mkhayat24's learning journey

Yellow,

My name is Erica Wang.  I am not Chinese. I’m 11 years old.

When people read my book they think “HEY” that’s not what happened at all. People this is from my perspective only so, no bossing me around like Scarlet. Oh you’re wondering who Scarlet is? Before I can tell you that story I have to tell you this one.

Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy. HAHA don’t even know who P. Diddy is. Is the person a he or a she? Never mind. Let’s get to the story! It’s daylight savings so at 5:50am it feels like 7:00am. I know it’s weird, it ‘s kinda really annoying but for me I get up early all the time. You know why I get up early, it is because of Scarlet Arden. The school DRAMA QUEEN!!  Well I stayed in my room for I don’t know like 45 minutes or so. Then I finally was able to get out of my room. As usual 5 dogs toppled over me when I opened my door. I have 7 dogs. Where are the other 2 dogs you ask? I will tell you my pug (Archie is so darn lazy because pugs like furniture and they just sit there the whole day.) My other dog, a doberman who’s name is Bear, just guards me and makes sure I’m safe. He doesn’t jump on me but he will jump on attackers. Oh I almost forgot the five dogs that jumped on me were Aussie the australian shepherd, Bamba the spanish water dog, Bisli the bichon frise, Wolfgang the german shepherd, and Avalanche my rottweiler. I know it’s weird to have that many dogs but I know dogs and I love dogs. You guys reading my book have no clue how much weight that is on you because of the dogs but I still love them. When I finally pushed all of the dogs over I went to get breakfast. Most kids have those sugar cereals, my family stopped eating cereal 4 years ago. I usually have oatmeal or an egg with a bagel for breakfast. Today I had toast with PB and honey. My mom asks “Honey you got all your stuff today” and I answer “Mom you know I do.” I hop in my Baba’s SUV. Wait! Are you wondering who is BABA! Well he is my dad, oh and I’m also part middle eastern. Anyway when I get to my school (Willow Academy) there are screams and I know who those screams belong to. Remember how I said Scarlet was bossing people around well, that’s her screaming let’s go take a look. “MY DRESSES WHO STOLE MY DRESSES! THEY WERE VERY EXPENSIVE”!!!! Then she walked up to Jimmy Carter and said “Did you steal my dresses”? He said “no I hate dresses”.Than little Ms. Perfect stuck her nose up in the air and went on walking. She said did you steal my dresses to 100 kids and 10 teachers?” There are 190 kids at Willow Academy and 50 teachers. Wow!! She asked a lot of people. Anyway I think I had a new case on my hands. It was called the Dress Caper! I decided to work on the case. School went the same as usual. Scarlet pouting, screaming, whining and complaining. After school I went to Scarlet’s house. I knew Scarlet was at dance class and she is always bragging about it. I rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a tired woman came out. She had black markings below her eyes. I told her a really lame excuse. “Excuse me mam but I am looking for something in your house.” That was a terrible excuse but you know what it worked! I started my search but I decided to bring along my Doberman. Why? Cause I don’t got a bloodhound that’s why. I found a piece of cotton by the cat’s bed. Holy Dog! That cat has a nice bed. Doberman’s obviously are not as good finders as bloodhounds so it would take a little longer to find the dresses. Once we were in the living room we started. I had a plan: I would search a room than Bear would sniff and point if I had missed anything. We should hurry up. I said to Bear that her class ends in a few minutes. We came back to where the cat slept. I didn’t find anything I asked Bear and thank god he pointed. He pointed right by the cat’s bed. I came by the cat and it hissed loudly. Bear barked, it skidded to a dark corner and stayed there. There where the cat had sat were 5 multi-color dresses. I grabbed them and gently put them in her closet. That was a good lesson for her. She really should stop assuming without any proof. I left her house smiling. The next day at school she wore one bright yellow dress that I had found. She still complained and whined but she was a little nicer. That’s how Erica Wang (me) solved the Dress Caper! Maybe I will solve a few more mysteries. Maybe there is more to come. Find Out!!

The End                                                                                    …..for now

Social distancing is OVER! It was exactly 6:15 a.m. and we would be going back to school!  The sun slowly creeped into my room like a spider. I was dancing up and down. I rushed out of my room like a lighting bolt. I couldn’t wait to see all of my friends and teachers. I put on my clothes like a cheetah (and almost poked a hole in my pants.) Would you believe that I ran to breakfast in less than 10 seconds. I gobbled my cinnamon oatmeal down like a bear who just woke up from hibernation. After that I put on my shoes and rushed to the car.

It only took 2 minutes to get to school but it felt like an eternity. Eventually we got there… (UH car rides can be so boring.) When we got there I skipped into school. I was making sure to keep a 6ft distance, but realized maybe I  don’t have to do this any more. I was getting cheery hellos from all around. I started walking off to class. I couldn’t wait to start our classes and see all of my friends.

