Scary Stories

Scary Stories – Written By 6-1    Click on this link

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We are excited to show our work through our scary stories. Slightly prior to Halloween, we wrote scary stories and submitted them to the Poughkeepsie Journal in a competition against different schools all over! Here’s how we wrote them:

  • We wrote our drafts. We wrote one paragraph at a time.

  • We had to make them less than 300 words. That was a new aspect of writing for us, as it meant that we had to make each word count.

  • We checked our stories over with some partners for clarity, spelling, etc

  • We made sure we had a few peer edits.

  • We submitted our stories to the Poughkeepsie Journal!

Every year we write scary stories. It is difficult to  win because we have to compete with 6th, 7th, and 8th grades!

Our stories will send a chill down your spine. We hope you will enjoy them!

News Update…

We have some recognized writers in 6th grade!  Zach in 6th grade was chosen as the runner up and Zoe and Elizabeth were given honorable mentions. Congratulations! Click on their names to read their amazing stories

Week #1 Blogging Challenge by Caidan

Activity #1

Online I am Caidin  for more formal websites. But on less formal websites I am Blaster 925 and in real life I am Caidin. So yes I do change if I am on the internet. Online I am kind of secretive because I don’t want people to know who I am. If I am on a blog however I talk about my life because that’s what you do on blogs. In real life as long as I know the person I just talk. Sometimes people tell me to stop talking because I talk for so long!

Activity #2

I chose this avatar, because I do Karate and I thought this was closest to karate. I got this avatar from Bitmoji

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Activity #3

Hi my name is Caidin. I am 11 and my parents names are Charles or Chuck and Christine. When I am not doing anything I like to go up to my room and play or read. I was born in Manhattan and I lived there till I was 6. Then I moved to  Poughkeepsie.

I have 2 dogs, and the bigger one is called Brew. The second one is named Pudge. I have 2 cats 1 named Cassie and the other is Oscar, 2 birds named Willie and Nillie. and 4 crabs. Buferd, Peat, Pearl, and Rolly.

My favorite instrument is the guitar and I love it. I have been playing since I was four. When I first started, I played Acoustic guitar but last year I started playing electric. I love math and science they are my favorite subjects in school. So that is a little about Me.

The First Few Weeks of School

The First Few Weeks Of School

Middle School

Our PDS Middle School Environment is very different than other schools. We have a wonderful learning space called the learning commons. In the commons we have comfortable work spaces.  We also have many fantastic classes including one that some people probably haven’t heard of. It’s called Humanities. and is a mix of English, Social Studies and History.

We also get the chance to use online academics and we call our teachers by their first names. We can organize our own dances and put on plays and perform for our families. We have a great arts program, and this year we just got a new music program in the middle school. PDS is always trying to create a better environment for their students, faculty and parents.

The lunches at our school are different than others. They have the option of a side salad or fruit bowl which most schools don’t have. We also have different things that most schools don’t have including dumplings for Chinese festivals and a salad bar for people who like to customize their salad. Over time every chef we’ve had has been different. One year snacks used to be brought to your classroom. They could be sweets or even healthy food like vegetables and fruit, but now we don’t have that. We have Pizza day and an occasional Taco Tuesday. I hope in the future we get more healthy foods!

The PDS athletic program offers many choices to encourage our students to be involved in multiple sports. All middle school students are eligible to join the basketball and soccer teams, they are also able to join the high school cross country teams. Girls in 7th and 8th can join the varsity softball team, and 8th grade boys and girls can sign up for the varsity Ultimate Frisbee team. Our sports program is off to a great start as our soccer players build momentum toward their first game of the year!

Even though most of the middle school has not gone on any field trips yet, we all know what to expect. The 8th graders are going to have a wonderful time in NYC. They will be seeing the Broadway show The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Another field trip that happens every year in the middle school is Nature’s Classroom. Please note that this is being written by a group of 6th graders who have not yet gone of this field trip. So we will explain the best we can! Nature’s classroom is a time when the whole Middle school goes to stay for a week in Massachusetts, learning and having lots of fun! We will have more on field trips for you once we go on one!

At PDS our Music program encourages everyone to play a wide range of instruments. We have teachers for wind instruments to strings percussion brass and vocals!. This year we were given the option of being in a chorus or in an ensemble. Both are great but if you don’t play an instrument there’s always the great choice of learning a new instrument. In chorus you work with our vocals and piano instructor, Brielle Grover on an expanse of different songs, all to improve your vocal range or just to have fun. In ensemble you will get to work with our bass instructor Damon Banks but he is a great instructor at everything. There are different sections for every instrument. Piano, Guitar(acoustic or electric), Percussion and vocals. We can’t wait to do our first performance for Chorus and Ensemble!

