Free-hand sketch by Jon T.

Upcoming Events at CMS! March and April 2011

REMAINDER OF MARCH

Friday the 18th- end of second trimester
Friday the 18th- Spaghetti Supper (6:30-9)
Tuesday the 22nd- Grade 7 ELA Long Composition MCAS
Wednesday the 23rd- All grades MCAS ELA Reading Comp. Session 1
Thursday the 24th- All grades MCAS ELA Reading Comp. Session 2
Monday the 28th- Report cards mailed out!

APRIL

Tuesday the 5th- National Spanish Exam for 8th graders
Thursday the 7th- House Huddles, all grades
Friday the 8th- opening of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown! (7-9 pm)
Thursday the 14th- 7th grade exchange students leave for China
Monday the 18th-Friday the 22nd- April break!
Monday the 25th- 7th graders return from China
Tuesday the 26th- 8th graders leave for DC trip

Somalian Pirates

Danish family is taken hostage by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean

Somali is now becoming known for it’s blood-thirsty pirates. On February 24th, three Danish children and their parents were taken hostage by Somali pirates while they were sailing in the Indian Ocean. The children were said to be from the ages of 12 and 16, and that two crew members were also taken hostage. As of last week, the EU’s anti-piracy naval force said that pirates are estimated to be holding 31 vessels and 688 hostages. Many of the vessels they target are cargo ships sailing near the Gulf of Aden.

The ship with the Danish family on it sent out a distress signal on Thursday. The Danes are the second non-commercial sailors taken by pirates in recent weeks. For an example, a group of Americans were seized earlier in February and four were shot when the US forces tried to rescue them. The pirates seem to be responding with increasing violence as navy forces try to rescue the hostages. Two Philippine sailors were murdered last month because the pirates were enraged at the attempted rescue.

This is becoming a serious issue. Somali gangs have recently hijacked a tanker with $200m worth of crude oil on board. To try to control the issue, international naval forces patrolling the area will try to free more hostages.

Original Story- BBC News
Re-Written By- Emily L.

Crazy Maniac Writes HP Chapter on Bathroom Wall

Harry Potter's awesome, but seriously, who spends their time doing this?

Snow Day Comic by Mattsen

Alumni Artwork by Zoe H-M.

Zoe, a tenth grader at CCHS and a CMS alum, is a talented artist who kindly lent her work to the lit blog!

"The Intergalactic Spy" (Part I) by Tyler L.

Michael sat cross-legged at the concert hall listening to the music. all of a sudden, his pager started beeping. He hated it when the pager interrupted interesting things, well granted it was a school concert but still. He hurried outside to answer his phone. It was Agent Glox, and he needed a lot of help in some Dsubjkfgjkhiovian Country. Michael hurriedly called his driver: he may have been an intergalactic spy, but he still couldn’t drive.

His driver came shortly and took him to the nearest spaceport where he got into his private space ship. It was a 200-foot tall affair with fusion generators that produced 7 million pounds of thrust. It glimmered in the late afternoon light, looking just like a typical cruiser (it was an undercover vehicle).

Michael strapped in and ignited the engines and took off in a roar of smoke. He felt the full pull of 10 g forces as he neared mach 9.9. He wondered what was going to happen to him this time.

As Michael neared the asteroid belt several lkuluian fighters began to close in and a transmission between the two ships began.

“Good morning Mr. Michael," the Ikuluian chief began. “It has come to my attention that you are going to prevent a large war from happening on planet Dsubjkfgkhiov, we need that war to happen and if it doesn’t, well lets not go there. Now if you turn around you and Earth will be left alone, if you refuse to cooperate then things won’t be too pretty.”

“Let me on my way!” demanded Michael. “ I am a member of the company of Intergalactic Spies, and it is a federal offense to keep me from going anywhere.”

“Once we’re done no one will be able to trace this unfortunate event to us. Open fire, men!” exclaimed the Ikuluian chief. There was a loud zapping in the vast atmosphere of space, and a cloud of smoke.


What will happen to Michael?! Tune in next time to Learn!

Student Artwork with Ms. Plante

In Ms. Plante's eighth grade art classes, students have been very busy lately! In one recent project, students had to choose which element (earth, air, wind, water, or fire) best represented their personality and illustrate themselves as that element. In another, students visually represented the famous poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

Student contributors:
Alec Y.
Ashley Y.
Avalon O.
Joel S.
Kaleigh D.
Sachi W.

Project 351: Interview with our Concord rep, Sophie D. by Isabel F.

1. What is Project 351 and how did you get involved?
Project 351 was a day of community service in honor of governor Deval Patrick's inauguration. It brought kids from every town in Massachusetts into Boston to help out at various organizations.

