Redskins’ Name Bad or Good?

Brook Ward via Compfightby Jeremy

The Washington Redskins should change their name and logo because it’s very offensive to the American Indians. However some people think they should keep their name because they’ve had the name since the beginning of time. Three reasons why the redskins should change their name are people dress inappropriately, they hold weapons, and the mascot looks like a cartoon character.

The first reason is people dress up and wear war paint and hold tomahawks making natives seem violent. It also makes them seem like they are bad people when they’re really not. Natives only use weapons when they’re hunting or stuff like that.

The second reason is it is offensive and racist. It is offensive because not all natives wear headdresses but all fans wear them and when natives wear headdresses they wear them showing honor. When fans wear them they just wear them for fun.

The third reason is the native mascot looks like a cartoon. This is pretty offensive because natives are nothing like a cartoon. The logo has a huge head and the logo in 1951 looks nothing like a Native American. Also, if a native saw the team’s flag with the logo he or she would probably be really offended.

I think the Redskins should change their name because it’s rude to any native American because no one would call a native a redskin right in their face. However some people think they should keep the name because a lot of people just say there’s nothing wrong with the name but I don’t think that’s true because a native shouldn’t ever be called a redskin.

Category: Current Events & News | 2 Comments

February 10

Should Homework be Banned?

Brian Metcalfe via Compfight

By Makani

Did you have a day where you had too much homework, you finished one pile, and you still had more piles left? Well did you know that all that hard work and stress is for nothing! Homework should be banned, kids across the U.S. get too much homework and banning homework is a good idea. Homework is not necessary, because it’s too stressful, not needed, and it takes to long to do.

There’s no need to do the same thing you did in class. It doesn’t help you learn, doing the same thing is not interesting for the student.

Homework is too stressful for the student. It’s not just the student but also the adult! For example, what if your mom planned a really cool place that you want to go to, but you have six more packets, then you get stressed and refused to do it and two more minutes your mom get stressed and she cancels it.

It takes too long to get homework done. It takes so long to finish and you can’t do fun stuff or family time. or maybe you want to go to a friends house but it takes to long and they cancel it. Most people like homework but at least limit the amount you have. Homework should be banned!

Category: Current Events & News | 2 Comments

February 10

School Uniforms Good or Bad?

by Keeley

School uniforms can look super cute!

Do you want to wear uniforms or have you? Do you like uniforms? What is a uniform? An uniform is an outfit worn by people that are members of an organization that all look the same. And I’m sure after you read this you’ll want uniform. Students are focusing more and more on clothes so there should be school uniforms at every school. This is why we should have them one kids won’t get judged for their clothes, two school will be efficient, last they cost less money. So here’s why we should have uniforms.

School uniforms are great because they are stopping kids from judging more and more kids. Kids in school will not be judge for how they look. You can’t say something bad to someone on how their clothes look if there wearing the same dress as you. They will equal to one another by having the clothes, books, and more. They can work out their differences without clothes, doing it a recess and in speech. No one can put you down by saying you’re clothes are ugly and make you feel bad about yourself. No one wants that.

School uniforms make school look more efficient. Schools with uniforms the students and the school will get better grades. If the principal is getting interview the interviewer might look at the school grade and if grades are good, he might say this is a great school to go to. Then more and more student will go to that school. Which then will make the school more and more popular. And then it would be one of the best school to go to and I know that feeling.

School uniforms cost less money. Parents don’t have to spend money on school clothes they can just by the uniform, which might be cheap! Most of the time uniforms are not that much when you by them at school. It helps you if you don’t have that much money. You could save up to go on a trip, or to buy a small house! We all need sometimes to save money.

Some people disagree that uniforms are a bad idea. They think kids should be free to wear their own clothes because it’s an expression of themselves. So now you learned all the advantage uniform have like how uniform, stop kids from judging, make schools look more efficient, and save money I hope you learned somethings about uniforms.