The middle school at PDS uses computers and technology for most of their work. The school provides each student with an e-mail account, that way students and teachers can communicate in an easy way.  On the first day of school every middle schooler has to sign a tech agreement, to agree to use technology in a responsible manner. Every day students are required to bring their laptop into school with a protective sleeve. We use our  laptops every day in almost every class. We use them for classwork, homework, and more.

6th Grade

The difference between Lower School and Middle School is really big, so here is a little about it. In Lower School we had classes in the same room, now we change rooms basically every class. In middle school we have break time so we either eat a snack, go outside or go on our computers. In lower School we had recess and snack time. Now in 6th grade we have to remember what classes we have at what time, and not be late. It is sooo different in 6th grade.

We also have tons of more responsibilities in 6th grade, like going to the bus by ourselves. W have to be careful when we do that so we don’t miss the bus. Going to classes is a lot harder because we don’t have teachers to tell us where to go and we have to look at our schedules and navigate the day by ourselves.  We have to pick some of the classes we take, which is always a hard decision for those who don’t know what they want.

In Math, we are learning about ratios. Ratios are things that let you explain the difference between two numbers (example: There are 5 boys at a party and 4 girls, the ratio for that would be 5:4 or 5 to 4). Equivalent ratios are Ratios that mean the same thing but they have different numbers. How you get an equivalent ratio is you multiply both number by 2, 3, 4, 5, etc? (example: 5:4 x2 = 10:8 – so 10:8 is equivalent to 5:4).

In Science lately we have been doing some labs. Right now we are finishing our Lifesaver Lab. The Lifesaver Lab is a lab where we are putting different colored Lifesaver in water to see which color goes quicker. Our results vary a little bit but orange seems to be the slowest.

In Spanish we have been learning about the days of the week. Also we have been doing stories where the teachers narrates and asks questions and we answer the questions in Spanish using the clues on the board.

Students did a few polls to see what the 6th grade likes the most. Our first poll was what do you like better, Middle School or Lower School? The answer was that the 6th grade likes Middle School better. Our Second poll was what is your favorite class, Science, Spanish, Humanities or Math? The answer was that the 6th grade likes Science the most.

Humanities is a mix of a different subjects, and this year we are learning about medieval times.  We learn about times from a long time ago and how they did things. We did some summer reading about a medieval times book called Crispin the Cross of Lead by Avi. It was interesting to see how much the world has changed since then and now. In Humanities we do lots of activities that have our group work together. One time we had to write what we thought Humanities was going to be like this year. Shirley is our Humanities teacher and she puts us in groups for a lot of different things. For example, we have things like editing which we do in pairs. We also do lots of other things in groups.  We are reading two books right now. One is The Story of the World and the other is The Boy Who  Harnessed the Wind. Humanities is a very fun and exciting class!!!

Canstruction JR®

Canstruction JR®   
Hunger is a huge problem in the United States and has been going on for centuries. More than 45 million people in the US alone don’t have enough to eat and about 840 million in the world are also in need of food. There are organizations and projects that are trying to stop world hunger. One of these charities is a group called Canstruction. The idea for this organization was started by a designer in 1992. It was a competition for engineers who would use donated cans to build structures. Out of that event came Canstruction Jr, a similar competition for kids in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
This year, we are in 6th grade and we are attempting to design an amazing structure for Canstruction Junior to build at the Galleria Mall on January 30th.  We are happy that we get to be a part of helping the hungry all around the Hudson Valley.                                  
We have been working every D Day to complete this Canstruction project. We worked on this feat by creating groups and giving those groups different jobs. This year we are building a medieval castle made of cans to show people that hunger has been a problem for a long time. Each group works on different things to build this structure. This year, we have a Tinkering team, Engineers and Architects, PR and Marketing, Fundraising and Procurement and a Digital Story Group. These groups help us to complete all the tasks necessary to have a successful build.
 Tinkering
Our team for Canstruction Jr® is Tinkering. We have to figure out what mechanical devices we can include in the Canstruction design. We have been trying to see how we can incorporate movement , sound, and lights into the head of the king.  So far we have figured out how we are going to build the king and the measurements for the head, body, and arms. We also are in the process of designing the arms. One thing we still have to do is design the lights and movement for the king. Even though we ran into a couple distractions and obstacles I think we work hard and well together.
Engineers and Architects
Our job is to design and calculate all of the statistics of the structure. To design the structure, we will need to look and think about the best way to have the structure stand on its own. We are using Tinkercad to help with the design. When we are finished designing, we can use the designs to help calculate the number of cans that will be used to build our structure and measure to see what our base and height is. When all of that is done we will start to print on the 3-D printer.
Eamonn and Quinn worked on the schedule of the build while Sebi and Ethan worked on all the dimensions for the castle project. Our group has finished the amount of cans, the schedule, what cans we need, the length and width of the towers and the length and width of the castle. We still need to finish the dimensions for towers and walls, and we still have to practice-build parts of the castle. Our team has worked well on the activities, except for a few distractions.  Our group really likes Canstruction Jr®, and are all excited for the big build.
 
