Friday, September 26, 2008

If I could meet someone from the past, it would be the inventor of the very first 3D video game. And we would talk, and I would ask him lots of questions like why he decided to make videogames more realistic, and then I would go back to my time, come back, and show him how far 3D games have gone and that there aren’t many 2D games on the latest consoles. Then, I would get my Wii, step back into my time portal, and warp back to my time.

Team Retreat

The next day, MS had to flesh out his outline by writing a paper on the experience he'd outline (which he found easier than the outlining himself).

One time, a few weeks ago, our team went on a retreat (hence the name). The hotel we stayed at was called The Olive Branch. We did a lot of things there, but I can only mention a few. Anyway, let’s start with our packing and getting there…

The first thing we did was to pack all our things: swim stuff, entertainment, like Leapsters, game boys, Legos, and blocks. We also packed things we needed, like clothing and snacks. Then, we loaded the car, started it, and drove to the McBride’s house. There, we helped our team load their cars and vans and drove to the retreat place.

After that, we got our room keys, went to our room, and unpacked. Afterwards, we went downstairs and had lunch, which was chicken nuggets, soft drinks, and French fries and went back upstairs for a meeting. At the meeting, the fun really started. We had entertainment, like game boy, leapster, and DVD’s (the electronics) and building toys such as Mega Blocks and Legos. We also started two clubs, one of which I will mention later. Afterward, we went swimming, had dinner, watched a movie, (Waterhorse Legend Of The Deep) in the meeting room, and went back to our rooms to sleep.

The next morning, we got ready, went downstairs, and ate breakfast, which was cornflakes with milk and sugar and toast with apricot jam. After which, we went upstairs to a meeting. At the first part of the meeting, we went down to the game room. Nearby, we found three kittens and named them Ben, Didi, and Sasha. Then, we went upstairs and continued the Daredevil Club. In the club, you do “daring” things (same as the name) like being swung by your wrists back and forth and landing on a cushion. Also, you get swung around and land on a cushion. Then, we finished the meeting, ate lunch, had another meeting, packed and left.
I really enjoyed my weekend that time. I can’t wait until the next retreat.

Team Retreat Outline

MS was supposed to "Outline an Experience" for creative writing last week. This was an introduction to the concept of outlining and had to be at least three levels deep.

I. Getting there
A. Packing
1. Swim stuff
2. Entertainment
a. Electric
i. Computer
ii. Leapsters
b. Non-electric
i. Plush toys
ii. Books
3. Needs
a. Snacks
b. Clothes
B. Leaving
1. Loaded the car
2. Started the car
3. Drove to McBride’s house
4. Helped friends with loading
5. Drove to retreat
II. Day One
A. Arriving
1. Got our room keys
2. Went to our room
3. Unpacked
B. Activities
1. Lunch
a. Chicken nuggets
b. Ketchup
c. Soft drinks
2. Meeting
a. Entertainment
i. Electronics: game boy, leapster, DVD’s
ii. Building: Legos mega blocks
iii. Gymnastics: cushions
b. Exercise
3. Swimming
a. Dinner
b. Movie:” Waterhorse, Legend of the deep”
c. Back to rooms
d. Sleeping
III. Day Two
A. Breakfast
1. Got ready
2. Went downstairs
3. Ate
a. Cereal
i. Cornflakes with milk and sugar
b. Toast with apricot jam
B. Meeting
1. Went to game room
a. Found kittens
i. Ben
ii. Sasha
iii. Didi
2. Went upstairs
3. Continued Daredevil Club
a. Got swung back and forth and landed on cushions
b. Got swung around in a circle
c. Rode on the bucking bronco: Nathan
4. Finished meeting
C. Lunch
D. Another meeting: same thing
E. Finished meeting
F. Packed up
G. left

Okay, the formatting didn't come out at all, and I don't know enough about Blogger to fix this. I'll ask ML when he gets home, and hopefully, come back and fix it.

The Serpent of Ka

In relation to studying the period of time in which Germany became a single state (when the Brothers Grimm were collecting fairy tales), MS's history assignment this week was to write a fairy tale based on a family story.

One fine day, the adventurer M****** and his friend S*** are looking for some excitement. Suddenly, a great quake rises from inside the earth! But then it fades just as quickly as it started.
“What was that?” asks S***.
“Ahhhhhhh!” yells S*** as he is yanked back by a long, slimy tail.
M****** leaps into action and grabs the creature’s tail and pulls hard on it. The serpent drops Seth and rears up above Malachi, ready to strike!
MM****** jumps over the creature’s head and strikes it with a blow from his sword! The serpent roars with fury and starts chasing the adventurer. M****** leads the creature around until it gets tied up!
M******strikes the final blow with his sword!