Anthony Catalano via Compfight

Category: Current Events & News | 6 Comments

February 9

Water is Important

Cesar Cabrera via Compfight

by Sarah

There are beginning to be droughts in many different places so we need to do as much as we can to conserve water. Once we don’t have anymore water and when it is gone it isn’t coming back. We cannot survive without water. What would you do if you didn’t have anymore water? We need to save water because it is limited, it is crucial to our survival, and not only people need water but plants and animals do to.

Since water is limited so we need to save as much of it as we can. If you turn off the water while you brush your teeth you can save up to 4 gallons of water. An average bath uses 37.5 gallons of water. An average shower uses 57.4 gallons of water. An average shower head per uses 7 gallons of water per minute. The normal flush uses 5 gallons of water each time.Not only humans need water to survive but plants and animals do too. Trees, grass, flowers, and many more plants need water. So we need to save water.

Water is crucial to our survival. Without fresh water people can die in just a few days. We can only survive for 3 days without water, and drinking water also prevents headaches. Trees, grass, flowers, and many more plants need water. All kinds of animals need water, especially fish, whales, and many more animals need lots and lots of water to stay alive just like we do.

In conclusion we are having droughts in lots and lots of places so therefore we need to do everything that we can to save water. Humans, plants, and animals need a lot of water to stay alive. I think that some people believe that right now it is not that important to save water but I do. People think that it is not important to save water because they feel it is something that the government will take care of, or they think it should not concern them yet.

Category: Community, Current Events & News | 2 Comments

February 4

Drones Safe or Not?

VinceFL via Compfight

by Rami

Here is a drone.

The definition of the word drone is an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate by itself beyond the line of sight. Does that really sound very safe? Drones can be fun but they are also dangerous so we need to control their use. Drones were built for fun not safety! They are dangerous, they can cause dangerous problems, and the government doesn’t have a way to keep track of all the drones.

One reason we should ban drones is that drones are actually very dangerous. If a drone hits you it could send you to the hospital, or even kill you! There have been many drone caused accidents and here are a couple. Once a man was killed in Brooklyn when a drone hit him. another time a toddler was hit with wreckage when a man crashed his drone. Once a drone even crashed on the lawn of the white house.

The next reason that we should ban drones is that drones can cause lots of dangerous problems. If a drone hits a electricity line it could cause blackouts. Some drones also get in a plane’s path and could get hit. This is both a waste of a perfectly good drone and a hazard for the plane and passengers.

The last reason is that the government can’t keep track of who has a drone and who doesn’t. If someone flies their drone over private property their drone could get shot down and the owner could even get sued. An example of this was that once a man shot down a $18,000 drone that was flying over his property with a shotgun.

Even though drones are not very safe they are lots of fun. They can also be useful, police officers can use drones for surveillance or to spy on somebody. And just think about it wouldn’t it be cool to use the camera to fly around and just look. This was what other people thought until drones started causing trouble. As long as people fly drones they will always be a problem.

Category: Current Events & News | 1 Comment

February 4

Redskins No More

by Garret

Bill Dickinson via Compfight

The Washington Redskins should change their name and logo because it is offensive to Native Americans. Hundreds of sports teams have racist team names, so they need to change their name. The mascot does not look like a real Native American. Fans bring weapons called tomahawks to the game,this makes them seem violent Whereas some people think they shouldn’t change because that is their original name.

The first reason why I state teams need to change their names is that many mascots and fans do not dress like real Native Americans. Wearing a headdress is considered an honor among tribes. This makes it offensive to some tribes that dress that way. Fans dress up like a specific tribe suggesting that Native Americans are just one big tribe with the same clothings and customs.

The mascots wear face paint and carry indian weapons called tomahawks. Native Americans point out that this makes them seem violent and bloody. The mascot looks like a cartoon,the 1951 logo looks nothing like a real Native American.

