What’s left?

March/April 2011

Walk to Defeat ALSBrennan Hall students interview volunteer

Summer program sign-ups underway

Sign-ups for our summer program have begun. Program includes: Montessori classes, mu-sic, Spanish, water day, ice cream day, field trips, on-site visitors, science, and so much more. We offer summer programs for infant/toddler, primary (ages 3-6), and After-School Kids (ages 6 and up). Contact the office at 288-8613 for more information.

Annual art show planned for May 1

Our annual Art Show will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 1, in Bren-nan Hall. Come on out and view the work of your little artist!

Last day of school will be May 31

So what was the ef-fect of the crazy winter weather on our school calendar?

School will be out for Memorial Day (Monday, May 30) as planned. School will be in session for a full day on Tuesday, May 31. This will be the last day of the 2010-2011 school year!

As part of their work for the ALS Association, four Brennan Hall students interviewed Montessori parent Susan Ward about why she raises money for the ALS Association. The interview was conducted by Ashlyn, Emma, Kevan, and Sarah. Why do you support the ALS Association? How long have you been involved?

SW: I support the ALS Association because I have two friends whose husbands had ALS, and each fam-ily has two kids, and it reminds me of my own family. My family and I have participated in the ALS Walk each year since 2008. What got you interested in this supporting this cause?

SW: Several years ago, before I met Jameela (Nikolich), my friend Sharyn’s husband was diag-nosed with ALS. I had known her since before my daughter was born, 12 years ago. She has a daughter whose birthday is really close, so we had our kids at the same time, and we’ve been friends ever since then. That’s how I knew what ALS was when I met Jameela and Brian. What is your personal connection with ALS?

SW: Knowing these two friends of mine who have lost their husbands, they’re about the same age as I

am and they have other things in common with me. That’s what makes it seem personal to me, because I know what it’s like to be a mom and have kids and be married. But I don’t really know what it’s like to have someone in the family who is that sick. How do you help this organization?

SW: I raise money for the ALS Walk every year; I send out emails to my friends and family and ask for donations, and also I get donations from some of the places that I go like my dentist and my hairdresser. People that I know in the community, I ask them for donations for the ALS Association. What can we do to help?

SW: I think from what Ms. Leslie has told me, the ideas that you all came up with, the penny drive and the bake sale and the other things, I think those are great ways for you to help. I don’t have any new ideas for you. I really have gotten most of my donations from people that I know. I think that’s the best thing you can do: with people that you’re close to, just tell them why you support the ALS Association—your grandparents and cousins and babysitters and whom-ever, people that you know, if you tell them why it means something to you, that makes them more will-ing to give to you.

Upstate Walk to Defeat ALSSaturday, April 16, 2011

Check-in: 9 a.m.; Walk begins: 10 a.m.Furman University

The Montessori Running Club is walking in this event in memory of Brian Nikolich, the father of two students, Kevan (9), and Kath-

erine (7). Brian fought ALS for two years and died on June 19, 2009.

Our team name is Montessori Marches Out ALS. The team’s fundraising efforts included a bake sale and penny drive, collecting well over $600.

Please come out for day of family fun. Help to raise much-needed donations for the ALS Associa-tion chapter here in S.C., help spread much-needed awareness for ALS, and get some exercise as we walk a 5k/3m loop around Furman. For more information, contact Jameela Nikolich at 234-5613.

2—Mauldin Montessori NewsletterInfant room with Ms. Anne and Ms. Carmen

Spring is on its way. We are so glad. Our small ones are growing each day. Jacob and Campbell are starting to enjoy being up more swinging and watching Wes and Thomas play-ing on the floor. Sophia and Thomas are starting to sit up more on their own, and Thomas is trying to crawl (moving backwards mostly) and enjoys being on the floor. Wes will be having a birthday this month and will be moving up to Toddler I. We will miss him a lot. We hope that everyone has a great spring.

Sailboat, mixed media: crayon background, paper cut-out sails with empha-sis on tones and shades. By Kathryn (Ms. Mary)

Toddler IWow … spring is here and our toddlers are very excited and ready to get outside as

much as possible. We have some new toys that we will be working with to help develop skills such as stacking and hand gripping. We have also been working on ‘big and small,’ and will be learning about ‘heavy and light’ as well as ‘wet and dry’ later in the month. It was a lot of fun making and learning about kites, and thanks to our own Ms. Sarah in the office we are enjoying our new toddler music! Our toddlers are doing great, Abhinav is playing with his new friends, while Lea and Chloe are starting to walk everywhere. Thank you parents, for your support and encouragement and have a great spring!

