reserve, so we a white board that By: Andrew should try to save as much as possible. One thing the third graders is connected to a F. 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 computer, laptop, space. In the winter, buckthorn looks like a big stick that got stuck DVD player and more. in the ground. In the spring, it looks like a green plant and it grows The Smartboard is like a touch very fast. Cutting it helps the prairie plants have room to grow. In sensitive white board because you the spring students also spread seeds for the new prairie plants. can draw on it. Teachers can use Last winter, kids slid on the ice and went on hikes. They also, of them to create fun and different course, cut buckthorn. lessons. The classes at West Last fall, the third graders played hide that have them now are Ms. and seek in the tall, Arsenijevic, Ms. Sacher, Ms. tall grass. They also Mooney, Ms. Schwetz and the took the seeds off of computer lab. Ms. Ross, Ms. various plants. They Buchanan, Ms. Berkley and Ms. went on hikes to visit Mullenix are getting new Smart all parts of the prairie boards next year. Smartboards too. Everyone had a great time and they are provided to our school by the hope to visit again Glencoe Education Foundation. soon! SMARTboards are awesome! Environment Energy

GLOBAL WARNING!! Earth Day By: Ariel S. By Chayla W. Earth Day is a name used for two different Did you know that every day you leave the lights on you contribute to melting a observances, both held annually during glacier? So what, it’s just a stupid glacier, spring in the northern hemisphere and you may think. But what if that glacier, autumn in the southern hemisphere. These way up in the North Pole, so far away are “intended to inspire awareness of and from you was an animal’s home? A polar appreciation for the Earth's environment.” bear, to specify. Every glacier YOU help to What is the history of Earth Day? How melt because YOU leave the lights on could be the home of a living creature, did it start? Senator Gaylord Nelson had an idea to get President and when that iceberg melts, that Kennedy to make people think about taking care of the Earth. The creature flounders around and eventually Senator went to discuss the proposal with Attorney General dies. Because you left the lights on. Yep, Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. On that’s part of the global warming April 22, 1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the problem. But even as you cause it, you first Earth Day. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the can also help fight it. Instead of regular light bulbs that release heat as well as globe. This year on Earth Day, Glencoe had an Earth Day Clean- light, go save a polar bear with Up, in which kids and their parents walk around Glencoe to clean incandescent light bulbs. And that is only up trash. There are many different places to clean up because the one of the many things you can do. village wants the whole town to be clean! The different places TURN OFF LIGHTS AND OTHER POWER were: Green Bay trail-north end, Central School, Friends Park, EATERS LIKE THE COMPUTER WHEN Kalk Park, Village Green, Wildflower Sanctuary, Lakefront NOT IN USE! Global warming is supported by its Park\Bluff, Green Bay trail-south end, Skokie Lagoons and Little buddy greenhouse effect. This is when House. Parents could also volunteer and help pass out bags. After the earth stores heat like a greenhouse. the clean up, volunteers celebrated with hamburgers and This heat stays with us. Two super villains lemonade. We hope you’ll do the Earth Day Clean-Up every year! now, huh? And this time Batman can’t For great Earth Day games go to this web site: help us: we need to be the heroes of this resources.kaboose.com/games/earthday.htlm?source=topnvan& amp. story. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO!!! You are probably thinking right now. Well then Laminating Danger! By Eliana F. let me tell you: follow the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Before I went to my Grandmother’s house one night, I asked a So now I hope that we all know we are few classmates if they wanted me to laminate one of their Winning Ways responsible for the earth’s condition. We at West papers. They all said “yes!” When I showed up at my also know that you can help our planet grandmother’s house, I had a stack of Winning Ways at West papers but it’s your choice and no one can force you - it’s still a free country. Just a under my arm. “Grandma, can we laminate these papers with your polluted one! No joke. Please just turn laminating machine?” I asked. To my surprise, she told me “I can off the lights a little more, and do the 3 laminate them, but it would be hurting the environment.” I was R’s regularly. Think of the polar bears and astounded. I wanted to help the environment by laminating, not hurt think cool. We can work together - just try. Please! 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, Tips for Reusing: but just sit in the dump forever. So the moral is - If you can avoid • Wash out old glass jars and use them for laminating a paper, you should. But if you have to, try to put many a fishbowl instead of buying one papers in the machine at once, so you don’t have many scraps of • Use washable plates and bring a reusable extra plastic to waste. You might think that one little scrap doesn’t make lunch bag. All these things help make earth a better place to live, and help its a difference, but if 100,000 people thought that, there would be one animals and people thrive and protect our 100,000 scraps of lamination just sitting in the dump, forever. I hope planet from becoming a toxic waste dump. you learned a lesson from my little story and next time you want something laminated, think twice before you do it. Rave Reviews

The 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 DancingDancing withwith thethe StarsStars Reviewed by: Sam L. Reviewed by: Enya M.

