Can YOU Be Persuaded?

Persuasive Writing

As Paige, Maddie, and Anna mature as writers, it's important to give them the opportunity to write using a variety of formats.  Persuasive writing helps the girls formulate specific reasons for their opinions, and provides an opportunity to research facts related to their opinions.  As they develop an understanding of how writing can influence or change another's thoughts or actions, they can begin to understand the persuasive nature of the marketing they are exposed to through television, the Internet, and other media.

Let's see if they have succeeded with their powers of persuasion.

Anna's Commercial

Visit Awana

Madison N. Ball

Pssst!  Hey over here!  Do you want to put some fun right in the middle of your week? Well, I have the perfect idea for taking the boring right out of your Monday through Friday.  It’s called AWANA.  No, it’s not an Indian tribe; it’s a fun and exciting club for kids that meets every Wednesday.  You can meet new friends, learn more about God, and even earn awards doing all of this.

                In Awana it is fun to learn about God every week.  We get to hear exciting Bible stores and even act out plays.  We also learn Bible verses and study God’s Word in a fun way.

                There are a lot of ways to meet new friends.  One way is during game time.  Each clubber joins a team and has fun playing awesome games.  After games we break into small groups with fun leaders and learn Bible verses.

Last, but not least, at Awana we have fun getting awards.  At the beginning of the year each clubber earns a shirt. Then you earn pins and patches for each group of verses, called sections, you learn.  The more verses you learn, the more awards you receive.  Then at the end of the year you get awards like trophies, participation certificates and other awards.

                   Of course you can learn about God in a lot of places.  You can also meet new friends in different places. And other clubs do pass out awards.  But at Awana, you can find all three in one location.  If you have any questions about times or how to get there, visit the website www.awana4you.com. I would love to meet you at Awana on Wednesday night.

Paige's Babysitting Commercial

So . . . were you persuaded?

What's the Point?

Pointillism: Based on the Study of Georges Seurat

       The concept of pointillism is to create solid space by using dots of two or more colors in an area.  The colors mix from a distance, creating a new color.  Landscapes were drawn in pencil first, then filled with the colored dots.

Pontuf by Madison

Blu Ray  by Paige

Ocean Floor by Anna

Shakespeare To Go!

Rosalin, Juliet, Hamlet, Paige,
 Anna & Maddie

      We enjoyed an evening of Shakespeare as we were introduced to three of his comedies:
A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and Taming of the Shrew.  
     A too cool crew of actors showed up to do scenes from Shakespeare.  In between scenes they tried to make sense of it all.

Admirers surround
Auntie Pam/
 Director/Producer

    There was so much     fun and laughter as we  witnessed a troupe of     young actors trying to 
 get their act together. 
   We also met such    characters as Juliet,   
  Hamlet, Cleopatra,     Rosaline,  Witch, Fairy, and Macbeth. Then we came home and enjoyed   Three Little Pigs Shakespeare Style. This too is a much watch!

Enjoying scrumptious treats from the
Renaissance Food Fair

Glory to God!

 Point your kids in the right direction -
 when they are old they won't be lost.
           Proverbs 22:6

Diligence - working hard to accomplish a task.

These three young ladies were indeed diligent this year with hiding God's Word in their hearts. Each walked away from Awana with some pretty outstanding accomplishments!  Paige earned a Timothy Award (completion of four books) and High Achiever Award (incredible feat).  Both Madison and Anna earned an Excellence Award (second book completion).

Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters.

And don't just do the minimum that will get you by.

Do your best.  Work from the heart for your real Master, for God,

confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance.

Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ.

The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.

Colossians 3:23

Mother's Day Posies

Anna's Posie Garden for her mom

Maddie's Posie Garden for Auntie Deb

Paige's Posie Garden for her mommy

Gethsemane Hiakus

Reverent Submission

Jesus prayed to God

Not my will but thine be done

Obeyed His Father

Gethsemane

Went to the garden

Jesus asked them all to pray

Sleep instead of prayer

Betrayed

Jesus was praying

In Gethsemane Garden

He got arrested

Alone
Jesus prayed to God

His friends were sleeping again

Did not pray with him.

