Fantasy Wars

Introduction


A dark villain known as Shracath, who has been hidden for years, finally emerges, attacks, and destroys a nearby town. Having heard about the attack, a young hero gets his sword, puts on his armor, and rides out on his horse into the dark night.
His name? Palono.
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Riding fast on the dangerous road to Shracath’s castle, which he built on the ruins of the village, Palono is almost thrown off his horse when an unseen beast in front of him makes a deafening roar. The beast lunges, but Palono is an expert fighter and leaps above the monsters arm, defeating him easily. Then, he gets back on his horse.
An arrow whizzes over his head, and another one, which he barely dodges. He turns, and sees some archer knights who work for Shracath. He rides fast, through a gorge, turning to shoot at the archers with his own bow every once in a while.
Finally, he makes it to the bridge to Shracath’s castle. A knight is at each corner of the bridge, plus two at the entrance. Palono is hidden from their sight, so he manages to shoot the first two soldiers, but that alerts the other four.
Palono defeats the next two by giving them a double slash and knocking them off the bridge. The third one he defeats by leaping above him and slashing him; he then defeats the other with a full slash around.
Upon entering the castle, Palono sights Shracath, who quickly swings his sword, knocking Palono down. He then runs up to the roof. Palono swiftly follows, beginning a fierce sword battle.
Soon, Shracath is forced to leap onto a balcony further down; Palono follows, using a rope. There, Palono attacks the momentarily stunned Shracath and quickly gains the upper hand. Palono then knocks Shracath into the pit, and he screams his rage all the way down.
When Palono returns home, he will be a hero.

Descriptive Words

A black and white skunk looks ugly, small and mean. It has a tail that squirts out a really stinky, smelly substance. I think its taste is really…well, I don’t know. I’ve never tasted a skunk. It stamps its feet, which sounds like a thump. I like what it feels like, though. It feels soft and furry. But of all the things I hate about a skunk, its smell is the thing I hate most.

The End

How to Make Applesauce

MS's Language Arts assignment this week was to write a set of directions. He thought about "How to Win Lego Star Wars for Wii," but he hasn't yet (although he's trying...), and he said it would take too long, so he settled for "How to Make Applesauce," which he can do from start to finish.

The first thing you do to make applesauce is to buy two kilos of apples at a local fruit store. Then, you wash them, and you get out your apple peeler corer slicer. And, of course, you core and slice them (we don’t peel them, because it’s healthier).
Afterwards, you put them in the crockpot and add cinnamon. Leave them in the crockpot for 6-8 hours on high. If you want to make it smoother, use a hand blender.
Finally, you enjoy them for breakfast or in recipes. I would suggest eating it for breakfast with yoghurt on top, or in muffins.

When he e-mailed me his final draft to post for him, MS commented that this is the quickest he's ever completed a Language Arts assignment, including edits. :-)

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.)