There is a great Tv show, , in which celebrities are paired with famous ballroom dancers and compete to win the fabulous 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 American Idol rocks! American Idol is a (magician), Priscilla Presley (actress, producer, television show for all ages where people entrepreneur and was the wife of Elvis), Monica who think they can sing try out in 10 Seles (tennis champ), Jason Taylor (NFL man of different states. Over 1,000 try out but only the year), Marissa Jaret Winkour (Tony Award about 30 make it per state. There are three winning actress), and (Olympic judges: Simon Cowell, , and champion figure skater). The judges are Len Randy Jackson. In my opinion, Simon is the Goodman, , and Bruno Toniolli. meanest judge. He thinks the performance Also, there is a ballroom kids competition. During or song is bad most of the time, or he really the week, some kids perform and the judges pick likes it. Paula is the nicest. She likes the their favorite couple and the favorites face off in the finals. Whoever wins is the Dancing with the performance about 99 percent of the time. Stars Junior Champion! The professional dancers Randy is the judge that doesn’t really like are: , , , the performance so much, but he doesn’t Jullianne and , Kym Johnson, hate it. Once you make the first round you Jonathan Roberts, Fabian Sanchez, Edtya are on to the second round which is in Sliwinska, Fabian Sanchez, , Anna Hollywood! In Hollywood you have to sing Trebunskaya, and . This last in front of the judges, and you have to do a season was Season 6. The dances the couples have lot better. Hollywood week is also the week to do are the , Viennese , , where you get to play an instrument, which , Cha Cha Cha, , , Fox-trot, was new this season. When you’re done , to name a few. The finalists get to do a with Hollywood week you move to the top freestyle. There also is a group dance! The judges 24. The top 24 gives contestents a chance score up to 10. The hosts are and to use background music. Then you have to Samantha Harris. On the results show one couple be really, really good to reach the top 12. gets eliminated and there is a bottom two. Whoever gets the least number of votes from the The top 12 isn't a lot different from top 24, viewers in the bottom two goes home. I think but if you are not really good you will get Dancing with the Stars is one of the best shows on voted out quick. In top 12 there's a television! 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! The Spiderwick Chronicles Cloak and Dagger Review of Books 1-3 By: Lucas B. Reviewed by: Lauren A. and Hannah V. If you like adventure and “Jack Flack to Lady Ace. Come in Lady Ace. I monsters and creatures then the Spiderwick books are have to tell you about this awesome movie for you. The Spiderwick called Cloak and Dagger.” Cloak and Chronicles, by Tony DiTerlizzi, Dagger is a wonderful 80’s film about a boy, are about 3 kids named Simon, Davey, and his imaginary friend, Jack Flack Mallory and Jared Grace. They shown in the picture. Davey makes up a lot find a field guide to the of stories so people start not to believe him Spiderwick world that their great uncle Arthur made. until he witnesses a murder! The only There is a Brownie named Thimblack, a Griffen people who believe him are Jack Flack and “ named Bryon, an Elf named Leaf Horned Elf, an aunt Lady Ace”, Davey’s neighbor and his best named Lucinda, a Phooka, and many more amazing friend. The person who got murdered gave creatures. There are also goblins that want the Spiderwick Field Guide. In the first book Jared, Davey a tape and said “ Don’t let those Mallory, and Simon find their Uncle Arthur's secret people take this Cloak and Dagger tape.” room and get the field guide. Then they meet Davey is in for a lot of trouble. He gets Thimblack. In the second book they find the Seeing chased by spies who want the tape. Davey Stone which allows them to see the creatures in the Spiderwick. Simon gets