Poetry Alive is a performance group based out of Asheville, NC.  They use acting to help students become engaged with the text - specifically, poetry.  They truly are a phenomenal group.  Poetry Alive presented to our school on March 27th.  Our students had a great time participating in the poetry re-enactments!  This podcast is an excerpt from the 7th grade presentation.  A special thanks to our two engaging performers - L'Tanya and Brad!  

 

 

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Leonardo was a very talented young actor ar a very young age.  He has completed a lot of goals in his life that people have only dreamed about.  He was born on November 11, 1974 and started his career at the ripe age of thirteen years old appearing in a Matchbox Cars commercial.  I learned that DiCaprio was named after the famous Leonardo DaVinci.  He was in a lot of T.V. shows also before his movie career took off.  He was in "The New Lassie," "Santa Barbara," "The Parenthood," and "The Outsiders."  He then started working in movies.  Even though most of them were not big hits, some movies he starred in were "Critters III," "This Boy's Life," "What's eating Gilbert Grape," "The Quick and the Dead," and "The Basketball Diaries."  He got his first big hit when he starred as Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet." Then he went from there to hit the big times with  "Titanic," "The man in the Iron Mask," "The Beach," and "Catch Me if You Can."  Leonardo was a very interesting person to read about. I really enjoyed learning some new things about him.  He has accomplished so much, and his career has just now begun.                                     By:  Samantha Harley

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

   - A book so important, it should be required reading for all students in middle school - Russell could not believe how much his life changed when he started Parkland Middle School or Darkland (which is what everyone else called it).  Not only does Russell feel deserted by all of his friends, he also has to deal with being stalked by the scariest, meanest bully in the entire school.  Would you put up with being beat up and tormented every day?  Well, Russell decides he’s not going to, either!  He teams up with two other seventh graders who are also being harassed by bullies.  Soon they devise a plan to begin an “underground” publication distributed to the student body on the school’s network server.  The letter, called The Revealer, details other students’ experiences and how they have been teased and mistreated by bullies at Parkland Middle.  When the letter is sent to the student body and they begin reading about how terrible students feel when other people tease them and the way it destroys lives, suddenly being a bully becomes very uncool and not acceptable.  Russell, Catalina, and are actually able to make a difference…that is, until they falsely accuse a student of cheating in their newsletter.    

     When their principal finds out about their letter and the student’s father threatens to sue for slander, she restricts the entire school body’s Internet access.  Just when Russell, Elliot, and Catalina find acceptance, they again are the outcasts - the ones responsible for everyone losing their Internet privileges.  At first, Russell feels beaten.  He then makes the decision to not go down without fighting.  He has a plan - though it’s risky, he knows he must be brave and be willing to reveal even more secrets than before.  Can Russell win back everything he has lost?-  

     The Revealers is a thought-provoking book that will engage readers until the end.  Even if you have never been bullied, we all can identify with some aspect of these three seventh graders’ lives.  This book should be read by every teacher and student.  It will make teachers think twice about dismissing “harmless” teasing and will cause students to think about the way they have treated their fellow classmates.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Kelly Clarkson was born in Burleson,Texas on April 24th,1982. She showed musical talent while still very young. Her parents divorced when she was six. Her father then moved to California. Later on her mother remarried. She graduated from Burleson High School in the year of 2000. Growing up she worked many different jobs such as an amusement park singer, waitress, and drug store clerk. In 2002, Kelly and one of her friends left their hometown and moved to California, where she started making contacts. Then all of the sudden her life began to fall apart. First her apartment burned down, and then her car got towed. She spent several days at a shelter before deciding to return to Texas and stay with her mom. Shortly afterwards, her best friend Jessica Huggins signed her up for a new competitive T.V. series. Kelly was one of the 11 finalists from Dallas, Texas. She worked hard to keep her voice fit for competing. Kelly soon made the top ten competitors. On September 3,2002 she was voted the the first ever "American Idol!" She signed a recording contract with RCA for $1 million. Kelly's first hit single arrived in stores September 17th of that year. Her first album was released October first, less then a month later. So that's the story of Kelly Clarkson's life.

By:  Brittany

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I have somehing to tell you about a week ago I read this book called Carrie Underwood it was amazing. I found out she that she grew up in a small town called Checotah, Oklahoma, and that her her middle name was Marie she wasnt born in a hospital she was realy born at home. she was a very talented girl growing up she sang at her church she loves amimals thats one of the reasons she became a vegetarian

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Reviewed by Matthew Castillo

