ES TASIS Times (2021) by The American School in Switzerland

Welcome To The ES TASIS Times!

Illustration by Victoria Belcredi, Kindergarten Failure is a Step Forward By Carlotta Pignaton, Grade 5 In life, you are going to have moments of joy followed by sad moments, just like wins are followed by losses. My own loss in skiing taught me that you can’t always win, but failure will bring you closer to your goal. Losing is falling flat with your face in the mud. Learning from this is jumping over the mud, the next time you see it.

Poem by Noa Manzolini, Grade 2

Layout Design: Sissi Stolz

ES TASIS Times

The following pages contain images and writing from the creative minds of TASIS’s youngest scholars. Our Elementary School students and staff have worked hard to bring this magazine to life. Sit back and enjoy!

May 2021 Volume 10 Issue 14

Contributions from Pre-K

Christmas Around the World By Adriana Franke In Brazil they are doing fireworks. In Switzerland there is Christmas with snow. In Russia Christmas is warm and cold. In Mexico Christmas is so hot!

My Family By Bianca Bonfanti My family I like to hug. I like going in the bici with my momma, and my tata, and my brother. I like going on the bici. And next we go on a walk to the lungolago. I like to play with mama.

School By Emilio Clerici I like to cut. I like to color. I like to go to Ms. Kira and Rocky.

A Stegosaurus Hatching from an Egg By Carlo Bonfanti

Winter Activities By Gigi Gagnon I like to go sledding. Inside I drink hot chocolate. I am cold.

A T-Rex Hatching from an Egg By Matias Yo

Shapes By Riccardo Tulli I drew a square for a hat. I drew eyes, a nose, a mouth, a body, arms, and legs. It’s my mama. The face is a circle.

Tomas’Journal By Tomas Dukcevich My dad gave me a pencil. I drew a lot with it. I once had a sharpener and I sharpened my pencil. I went down a secret staircase (Monte Bré). We saw lots of stairs. We went to Lugano lake. We went to a park. We played with my baby brother. We had lunch. We drove back home. We had dinner. We watched TV, Netflix’s “A Dragon Show”. I have no idea what my sister watched. The Gingerbread Man By Maksim Bobin The fox eats the Gingerbread Man. You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man. Super fast!

Ms.Colleen By Sofia Venturelli Ms. Colleen is walking home to eat a chicken with potatoes and an apple. She is going to drink water and milk. Then, Ms. Colleen goes to sleep and she wakes up with the sun and comes back to school. We love Ms. Colleen. Hug Hug. A Snake Hatching from an Egg By Athena Albek

Fall By Leonida Volpi We see pinecones. We see green leaves. Pink leaves. I like chestnuts. I saw a big yellow leaf!

Portrait of Delphine By Oskar Norin

Christmas Around the World By Enzo Zanecchia Santa is on the roof. He puts presents under the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is outside the house. I just drew the tree outside in this picture. The smoke comes out of the chimney. Santa is about to fly up in the sky. We make Christmas cookies. We have a Christmas cookie party.

Farms By Elena Padovani Buitrago A pig splashes in the mud. Pigs give us sausage. Horses run and run they like to run. I like bunnies. They are so cute and they eat carrots. The pumpkins are big and full of things. Carrots are in some of the farms.

Contributions from Kindergarten How to Race By Sébastien Lill I Like By Victoria Belcredi

Weekend News

Explaining Science - Moss Mattia Ferrari Mia Minin Giuseppe Mazzella Veronica Kosolapova Lily Byng Kristel Allevi

By Clelia Clerici

By Mattia Ferrari

By Leonore Clerici

By Veronica Kosolapova

By Penelope Chevalier

By Masha Novoselskaya

By Mia Minin

I Am By Sofia Grassi Damiani

Grade 1 Reviews - Recensioni

Cats are Good Pets By Martina Panzieri

Homework By Lidia Kravtsova In una notte nera Di Leonardo Bruzzo

Scaredy Squirrel at Night By Odelia Canga

Akita By Gregorio Orlandi

Dog Man Di Marco Mancuso

Il punto Di Alexander Grisa

Io e Denise Di Pier Grassi Damiani

Siamo in un libro Di Dani Khassanov

Grade 2 Poems Students in second grade learned to write poems by looking at the world through poet’s eyes

Grade 3 - Appreciation My Coach By Andreas Nikoloff

Nando By Leon Tortorella

Have you ever been underappreciated? Well, now you know how my coach feels. In my opinion Coach Mark does not get much appreciation. This is why I think he needs more appreciation. This is why, he teaches us like pros, he has a lot of patience, and he is fair. I know you will think Coach Mark needs more appreciation at the end of this.

Have you ever met someone that endangers his life to keep us safe? Well, I have. Our school crossing guard. In my opinion everyone should say thank you to our school crossing guard. He endangers his life to keep us safe. He is also sooo nice. We should also appreciate that he is so patient. By the end of this speech I think you will appreciate our school crossing guard, Nando.

The first reason why we need to appreciate Coach Mark is because he teaches us a lot of skills but we don’t appreciate him. I didn’t know how to swing the baseball bat. It looked like I was chopping tomatoes and cucumbers for a salad. If people see him teaching more people will sign up for baseball. But if they see we don’t appreciate him they won’t come to baseball. But, if we appreciate him people will come. My friends were like me, but now they are good like me. That is why I believe he teaches us like pros. Do you agree with me?

The first reason why we have to appreciate Nando is because he endangers his life to keep us safe. It’s a very hard job so just please appreciate him. And say thank you when you pass. Let me explain. You might be thinking he stops cars, no! One time when I was crossing he stopped the cars but one didn’t see him saying ‘stop’ so he quickly pushed me to the gate. This job is very dangerous. You should appreciate Nando because every day he endangers his life to keep us safe.

Another reason why we should appreciate Coach Mark is he has a lot of patience. For example, when we are doing the warm-ups we don’t pay attention to him. But he doesn’t go, “Pay attention you dumb heads or you are going to enver play baseball again and get expelled!!!” But he actually waits. So this is why I think he has a lot of patience. The final reason why we should appreciate Coach Mark is he is fair. For example when I went out of the base zone he said I was out. To be fair I didn’t know that existed. And he says it’s out when somebody is out. And when it was a foul he said it was a foul. And he doesn’t have a favorite team. So do you think he plays fair? Yes or no? I think yes he plays fair. In conclusion I know that Coach Mark does not get much appreciation. My reasons are he teaches us like pros, he has a lot of patience, and he plays fair. Do you think Coach Mark deserves more appreciation, yes or no? I think, yes.

My next reason we have to appreciate Nando is because he is extremely nice too. He talks to people like if they were his friend. He starts conversations so you have to be very appreciative. We should also appreciate him because there’s a playground next to the road where Nando stops the cars and we accidentally throw frisbees and soccer balls and more. He kicks whatever we threw back into the park. Also to get to the playground there is a gate, but the gate needs a card to get in and when we forget to get the card he nicely opens the gate for us. And we should also appreciate him because when he stops the cars we pass and say thank you and he says you’re welcome. The last reason why we should say thank you to Nando is because he is patient and doesn’t yell at us. For example, we have to appreciate that when we’re not at the gate in time he doesn’t say, ‘hurry up!’ He stops the cars and we safely cross the road. Also, next to the playground there’s the lunchroom and there’s a truck that delivers food and the truck passes and Nando opens the gate for the truck. And it is hard to do his job because when it’s raining it’s hard to do his job, and he has strict rules that he has to follow. To conclude, the crossing guard does whatever he can to keep us safe so we have to do whatever we can to appreciate Nando. Nando endangers his life to keep us safe, he is extremely nice, and he is patient and doesn’t yell at us. What will you do next time you cross the road?

The Nurses are Important By Aron Colombo

Ms. Lucia By Aurora Grassi Damiani

Broken knee. Sore throat. Headache. Who will you go to? The...NURSES! In my opinion, the nurses are important. The nurses are important because they save us from Covid-19, they help if someone gets hurt, and if someone is sick. By the end of this speech, you will want to help the nurses because they help lots of people.

People walk in Ms. Lucia’s office to get cups for water, ice, tissues, and they don’t say thank you! In my opinion, everyone should appreciate Ms. Lucia’s hard work. I think we should appreciate her because she’s kind, she’s helpful, and she takes care of us. By the end of my speech you will agree with me that we should appreciate Ms. Lucia.

My first reason why the nurses are important is because they save us from Covid-19! Imagine that someone has Covid-19, but there are no nurses. So then someone else gets it and the school will need to shut down. The nurses do the Covid test, if you are positive you get sent home. The nurses are very organized this way. There was a day which a high school teacher was positive so he was sent home. The nurses are important because they save us from Covid. My second reason why the nurses are important is if someone has a cut or breaks his knee he has to go to the nurses. If someone gets kicked in the private parts, like me, the kid will need to go to the nurses. If someone like a teacher gets hurt the nurses are responsible for this. Everyone has to sometimes go to the nurses. The nurses will always cure you. This is why the nurses are important. My last reason why the nurses are important is if someone gets sick, the nurses are going to help you. When the nurses realize that you are sick they give you medicine and send you home. The nurses will help someone if they are sick with any type of disease. For example, there was a day when I felt sick and I went to the nurses and they told me that it’s better if I stayed home. That’s why I think that the nurses are important. In conclusion, I think that the nurses are important because they save us from Covid-19, they help if someone gets hurt, and they help if you are sick. That’s why the nurses are important.

The first reason we should all appreciate Ms. Lucia is because she’s kind. For example, when you feel bad and your belly hurts she asks you, “Are you ok? Does your belly still hurt? Do you want a hot water bottle or some tea?” And if your belly still hurts she always has a solution. But if it still hurts but it is impossible she calls your mom. I believe we should appreciate Ms. Lucia because she is kind. Another reason we should appreciate Ms. Lucia is because she’s helpful. For example, when teachers need papers to work Ms. Lucia is always there. But not only that, of course, she helps by getting notes for people, reminds people every day, and sends the bus list. Did you know Ms. Kenzie every week goes to Ms. Lucia’s office to get us tissues? And every day Ms. Lucia helps someone. I think we should appreciate Ms. Lucia because she’s helpful. My final reason we should appreciate Ms. Lucia is because she takes care of us. Ms. Lucia makes sure we are okay. Ms. Lucia takes care of kids. For example, by staying with you when your mom is coming to get you and she asks do you need to eat or drink something? And lots of other things, if I were to tell you everything I would never finish! So I believe we should appreciate Ms. Lucia because she even takes care of us. To finish, I believe we all need to start being better humans by appreciating Ms. Lucia. We need to appreciate her because she’s kind, and helpful, and always takes care of us. Do you agree with me that we should appreciate Ms. Lucia?

