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Letter to my 12th grade self (A)
Article posted June 18, 2008 at 08:17 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 1755
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[Editor's Note: The 2007-2008 students have just graduated 5th grade. They have been in school for about six years. In another six years they will be a senior in high school. Believe it or not, they are about half way through their public schooling life! Below is a postcard they wrote to their "12th grade self." It will be mailed it to them in June 2014!]
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Article posted June 18, 2008 at 08:17 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 1755
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Shoot! Swish!Score! (A)
Article posted June 6, 2008 at 06:00 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 337
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HEY YOU! Are you bored of playing sports where you just can’t seem to be useful? Are you tired of being picked last for a team? Does it seem that you can’t do anything in a game? Well, if you are sick of any of the things above then you should play basketball!
First of all, you should play basketball because in basketball you’re rarely ever useless. Everyone brings a special skill to the game.
You may be bad at one thing but good at another! In basketball there is almost always something that you can do to help your team. Say you’re not good at shooting the ball, you may be good at passing it or taking it from an opposing player.Everything is important in a basketball game! In fact, that’s what happened to me. I was really bad at taking shots. I always missed the basket. Then I found out that even though I couldn’t shoot and score I was really good at helping the good shooters get the ball and score! And I was good at intercepting passes and at passing!
The second reason you should play basketball is that to play well you need good teamwork. It isn’t necessary to play with someone else, but most of the time you will have more fun playing with a friend. With a friend you can practice passing and getting the ball from each other. In a real game you will need good teamwork to play well and have fun at the same time.
The third reason to play basketball and to some people the most important reason is that playing basketball is good for your health.Playing basketball is good exercise. To stay healthy it is necessary to do some exercise. While you are playing basketball and getting exercise you are also having fun. You are helping your body stay healthy! Staying healthy can help you live longer and live a happy, healthy life!
So, if you want to have fun, have good teamwork, and stay healthy, play basketball! Go dribble, pass, shoot, and score!
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Article posted June 6, 2008 at 06:00 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 337
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The Constitution Works: Oral Arguement for the Denver Dispatch (A)
Article posted May 29, 2008 at 02:29 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 384
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[Editor's note: "The Constitution Works" is a role-playing exercise that gives students a chance to learn about the United States Constitution and government. The students role play a hypothetical court case, Denver Dispatch v. United States. Students take on roles as a lawyer or Supreme Court Justice. They think about what is more important: the freedom of the newspaper to print what it wants OR the government's duty to protect our nation's security. Read more about the Constitution Works program HERE.
May it please the court; we are the petitioners, representing the Denver Dispatch newspaper.
We appear before you today to ask the Supreme Court to remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch from publishing articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory.
This case is all about how the government is trying to prevent us from publishing the Denver Dispatch articles about the government’s biological lab. The government does not want the public to know about everything in the Denver Dispatch articles because it would give out to much information about the Biological Warfare Research Area. The government believes that it will cause more war than what is going on. We believe we are informing the public, and the government is not trying to protect the United States. It is trying to protect itself from being ashamed. We believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory.
The first reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the past Supreme Court decision in Schenck v. United States, in 1919.
This case was about if it was Constitutional for Charles Shenck to print leaflets that encouraged people not to go to war or be drafted into it.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote as part of the majority, “Are the words that are said or written used in such a way that they cause a clear and present danger. . . ?”
We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because the government is not sure if the publishing of the Denver Dispatch articles on biological warfare will cause a clear danger to the public. We are just informing them and trying to keep the public safe.
The second reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the past Supreme Court decision in Near v. Minnesota in 1931.
This case was about whether Near was allowed to publish a racist newspaper. The paper criticized many people.
Justice Hughes wrote as part of the majority that, “We have to let the press or anyone publish what they want, even if what they publish is bad. . . .it is up to the publisher of a paper and not the government to decide whether to publish something or not….”
We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because we have the right to publish any thing we want. It was written in Amendment One of the Constitution.
The third reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the past Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. United States in 1971.
This case was about the government wanting to stop the New York Times from publishing because they said that the New York Times is giving out personal information (the Pentagon Papers) about wartime. But the New York Times argued the First Amendment says we can publish what we want.
Justice Black wrote as part of the majority, “The injunction to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers is wrong, and violates the First Amendment. ‘National Security’ is a broad and unclear phrase.”
Justice Brennan agreed: “Under the First Amendment there can be no blocking of freedom of the press based on educated guesses that some danger might come about.”
We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because the government might think that the articles will cause a type of danger, but it is not clear or present.
The last reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the what is written in the United States Constitution.
It is written that in the Constitution that “Congress is not allowed to make any laws that stop people from speaking, printing, writing, or broadcasting on television or radio what they want to say. . . .”
We believe that this applies to the Denver Dispatch because the government is trying to stop us from printing our articles about biological warfare. We believe that is taking away our freedom of the press. What the government is trying to do is unconstitutional.
You have heard the arguments from the petitioner, the Denver Dispatch. We ask the Justices to uphold the freedom of the press granted in the First Amendment and to allow the newspaper to continue to publish the articles about biological warfare research.
