Reflective post by Eugenio (written as an SMS conversation)
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The class blog of the QSI International School of Ljubljana 11 Year Old class. Discover all the exciting things happening at school!
Reflective post by Eugenio (written as an SMS conversation)
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Episodic narrative by Emil Episode One: Gray Tractor
Just as my grandpa thought I’d started liking it I screeched out loud as a black lagoon, my grandpa talked gently to me trying to calm me down, but as I started pulling his white long beard it was obvious to everyone I did NOT like riding the gray tractor… I continued jumping up and down like a kangaroo in his lap pulling and screaming. But he was furious to get me used to it…..he just didn’t understand that I was frightened of the roaring engine and front lights which to me looked like evil eyes… Episode Two: Playing in the Hay I thought I was the happiest child on the planet as I leaped and frolicked in the dry, golden, colored hay. My grandma was standing on the side watching me have fun, suddenly as I jumped from the highest plank in the barn I slipped under the hay like a rock thrown to the ocean…. Apparently somebody had built a tunnel under the tons of hay appearing above me. I had been swallowed by one. I saw blue light on the other side so I decided to follow it… I’d been crawling for what seemed like eternity for my little muscles, my knees were sore after dragging them through the sharp pieces of hay. A tear had started running down the side of my face and had almost reached my mouth when I felt a warm soft hand stroke it away and there was my grandma with a smile stretching from ear to ear…. She had found me…. Episode Three: Berries Clusch! Clusch! It went as I pounded the red berries onto my face… I and my grandpa were out picking berries but I was having much more fun than him! My face was red and it looked like I’d stuck it in a Ketchup-mixed-with-water bucket, I picked up another handful berries which got crushed in my hand and then I sent them on a journey towards my face. My grandpa stopped me and laughed tremendously with his Santa-Clause-like voice “Ho, Ho, Ho,Ha,Ha were going to make juice out of these! Emil” but luckily I was old enough to say”nj,nj,NO!” but for whichever reason I did not understand it just made him laugh even more. Episode Four: Mowing Vroomm! Vroooom! Mrrroooom! Went the lawnmower as my grandpa Jostled it around it around the field I’d been obsessed with the machine ever since I saw him do it the first time… But suddenly before anyone could react I stumbled across the field with my little feet going bambambambambam!! Hitting the green, fresh grass pieces just cut... It was impossible for anyone to catch me before I slammed my hand onto the side of what appeared to me like a gigantic monster now that I was up close, as my hand was touching I felt it getting HOT! And it reflected of. Luckily my grandpa was there to get my hand in a cup of cold water, and then my grandma suggested we played a game so she got out a big, blue, box with yellow stripes on it… And as soon as I saw her take that box out I felt much better because I knew what was inside. Episode Five: Building a Train Model My grandpa held up the last silver like piece of train track and put it down in its place. I cheered and immediately put my blue train down on the tracks and pushed it so hard it hit my grandpa’s green train standing on the track all the way in the back of the room then I laughed my usual cute, little laughter and of course my grandpa laughed as well… I stood up and ran over to get my train… but sadly when I picked it up I discovered its wheel had fallen of. I could feel a tear skiing down the left side of my face and into my face I tasted the salty tear and started stumbling over to my grandpa. He gently took it out of my hand and got a small tube with the letters G,L,U, and E on it… Descriptive paragraph by Elise Down the rocky street and into the golden gate you will find a path leading to a pond.
The green trees dance with their partners gracefully. You get blinded by the light coming from the white, dazzling daises as they glisten in the sun light. The sun splashes into the pond with utter beauty. The sweet air dry’s your mouth and the pine trees fill your mouth with brown, sweet cinnamon. The birds fly as gently as white, silver swans. Within minutes you fall deeply in love with the little, shiny, yellow ducklings rapidly swimming by. Rainbow clouds float over your head. During your visit it seems like an eternity. For as long as I remember the colorful park stays as stunning as ever. This is my favorite place to be. Descriptive story by Eugenio That day, underwater was the day. The day when the lord of the ocean couldn’t find food, when food was simply just not passing in front of the great white shark. He had been wandering around for hours, starved, and when the shark was about to give up, a vast, grayish fish swam quickly in front of him in camouflage, hoping to confuse the shark. But the great white could not be fooled, and after that the chase began.