captured by goblins and they has a friend, Morris, who is a video game have to save him. In the third book they meet a leaf tester. He looks at the Cloak and Dagger horned elf and Thimblack steals the guide and the elf tape and finds out that it has information traps Simon until they get the guide back. These are about an Air Force plane. Slowly his dad the things that happen in books 1 to 3. Read them and see the movie for sure! starts believing Davey. The spy that wants the tape is missing her pinky and ring finger Pirates of the Caribbean - The on her right hand. They look like they are sweet grandparents but don’t believe what Curse of the Black Pearl you see! The grandparents are really, really Review by: Ravi J. and Andy S. bad foreign spies. They get the tape and Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl is a are going to the airport. What will Davey do? movie about a pirate named Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, the They get to the airport and start shooting all star of Sweeney Todd), a princess named Elizabeth Swann the security guards. They get on the plane (Keira Knightly, from Atonement) and a blacksmith named Will and take Davey with them but there is no Turner (Orlando Bloom from Troy). The first movie was pilot. Luckily they didn’t know Davey’s dad inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. and they didn't know that he was a pilot. So In the first movie, (there have been 2 sequels) Elizabeth finds a Davey’s dad pilots the plane to save Davey’s boy in the water who is a pirate. She pulls him onto her father’s life. You’ll have to watch the rest of the boat and sees his necklace with a skull on it. She takes it and movie to find out what happens! years later she gets involved with Jack Sparrow and ends up on his pirate ship. The pirate boy grows up to be a You should see this blacksmith. One day Captain Jack movie if Sparrow comes to where Elizabeth you really Swann lives. He gets captured by the like movies army but when another pirate’s "un- with action. dead" army attacks the village, Will You can rent Turner breaks Jack Sparrow out of it at The jail. They steal a boat and go to find Glencoe Elizabeth Swann who was captured Public on another pirate ship. See the movie Library. to see if they save her. And Don’t Miss...

Off the Rails Reviewed by: Eliana F. 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.

The Revenge of the Shadow King Harry Potter and the Half- Reviewed BY: OSCAR J. Blood Prince If you and your friends enjoy a scare, this is a book you might Reviewed by Emily B. want to share. The Revenge of Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince was the Shadow King, by Derek released on July 16, 2005. Benz, is the first book in the It’sthe second to last book in trilogy Grey Griffins. In this the series. It was set during “goose bump growing” story, four friends have Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts, formed a secret group called the Grey Griffins. They where Harry explores Lord play a card game called Round Table in which the Voldemort’s (otherwise known playing card’s monsters and faeries can escape as Tom Marvolo Riddle) past. through portals and appear. One of them, the Slayer Before school starts, Voldemort goblin is almost as powerful as a truck and as fast and and his Death Eaters cause problems stealthy as a cheetah. The Slayer is after Max. Max is throughout Britain. Minister of Magic a boy from one of the richest families in the world. He Cornelius Fudge has been forced to resign. At is the leader of the group. By his side, Harley, who his home in Spinner’s End, Snape is sworn to can barely afford food on his table, is second in an Unbreakable Vow by Draco’s mom. At command. Natalia, the smartest one in the group, has Hogwarts, Snape is announced as the new the dream job of being a detective, and is the researcher. Finally Ernie, the puny one and also the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. fraidy