Wild animals as pets?

JAMESTOWN, N.D. - Earlier this summer, Betty Kratzke noticed that something was disturbing the ground near the flowers that line her driveway. Solving the mystery this week proved to be a snap — when baby snapping turtles started crawling around her yard.

"They just keep popping up out of the hole," said Cliff Hanson, Kratzke's brother-in-law.
The turtles had recently hatched and were no bigger than a half dollar coin, said Darrell Perry, another brother-in-law.

Family members scooped up 44 turtles in all. They were put in a cardboard box and taken to the nearby James River.

"They went swimming away like crazy," Kratzke said.

Snapping turtles live to be decades old and can grow up to 40 pounds, said Gene Van Eeckhout, a biologist with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. They do not make nice pets, he said.

"They're not very friendly to play with," Van Eeckhout said.

Kratzke said she thought some sort of animal was disturbing her flowers. "But it was a long ways from being a muskrat or a raccoon," she said. "They are the cutest little things."

Perry said the experience was one to remember.

"While they were coming out, we just stood there and watched them in amazement," he said.

Question:
Do you think that it is right for someone to keep wild animals like tiger cubs or baby bears as pets? Why?
(Aim to write at least 40 words)

When you are done, you may also want to visit brainpop and learn from the educational videos on writing.

Wishing all of you a Happy Chinese New Year.

Angelic

Enthusiastic

Marvellous

Joyful

Teachable

Brilliant

Wise

Learned

Honest

Super-star

Lovely

Magnificent

Superb

Intelligent

Wonderful

Charming

Responsible

Elated

Precious

Joyous

Kind-hearted

Jovial

Loyal

Caring

Witty

Mannerly

Super-duper

Kind

Interesting

Jolly

Talented

Gentle

Smart

Jubilant

Speed writing (Use your creativity to link the pictures together)

Write your meaningful stories in the comments, the best piece will be published on the main page for all to admire and enjoy. May the best writer get published!

And the winner is...

One cool morning, Lon, the small chicken, was singing at the grass patch. Suddenly, a demon bat and an evil crow spotted Lon singing happily. They decided that they wanted to roast Lon in an oven to eat. Lon stopped singing and stay rooted to the ground and he did not know what to do and actually he could feel a shiver down his spine. When Lon turned his head just about to run, he saw a furtively looking woman.” Why is she here?" thought Lon. She was actually there to look for pets. When she saw that Lon is in danger, she quickly called her albatross to punish the evil ones. (The evil ones always get punished for their bad deeds.) The albatross swooped down from the woman’s shoulder to have a fight with the crow and the bat. BIN BIN BANG BANG!!! After some minutes, the fight was over. The albatross won! The woman shouted happily, "Victory, victory!" The albatross seemed tired after his morning fight.

That evening, Lon, the woman and the albatross were sitting together eating dinner. Lon feeling much better because he was no longer in danger. When dinner time was over, Lon sang a popular tune that everyone knew. The next morning, the woman built a stage and Lon sang the song which was very famous and the woman became rich.

THE END

Author: Gin Yen

Gaze in wonder at the face of Mars

Mars - A Latest Update

The Straits Times
Gaze in wonder at The Face of Mars

LONDON - THE European Space Agency (ESA) has photographed The Face - the main feature on the surface of Mars. The mountain, which resembles a human head with eyes, mouth and nostrils, was first photographed by the US Viking 1 Orbiter in 1976. It stirred up talk of conspiracy theories, as people claimed that the mountain was evidence of an ancient Martian civilisation. The new images were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board ESA's Mars Express this July, the BBC News reported.Scientists have long experienced difficulties in capturing a decent shot of the area in the mid-northern latitudes referred to as Cydonia. The Mars Express was either at too high an altitude when passing by or its view was affected by dust and haze in the atmosphere.The agency processed the shots and produced perspective images which give the viewer the impression they are flying over the surface of The Face. "These images of Cydonia on Mars are truly spectacular," said Dr Agustin Chicarro, project scientist for the ESA mission. "They not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area famous to fans of space myths worldwide, but also provide an impressive close-up over an area of great interest for planetary geologists."

ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS (Original Source)

In your opinion, do you think that there is life on Mars?

Do you believe in aliens? Why? (Aim to write at least 50 words)

The day that changed my life forever! by Irene

The day that changed my life forever the day that......

One day at the field, as I was playing with my cousin, I bumped into Puii. Puii was a nice monster. He was also Mr Abel Kok's best friend. Puii taught Mr Kok many things and shared many secrets. But today Puii was not feeling good. You know why?

Let me tell you! When I was trying to understand why was he so unhappy, he explained, "Irene, I can tell you why I am unhappy, but you can't tell anyone!" I agreed. After listening to him, I felt angry because he told me that the noise in our class was too loud and unbearable for him, so he wanted the teachers to be fierce, and not to be too kind and too nice. That was the challenge which Puii had given me.

He wanted them to be fierce and to remind the pupils to be responsible for their mistakes. I totally agreed with him because it made perfect sense. So I told the whole class that we have to improve and suggested ways on how to improve. I told them not to horse around in class and raise your hand before you talk. Everyone did that and we slowly became a wonderful class. The teachers were surprised and impressed with everyone in the class. The teacher would smile from ear to ear as they managed to teach the class many things.

When I met Puii at the supermarket last weekend, he gave me a grin that I would not forget. He knew we had managed to change for the better. Puii decided to join our class activities and I was so excited. I was on cloud nine as I know Puii need not suffer any more hardship. Everyone in the class was elated to know that we had a guardian angel in the class in the form of a monster, a friendly monster. Puii also told me that he was very proud of what I had done for him and the class. All these were only possible because I did not chicken out of the challenge. Hurray! I did it!