Toddler II, Ms. Carmen, Ms. Luz, Ms. Candice, Ms. Julie, Ms. DeborahWe are finally seeing signs of spring. In the classroom, we are working on the letters U,

V, and W. We are also enjoying learning new songs and getting some outside play time. We welcome our new friends, Riley and Lincoln from Toddler I, as well as Sahith. Our friends Lucas and Clark have moved up to the primary classroom and we miss seeing their smil-ing faces everyday. We also had to say goodbye to Miss Cheryl. We wish her and her family best of luck as they start a new life in Virginia. We also welcome back Ms. Luz from her month-long trip to Colombia, South America, and we are excited to add Ms. Julie and Ms. Candice to our classroom. Be on the lookout for lots of spring artwork by the kids. We had fun painting tulips and we are working on learning our colors. Potty training is going great! Parents, thanks for all of your help at home. The Toddler II kids are growing every day.

Ms. Mary’s newsletter for MarchThe month of February ended so quickly! Our Valentine’s Day party and card exchange

was a huge success. We appreciate your support, moms and dads. We always enjoy our storytime with Ms. Ramsey from the Greenville County Library. She brings wonderful story books, creative movement, games, and dances for our class. If you look around the school, you can tell spring is here with all of her flowers blooming and birdsong. We’d like to thank Ms. Leslie’s class for visiting our class and celebrating the Chinese New Year, by playing music and dressing in their costumes, including the Chinese dragon. The class enjoyed this so much that Gage wanted to get up and dance with them. The elementary science fair was

a big success, the children enjoyed learning about science from the big kids. The Running Club has resumed, so please stop by the office to sign up. Our show-and-tell program is doing well. The children look forward to standing up in front of their classmates and sharing the item that they’ve brought. You should hear the wonderful stories that they tell. We are getting ready for Easter so check your folders daily for all of the school activities and events for the month of April. Thank you.

March/April 2011—3Gym activity class, Ms. Beth and Ms. Kathy

There has been lots of excitement in the a.m. gym class. Our lessons and activities par-allel those in the Montessori environments, so we’re busy with art projects including cloud sponge prints and flower collages. We were lucky to have welcomed the mayor of Mauldin, Mr. Don Godbey, recently. He told us all the responsibilities of his job, gave us lots of useful information about the services the city provides, and answered our questions. Mr. Godbey is a true friend of the Montessori School of Mauldin. Both his children, Christopher and Amy, attended school here (long, long ago). Another welcome visitor to the gym was Mary Kath-erine’s mom, Rebecca, who came to tell us about her job. She works at Hubbell Lighting and brought us lots of information about how lights are designed and manufactured. She showed us a neat science experiment using static electricity to illuminate a light bulb. She also had a beautiful craft for the class to do. Each child got to choose and color his or her own sun-catcher. She really “lit” us up! Any other parents who might be interested in telling us about your jobs? If so, please see me. Our class also visited the local Mauldin Sports Center to learn about the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle. We toured the facility, saw the workout equip-ment, weights, yoga class, walking track, and basketball courts. The highlight of our visit was learning about the rock-climbing wall ... it’s 35 feet tall! Happy spring!

Red Admiral primary class, Ms. FariaIt’s hard to believe that it is already April. February was very busy with our Valentine’s

Day celebrations. The children really put in a lot of time, love and effort in making the Val-entine’s cards. I’m sure you all enjoyed it as much as Ms. Wynetta and I did. I must say, the card exchange went very smoothly. I would like to thank Ana’s mom for helping us out with the exchange. We would also like to thank Publix for donating the brown paper bags for our cards. The children took a lot of pride in personalizing the bags. Children have been very busy practicing lessons and have their eyes set on the next “big” lesson. It is very rewarding to see the confidence and the burst of energy that the children are bringing into our environ-ment. We have been busy studying about frogs, birds, pyramids, and have also talked about the Great Wall of China. We are now getting ready to talk about clouds in detail. The chil-dren have been doing great with our “seasons” song. They got a good glimpse of Beethoven’s life and his work and are now moving on to Mozart. It’s great to have Ms. Michelle back. She has been recovering from her leg injury. As always we really enjoy Spanish and art. Our deepest condolences to Ms. Linda and her family (her mom passed away a few weeks ago). We are very excited to welcome Lucas and Clark in our classroom. With spring here at last, we are excited about warmer weather which translates into playground time. I just love to watch them run and scream and laugh.