Few people would ever call a Native American a redskin to his or her face because they know it is an offensive word. This makes it racist and offensive. We have already gone over this, why do we have to go over it again. Racism is wrong.

The Redskins should change their name because it is racist and offensive, no one would call someone a redskin to his or her face and the logo looks nothing like a real Native American. Some people think different and don’t agree that the redskins logo is racist and offensive. They think that because that was their logo since they were originated they should not change it. Hundreds of sports teams have racist team names and they need to change it because it is racist and offensive. One of them is the Washington Redskins.

Category: Current Events & News, Sports | 2 Comments

December 11

Kind Coins for Kenya

Did you ever want to help other people weren’t as fortunate as you? Well this is your chance. Now the great kindness challenge has started a fundraiser called Kind Coins for Kenya. Their goal is to collect enough money to build a new school in Kenya, Africa. To find out more watch the video or go to www.TheGreatKindnessChallenge.Org.

In the video it shows a girl named Magi. She lives in a small village in an even smaller home. She lives with two brothers her parents and another girl named Lucy who is an orphan. She wakes up very early to go to school but the school she goes to is small and they don’t have very good materials. Some kids in Kenya even walk for hours just to get to school. Magi and her family are lucky to have food but many people don’t. Even though Magi doesn’t have all the stuff that you probably have and she doesn’t have all the opportunities that you have she is grateful for what she has and she has fun. Magi wants to do well in school so she can be a nurse when she grows up. We should try and give her a chance to do that. She is only one of the many people that could benefit from this program.

It isn’t that hard. I know many people who have lots of loose change. If you thought about it I bet you could think of lots of people too. Whenever your parents go to the store and get extra change all you need to do is tell them about this program and ask for the change. I’ll even bet that some people will even be willing to give you double or even triple that amount if you tell them it will be going to be used to help other people that aren’t as fortunate. This is an easy thing to do and all you need to do is try. So get going and collect some change.

Category: Current Events & News, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 6

Trick or Treat! It’s Halloween

“Halloween Vintage 05“. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

I bet when you start thinking about Halloween you think CANDY or what should I be should I be a superhero. That is all okay but what is really behind that? That is why I am here today and ready to teach you what it is really all about.

First of all Halloween is short for hallows eve so Halloween is a synonym to hallows eve. Anoka Minnesota people were the first people to celebrate Halloween. Around 2,000 years ago the Celtics had new years on November 1. They thought that the day before Halloween (October 31 which is when Halloween always takes place) was a when the living and the dead could meet again. This was also a special holiday to honor saints and all the other people who died that are in their religion. People believed that the dead might cause problems or hurt them. That is when they decided to dress up in ghost costumes and try to scare the dead that they thought would haunt them. They thought that if they thought they were dead they would not harm them. This was all in Europe. Wait how did Halloween get to America then? Halloween got to America because of migrating Europeans. Halloween changed a little. Since pumpkins are common at this time of year they carved them and used them as lanterns which people call jack-o-lanterns. Now children dress up and instead of scaring spirits they go door to door and ask for a yummy treat if they have no treats they might be in for a little trick. Now it is a saying.(trick-or-treat) So now you know what Halloween is really about. Next time in class on a Halloween party or if you are with friends tell them about Halloween. There is a lot of cool facts about Halloween. This is just something to think about when you say, “Trick or Treat”.

Category: Current Events & News, History | 8 Comments

November 19

Harlequin Bugs

Nymph harlequin bug

When we went to Rose Canyon our nice tour guides showed us the Harlequin bug. These bugs are very fascinating and smart at the same time. The Harlequin bug is part of the Pentatomidae species but the scientific name for the Harlequin bug is Mugantia Pentatomidae. They are very annoying around veggies such as radishes ,broccoli , and an oriental flower called the Cleome. The harlequin bug is actually a beetle because every beetle a a line down their back that kinda makes the shape of a triangle. A Harlequin bug’s way of defense is falling down. That way predators won’t get to touch it, grab it ,or eat it. Baby Harlequin bugs can be as small as two centimeters but the biggest Harlequin bug that we saw was about half an inch. Some people in our class went there last year and they saw 2 harlequins bugs mating together to produce offspring. I really saw that the development of the Harlequin bugs have increased with more nymphs and adults since last year. Harlequin bugs are NOT poisoness the are NOT harmful either so if you see one don’t worry. Harlequin bugs are fascinating bugs to learn about and to observe in real life .

