W o r d o f t h e D a y P r o j e c t s 5th-12th Grade Anthology

River Islands Writing and Technology Workshop 2014

An anthology compiled of student work that was chosen out of a variety of daily prompts such as “If you really knew me,” “Desire,” “Describe your

favorite meal,” and “Pain.”

 

 

2

Table  of  Contents  

Alexia  A.  ......................................................................................................................  3  

Armando  S.  ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4  

Bryant  B.  .....................................................................................................................  5  

Celeste  G.  ....................................................................................................................  6  

Charleen  M.  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8  

Chianti  G.    ..................................................................................................................  10  

Christopher  V.  ............................................................................................................  11  

Courtney-­‐Jane  L.  ........................................................................................................  12  

Gen  M.  .......................................................................................................................  13  

Gilberto  D.  .................................................................................................................  14  

Haley  S.  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………15  

Jared  J.  .......................................................................................................................  16  

Jenna  V.  .....................................................................................................................  17  

Laisha  S.  .....................................................................................................................  18  

Lillian  O.  .....................................................................................................................  19  

Livleen  K.  ...................................................................................................................  20  

Luis  R.  ........................................................................................................................  22  

Maria  S.  .....................................................................................................................  23  

Matthew  V.  ................................................................................................................  26  

Oluwafemi  B.  .............................................................................................................  28  

Oluwatoni  B.  ..............................................................................................................  29  

Omar  S.  ......................................................................................................................  31  

Seth  V.  .......................................................................................................................  32  

   

3

Alexia A.

“Potential”

I have the

potential to ride my bike and get better at the things that look hard. I can do this in gymnastics. Yesterday I passed level 1 and now I’m going to level 2. I knew I would pass

one day. On a video we just watched a man named Tim had Downs

Syndrome and he had the potential to work. He had his own restaurant and he seemed very happy when he goes to work and when people walk through the door into his restaurant.

4

Armando S.

“Potential”

When I grow up I want to be a magical

engineer because my dad said and he said

you could get a lot of money. I could fix

some one leg if they break their leg.

5

Bryant B.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me you would know that I like reptiles. My favorite Lizard is an iguana because they are tropical. They are cold blooded reptiles but they need sunlight.

I have one myself, it is a bearded dragon. Her name is Nyla and she is a little hard to manage.

She needs a proper set up. I am referring to lights and tank. She is about 12 inches long. We need a new tank because she is getting bigger. I'm guessing she will get to be a foot and a half long.

6

Celeste G.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me, you would know that I love to play

soccer and be outdoors. You would know that I like soccer because I

am on a team, and I have been playing since I was five years old. My

team’s name is Rangers I really like my team because they are very

positive. Sometimes they encourage me to do well in soccer when I

play. My coaches make me improve when I play.

I want to be the best soccer player. When I play soccer I feel

free. I have tried indoor soccer but I didn’t like it as much as I would

when I play outside. I like outdoor soccer better than indoor because

in indoor soccer they have fake grass and the fake grass makes the

ball go a lot faster, And I am use to playing outdoors.

My team practices all year long that’s what I love about it. I get

to play soccer with my team three times a week. When we travel to

different places we ride a bus together, like we are playing a two day

tournament in Santa Cruz in two weeks. My teammates and I are

staying at the same hotel together it will be fun. I hope that I make

the team next year. I think that soccer is a lot more fun playing with a

team. I think that soccer is a lot more fun with a team.

7

Celeste G.

“Desire”

I really desire to go to Florida. I desire to go to Florida because Walt Disney World is there I have never been there but my friends have. At lunch under a tree my friend told me that it had fun rides to go on and that it is very fun. I hope that someday I get to go. I want to go really bad.

I have heard that Florida is very hot in the summer. I think Walt

Disney World is big with a lot of rides to go on. I love roller coasters. I like the feeling when your heart drops on big roller coasters I think that feeling is exciting. Scary roller coasters are my favorite I make my mom get on them with me because I don’t like sitting next to strangers on rides.

I wish that Disney World was closer so that I wouldn’t

have to pay so much money for a plane ticket and it would not take so long to.