Before I knew it, school was over. I trudged off of MJDS’s property. Then I realized tomorrow we had school again…I can’t wait.

For homework in Jewish Studies we had to make a board game relating to Passover. I made a game called Mis n’ Match Passover Trivia. The point of the game is to get all 15 steps of Passover in the correct order while you answer trivia. Player will take turns going around in a circle (counterclockwise) and trying to put the 15 steps in order. If a player knows where the step goes another player will ask them a question abut the step. If the player gets it wrong he or she can no longer try to put a step in for that round. If he or she gets the answer correct he/she will try to put the step in the correct order. If he or she does not know what step or trivia answer  it is the player will put the step back in the pile. Whoever gets the most steps correct wins. I hope this game sounds fun to you!

1. What is Jacob’s Hebrew name? יעקב 

2. Why was Jacob leaving? Rebekah wanted Jacob to find a wife and because Esau wanted to kill him because he stole his birthright.

3. What happened in Jacob’s dream? Angels were going up and down the ladder. G-d said your family shall be the dust of the earth.

4. Why is this dream important? His dream is important because he was speaking to G-d in it and the rock could be a important stone.

My class had Global Experience we studied India. After we had Global Experience we had to answer some questions. Some of the questions were: Why is learning about another country important? What was the most challenging? For the first question I would say it is important about learning about another country because we can compare and contrast about our country/state and their country. We also get out of are comfort zone and start exploring are country we studied.  A few things were challenging finding the right topic and getting the right info but I persevered and I studied food. I love doing Global Experience and learning about differnt countries.

Animal Testing by Maya

You know the makeup you use or the medication you take sometimes are tested on animals? 100 million animals die each year from animal testing. We should STOP this cruel way of drugging and testing on these animals. The history of testing on animals goes back to the Greeks in the second or fourth century B.C.E when doctors and scientists, specifically Aristotle and Esasistraus tested on live animals to help advance the understanding of the human body and how it works. Drug testing on animals became more popular in the 20th century.

One of the more commonly tested animals is chimpanzees. Chimpanzees share 98% of genes with humans, that’s why some chimps are put in labs to be tested on. More than 100,000 monkeys are kept in labs each year. Baby chimpanzees are born and taken away from their mothers when they are only a few days old. They never get to swing on vines and feel the warmth of the sun on their faces like they do in the wild. These monkeys will spend the rest of their lives having tubes shoved down their throats. In labs, these monkeys are kept in small cages if they are lucky they get a plastic toy or a slice of an apple. Imagine if you were an animal put in a cage for your whole life.

More than 100 million rats and mice lose their lives each year to animal testing. Mice and rats do not have the same genes like humans, but they still test on them. Mice and rats are not humans, their bodies do not react the same way. Testing on animals is terrible. There are other options to animal testing, like computer programing and models.

Many people who are pro-animal testing use the following arguments. Antibiotics, organ transplants and insulin for diabetes are just some of the medical wins that have come from animal research. Over 50 years ago polio was a deadly disease, but because of animal testing, the polio vaccine was created, and now this vaccine has saved millions of lives. Some countries specifically England have put laws into place to better guarantee the safety of these animals being tested on.

Some people think we should test on animals because they are similar to humans. We shouldn’t do this because we are taking away animals’ lives. We shouldn’t test on animals but maybe we can test on fruit flies instead of testing on rabbits or mice. We can save people’s lives and not kill as many animals. Finally we can use the 3Rs campaign (1) replacement of animals with non-living things; (2) reduction in using animals; and (3) refinement (removal) of animal testing. Getting rid of animal testing altogether is impossible because it will slow down medical successes, but if we try the 3Rs, we can save animal and human lives.

Everyone can do their part and check the labels on their bottles in their homes. At my house, we buy animal-test free body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Go home and check your bathroom to do your part.

In Jewish Studies we are studying about Esau and Jacob. We watched a bim-bom video about the story of Jacob and Esau. This video is how Jacob takes his birthright from Esau. After we watched the video we had to answer some questions. 1 Have you ever experienced being the favored or less favored child? My answer was, sometimes I might feel like my mom or baba loves my sister more but I know for a fact they love each of us equally. 2 Why does Isaac favor one son and Rebekah favor the other? This is just a guess but maybe since Esau came out first and Isaac saw him first so that’s why he  loves him more.

We went to First Stage. We saw the play a Wrinkle in Time. Before we saw the play we saw the movie. The movie was okay. It would be 3 out of 6 stars. The play was better it was not the best thing I ever saw at First Stage. The acting in the play was pretty good though. The play was funny. It would be 4 out of 6 stars. My favorite part was when the “It” ( The “It” is a monster) was hypnotising the little brother. Overall pretty good.  I would recommend this play to people.

We are celebrating Tu BishVat. 3 things I learned it is the birthday to the trees. We eat lots of dried fruit. I love eating dates and figs.