He Lives!

One-Point Perspective

Anna

   Perspective is the technique used to represent a three-dimensional world (what we see) on a two-dimensional surface (a piece of paper or canvas) in a way that looks realistic and accurate, as we see it in nature.  Perspective is used to create an illusion of space and depth on a flat surface.

   The rules of perspective applied in Western art as we know them today developed during the Renaissance.  Prior to this, there wasn't an expectation that paintings would be realistic, or naturalistic, representations of life. For instance, the size a picture was painted could indicate their importance relative to the other figures, and individual colors had significance great than their actual hue.

   There are three basic types of perspective:  one-point, two-point, and three-point.  The one/two/three refers to the number of vanishing points used to create the perspective illusion.

Paige

 

   So if you're serious about living

 this new resurrection life with Christ, 

act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 

 Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground,

 absorbed with the things right in front of you. 

 Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ -

 that's where the action is. 

 See things from His perspective.        

  Colossians 3:1-2

Percy Jackson & The Olympian Fourth Novel Summary

                  Percy Jackson is a 14 year old who lives with his mom in New York. On the day of his Freshman Orientation class, he was not super excited to go since he was kicked out of pretty much every school he went to; but as he walked in he found Rachael Dare, a mortal girl who could see through the mist, whom he had met the summer before when she saved his life from a bunch of evil skeleton guys. For clarification, mist is a substance that prevents humans from seeing the monsters. Anyway Rachael and Percy walked into the gym and were listening pretty carefully until Rachael gave Percy the urgent “Come with me” look. So he reluctantly got up and followed her.

Next thing he knew they were hiding behind a GIANT drum set in the music room whispering to each other. Rachael said she saw two cheerleaders turn into Empousae! Percy was suddenly really anxious. Right then the doors burst open. In came the two cheerleaders, Kelli and Tammi. Just as Rachael had predicted, they turned into Empousae. Percy got out his sword, Riptide, which was disguised as a pen; when uncapped, it turned into a sword, and sliced into Tammi, and of course she evaporated. But, sadly, Kelli, just as Percy was about to lunge toward her, used her fire powers and made the school catch on fire. Right away Rachael and Percy escaped from a window, found Annabeth on the street waiting for him, said their goodbyes to Rachael, and went directly to Camp Half Blood. There he met a hellhound named, Mrs. O’Leary. Not knowing of its kindness Percy almost cut it in half, but was stopped by a man named Quintus. He said Mrs. O’Leary was his pet and he also gave Percy a whistle saying if he was ever in trouble to blow it and Mrs. O’ Leary would come to the rescue but to blow it only in an emergency because it would not make a sound a second time.

           Later that night as they were doing an exercise during Quintus’s sword fighting class, Annabeth and Percy fell into a GIANT hole. When everybody found them they all said they had been gone for an hour but they had only been down there for two minutes.

            That night as Percy was sleeping, he had a dream that Luke, an enemy, was planning to use that hole, which he later discovered was the maze of the Labyrinth, as an entrance to Camp Half Blood to destroy it.

            The next morning Percy told Chiron his dream and pretty soon Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson were on a quest to find the creator of the maze, and also to stop Luke and his soldiers from getting into camp. On the way, Grover, (who had dedicated his life to find the god, Pan, god of the forest) thought he heard Pan calling for him. So they split up and kept on going. When Percy and Annabeth were halfway through the maze they thought to themselves that since Rachael Dare could see through the mist she might be able to help them avoid traps and just lead the way. So they went to get her and brought Rachael into the maze. Finally they found Daedalus, creator of the maze. But, just as they walked in, another door opened, and all sorts of evil creatures started attacking. Thankfully Annabeth found three golden wings that Daedalus had invented and flew off with Percy and Rachael. They landed and then walked back into the maze. Percy suddenly felt a strange feeling just down the hall. So he borrowed Annabeth’s invisibility hat and crept toward the feeling. As he walked in he knew why. All sorts of monsters were gathered around a sarcophagus. When the monsters all left to go do something, Percy flung off the cover and found Luke’s body. He had given up his body to re-create a horribly bad guy named, Kronos. The gods had once caught him, chopped him to pieces, and threw him into a pit. The monsters rushed in because they heard the noise and found it opened. All of a sudden Kronos came to life and started fighting Percy. But before Kronos could get to him, Rachael threw a plastic hairbrush from her purse into Kronos’ eye. That gave Percy enough time to catch up with his friends and RUN!!  After a long run, they found Grover and Tyson. Then a few minutes after that Grover actually found Pan. But a very sad thing was Pan was about two thousand years old so as they were talking to him he died (very sad).