Puii had become one of my classmates. He enjoyed himself in class! All this was only made possible by everyone in the class. Well done!

THE END !

Written by
Irene

Journal Entry for Term 1 Week 6

Journal Entry for Term 1 Week 6

Do you remember the presentation on Youth Olympic Games (YOG) which focused on Passion?

Topic:

How to achieve my aspirations? (Aspirations are your dreams)

Please write it in your journal book, not under the comments.

Your chance to get your stories published! You also stand to win US$150

You may want to work on any of these topics:

• My family
• If I ruled a country, I would...
• The day that changed my life forever

Please make sure that you have written more than 300 words, not exceeding 600.

Also do note that only the best entries will be submitted for this competition organised by Scholastic Pte Ltd.

Happy writing...Submit your entries under the comments with your name and register number.

Cheers,
Mr Kok

Congratulations to Michelle... your piece will be sent in for the competition. Best of luck.

Michelle Law Shi Ni (3C)

Hong Wen School

Singapore

The day that I change my life forever!

One Monday, in 3C, there is a monster on the teacher’s chair. It is green in colour, it looks like a jelly and he has a very huge mouth but he talks very softly, he is also very nice to everyone. His name is Puii. His best friend is Mr. Abel Kok, because he teaches Mr. Abel Kok many good things and tells him secrets. Puii told Mr. Abel Kok to tell the class that we must keep quiet and do not horse around in class. When the teacher is away, we must sit on our seat and read a book and do not leave our seat. So, when it is Thursday Mr. Abel Kok told us that Puii was very ill. So some pupils write a get well soon letter and gave Puii. I also gave him a get well soon letter too.

When Puii got the get well soon letter he was elated and he recovered very quickly. We were very frightened to ask Puii if he is getting well or not so we always ask Mr. Abel Kok that he has recovered or not. I will always remember Puii told Mr. Abel Kok what. So I will call those who are noisy to keep quiet, and tell them to read a story book, and call them do not leave their own seat, because I am one of the monitor. So when it is on Friday Mr. Abel Kok told us a bad news he told us that Puii is playing with his grand children so he cannot join our class for some days.

After we got the news that Puii is playing with his grand children, we were very sad that he is not able to playing with us but we were also relived that he had recovered. After a few days, he came back to 3C and played with all of us, we were all on cloud nine, with Puii in our class our attitude towards studying had improved very much. All of my classmates would like to say a big thank you to Puii for playing with all of us in 3C. Whether Puii is an imaginary friend or not is not important, what is most important is that Puii makes me company whenever I am feeling lonely or sad. You are the greatest monster who really acts more like a guardian angel. Thank you so much for being my friend.

A living fossil surfaces

A living fossil surfaces
The Straits Times

A frilled shark, rarely seen alive because it lives 600m or more under the sea, has been captured on film by a Japanese marine park.The primitive shark, sometimes referred to as a 'living fossil' because it has changed little since prehistoric times, was caught and filmed at the Awashima Marine Park, south of Tokyo, after a fisherman reported seeing the odd-looking, eel-like creature with a mouthful of sharp teeth.However the female shark, which appeared sickly, died soon after it was caught.

1. What are your feelings towards this article?
2. Do you think the fisherman should have released the shark instead of catching it? Why?

A Great piece to share....by Xing Yue

“Ring!” It was time for recess! My class rushed down the stairs and ran to the canteen. When I was eating my bowl of noodles, I saw the big bully who had always bullied me whenever I bumped into him. His name was Matt. He had always horsed around in school. When he was bored, he would stand furtively beside the stairs awaiting any unsuspecting victim. Everyone in school, including some teachers, was afraid of him. In fact, I am feeling goosebumps all over as I recalled an incident one year ago…

That year, I was in primary two and Matt was in primary five. Once he actually gave me a call and challenged me to a fight. When I hung up the phone, I stood rooted to the ground not knowing what to do next. After that, I wolfed down my food and thought hard how to teach him a lesson for bullying so many of us. I felt an albatross around my neck and was all thumbs when I tried to call my mother who was at work. I asked my mother for advice but she did not offer any as she was busy.

When I met Matt the following day, I felt a shiver down my spine. I decided to chicken out from the brawl. I decided that it was better for me to use my wits to teach him a lesson instead. I fished out my phone to call Matt’s mother after searching the phonebook for hours. Of course, his mother gave Matt a good spanking. Everyone in school was elated and those who had been bullied by him before were on cloud nine. For me, I was over the moon as I felt like a hero for that day. My father and mother crowed about me in front of everybody. I hope the big bully, Matt, had learned his lesson.

Story written by Xing Yue (3K)

Acrostic Poems

Dear Pupils

We have learned about Acrostic Poems this week. Let's have a go at it using your name. Here's one example:

A- Able to teach with a burning passion
B- Being someone who likes to mingle with children
E- Eager to teach every single child
L- Learning is a life-long process

K- Keen to know how to teach better
O- Origami is one of my favourite past-time
K- Knowledge is a powerful tool- use it well

Write your own Acrostic poems in the comments. Have FUN!

Scholastic Books Galore!

Dear Pupils

If you wish, you may buy the scholastic books. Just a gentle reminder to collect your orders on....


8 February, Monday and 9 February, Tuesday.

The time is 10. 00 am to 10.35 am - during recess.

Happy reading,
Mr Kok