I chose this movie because I think the idea of the claw is really awesome, and when I saw the movie and the parts it used to make the claw I think that we have the materials to make it in our kits. The one that Mrs. Erickson showed us in class I think needed a different kit but this one I think we can make with our kits. The claw concept is to pick up things and move them. I think that is really cool because it’s like the robot has hands that it can use, and to me if the robot has a claw then it is more human-like (if that makes any sense). Anyways, I just really think the claw is cool and I like that it uses three motors. One thing I am wondering is how you would program a claw like that to move and open and close. I really hope there is a YouTube on how to do that. I can’t wait to build a claw and see what it can do!
The reason I wasn’t at school on Friday is because I went to my cousin’s bat mitzvah. A bat mitzvah is something that Jews do when they’re thirteen years old (boys have it too, only for them it’s a bar mitzvah). You speak in Hebrew and read from the Torah (the Jewish version of the Bible with a lot of the same stories but a little different because they’re Jewish-ified) and then after the long and boring part people usually have a reception, which is all fun and good food and cake and dancing and all that good stuff. Oh, yeah, and you do the Hora there, too. So anyways, two years ago my other cousin (this cousin’s sister) had her bat mitzvah (that’s where I got my Bat Mitzvah Sweatshirt that everyone always compliments me on) and now this cousin is having her bat mitzvah and two years from now I’ll have my bat mitzvah. I get my date for my bat mitzvah this spring and I also find out what part of the Torah I am reading.
The temple reads a part of the Torah each week, and so by the time September comes around (the Jewish new year) they’ll have finished the Torah. Then they start from the beginning, and year after year after year they keep reading the Torah every weekend. So I will also find out what Torah portion (what part of the Torah) I will be reading. It’s very exciting but also a little annoying because of the amount of time you have to devote to Hebrew.
Right now I go to Hebrew School once a week and from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Next week is actually the last week (yay!!! ;) ). Next year (6th grade) I will also go to Hebrew School once a week and from 4 to 6 p.m. In 7th grade (my dad would be freaking out by now because he hates when I talk about me being older and growing up and blah blah blah blah) then I go to Hebrew School once a week and from 6 to 8 p.m. I also probably have a lot of practices with a tutor so that I know my Torah portion. I am going to admit right now that I don’t really practice Hebrew. Maybe sometimes, but not usually. In 7th grade I am going to have to practice and I am going to practice because it is extra important that I know those Hebrew words because the Hebrew in the Torah does not have vowels.
Unlike English, where the vowels are “a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y,” Hebrew vowels are under the words. Below I have a picture (not the greatest quality, I know) of the word Shabbat. Shabbat is the holiday that Jews celebrate every Friday and we have challah (you can start drooling now) and light candles and say prayers. It is to celebrate the end of the week, when God said that he would rest on the 7th day of his creating the world. I’m not sure if I believe that story (or any of the other stories in the Torah) but to be a Jew you don’t have to believe those stories. You can believe that God made the world or something else happened that made the world. I think that those stories are just that, stories. They were made to explain how something happened. That’s just what I think, though.
Shabbat with vowels. Source: Google Images + me.
Anyways, to get back to the word “Shabbat.” Hebrew vowels are pointed to in red. Hebrew letters are pointed to in blue. You read from right to left, unlike English, which is left to right. So the first letter (all the way to the right) is “shin,” which makes a “shh” sound. The next letter (the middle one) is “bet” which makes the same sound as the English letter “b.” The last letter (all the way to the left) is “tet,” which makes the same sound as the English letter “t.” You might notice that those sounds are all (what Americans would call) consonants, but that’s where vowels come in. Hebrew vowels work the same way as English vowels do. Vowels go under the letters. The first vowel (once again all the way to the right) makes the sound “ahh.” Vowels don’t really have names, just sounds. Since the “ahh” vowel is under the “shin,” (which makes the “shh” sound) the letter sound + the vowel sound = shah. Sorry if I’m confusing you, but that’s normal. If you’re totally confused you could comment your question. Anyways, on to the next pair. That vowel also makes the sound “ahh.” Don’t ask me why there are two (actually three) “ahh” vowels. So, “bet” (which makes the same sound “B” does) + “ahh” = baa, like a sheep. The last letter does not have a vowel. That is okay. You just use the letter sound (same as “T”). So, reading right to left, that word is shah + baa + tuh. Shabbat. Wow, that took a lot of typing and a lot of trying to make things simple, but I think I did it!