8

Charleen M.

“My Favorite Meal”

My favorite meal is Maruchan Ramen Noodle soup. According to an article, maru means round in Japanese, and chan is put at the end of a name in Japan. There are two ways of cooking a maruchan soup, depending on what kind of packaging you get. The first one is the cup kind. To make this, you open the cup and there is powder on top of the noodles, that is the flavor, so you can put water on that to make it soup. Then put it in the microwave. When you take it out, the powder turned into hot soup. The smell depends on what kind of ramen flavor you are making, like the flavors shrimp, chicken, beef, or spicy chicken. The second kind of ramen is the square kind put into plastic. To make it, take the noodles and powder out of the square plastic and cook

it in a pot with water, and wait for it to cook, the noodles will

start to soften and spread apart from each other. The smell still depends on the what the flavor is. When you take it out to put it in the bowl to eat, the noodles become more soft. My favorite is shrimp, and I prefer the cup, better. This is my favorite meal because it s very easy to cook, and I mostly liked the flavor shrimp because of the little shrimps in the cup.

9

Charleen M.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me, you would know I love food, like a ham sandwich or mac and cheese. When I’m in my room and I’m tired or bored i just go in my fridge and take all the food i want and eat it. When I eat too much I fall asleep.

Also, if you really knew me you would know that I really like anime, a Japanese cartoon. I would watch anime when nothing interesting is on the tv. I also try to translate it in English when I can’t find any videos with subtitles. I don’t like watching anime in English because the voices don’t match.

All the time I would listen to music and Japanese and Korean vocaloids, they are hologram animation of a singer. I like to listen to that kind of music because of the beat, there is not a lot of sad songs that vocaloids sing. In their music videos they look more like animations, then holograms. Some vocaloids I like to listen to is Hatsune Miku or Miku Hatsune and Rin and Len, Rin and Len is a mirror reflection of their self except one is a girl and one is a boy, so they are sister and brother, and their last name is Kagamine, which means mirror reflection in Japanese.

10

Chianti G.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you knew me, you would know that I am on the swim team. I am on the Ripon Sea Lions swim team. The 2012 Olympics inspired me to swim on the swim team. I already knew how to swim though because I took swim lessons since I was around five years old. This is my second year swimming. I am passionate about swimming. When I win my heat, I become really happy because I accomplished something. I just finished the season two days ago and I can’t wait for next season to come. My first year I made two friends, but my second year I made more than ten

friends. My favorite stroke is breaststroke, but my fastest stroke is freestyle. Last year I got a trophy for most improved time in 9-10 girls. The trophy was about two feet long. Practices are every day, but the swim meets are every Saturday. Last Saturday, I swam 100yd (4 laps) freestyle, butterfly, and breaststroke. I won freestyle

and butterfly. The individual medley is when you swim all four strokes in the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. My prize was two gold colored bracelets that said Championship Heat Winner. You have to be at the swim meet by 6:15 am. The meet ends at 3:00-6:00. It is tiring and also fun because you get to hang out with your friends and get to swim went it is hot. Here is what freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke would look like.

Top – Freestyle 1st Middle – Butterfly 2nd Middle – Breaststroke

Bottom – Backstroke

11

Christopher V.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you knew me you would know that I love soccer because when I was at school I started playing with the 6 graders

and I was In 4th grade then I knew that I was really

good. I play on the Turlock Tornados did you know I play in the U9 league. I also play defense on my team I play in Riverbank that is new because it is next to my cousin house and they can just go to my soccer game so that is good I am also looking forward to learn archery looks fun, because I could imagine me holding a bow and bows look cool. Another thing I play piano because then I can just play while my cousins are over and I can just play the piano while so the can have fun here and there, for example when they are playing upstairs I can just play the piano down here.:|

12

Courtney-Jane L.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .” If you really knew me, you would know that

I do gymnastics and ballet. I do my gymnastics at Funtastics Gymnastics, and I do my ballet at sondance. Gymnastics and ballet are my favorite hobbies.

