Rolling X Tree

Rolling X Three

Story 2

30

Tamsin, Bryan and Cliff didn’t know what to do. Their teacher gave them a project. They had to work together and find out something really interesting based on one word. The word the teacher gave them was ‘rolling’. They had no idea what they could do. “I guess we could look up ‘rolling’ on the internet, and see what happens,” said Bryan.

That night Bryan looked up ‘rolling’ on his dad’s computer. There were lots of sites about rolling. One was about Cheese-Rolling! Bryan had just had a cheese sandwich for supper, so that was the site he looked up first! It was really interesting. There were a lot of photographs, too, which made it more fun to read! Glossary

supper: (n.) meal you have at night.

Glossary

hill: (n.) natural elevation of land lower than a mountain.

This is what he found out!

Every year in England there is a cheeserolling competition at a small village called Brockworth. The competition is so famous that people from all over the world go and take part. A master of ceremonies stands at the top of a hill with a large round cheese. He rolls the cheese down the hill!

The hill is very steep, so the round cheese goes whizzing down it very fast. The competitors (hundreds of them) stand at the top of the hill and watch the master of ceremonies start the cheese rolling. The cheese has a one second start, then all the people go running and rolling down the hill after it.

Glossary

steep: (adj.) rising or falling at a sharp angle. whizzing: (v. gerund) to move very fast.

Go to page 51 Activity Book

Glossary

aim: (n.) purpose or intention.

The aim of the competition is to catch the cheese before it gets to the bottom of the hill, but this never happens. The cheese rolls at a speed of 110 kilometers an hour, which is much faster than the competitors can go. The first person to get to the bottom and pick up the cheese wins the prize, which is the cheese!

Cheese-Rolling has been a tradition in the village since 1826!

Bryan made notes about Cheese-Rolling to show Tamsin and Cliff the next day.

Tamsin didn’t have a computer in her house. But her parents had an encyclopedia. She decided to look up the word ‘rolling’ in it. She found a section called “The White House Easter Egg Roll.” There were lovely photographs, and Tamsin liked chocolate Easter Eggs, so she decided to read about the Easter Egg Roll and find out all about it!

This is what she found out!

Way back in 1885 the President of the United States decided to give an Easter Egg Rolling party for children in the garden of the White House. The first party was very successful and there is still an Easter Egg Roll on Easter Monday every year at the White House. Of course the Easter Bunny is always there with hundreds of Easter Eggs for the children!

The Easter Eggs roll down a hill in the White House garden and the children going scrambling and rolling after them, picking up as many Easter Eggs as they can on the way. The winner is the child who collects the most Easter Eggs! It’s a fun party! Glossary

scrambling:

(v. gerund) to move or climb quickly but with difficulty, often using your hands to help you.

The President’s wife arranges a lot of other games for the children to play as well, but the Easter Egg Roll is the main event of the day!

At the end of the party, when it’s time for all the children to leave the White House and go home, each child is given a decorated wooden Easter Egg as a ‘Goodbye’ present.

Tamsin made notes about the White House Easter Egg Roll to show Bryan and Cliff the next day!

Go to page 53 Activity Book

Cliff was watching television that night. That’s where he discovered something really weird for the ‘rolling’ project. He was changing channels looking for his favorite animal program, when he suddenly saw something on “Box Wars.” It looked interesting, and there were amazing pictures of people wearing costumes made out of boxes!!! Cliff decided to watch for a bit and see what “Box Wars” was all about.

Glossary coustumes: (pl. n.) outfits worn to create the appearance of a particular period, person, place, or thing.

This is what he found out!

‘Box Wars’ is a new tradition. It started in Australia in 2002. Instead of throwing away boxes when you don’t need them anymore, you make armor and helmets and tanks and swords and things out of them! It’s important to create a costume which is different from everybody else’s costume. But it has to be a costume made out of cardboard boxes and nothing else!

Glossary

helmets: (pl. n.) strong, hard hats that cover and protect the head.

Then, on the day of the Box War, everybody meets on a field and rolls and rolls and rolls about, knocking as many people over as they possibly can. They roll on until all the cardboard costumes and tanks and swords have been destroyed. It’s a lot of fun! Kids have a great time. Then, when the Box War is over, everyone starts planning their box costume for the next year!

Cliff made notes about Box Wars to show Tamsin and Bryan the next day.

Glossary

playground: (n.) an area designed for children to play in outside, especially at a school or in a park.

Go to page 55 Activity Book Tamsin, Bryan and Cliff met in the playground the next day to show each other their notes. They had to decide which ‘rolling’ story to use for their project. It was very difficult!

So what did they decide? They decided to use all three stories of course! They wrote their project on Cheese-Rolling in England, the White House Easter Egg Roll and Box Wars, and they called the project ‘Rolling X Three.’