2. What community service do you take part in currently?
I participate in BookPALS, a program that brings Concord kids into read to 1st-4th graders. I also help out at my church, helping out with the holiday kids' craft fair, and the Secret Santa program, and stuff like that.

3. Describe your day with Project 351.
We all met at Cradles to Crayons in Boston, where we had breakfast, Governor Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Murray talked to us about what we would be doing, and we were assigned a service site. I went to the Dimock Center (a support center/preschool focused on helping women and children). The center is making room for 100 more toddlers, and I helped paint a room and make fleece blankets for kids if they forget one for nap time. It was really fun, someone had an iPod and we sang along as we painted. At about 3, we drove back to Cradles to Crayons and had another meeting with the governor, including a question and answer section. Then we had dinner, and at about 5:45 we were bussed home.

4. Did you meet any other kids? What were they like?
On the bus into Boston I actually met another girl named Sophie, and we sat together to Boston and back. Sadly she was assigned to a different service site, so we didn't work together. At the Dimock Center I met two other girls, and we had a great time cutting fleece and painting. Everyone was really committed and nice, and they all seemed like they wanted to help out.

5. Did you meet Gov. Patrick or any other public figures?
Gov. Patrick came to the Dimock Center when I was working on blankets, and I got my picture taken with him. He is really nice, not too professional and formal. He seemed really interested in hearing what we had to say and checking in on our work. When we got back Sophie (who had been assigned to the food bank) told me that she had met Ray Allen (from the Boston Celtics). I was jealous, but at least I met the governor!

6. What did you get most out of the experience?
Project 351 helped show everyone, I think, that community service doesn't have to be a big, complicated, and boring thing. All I did was paint a room and tie fringe on blankets, but I know some little kids are going to really appreciate it later. And I had an amazing time, so it barely felt like work at all. Everyone there seemed really inspired to go home and help out in their own communities.

Website: How Many of Me

This is a fun website where you can enter your name and see how many people in the USA share it. Submitted by Taylor W.

HOW MANY OF ME

Insane Video: Rubix Cube in under 7 seconds!

This kid from Australia moves FAST.

FELIKS ZEMDEGS WORLD RECORD

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie: a book review by Tyler L.

A fantastic murder mystery by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express is very well written and leaves plenty of tricky clues to help solve the mystery. The end is unexpected but very logical when you look back. This is a fantastic book for anyone who enjoys a good detective case. The characters are well crafted with distinctive personalities that contribute to the clues. This book is fast paced and fun to solve. If you read this, I suggest you try and solve the mystery yourself before you finish.

"Snowflake" by Tyler L.

dancing

glimmering

crystals

gently

falling

to

the ground

sporcle.com: A Website Review by Sam W.

The first thing that most people think when they hear about Sporcle is: What does Sporcle mean? After extensive research, I have discovered it. The site’s founder, Matt Ramme, says that he based the name “Sporcle” off of the word oracle. The icon of Sporcle is a crystal ball, used by oracles. Now you may wonder, what is the use of Sporcle? Sporcle.com is a quiz website with a mission. Their mission statement is “We actively and methodically search out new and innovative ways to prevent our users from getting any work done whatsoever.” Sporcle is the #1 tool for procrastination, but also it’s fun, and incredibly addicting. About 4 games are published each day, and the quizzes range from educational to just for fun. The top ten games include the Countries of the World quiz, the US States quiz, Corporate Logos quiz, Commonest Words in the English Language, and more. Sporcle is a good and fun quiz site for everyone that is allowed to go on the computer and can read.

Concord Equestrian Team Review

Hi, I’m Annie B. and I’m on the Concord Equestrian Team (CET). The CET practices at Verrill Farm Stables in Concord and competes in a series of horse shows that go from September to April. The shows can be as far as Georgia! What you do is you go to someone else’s barn, but instead of riding your own horses, you pick a horse’s name from another barn out of a hat. Then that would be the horse you would ride in the class you signed up for.

The first stage in the season is Zone-1 (which is held Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut, etc.). There are five horse shows that go until February. The next stage, Zone finals, is a really big show which all of New England participates in. After Zone Finals, there are Nationals and Regionals. In April, your whole team packs up and goes to Atlanta, Georgia for the final show.

I’ve seen my friend Chloe H. go through all of this, and it does NOT look easy. This year, i hope to go to finals. Below is a little video of how hard doing all of this is, but eventually, it all gets easier. Thanks for reading!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xtAxxkwJAg

Watch the WHOLE thing!!!!!!!!!!!

Its AWESOME!!

WINNER OF THE HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE IS...

The runner up of the Halloween Challenge is Taylor W.

