Treehouse Vol 1 Issue 12

Dhaka Tribune Wednesday, July 3, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 12

Tales From the City Episode 12: Here to stay

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Jonaki's Headquarters Hey Friends!

I am so excited this week. We have a story by a very special friend, Dmitri Dameer, about his brother’s clever little pet frog. I love hearing from all of you, reading your stories and poems, so please keep writing to us. Let us know who your favourite teacher is, and what you’re reading, and a toy you like to play with.

It’s always great when we have friends in the Treehouse.

This week, we have a brand new instrument, some fun and games for you to try, and of course, Life in the City. So let’s get started, right from Inspector Danger’s mystery below.

Do let us know if there’s something else you’d like to see in the Treehouse.

Send us your drawings and poems! We love hearing from you! Write to us at treehouse@dhakatribune.com

Love Jonaki

A weekly production of

DhakaTribune Editor Zafar Sobhan

Magazine Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Treehouse Team Sabiha Mahmud Sumi Rubab Nayeem Khan Munira Fidai Afshan Sattar Azfar Rahman Natasha Rahman Saudia Afrin Tahsin Momin Alveera Mamoon Sama E Deen Rifat Binte Haider

Solution: The sleeping gentleman is the thief. The magazine on his head has been turned around, indicating that he had left his chair, presumably to steal the wallet.

Contributor Dmitri Dameer

Contents

Cartoonist Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy Graphics Sabiha Mahmud Sumi Mohammed Mahbub Alam Production Masum Billah Advertising Shahidan Khurshed Circulation Wahid Murad Email treehouse@dhakatribune.com Website www.dhakatribune.com

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2 Discobang’s pad

Special story A real frog story Teacher of the week Nadia Munaim Word on the street Amina and Faisal Learn English kids Tongue twister

3 Tales from the city Bhootum

4 Dr Meow’s Lab

Pet tips Caring for your Fighter fish DIY Paperclip jewelry Fun facts Rain Rain Rain ...

Animal facts Vampire Squids

5 Speedy’s Zone

Book My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood Movie Wizards return: Alex vs Alex Music Maracas Toy Kids on Stage Videogame Animal Crossing

6 Bhootum’s Classroom Amazing Facts; Wizard of Id Jokes

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Discobang's Pad

LearnEnglishKids word on the street

tongue twisters Tongue twisters are difficult to say.

How fast can you say it without making any mistakes?

Perhaps the best things in life do come in the simplest forms. For Amina and Faisal, the joy of their lives is their mother. The duo can spend the entire day wandering and playing around the house, but just as their mother returns from work, the two, ever-so-lovingly surround their mother with giggles and smiles.

Their father had left even before they could recognize his face, and ever since then, Fatema Begum has been earning bread for the two children and managing quite a difficult life.

Despite all of that, when at the end of the day Fatema sees her children

Source: Jaago Foundation www.jaago.com.bd

Mum is all we need

“She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

Najat Fayeza Swagota

sleeping peacefully – she knows that she is doing her part well enough.

She hopes that her children can go to school one day. The bond between these can serve as a perfect example of how you can find small hidden treasures every day. You only need to look a bit more closely at the pictures life paints. Tasmia Nehreen Ahmed

You can play this game and more online at: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids

special story

Teacher of the week

A Real Frog Story The writer is a class 1 student of British Columbia School

Nadia munaim A teacher, a mother, and a traveller, Nadia Munaim is our favourite teacher this week! Currently teaching in Sunbeams, Munaim started out in this very school 20 years back as a kindergarten teacher and slowly worked her way up the ladder to become an English teacher for grades 2 and 3. As of now, she oversees the Sunbeams Junior Section in Uttara.

Munaim finished high-school in the US and then completed her higher education from Dhaka University in International Relations. She enjoys reading books and travelling and has lived in quite a few places over the

Quamrul Abedin

years - the US, Austria, and Japan.

When asked about an alternate career choice, she responds, “To be honest, being a teacher is all I ever wanted to be. I genuinely never thought of pursuing another career.”

She loves teaching because of the special bonds she forms with the children and finds particular joy when they come back years later, successful in their own rights, and fondly remember their time with her.

What makes her so loved is her belief that each child has some unique quality that needs to be nurtured and brought out. Munira Fidai

One day, my elder brother met a frog in the middle of the road while he was coming back from school.

He took it and put it in a bucket. My mom got angry when she found it.

Still, he wanted to keep it, so he did.