I started ballet when I was in kindergarten. When I was little I did ballet for fun, but as I got older I took it more seriously. I worked hard to perfect everything. My posture, turnout, and my practices or dances. Right now I am in Ballet 2 and we practice for ballet 3 and for pointe shoes. It Is very important to know your bones, because if you don’t the parts of your body you might break a bone and it will be hard to practice correctly.

I first started Gymnastics when I was 8 and I took classes once a week for the beginners group. I did the beginners level class for about 1 year and then I

moved to the higher group. My favorite was floor and trampoline. I want to improve on my back limber. which is when you start in an upright position, go into a backbend, rock into a handstand, and then you lower your feet into a piked position. Also on the

trampoline I want to learn how to do a front flip and back flip. the bigger group was more challenging and I learned a lot of new things.

I WAS IN THE BIGGER GROUP FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND THEN MY COACH ASKED ME TO JOIN COMPETITION, WHICH IS LIKE CHEERLEADING COMPETITION BUT FOR GYMNASTICS. I was really excited when she asked me, but then she told me it was a little pricy and wondered if we had enough money. I told my family what happened and

they said that they would support me no matter what. When I first started the competition team it was really tiring and required a lot of hard work. I have only been doing the competition class for about 7 weeks and I think that i still need to work on a lot to improve for the real competition. After every class I’m always sore, but i keep doing it so that I can get better. If you really knew me, then you would know that gymnastics and ballet are a part of me.

13

Gen M.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me, you would know that I’m an anime geek, who likes to watch Attack On Titan, on Funimation. It’s not just this but, it is one of my favorite anime. Attack On Titan is about the kyojins that eat human kind. The humans built a 50 meter wall to keep the Titans out, but lasted for only a hundred years.

The 60 meter colossus titan destroyed wall Maria, and the titans have come to devour the humans once more. The main character Eren Yeager, and his friends escape to wall Rose. Eren thirsts for revenge to kill the titans that are in the wall. I also like to eat fried chicken and play video games. The reason I like fried chicken is because it tastes like HEAVEN!!!

14

Gilberto D.

“Pain” The day I learned that my grandfather, “Mi Abuelito

Enrique,” died brought me much pain. This type of pain, the emotional pain, can sometimes cause scars deeper than any physical pain. It can affect you on a different level because physical pain only scratches the surface. When you lose someone you love, you learn more about life, but nothing is free and this deeper knowledge can't be bought or read in a book, you must experience the pain to understand. Though sometimes I wished I didn’t understand.

15

Haley S.

“My Favorite Meal” My favorite meal is ham, mashed potatoes, and Hawaiian rolls.

I like the scent of the ham as it is cooking in the

oven because it smells like cinnamon and I

love how it is so juicy when I bite into it.

(Especially my Uncle Dave’s ham.) I like

mashed

potatoes

because of

how fluffy they

are and I also like the

chunks of potatoes in it. Hawaiian

rolls are good because they are very

sweet, fluffy, and soft. When I eat the

Hawaiian rolls with the ham and mashed potatoes it tastes like

ice cream because it is fluffy, creamy, and sweet.

When I eat this

meal I like to

drink orange

juice with it

because it’s my

favorite drink.

16

Jared J.

“Desire” I have the desire to be an astrophysicist. An astrophysicist has to do with motion in space. They take data about the stars, the planets etc. and look at them and make a hypothesis and test them. They use radio telescope, gamma ray telescope, and etc. People also use satellites. When you find other physicists you compare, review, and publish my

discoveries in the journals. The money they earn is about 6 million dollars a year. I have the drive to go to UC Berkeley, science program. To become an astrophysicist one must spend the max of 18 years after college in a PhD after school. It is also very math intensive. I want to study

physics, microbiology, and chemistry! I would work for NASA doing research and experiments.

Microbiology is microscopic viruses and tiny living things. Chemistry has to do with chemicals and mixing them together sometimes to find cures. When I become an astrophysicist will make dark matter shoes (flying shoes)!!! Science is fit for me because I love experiments and more exploring.