Western Swallowtail afternoon Montessori class, Ms. Beth and Ms. Lydia What a wonderful sight ... to look at the calendar and see that spring is (as our friends

Frog and Toad said) “just around the corner.” The change of season brings new lessons for the class ... weather observations, climate study, temperature measurements, etc. We are ob-serving our feathered friends, birds, as well. One of our favorite activities is locating the con-tinent of origin for different varities of birds. Can you figure out the homes for the snowy owl, the gyrfalcon, the macaw, the emu? (Answers below) We’re also memorizing poetry, including “clouds” by Christina Rossetti. Our cultural studies include the continent of Asia with its varied geographics, people, and culture that is so different from ours in the USA. We are trying our hand at origami as well. Answer key: North America, Asia, South America, Australia

Sailboats, mixed media: crayon background and cut-paper for the subject. Above, by Aravind; below, by Arya (gym activity class)

Butterfly, mixed media: paper cut-outs, crayon, and string. Above, by Oliver (Ms. Faria); below, by Aurora (Ms. Jamie)

4—Mauldin Montessori NewsletterMonarch Class, Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Sadia

As we begin the new spring season our class is sad to see Ms. Samantha go, but we are happy to welcome Ms. Sadia to the Monarch room. We have lots of fun activities planned for the last two months of school and are looking forward to the yearly strawberry patch field trip and Easter egg hunt. Please let either Ms. Jennifer or Ms. Sadia know if you are interested in volunteering with crafts for the field trip or setting up for the Easter egg hunt. Mother’s Day is also just around the corner, so be sure to sign up for a Mother’s Day cake for the kids to decorate. The children will be learning many interesting things about spring over the coming weeks. So far they have loved dissecting flowers and learning the names of each part. We will soon be learning the parts of trees and the life cycle of butterflies as well. The children have also enjoyed some new practical life exercises including hand washing and dishwashing, and they are looking forward to grating soap and making bubbles very soon. Even though we have a short time left before summer, we will be sure to enjoy every minute.

The Tree Who Never Wanted To Be Cut Downby Graham(Ms. Maryann)Once there was a tree who never wanted to be cut down but he knew he would fall one day. He tried his hardest to stay up. One day some people needed a house, so they went to the forest and found the tree they were looking for. It was the tree who never wanted to be cut down. He said in his mind that he would fall asleep and try to feel no pain. So he fell asleep and the people got the axe out and swung. The partner said, ”Stop! I see a better tree. We could cut it down.” So they did cut it down. The tree who never wanted to be cut down took a big breath and said, “I feel sorry for that other tree.”

ASKWe are so grateful for the spring weather! During spring break, we had a field trip every

day and got to soak up plenty of sun as well as enjoy the outdoors. We explored a new park, took a tour of the Children’s Museum and even had our picture taken by one of the board members during our picnic lunch. We have also been improving our bowling game, have all become experts in sock hockey and are learning good sportsmanship in Knock-Out. Be sure to sign your child up for our fabulous ASK summer program. For more information, contact the office.

Report from Maryann’s, Ceomi’s, and Lori’s (and now Samantha’s) classroomThe students enjoyed their days off from the spring break. They were ready to get back

to work. But before we went on a break, everyone was busy working on their science fair projects. First each child presented their project to the class and then on March 10, the stu-dents did an awesome presentation to parents. The third-years had a visitor from TreesGreen-ville, Ms. Mary Lou. She talked to the third year students about Arbor Day and planted an autumn blaze maple tree at the school. The third-year students also participated in the Arbor Day contest. Each student had to write either a story, a poem, or a song. The whole class is also getting their rough drafts for the year-end project. Each child has chosen essay writing, original poem, or letter writing. This year we are trying to make a yearbook, and each child’s write-up will be in the book along with their picture. Everyone will get a copy of the book by the end of the school year.The third-year students are practicing for testing which will be in the month of May. Elementary students will gradually start practicing for the year-end play along with Ms. Michelle’s music. Besides all the activities, students are busy getting new lessons and practicing old ones. First-year students are working on long division, adjectives, prefixes, finding the missing number, Roman numerals, and president research. The second-year students are working on pronouns, personal pronouns, present tense, fractions, finding the perimeter of polygons, rounding numbers, and heart functions. Third-year students are working on multiples, factors, five kingdoms of life, decimal fractions, past tense, sentence analysis, and novel reading: “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” One of our parents, Jameela Nikolich, came to talk to our class about ALS and how the upcoming fundraiser will help. Our class worked with the Brennan Hall students to do another bake sale to raise money for ALS research. We wish everyone happy Easter!!!!