Category: Current Events & News, Special Events, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 11

U.S. Government Shuts Down!

Courtesy of SuperBonnie / Reddit

Have you been watching the news for the past few weeks? Well if you have you may of heard of the possibility of the Government ‘’shutting down.’’ Well it happened, and it’s affecting kids too. On October 1st at 12:01 a.m., the government shut down. It’s day twelve of the government shutdown and it looks like it’s still going on. Politicians are fighting over a new government national health plan nicknamed Obama Care. Some politicians think it’s going to cost too much money and the government can’t afford it.

I think this is very idiotic that the government has shut down. When I first heard of the government shut down, I thought it was only important for the parents or grown ups to know about.

The government is closing schools, museums, and the very popular Miramar Air Show (in San Diego, California, USA). Can you believe that! The Miramar Air show is a very popular airshow. About 100,000 to 150,000 people attend the show each year. People from all around the United States come just to see this amazing show. And they are closing it because of the government shutdown.

Well, this shutdown isn’t just affecting parents this is effecting kids too. Day cares such as Head Start which is used by many single moms are closing, preschools, some elementary schools, and some middle schools are closing.

Some people are losing their jobs to take care of their children and others are being fired because they can’t come to work. Food stamps from the government are not coming and children and parents are waiting and getting hungry.

The two parties are still fighting and the shutdown is still going on. How do you think this is going to end? Do you think the government of the United States of America is ever going to turn back on? What do you think is going to happen to America, put your answer in a comment below.

Category: Current Events & News, Edublogs Challenge, Student Posts | 2 Comments

April 19

San Diego Museum of Art

On Thursday, April 11, Mrs. McKelvey’s class went on a field trip to the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa park. We saw a lot of beautiful paintings and sculptures. They inspired us when we made our own art. We got to make our own “rip” art in the museum. We ripped small pieces of paper to make landscape collages.

One of the paintings was called the “Young Shepherdess.”The Young Shepherdess” was the most liked painting by the tour guide and the museum visitors. Another painting was called, “The Hands of Dr. Moore.” The “Hands of Dr. Moore” is a very disturbing picture. Our class did not like it that much.

The museum was very interesting and fun. We saw lots of different paintings, pictures, and sculptures. We hope we will get to go again.

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Category: Current Events & News, Student Posts | 5 Comments

April 16

South bay power plant implosion

Detonators going

By Pierce and Jackson

On February 2nd 2013,we both watched the South Bay Power Plant implosion in person. Pierce said, “Me and my mom woke up at 5am. We got coffee and donuts and went to see the power plant on San Diego Bay in Chula Vista blow up. I was in my pajamas.”

The South Bay Power Plant was built in the late 1950s and first began producing energy in 1960. The plant was blown up because it was old and they wanted to use the space for different stuff. To bring the plant down, they used 200 pounds of detonating charges to set off more than 300 pounds of dynamite. Pierce said, “I could feel the concussion from where we watched the explosion. The air pressed against my body, it felt like I was in a mini hurricane, pushing me around. The explosion was loud to my ears. It was not a pleasant feeling, but seeing it was worth it. It was exciting.”

Check out this video SoBayImplosion (3)

Attribution: Picture and video taken by Monica and Pierce Curry.

Category: Current Events & News, Student Posts | 1 Comment

Bloggin Frogs

Mrs. McKelvey's 3rd Grade