Sitting Buddha Grade 5 By Alexander Christodoulou

By Gabriele Grassi Damiani

Grade 4 Literary Essays - Those Shoes Kindness By Mila Verda

Kindness By Giangermano Giuliani

Have you ever read the book Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts? Did you think Jeremy is a very kind person? Do you have a friend who you are very kind to? It’s about a boy named Jeremy who is a good friend. He shows his quality, being a good friend by being kind, having empathy and always having a positive attitude with everybody. Jeremy is a kind person. He shows his kindness in many ways such as he shares his shoes, he is kind to Antonio and he wants to give his shoes to Antonio. An example of this was when Antonio came over for supper, Jeremy saw that Antonio liked his shoes and so Antonio asked, “How come you don’t wear them?” But Jeremy even saw this when in class he was writing something on the board and he saw Antonio’s shoes were taped on the top, in fact the text says, “One day during math I glance at Antonio’s shoes; one of them is taped up and his feet look smaller than mine.” So Jeremy felt sorry for Antonio because he could not afford those shoes. This shows what type of kind person Jeremy is. Another reason is that Jeremy has empathy. He shows his empathy in many ways. For example he understands Antonio’s feelings, he gave his shoes to Antonio. Another example could be that, that night after supper Jeremy in his bed was awake for a long time thinking of Antonio, also if he should give his shoes to Antonio. In that moment he was very empathetic. Another moment he was empathetic was when Jeremy was at school he was playing basketball with Antonio and, said during the text, “I’m not going to do it;” that means he wanted to keep the shoes to himself because Jeremy desperately wanted those shoes and seeing Antonio’s shoes for Jeremy is a motivation to give his shoes to Antonio. This shows how empathetic Jeremy is with Antonio. Jeremy is a kind friend. He is a friend who never gives up. Jeremy is able to show quality by not giving up with grandma and by trying his shoes on till they stretch. An example is that he wanted those shoes a lot too and he convinced grandma to buy those shoes and to go to the shop to buy them. He even went to many different “thrift shops” until he found the shoes he wanted. He even tried his shoes on until they stretch. For example the story says, “sometimes shoes stretch” or even he was thinking of giving his shoes to Antonio and so he says in the book, “When morning comes I try my shoes on for one last time” this shows that Jeremy never gives up with those shoes, with grandma and with shoes to stretch. The story Those Shoes is showing that Jeremy was a very kind friend. Jeremy wanted to give his shoes to Antonio, and be kind with him even if he was a little poor. Jeremy thought that he could give his shoes to somebody who needed them more.This book shows that sometimes you have to give stuff to somebody who needs it more then you do. Do you think there is another lesson? What is it?

Have you ever been generous, empathetic and coy? Well that is being kind, and in this story Those Shoes there is a boy named Jeremy and he is kind, he is exactly like what I just explained, and you will see why. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts is a book about having a kind/generous heart. In this story there is a boy named Jeremy, he is a boy who has a really big heart, he shows it by being empathetic, coy and generous. My first reason why Jeremy is kind is that he is empathetic. For example when Jeremy was playing with Antonio he saw his broken shoe, and he felt empathetic because he also had a broken shoe, and wanted to give Antonio those black shoes with two white stripes. Jeremy also says “I’m not going to do it”, that shows that he was feeling bad for Antonio and wanted to give him those shoes. Also in the text it says, “Antonio has tape on his shoe flapping up and down hitting the concrete when he plays basketball.” Another example is, he saw Antonio playing alone, and he was sitting on the bench, and he knows how it feels being lonely/alone. This shows that he is empathetic. The second reason why Jeremy is kind is that he is coy. In the text it says, “When I come back to the classroom Allen Jacoby takes one look at my Mr. Alfrey shoes and laughs and so does Terence, Brandon T., and everyone else.” Another example from the text is, “Brandon T. comes to school in those shoes. He says he’s the fastest runner now I was always the fastest before those shoes came along.” And Jeremy also was grateful when he got the shoes from Mr. Alfrey, but at the same time he was mad in his head because he wanted those shoes. This shows he is coy. Finally the last reason why Jeremy is kind is that he is generous. For instance Jeremy gave Antonio those shoes, and encouraged him to make friends, mostly at recess. Such as when Antonio comes to Jeremy’s house Jeremy remembers about his broken shoe, and he thinks about giving him Those Shoes the next day. The text says, “That night, I am awake for a long time thinking about Antonio. When morning comes, I try on my shoes one last time.” Jeremy says that because he really likes Those Shoes but they don’t fit him, so Jeremy might give Antonio Those Shoes. “Before I can change my mind, the shoes are in my coat.” This shows that at the beginning he tried putting his shoes on one more time but they still didn’t fit so he had them in his coat and ran to Antonio’s apartment, and left those shoes. Now do you see why Jeremy in Those Shoes by Marebeth Boelts is kind? Throughout the whole book Jeremy was kind. He was empathetic, he was coy and generous. If you were in Jeremy’s position what would you have done? In the story Those Shoes the main character is Jeremy, and he is kind and I hope this showed you how he is kind, and I hope you learned a lesson to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Empathy By Alis Zen Valente

A Good Friend By Eleonora Ferreri

Do you want to know how Jeremy is empathetic? Jeremy is an empathetic person. He shows this by being considerate, keeps in mind what people do, he thinks about other people and he helps his friends in need. Jeremy is an empathetic person. He expresses this by considering what other people act and say he keeps in mind what people and he helps his friends in need. Jeremy is considerate that Antonio did not laugh when Jeremy had funny shoes. Jeremy is also considering that Antonio does not surrender. In the text it says “I am awake for a long time thinking about Antonio.” This shows Jeremy is considering about Antonio. Jeremy is an empathetic person. He shows this by considering what other people act and say, keeping in mind what people do, he thinks about other people and he helps his friends in need. Jeremy thinks about other people because he cares. He thinks how to help friends in need. The book says “Brando T. comes to school in those shoes. He says he’s the fastest runner now, not me.” This shows he wants to get those shoes and become fast. Jeremy is an empathetic person. He shows this by considering what other people act and say, keeping in mind what people do, he thinks about other people and he helps his friends in need. Antonyo does not have nice shoes so Jeremy gives his to Antonyo. In the story it says “Antonyo’s shoes, on one of them is taped up” This shows that Jeremy sees Antonyo as a friend. Jeremy is an empathetic person. He expresses this by considering he keeps in mind what people do he thinks about other people and he helps friends in need Jeremy thinks about other people.

Do your friends wait for you at lunch? Do they save you a seat in the bus? Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a good friend? Well in the book Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts, Jeremy is a good example of a good friend. Jeremy doesn’t give up, he cares for other people and lastly he is not selfish. My first reason why Jeremy is a good friend is because he doesn’t give up. The evidence in the book is that he went into three stores to find those shoes and he didn’t give up when those shoes did not fit him. The last evidence is when he did not find those shoes he didn’t say “Ok I am done”. A quote from the story is that “Around the corner there is the third shop gramma”. This shows he doesn’t give up. My second reason is that Jeremy cares about other people. The evidence from the story is that he gave those shoes to Antonio and did not keep them for himself. For him it was difficult to give those shoes to Antonio. Another example is that Jeremy took notice of Antonio’s taped shoes. A quote from the story is that “I put those shoes in front of Antonio’s door, pushed the doorbell and ran”. This shows that Jeremy had those shoes that did not fit him so he gave those shoes to Antonio. My third reason is that Jeremy is not selfish. Jeremy is not selfish because he did not keep the shoes for himself but, even if it was difficult, he gave them to Antonio. An example of when he was not selfish is because when he had those shoes he didn’t go around and say “I have those shoes so I am rich”. A quote from the story is that “Antonio shoes are taped up, I should give those shoes to Antonio’’ this shows that Jeremy is not selfish. Now are you convinced that Jeremy is a good friend? Well if Jeremy was my friend I would be very very happy to have him as a friend, would you like to be his friend? We have all the reasons that show he is a good friend; first he doesn’t give up, second because he cares about other people, and last he is not selfish. The lesson from the story is that a good friend is not good from the outside but from inside.

Grade 5 Memoirs Grade 5 were able to take time to celebrate the wonderful work the students had done on their memoirs. It was a reflective process where students had been digging deep into moments in their lives as well as big messages or themes they connect with. Students had also been developing their use of descriptive language, in particular being able to identify and use figurative language such as similes, metaphors and personification. These images bring to life one part of their memoir writing they wanted to share.

By Jacopo Cancarini

By Max Spodnik

By Leopoldo Pignaton Fagnani

By Varvara Maksimova

By Ludovica Bonadonna

By Davide Palisi

By Leone Orlandi

By Hugo Nielsen

By Emma Della Foglia

By Edoardo Siccardi

By Margherita Zampa

By Giacomo Volpi

By Natasha Sokoloff

By Sofia Buzzoni

By Sofia Galmond

Classe 5a - Memorie e Racconti Un bel gesto per me Di Ludovica Bonadonna

Un bel gesto per me Di Margherita Zampa

Io ho sempre voluto un cane, era il mio sogno! Per esempio mi rifiutavo di mangiare finché non mi prendevano un cane. Beh, diciamo che non funzionava, ero disperata... sono arrivata al punto di implorare miei genitori ogni volta che vedevo un cane. Il Natale del 2019 i miei genitori mi hanno dato una busta. La apro e non faccio in tempo di leggere il messaggio che mi metto a piangere di gioia. Lì c’era la foto di un cane, avevo capito tutto: mi prendevano un cane! Finalmente! Mi butto sul letto e mi metto a piangere come impazzita! Era incredibile: a un certo punto ho pensato che era uno scherzo perché mi hanno sempre detto di no. Ma era vero! Due settimane dopo siamo andati dall’allevatore per conoscere la mamma e vedere come era il posto. La cosa bella è che potevamo giocare con gli altri cani! C’era questa femmina che mi adorava, mi stava vicino tutto il tempo. Poi c’era la mamma del mio Monet. Molto simpatica e pacata devo dire. A febbraio siamo andati a visitare i cuccioli. Erano già troppo carini!! A marzo Tato entra in famiglia.