cat of the group, doesn't do much at all. Max Death Eaters continue attacking throughout finds a book called Codex Spiritus. The book has the year. Harry realizes his true feelings made Max stronger and more powerful to fight the for Ginny. Dumbledore privately tutors Harry faeries of Faerie Land, pass epic quests, go through using his pensive. Somebody kills Dumbledore, mind bending spells, make new friends, and find but I won’t tell you who. All I can tell you is Titania’ s jewel which is the key to save the world. that you need to read all of the books, and Have the time of your life following the trilogy, The see all five movies (don’t tell anyone but Rise of Black Wolf and The Fall of Templar. movie number six is coming out on 6-21-08). The Series Pendragon Reviewed by: Indigo Stelian 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. byReviewed by: Peter and the Starcatchers Trilogy Celia B 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! Have you ever eaten at Ruth Chris Steakhouse? If you haven’t you Ruth Chris should! One of their specialties is steak. You can get it rare, medium Steak House rare, medium, and well done. You can also have lobster, pork chops, and lots of other things. Their appetizers are salad, soup, and shoestring By: Mia K. and Lily S. 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! Awesome Animals White’s Tree Frogs Panda Bears By: David S. By: Sabrina K. White’s Tree Frogs are a kind of frog that lives Panda Bears are an in Australia, New Guinea, Honduras, Brazil, endangered species that El Salvador, Congo, Panama, Guatemala, only live in the wild in the Costa Rica and Singapore. A White’s Tree Frog can be any color from mountains in China. light green to light blue to gray. They can also change colors. My White’s According to the latest Tree Frog is green and sometimes changes to a brown. The colder and reports China has 239 pandas less humid it is, the darker color it becomes. They are not usually afraid in captivity. The Chinese Government has 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 banned hunting pandas to protect them. There and the oldest one recorded was 21. Some scientists think that a White’s are only 700 pandas living in the wild today. Tree Frog can partly control their body temperature. In the summer some Pandas can grow up to 350 pounds and when might wander into peoples’ homes looking for someplace moist. Their they are born they are only 5 ounces. 99% of a scientific name is Litoria Caerulea. They are nocturnal. Their average panda’s diet is bamboo. Because they have to length is 4 inches. Males are usually a little smaller than females. The chew the bamboo they have really strong jaws males also have looser skin. Babies can be an inch long and they will and that gives them a big, round head. Pandas grow up to be about four inches long. A frog can lay 200-1000 eggs a may eat other food too such as honey, eggs, fish, season! It takes about 5 weeks for a tadpole to become an adult. White’s yams, shrub leaves, oranges and bananas. Pandas Tree Frogs are also called Whites, Smiling Frogs, Dumpy Tree Frog or are part of the bear family which also includes White’s Dumpy Tree Frog. White’s Dumpy Tree Frogs have little white the black bear, polar bear and brown bear. freckles all over their body. White’s Tree Frogs make great pets . I think pandas are the #1 bear! Rambunctious Rabbits By: Paul B. and Roman S. 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’s back legs are so strong they can do flips running down a hill. When they stand on their back legs it means they’re curious about something and if they grind their teeth it means they’re Dwarf Rex . 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. Talking with the Teachers

Charlie Interviews Mrs. Boggs By: Charlie G. 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 invented the Pin Test. She got the idea from the saying, “it is so quiet that you 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.

