Hi! If you saw my other blog post about Zoetropes, then this is right after that. First, we chose either, a Primary, Secondary, an analogus color scheme.

Primary= Red, Blue and Yellow

Secondary= Orange, Purple and Green

Analogus= Any Three colors next to each other

Here is my Collage:

As you can probably see, I haven’t finished my collage yet. But I am working on it!

The next thing we did was use different materials like pastels and paint to make texture papers. Two of each color in your color scheme. You then had to rip them up and place them on a sketch that you made from 3 real life things. I chose a vase, a dog and a rubber bouncy ball. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I’m done!

Hello World! It’s me Stella, once again. But I am here to tell you about 5th Grade ART! In the beginning of the year, we made these things called Zoetropes.

Zoetropes are long stripes of paper of a different material that are put in a cylinder with slits. The slits are so you can see the illustrations. Each illustration changes a little bit so it looks like the picture is moving.

This is an example of 2 pictures in my Zoetrope. my idea was to have a water gun, continue to squirt water, because that’s just what water guns do. At the end the water from the water gun would hit a cat, and all of it’s hairs would stand on end.

Well that’s a Zoetrope for you.

Hello World! It’s me Stella and a couple of weeks ago we went to this place called Ashokan in the Catskills of Upstate New York!

We took a bus and when we got there we had a welcome meeting in a giant circle with all of the 5th grader and the 6th graders at LREI. After that we grabbed our stuff and went up to the bunk house and unpacked a little. We had an open rec period and we played soccer, football, tag and just hung around. We went into the rec hall and had another meeting and then, we had lunch. My first activity after that was called trust. All of group 3 (my group) went up a hill and then sat down in a circle and we played a couple of games and then we got put into partners. One of the partners got blindfolded and the other partner led them all down a big hill, down a gravel road and onto a field.

Once we got to the field we sat down and we talked about our expieriences walking down the hill from both sides, the blindfolded people and the people who guided.

I had a lot of fun on the trip and I can’t wait to go back next year

Yo Peeps! In D.lab we were turned into a human computer. Our teacher Claire gave us name tags and placed us into the correct places where our parts of the computers were. I was a hard drive for the entire time. Here is how it works!

There were a couple of users who talked to the peripherals who talked to the BIOS who talked to the CPU who told the hard drive (Me!) who told the RAM the color and then the RAM told the CPU and the CPU told the BIOS who told the Peripherals who gave a colored post-it to the users who put it over one of the commands! Whew, that was a mouthful!

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

a review by Stella Story

The main characters in this book are the Underwood family, Noah, Abbey, Paine and Donna. Other characters are Dusty Muleman, owner of the Coral Queen, Robert Lee “Grandpa Bobby” Underwood (believed to be dead in the country of Colombia) and Shelly, Boyfriend of Charles ”Lice” Peeking who helps Noah With his plans. The book is set in the Florida Keys. Noah’s biggest problem is his dad is in jail and his mom is so fed up with it she is thinking about divorce. Paine Underwood’s and the biggest problem in the book is that Dusty Muleman is illegally emptying the Coral Queen’s holding tank into the ocean making it not safe for swimmers, baby turtles and anything that lives near or in the water.

Shelly is a cocktail waitress on the Coral Queen so she helps Noah sneak onto the boat. They flush fuchsia dye down the toilets all night long but the plan backfires when they are found in the bathroom stall. Noah risks his life and his sister’s life to help his dad and the community. At the end of the book, when reporters see the fuchsia stain in the water, the Coast Guard has proof that Muleman is illegally dumping human waste. “A side door rolled open and a man in a dark jumpsuit leaned out. He was wearing a white crash helmet and aiming a camera down at the water. Taking a video of our amazing fuchsia river.”

I loved this book! It had a lot of action in it. Some examples:

On the night Abbey and Noah go to take photos of the boat dumping the holding tank they almost get shot, “Noah Duck!” And ducking would have been a smart move, no doubt about it. Because I turned to see Luno with his meaty right arm extended, aiming a stubby looking gun at the dinghy.”

When Noah sneaks on to the Coral Queen he has to stow away in a liquor crate, “The crate was dark and musty inside. At first I was afraid I couldn’t breath, but soon I felt whispers of air seeping under the lid. I took a few gulps, closed my eyes, and began to wait. Before long I heard the scuff of footsteps and then the low sounds of men talking. The first voice I didn’t recognize, but the thick accent of the second one was unmistakable: It was Dusty’s Bald Gorilla, Luno.   

On the night that Shelly and Noah flush the dye down the toilets, Noah appears to be caught and Dusty’s bouncers are closing in. “They figured they’d lose their jobs or worse, if they let something bad happen to me. One of the men whipped out a walkie-talkie and held it close to his mouth. “Luno! Better come check this out!” “Yeah, tell him to hurry,” the other man said. “This kid’s a real space case.” It was definitely time to go. The bouncers reached out and lunged, but I was already in the air, falling sweetly to freedom. Or so I told myself as I hollered, “Geronimo!”