One day, there was a Jack o’ Lantern. The lantern was very sweet, but it’s voice was blood-curdling. Even it’s luminous glow couldn’t distract people from the hideous sound he made. People considering listening to him a “thrill”. Only felines could listen to him without screaming in agony. To try to meet people, the Jack o’ Lantern, masqueraded himself as a witch and tried to make a conversation with some trick or treaters. The people looked like they had seen a specter and ran away. The Jack o’ Lantern slipped off into the shadows. From then on, the Lantern only talked to nocturnal cats.

The winning challenge was submitted by Grace O. Even though it's a little past Oct. 31, we hope you enjoy this spooky story!

The thrill came to George as he looked out from the jack ‘o’ lantern. The small mouse sniffed around. He stuck his head out the eye hole. His fur crawled when he heard a blood-curdling scream. In his surprise George fell, landing on top of his baby sister. They had run away when they were attacked viciously by raccoons. Now all they had left was this pumpkin, on Hallowe’en night.

The shadow of a giant loomed over the small home. This was the first Hallowe’en the mice had ever lived in. Batty, the bat, soared over. They were friends. Batty had helped George and Lily survive. Suddenly, a small shiny package fell from the sky. George wandered out from the the pumpkin sanctuary into the world of monsters.

When George finally reached the mystery package, Lily wandered out. Lily didn’t know that George would be back soon. She thought that he had left her for the night, she was scared. In her wanderings she felt a small chill trickled down her back. The Clouds swirled, and the gloomy trees ruffled. A small child masqueraded, he pretended to be a small dragon. The luminous pumpkin cried out to Lily with her light, warning her not to go any further. Just as Lily turned around she was swept off her feet.

George turned around after eating chocolate, his memory of the taste like a specter in the chilly evening air. The feline dropped Lily down into the melting chocolate bar. Nocturnal animals started to come out. Their noises frightened George as he hauled Lily to safety.

How to Judge a Book by its Cover by Taylor W.

So many people say, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. By now, it is a cliché, and quite honestly, it is false. We will be teaching you, how to judge a book by its cover.

We will start with the book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”. The first thing you notice about this seemingly innocent book is the smiley boy with a scar and spiky black hair. He is holding onto a bird, which looks like it would rather not be there. Some snakes are crawling out through cracks, and one snake is suspended in mid air. There is also a sword hanging out of nothing. Judging by this cover, I would say this book is about a crazy kid who tries to escape the asylum by hanging onto a bird while being followed by snakes. Would I recommend this book? No.

Next, we will be reviewing “Frindle”. So from what we have gathered so far, it appears it is about a ginger who has a sacred pen that everyone idolizes. His wire frame glasses give us the impression that he is stuck in the 80’s, perhaps a time traveling plot will unfold later on? The words in the background seem to give the definition of pen. So unless you enjoy reading dictionaries in your freetime, then I would strongly suggest that you steer clear of this book.

"November" by Tyler L.

November
Eleventh month of the year
Bare skeleton trees dancing in the wind
Mushy pumpkins on the step
Thanksgiving and turkeys near
Curling smoke in the air
November

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney: Review by Caroline H.

What would you do if you saw your face titled as “MISSING” on a milk carton? For Janie Johnson, it would be to tell her boyfriend Reeve Shields. In The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney, Janie recognizes herself in five year old form on a milk carton from her best friend, Sarah Charlotte. The carton calls her Jennie Spring, who lives in New Jersey and was kidnapped almost twelve years ago. Janie begins to have flashbacks, remembering random tidbits of what she believes to be her former life. The dress she wears in the picture, the shopping mall where she was taken. But her parents are nice and kind, a little on the old side maybe, but she could never picture them coldheartedly stealing a child. Finally she can’t take it anymore and gets Reeve, in the grade above her, to drive her down to her former parents house. She arrives just in time to see four kids, with the same thick, red hair as herself, get off a school bus and walk into a house. Janie is scared as more and more of the memories haunt her, and she realizes the Johnson’s have no pictures of her from five years and younger. As she explores the attic in search for pictures of herself, she finds a trunk marked “Hannah”, she looks in and sees a baptismal gown and pictures of a blond girl. This awakens new fears that her parents had stolen her in order to cope with the loss of another child. Unable to stand it any longer she asks her parents, Frank and Miranda Johnson, about Hannah. This exciting page turner will keep up at night, and the answer to Janie’s question will completely blow you away. If you like this book, I would recommend the sequels, Whatever Happened to Janie?, and The Voice on the Radio. Caroline Cooney is a well known and accredited author writing many other books, with suspense romance, horror, and mystery for teenage readers.