So I just did all that to explain how you read words with vowels.
Shabbat without vowels. Source: Google Images.
I have another picture of the word Shabbat without vowels (Mrs. Erickson, you can take the picture off if it takes too much space). Since I have been reading hebrew for about three years I can usually read most words without vowels. Small words. Search on Google Images “Shabbat Shalom.” Somewhere on that page should be green hebrew letters with pink and red flowers on top and below the hebrew letters. I can tell that says Shabbat Shalom. In the Torah, there will be a ton of other words that are much bigger. That’s why I will practice and look over my Torah portion. They give it to you first with vowels, then when you memorize it you do it without vowels. That’s how you do it in the Torah.
This has been really extremely long but I think I said everyting I wanted to. Hope you learned a lot!
(The total word count for this was 1,036 words. Wow.)
(And for anyone who wants to know, my mom is making pancakes with eggs in them for Amanda literally right now.)
(Now the total word count is 1,075 words and this is almost 2 pages in a Pages document.)
Flowers from My Tree. Source: Me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-L6DO-G51Y&list=UU5kxlJFw7ub-QhyN3t6NnSg&index=21&feature=plcp
Dear Kame and Kachua,
I think it is about that time of year. The time of year when the class will start preparing you for real, live food. At first, the one-of-a-kind-best-ever class fed me and Lynn-D worms. They were very scary. They were creepy-crawly really disgusting little THINGS. I mean, how else do you describe them? Slimy, slippery, hard to eat (not that I wanted to, they were so scary, but Lynn-D loved them) and just extremely gross in general. My second encounter with live food was CRAYFISH. Now this was good. A worthy opponent for King Yertle. Lynn-D and I were placed in a feeding tank with two crayfish (I think) and I got ready for a fight. Lynn-D was stuck in the corner, scared.
“Don’t worry, Lynn-D!” I called. “It’s not really scary!”
Naturally she didn’t believe me. I liked them. I won’t get into the details, but they were very yummy and hard to catch – which is why you try, because if you DO catch them, they’re delish. It was very good that I ate the crayfish then, because it is good practice for now, in the wild. Lynn-D has tons of food, of course, as the Queen of the Swamp. Have I mentioned that before? Yes, we rule the swamp together, King Yertle and Queen Lynn-D. We feast every day, and we are very kind and fair when we judge (Lynn-D is saying to me as I write this, “Um… Yertle? When have we ever judged something? I don’t think people would trust you to judge. OW!”) That last bit was me stepping on her. Right now, I am sitting on her and writing this. It’s actually really comfy, but she’s getting annoyed with me, so now I’m off.
Okay, bye now, and good luck with yummy live food (minus the worms). Have fun eating!
Love,
King Yertle and Queen Lynn-D
Dear Friend,
You asked me in your last letter whether I thought the war could be stopped after what happened on April 19th. Maybe, if England stops taxing us, or at least gives us a place in Parliament. But I don’t think that will happen, and I do not think the Redcoats will stop the war right now. I’m not so sure us colonists will stop the war now, either. There has been too many deaths, too many houses on fire, and too many of us being cruel to each other to stop now. I wish it would stop, though. My Brother died today. It is very sad. I cannot bear to think that Father might die. We’re all so scared. I really wish the war might stop, but I do not think it will happen, as much as I hope it will.
From,
Alice Abbott