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Article posted May 29, 2008 at 02:29 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 384
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Lewis Gordon Pugh a.k.a Human Polar Bear (N)
Article posted May 5, 2008 at 07:07 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 560
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Would you ever think of swimming in all five oceans? Well, a man named Lewis Gordon is the first person to swim through every ocean and has done it without a swimsuit and wearing only a Speedo! The Man has overcome many dangers and says that global warming is a big problem today. He started his mission twenty years ago and claims that the world has changed a lot since then. It would have been near impossible for pretty much anyone to have gone swimming in the Artic Ocean twenty one years ago because the water would have been frozen. And even if it wasn’t, it would have been way too cold to survive in. During his swims he has had to surpass many dangers, including crocodiles, sharks, leopard seals, and more. Lewis has the ability to raise his body temperature without doing a thing. He uses a special ability that he has that is called anticipatory thermogenises. He is the only human in the world that can do this. He feels like he just had a brisk run and that generates heat. For normal people to do this they would have to actually run and get their temperature up. He can do this without doing a thing. He also has to gain some extra weight to be able to survive the bitter cold. The fat that he gets provides insulation and helps keep him warmer and not freeze up. He doesn’t rain in a normal pool either. He trains in a pool that has frozen ice to improve his endurance and help him get used to the feelings he will experience during the real swim.
It sure would be cool to be able to raise your own body temperature without doing anything! I could use the ability during winter and get the extra heat that I need to stay warm. I still do think that it is weird that he was the able to swim in water that cold for so long without getting some kind of injury! I wonder if some animala actually saw him and attacked him during one of his swims. Would you do something like this? I think that it is amazing that the world could have changed so much in 20 years because of global warming. I wonder if Lewis would have gone swimming in the Artic 20 years ago -- now that would have been even more amazing!
Read more at
http://www.dogonews.com/dogo_news/2008/04/lewis-gordon-pu.html
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Article posted May 5, 2008 at 07:07 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 560
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An Earth friendly Backpack (N)
Article posted April 29, 2008 at 03:23 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 404
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Are you the kind of person that wants to help the environment and likes to go outside? Well, people have created a backpack that has solar panels on it. You can go for a walk and charge a few kinds of handheld things at the same kind. While you take a walk, you can charge your iPod laptop or even your Gameboy. So if you bring your Ipod or your Gameboy and you forgot to charge it, you just plug it in to a built-in battery that stores electricity made from solar panels and you can start charging it. It takes a while to charge the things. It takes one hour of being in contact with the sunlight to charge an iPod for 3 hours. It also needs one hour to charge a cell phone for an hour and a half but it takes a whole day to charge a laptop to full power.
I think that this is an invention for people that walk to where they need to go and have electronics with them. I think that some kids would like this a lot. Especially if they walk a lot. That way they can bring the backpack and charge their electronics with solar energy instead of harming the environment by using normal electricity. This can also help adults by charging their laptops while going to work. The backpack costs between 199 and 249 U.S dollars. I sure would like to have one of these instead of a normal backpack!
Read more at
target=_blank>http://www.dogonews.com/dogo_news/2008/04/solar-powered-b.html
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Article posted April 29, 2008 at 03:23 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 404
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This dog loves to pray (N)
Article posted April 4, 2008 at 03:43 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 337
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We have all heard of dog tricks. Some can talk, others can take commands, and some can even walk. Well, this is a trick that is probably new to the world. A Chihuahua that is the pet of a priest at a Buddhist temple has learned how to pray! The dog watched his master and it only took the one and a half year old Chihuahua a few days to learn how to pray using the proper technique. The dog has attracted hundreds of people to the temple and more are sure to come. The temple officials say that attendance has gone up 30%! The dog now prays two times a day. It prays in the morning and it prays at night. Right now the dog is learning how to meditate. If it does learn how to meditate it will be another trick that is new to the list of dog tricks!
Do you think that the dog will learn how to meditate? I think that it is weird to see an animal praying because they probably don’t even know why they are doing it. The animal doesn’t really think what it is supposed to while it prays. It was probably just imitating its master one day and it became famous for it. I still think that it is a cool trick, though, and it is better than having a dog that doesn’t know any tricks at all. What do you think about this dog’s tricks?
Read more at
target=_blank>http://www.dogonews.com/dogo_news/2008/03/this-dog-loves.html
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Article posted April 4, 2008 at 03:43 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 337
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IDiamond (N)
Article posted March 27, 2008 at 02:10 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 355
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Do you want an iPod shuffle? Do you already have one? Don’t read this if you’re the kind that gets jealous, especially if you like diamonds. How much did you pay for your iPod? Well, at a charity auction in London a diamond studded iPod was up for sale. The iPod had 18 karat pink and white diamonds. It also had a set of matching headphones. The headphones alone had over 130 diamonds. The iPod's value was about 41,000 U.S. dollars. The creator of the iPod says that it was truly one of a kind due to the fact that he said he wouldn’t make another because it took him an incredibly long time to make. People won’t be able to get the diamond iPod anymore but the jeweler who made the iPod says that he will continue making the diamond headphones. It’s unclear who bought it and for how much money, but whomever it was, people are sure that the person who bought it was rich, famous, and probably paid way more than it was actually worth.
That is a lot of money! I wonder if the owner of the iPod is taking extremely good care of it. I would. I wonder if it can be repaired if it breaks. It would be better for it to be specially made so that it could be fixed easily. I would love to have that kind of money. I don’t think that I would buy the IDiamond even if I was rich. Think what of all the things that you could buy with the money other than the IDiamond?! Guess it matters how much money you actually have.
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Article posted March 27, 2008 at 02:10 PM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 355
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Hello Spring (A)
Article posted March 26, 2008 at 03:13 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 425
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Good-bye, snow.
Good-bye, cold.
Good-bye, winter.
Spring's ahead!
Good-bye, blizzards.
Good-bye, strong winds.
Good-bye, winter.
Spring, hello!
Hello, heat.
Hello, sun.
Good-bye, winter.
Spring's in sight!
Hello, spring breeze.
Hello, fun.
Good-bye, winter!
Hello, spring!
Inspired by instant Poetry Forms at http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm
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Article posted March 26, 2008 at 03:13 PM GMT0 •
comment (1) • Reads 425
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