Ho sempre voluto mangiare un salame di cioccolato, ma non ho mai potuto gustarlo perché non so cucinare. Solo mia sorella Amalia è l’unica che in casa nostra sa cucinare. Io ho sempre visto nei ristoranti il salame di cioccolato: ha sempre un aspetto molto buono e quando viene servito ai clienti, a me viene sempre l’acquolina in bocca. Chiedevo sempre a i miei genitori che lo potevo prendere anche io ma loro dicevano che faceva male perchè ha tanto zucchero e tanta cioccolata. Mia sorella sapeva veramente che lo volevo. Quindi senza dire niente a me, si è ricordata che la nostra prozia aveva una ricetta molto buona del salame di cioccolato. Quindi gliel’ha chiesta. Un fine settimana, i miei genitori erano andati in montagna con il mio fratello e la mia altra sorella. Mentre mi stavo esercitando a suonare il pianoforte, Amalia e la mia tata hanno fatto il salame di cioccolato. Quella sera dopo cena loro mi hanno detto di chiudere gli occhi finché loro mi dicevano di aprirli. Quando li ho aperti non ci potevo credere: c’era il salame di cioccolato! L’ho mangiato quasi tutto, era buonissimo!

Un bel gesto per me Di Hugo Nielsen Da quando ero piccolo, volevo sempre un letto a castello con il mio fratello. Ma mio fratello aveva solo 3 anni quindi non poteva avere un letto a castello. Ho implorato e implorato mia madre di comprarmene lo stesso uno anche se mio fratello aveva solo 3 anni. Ho provato a risparmiare i miei soldi, ma era molto difficile perché non sapevo come guadagnare i soldi. Ero solo un bambino di 8 anni che voleva un letto a castello, senza soldi. Ma avevo un’ idea. L’idea era che se aiuto la mia mamma a fare cena io ricevo 5 chf ogni volta. Il letto a castello costa 450 chf, questo significa che se aiuto la mamma 90 giorni a fare cena, riceverò 450 chf perché 5 moltiplicato per 90 è 450. 90 giorni è tanto lavoro, ma ho accettato la sfida. Dopo 45 giorni ero molto stanco, e non voleva farlo più ma ho detto a me stesso che devo insistere per raggiungere il mio obiettivo.

Un bel gesto per me Di Natasha Sokoloff Un giorno mio padre tornò a casa dal lavoro, mancavano due giorni al mio compleanno. Ero davvero sola, avevo mia sorella ma non era la stessa cosa. Il mio desiderio di compleanno era un cane o almeno un animale domestico. Mancava un giorno al mio compleanno ed ero piena di eccitazione. Di notte sognavo cani e giocavo costantemente con i miei giocattoli. La notte del mio compleanno ho sentito abbaiare ma pensavo di sognare. I miei amici sono venuti e mi sono sentita esclusa, ma poi mia madre mi ha portato un papillon. Era un fiocco verde. Poi più tardi mio padre è entrato con in braccio un cagnolino nero. Il mio cane! Ho saltato su e giù per l’eccitazione mentre lo tenevo in braccio e gli mettevo il piccolo farfallino verde. Ero così felice e da allora non non mi sono mai più sentita sola sola. Ho chiamato il cane Zelda e lei è stata la migliore sorella adottiva di sempre. Nuotiamo insieme, mi lecca molto, corriamo insieme, andiamo a passeggiare insieme e a volte dormiamo ancora insieme. Ogni volta che vede nuove persone è così felice e salta e ti copre di baci per circa un’ora o due.

Barbanera Di Leopoldo Filippo Pignaton Fagnani Semiseduto su un ricco tappeto svizzero, c’era un uomo dalla pelle scura come la sua barba: una barba nera come il carbone in un camino! Era vestito da tirolese, con una cintura di bronzo e delle scarpe in pelle con una stella alpina. Quell’uomo non dimostrava più di venticinque o trent’anni. Era di bassa statura, con una testa che sembrava non intelligentissima, capelli folti e ricci che gli scendevano fino alle spalle e un po’ scompigliati. Aveva gli occhi scintillanti, labbra carnose ed aveva un sorriso inconfondibile anche se indefinibile. Tutto in Barbanera ti faceva pensare che quell’uomo era feroce come un leone, aveva l’astuzia di una scimmia ed era sicuramente molto pericoloso. Si chiamava Barbanera e in questo momento cari lettori voi penserete che sia sul suo tappeto, ma in verità è in un palazzo pieno di chiodi e spine di ferro, che spuntavano dalla parete e trappole dappertutto. Ad un tratto arriva un uomo molto pericoloso con lo stesso carattere di Barbanera, che si chiamava Barbabianca, ed era il nemico di Barbanera.

Barbanera si nascose dietro ad un albero di quercia e poi aspettò che Barbabianca si girasse e salì sull’albero. Barbanera pensando alla sua bellissima famiglia torturata per milioni di secoli dalla famiglia di Barbabianca, decise di farlo fuori e con un balzo felino saltò giù dall’albero e fece muovere il terreno. Brividi scossero le spalle di Barbabianca che si girò di colpo per vedere chi era stato. Non lo sapeva quindi si guardò intorno e vide un’ombra di una figura grossa e pensò se fosse Barbanera o un altra figura strana. Barbanera, approfittando del momento, gli balzo sopra come un leone e di scatto Barbabianca impugnò il suo pugnale per combattere da veri uomini. Il combattimento andò avanti con molte macchie di sangue. Prima Barbabianca gli sfiora l’occhio ma Barbanera reagisce colpendolo mortalmente al ventre. Si dispera perché pensa a tutta la sua famiglia che è morta e decide di dar fine alla famiglia di Barbabianca. Va al suo castello e ammazza tutti; pure i maggiordomi. Barbanera dopo questa giornata di fatica decise di tornare a casa sua su quel bel tappeto svizzero. Quando tornò a casa c’era una festa che lo aspettava dalla sua famiglia perché avevano saputo la notizia della famiglia Barbabianca.

Grade 3 - Our Classroom Needs Improvement By Chiara Amabile

By Emily McLoughlin

Small bookshelves. Piled desks. Too little storage space! In my opinion our class needs editing. We can edit it by getting a bigger library, having more storage, space, and a more manageable desk space! I assure you that at the end of this speech you will notice it too!

The first reason our classroom needs editing is our library is too small. If our library would be bigger we would read more and become smarter. Sometimes when we do math people come and look if they want their children to come here, they will see how smart we are! So, they will totally want their children to come! But, if they see that we’re not learning no one will want to come! We could remove the small whiteboard and put it in the back where the closet is. So, if we have a bigger library more people will come!

The first reason we need to edit our classroom is so we can have a bigger library. More books will fit plus if we have a bigger library more people can bookshop. You must be wondering, “Why do we need to have more people bookshopping?” If that’s what you are wondering, I can give you an answer. We need more people bookshopping because I noticed that some days people don’t get to bookshop but then the day after it’s someone else’s bookshopping day. If we can have a bigger library we can also have more people bookshopping, and if we have more people bookshopping then the people that missed their bookshopping day can bookshop the next day as well as the people that bookshop that day. And that my friend is why we need a bigger library.

Another reason our classroom needs editing is because our carpet is too small. The carpet is too small for stuff to fit in there like maybe we could add a little couch or a table with chairs. So we could read on the carpet, and we need one on the back so we can do math in groups. And we could add a class pet to keep us company when we read.

My other reason we need to edit our classroom is that we can fit more school material if we have more space to store it. We need more storage space also because our teacher can get confused on what we have to do. For example, once our teacher started the wrong book in the wrong unit. But you are wondering, “why did she get confused?” She got confused because she had everything mixed up and didn’t have enough space to store it all. I am sure you would get confused too! And that’s why I think we need more storage space in our classroom.

The last reason our classroom needs editing is because the desks are too spread out! And we are too far away. For example, when our teacher asks us to share our thinking with our partner we have to stand up and walk around the room and then come back :-( There was a time when Ms. Kenzie asked me and Leon to share ideas and I had to stand up and go to his desk! But we could spread the desks so they’re all in one line, for example we could get rid of some plexiglass, make desks bigger so it’s not so tiny and squeezed.

My final reason why our classroom needs editing is that our desk space isn’t easy to handle. For example, I tidied up my desk on Wednesday and on Thursday it was all messed up again. I know you are thinking, “Why did my desk mess up so easily?” If that’s what you are thinking lucky for you I can answer your question! We do schoolwork every day, and we store it all under our desks. But then we pull the stuff out again and in again. That when you get it out the next time it’s all messed up! Also you need to tidy your desk every single day if you want it to be clean the day after. I think we need wider and bigger desk storage so that all our stuff can fit without having to tidy it up every single day.

In conclusion, I know we need to change this classroom! I know this because our library is too small, we need a bigger carpet, and the desks are too spread out! When you go to third grade you have to convince everyone our classroom needs editing!

In conclusion, I believe that we need some editing in the classroom to make more space for our library, more storage space so that our teacher doesn’t get confused, and a place to store our stuff that can make a change. Please make that change, make happier kids, make us a better school!

By Leone Garbuio

By Vivienna Skrastina “Ouch! These chairs are so hard and there’s so much space to add stuff.” I said. In my opinion our classroom needs more changing. Our classroom needs more changing because hard chairs hurt your butt so we are going to add a lot of comfortable things. And a pretty class is the best and everyone will want to come if our class is clean. When you finish listening to this speech you are going to know what a really good class is. The first reason why we need to change our classroom is when people are looking at TASIS they’d see our classroom and say “I really wanna go there it’s so pretty and it has a very very nice library.” TASIS will get more money because new people will want to come to our classroom. We could change our classroom by adding pretty stuff. I don’t really know a lot about decoration but I know an ugly classroom is not good, people won’t want to come. And to make our library better we could take away the shelf with papers and put it close to the mask trash can, and put more of a library in the spot where the other shelf was. Nobody would like a small library. That is why I believe our class should have more changing.