But I thought the frog missed his life outside.

One day it was raining heavily and someone opened the bathroom door, and it hopped out of there. Just at that time, the garbage collectors came and our maid was handing over our daily garbage. The frog was hiding behind the door and at the first chance he got, he jumped out.

The cleaners were busy filling their big drums and did not notice the frog.

The frog followed them downstairs.

He was moving so carefully, the

cleaners failed to see him. He sneaked into the lift. After coming downstairs, the frog jumped wide and fast and reached the street, which was filled with rainwater. He was filled with happiness when he dived into the puddles. He played in shower with great satisfaction. After some time, he went back to the greenery beside the street.

Meanwhile, my brother could not find his frog in the bathroom. He searched every corner of the house for his pet, but alas, he could not find him. My brother was filled with sorrow for few hours. After that he cheered up, thinking that the frog had probably gone away in the rain and must be happy there.

Dmitri Dameer

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Treehouse Comics

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Created by Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Story by Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Illustration by Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy

Tales From the City

Episode 12: Here to stay

The story The story so far: Jonaki’s just moved into her new house in The City, and the landlady Bhootum, is not happy to see her. Will her journey be over even before it begins? Let’s find out

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Dr Meow's Lab

Fun facts

Rain Rain Rain ...

Who likes sitting inside the house in a rainy day? The earth is wet and perfect for good old treasure digging. What would you do if you were allowed to go out in the rain? Mud wars?

Puddle splashing? Drinking rain right from the sky? There are so many things you can do with rain. There are so many interesting facts about rain. Let’s have a look.

diy bigstock

Paperclip Jewellery

Tea-parties with your dolls are always fun. But what if you don’t have something pretty to wear? Don’t worry.

It only takes a few minutes to make yourself some cute bangles.

What you need Metal paper clips Multi-coloured, plastic coated paper clips Small beads How to make them Make sure the beads you get have big enough holes to slide onto the paper clips. Seed beads will NOT work.

Thread beads onto the metal paper clips. You can straighten the paper clips a bit if needed, but then put them back in their original shape.

Hook the paper clips together, alternating the metal clips with the plastic coated clips. Make them long enough to fit around your wrist and then clip the two end ones together to make a circle. This will make a pretty bracelet or an ankle bracelet. And now you’re ready to party!

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Rain drops can fall at the speed of about 22 miles an hour. It starts off as ice crystals shaped like flat raisins inside the clouds.

These melt and fall on earth like teardrops.

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Rain doesn’t have its own taste or smell or even color. A substance called Geosmin gives a different smell to the rain.

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You can remain completely dry under the rain if you’re in the desert. The rain evaporates very quickly under the heat. So, you wouldn’t even feel if it’s raining.

bigstock

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Wouldn’t it be cool if fishes and frogs fell from the sky? You’re probably thinking that this is a joke, but it is true. In very recent times, places like Serbia, London, India and Wales, had a shower of fishes and frogs with the rain. When a typhoon or a cyclone hits the rivers and ponds, the powerful wind brings up fishes and frogs from the water. Eventually when it rains, these fall off with it.

Rain is cooler than you thought right? So, why be sad when you could sing and dance.

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

PET TIPS sea creatures facts

Caring for your

Vampire Squids

Fighter Fish!

Water Put a thermostat in the fish tank. Betta's like water temperatures of 76-82F/ 24-27C. Filter is a must but do make sure that the current is not too strong for your Betta. Avoid putting them in chlorine water as it is harmful for them.

Change the water if the filter is clogged, but other than that avoid changing their water frequently.

wikicommons

Of all obscure yet cool creatures to know about, Vampire Squids are by far the coolest. If that name helped you draw up a caped-fish in your head, you’re on the right path my friend.

Vampire Squids are black in colour and have long cape-like arms. The arms also have suckers on the end, like any other squid.

They have red eyes, and their complete black appearance helps them avoid enemies that might want to eat them since they live quite deep into the sea. Small in size, but

ferocious nonetheless.

If you’re wondering if they squirt out ink, they don’t. But don’t be disappointed; they do shoot out some sort of sticky mucus. So when an enemy is close they shoot out the sticky mucus and swim away very very fast.

They have powerful jaws but they don’t use them much as they eat only a few times in a week which is key to their lifestyle because it can get very hard to find food in the sea for a creature that size.

