Penguins (by William)

Imagine you are visiting Antarctica in the winter time, and you see nothing but snow and ice.  Suddenly you hear honking, you turn around to see funny birds waddling toward you.  What are they?  Of course they are penguins!

Chapter 1: Where Penguins Live

Some people might think that penguins only live in Antarctica, but the fact is that some penguins live in the Galapagos Islands, Africa, the South part of Oceania, and South America.  Most people know that penguins live in Antarctica.  They have many layers of fat to survive the Antarctic winters.  The Emperor penguins stay in Antarctica year-round and they don’t build nests.

Chapter 2: Penguin Features

Penguins have special features to adapt to the world around them.  All penguins have flippers and webbed feet for steering in the water, soft feathers to keep warm, and think oily feathers to keep the water out.  Penguins also have bards on their tongues which face inward to trap slippery prey and curved beaks to hold onto their prey.  They eat fish, squid, and krill.
Some features can keep the penguins safe.  For example, penguins have black feathers on their backs, so when a predator is looking down at a penguin I water, the predator only sees darkness.  When a predator is looking up at a penguin, all it sees is brightness since the tummy has white feather.  This is called camouflage.

Chapter 3: Penguin Habits

All penguins have habits.  They include swimming, surfing, singing, dancing, sledding, and hopping.  Those habits help them adapt to their habitats.

Penguins swim to catch their prey, they also swim to get away from predators.  If penguins can swim, why cannot they surf?  Surfing is a good way for penguins to get from water to land.

Penguins sing to find a mate and to recognize their voices.  Chicks also sing to their parents to locate each other.  Penguin also dance to find a mate and show off their talent!

Penguins slide on their bellies or feet to get somewhere fast.  Some penguins hop 5 feet tall to get somewhere high!

Chapter 4: Living in Colonies

Penguins live in colonies for a lot of reasons.  I will tell you about each reason.

One reason for penguins to live in colonies is to keep warm.  How do they do that?  They huddle together!  They do that by forming a big huddle, struggling to keep warm mainly in the winter.

Penguins also live in colonies because one penguin has one pair of eyes and can only see small surroundings.  That is the risk of not living in numbers or colonies.  Living in numbers help penguins spot a lurking predator easily.

The other reason for living in colonies is to find a mate.

Chapter 5: Types of Penguins

There are different types of penguins.  There are 17 species of penguins living in the world.

The smallest penguin in the world is the Little Blue or Fairy penguins.  They only stand 30 centimeters tall.  They live in Southern Oceania.

The largest penguin in the world is the Emperor penguins.  The adults stand about 120 centimeters tall.  They live in Antarctica year-round.

The most common penguins are the Adelie, King, and Emperor penguins.

Conclusion

Penguin life is not always easy.  In the past, people used to hunt penguins and their eggs.  Now this is illegal by the world law.  Penguins are now protected.

Rio 3: Blu’s Trip around the World - Part 3 (by William)

There they were in Norman, Oklahoma.  The family perched on Ethan’s roof.  The first few days in Oklahoma were fine, sunny skies, white clouds, and breezy winds. 

Jewel was about to fly back to the Blue Spix Macaw village, but Blu encouraged her to explore the world, learn new things and eat new foods.  “Okay, let’s continue exploring!” agreed Jewel.  The kids cheered to continue the journey.  Bia wanted to see new animals.  Carla wanted to try new food, and Tiago wanted to do more sightseeing. 

One windy morning, Blu and Jewel were awaken by thunder.  “Oh no, we have to wake the kids up,” cried Jewel frantically.  “Kids, wake up, it’s a supercell.”  “What is a supercell?”  Asked Carla, Bia, and Tiago altogether.  “A supercell is a storm that unleashes tornados.” And with that, they flew off to Fairview, Pennsylvania.

(Uncle Kevin's home is birds friendly)

Safely perched on Kevin’s roof, they could see Lake Erie.  They could have a break, just for now.  

What do I feel? by Ethan

When my mom kisses me on my cheek, I feel love, candy, hearts, etc. falling all over on me.

When mom and dad hold my hands and three of us walking on the street, I feel like we are best friends.

When I touch my mom's eyebrow, I feel like 2 dozen teddy bears are cuddling me.

When we have guests coming visit us, I feel excited like a spinning tornado.