Viking Ships Vikings used longships to make raids and carry their warriors. Often, the prow of the ship was decorated with a carving of an animal head. After students learned about the importance of these ships to the Viking way of life, they spent a fun class drawing their own.

By Liza Trykolich

The second reason we need to change our classroom is you can get stuff quicker because it’s clean and organized. Well our desks are clean, but not everything else. So first, whenever someone walks by a piece of trash they should pick it up, because sometimes people just walk by trash and don’t pick it up. THAT’S BAD! And who would want a stinky, dirty, trash classroom. Ewwwww! And you should organize all papers and blocks and everything. For example, one time it took 30 minutes to find my pencil case because everything was dirty and unorganized. It was terrible. That’s why our classroom needs more changing. My last reason is when you are sitting down on a chair you don’t have to sit on those hard brown chairs, you could sit on a nice couch. First up, what we need to change in our classroom so it’s more comfortable is a small couch, not a big one, because a big one takes up space. And on the couch we will put pillows, not just normal pillows, ginormous pillows. Then we can add a fluffy carpet that I can sink into. And the last thing to add is soft everything. That’s why our classroom needs more changing.

By Vivienna Skrastina

To end, I believe that everyone now should think that it’s good to change our classroom. We need to do this because our classroom would be fabulous and people will want to come to TASIS, because of how pretty our classroom is and we get more money. If you come to TASIS and see how pretty it is, thank me!

By Leon Tortorella

Grade 4 - Blackout Poetry Fire By Isabella Badaracco Smashing their Way into Fire before the Intense heat Was too much I thought Just in time

A Crown By Nicolai Riis A crown of daisies Blueberry pie, Mrs. Zuckerman jumped Landed, splashing blueberry pie Swing.

Soft Rain By Mikhail Novoselskiy Soft rain was commencing Sounding like it was Coming down in a steady, bouncing way big, bright drops of water splashing Up and over Jumping Right along

Sunrise By Philipp Ogilivie Morning Light Fades Peacefully deep Song By Giulia Vanossi Song With voice like dancing water Strange, forgotten bird Curled safely A good feeling As she Tries to move her sore foot

In Time

The Big Pie By Manuele Ippolito

The Great Circus By Edoardo Ruina

The monkeys went on the big pie, then a magnificent bird landed on to a tree

First great circus in the world, Everything upside down, Balance on the very top, Silly silly monkeys too, Children would faint, Blood to their heads, But Mr.Twit doesn’t care about that.

The World By Yulia Panasenko A recovery Can be a miracle On earth It seems to me A little off The Tiger By Amal Azimova The tiger Stopped pacing Looking Listened Grabbed Ran His soul had grown

The Woods By Yasha Gras The tiger fiercely Listened to the woods She felt his heart move From fear

Contributions from Grade 4 Racing By Georgiy Zasov I was in the pits trying to concentrate on the track. There were five minutes to the start. I was shaking like a leaf in the wind. We took our positions on the grid. I turned on my motor and started the formulation lap. When I finished the formulation lap and the warm up lap I came on to the front stretch and the lights were off! The start was not so good. I was really nervous. I went from P5 to P10. “Come on,” I said to myself. I was on the tail of 121. “That guy is tough.” I thought. He made a trajectory error, I was on the inside, there was contact! He did some sort of drift so I took the position. I was in the slipstream of 120, to the inside, pass! So I was in p8, two karts collided. Luckily I avoided the crash. Yellow flags went up on sector 2. It seems like 190 spun out and 124 and 155 crashed into him p3! Slipstream on 163 pass! It was the final turn inside of 51, the checkered flag, YES! I slowed down and entered the pits, I checked weight and came to the podium. I took my cup and I was coming home, I was so happy. When I said “bye” to my kart I thanked it and even hugged it. A few hours later when I came home I looked at my cup, it was amazing! I looked inside, there was a bag. Apparently there were glasses and at that point I promised myself I would never be so nervous again.

The Worst Summer Holiday Ever! By Olivia Segat Have you ever been waiting so patiently for something so big and then it all went wrong? Well, I certainly have. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring, the alarm squealed. I jumped out of bed and ran down the dusty old stairs. I ate a pancake and a glass of milk. I ran back up stairs like lightning and threw on some clothes and started packing my bag. It was the day! A few minutes later our mom shouted, “Are you ready?” “Yes.” I replied. We ran down the stairs. Then suddenly we stopped and heard the news say, “There is a very bad virus spreading around the world, so everyone stay in your houses.” Madison and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes, and ran to tell our mom and dad about the news. We all felt really sad we called our grandma and aunt. We had a long conversation talking about what happened. After the world heard this news, we all spent weeks being locked in our houses. The days passed slowly and slowly, with the rain drops and the heavy wind blowing everywhere, we kept the news on every day. “Come on!” I exclaimed. “We can still make this holiday fun!” “I know we can’t go to South Africa, but we can make everything fun!” I said. Everyone looked at me as if I had just said something terrible. “We cannot work this out, our whole holiday is spoiled.” Everyone said. It seemed as if a rock had fallen down all the way through my body. But I was not going to give up trying to make everyone happy! I didn’t think that, I knew that! The next day I heard the news say “This virus is getting better. But, just for safety the flights won’t be open immediately, they will be open in four months.” My eyes opened wide and I immediately went to book flights on my mom’s phone. I was so excited to tell everyone the big surprise! I called everyone in the lounge and I told them the news. Everyone cheered and screamed for joy. And when we all settled down on the sofa, I thought “We’re actually going to South Africa.” I bit my nails and turned red.

Asteroid By Arif Azimov Asteroid, asteroid falling to Earth Each time you fall you get to visit a new spot. Asteroid, asteroid the big rock from the sky Tell us the secrets of space not the lies. Thunders By Leonardo Pittini I finally believe Thunderstorms Make him feel Terrorized Another crack of thunder Like the end of the world He will Come back After the rain

Islamic City Landscape By Noemi Mazziotti The Wanderer By Amelia Pacini Have you ever seen this man, walking along the mountainside? Dark clouds surround him, green hands, huge staff, and with a blue cloak? He has been around since the beginning of time, No one knows his real name, but people call him Death, He doesn’t kill anyone, he simply travels with those who have died, but people are still afraid of him. If you ever look in his eyes, you will start to follow him, until he leads you, to wherever you need to go.

The Tiger By Omar Elbouri He didn’t care but when he dreamed he remembered the tiger in the woods. And stopped.

He walks for days, weeks and months, but he hasn’t seen the person he›s been looking for. He always rests at this one spot, at the edge of a mountain, It helps him think, where that next person to find might be. Always beware, he may be looking for you!

Classe 5a - Pinocchio - Analisi del testo Nella classe di Sezione Italiana stiamo leggendo “Le avventure di Pinocchio” di C. Collodi. Durante la lettura, ci fermiamo a discutere sui fatti, sui luoghi, ed in particolare sui personaggi e sulle loro caratteristiche. Raccogliamo, poi, le nostre riflessioni in questo tabellone.

Grade 3 - Using our Voices to Make a Change Pollution By Diana Imani Stop Poverty By Niccolò Compagnino You saw it, you heard it, well what is it… poverty. We should stop having that. Imagine if you were poor. Well I’m going to show you. First of all, poor people might not have food. Poor people might not have food and lots of families would be extinct because without food they will die. Then the people that died couldn’t have children and then the children of the person that died wouldn’t exist so the child of that child didn’t exist. So no more of that family with that last name wouldn’t be there in the future. A second example is poor people might not have a house and have to live in car stops. They could be so scared out there in the dark night. They could even be hit by a car or touch a mouse or touch trash and get a virus. What if this was you? How would you feel? That’s not fair. That’s why you should care about all those poor people. Third of all, poor people might not have a job. Poor people might not have a job to support their family and get money to buy supplies, toys and not even maybe have a child because they won’t get to the hospital in time because they couldn’t buy a car to get there in time. One time I was going to see the eye doctor and I saw a poor person that was playing an instrument for money. What if that person was you? How would you feel? That’s not fair. This is why you should care about the poor people. You heard me, you have to stand up to poverty. You can make things better by giving money to poor people and make companies give money to poor people. Don’t forget what I said… stop poverty!

Source: https://www.dosomething.org

Hi my name is Diana. Do you think pollution is bad? Well I’ll tell you it’s bad! So think about it you should pick up trash or throw trash. Well the answer is pick it up! The first reason is that if we pollute then the plastic ends up in the sea and animals might choke or die because of the plastic (especially glitter). And animals have feelings like us. The second reason is the town will become dirty. You might be thinking, “Why should I keep the town clean?” Well I’ll tell you why. It is very bad for all living things. Maybe in your life you didn’t have pollution. But today there is pollution so you should STOP throwing and instead pick up trash. And for you people who throw trash please STOP throwing trash! The third reason is the water will become dirty and it’s bad for the environment. For example a flood might happen and that’s bad. And that’s why you should pick up trash and not pollute!

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu

Stop Cutting Down Trees By Matteo Panziera Do not cut down trees! I think you need to stop cutting down trees because trees give oxygen to the earth. If there is not oxygen we can die. The trees clean soil and stop soil being washed away. If there are not trees or no rain because the trees give the possibility to rain. Animals and plants can die because there are no trees. The trees help land keep cool so they stop wildfires. Animals live in the trees and when you cut it down it hurts their house. So don’t cut down trees. I know in this year there is Covid 19. If we continue to cut down trees the Covid 19 won’t die. It continues forever. I say stop cutting down trees!