Meet Mrs. Hand Mrs. Hand is a third grade teacher at West school. Her full By: Tatum M. name is Susan Harriet Hand. She was born in Los Angeles, California. She went to Northwestern University for her undergraduate degree and National Louis for her masters in 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 Mr. Young By: ERIN A. and JESSIE A. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s most embarrassing moment happened in the (Mr. Young) summer after 2nd grade. She was in day camp and it was By Danny K. 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 Hi, my name is Danny and I interviewed movie she likes best. Growing up she lived in a house in Mr. Young. I think he is a very Highland Park. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a interesting person and maybe you tree house. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s first name is Amy Aileen. Her would like to read about him. His full parents named her after a song called “Once in Love With name is Shep H. Young. His wife’s name Amy.” When Mrs. Fitzgerald was a kid some people called is Sally. He has two daughters, Hattie her field mouse because her last name was Field. Mrs. and Margo. He was born in Michigan Fitzgerald’s proudest moment as a parent was recently when City, Indiana. He grew up in Chicago. her daughter Amber learned how to read and her daughter Mr. Young now lives in Glencoe. Before Erin donated her hair to Locks of Love. Mrs. Fitzgerald has he came to Glencoe he lived in New family in the area. Her parents still live in Highland Park, and York. His parents live in Highland Park. her grandmother and aunt live in Wilmette. “I think the biggest He went to Beloit College, Parsons difference from when I was growing up in the world is Design College and is graduating from computers. When I was in school I had to type papers on a National Louis this June. Beloit College typewriter, and there was no Internet,” she said. When she is in Wisconsin, Parson’s is in New York was in school the most popular clothes were Adidas shoes and National Louis is in Skokie. If Mr. and Jordache Jeans, neither of which her parents would let Young could be a specialist teacher he her have. She said, “The haircut of the day was a Dorothy would be an art teacher. If he had a Hamill haircut. She was an Olympic skater, and it looked choice to be any grade teacher he horrible on me!” 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. The Scoop on the Shapiro Gang By: Bari B. & Ally B.

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!

Behind the Scenes with Ms. Burgess Ms. Burgess loves the restaurant Blue Stone. By: Chloe F. Her favorite subject when she was in fourth grade was reading. The subject that she likes to Ms. Burgess 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! AllAll SortsSorts ofof SportsSports White Sox 2008 Kosuke Fukudome March By: Ceejay X By: Will G. With a terrible season last One amazing thing about year, the White Sox acquired some new players. They are: Fukudome is that he was the Madness Nick Swisher CF, Orlando youngest player to enter the Cabrera SS, Octavio Dotel Olympics in Atlanta. He was 19 By: Henry E. RP, Scott Linebrink RP, years old and it was 1996. In March Madness is a tournament Carlos Quentin LF and the Olympics he played for that college Division I basketball Alexei Ramirez CF. The Japan and they won a silver lineup for the teams play in every year to see 2008 White Sox is: medal. His baseball team in who is the championship team. 1. Nick Swisher CF Japan was called the Chunichi March Madness was born in 2. Orlando Cabrera SS Dragons. He played right field. Illinois because the first one to 3. Jim Thome DH Fukudome throws right and 4. Paul Konerko 1B use that name was the Illinois bats left. In 2004, Fukudome High School Basketball 5. Jermaine Dye RF won both the Central league 6. A.J. Pierzynski C Association. It is known now for M.V.P. and a bronze medal at 7. Carlos Quentin LF the NCAA College Basketball 8. Joe Crede 3B and the Summer Olympics. That 9. Juan Uribe 2B. probably was a great thing in Tournament. It starts with 65 The White Sox also traded Fukudome’s life. Fukudome’s teams. They put them in four for the new players. The first position was shortstop and brackets, North, South, East and ones they traded away he was picked in the first round West. Then they play and include: Jon Garland SP, Scott of the Japanese baseball draft. eliminate one team each game Podsednik LF, Tadahito After playing really well in until the “Sweet Sixteen”, “Elite Iguchi 2B, Darin Erstad CF, Japan for several years, he Eight”, “Final Four” and then the Rob Mackowiak LF, Ryan agreed to come to the United championship game. The Sweeney CF and David