Spring 2014 - Carderock Springs PTA

Illustrated by Christian Hill, 5th Grade
Spring 2014
Table of Contents
Creative Writing………p. 3
Interviews.......…………..p. 11
Reviews..…....................p. 12
Puzzles & Games.......p. 14
Comics………………………p. 17
Illustrated by
Ava Gold,
2nd Grade
Illustrated by Jack Fleming, 1st Grade
2
The Carderock Chronicle is a literary publication that features solely the work of students at Carderock
Springs Elementary School in Bethesda, MD. To access it online, go to our PTA website at www.csespta.org.
This publication is made possible through the financial support of our parent community.
From 5th to 6th
Written and Illustrated by Baxter Brew, 5th Grade
Hi. I’m Cardy Cubster. I’m a 5th grader at Cardepebble Waterfall Elementary School. I have been
having a little trouble on getting through the year and have been sentimental about leaving this
school. But luckily, I have good teachers and friends to help me. I will be telling you about me and
how to get ready for middle school.
I have three teachers: Mr. Ghrrraman, Mr. Obstrich, and Ms.
Newtan. Let’s start with Mr. Ghrrraman. He has the personality of a
bear and is one. He jumps on desks and makes us laugh. He is my
main teacher and my reading teacher. I think it is time for tip number
1: Make the teachers laugh but don’t go too far. Mr. Ghrrraman
helped me through the year with important writing techniques and
wording. There is one phrase that he engraved in my head. That
phrase is, “Less is more…unless it comes to eating fish.”
Next, let’s talk about Mr. Obstrich.
He is my science and social studies
teacher. He taught me about the states,
landmarks, atoms, and more. And he seems to know lots about ostriches, I
just don’t know why. And there is one thing he does not like, giving high
fives and hugs. Time for the second tip. Tip number 2 is don’t be
tooooooooo nice to the teachers; don’t be the person who gives the
teachers fish or ostrich food.
The last teacher I will talk about is Ms. Newtan. She is very nice and
never yells. She is calm, cool, and collected like all cold-blooded newts.
Also, she is very bright and friendly. She teaches me math and helps me learn how to solve everyday
situations. And even though it
might be tempting to say how
small she is, don’t. All newts
are small.
The final people I will be
talking about are friends. I
have two very close friends, Llama Hilsenrat and Jackal Duckins. Everyone needs friends to get
through the year. They are your support, your backrest when you need it. They can prepare you for
whatever is in middle school. Joking around, getting hurt, getting smacked in the back by Llama
Hilsenrat when he pretends to give you a high five—sorry, I got a little carried away. Anyway, you
just need friends. Well, I hope this prepared you for middle school and helped you deal with life. Well,
bye. Llama is about to smack me again….
3
Pokemon Adventure: Surprising Things Happen!
By Nicolas Hill, 3rd Grade
When I got out of bed, I was so excited. I got dressed and then went to the professor’s lab, and
when he greeted me, he said I could choose my first pokemon! There were three pokeballs and there
were three different types of pokemon. One was a Torchic, a fire type; Mudkip, a water type; and
Treecko, a grass type. Of those three pokemon, I chose…Torchic!
So, then I was ready to start my journey in the Hoen region. I had this
handbook, the Pokemon Essential, and I started looking for
pokemon. As I started my journey walking through the fields,
I found an Aron walking through the tall grass. I knew I had to
catch him! Using my Torchic, I had him attack with “live coal.”
I knew it would be effective, because fire is super effective
against metal. Then I threw the pokeball. I was so scared it
wouldn’t work, and it didn’t! Aron used the attack “take down”
on Torchic, and Torchic got hurt! But so did Aron because take
Illustrated by
Nicolas Hill,
down also hurts the pokemon that uses it. I knew it didn’t have
3rd Grade
much health left, so I threw the pokeball again, and this time it
Illustrated by
Ian Leary,
worked! So, I kept walking through the field, when I heard
2nd Grade
something shaking. The sound was coming from the bushes. It was a Swablu, and when
I found it, I used my Aron and used the move “take down.” Then I threw a pokeball…I waited a while, but
eventually it worked! I felt so proud of myself!