 PR and Marketing
We are the PR & Marketing group. Our job is to promote Canstruction JR® and tell people what Canstruction JR® is all about. So far we have sent letters to Coca Cola® and Goya® so we can get cans and water bottles donated to build our school’s structure. We still need to complete getting the word out to our school and the community. We are trying very hard to get the word outside of our school. We are thinking about going to the elementary school meeting to tell them about Canstruction. 
Our team has worked together well most of the time on all of the activities that we have done so far. We also have finished a presentation, and we have also accomplished making donation boxes for cans. We have had a lot of fun so far and we to have more in the future. We all like this project very much and we are very excited for the day we get to build our Canstruction Jr® project! 
 Fundraising and Procurement  
Our job is fundraising to raise money for our build. We also plan on donating to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley so they give food to the less fortunate. We are having the bake sale at our school on Wednesday, January the 21st. We made posters to tell people that we are having a bake sale then put them around the school. Some people in our group worked with people in the Public Relations group, and made the donation boxes to put in various places in the school. Then we organized the Canstruction Jr. T-shirts our class is going to wear. Our group is working really well. We work together to make posters and raise money.
We need to gather more people to bring in food for the bake sales and make more signs to promote it. Also, the donation boxes need to be finished. Things need to be worked on with the bake sale, because it’s happening on Wednesday. There needs to be six boxes and we currently only have four. We can’t wait until Canstruction Jr® officially starts!
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Holidays – Quinn

My mom, dad, and I are going to Mount Snow in Vermont for Christmas.  My family and I plan to stay from the twenty second to the twenty sixth.  Due to the vacation, we are opening presents and feasting on the twenty seventh.  We usually stay home but this year we are not.

Even though I am not going to be home for Christmas, my dad and I got a Christmas tree. When we got home we realized that the tree was way too big for the house.  For some reason the sap had got stuck so it took twenty minutes to cut.  Later that day my mom and I decorated that tree.  After that I made a wonderful Gluten Free apple pie.  For dessert we had eggnog and apple pie.

We also celebrate Chanukah.  My grandmother gave my family a menorah actually made in Israel.  I like Chanukah because you get to play dreidel and win gelt.  Luckily I usually am lucky and win a lot of Gelt.  I also like that I get presents every day of the eight nights.  That is what I celebrate and do over break.

Holiday Celebration – Sam

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My family celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas. We put up menorahs in the windows for people to see. We also have a little light up reindeer that we put outside. What we usually do is we get presents for Hanukkah and eat latkes and sufganiyot. We play dreidel, eat gelt and have fun going to my friends and family at Hanukkah parties. Hanukkah is fun for many reasons, like we get presents, we have fun with family, and eat most amazing and delicious food.

For Christmas we go to my Aunt’s house.  We go there and hang out and sometimes other family members who come. We have a feast of mash potatoes turkey gravy asparagus and more. We play games together and watch Christmas specials on tv. We all have a fun and great time. This year my cousins from Tennessee might be coming. Both my Moms sister’s families are coming, and we have a great time. I love Christmas because it makes me filled with joy and happiness, and it makes me warm hearted .

Celebrating both holidays are so awesome because I get presents for both holidays and I get to go to parties and hang out with friends and family. On Chanukah we get so happy and with christmas we get all of our family coming with holiday cheer and time to be happy and excitable. We give presents, eat as a family and this is the best. This is one of the times of year that we have presents spending time with family and amazing food, from latkes to mash potatoes. We have the best Chanukah/Christmas ever.

Holiday Celebration – Quinn

My mom, dad, and I are going to Mount Snow in Vermont for Christmas.  My family and I plan to stay from the twenty second to the twenty sixth.  Due to the vacation we are opening presents and feasting on the twenty seventh.  We usually stay home but this year we are not.