I would recommend this book to readers who like mysteries and books filled with action. I give this book 5 stars!        

THE     WORLD

BRIDGET MEEHAN MOORE

Stella Story

Today I spoke with Mrs. Bridget Meehan Moore, 23 years of age who came to America because her family couldn’t even afford for her to get married. She lives in an tenement building on 65 Mott Street with her three daughters, and her husband Joseph Moore. As I was speaking to her she was getting ready for a party. She seemed a little frazzled. When I first walked in to her apartment, I saw the kitchen, it looked relatively clean. She had a nice looking stove in it and a lot; of different kinds of food to get ready for the party, such as bread, stew and other sweets. As I walked into her parlor I saw that it was very clean except for one part, which she later explained was part of her deep cleaning. She invited me in and told me to take a seat so I could interview her.

“What is your Job?”

“Well, I I don’t really have a job, I just work at home and do the cooking and cleaning, Although I did have a job for domestic help where I took care of a very nice house.”

“Where did you live before you moved to Little Germany?”

“I lived in the Five points, an Irish community.”

“What is it like living in Little Germany?”

“It’s hard because I don’t speak the language and there is only one other Irish family living in this tenement so I can talk to that family but it is also sad because when I do see the other families, and they are talking and laughing I really want to know what they are saying.”

“What are your daughters names?”

“Mary Kate, Jenny, and Agnes.”

“What do your daughters do all day when they are not at school?”

“They sometimes help me with the cooking and cleaning, but that is very rare, they mostly play with their dolls and toys or play nine pegs.”

“One last question. Has anybody else from your family come to America besides you?”

“No, only me, because my family is still struggling to make enough money to do anything besides have food so a ticket to America might be just beyond their reach.

As I get up to leave, She grabs my arm and says “Please don’t anything bad about me in the paper because people think that the Irish are aggressive and messy so please don’t put any of that in the paper, and, also please refer to me as Bridget Meehan Moore so if my friends in Ireland read the paper they will know it’s me.” I assured her I would. Over all I think that Bridget was very nice and she had a lot going on it looked like but I thinks she handles it well. She has a nice bedroom with one big bed and a cradle. I think she has a nice house, and a nice family that supports her, so I think she is nice and helpful.

We went to the tenement Museum and saw Bridget Moore’s house in her tenement and learned a lot about her and then we were supposed to make a news article about her and I did this part!

Angel Island

Stella Story

Looking around,

I see the big hollow, yellow boxes,

surrounded by towering mountains and rushing seas,

The big spikes on the fence screaming,

“Everybody comes in, no one goes out!”

Wobbly knees,

Hit firm wooden planks,

Clunk, Clunk,

loud shouting I don’t get, are all I hear,

Sinking feeling in my heart,

“Don’t worry” I tell myself over and over again,

Looking down uneasily I pull my clothing off,

The Foreign man,

His cold Metal circle,

Onto my Bare Shivering chest,

I escape.

More poor food,

Watery lukewarm and mushy,

Forcing it down my protesting throat,

Never talking, only thinking,

In bed one second,

the Next the gongs are ringing in my pounding ears,

Bong, Bong, Bong,

They go until all are awake

We file out,

I stay as silent as a snake waiting to pounce on his prey,

Breakfast up next,

Waiting endlessly,

For something that might never come,

One day melts into another,

Not knowing when one starts or when one ends,

“I may never pass”,

Will I ?

we made this poem when we were studying Chinese immigration so we could have time to try out describing things and I think I did a pretty good job I hope you think so too!

Day 19 Count Down To Thanksgiving

Dear Journal,

Hey, it’s me again, Gerald. Only a few more days until Thanksgiving. Those humans that have eaten my relatives for the past pretty much one million years have come by and tried to find the perfect turkey for their disgusting dinner. They don’t take a second look at my brothers and sisters because they are skinny but they mill around me because I look… well what’s the word for it? Oh yeah, Juicy, and I think they are trying to say “ Mmm Mmmm Mmm that turkey looks good” But all I hear is “ Blah Blah Blah”. OK, I just had a major brainstorm. What if I eat less so I become less uh, juicy? No to hard to do. What if I hide behind my mom everytime someone comes? No my mom moves to much. I got it! What if I peck at everyone who comes to see me? YEAH!!! Well that’s all for now, Goodnight Journal.

Day 20 Count Down To Thanksgiving

Dear Journal,

Today is the day I take action on the plan I made up last night. I will try and sharpen my beak even though last time I did it I got caught on the sharpening wheel and went around and around and around. Uh-Oh, here comes the farmer to give us breakfast and I don’t want him to see me actully WRITING in a Journal and end up like Wilbur in Charlottes web. Some Turkey just sounds weird. But I will tell you how the plan went tonight.