After this, I started traveling with all three of my pokemon when I found an Azurill. It was swimming
in a lake, reminding me it was a water type. When it saw me, it tried to scare me by using an attack called
“baby evolution.” This is when Azurill evolve into a bigger
pokemon, called Marill. But he didn’t scare me. Using Aron, I
used “take down” on Marill, and I then threw the pokeball at it
and it worked. I felt so proud!
I kept walking, moving past a lake, and I saw a little cave. I
went inside and saw a little Absol. He is a dark type. I decided to
throw a pokeball at it and it somehow worked, and I laughed in
surprise because I didn’t need to do any damage to it to catch it.
I started noticing that the inside of the cave was getting really
Illustrated by
hot. I walked further into the cave, and I saw a Numel. He is a
Adam Giesecke, 3rd Grade
fire type like my Torchic. So, I used my Marill, because it is super
effective against fire types. I had him use “water gun.” Numel
fell and tumbled on the ground. This was my chance. I threw the
pokeball and it worked!
I left the cave and continued walking the through grass. I heard a noise that went “Skit, skit!” It was a
Skitty! I was desperate to catch it, because they have a really good evolved form. I decided to use my
Marill again and told him to use “water gun.” It hit Skitty and knocked him down. Then before letting
Skitty use an attack, I threw the pokeball and it worked! I now had seven pokemon! They were Torchic,
Aron, Swablu, Marill, Absol, Numel, and Skitty! But something bad happened. Because you can only have
six pokemon with you on a journey, my seventh pokemon automatically went to the professor! So I had to
trade one of my other pokemon to get Skitty back. I went to an exchange machine and traded my Absol to
get my Skitty.
After the exchange, I was ready to go to a gym. Gyms are huge battle places, like stadiums, where
gym leaders can battle their pokemon and try to win gym badges. I was ready to try to win my first one.
When I got there, I found out that the gym leader I had to battle was one that had fire-type pokemon. I
challenged him and we faced off on opposite sides of the gym. The other gym leader sent out a
Charmeleon, a fire type. I used my Marill, because they are super effective against Charmeleons. I used
water gun, and guess what? Charmeleon got hit! So, it used inferno, but luckily my Marill was able to
dodge it. Then my Marill used water gun again, and it hit Charmeleon so hard he was unable to battle
anymore! So, the other gym leader sent out Ninetales, also a fire type. I stayed with Marill and had him
use water gun again, and it worked again! Ninetales was unable to battle. Then I saw my Marill start to
evolve! He turned into an Azumarill! And I won the gym badge.
###
Carrots and His Big Adventure
By Leah Linsin, 3rd Grade
One day Carrots decided to have an
adventure. He packed his backpack and
walked to the bay, where his boat was docked.
He sailed off into the bay. While he was
eating some carrots, he spotted something that
looked like an island in the middle of the bay.
He sailed closer to the island and then he
spotted a bunny, then two, three, four, and
hundreds of bunnies just like him. Now
Carrots was happy. A little while later,
Carrots had to go home, but he knew he could
come back again!
Illustrated by Misha Beiramee, 1st Grade
5
My Escape from Prison
By Michael Keller, 5th Grade
“Touch the bowl,” Sara said. I knew what a
bowl was. The other things on the table were a
cup and a ball. But my mind could not translate
the knowing of that into making my hand touch
the bowl. We had been working on this drill for
weeks. I was bored out of my mind. I did not
know how I would ever break free from this
torment.
In February 2012, I met Miss Soma. That
meeting changed my life in a way that I could
never have imagined.
The way I felt before I met Miss Soma must
be described as a prison of my thoughts without
a door. The way I behaved was very hard for
those around me because I could not do so many
things. I could think, but no one knew, so
everyone thought I was dumb. That set me off
sometimes, which just had the effect of making
people think that I was uncontrollable.