              Later all five of them left Rachael in the city and traveled back to Camp Half Blood to fight a war between the campers  and the monsters. During the war, Grover let out a GIANT war cry which scared all the monsters, so they ran back into the Labyrinth.

                    A couple days later Percy went home to his mom and her new boyfriend, Paul Blofis. As all four of them (including Tyson) were eating cake they heard a knock on the door. Percy got up to answer it. As he opened the door Percy saw Poseidon, god of the water, (otherwise known as Percy’s dad) standing there. Percy was sooooo happy and told him everything he did during the quest.

                      As Percy was planting some seeds that night on the fire escape, his friend, Nico, came up the stairs and told Percy he had a plan on how to defeat Kronos.

                        That is how it ended! I am so mad because it was a HUGE cliffhanger!


                                                        P. Elliott Ball

Book Review

The book, Caddie Woodlawn, is a great book.  I am sure you will like it as well. I have written a few of Caddie’s adventures to see if you would like to read this book too.

Caddie swam across the river carrying her cloths above her.  She went to visit her Indian friend, John.  Caddie and her family were the only white people in their area that were friends with the Indians.

 Caddie’s Uncle Edmond came from Boston and gave her a silver dollar.  Caddie didn’t know what to spend it on, but the valentine with lace was very beautiful.  She ended up buying three combs for three poor Indian boys. When Uncle Edmond returned to Boston he took Narrow, Caddie’s dog, to Boston with him so he could train Narrow to be a better dog. Later Caddie got a letter saying that Narrow had run away and could not be found. She was heartbroken.

There was a rumor that Indians wanted to have war with the white people. Caddie overheard the soldiers saying that they were going to kill the Indians first. Caddie’s father was away so Caddie ran out to the forest to warn the Indians.  Caddie was brought home by John, the Indian Chief. John gave Caddie his dog and his scalp belt to keep safe while he went away until the leaves turned orange.

In the fall Caddie was playing in the front yard and John came to take his dog back.  Later Caddie saw a dog walking slowly towards her. It was her dog, Narrow.  He was weak so he was feed and played with and then  he was as good as new.

My favorite character is Caddie of course, because she is adventurous just like me.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes drama and adventure.  I wouldn’t change this story at all.  My favorite part of the story was when Narrow came back. 

Well, if you read this book, I hope you enjoy it.

                   `Anna Gonzales

Point of View

Can you match the shoe with its story?

Splash!

Madison Ball

Splash! Right in the muddiest, most gooey puddle that I’ve ever stepped in!  Eeeewwwwww!

            Human up there, are you serious?  Come on. Now I’m covered in mud!  I look sooo pretty in brown.  NOT!  I’m in the middle of the swampiest place in the entire woods.  I can’t believe she wore me on this little adventure of hers.  She is so washing me at home.  This better not happen again.

 Splash!  Grrrrrr!  As the human stomps to get to their special place in the woods I step in some strange mud, some very strange mud.  It feels like it is sucking me into the ground.

            Wait, it is sucking me into the ground.  Oh no!  Get me out of this!  Oh no, I can’t see anything.  How am I going to get out of this?  Think, think, think.  It smells so gross down here.  Hold on.  Is that what I think it is?  Someone is grabbing me by the tabs.  A big yank and I am out!  Wow, that was close.