Sabiha Mahmud Sumi

Home An aquarium would serve as a proper home for your Betta fish. You can put pebbles and grass as decorations inside the aquarium. A medium fish tank would do; but do not keep other fishes in the same tank as your Betta because it will attack them. Do not put in jagged rocks as decorations because they can easily tear their fins.

bigstock

Fishes may not make the ideal pets but some like Betta fishes are a treat to look at. However, looking at their texture won't be enough, because if you do plan on keeping one as a pet you need to know that this finned friend of yours is at war with those in its territory. You can't go wrong if you follow these tips.

Your Betta Now that you have taken all the necessary steps to care for your new found friend, play with your Betta. Don't tap on its tank because that's just going to annoy it even more; simply move your finger from side to side and see if it follows. Feed it three times a day.

Rubab Nayeem Khan

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Speedy's Zone

Magic vs magic In this movie, the Russo family makes a TV return, except the much loved Justin Russo (Alex’s older brother) who is apparently too busy at WizTech.

The Russo family is planning a trip to Italy for a family reunion. Alex, newly crowned Family Wizard, is eager to help but ends up creating chaos instead. In order to avoid trouble with her parents, Alex casts a spell on herself to get rid of her selfishness, but accidentally creates an evil version of herself and joins forces with an evil wizard. Together they plot to finish off all mortals, includ-

Book

Jamie’s

multicoloured feelings

An exhilarating yet educational game, Kids On Stage is guaranteed to give you quite a fun-filled experience. It is an exciting and creative game of charades, designed to encourage confidence and develop communication skills in children from a young age. The board game comprises of a Spinner, sixty topic cards, six playing pieces and instructions. The rule is to allow the spinner to choose which character or object each player must enact, while the rest of the players can identify what the character is. There may be animals

about Maracas

ing Alex’s friends and family. Good Alex then faces off with Evil Alex in a battle of wizarding wits and skills. The movie is comically thrilling; the same old self-absorbed Alex trying to choose between her own desires and her parents’ constant commands to act more responsibly (then failing, of course). It is fun watching her amusing efforts to fix the mess, and it sends quite a few positive messages about friends and family.

Treehouse rating Alveera Mamoon

Video game Tameka Fryer Brown’s lyrical picture book will show children a fun way to associate colours with their changing moods. In a family of two brothers, a sister and parents, we follow young Jamie and his swinging emotional path on a typical day. He describes each emotion in terms of a colour. When his older brother takes over the sofa with their video game, Jamie’s mood changes from “grape-juice drinking on the couch” to a “gray kind of place” signifying an angry storm within him. When his brother teases him, his feelings are

black. Also, as the title suggests eating delicious lemon pie is yellow.

Any good?

Children will be able to relate with Jamie’s colour transforming emotions as they see him cope with his own pleasures and his family’s demands.

Parents and teachers can use this book in a way of helping children discuss their mood switches and express themselves better.

Treehouse rating Natasha Rahman

too, making it all the more fun while the kids can discover the mimicking artists in themselves. The game is easy to play; it is challenging and will keep the players involved throughout every stage of it. It is a game that the whole family can play and enjoy while the kids learn too. This board game is ideal for children aged 3 and above and is available at Kids and Moms (Banani 11) for Tk1,700. Be sure to reserve an evening with your family for this enjoyable experience!

Treehouse rating

toy

Alveera Mamoon

1

Maracas sometimes rumba shakers.

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It is a native instrument of Puerto Rico.

6 They have a coconut shell filled

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They are made of leather, wood, or plastic.

7 They are used in pop and classical

4 They are simple percussion

8 In order to play it the player must

instruments.

called

Animals in action

Animal Crossing: New Leaf The game is almost the same as the Animal Crossing franchise with core values like building a house, earning money, and become the most happening person in your town. Some new twists like being able to become a mayor and take full control of the town and a new island for players, do however, give the game a newer touch.

Any good?

While the game is not an exceptionally interesting one and would probably not attract newer players to it, it would most definitely be an interesting change for the existing players who are already hooked.

Music

8 facts

MUST watch movie

5 They are usually played in pairs.

with seeds or dried beans.

music.

anticipate the rhythm.

Parental advisory The game gives kids a virtual lesson on how to be good citizens, take up responsibility, and manage money and can be a great inspiration for young kids to implement these social skills in real life. There may be mild “flirting” among friendly neighbours but way below Disney’s sexual content.

Appropriate Age 8yrs Genre Role Playing Treehouse rating Munira Fidai

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Bhootum's Classroom

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