17

Jenna V.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me you would know that I love to play soccer, I like to play chess, I am very creative, and I am a great friend. My friend inspired me to play soccer, so I joined a soccer team and I realized I am really good at it! Then I joined a competitive soccer team, MFC Flash 02, and it is so fun being on the team! I learned a lot of soccer moves and I also learned how to juggle, and now my high score is 202! I also like to play chess, I joined the chess club at school and I am learning stuff I never knew before. I learned techniques to use when I play against my friends and family. Sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t. I am also very creative when I draw, paint and sketch. Some things that I like to draw are some stuff that are requested, disney characters, and anything else I feel like drawing. I like to create new stuff that looks cool and amazing. Finally, I am a great friend by being funny, awesome, and creative. I make my friends happy when they’re sad by acting funny! This is what you would know if you really knew me.

18

Laisha S.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really know me, you would know I play soccer. In soccer I like to play forward. I play for MFC u9 girls and it is a traveling team. It is a good soccer team. I am 9 years old and my

birthday is in October. I played soccer when I was 5 years old and I used to play for a lot of teams. I am on MFC we go to tournaments. I am #6 and my team is really good. My two favorite

teams are America and Mexico. My favorite player is Messi. He is the best soccer player ever and he is the best in the world cup. He is good and he always scores

goals.

19

Lillian O.

“Desire”

My desire is to play soccer and do well in school all the time. I love sports(especially soccer, tennis camp, cheer camp, and ballet). I would give almost anything(like 5 chocolate chip cookies for 15 extra minutes to my teacher)to play all the time. I also sorta like school because I love reading, multiplication, and spelling(I am very good at these things)but I want to do well in all things like division and subtraction.

20

Livleen K.

“Desire”

Desire is a wonderful thing they are as

wonderful as wishes can be that you can

choose on your own but choose your desire

carefully because once you have a desire

you have it forever. My desire when I grow

up is to be a pediatrician. A pediatrician is

a kid’s doctor. I want be a kid’s doctor

because I love little children and I like to

meet new kids. I also want to make all children

healthy because when you’re sick you are sad and I want to

make them healthy so I can make them happy. I also want to be a

pediatrician because when I grow up I want to give the children no

charge if they’re going to the emergency hospital because usually

they cost a lot and because it’s sad, very sad so I won’t cost them

anything. A pediatrician is also known as a preventive health

maintenance for healthy children. They’re known as preventive

health maintenance for healthy children because pediatricians help

them get healthier and more active. Pediatricians can help take care

of infections, injuries, genetic defects, malignancies, organic

diseases, and dysfunctions. After the pediatrician figures out what

type of medicine you need they send a message to which pharmacy

you go to and then you have to go to the pharmacy to pick the

medicine up. Sometimes if it’s a big doctor’s office there might be a

pharmacy.

21

Livleen K.

“Pain” Pain is a feeling you get when you get hurt or you hurt

somebody else. Last week, I caused pain by showing bad attitude and breaking my mom’s favorite cup (on accident). Two years ago, when I had surgery they poked a large, skinny needle in my hand and I started shaking. It was so painful but by shaking I made it more painful. Another, example of pain is getting hit by a hard solid tennis ball 3 times on your head, in less than a minute. I

experienced this last year, 2013 when I was in tennis class the coach said, “ When you’re done hitting a tennis ball over the net go to the other side and pick a tennis ball up.” When I went to the other side of the net to pick up the one tennis ball it was the other people’s turn and they hit me three times in the head strongly. The first time they hit me wasn’t so bad, the second time they hit me was more painful, and third time they hit me, I started crying. The first time wasn’t so painful because it was a little girl, the second time a teen hit me, the third time the COACH hit me! Another example of pain is getting elbowed in your right eyeball. One time me and my brother were wrestling and he accidentally elbowed me in the eyeball but I didn’t cry, but still it is very painful.

Another type of pain, is emotional pain. When emotional pain comes around a lot of people struggle. When my grandma passed away on Mother’s Day in May of 2014. She was the head of the family so it was a big loss, anyone that passes away is a big loss. Also my grandpa who passed away when my dad was in college was an emotional pain. Both my grandparents suffered a heart attack. I felt sad when my grandparents passed away. My whole family felt sad.

22

Luis R.