Sometimes I would even scream like I was being
tortured because not being able to communicate
seemed like the torture of being in a prison camp
with no hope of ever getting released.
Since I was two, I had been taught using
Applied Behavior Analysis. This way of teaching
was so hard for me because it consisted of me
choosing pictures or objects that matched the
question asked. If I got it wrong, I had to keep
doing it until I got it right. The thing was, though,
that I always knew the right answer, I just
couldn’t always make my hand touch the picture
or object that I knew was right. It was so sad to
me that I could not communicate that I knew the
right answer. I wanted to run away but there was
no place to run for a person who could not
communicate enough to even buy a bus ticket or
6
have enough motor coordination to hold up my
thumb to hitchhike.
I was three years old when I realized that I
could not talk like my younger sister. I was
wanting to express my thoughts so desperately
but no words would come out when I tried. It felt
like I was fighting with my mouth and it would
not move. It was as if I was in a boxing match
where my brain kept getting knocked out and
the heavyweight never flinched despite the
onslaught of blows from my brain.
I loved my sister, but I wished with all my
heart that it had taken her longer to talk so that
we could have continued to both be without
words, because then I would not have stood out
as much to other people. As it was, I felt like an
animal in the zoo that everyone gawked at,
thinking the animal didn’t have feelings.
My mom saw Miss Soma on 60 Minutes and
talked to a friend at her high school reunion that
had taken his daughter to see her. My mom also
ran across Miss Soma’s name on the Internet
when she was researching about treatments for
nonverbal children. My mom believes that if she
hears about something three times, she is meant
to follow through with it. So my mom decided to
make an appointment for me to go to Austin to
meet Miss Soma. My mom wanted to see if there
was a way for me to communicate. This was
important to her because she really wanted so
much to know my thoughts. What she didn’t
realize was that I also longed to tell her my
thoughts. But when she made the appointment,
she didn’t tell anyone, because she was worried
that Miss Soma’s method wouldn’t work for me.
My mom and I flew to Austin on February
20, 2012. I was very nervous to meet Miss Soma
and I think my mom was too. The flight felt
longer than all the years of the therapy combined
because I had hope for the first time in my life
and I was deathly afraid it would be dashed.
We spent the night in a Residence Inn and
waited for the morning. I did not sleep at all—I
kept tossing and turning, trying to imagine a
world in which I could communicate. It would be
a world filled with conversation and
understanding. And I would be included in the
beautiful world where friendships grow like
flowers in a garden when the spring rains fall.
The next morning was a bright and sunny
Tuesday. In the daylight, my dreams from the
previous night seemed ridiculous—like the
dreams of a mad person.
We drove over to Miss Soma’s office. I was
surprised that it was such a small, inconspicuous,
brown brick building. The parking lot only held
four cars. We parked our rental car, got out, and
walked down the tiny sidewalk to the front
door. How could such a nondescript building
hold any kind of miracle for me? I almost wanted
to run because I didn’t want to endure my mom’s
tears of disappointment that would fill an ocean.
We went in and I saw an old green couch and
a small room with a video recorder. My first
thought was that this was a cruel joke in which
the villain that tricked us would laugh
hysterically at our being so naïve that this place
would help me to talk.
The next moment, a small Indian woman
wearing a sari and a denim shirt greeted us. The
shirt had “HALO” written on it. “HALO” stands
for “Helping Autism through Learning and
Outreach”. Miss Soma was this woman. She took
me and my mom into the small room. She didn’t
seem friendly, just very serious. I would later
learn that this was her life’s work to help
children like me.
Then the most amazing thing happened in
that small room. I told Miss Soma that my
favorite color was fire orange. It was the first
time that I had ever told anyone anything about
me. I was really free of the prison and I was
determined to get all my thoughts spoken from
then on because I had nine years to make up.