Even ‘though I am not going to be home for Christmas, my dad and I got a Christmas tree. When we got home we realized that the tree was way too big for the house.  For some reason the sap had got stuck so it took twenty minutes to cut.  Later that day my mom and I decorated that tree.  After that I made a wonderful Gluten Free apple pie.  For dessert we had eggnog and apple pie.

We also celebrate Chanukah.  My grandmother gave my family a menorah actually made in Israel.  I like Chanukah because you get to play dreidel and win gelt.  Luckily I usually am lucky and win a lot of Gelt.  I also like that I get presents every day of the eight nights.  That is what I celebrate and do over break.

Holiday Celebrations – Mollie

In Japan I used to celebrate Japanese New Year. Japanese New Year is very different from American New Year. When I hear America New Year, I think about parties and the ball drop. When I think about Japanese New Year, I think about fancy food, fireworks, and festivals with drums. Japanese New Year is very different from America New Year.

First of all, I need to clean everything on New Year’s eve in Japan. I remember once that my sister got so obsessed with keeping the house clean that she attacked me with a vacuum cleaner. Just because I went in our room without washing my feet. It is the worst part of New Year. On top of cleaning the house we also need to make a feast for New Year’s morning. So all we do on New Year’s Eve in Japan is clean and cook all day. I know sounds horrible but don’t worry, later at night we get to watch TV all night. We watch a singing competition, white vs red. While watching TV we eat a special Japanese noodles called Soba. Soba noodles are said to make you live longer. We watch TV until the New Year’s count down.

After the countdown, I am usually super tired from the cleaning and cooking so I go to bed pretty early. The next morning I wake up and eat the food I prepared the day before. We eat an egg cake thing, fish cake, black beans, shrimp, fish, different types of roots, chestnuts, rice cake, red beans, soup, and lots of other things. Also the kids get money from all their relatives. On New Year’s day the whole family does nothing but play games and relax.

New Year was very fun in Japan. I am a little sad that I can’t do a Japanese New Year in America, but American New Year is fun too. I hope that everyone will have a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year.

Holidays – Julian

During the holiday break my family usually goes skiing in Vermont. Last year we didn’t go to Vermont because we had a dog and well, if we brought him to my aunts house… so last year we had a Christmas at home. My family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah. Last year we got a big Christmas tree and my dog got stuck in it. Sometimes my family makes latkas for Hanukkah. When we go to Sugarbush, I usually do a winter camp where I go skiing with a few kids. The same kids are there with me every year so I have made some good friends.

There was one time when we had a Christmas at home, a bunch of my family members and a few of my friends came over. We got a really big table and we all ate. I don’t remember what we ate because it was a long time ago. After that dinner it took a long time to clean up.

This year me and my family are going to New Mexico for Christmas. We are going to ski a lot. While we are in New Mexico we are going to see my mom’s friend. I have never been to New Mexico. I wonder what it is like to ski there. My parents said there is good Mexican food there, as the name suggests.

My Holiday Celebration Blog Post -Ibrahim

During this season, there are no Islamic holidays. The closest celebration is in October. It is called Eid Al Fitr. On Eid Al Fitr, we go and pray a special prayer. It is really fun. I get to spend time with my family and friends and get to do a lot of fun activities.

 In the morning of Eid, all the boys in the house go to the mosque. When we get to the mosque, the Imam, leader of prayer, gives a long speech about Eid and why we do it. Then we pray a special prayer and go around the mosque and greet friends saying ‘Eid Mubarak’.  After going to the mosque, we go another place…the farm.

At the farm, it is a race to get to the stables with sheep, goats, etc. Why, you may ask? Well because everyone wants the best animal. The funniest part is when my dad, uncles, cousin, and grandpa go head to head with a lamb. After my family’s done picking, we take a nice and easy trip to the slaughterhouse. Trust me, if I was a lamb and people were trying to take me in there, I’d say that I deserved to at least struggle a little bit. Anyway, when the animals are in the slaughterhouse, the butchers point the lambs body to the Kabah in Makkah, and slit their throats. You can probably imagine what happens next. Once we’re through the slaughterhouse, we all smell like goats and are done.

We head home and jump into the shower to try and escape the horrid smells. After we’re done, we each don a Kurta, traditional Pakistani and Muslim clothes for men. We have a big feast and then we do the most important tradition in the book of our family traditions…the adults each take naps. The kids act crazy and we usually get in big trouble when the adults wake up. As you can see, Eid Al Fitr is quite eventful.