Pollution By Pilar Sokoloff You might think that pollution is not bad, but it is! Pollution could kill many things. It could even kill the planet because have you seen all the countries in plastic? We could all die! The first reason we should not pollute is because pollution could kill animals. Animals could choke or die because they could swallow plastic. If animals in the sea all die we will not ever eat seafood. Animals are really helpful to the environment, it would be so sad to kill them all. That is why pollution could kill animals. Another reason we should not pollute is because it is harmful to people. For example, pollution is not only harmful for animals it is also for people too. I know you might be thinking that pollution is not bad, but it is because if animals eat plastic and if you eat that animals you could get sick or die. And that is why pollution is also bad for people too. Finally, pollution could destroy the planet. Pollution is so bad that it could destroy the planet. Pollution is all over towns and people’s houses. If pollution took over towns why can’t it take over the world? That is why pollution could destroy the planet. Now you learned that pollution is really bad, now can you please go pick up all the plastic you can see? Please remember that pollution is really bad. We Should All Wear our Masks By Leone Garbuio Have you ever been looking around the classroom and seeing people not wearing the mask? What is the annoying part? That person not wearing their mask or that person that doesn’t care about the planet and protecting others? I know about both of them. WE SHOULD ALL PUT OUR MASKS ON! The first reason that we all should put our masks on is because when people look at our school they want to see all people putting their masks on properly like teachers. Like when I walked in Italian people weren’t putting their mask on so I thought in my head, “If they don’t put their mask on they can get sick.” And then you can’t go to school and you have to do online learning and that’s super boring and you don’t want to do that. That is why I believe that we all should put on our masks.

A second reason that we should all put your masks on because if you don’t put your mask on you can get sick and you don’t want that to happen. Putting your mask on is important for you because you can get Covid-19. For example, when I walked in Italy I saw some people not wearing their masks so I thought in my head that if they don’t put their masks on then they can get sick and that’s very bad because if you get sick you’re gonna miss so much school and then you will never be smart. And that’s why you should put your mask on. My third reason is that you all have to wear your mask because it protects you from germs and it protects others. For example, when I was walking to Italian I saw a mask on the ground so I picked it up and threw it away. Then I thought in my head that if they threw on the ground their mask they don’t care about safety and pollution and our planet. That is why you should wear your mask. Now you learned that putting your mask on is important for you. I urge you to put your mask on and if your mask gets broken you get another one. And to put your mask on properly covering your nose and mouth. That’s why you should put your mask on. Stop Killing Animals By Vanya Smyslov Have you ever imagined an earth without animals? Everybody will be sad and the planet would be sad. My opinion is that we should stop killing animals!!! The first reason that we should stop killing animals is because it’s very bad so you should stop killing them. Imagine you are going somewhere and there would be no animals at all. That would be very sad. We might kill all of them so don’t do it. That’s why we should stop killing animals. The second reason that we should stop killing animals is because you are killing the nature. Imagine a planet without animals. Imagine a forest without animals. Would it really be a forest? That is why you should stop killing animals. The third reason that we should stop killing animals is because nobody will be happy. Nobody will have pets. And the earth won’t be happy. That’s why you should stop killing animals. Now that you learned about why we should stop killing animals I argue you to stop people that kill animals. Let’s be proud of not killing animals!

Endangered Animals Grade 1 and and Grade 3 take a stand for animals in danger Endangered Animals By Beatrice Valvano, Grade 3 Let me ask you something, have you ever heard the words, “endangered animals”? Maybe you think it’s fake, but sorry to break it to you, but it’s real. Not kidding, it’s happening now, you can see if for yourself. So are you ready to come, begin, and learn about this thing, and about amazing things that you could never think existed? Come, begin the journey in the world of the animal kingdom! The first reason we should save endangered animals is because we can learn more about them. For example, if all animals die, we will not know why a panda sleeps 70% of the time. Or why gorillas aren’t aggressive when humans get close, and other reasons. But I think you get it. So we should really try our best to keep animals alive. So scientists can learn more, and more about animals, and so they can answer every question. That is why I believe we all need to work as a team and save the endangered animals before it’s too late. The next reason we should protect endangered animals is because they would all die. I know you are probably thinking, “It’s fine, why should I care?” Well let me tell you something, it is the most mean thing you could do to any animal! Because guess what, without them we wouldn’t be here. For example, we come from monkeys, without them we would not be here, so it’s not fair if we kill monkeys, or any other animal in general. Also think about if you were kidnapped, and somebody killed you, your mom would feel sad, right? Yeah well, that’s the same way a panda would feel if its baby died. That’s why we need to protect endangered animals. The third reason we should save endangered animals is because of climate change, so don’t cut trees or hunt too much. For example, if you cut down trees you are thinking, “It’s good we have paper and we can build houses,” but it’s not, animals lose their environment. That means they don’t have a home. That means they have nowhere to live, and maybe are too hot or cold or there is not the type of food they eat, and they might die. So please save our animals and don’t cut down trees. I want you to think about something. If you close your eyes, and think about you not having a home. Being a stray. It’s not cool, right? That’s exactly what’s happening now to animals all around the world. Every day, and you cannot return something damaged to its original form. Also, if an animal is extinct, there is NOTHING we can do to bring it back. So save our endangered animals before it’s too late. Did you know, almost every day one animal dies?

Now that you learned why we should protect endangered animals, I want you, if it ever happens to you, to see a hurt, lonely, or endangered animal, don’t waste one second. Pick it up, and bring it straight to the vet, to make sure it’s okay. Also if you find another animal that’s the same kind, try to make them mate so they have babies. When they are grown enough, release them into the wild and nature and animals will thank you for what you’ve done.

Gorilla Di Keira Pavlinger Grade 1

Giaguaro Di Leonardo Badaracco Grade 1

Endangered Animals By Liza Trykolich

Leopardo delle nevi Di Martina Panziera, Grade 1

Pandas By Max Nielsen, Grade 1

Have you ever been to a zoo and just walked by an endangered animal? You should think, “Is it a mom or dad? Well, it doesn’t matter.” Well, it’s been separated from its family. That’s a big problem. “But at least it wasn’t killed.” How would you feel if you lost your parents? That might happen for wild animals! You should feel sorry for them! The first reason we should not put animals in cages is because if you release them they could die because they get used to being taken care of! Let’s take a tiger that doesn’t know how to hunt and he starves to death. Or a bunny that doesn’t learn how to escape and a predator kills it. That would be so sad. Maybe you do not like animals but pretend you starve to death or also get killed! How would you feel? Now you know how animals feel! Or people who don’t care but you love your pet and your pet gets killed. How would you feel about that? Now you know that it’s a problem killing animals. My next reason is that we destroy animal’s homes. Another word is habitat. Because we cut down like 80 percent of their forest. Can you tell me where they live? Well, really kind people put them in safe places. For those of you who do, thank you for your kindness. Plus those animals can die and animals are really important to us because if animals don’t eat plants there will be too much but that will happen if we cut down their habitats! And we might have too much plants. My last reason is the world will be empty without wild animals because we will kill too many animals from the forest. And a forest won’t be a forest without wild animals! If will be just a green empty place. Like can you imagine Australia without animals? That’s just a nightmare. Well you know animals have feelings too and a heart and a brain just like humans. They’re alive too! They’re not robots that you can kill every second! I’m not saying you can’t kill them at all. Just kill a tiny bit. Also how would you feel if a giant took away someone you loved? That’s how animals feel! Now you know why you shouldn’t kill too much endangered animals. I hope you picked to kill less! You shouldn’t ever kill too much animals that would be so sad.

Rinoceronte Di Pier Grassi Damiani, Grade 1

Endangered Animals Endangered Animals By Daria Bektasheva, Grade 3 Have you ever thought why it’s bad to kill animals? Because some of them are good for the environment, some of them can disappear from the planet! All animals need their mothers to live. We need to protect endangered animals. The first reason why we have to keep endangered animals safe is because if you kill a lot of them they can disappear from the planet and that’s not good. For example, if you have a pet tiger and someone would kill it just for their fur or meat? That’s how a mother would feel if their baby would be shot. That is why you shouldn’t kill animals. That’s why I think we shouldn’t kill animals. Another reason why we need to protect endangered animals is that some of them are good for the environment (ecosystem). For example, if all the prey died the predators have nothing to eat so all of them die. Like if all of the fish died what will the bears eat? They will just die. That’s why I think we shouldn’t kill animals. Finally, we have to protect endangered animals because baby animals need their mothers. For example, if you were an animal and someone killed your parents you wouldn’t survive without them. You maybe didn’t care about it when you were a kid but now you should! It’s not fair that we have just come and kill them when we want to. So now I will tell you what you can do to help… first of all, you can start to explain to people basically what I explained to you, ok? Great! Bye!

Pandas By Alice Panziera, Grade 1

Sea Turtles By Mariia Bobina, Grade 1

Gorillas By Can Yalcin, Grade 1

Sea Turtles By Zhiyun Cheng, Grade 1

Pangolins By Leonardo Valvano, Grade 1

The Wise Speech By Gabriele Grassi Damiani, Grade 5

Home is where you feel home By Philipp Fartushnyak, Grade 5

After thinking of all of those memories and fun times I collapsed into tears, and my dad came and gave me a big fat sweet hug. After that hug, my dad started talking to me as if he needed to give a very important speech to all the world. “You will never learn to win if you don’t learn how to lose,” my dad said in a wise voice. That speech changed the way I thought. It also taught me a very wise lesson that I will never forget. Experiences like this have taught me that you can’t win without losing. So maybe I didn’t win that day. But I won something else.

“When are they going to arrive?” I groaned impatiently. Our supportive, empathetic guard Yura and I were standing by the metal gate and waiting for our guests to arrive. We thought that the guests were in the car that was passing by many times, but they weren’t. “Don’t worry, they’re going to arrive any moment now,” he said in a calm but firm voice. The time felt infinite, or at least going very slowly because the guests were now ten minutes late. The guard stood there like a centuries old statue that didn’t even pay attention to the beetle that innocently landed cautiously on him. The arriving cars made a shushing sound that was caused by the recently dampened driveway. While the cars approached, we became sick of guessing which of the guests were in which of the passing cars, so we just stared across the wide road. As I stood there waiting, I started to remember all the years that passed, all the things we did in the years that Yura and I were together when I lived in Moscow, before leaving. Playing soccer for hours, sweating in the burning hot backyard like in an oven, inventing a whole secret language that was just for the two of us, playing By Sofia Sinicco By Amanda Gomes on the swings in a creative way; sharing the excitement of trying to pull a fish out of our pond, whether it was a massive, fat carp or a teeny, tiny Take One Step Back To Achieve Two Steps Forwards tiddler. All these years I had never thought about By Pietro Amabile, Grade 5 what Yura really meant to me: I never thought about how I could even manage to live without There are many challenges and obstacles in life, but him. He is a supportive companion that is one of to overcome them and progress, you have to use the the most valuable parts of my home. Yura is one of important lessons you have learned in the past. In the the people that make me feel at home. obstacle course of my life, there have been a range of unexpected challenges, and I always used all the memories and lessons of my past to remind myself that I am a gladiator, willing to risk everything to win the battle. My Zoo That I Lost By Roman Bukharin, Grade 5 My hamster one time fell in a toilet. I was passing it over to my friend, when Step! and he was on my friend’s hand. But then he ran like a cheetah, and jump! Then, splash! My fat, big-toothed hamster was trying not to sink into toilet water with a broken leg.