Miss Soma used letter stencils that I had to
touch to spell out words. This was hard at first
because I had to use my hands, which I wasn’t
used to using this way. She started with stencils
that were A to I on one board, J to R on the next
board and S to Z on the third board. I had to first
tell her which stencil board I wanted and then
push the pencil through the right letter. It was
such a laborious process, but I could see that this
was my route to escape my prison of unspoken
thoughts. My mom was amazed that I knew the
order of the alphabet and knew how to spell so
well.
Then I progressed with Miss Soma to using a
stencil with all the letters but still using the
pencil. Finally, I was ready to use the letter board
and my finger pointing to the letters instead of a
pencil. I told my mom that I missed my family
and I couldn’t wait to go see them again. This
was the best moment of the escape, like the joy
of a prisoner emerging from Alcatraz.
Now it is easier to type with my letter
board. My family is so excited to know my
thoughts and feelings. But every new person that
wants to talk to me with the letter board has to
go through a process of me getting used to
their rhythm. I have to concentrate with all the
strength of Hercules to learn a new rhythm. For
instance, it took my mom four months to talk to
me after Miss Soma. Now it usually takes only a
couple of weeks to learn with a new person,
except that it has taken much longer with Mrs.
Mohammad.
Working with Miss Soma freed me of the
torment of knowing things but not being able to
7
show them. My life has become so amazingly
rich. I can now learn to talk to anyone. My
experience shows that just because someone
can't speak, it doesn't mean that they can't think
like others. It just takes extreme patience
sometimes to reach your goals.
After I could talk, my mom asked me how
long had I been able to talk. I answered, “A long
time. I was just waiting for you to figure out a
way how.” God was heavenly smiling on my mom
when I told her that.
**********
Illustrated by Charlie Mills, 3rd Grade
8
Poems
By Lyndsey Smith, 3rd Grade
Poem,
come ride along with me in my pocket.
Your various words,
some sad, some happy.
Your beautiful rhythm makes me smile.
Some rhyme,
some are just fantastic words,
some are funny,
others loving.
Poem, did you enjoy your ride?
Illustrated by
Charlie Mills,
3rd Grade
A Flower Forest
By Yaela Teplinsky,
2nd
Never Forget What’s Important
By Michael Keller, 5th Grade
Grade
A small plateau floats upon
the ground with rocks and hills
and grass. The flowers glow
until the snow of winter melts away.
A perfect place to picnic,
anywhere, anyway.
With all the colors of the flowers,
There once was a fish that wanted to be a shark. He told
all his fish friends that one day they would fear him and
they would give him all their treasures. Reality set in and
the fish realized that he would probably never be a shark
unless he had a god that granted his wish. But the god of
the sea was not happy that the fish had been threatening
his friends so he made him a shark without teeth. The
shark without teeth did not scare his old fish friends so
they did not give him their treasure and no longer wanted
to be his friend.
Moral: The true treasures in life like love and friendship
should never be overlooked in favor of worldly goods.
red, yellow, and green grass.
A little hill stretches across
the beautiful scenery.
A beautiful place, indeed.
Illustrated by
Matty Weber,
3rd Grade
9
First Day of School
By Caroline Crump, 3rd Grade
First day of school.
Will they think I’m a fool?
I hope not.
Will the teachers be nice?
Will there be class pet mice?
I hope they are nice.
I hope no mice.
I just want to stay in bed.
I’m going to explode my
head!
On the bus. No mean talk.
I am on the school sidewalk.
Walking into school.
In my class comes a:
“Hello Caroline!” said Ms.
Smith.
I looked around. No mice!
My teacher’s nice!
School is definitely cool.
Illustrated by Caroline Crump, 3rd Grade
School
Super
Cool
By Ellie Arenstein, 3rd Grade
Come to school 8:45 every day,
so eager to learn and play. Specials,
lunch, recess too.
pHysical
Learning periods in between them too!
Oh wow!
sO awesome
Lunch
School is special, it really is!
It educates you to the best you can be.
Because if you do you’ll get an A+!