States. Then the Cubs signed tournament takes three weeks in Aardsma RP. So far A.J. him with a 4 year $48 million Pierzynski’s average is different cities. How do they around .260 to .280, not too dollar contract. Now he is in his decide what teams play in the bad. Nick Swisher’s average first year of the American tournament? First, the first place is around .200 to .220. major leagues with the Chicago team from each Division I White Sox injuries include Cubs. He has had a great first conference gets to play. Then Danny Richar for 15-days. season, hitting .308 with 17 Free agents next year RBI’s and also a slugging the selection committee picks include Joe Crede 3B, Juan the rest using team rankings, Uribe SS, Orlando Cabrera percentage of .432 so far. On SS and Jim Thome DH. opening day vendors outside win-loss records and RPI data. Gavin Floyd, a pitcher, is Wrigley Field sold T-shirts to UCLA has won the most times doing pretty good compared honor him. Now do you know with 11 national titles and then to last year, he got a one who Kosuke Fukudome is? Kentucky with 7 and Indiana hitter. I hope the White Sox have a great season! University is third with 5 titles. Sports Sites MLB Ballparks of the future The United Center and By: Dylan b. Chicago Stadium By: Jack C. Yankee Stadium II is the replacement for the most In 1988, William Writz who recently passed famous ballpark in the world, Yankee Stadium, built in away and was owner of the Chicago 1923. Yankee Stadium II will house 53,000 fans and is Blackhawks and Jerry Reinsdorf who owned planned to open in April 2009. It will have a 58 by 103 and was team chairman of the Chicago Bulls, foot high definition scoreboard and 12,000 trees around became partners to build a sports arena that the stadium. Citi Field is the new New York Mets would take sports and entertainment into the ballpark opening in April 2009. It will have a Jackie 21st century. In the month of April of 1992 the construction began for the future home of Robinson memorial, seat 45,000 fans, and have two Chicago Blackhawk’s hockey and Chicago restaurants. Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium are Bull’s basketball. It would replace the Chicago great ballparks, so I suggest you go to them now. Stadium which was the original stadium for the Marlins Ballpark will have a retractable roof. (Miami Bulls and Blackhawks. It was opened on March Marlins is the new name). Opening in April 2011, Miami 28, 1929 and cost $9.5 million. It was the Ballpark is on the site of the Orange Bowl, the old biggest at its time, larger than Madison Square Garden which sat half as many people and college football stadium. Holding 37,000 fans, Miami Detroit’s Olympia Stadium which sat 1500. Ballpark will be one of the few retractable roof One of the reasons the Chicago Stadium is so stadiums. The Tampa Bay Rays are building a 35,000 famous is because of its nickname “Madhouse seat retractable roof stadium Even though Tropicana on Madison”. One reason is during the Star Field was finished in 1998, it has a roof made of Spangled Banner the crowd goes wild (which concrete and does not hold that many fans. Opening in also happens at the United Center). Another reason it is so famous is because of the way 2012, Rays Ballpark is right on the waterfront of St. the seats are designed. Let’s say that you sat in Petersburg, Florida. The roof is pulled open by heavy the seventh row - you would be around five ropes. Twins Ballpark is the new outdoor Minnesota feet away, but at the United Center if you were Twins stadium, expected to be finished in April 2010. in the same seat, you would be ten feet away. The Metrodome, where the Twins now play was built for The United Center has hosted 200 events football not baseball, so the Twins are moving out and since the opening. Some events are: The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce into a 42,000 seat stadium, the first outdoor Twins Springsteen and the E Street Band, Paul stadium since 1981. Crisco Field will host the Oakland McCartney, U2, The Who, The 3 Tenors, A’s starting in 2012. The McAfee Coliseum, the A’s Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, current home was also built for football. The 34,000 Disney on Ice, the Big Ten Men's Basketball seat Crisco Field has a grass surface and is estimated Tournament, the Men's NCAA Basketball to cost between $400-$500 million. Make sure you visit Tournament, the Great Eight Classic, Illinois College Basketball, Champions on Ice, Miley these old stadiums before you will never see them Cirus, NBA basketball, High School hockey again. Then see the new ones! 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.

Ray’s ballpark is a retractable roof stadium. KidsView is