Throughout the pursuit, caves and other obstacles blocked the great white, but the fish, who was not as big as the predator, could pass through them in a blink of an eye. Surrounding the shark was long, murky seaweed, and by the seaweed was the crafty, little fish. Deeper into the sea there was a dark, but visible cave, that just stood there, marking its spot, like a guard dog guarding its owner’s house. The hunger inside the shark now struck like a hammer in the stomach. The shark now knew that if he didn’t catch the fish soon, he would die painfully. It was during the end of the chase, when the small fish encountered some litter from the disgraceful humans. He knew it was crazy, but it was his last hope, so he hid behind it. When the shark came around, the garbage too, was trembling, for the predator had spotted them. When the shark reached for it, there was the small fish, right there, visible, but the shark was paralyzed, for he realized the fish had escaped, and he had eaten the litter. The fish now illuminated in the faraway sea, and the shark, not being able to breathe, sank deeper into the ocean. Free verse poem by Amina Deep into rocky mountains
where wolves howl down the never-ending stream is where I like to be. Glittering water passing by peaces of wind blowing hard every-colored birds rushing through shrieking and squeaking leaving forever grass waving good-byes. Colorful rock blending in hiding the sights, far from me grass glittering diamonds like blanket covering everything around. Never-ending sun bursting down making everything dry with sweat. After rain everything is damp Smelling fresh crystals surrounding me this precious gold is where I like to be. Free verse poem by Aziza Icy turquoise pool
being swallowed into a deep, murky cave. Silvery scales shimmer as fish scurry by, pecking at lush algae. Hints of freshwater scent the calm breeze, specks of the cryptic liquid whoosh about. A rustic, old-fashioned house leans into the cave, struggling to hold on. An ancient willow patiently sways, looking over the musty, slippery-cobble bridge. Where reality seems as peaceful as a fairy tale. Two weeks ago, the 10YOC went on a field trip to the Bosnian History Museum and the Tunnel of Life. These are some of the things we learned about the Siege of Sarajevo. Text by Sophia and Amina On April 5th, 1992 the Siege of Sarajevo began. It all started on the 1st of March when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared itself independent from Yugoslavia. But the Serbs did not agree with Bosnia and Herzegovina being independent so they declared war on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Imagine living in a half-broken house with no electricity, no running water, and a limited supply of food for 1,035 days. Well that’s how the Sarajevans lived during the siege. The balconies that once had red roses growing out of them were transformed into vegetable gardens. All the glass in every window was totally smashed. To solve that problem, civilians put up special foil over the windows that prevented wind and cold air to come inside the house. During the night people hung blankets over their windows so that the Serbian army could not see the dull candlelight in the rooms, from the mountains towering over the city. Outside, on the streets, snipers aimed at any sighted person. Blankets were strung up between buildings so that snipers could not aim at people. There were signs all over the town saying “Pazi Snajper” (Beware of Snipers). The main street got nicknamed Sniper Alley. A common sight on the streets was people running; no one ever walked. During the first year of the siege, all the schools were closed. In the second year the schools re-opened; this time in cellars. A teacher from the neighborhood would come to the cellar to teach. Students would get A’s by doing simple tasks like walking to the other side of the room with a book on their head. To get food and water citizens would line up for hours to get a small monthly food package from the UN and a gallon of water from one of the city wells. In 1993, 150 people from Sarajevo gathered together to build a tunnel under the airport. The tunnel took four months and four days to build. It was 800m long, 1m wide and 160cm tall. Inside the tunnel it was extremely dark. The only source of light was lamps set 5 meters apart. The tunnel was not a fun place to go through. In the tunnel there were millions of rats, the smell of drains, and a lot of murky water. Many adults accidently hit their heads on metal supporters. One time the Austrian and Swedish Ambassadors wanted to go through the tunnel. The workers offered the Ambassadors a safe ride in a chair. They refused and ended up in the hospital with stitches. The Swedish Ambassador got five stitches and the Austrian Ambassador got three stitches on the head. The tunnel was mostly used to bring in weapons, medicines, and fresh foods. In one day approximately 3,000 people went through the tunnel from one side and the other side. As much as it may seem the tunnel was not a secret. The Serbs knew about it and had tried to bomb it many times, unsuccessfully. The siege finally ended on November 21st, 1995. It had killed about 11,514 people from Sarajevo. A personal memoir by Aziza As my family drove into the busy, Las Vegas roads, I was excited. Who wouldn’t be? Skyscrapers towered above us, poking into the sunny, blue sky, the streets were littered with people, and realistic replicas of