Bread
By Sharon Sok, 3rd Grade
What Is White?
By Mira Kisslinger and
Isabella Hanson, 4th Grade
White is teeth biting into a cotton candy cloud
White is a paper with a grade so proud
White is a shirt without a single stain
White is the color that has no pain
White are the shoes you wear to school
White is the color of the tennis courts at the pool
White is the color of your eye
White is a perfect cloud in the sky
White is the color of falling snow
When you want a cup of cocoa
White are the stripes in the American flag
White is the color that has meaning to brag.
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
is yummy
is flexible
is soft.
is cut-able
is easy to eat
is cold.
is awesome
is sweet candy
is square-ish.
10
Illustrated by Hailee Swiggett, 5th Grade
Teacher Interviews
Interview of Miss Smith
By Lyndsey Smith and Josie Whalen, 3rd Grade
Q: Who is your favorite student? Hahaha, just kidding!
A: You silly willy girls! I love all of my little bunnies equally.
Illustrated by
Ellie Arenstein,
3rd Grade
Q: As a kid, who was your favorite teacher and why?
A: I loved Miss Powell, my first grade teacher, because she told me she loved my drawing of
my family on the first day of school. She said that the sun I had drawn was beautiful! And then
she taught me how to read.
Q: Who is your favorite author? What are some books he/she has written?
A: That is a tough question. I have many favorite authors. I guess that my favorite children’s
author is E. B. White. Charlotte’s Web is just a wonderful story on many different levels. We
read it together as a class this year and that makes it even more special to me.
Q: Do you enjoy watching TV/movies? If so, what is your favorite TV show/movie?
A: I am not a huge television fan because there is not too much on that I find worth watching.
But I do enjoy the PBS News Hour each evening. I watch Doc Martin every week because it
tickles my funny bone. And of course, once football season begins, my television is on every
Sunday for the Redskins.
Interview of Ms. Robbins
By Caroline Crump and Carsey Eliason, 3rd Grade
Q: Hi! How do you feel about teaching at Carderock?
A: I absolutely LOVE teaching at Carderock! The students, staff, and parents are all
so much fun to work with!
Q: Beside all of that, do you have any siblings? How would you describe them?
A: I have one sister named Laura. She is 26 years old, and she lives in Charleston,
SC. She is funny, smart, and kind. I really look up to her.
Q: What is your favorite place you’ve ever been? What did it look like?
A: My favorite place is Florence, Italy. I studied there for four months in college. It
has beautiful old buildings, bridges, and famous art.
Illustrated by
Caroline Crump,
3rd Grade
Q: Last one…Why do you like your career? Does your class behave?
A: I like teaching because I love working with children. It also keeps me active and
keeps my brain working all the time. I love learning new things, and teaching allows
me to learn new things from my students every day. I have an amazing class!
11
Reptile World Review
By Mick Dwyer and Griffin Beckley, 4th Grade
Do you know what animals are cold blooded, nocturnal, and have scales? Reptiles! On
April 23, 2014, Carderock experienced an amazing assembly performed by Reptile World!
The people who performed the assembly were men named Michael and David. The first
reptile they showed us was an alligator snapping turtle. We learned that there are no alligator
snapping turtles in Maryland. Another thing we learned was that in captivity, a turtle easily
lives up to 100 years.
The second reptile they showed us was the Mexican beaded lizard. If you take the arms
and legs off, it looks a lot like a snake. The lizard can go up to 6 months without water.
Next, they showed us an American alligator. We learned that in the 1960s, American
alligators almost went extinct because so many people hunted them for their skin. We also
learned that there are only 2 species of alligator, the American alligator and the Chinese
alligator.
The fourth reptile he showed us were two milk snakes. Milk snakes live in Maryland.
Milk snakes are constrictors.
The fifth reptile he showed us was an Amazon anaconda. When an anaconda swallows
something big, it gets a big lump in its stomach. An anaconda digests food by using acids in
its body to melt the prey.