When I listen to Arnold Lobel's stories, I feel very affective and like I'm covered with bunch of roses.

When I watch Mission Impossible movies, I feel shaky and ever so slightly dizzy like I'm sitting on a vibrating seat.

When I enjoy beautiful music like Turandot or The Phantom of the Opera, I feel like I'm sitting on a rose.

When I read good books like The BFG or Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, I feel like I'm surrounded by unusual imaginary stuff.

When we have winter I feel cold and joyful and like I'm standing on the top of snow drift.

When we have spring I feel very bloomy and excited and like a gardener is planting flowers in my scalp.

When we have summer I feel hot and energetic and  like I'm standing in golden love.

When we have autumn I feel the joy of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Dream Series 3 From Earth to Mars by Ethan

One day I was in a river on Earth and I was grabbing onto a strong cord attached to a fast moving underwater motorboat. The boat was handled by a very strong guy who liked to scream a lot. As I inched my way forward I got through this special glass. It was like a holographic image, but it still kept water out. On the very moment I hit the bottom of the boat, it changed into a UFO. A short antenna sprouted from the top, it had a little green ball on the end.

The number of windows increased, and it became bigger. There were even tables and chairs and a rose window (a round window made from colored glass). There were 2 other people too, a gentleman and a little girl. But I didn't know them.

Very quickly, the UFO transported me to an imaginary city on Mars.It was a dark night but there were cars, streets and buildings everywhere.

Then, again, I woke up, it was only a dream! The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) is a dream-blowing giant, so he must have blew them into my bedroom.

Dream Series 2 A trip to Russia by Ethan

Once upon a time my family bundled up ourselves in our winter clothes and set off for Russia.

When we were almost to a large plain in Russia, I spotted a small, white table where no one was sitting. Soon we and some other visitors heard a voice, It came from a speakerless  microphone:"Welcome to Russia!" it said. As it spoke, I glanced up and saw a city! A tall skyscraper building had a red cloth on it. I also saw two languages printed on it. I immediately recognized the first one: Russian. But the second one was pretty strange. At last I had it! Korean!

There were also Scooby-Doo! characters and we were in a factory. But I wasn't in it. At first Shaggy fell through the roof and landed on a thick pipe, then he fall off the pipe into a bundle of chains. The workers down below didn't notice him - for they were too busy working. Then he jumped out of the chains and fell on a staircase. Then Scooby came out of a hole in the wall onto the staircase too, then Velma appeared also through the roof, but she landed on the staircase instead of the pipe. "What are you doing?" she asked, then Velma sat down with Shaggy.

Suddenly we were in a huge mansion with a red carpet flooring being chased by huge, ferocious robot dogs, and I hid in a bath tub still as a rod.

Then I woke up, It was only a dream!

Dream Series 1 Whale Riding by Ethan

One night, I had a very good dream. I was riding a blue whale in a 1 mile (1.6km) river. I was on my way to a huge playground with at least 3 slides. It also had a rock climbing place and a net. It even had also at least 3 monkey bars.

The whale was very slow, for it took an hour to get there. I played on the playground for a while, then I went back to where I'd started. But this time I found a building and went right in. The building had at least 20 floors and was very tall. I ran up a flight of stairs until I came to a door. When I opened it, I saw a bridge that was about the same length as the river. The bridge had a concrete floor and blue railings. There was also netting stretched between a railing and side of the floor to keep me from falling off.

I was just about to explore the other side of the bridge, but I woke up!

Rio 3: Blu’s Trip around the World - Part 2 (by William)

Just two days after Blu’s family settled in Los Angeles, California, a young boy named William walked out his door.  He was a tall and smart eight years old boy.  He had brownish eyes and blackish brownish hair. 

William loved birds, so he took them in for a snack.  After that, they went to the park to take a little stroll.  Then William remembered that his mom told him to go to Trader Joe’s to buy five lemons so he led them to Trader Joe’s.  William told Blu and his family to wait outside while he shopped for the lemons. 

Just then, the meanest kid in town darted into view.  He was only eight but had a heart made out of coal.  When he saw the birds, he chased them while William was buying lemons.  When William saw the mean kid chasing Blue and his family, he yelled at the mean kid, “No, No!”  Blu took his family to fly away to Norman, Oklahoma.

Perched on Ethan’s roof, they could see the city skyline and they were safe…just for now!