I   AM    EXAUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was hard. About a gazillion people chose today to show up and “ Enjoy” all the “ Wonderfull” Turkeys here at the farm. So I ended up doing a “ Peck Peck here and a Peck Peck there, here a Peck there a Peck everywhere a Peck Peck”. But the bright side is that I pecked them hard enough that they started bleeding so they went to the farmer and complained and then he started cursing and yelling at me and my family and then closed the gate on our cage and then said one last thing before he went away and I think he said “ Stupid Turkeys, no more people coming to visit you” which I think ment “ Balk bak bak Balk”. So I’m pretty sure I won’t get killed and eaten for a big dinner this year. Well thanks for helping me get the idea, Goodnight Journal.

Our class made this before thanksgiving about a turkey named Gerald, (this was inspired by a picture and our teacher named it Gerald) I tried to make it funny and I hope you think it is!

4/5/1911

Dear Cousins back at home,

The first thing we did after we left Ellis Island was try to find our dad’s address so we could move in with him. We did… kind of… we found out that the five points ( Irish Community) was not the best place to have our family move into. So we moved into a nice Italian Neighborhood where our mother became the Landlady. The old landlady was missing her daughter too much so she went to go live with her. So now we do not have to pay rent. Before I turned ten I went to school and to help my family start their life in America I peddled with my friend to earn some extra money, to help my family. Papa peddles, Uncle Ernie is a woodworker, Sam and John paint signs and at night they go to night school, Mother is the landlady and Sasha helps Mother, Me, Charlotte, and Maeve all work in a skirt factory, Grammy sells rags for two cents apiece, And Joe delivers bread, oh and here is a funny story about that when Joe came home and told Mother about the job Mother said, “Good, you are becoming a man now.”. Ha Ha Ha! A common discussion around the dinner table is what my and my siblings future is going to be like and who are going to marry. We also plan to picket some of the factories later in the year because, cousin Maeve, Charlotte and I are all unhappy with the conditions in the factories.

Most of the time our tenements conditions are good unless, Mother gets sick and Sasha is left with all the work, which means that our building is probably left in a worse state than when she started. The street we live on in the Italian Neighborhood is called Mulberry so we live on 48 Mulberry Street. Mother, Papa, Brother Sam, Brother John, Baby Sasha, Sister Charlotte, Me, Cousin Maeve, Uncle Ernie, and Little Joe all live with us. We can never take in boarders ( that means people who pay you to sleep in your house ) even though that would give us extra money because we have such a big family. A few laws were passed so tenements would be safer to live in so now all windows have to face outside to help with ventilation and now the latrines have to be inside so it is more sanitary ( no more 3:00 am freezing trips to the bathroom ). Every time a tenement inspector comes Mother gets very scared thinking that her building is not going to pass inspection and every time the inspectors come our building passes just fine. A few times a year, a man named Jacob Riis comes into our tenement with a camera, (a machine that will freeze a moment in time) but everytime that happens Mother shoos him out and says she wants no one snooping around HER tenement! Sometimes Sam and John gives Sasha a spool of thread and then Sasha, being two years old and doesn’t know better than to spread all of it around the hallways. Everytime she does she gets hugged and Mother being Mother knows that it was Sam and John all along and they get in trouble.

As you probably know now I am a factory worker. Even though I know I am not allowed to I am part of a union working for factory workers rights. The conditions are terrible because the windows are always locked and you can only go to the bathroom for three minutes ( imagine if there was a line! ). Also, even though factories are not allowed to have children under 14 work for them, they do, so whenever the inspector comes the underaged children get thrown in crates, so when they come I get thrown in the crates and so do a lot of other children. Our average wages at the end of the week is $4.00. Just like the tenements, a few laws were passed so that factories are safer and better to work in, so now sometimes the wages are higher. Every morning I come to work and I see the whole monotonous work day ahead of me and I get dreary even thinking about that and that always happens when I ride up in the freight elevator ( a box that will carry you up and down. Amazing right?!).

Even though we are now in America we always try to eat Irish food to keep our culture while also trying new foods made in America. I really miss dinners when you just put everything in a big pot and boil it until it is so soft and, breakfasts made up of cream of corn soup from our garden. I always get some of my food from Father for dinner and I pretend to haggle with him to get myself ready for real haggling. On my way home from the factory I usually get herring and bread for dinner. Also in America you can get ingredients for potato meat soup if you walk just a couple of steps out the front door, incredible right?! There is always a Irish peddler in front of our tenement waiting for us to buy the food from our culture. If you walk outside all you can hear is peddlers singing out their wares.

The reason I wrote this letter to you is because I think America is fun, but, I also miss Ireland so I am happy and sad that we came here. Sad because I miss so, so much about Ireland, but happy because America is such a great opportunity to learn, be free and have fun and try things I would never have dreamed of doing back at home. Most things in America are fun but, some are not. For example: Playing potsy is fun, washing the dishes for the whole family Is NOT. Sometimes before and after work I go outside and play potsy or watch a boys stickball game ( Stickball is when you use a stick to hit a ball ). I love America and think it is a great place to live but every night when I go to bed I dream about Ireland and everything I’ve left there.

Love,

Sibina Moore (Stella)

This is a letter from the Lower East Side that I also made in the immigration study of our class and we were pretending to be our immigrant personas that we created.