By Yasmine Al Askari

Grade 5 - Memoirs Excerpts

Classe 4a - Racconti del brivido Assassino Di Amal Azimova Quella mattina pioveva ma alla bambina piaceva la pioggia. La bambina era in un circo, faceva il riscaldamento. 20 minuti dopo la bambina è andata in bagno. A un tratto la bambina ha sentito che qualcuno stava grattando la porta. La bambina ha provato ad aprire la porta ma non poteva, quindi ha guardato fuori dalla finestra e ha visto qualcuno! Voleva correre ma la porta era chiusa, quindi ha preso un fazzoletto, ha provato ad aprire... e ci è riuscita. La bambina si guarda intorno ma non c’è nessuno quindi corre ma vede un assassino con un coltello in mano con tanto sangue! Va dall’altra parte del circo e corre, poi vede una porta di emergenza ed entra. Prova aprire la porta e la porta si apre! Corre fuori e vede una bicicletta. Va sulla bicicletta e scappa a casa. Appena è arrivata chiude la porta a chiave ed è salva!

Il clown nel solaio Di Olivia Segat Buongiorno, oggi vi racconto una storia molto triste. Incominciamo. Un buio giorno una bambina di nome Viola e i suoi genitori andarono a visitare una casa abbandonata. Era vecchia, grigia e nera. Entrarono nella casa e i genitori di Viola dissero: “Vai a vedere un po’ la casa mentre io e il tuo papà andiamo a guardare nel solaio”. Allora Viola andò a guardare la casa. Ma improvvisamente sentì una canzoncina da circo. Ma non era normale, era lenta e spaventosa. Viola cominciò ad avere tanta paura, il suo cuore batteva. Seguì il rumore e sentì un urlo di disperazione. Poi un’altro. A bassa voce disse: “Mamma, Papà.....”. Nessuna risposta. Poi disse ancora: “Mamma, Papà....”. Ancora nessuna risposta. Si ricordò che i suoi genitori avevano detto a Viola che andavano nel solaio. Allora con la canzoncina di circo che stava ancora suonando, si arrampicò nel solaio. Era buio e spaventoso. La porta si chiuse con un cigolio. Viola vide una faccia pallida con un naso rosso e degli occhi rossi nell oscurità. “Chi sei”? chiese una voce bassa. “Mi chiamo Viola”. Rispose con una voce bassa come una formica. “E tu chi sei?” La musichetta del circo si fermò, e c’era un silenzio che si poteva sentire il ronzio di una mosca. Senza risposta con il cuore che batteva Viola provò a uscire lentamente, ma era troppo tardi! Il clown la afferrò e anche lei, come i suoi genitori, con uno strillo di disperazione morí!

Knowing Languages will Help you in the Future By Zoe Manzolini, Grade 4

Aren’t you tired of studying day and night only English and Italian? Have you ever wondered how life would be if you learned different languages? Well you should! Did you know that knowing languages or learning languages will increase your knowledge in your brain, will help you travel, and most importantly will help you find a job? Imagine you’re traveling in a place, but you don’t know how to speak in that language. That would be annoying. Now that you know how it feels like I bet you’re already learning languages. One reason why knowing languages will help you in the future is by making you smarter. For instance, last year I had no idea how to read and write in English, but when I learned it, I also knew how to solve a puzzle faster, or write faster a paragraph because my brain is more used to jumping from one language to another. Or by connection to connection. This shows that knowing languages will help you in the future. Another reason why knowing languages will help you in the future is by helping you travel in different places in the world. For instance, one time when I was traveling to Spain, I saw my parents taking lessons to learn Spanish, and when we were there, it actually helped a lot. When we arrived, my parents already knew how to speak in that language, so they had no problem ordering food or looking at maps. Specifically, if we were allergic to something, they could understand the name of the food and make sure we did not eat it. Learning languages can help people travel safely. Although knowing a language will help you in the future to make you smarter or help in travel, most importantly, it will help you to find a job. For instance, one time my mom was searching for a job, and they hired her because she was great at English and Italian. Not only for that but even for her inspiration as a teacher. This shows that you should learn new languages to get ahead in life. Now that you know how languages can help you, I hope you are thinking of how you can help yourself in the future with languages. Learning languages will help to increase your intelligence, assist with trips, and help you find a job. Therefore, if you are learning languages, be proud of your hard work and time spent learning.

Source: https://www.pobble365.com

The Tsunami By Philipp Ogilvie, Grade 4 The wild ocean roaring like a lion surrounding me in the car. The car was touching the roaring sea salt conquering the smell of normal air. The sun came strongly blinding my eyes. Fish being run over. Lorries crashing in the powerful water making terrible crackling fires with gas. The car was touching the water with the ocean strong like a lion sucking us in like a scary creature. In my mind the ocean was alive. No! We are nearly sucked in totally but with the tiniest pieces of salt the tires regained strength and grip and got out. We were lucky but other cars smashed in the wild ocean getting destroyed into nothing but soar dust and sand! CRASH, BAM, DEMOLITIONS the water was slowly covering the sky….

By Federico Colapietro, Grade 4

By Ryan De Maria, Grade 4

Contributions from Grade 4 33

Grade 4 - Literary Essays

Emma is a Good Pet Owner By Kevin Kraemer I realize that some people think a fish can’t be a pet. But in the story A Pet, a fish can. At first, Emma also thinks that a fish can’t be a pet, she struggles with accepting this. But she knows she wanted a pet and now she has one, so she accepts Joshua. All of this shows that Emma is a good pet owner. Emma is a good pet owner because she is kind and because she is accepting. Emma is a person that is very kind. For example, after school Emma ran very fast to the pet store. She then buys medicine for Joshua, because he is sick, Emma goes home giving Joshua some pills. Emma is worried. She doesn’t want Joshua to get more sick or die. In the text Emma says “Please, Please.” This shows she is begging for Joshua to stay alive. Also, this proves that she is kind and caring and that she really loves Joshua. Emma is kind because she feeds him. Emma is kind because she gave him medicine. Emma is kind because when she noticed Joshua was sick she rushed to the pet store. Emma is kind because she doesn’t ignore Joshua. All of this is proof that Emma is kind. Emma is an accepting character. For example, one day Emma enters her bedroom and she is surprised. “What on Earth?” she says. She sees an aquarium and a fish. She is confused but then realizes it’s a pet she got from her parents. She then thinks a fish can’t be a pet. But, at night when she sees Joshua in the aquarium with his white creamy eyes and all the colors from his aquarium she thinks it’s beautiful. This shows Emma is accepting of Joshua. In the text it says “It would be a fish or nothing”. This shows, Emma is accepting because she doesn’t just say “I don’t want a fish! I want a dog or cat!” Instead she accepts Joshua even though she didn’t ask for him. She loves Joshua the same way she would love a dog or cat. All of this shows Emma is accepting. Emma is accepting because she doesn’t ask for another pet. Emma is accepting because she accepts that Joshua is old and blind. Emma is also accepting because she accepts Joshua’s death because she buries him with his castle. All of this shows Emma is accepting. I realize that there are bad pet owners on Earth that treat their pets really badly. But, there are also many good pet owners! Nice pet owners treat their pets with respect and kindness! An example of an excellent pet owner is Emma. Emma is a great pet owner because she is kind and because she is accepting to Joshua. Are you a good pet owner?

By Nina Garkavij

The Big Red Lollipop By Nina Rovelli Is it me, or is Ami kind of unfair? In the story The Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, Ami, Rubina’s mother (Rubina is the main character) is really unfair, because she never tells Rubina’s sister, Sana, off. Several pieces of evidence prove that Ami is unfair when it comes to telling off. The reason which proves that Ami is unfair is, she never tells Sana off when she’s being rude and spoiled. Like for example, when Sana screams and screams that she wants to go to the party too, Ami just says “Well, that’s not fair. You call your friend and ask if you can bring Sana, or else you can’t go.” I mean Rubina could just ask her friend, but her mother shouldn’t tell her that otherwise she can’t go! Furthermore, Ami should’ve told Sana off. Another example of when Ami doesn’t tell Sana off, is when Sana eats all of Rubina’s lollipop, that she saved from the party, (Well not ALL of it, she only left a teeny-tiny triangle…) Rubina tries to tell Ami what Sana did, but the text just says “‘Look! I didn’t eat all of your lollipop! I left a triangle for you!’ ‘See?’ says Ami ‘She didn’t eat all of it. She’s sharing with you! Go ahead. Take the triangle.” I mean! Ami can’t say that Sana was sharing! It was Rubina’s from the very beginning! To prove this point even farther, the text states “In the morning, I get up early to have it. (By ‘it’ she means the lollipop) Sana’s already up. When she sees me, she runs away. I open the fridge door, all that is left of my lollipop is a triangle stuck to a stick!” What’s that? Mrs. Ami? There are no excuses! Next for Ami’s preposterous examples of being unfair is when Rubina tells Ami not to make Sana take Maryam, (when she gets invited to a party) because when Rubina had to take Sana, after that nobody invited Rubina to their party anymore, because Sana being so full-of-herself and rude. Being kind, and empathetic, Rubina didn’t want that for Sana. When Rubina tells Ami not to make Sana take Maryam, Ami just says “okay” I think that Rubina is an extremely good sister, to be empathetic with Sana. Even after Sana, earlier, made such a scene at the party, that nobody invited Rubina to parties anymore! My evidence for that is when the text says: “The worst thing is that all the girls at school know if they invite me to their birthday parties, I have to bring Sana. I don’t get any invitations for a really long time.” This proves tha Ami isn’t a fair mom when it comes to telling off. Now you how, why, when or that Ami is unfair, because she always gets angry at Rubina for no reason! But when Sana is rude she pretends not to notice and encourages Sana to be even ruder, and spoiled! Which proves that all the reasons that Ami isn’t really fair. If you were Rubina and your sister and mother acted like this, what would you do?