“Desire”

My desire is to become an amazing drawer, because my dad and cousin drew when they were alive. I would like to follow in their foot steps, because I will always remember. Drawing is what makes me happy, sometimes I add a writing piece to it because I like to make cartoons with them having conversations, so I get to do whatever I want in my imagination. Another desire of mine is to invent electronics that could help you wherever you go, like your house or to go get groceries. I want to take my drawings and writing that I create and make books for all ages. So I know I could do it and what could you do? I’ve learned you have to make these desires real and I’m going to try with mine.

23

Maria S.

“Pain” There are three different types of pain. Physical. Emotional. And Spiritual. Spiritual and Emotional pain are almost always together as one. Physical can be on it’s own. But sometimes Physical pain is a result of Emotional and/or Spiritual pain. Emotional pain is usually a result of someone saying something mean. Physical pain is usually a result of falling down or getting your braces tightened. So, what is Spiritual pain? Spiritual pain is when you have a thought of how something will be, or how someone is, and what you thought is different than what is. Spiritual pain is when you are close to someone, and you share everything with them and you pour your heart and soul to them. They take care of it. And then you get into an argument, and they shred it to pieces. Making it feel as if nothing they ever said was true. Then the Spiritual pain turns into Emotional pain and if the Emotional pain is strong enough, it turns into Physical pain that can’t always be healed. In My opinion, Physical pain doesn't last nearly as long as Emotional and Spiritual pain. Emotional and Spiritual pain last so much longer and it’s so much worse. But that is the thing, no matter how long pain lasts, it always sucks. And what really sucks about Emotional and Spiritual pain is it happens, then you get over it, then you see something that triggers a memory, and it hurts all over again. Physical pain happens once, and then it's over. But no matter what type of pain it is, Pain demands to be felt

24

Maria S.

“Desire”

What is a desire? I believe a desire is to want or wish to do something. Does everyone have at least one desire? Of course. Desire is something natural for a human to have. We are wired to have desires. Just because you have a desire doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right. Some things are right for you, and somethings aren’t. I think that’s the problem with desire. If it’s bad for us, we still want it. In our minds, it’s good for us, even though to others, it is obviously bad. Once you have a desire, it won’t go away. Unless, that is, you fulfill it, or you get over it. And for us people, we know that it’s hard to get over things. And when you have a desire, it’s hard to get over it. I don’t know whether or not this makes sense to you, but in my mind, it makes perfect sense. And I know that at least one of you, someone, knows what I mean. Because this has happened or will happen to everyone. And you know what I am saying is true. Don’t deny it. When you were little and was at the county fair, you ate way too much cotton candy and had about a gallon soda, and you wanted a corn dog too. Your mother told you that it wasn’t a good idea but you had a corn dog anyways. Then you wanted to go on a rollercoaster. You mother warned you that you were going to get sick but you insisted and went on the ride. You were such a mess after the ride and hurled right as you got off. Your mother told you but you didn’t listen. You had the desire to eat all that food then go on that ride. That is what I’m talking about. When you want to do something--when you have the desire to do something, only you are right and everyone else is wrong. That is the danger in desire.

25

But let’s say you had the desire to become a musician. That’s a good desire right? There is no harm in that right? I suppose not. But what if you have the desire to be at the top? That’s good also. But what if you become mean about it? You have such a strong desire that you begin to put others beneath you just so you can be on top. Now that’s wrong. You would have to work to get to the top and the sad thing about the top is; What goes up, must come down. Sucks doesn’t it. Desire can be a good thing, or it can be a bad thing. It just depends on what you make it.