historical monuments (the Eiffel Tower, Lady Liberty, etc.) stood before us as restaurants or casinos mixed in with shopping malls. As soon as we parked our bright red rental car at our hotel’s parking lot, we immediately set off to explore. That’s when then trouble started. There were people everywhere. People talking, people taking pictures, people dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog or Hello Kitty trying to hug little kids. I have a peculiar phobia of crowds or any crowded areas. My stomach lurched into a knot instantly as I thought of the usual things that I worry about. Are we going to get lost? What if Dad wanders away again and we can’t find him? Why did we even have to come here? As you might have guessed from these questions, I am terrified of getting lost or separated from my family. I tried to reassure myself that tomorrow wasn’t going to be so crowded and that it being December 31 (New Year) had brought people here to celebrate or party. Other than all the worrying everything was pretty cool, especially the giant Coca-Cola bottle made out of sleek, slightly green glass. Inside of the bottle was a Coca-Cola store filled from the brim with interesting merchandise. Coca-Cola flavored lip-gloss, Coca-Cola T-shirts, Coca-Cola winter posters with polar-bears drinking Coca-Cola were plastered onto the red and white walls. One thing that Las-Vegas is sort of famous for is Elvis Presley. That might be why dozens of men were standing at the side of the sidewalk wearing cheap-o, sparkly, white body suits and wearing super-man style wigs, strumming guitars or clutching microphones, while boom- boxes played Presley’s original songs, that they were lip-singing to. They looked pretty silly but people actually gave them some cash. One thing that I think stood out most about Las Vegas was that basically every single building you walked into had: a hotel, a gigantic casino full of noises from the gambling machines, a stage or theatre for a show that the hotel had (Magic Acts, Cirque du Soleil, etc.) and, of course, an all you can eat buffet with fancy people who made reservations and just walk in while the normal people have to wait in mile-long lines. I wanted to go back to normal, simple Sarajevo, big time. I clutched my Moms hand as we walked out of a great, big, whopping building called The Mirage. I gazed up at the sky which had turned a light shade of indigo as the sun set. My parents had also noticed that it was getting late so we walked, feet already aching, to our shabby hotel. Apparently, my brother and I had to take a nap, darn, because we had to wake up to see New Year fireworks. Double darn. I was too grumpy to argue so I just plopped down on my lumpy bed and fell asleep. After a dream-less, un-eventful slumber I was woken up and told to put my sneakers on by my parents. I grumbled sleepily as I popped on my shoes. Conveniently, the fireworks were near our hotel so we didn’t have to use our feet as transportation that much. People were crowded around wearing cardboard “Happy New Years!” crowns and spectacles. A group of young adults, obviously jokers, taped a paper with “Free Hugs!” onto their black T-shirts and were parading around advertising free hugs. I eyed people who had bottles of alcoholic drinks suspiciously, trying to decide if they’d had a little too much to drink and if I should avoid them. I decided they weren’t dangerous but I kept my distance, cautiously. A huge mega-screen had a New Year’s countdown with the time in bold, shiny fonts. Cops stood around scanning for disorderly behavior. Minutes had gone by and finally it was a brand new year. 2013. BOOM! The first firework had exploded. Enthusiastically, folks cheered. One man, who wasn’t impressed with the normality of a simple cheer, yelled, “There could’ve been a riot!” The firework show still continued, sparks of color filled the murky skies. It was an odd day, a mix of excitement and worry. The worrying part about the day had made me vow that never again shall I come to Vegas, ever. Too much glamour. I wasn’t much of a “WOO, HOO! PARTY!” person, I might have even been a party pooper, but this just wasn’t the place for me. A personal memoir by Liam In the world of animated films and cartoons, unlike in the real world,
anything can happen. As Walt Disney said, “Pigs can fly, soar through the caramel sky and animals will rule the world.” Well that is how I felt when I saw Excalibur. It was a mighty sword; a smooth, sharp, shining, silver sword, to be exact. The rough ridged rock that held the blade was just waiting for someone, a true hero to pull it out. I was in Disney World, Florida. Thousands of people gazing at me, I decide to step up to the rock and grab the smooth golden handle. My navy blue Nike shoe lie on the boulder, as I tug on the handle. I felt the wind brush up against my left shoulder, as Excalibur slid out of the granite. The whole Magic Kingdom erupted. On that day I wielded Excalibur in my hands. Was that the real Excalibur? Who knows? But one thing remains certain, in Disney pigs can fly, soar through the caramel sky, and animals might not rule the whole world, but they rule Disney World! |
AuthorsAn amazing group of young learners, the 11YO class of QSI International School of Ljubljana. Categories
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VisitorsBlogRollMrs. varvel's 10YOCMayflower Primary School5SK North QLDSt. Joseph's
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