The last reptile he showed us was an albino rock python. The python is the only biting
snake he showed us. The python’s name was Triple B (Banana Boys Brother).
12
Illustrated by Maddie Shavitz, 4th Grade
Illustrated by Maddie Shavitz, 4th Grade
Reptile Review
By Skylar Chasen, 4th Grade
FIVE STARS!!!
I loved the reptile assembly. It was so cool to see all of the
reptiles…and learn all about them! I learned a lot that I
didn’t know, like how snakes shed 5 or 6 times a year. I
thought they did that more! Also, it was very cool to SEE
the reptiles! Some are cute, but I know they are
dangerous. Mr. Michael explained a lot about EVERY
reptile, so now I know a lot more! At the end, we got to
touch the snake. It felt unreal, like a stuffed animal or a
snake that’s rubber. All of the animals looked unreal, they
looked like statues! I hope you liked the Reptile assembly
as much as I did!
13
Puzzles & Games
Animal Word Search
By Clara Mattick and Hannah Kim, 4th Grade
w p e n g u i n s c r h t h
m c b z q x b k a y j s d u
j i e w a dg x t w ko i m
a w b a r h x u a l t j v m
g e v r z e a q p x a u k i
u o x q gk h v y m r c k n
a r w t x i s o w a o r l g
r c t s n c r a n r a m s b
y a o e t w j s h w s n a i
u t m p q a s r e y o e k r
mo n k e y s z f a f g o d
z w m t y l f r e t t u b e
b e e z t c a x c e a r d b
q b b r b e d n d y b s e c
i y m r y q y p e t c k w k
o x z w a x b o f y d u f l
u g a x e x s q g c e c g a
i e t q a a g o h f f y h h
p e y x p s r i i g f l o w
14
Illustrated by
Ava Gold,
2nd Grade
Word Bank
pig
cat
dolphin
shark
penguin
bee
hummingbird
wolf
jaguar
zebra
monkey
horse
tiger
dog
ladybug
butterfly
otter
orca
sow
pet
Minecraft Ideas
for Those
Who Like Minecraft
Written and illustrated by
Gwyndolyn Johnston, 3rd Grade
Be creative. You can build a…
*mansion *school *waterpark
*office *house *cemetery
*castle *church *hideout
*cottage *vacation resort
*statue *house *museum
*cruise ship *hotel *shop
*city *Funland *village
*haunted house *trap
*neighborhood *restaurant
*casino *carnival *disco
School Word Search
Cosmos word scramble
By Ravi Rengert, 1st Grade
By Julia Rychlik, 3rd Grade
A B
O K
P G
O T
R K
Z M
E D
MO
G R
T N
C
L
M
P
Q
Q
N
O
E
Y
school
ruler
S
C
H
O
O
L
S
R
H
B
H
F
V
R
T
Y
S
S
C
S
J
F
V
W
P
I
G
S
A
X
I
A
K
A
B
E
V
A
E
Y
D
X
F
D
E
I
N
L
T
Z
pencil
classroom
R
V
O
Q
H
Z
X
C
L
V
P
J
Q
N
J
W
D
W
I
H
C
R
E
L
U
R
C
V
E
L
S
C
I
S
S
O
R
S
M
C
teacher
scissors
AXLAGY ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
AMRS
___ ___ ___ ___
JRUIPTE ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
NWETNO ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
AETRH ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
GARVITY ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
MCOSOS ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
NVOASPUTE ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
LAClBHOEk ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Illustrated by Joey Press, Kindergarten
15
By Ellie Arenstein,
3rd Grade
16
Illustrated by
Andrew Gartvig,
3rd Grade
Basketball Mess Up!
By Charlie Mills, 3rd Grade
17
Clumsy Baby Hero
18
By Mahad F. Bhinder, 2nd Grade
Home Again: Traced With a Swedish Fish
By Caroline Reichert, 2nd Grade
19
20
The Adventures of Pacman #2
By Daniel Monroe, 5th Grade