 Reading this book I learned a lot about Charles Barkley.  For example, he was born on Feb. 20th, 1963 in Leeds, Alabama.  When he was born, Charles' father moved away from him and never saw Charles. Charles' mom got married again to a guy named Clee Glen, but later when Charles was 11, Mr. Glen died in a car crash so Charles didn't really have a father growing up. Also, his high school basketball coach told him he would not make the team because he was too fat and could not jump. So Charles would go outside and jump over a 4 foot fence. At first he was not able to clear it , so when Charles went in the house he had a lot of cuts and briuses, but Charles never gave up. Three months later(basketball season) Charles was able to jump over the fence. At Charles' basketball tryouts, he proved the coach wrong.  He was jumping higher than all the guys that were a lot taller than him, and he made the team.  After high school, Charles got a scholarship to go to the Universty of Auburn.  After college, Charles played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers.  You should read this book because it tells a story about how a hard worker (like Charles) could prove anybody wrong if you are willing to work at it.  If I gave this book a number on a scale from 1-10, I would give it a 10! I liked this book because it gave me a lot of information about one of my favorite players of all time.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Courageous Patriot is a very easy but very good biography. It is about the war and how people were taking over Katie's homes just to build forts. This is a recommended book for people that are interested in the war. Kate is an ordinary person with an ordinary family and now she is getting her home taken away for the government to build forts to fight. So do not think that war is just bad for you. It is bad for everyone.

                       By: Davey Frazier

Monday, March 19, 2007

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous painter; his best known painting is "The Mona Lisa". Da Vinci had a great knowledge of the human anatomy which is portrayed in most of his paintings. He liked wavy lines and curves in his paintings. He grew up during the Renaissance and all the things that he learned during that time period are a lot of times portrayed in his paintings and drawings. Leomardo was not just a painter, he was an engineer scientist musician and a mathematician, so when asked what Leonardo was, don't just say that he was a painter for his knowledge goes far beyond that.  I would say to read the book and be familiar with some of his paintings and drawings. I,personally, do not care for most of his artwork because you don't see alot of variation when looking at the paintings' faces, but he is still a very talented artist. 

                  BY: Tiffany Thomas

Monday, March 19, 2007

Monday, March 19, 2007

Welcome to WDRH Radio! 

Check out the podcasts of Mrs. Bohnenberger's 2nd and 6th period students.  They researched World War II and wrote and enacted an old time radio broadcast based on their research.  The podcasts contain some sound effects.

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Saturday, March 17, 2007

Everyone should know about Ashlee Simpson; she's such an interesting person. She comes from Texas, and she also comes from a very talented family. Ashlee has an older sister, the very musically talented, Jessica Simpson. Ashlee always knew her older sister would be famous, but would she ever get her moment in the spotlight? Yes, she did! At the age of three, Ashlee started training to be a classical ballet dancer. She was the youngest person accepted to the School of American Ballet, only at the age of eleven. Soon, Ashlee became a back-up dancer for her sister, Jessica on stage. Ashlee always was picked on because she was the youngest of the dancers, plus she was Jessica's little sister. But, she endured it all. And look at her today.

     I learned many new facts about Ashlee that I never knew before. Like she used to back-up dance for Jessica. I also never knew that she loved to act.

   I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about singers and actresses. You will absolutely love reading about Ashlee Simpson.

 by Victoria Earley

Thursday, March 15, 2007

                                      

 Mrs. Howell's students wrote letters from the point of view of World War I soldiers:

Monday, March 12, 2007

 1/2 - It's , Like, OMG...I totally know how this main character feels!  This book is 2 funny!

Tam and Allie - BFF?  In Sixth-Grade glommers, norks, and me by Lisa Papademetriou, Allie thought that her middle school years would rock.  She soon finds out that she seems to be destined to be a total loser - a nork, even!  Her childhood friend Tam never wants to hang anymore.  Suddenly, Allie has no idea of who she really is - or where she belongs.

 Middle school students, especially girls, will appreciate the new slang, hip dialogue, details of first crushes, and the drama of friendship conflicts.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Do you like mysteries?  Books that keep you guessing?  Try Topher by Anita Horrocks.  Christopher and his sister, Stacie, are surprised to learn that their father has inherited his childhood home, a cabin on the lake, when their grandmother passes away suddenly.  For some reason, their father has always been very secretive of his past.  When they all decide to stay at the cabin for a few weeks, strange events begin occurring.  Is the cabin haunted?

Even stranger is the way Stacie has been acting.  Why does she have memories of the cabin although it's her first time there?

Christopher and Stacie attempt to solve the mysteries of their father's past.  It seems like a fun adventure to them - until they find that their own lives are in danger.

Friday, March 09, 2007

      Great Read!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is sure to appeal to a variety of readers, especially fans of Harry Potter.  In the novel, Percy is an unlikely hero.  He has been diagnosed with ADD and has never done well in school.  He has even been expelled several times.  Percy has to live with his gross stepfather - Smelly Gabe, and he doesn't have a clue as to who his real father is......how shocked Percy is when he discovers his father is not a human at all - he's a powerful Greek God (betcha wanna know which God he is - but I will let you discover that for yourself!)  Not only does Percy have a God for a father, he has superhuman powers himself!  Now Percy has to attend a training camp for the children of the Gods, called Half-Blood Hill.  He finds out that it is up to him to complete a very dangerous quest to save the world.  Will he be able to save mankind?  Or will he be forced to sacrifice the person he loves the most?  Check out this hip, edgy, fun, humorous adventure.

Thursday, March 08, 2007