(The family story was one in which ML and MS were exploring the B./G. family ranch. S*** G. suddenly pointed out that there was a rattlesnake directly in MS's path, as in, MS would have stepped on it and possibly gotten bitten. The dads halted the hike and took care of the snake, and all was well (except, maybe, for the dads' nerves). I suggested to MS that maybe he took a little too much glory for himself in the fairy tale version, given the original course of events, but he chose to leave it as it was.)

A Science Recollection

JW's Language Arts assignment this week was a Science Recollection, something fun or interesting or something that had gone wrong. He, of course, chose something that had gone wrong.

A science experiment to test which parts of the body feel correctly went wrong. I was better with feeling things with my feet than with my hands. It's supposed to be my hands that can feel the most things correctly. It went right for the other two people, though.

The Man in Black

One of JW's assignments today was to write a simple dialog (Sonlight Language Arts 2, Week 3). He was given some potential conversation starters. Instead, he chose to write a story incorporating all of the sentences given (listed at the end). Together, we did some light editing once it was done, and I helped out with an idea or two, but this is all JW, all the way. His imagination, creativity and way with words amazes me!

Joe, on the way into the restaurant to meet his cousin Jerry for dinner, suddenly passes a man carrying an animal that is extremely strange to him.

“What in the world is that?” asked Joe.

“An orangutan,” said the man in the yellow hat.

“Oh, is that what one looks like! Where did he come from?”

“He came from Asia, I bought him in France, and now he lives in America.”

“Then, what are you going to do with him now?” asked Joe.

“I’m going to feed him this mango,” the man in the yellow hat said.

The man in black whispered, “Put down that mango."

Joe pleaded to the man in black, “Don’t take the mango from the man in the yellow hat! It would really upset my cousin Jerry. He loves orangutans and hates it when people don’t feed them. He’s just in the next room, and he might hear you and get upset.”

The man in black didn’t answer. Instead, he smashed the octopus’ tank.

The octopus swirled out of the remains of the tank, grabbing Joe.

LaRonda raced into the room. “Yikes!” shouted LaRonda, “Who’s the whiz bang who thought it was a good idea to taunt the octopus?”

LaRonda leaped to the octopus, punching the arm that held Joe. It loosened its grip just enough for Joe to slip out.

In all the commotion, the man in black had slipped out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the dining area of the restaurant, Jerry, not knowing the chaos happening at the same time, was arguing with the waiter.

“No,” insisted Jerry. “I did not order the sesame chicken. And I wanted boneless, not meatless”

As he looked away from the chicken, a mysterious man quickly bumped the plate, sending it spinning towards Jerry. The plate crashed, and the chicken skeleton landed on Jerry’s head, sealing him inside it. Smashing his cage of chicken bones, he leaped up, just as the man in black sped into the room, looking for somewhere to hide.

And then, the man in the yellow hat, Joe and LaRonda leaped through the window into the room.

The man in black, not wanting to fight, rolled up his sleeves and got ready to punch.

As the man in black got ready, the man in the yellow hat turned to Joe.

“Could you please hold my orangutan?” pleaded the man in the yellow hat.

Joe said, “Sure!”

The man in black charged, but then he slipped on the water seeping from the smashed octopus tank in the next room. It splashed the waiter in the face, making him drop his ten kilogram dish right in the direction of Jerry.

As Jerry is too scared to move, Joe hands the orangutan to LaRonda, leaped to his feet and leaped once again, diving for Jerry. Joe swept Jerry off his feet, carrying Jerry to a safe place just in time.

The dish smashed on the floor.

Meanwhile, the orangutan, put down by LaRonda, so she could fight on the man in the yellow hat’s side, started throwing leftover food at the man in black. (So putting him down, actually probably was a good thing.)

The man in black, suddenly hit by pieces of the ten kilogram dish and various chicken bones, fell backwards.

When he finally regained consciousness, he raised a white flag saying, “I give up!”

THE END


And here are the sentences he was given as options:
- “What in the world is that?” asked Joe.
- The man in black whispered, “Put down that mango.”
- “Yikes!” shouted LaRonda, “Who’s the whiz bang who thought it was a good idea to taunt the octopus?”
- “Could you please hold my orangutan?” pleaded the man in the yellow hat.
- “No,” insisted Jerry. “I did not order the sesame chicken."