Valentine in the abstract expressionist style, by Natálea (Monarch class)

Who Planted the Special Tree?by Alex(Ms. Maryann)One day there was one little boy who planted a tree. Nobody knows who planted it. But they watered it every day. It kept on growing. And they thought the legend did it.

March/April 2011—5Happy spring! Ms. Susan

What a wonderful time of year! Everything is coming out of a long winter rest—blossoms and new growth are everywhere! It is the same in our classroom—new lessons and an awakening to new work and interests for the children. During March our main focus was on science: class experiments, individual projects, and our annual science fair. If you did not attend, you missed a great learning experience. The displays were terrific and the knowledge the children were able to convey about their experiments was amazing! As we returned from spring break we turned our cultural focus to musical composers. The children will study their lives and music, as well as comparing them to each other and integrating their research with our time-line work. We are also continuing to collect sample toiletries and make-up bags for a Mother’s Day project to give to the women’s shelter. You may leave donations in the Bergamo kitchen or in the main office after hours. Thank you! Please continue to check your child’s folder nightly and the school message board for up coming activites and end-of- school events.

Albert: The Seedlingby Ryan B.(Ms. Maryann)There once was a seedling named Albert. He was going to his first day of school when he ran into James, a bigger seedling. He was laugh-ing at Albert because Albert was wilting and brown. Albert was really sad when he came home because he did not eat dinner. The next day it was sunny outside, Albert was playing at recess when someone screamed, “there’s a giant!” Everybody was running and screaming, but Albert stayed still. The giant said to Albert, “do you want water?” and Albert said, “Yes please.” So the giant gave water to Albert and said, “You are very brave,” then walked off. A few years later, Albert became an Oak Tree and James the bully became Dwarf Tree and now Albert would say to James, “Who’s small now!”

Trees Help Usdrawing and poem by Karen (Ms. Maryann)Trees help us, Trees give us oxygen, Trees give us shade, Trees let us climb up in the branches, Some trees give us fruit to be fresh and ripe, Trees let us play, Never ever break a branch Because they have a feeling and their feeling is sad.

6—Mauldin Montessori Newsletter

Brennan Hall NewsUpper School News—the 4th-8th grades of Brennan Hall

T his year, students in Brennan Hall have developed an ALS committee to help us to meet our goal of creating our own

Montessori “Walk to Defeat ALS” group. In order to support the ALS Association and raise school and community awareness of this devastating disease, we are doing research, giving presentations to the lower grades, helping with the bake sale, and collecting change for the Penny Drive (April 4-14).

The ALS Association is the only national not-for-profit health organization dedicated to fighting ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is also known by many as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the famous New York Yankees’ baseball player who was diagnosed with the disease in 1939.

ALS is an incurable, fatal, neuromuscular disease that is characterized by progressive muscle weakness that results in paralysis and death. Because ALS only attacks the motor neurons that control the body’s voluntary muscles, the patients’ minds and senses are not impaired.

Approximately 14 cases of ALS are diagnosed each day, nationwide. The average expected survival time for those suffering with ALS is 3 to 5 years. As many

as 30,000 Americans may currently be affected by ALS.

Even though the cause is unclear and a cure un-known, there is one drug that may slow the progres-sion of the disease. And managing the care of people with ALS in areas such as nutrition, respiration, and mobility can greatly empower those suffering with ALS and their families to live fuller lives and give them hope.

The ALS Association has committed more than $58 million to finding effective treatments for this disease. It has given grants and fellowships, developed clinical management programs, and produced manu-als and a DVD to help educate patients about all aspects of this disease.

The students of Brennan Hall feel that the ALS Association is exemplary in the way it plays a leading role in its advocacy for those affected by ALS. We hope that you will be able to join us, and lend your support to this worthy cause.