            Finally, we are going home.  Oh, I can’t wait to get cleaned up, lie around, and dream of rainy days, jumping from one puddle to another.

Spurs and White stitching

P. Elliott Ball

I am going to tell you about my most humiliating day that transformed into the most exciting day of my life. 

        Well, one summer afternoon my master and I were going to the rodeo, in fact we were going to be in it!  And we were going there to win!  I was so very excited I almost kicked me heels! 

        Every day my master, Fred, wore his boots to show to his third grade class.  They were proud of him for trying and I was too!  Both of us were excited to the point of jumping up and down.  Pretty soon after that we were all situated in the car and ready to go.  After a five minute traffic delay and many honking of the horns, we finally got there.

        Just as we got out of the car, Fred saw his best friend, Lilli, and went running to see her. But on the way SQUISH!  Fred made me step into a nasty pile of grossness.  I had no idea what it was, but it smelled ten times worse than Fred’s stinky feet.  As Fred walked over to Lilli, I do not know how, but I did not faint or suffocate. Anyway, Lilli and Fred talked till it was time to get on the bulls and pretty soon I aired out. 

Lilli, went first and did really well, for a girl.  Then a little while after that it was our turn.  WE did amazing never fell off once!  WE also got off perfectly until I accidently squeezed the bull’s ribs too hard and it jumped which sent Fred flying through the air, but he actually landed on his feet! He was so happy!  Fred bowed and bowed like he actually mean to do it.  Well, as he walked up to Lilli I saw she was wearing the cutest pink and purple boots with white stitching I have ever seen in my whole life.  Talk about Hot Momma! I was still covered with the gooey substance from earlier that afternoon.  She smiled her little white fancy stitched smile.  And of course, I smiled back feeling my piping turn a bright shade of red; you can’t be rude to a lady, especially as adorable as this!

        I knew I was just going to have to pull myself up by my boot straps, bet past my embarrassing situation, and introduce myself, dirt and all to this vision of pink loveliness.  I managed to sputter out, “Hello, my name is Steve.”  She smiled again and said her name was Lillian, after her mistress.  We talked for a while about our dreams and funny stories about our masters.  WE had talked for a long time and finally it was time to go.  Lillian and I exchanged our goobyes wondering when we would see each other again.  Then probably the best thing happened to us.  Fred’s mom offered to take Lilli over to our house for dinner and play date with Fred. Somehow it all worked out, but the best thing was Lilli was moving across the street from us!  I am going to have a great summer!  Oh, the rodeo folks called Fred and said we won the contest!

Yeeeeeeeehaw!

Sole Mates

Anna Gonzales

Hi!  I am one of a pair of glass slippers.  I will tell you the worst thing that has happened to me.  One night my owner was plopping down the stairs.  I noticed that my owner’s underwear had holes in them.  It was not pretty.  A man was calling my owner say, “Come back.  What is your name?”  Suddenly I was left on a step!  Can you believe that? Plus my other half was gone!

            The man picked me up.  I thought he was going to try me on. He took me to another man that seemed to be his father.  The man asked, “What are you going to do with this shoe?”  The other man said, “I will marry whoever fits and owns this shoe.  He rushed me up the stairs and set me on a pillow. 

            The next morning the man took me outside.  I arrived at someone’s house.  The lady who lived in the house tried me on.  When she tried me on I wiggled, sloshed, and her toes barely came to my opening.  I fell and almost shattered. I think her foot was too small. I had no idea what time it was because I had nowhere to put a watch.  I needed to know what time it was because the fairy god mother said, “If one shoe is separated from the other shoe for longer than a day, they will both disappear.” That is why I needed to know the time because we had been separated for almost twenty-three hours.

            A few minutes later I arrived at a huge house and two of the women there tried me on.  I was stretched and pulled.  When the man holding me began to walk away I heard a familiar voice saying, “Wait! Let me try it on,” as a girl came into the room carrying my twin.  She tried me on and what do you know, it fit.  We were so happy when we were joined together as sole mates.

Sole Mates

Splash!