Never Give Up By Ishaan Patel Never give up. It’s simple. Just keep trying. If you work hard and never give up you will succeed in many ways. In The Marble Champ by Gary Soto. The character is a girl called Lupe. She doesn’t give up by trying and trying to get good at marbles. Also, there is a book called Mr. Lincoln’s Way. The author is Patricia Polacco. Later we will find out how the book, Mr. Lincoln’s Way, shows to never give up. Finally, we have Thank You, Mr. Falker. Patricia Polacco also wrote this book. It is about a girl called Trisha who can’t read and kept on trying to read. Does she succeed? We don’t know! An example of never giving up is a short story called The Marble Champ by Gary Soto. It is about a girl called Lupe, she is very strong academically and has won many awards and medals. Plus, she is the top of her class and never missed a day of school! In fact, Lupe had no faults, none but sports. She is really weak physically. This made her upset because she really wanted to win a playground award for once. The playground award is a contest that happens every year. People test their physical abilities. Lupe decides to do marbles for the contest. Now, her thumb is really weak and you can’t play marbles without a strong thumb! Lupe works really hard to get her thumb strong. She does many exercises. Some of them were push-ups on her fingers and squeezing an eraser. In the book it says “Practice, practice, practice! Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze! Lupe got better and better. She even beat her brother and Alfonso, a neighbor kid who is meant to be a pro.” This shows that Lupe kept on trying and is working really hard. Also, Lupe is practised non-stop. She even asked her dad to set up some lights outside so that she could practice after dark. In fact Lupe even went to her brother to get advice on how to play better. This all shows that Lupe, from The Marble Champ, by Gary Soto never gave up. Another example of never giving up is the book Mr. Lincoln’s Way, by Patricia Polacco. One of the main characters is the character Mr. Lincoln. The other character is Eugene Esterhause. Eugene is the school bully. He is very mean and loves to tease people. Everyone call’s Mr. Lincoln the coolest teacher ever! One day, Mr. Lincoln called Eugene into his office. Mr. Lincoln wanted to talk about why Eugene was always so mean. The whole time that Mr. Lincoln was talking, Eugene was looking outside. He had his eyes stuck on the birds outside. Mr. Lincoln noticed that. “Do you like birds?” he asked. “Yes,” Eugene replied. Eugene knew every kind of bird. That made Mr. Lincoln think that birds were Eugene’s soft spot. Mr. Lincoln was getting a new atrium in his school. He didn’t know what to do with it though. Mr. Lincoln thought that maybe Eugene and him could turn it into a bird atrium. Finally, towards the end of the book, Eugene tells Mr. Lincoln that he used to live on his grandfather’s farm. They had lots of birds. Eugene really misses that. Also, it makes him mad that he can’t go back to see his grandfather. Now Mr. Lincoln understands why Eugene could be mad. Eugene also says that his father is not nice and kind. He is racist. Eugene’s father is upset that Eugene is working with Mr. Lincoln. “Do not work with him, he is not our kind.” Eugene’s father said to him, sternely. This all shows that Mr. Lincoln put a large effort in understanding Eugene and seeing what would make him kinder. My final book evidence of never give up is the book Thank You Mr. Falker also by Patricia Polacco. The main character is a girl called Trisha. When Trisha was young, her grandfather took a jar of honey and a book. He poured honey on the book. Then, he asked Trisha to try the honey. Trisha said, “it is sweet!” “That’s right, honey is sweet but so is knowledge! The thing with knowledge is that it has to be chased through a book.” Trisha’s grandfather replied. Later, Trisha found out that she couldn’t read. As much as she tried, she just couldn’t. In fact, everyone in her class could read,

everyone but Trisha. Not long after, her grandparents passed. Then, Trisha and her family moved. At her new school, things were the same, she couldn’t read and people teased her for that. She knew she would read one day, so the fact that she couldn’t read didn’t bug her, it was the way she was always teased. Every recess she went and hid under the stair cupboard, to stay safe from Eric. Eric was the main kid who bullied her. Eric made Trisha feel dumb. Coming to the end of the book, Trisha goes to 5th grade. The teacher is new. His name is Mr. Falker. Trisha decides that will read this year. She tries and tries but all she sees are fuzzy scribbles. Mr. Falker tells Trisha, “You have potential, many teachers have not noticed this.” Finally, Mr. Falker and Ms. Pessy helped Trisha non-stop. One day Trisha did it! She read a whole book! She ran home at top speed to tell her mother! All this shows that Trisha never gave up on learning to read! In conclusion, I think that being able to never give up is a great trait to have personally. What do you think? Today we have learned to keep trying and never give up. Three books told us that. They were, The Marble Champ, Mr. Lincoln’s Way and Thank You Mr Falker. Have you ever given up when you were doing something? Why don’t you give never giving up a go? All three stories told us that if you keep trying and never give up you will have great outcomes!

African Masks By Zoe Manzolini

By Nina Rovelli

Medieval Calligraphy By Olivia Segat

Grade 3 - Speeches Jackie Robinson By Will Chevalier Do you ever wonder who Jackie Robinson was? Well let me tell you he was the first black player in Major League baseball. If you know about Jackie Robinson, you probably know that Jackie Robinson was influential. For the people who didn’t know, I’ll tell you why he was influential. The first reason that Jackie Robinson was an influential player is because he was the first black player in the Major Leagues. In the time that he played it was 1947. It was a big deal because it was the first time that a black player was told he could join the Major Leagues and so black people could watch him play. The president of baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, was racist and wanted to kill Jewish people. So he was the one who prevented black people from getting in. When Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States, a couple years later, Kenesaw Mountain Landis died because he was very old. Then that’s when Branch Rickey, who was a manager, saw Jackie Robinson. Now that Kenesaw Mountain Landis was gone, he decided to let black people in. He played for the L.A. Dodgers. Jackie Robinson was so brave because there were never any other black players and he was just alone with no black people to encourage. And some of the people in the stands were white and they shouted terrible stuff at him.That’s why Jackie Robinson was an influential player because he was the first black player in the Major Leagues. The second reason that Jackie Robinson was influential is because he inspired other black people. For example, there was another famous black player after Jackie Robinson named Willie Mays and he made this really famous catch where he had to not just run a ton of feet but also he won the World Series with that catch. If Jackie Robinson wasn’t born, then that catch probably wouldn’t have happened because when Willie Mays was a kid he probably wouldn’t have seen any black players and he would’ve thought, “I guess I can’t play either.” So let me give you an example of

some people that could not have played if Jackie Robinson wasn’t born. Latinos they couldn’t play just because they had a different color of skin. If Jackie Robinson wasn’t born it would have probably taken a lot longer for black players to enter the MLB. For example, like Willie Mays’ famous catch that might have not happened if Jackie Robinson wasn’t born. And then all those other black players that played with him and after him. And maybe a black person wanted to watch baseball but there would be no black players and they would probably get bored because they don’t like watching people that are so mean to them. You’re probably wondering why was Jackie Robinson so important well let me tell you because HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK PLAYER of course!! And once a famous baseball player said (there was never a mob of white fans chased by a black baseball player ever.) Now that you know how influential Jackie Robinson was, you should respect how good he was. That’s why everyone should think that Jackie Robinson was a very influential player for all people.

Source: https://www.si.edu

My Grandpa By Emir Nasibulin

My Balcony By Maxim Ryabov

I will tell you about my grandpa. He is a commander of soldiers. And the boss of the ambulance station. Now read my opinion writing about why my grandpa needs to be respected. The first reason my grandpa was a really important person is because he helped people. And he also commanded cars and drivers to go save people’s lives. He was a boss of the ambulance station. Also he commanded trucks with medicine to help people at the hospital. Have you ever missed a person that was important to you? I have. My grandpa that passed away. That’s why he is an important person. My second reason why my grandpa needs to be respected is because he was in the military for 20 years. Because he commanded a lot a lot of soldiers. And all of the soldiers were respectful to him and kind. If he wasn’t there could soldiers learn without him? That’s why he is an important person. My last reason why my grandpa needs to be respected is because he commanded drivers to go and help by sending ambulances to save people’s lives. This was during Covid-19. Then he got sick helping people with Covid-19. This shows that he cared more about other people than himself. If he wasn’t there how could he save people’s lives by sending ambulances? That’s why he is an important person. Now you read my opinion, what do you think about it? Did it convince you that’s why my grandpa needs to be respected!

We have such a big balcony with not a lot of plants. A lot of space not used. In my opinion my balcony needs to be updated to make it more beautiful. I should update my balcony for more experiments. I need to update my balcony for there to not be wasted space. I need to update my balcony with plants so bees can have fun with flowers. When you finish listening to my speech will you help me? My first reason I want to update my balcony is because I want to do more experiments. I don’t have a lot of plants to work on. I know you might be thinking, “Why do you need more plants?” More plants can help me with experiments. Sometimes I do errors, for example, one time I killed a plant (my favorite plant). It was a carnivore plant I killed because I wanted to give it some water but in the water was shampoo. I need a table to do experiments with rocks. I look at what is inside them and I sort them. If I had a table for this job, it would be easier. If I had more plants I could do more experiments. Another reason I want to update my balcony is that we have a lot of space but we don’t use it. We have a couch, two armchairs, two trees, and a good view. I can use the space for eating, playing, and relaxing. We need to clean our table (eating table) for eating. We need to color our balcony a little bit for playing Nerf. We need to put a little table between the two armchairs. I think we need to update my balcony and use the space better. The last reason why I want to update my balcony is there are a lot of bees under it. You might be thinking, “How can bees go underground?” in my balcony there are cracks. Some bees come at night because we have lamps on the balcony. For example, one time I was eating with my friend and the bees came out from the cracks. Updating my balcony with plants will give more space for the bees. To finish, I believe updating my balcony will make a much better place to live. Not only a balcony update would allow me to do more experiments, but I could use the space for extra activities and it would also help the bees. Would you agree with updating my balcony to do a better place?