Committee members are Kevan, Brady, Philip, Griffin, Nolan, Natalia, Jennifer, Ashlyn, Sarah, Emma, Lindsay, Erick, Wills, Rader, Ayla, Ethan, Ms. Leslie, and Ms. Kris.

Students create ALS committee to support walkBrennan Hall plans overnight field trip

Upper elementary students are looking for-ward to a field trip to Awendaw on the S.C. coast, May 11-13.

The Expedition Sewee marine science field study is part of the Youth Learning Institute sponsored by Clemson University.

Activities will center around natural resource education and marine science, taking advantage of the environment of the surrounding area, including expeditions to an undeveloped barrier island and the salt marsh.

Students will explore marine life, coastal plain ecology, birds of prey, and the archeology of S.C.’s coastal Native American cultures.

Class prepares for visiting author

Mauldin Montessori will welcome its first vist-ing author May 20.

Donna Campbell Smith has written two historical fiction novels: “Pale as the Moon,” and “An Independent Spirit.”

“Pale as the Moon” explores the Native American culture on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in the 1500s, en-compassing the mystery of the Lost Colony.

Smith will discuss Na-tive American history as well as her experiences in writing and publishing, followed by an autograph session.

Artwork on this page, including the butterfly above, by Ayla, was drawn by students as part of an “S.C. is for South Carolina” booklet.

Palmetto tree, by Jennifer

Loggerhead turtle, by Philip

White-tailed deer, by Griffin

March/April 2011—7

Chemistry: “Sublimation” by Natalia & Jennifer

Mechanical engineering: “R.C. Cars” by Ethan

Behavioral science: “Bird Training” by Ashlyn & Emma

Human physiology: “Sound” by Sarah

Electrical engineering: “Electricity” by Rader & Brady

Animal science: “Do Fish Have Memories?” by Ayla & Lindsay

Physics: “Aerodynamics” by Nolan

Environmental science: “Worms and Ecology” by Kevan & Griffin

Human physiology: “The Zoetrope” by Erick (helped by Natalia & Jennifer)

Engineering & computer science: “Robotics” by Philip & Griffin (& helpers)

Sports science & physics: “Basketball Percentages” by Wills, Brady (& class)

Nonfiction research: Science Fair 2011Science fairs give students the opportunity to study a topic in depth that interests them individually. Projects

can be as varied as sports, music, art, rocketry, psychology, or computers. The goal is for students to find out that sci-ence can be found in every corner of the universe.

As teachers, we feel that helping students with their projects allows us to help them develop a deeper understanding of the scientific method (maybe even controls and variables), to try creative problem solving, to work on time management skills, to get a chance to develop poise and public speaking, and to have an opportunity to think on their feet.

Working on their papers at school also allows us to help them sharpen their research and writing skills.

We hope that they learn that successful outcome is not based on personal opinion, but on scientific fact. And it seems that often we learn more when part of a project fails than when all goes smoothly. We know that real scientists adjust their projects as they go along, and this year we have had some great opportu-nities to do just that.

This year we thought of many interesting top-ics for our science fair presentations. We also worked to help each other more than ever before, so we had quite a few “team” entries. We found out that we are interested in just about everything! At right is a list of our entries.

—Ms. Leslie and Ms. Kris

We hope you had as much fun at this year’s science fair as we did. As we usually do, we have come up with some questions for those who saw our projects and heard our presentations.

Please take the Science Fair 2011 Survey and see what you remember. Our answers are listed at the end.

1. Do fish breathe water?2. Lots of ocean fish lose teeth. Can they grow

them back?3. When sound enters your ear, what are the three

tiny bones that it hits?4. How does sound travel?5. How fast can the fastest bird go?6. Yes or No—Do birds blink?7. True or False—Robots have no intelligence of

their own.8. What does the word “robot” mean?9. How many hearts does an earthworm have?10. True or False—A worm’s rear end is the same

as its head.11. How many springs does a radio-controlled car

need?12. How many batteries does it take for an R.C.

car and its controller?13. Who invented the zoetrope?

a. William Horner b. William F. Lincoln c. M. Bradley

14. What is sublimation?15. Give an example of a substance that can show

sublimation.16. Who made the first chemical battery?17. Who invented basketball?18. What were the first ball and basket made from?19. What are the four main principles of flight?20. How does drag affect the flight of an object?