Spurs and White stitching

Anna's February Short Story

Keep in Contact

Anna Gonzales

“Oh! Your mom is here,” Miss Robin said in a dull way.  As I rushed down the stars my mom honked the horn in her car.  I ran as fast as I could.  Finally I was buckled up in the car and ready to go. As Tyler was drooling all over his shirt, while he was sleeping, Mom whispered to me, “Look, I got my new contacts.”  When we got to Kiln Creek Elementary School, Tyler woke up and Mom had to carry him.

            When we got inside Jonathan was already waiting for us.  As we were walking out of the school, Mom said, “Oops, I think I left the car door unlocked!”  When I got to the car the door was wide open!  I told Jonathan to run and tell my mom her contacts where gone.  Tyler thought they got up and walked away.  Jonathan started to throw as huge hissy fit because we had plans to go to the playground at Burger King, but instead we had to ask the principal if he would make an announcement asking if anyone had seen a box of contacts.  Suddenly, we bumped into Jonathan’s friend, Gavin, who was with his mom,Kasey.  We asked them about the contacts and Kasey said, “Tell me about your new contacts.”  So my mom did, but  mom didn’t tell her the name of the company.  Then Kasey said, “Do you mind taking Gavin because I am going to go get contacts somewhere else?”

            Later, as Gavin opened his backpack I saw a box inside that had the letter “C” on it.  I didn’t think it was the box of contacts because the entire second grade was sent home with a “C” box because they had to put something inside the box that started with C for show and tell at the end of that week.  After they were done with their homework, Kasey knocked on the front door.  When I saw her she had no glasses on like she normally did.  She seemed nervous.

 As my mom and Kasey were talking and Gavin, Tyler, and Jonathan where playing, I thought to myself, “Maybe the box of contacts is in Gavin’s book bag.”  So my plan was to switch the book bags because Gavin and Jonathan have the same backpack.  Then I will ask Jonathan what his “C” box looked like.  That is how I will figure out if he had the box of contacts without digging in Gavin’s book bag.

            When Kasey and Gavin left, I asked Jonathan, “Would you show me what your “C” box looks like?”  He pulled out the “C” box and there were no contacts. 

The next day I finally got the nerve to ask Kasey if she took the contacts.  When I saw her I asked her, “Did you steel any contacts?”  She said, “No, I just borrowed them because I was trying to figure out the name of the contacts' company. I was hoping your mom would tell me the name of the contacts' company and where it was located so I could put the contact box back in your car. The contact box didn’t have the location on it so I borrowed the contacts and found the name of the company online.  Here is your box of contacts."
 I then gave the box of contacts back to my mom. Finally, we got Jonathan and Gavin’s book bags switched back.  I realized I could have asked Kasey in the beginning.  I learned my lesson, I should never be afraid to ask about something.  I am sure Kasey learned her lesson too, that she should not be afraid to ask questions.

Paige's February Short Story

Case #14

for PAM Detective Agency

P. Elliott Ball

    “There! All finished!” said ten year old Abby. It was the day before her school’s Valentine’s Day party. She had just finished making the valentines for her fourth grade class and placed them on the dining room table. Abby just knew everyone was going to LOVE them!

     Before school the very next morning as Abby was getting ready for her school party, she couldn’t find her valentines anywhere. Suddenly she remembered she accidently forgot to pick them up last night. She went downstairs to look for them but still couldn’t find them. So she called her BFF’s, Paige, Anna, and Madison, which were part of the PAM detective Agency, and told them what happened. The girls all hastily agreed they would be right over.

              When the girls got to Abby’s, Madison asked for the whole story. Abby spilled out the long but confusing tale. After hearing the whole story the girls decided to look around Abby’s house for clues. But, they all came out disappointed. Suddenly, late as usual, Abby’s mom came rushing out of the house. “Love you sweetie! I’ll see you when I get home!” she shouted over her shoulder as she jumped into her car and zoomed down the road to work.

 Rather discouraged, Anna sighed, “I don’t think we’re ever going to solve            this mystery.”