Coach Mark By Sasha Kosolapov Not listening! Being rude! Is that a way to treat a teacher? In my opinion Coach Mark should be more appreciated by the students. The reasons are that Coach Mark is really patient, he teaches us new skills, and he is very fair. When you listen to my speech you will agree. The first reason everybody should appreciate Coach Mark is that he is very patient. Let me explain, one time we were on the court we were really crazy. And he was calm with everybody. That is why I believe we all should appreciate Coach Mark. My next reason everybody should appreciate Coach Mark is because he taught us baseball. Have you ever thought that Coach Mark teaches us every Wednesday after school? And that is why you should appreciate Coach Mark. My final reason why everyone should appreciate Coach Mark is because he is fair to us. He appreciates us all the same. For example, one time it was a little confusing game but then I got out but Coach Mark said that it is a re-do. He had us restart the game. When it becomes confusing he helps us understand the game. Coach Mark is fair and that’s why we should appreciate him.

Grade 4 - Literary Essays

Gloria Can Be a Great Friend By Rafaela Mendes Andrade

The Marble Champ By Federico Colapietro

My entire life I’ve always had great friends. I’ve come to realize that friendship is important in having a happy life. This is the same in the book ‘’Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend.’’ Gloria is a good friend because Gloria is supportive, Gloria is curious, and because Gloria is kind. Gloria is a good friend because Gloria is supportive, for example when Gloria asked if Julian could turn a cartwheel, he tried and he fell on the grass. But, Gloria wasn’t laughing, she just said ‘’It takes practice’’ seriously. If Gloria had laughed, Julian would not have said ‘’And then I liked her.’’ I realize that Gloria supports Julian by making the kite. She first asks him if he knows how to make one. He responded ‘’yes.’’ In the garage they spread sticks, newspaper and made the kite. Gloria supported Juian and Julian supported Gloria. Also, in the story when they were raising the kite they were wondering if their wishes would come true. But Gloria said ‘’I know it is going to work.’’ That proves us that Gloria is supportive Another reason that Gloria is a good friend is that Gloria is curious. While Julian was walking on the street Gloria asked ‘’What is your name?’’ And after she also asked him ‘’Do you know where Newport is?’’ Also, Gloria is curious because when they were wishing that Gloria would live there a long time Gloria had an idea ‘’I know the best way to do wishes!’’ ‘’ what’s that?’’Julian asked ‘’First you take a kite do you how to make one?’’ I realize that Gloria is curious when Julian folded his wishes Gloria asked ‘’ how many wishes do you have?’’ He responds ‘’Five.’’ She even asked ‘’Can you turn a cartwheel?’’ And this shows us that Gloria is curious. Finally, Gloria is kind because Julian asked Gloria if she wanted to go to his house, And she said yes. And that proves that Gloria is kind because she could have said no and ran away and that would not be nice. Also,Gloria is kind because she could have done even worse things than just agreeing and saying ‘’ok.’’ ‘’All right’’ It could have been worse, she could have said ‘’no’’, ‘’nothing right.’’ Gloria is kind because when Julian tried to do a cartwheel Gloria did not judge him because he fell. Additionally, when you know how to do something very well and others don’t know how to, your reaction is to laugh at them but you should do like Gloria. And this proves that Gloria is kind. I realize that Gloria can be a very good friend because Gloria is supportive, Gloria is curious, Gloria is kind. I hope one day you find a friend like Gloria and if you already have someone consider yourself lucky.

As I read this story “The Marble Champ” I realized that Lupe persevered. She is someone who nevers gives up. She keeps on trying and she also gets help from her family. Have you ever given up on something that you wanted? If you did you are the opposite of Lupe. Lupe keeps on trying. For example Lupe does push-ups with her thumb. She was out of energy after five. Then she said that was enough. This shows she’s trying and trying. She doesn’t give up. In the text it says “she squeezed a rubber eraser one hundred times.” This shows she trains and trains a lot. She keeps on trying by practicing for a long time. She keeps trying by eating candy for her energy. She keeps trying until her thumb becomes swollen. Lupe gets help from her family. For example, she thinks that she can win the championship. The shelf her dad made holds all her awards to make her think that her dad cares a lot. That she nevers gives up. In the text it says “She trained with her brother Alfonso so much that she became better than him” This shows that she gets help from her family. Lupe’s dad supports her by staying with her by encouraging her. Lupe’s dad supports her by staying with her instead of doing other plans. Lupe’s dad also supports her by getting some lights outside so she can train at night. All of this proves that her dad cares and wants her to win. More people should realize that never giving up helps you. If you want to be good at a sport but you are not you have to continue on trying. A person that nevers gives up is Lupe. Lupe nevers gives up by squeezing an eraser and doing push ups with her thumb. If you have read this essay correctly then you should agree.

Portrait and Still Life By Pier Grassi Damiani Grade 1

Ms. Eula is a nice person By Georgy Bagrin

Unkind Friendship By Chloe Burleson

Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you don’t know how to move on? Well, in the story Chicken Sunday by Patricca Pollaco, Ms.Eula motivates Stewart, Winston and Patricia to move forward. She helps them, she motivates them and she cares about them. Ms.Eula cares about Stewart and Winston and Patricia and that is shown a multiple times throughout the book. First at the beginning of the book she says “Even though we’ve been Churchin like decent folks ought to, I don’t want you to get run over by one of those too fast cars, you’ll be flat as a hens tongue.” She said that jokingly, but she still cares that they don’t get run over by a car. Another example is that she always cooks them chicken on sundays and they like it. That also shows she cares about them. Also when Mr. Kondinski thinks that they threw the eggs at his front door; she cares that they don’t get in trouble and have a bad reputation with Mr. Kondinski, so she suggests to them what to do. Ms. Eula motivates the three children by helping them move on, telling them how to solve their problems and encouraging them. She does that by giving them advice on what to do when Mr.Kondinski is mad at them because he thinks that they threw eggs at his front door and he tells them “Why do you kids do things like that?”. She gives them advice. She tells them, “You know he thinks that you threw those eggs. You will have to show him that you are good people. You will have to change his mind somehow”. That shows that she motivates them in a good way and makes them do good things. Ms.Eula is kind because she always treats everyone with respect, she respects their perspectives and their opinions. She also is never mean and she never insults anybody. She also always treats people with respect, and wants good things to happen to them. She is also always kind by treating the three children well and an example of this is that she cares about Stewart and Winston and Patricia. She also tries her best to make them feel happy, well and good. The story Chicken Sunday shows that Ms.Eula is a nice person multiple times. It shows that by giving us evidence and making us see that Ms. Eula is a Motivation, she cares about them, she is also kind to Stewart, Winston and Patricia. So do you understand that Ms. Eula is a nice person? How will that make you a better person? How will that change your attitude?

Have you ever had a friend who was unkind? Have you tried to make a friend, and you weren’t accepted? The book, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodsen is about friendship. Chloe is that type of person, Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with Chloe and her friends, Chloe is rude, and shockingly Chloe is not a good friend. [You will find why Chloe is unkind in this book with more evidence.] Chloe is unkind. Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with Chloe and her friends. One reason why Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with her and her friends is that when Maya went up to Chloe and her friends she said, “It’s a High Bouncer, she said.’’ This proves that Maya is brave enough to try and ask if she can play. Another time she asked was when Maya had a doll. Maya asked if she could play with Chloe and her friends but they said “no’’. This proves that Chloe does not give Maya a chance. Maya asked if she could play with a Deck of Cards and Pick-Up Sticks, every time Chloe and her friends said “no’’ to Maya. This shows that Chloe is not a good friend. Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with Chloe and her friends. Chloe is Unkind. Chloe is rude. Chloe is rude because on the first day of school everyone was silent it says, “But most of us were silent.’’ I think this means that Chloe could have said hi when no one else did. Another example why Chloe is rude is because she did not even smile at Maya when Maya smiled at her for example, “And on the first day, Maya turned to me and smiled. But I didn’t smile back.’’ I think that the nice thing to do was to smile back. My third reason why Chloe is rude is because Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with her, it says that, for example, “She held open her hand to show us the shiny jacks and tiny red ball she’d gotten for her birthday. It’s a high bouncer, she said. But none of us wanted to play.’’ I think this means that Chloe and her friends could have given Maya a chance. This is why Chloe is rude and not nice. Chloe is unkind. Chloe is not a good friend. Chloe is not a good friend because she only talks to her friends once in the story. For example, “At lunchtime, we walked around the school yard, our fingers laced together, whispering secrets into each others ears.’’ She also is not a good friend because Chloe and her friends probably gossip. “Whispering secrets into each other’s ears.’’ I know that they are whispering, and why would they whisper if it was not gossiping. Another example why Chloe probably gossips is that Chloe’s friends say, “I have a new name for her, Kendra whispered. Never New. Everything she has came from a secondhand store. We all laughed.’’ That’s the second reason why Chloe is not a good friend. The third reason why Chloe is not a good friend is because Chloe does not even want to make new friends, such as Maya. I know this because she is rude to Maya, and why would you be rude to an actual friend. Chloe does not even give Maya a chance to be her friend. My third example is that Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with her. This is why Chloe is not a good friend. In the book Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodsen Chloe is unkind. Chloe doesn’t let Maya play with Chloe and her friends, Chloe is rude, and Chloe is not a good friend. Next time you are not letting someone play with you, or you’re being rude, or if you’re feeling like you’re not a very good friend, think about what the nice thing to do is, you should be empathetic, don’t be like Chloe.

Portrait and Still Life By Zhiyun Cheng, Grade 1

Poetry and Art By Maria Sole Agostinini, Grade 5

By Sophie Mesaric, Grade 5

Grade 5 Portraits in Reinassance Style

By Vincenzo Vecchio By Chantal Loeer, Grade 2

By Leonardo Tulli, Grade 2

By Alexander Christodoulou By Elias Cipollini Raut, Grade 2

By Ginevra Biella, Grade 2

By Sylvia Bussone Portrait and Still Life By Odelia Canga, Grade 1