26

Matthew V.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you knew me you would know that any spare moment I get I’m playing with Legos. The reason only people close to me know this is because other people think playing Legos is childish. I play Legos more than anything else because I like to create Lego creations. I’m part of the Lego Club which is a group of people that receive Lego magazines. The Lego magazine talks about the latest Legos and Legos that are coming out soon. The magazines arrives every month but you age out once you’re 12. There is also a Club Jr. where you get magazines for little kids. The way a joined it is there is a application paper in every Lego set and I was the first one in my family to join. I joined at the age 8. My brothers are also part of the Lego club. With my brothers we play Lego battles and create objects. The main

thing about Legos is that almost anything is possible. With Legos I build castles, spaceship, people, and cars. I have been playing with Legos since I can remember. My first Lego set wasn’t strictly Lego, it was a variant. I remember it was so complex, me and my brother couldn’t even complete it! We just played with the pieces. After that my aunt gave us a plastic box filled with Legos. I think that is what really got us hooked on Lego because that

Christmas we asked for Legos. That Christmas we got a Lego videogame, Lego Star Wars the Original Trilogy. We

didn’t know how to operate the controller so our dad helped. I remember the first time my mom said that we should get a allowance of $5 a week. I was happy and I always bought Legos with it. For Christmas and my birthdays I would get Legos and with the money I got I would buy more! At first my mom supported this by saying it fed my imagination, but stopped once she started stepping on them. Since I hardly ever go to the store to buy Legos I have to use eBay to buy them. I go through many different stages, sometimes I play medieval and sometimes modern. I prefer medieval. But all in all after my first Lego I never stopped playing with them.

27

Matthew V.

“My Favorite Meal”

My favorite meal is chicken fettuccine alfredo. I always get this at Olive Garden or Carinos (Italian restaurant). The reason I like this meal so much is because of its buttery alfredo sauce and the smell of it rising. I like the chicken (usually grilled) adding texture to the fettuccine. I hardly

ever need a box to take home leftovers. I also enjoy the bread on the side to dip in the alfredo sauce. The only time I have not liked that was when I went to an unfamiliar restaurant and ordered it, but it had too much garlic. The perfect size of the fettuccine makes it easy to eat and the texture

of them makes easy to pick up with a fork. However I also like this with corkscrew noodles. I enjoy finishing my noodles and chicken, and dipping my bread in the leftover sauce. The most flavorful part is when you get it all in one bite.

28

Oluwafemi B.

“My Favorite Meal”

My favorite meal is sushi, and fried chicken. I like sushi because I am from Japan and that was the first fishy thing that I ever ate in my life. Some sushi are smooth and some are super raw.

I also like fried chicken because it crunchy and whenever I eat it. It reminds me of eating bacon.

29

Oluwatoni B.

“Desire”

The place that I want to go to is a beach because I have not been to a beach before. I want to feel the sand the cold water. I want to go to a beach because I want to see people surfing on the wave.

At the beach I what to bring my family and friend to the beach so they could help me

make a lot of sand castles and swim with my friend. I want to stay at the beach for a whole day and roast some marshmallows! I want to do this every summer.

30

Oluwatoni B.

“Desire”

Some countries in the world eat different kind of insects but I have never tried bugs before. So I want to go to each country and see grasshopper, spider, bee, scorpion, wasps, cricket, termites, and other insects to eat. I will eat bugs with tacos because I love tacos and I will put anything in the taco even bugs that are cooked. if I asked my mom if I could go to a country that serves bugs I will go to Africa because my dad was born in Africa and lived there. If I really ate a bug I don’t like because I never tried bug but if I eat bug a lot I may like bugs.

31

Omar S.

“Potential”

My potential is playing soccer

very well. I want to play soccer. When

I was 2 and 3 years old my dad said,

“when you are 4 my team was

Spaceboy. When I played my first

game a lot of teams wanted me on

their team. I said, “I am going to stay

on Spaceboy”. One day my dad said “these team are too

easy for you Omar. You are going to MFC. I said, “ok”.

When I went to MFC my life changed because my number

now is 23. I was going to be a goalie. Now I am a not a

forward, I am a goalie. I on the best team name Dynamom,

and I am not going to another team.

32

Seth V.

“If You Really Knew Me . . .”

If you really knew me, you would know that I like soccer because I play it a lot. I also like the color blue. If you really knew me

you would know I like real Madrid. If you really knew me you would know that I want to go to Portland in the summer. If you really knew me you would know that I am athletic. If you really knew me you would know

that I like FIFA 14.If you really knew me you would know that I know that I know

that I really want to have a lot of candy. If you really knew me you would know that I want to go to Disney World.