 “We WILL find the valentines for you, Abby!” Madison encouraged enthusiastically.

            About thirty minutes later, the girls who had probably looked in every thinkable spot, heard Abby’s cell phone ringing. Abby picked up her pink, sparkly phone and answered, “Hello?”  Then the person on the other end spoke in a rushed tone and said, “Hi Sweetie! This is mom. I have some bad news for you. I have your valentines. This morning when I was rushing out of the door to go to work, I slipped my Kindle off the dining Room table and stuffed it in my purse. I must have grabbed your valentines at the same time.”  “Wow, Mom! You are a great detective!” exclaimed Abby. “Thank you!”

 All three girls piled on Paige’s motor scooter and traveled to Abby’s mom’s work. Later when they had the valentines, Abby happily passed them around to her classmates. Paige laughed, “So, I guess we DID solve the mystery of the missing valentines!” 

Op-HeART

   

Within Our Grasp

     The heart in this piece of art depicts God's love.  The hand represents us reaching for His love.  No matter what happens to us, good or bad, we should always reach to Him.  He is ALWAYS available and within our grasp.    * Paige *

Red Glow

     I call this piece the "Red Glow" because the heart glows.  I just love bright colors that glow like that.  Neon colors glow.  Neon colors move me and inspire me, just like God does.  God inspired me to be an artist.  *Anna*

Amazing Grace

     In this piece the hand represents my sin; the heart represents Jesus' blood. This shows me lifting my hand out of the sin all around me and reaching to Jesus.     *Madison*

Maddie's February Short Story

Please Pass the Mustard

By  Madison N. Ball

Steam flew out as Carlos got a hot dog from the steamer to put on a bun.  The customer was waiting for the mouthwatering treat.  Carlos asked the customer what he wanted on his hot dog and the little boy answered, “Please pass the mustard.”  This scene was repeated everyday on Tommy’s way home from school. Today, however, would be the last time Carlos and Tommy would be meeting like this; it was the last day of school before summer vacation. Tommy and Carlos had become good friends over their chats at the hot dog stand each day.  In fact, most of the folks in the town were friends with Carlos too.  Everybody loved his hot dogs and friendly greetings.  As Tommy walked away, he hugged Carlos and said, “See you in the fall!”

            The night before the first day of school, Tommy wasn’t sure if he was more excited to see his new class or have a hot dog with Carlos.  When school finally ended Tommy ran to see Carlos, but was alarmed when he arrived at the familiar spot and Carlos was not there.  In the spot where Carolos’s hot dog stand usually sat was a new fancy restaurant. Tommy looked up and down the street for Carolos, but he was nowhere to be found. He felt terrified that he may never see Carolos again or eat his mouthwatering hot again. Day after day he went looking for his friend after school, but never found him. 

            When Tommy talked with his dad, he told Tommy that the new restaurant had probably put Carolos out of business.  This made Tommy so sad.  He knew Carlos needed this job to provide for his family.  Something had to be done to help Carlos!

            The next day, for his mother’s birthday, Tommy’s family went to the new fancy restaurant for dinner.  This was not a happy meal for Tommy, all he could think about was Carlos and how this restaurant had made him loose his job.

            Suddenly, the lights went off.  The entire restaurant had lost its power.  After a while people started getting hungry, and hungry people get frustrated; they wanted to eat. Tommy looked out the window and to his surprise saw Carlos walking by with his hot dog stand. He jumped up and ran out the door after Carlos.  The two friends hugged and enjoyed a hot dog together.  The people inside the fancy restaurant saw Tommy eating and they joined him at the hot dog stand. You could hear people saying things like, “This is the best hot dog I’ve ever had, “,“I have missed this place!” and “Hey, why don’t you open up your stand again?”  It was decided right then and there that Carlos would open his hot dog stand again.

            The following Monday, after school, Tommy ran to the hot dog stand and shouted, “Hey Carlos, please pass the mustard!”

"Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible." Paul Klee

Paige Elliott

Madison Nicole

Anna Grace