Science Fair 2011 – Answer Key1. no 2. trick question 3. incus, malleus, stapes 4. out in waves 5. 100 mph 6. yes 7. true 8. “slave-like” worker 9. 10 (5 pairs) 10. false 11. 4 12. 813. a.14. changing from a solid to a gas.15. dry ice or CO216. Alessandro Volta17. James Naismith18. a soccer ball & peach baskets19. lift, gravity, thrust, & drag20. slow it down

Do you remember? Take our survey

8—Mauldin Montessori Newsletter

Poetry corner: by the light of the luneAfter returning from spring break, we decided to write “lunes” (this word rhymes with moons). These are very

short poems similar to haiku. They have three lines, but a different syllable pattern. Instead of 5/7/5, these poems are usually 5/3/5 syllables, which can make a lune curve a bit like a crescent moon.

This poetic form was invented by poet Robert Kelly, who teaches at Bard College in New York. Poets who write lunes, can chose any subject they want —not just the natural world, like for haiku.

Another poet, named Jack Collom, who teaches at Naropa Uni-versity in Colorado, changed the lune a little bit. His lunes follow a word pattern. The first line has three words, the second line has five words, and the third line has three words (3w/5w/3w). In most

cases, the center line is the longest. So a Collom-style lune curves like a crescent moon, too, but in the other direction.

We learned that choosing so few words is trickier than it seems. We had to do away with basic sentence patterns and keep only the words that helped us to create a picture in our minds. We found that writing the word “dog” used up a syllable or word, but didn’t give us nearly as good a picture as “poodle” or “greyhound.”

Ethan Dirt, rubber bases,Piled up in my yard,My baseball field.

I love RC Cars,Fast, blurry,Crashed into a tree.

Ayla Seven, young stray dogs,All lonely,Scavenging for food.

A newborn puppy,sniffs, eats, plays,Chewing on a shoe.

Griffin The bobcat walks,In the deep white snow,Looking for food.

Gray clouds in the sky,Rain pours down,Thunder claps outside.

Fat sparrow sleeping,In the nest,Outside my window.

Lindsay Harry Potter’s world,Is not fact,Just a cool idea.

Books or television,It’s not a hard choice,I choose books.

Downpour, mist, drizzle,Rain falls on leafy trees,Every drop counts.

Wills New basketball bounced,Twenty feet,Sails high over fence.

Kevin Durant loves,To slam dunk the ball,Over short people.

Jennifer Fluffy, black rabbit,Tricks for treats,Jumping through a hoop.

In my hand,Red apple and pink worm,Saw the hole!

Gentle hamster pet,Hold him, then ...Running in his wheel.

Sarah Fast yellow ball,Hit my tennis racket hard,Perfect return, game!

Sandy vacation,Shady palms,Hot ... cold lemonade.

Rader All of the planets,Orbiting,The star we call sun.

Trees, blowing softly,In the wind,Gently wave around.

Auroras are cool,Shining in spring and fall,In Arctic countries.

Natalia Sturdy apple tree,Scary climb,Very top to eat.

Dry ice, so, so cold,Don’t eat it,Goes into the air.

Nolan AerodynamicsLift ... thrust—yes,Gravity, drag—no!

Three does at daybreak,Quickly streaked,Across Holland Road.

Kevan Sitting with my cat, In the grass, Thinking, dog goes by,She smells and twitches,And bites me,I scream to my Mom.

Resting in bed,My eyes get very tired,Soon deep sleep.

BradyEagles are faster,Than others,In the open skies.

EmmaTen zebras running,Black and white,Grazing on a field.

PhilipFresh evergreen smell,While lying on the grass,Want to sleep.

Erick Smelly worms with teeth,Quito’s beach.Catch with fish, then bottle.

(Abuelo)Drives really fast,A scary, curving, mountain road,And no seatbelts!

My Spanish grandmother,Was learning to read English,Tasted dog food.

Almost broken vase,Two brothers bump grandmother’s antique,Landed on couch.

Ashlyn Favorite soccer game,Last minute goal, sweaty high-fives,Team of eight.

Stolen lightning boltPercy Jackson, brave and victorious,Evil Luke defeated.

Practice in the yard,Double hit,Green fields, white lines, hot.

I love Suzie,Ready, soaring over jumps, ... thenTreats, grazing, grooming.

Robots help mankind,Surgical navigators and telecontrolled micromanipulatorsDoing brain surgery.