Language+Arts

This is my Language Arts page

Author Study Andrew Clements was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1949 and lived in Oaklyn and Cherry Hill. His parents loved reading to him with his sisters and brothers. Andrew didn’t want to be a writer when he was young but he loved to read. Andrew went to Northwestern University and his professors encouraged him and complimented the essays he wrote. Clements played guitar and wrote songs that helped him become a better writer. A professor from another college saw some of his work and invited him to teach creative writing at a series of high schools. After graduating, he taught in the public schools in Chicago for seven years. After he was married his friend asked him to help him launch a new company that imported children’s books from Europe. I chose Andrew Clements because I had read some of his books before and they were really good so I decided to read more. The books I have chosen are //A// //Week in the Woods//, //The Landry News//, and //Lost and Found//. Andrew Clements had connections with his books because when he was young he loved school and was a great student. Most of his books are about school. When Andrew was in high school and college he loved to read. In 1990 he began to write a book about a boy who makes up a new word. The book eventually became his first novel. It was called //Frindle// and it was published in 1996. Andrew Clements was a fabulous writer. The books that I read had a certain theme to them. The theme was mostly about school and having problems with school. They were really interesting books. The settings for the books are in small towns but sometimes in cities. There are two ideas I see that relate to my life. The books about school and they are about young kids. I thought these books were most interesting. Andrew Clements is a great writer. I liked how he wrote his books and how he made them exciting in every chapter. If I had to choose from the three books that I read I would choose //Lost and Found// because I thought it was really fascinating how the twins switched days at school but their parents found out. For future readers I recommend reading //A Week In the Woods//, //The Landry News//, and //Lost and Found//. They are really great books that are exciting every chapter.

By: Perry Maner

Dear Reader,

In this Zine you will be reading about Switzerland. I have chosen this subject because this winter I took a trip to Switzerland to visit my sister. I will be telling you about different things I saw there. In this Zine I have many different writing pieces that I hope you enjoy. For example I wrote a Personal Narrative about my trip to Switzerland, a Persuasive piece about why Switzerland is the best place to go, a Descriptive piece about a day in Switzerland, and an Expository on teaching people how to ski. In some parts of the Zine you will be reading about my experiences and what I learned. I hope you enjoy my Zine!

Sincerely,

Perry Maner

My Trip to Switzerland I went to Switzerland in March to visit my sister who was studying abroad in Switzerland while she was going to school there. My sister was going to school in Lenk, Switzerland for three months! After school I got in the car and went straight to the airport with my family. The feeling inside of me I just couldn’t describe. I was so excited I could just burst! When we arrived at the airport, we got out of the car and ran inside. When you go on an international flight, you have to be at the airport two hours early. Plus, our flight is nine hours long! We checked our bags and walked to security. After security, we went to get something to eat. About an hour later, we were ready to get on our plane. Once we were all settled in, the plane was starting, and just like that it was up in the air! Before I knew it I was falling asleep. I woke up and looked out the window to only see a dark sky. I went back to sleep. When I woke up again, I looked out the window and saw an amazing snowy white field below me. I turned to my mom and told her what I saw. It wasn’t just that, but it was the huge mountains that were covered in snow. Now it was time to get off the plane. When my whole family was in the airport, everything was written in German so we didn’t know where to go. We found pictures that went with the words so then we knew where we were going. After you get of a plane in America, you may get picked up or borrow a rental car. In Switzerland you ride on trains to get to your destination.

My family had to ride three trains to get to Lenk. Each train took about an hour or so to get to the next stop. While we were on different trains, I did my homework. But once the train arrived in Lenk, I had to stop. I got off the train with my family, and rode in a taxi. Before I did, I stepped in a pile of snow. It was so deep that my boot almost overflowed with snow. Then my mom called me over to the taxi. The taxi driver was taking us to our hotel. When we were driving up the hotel driveway, my eyes got big. The hotel we were staying at was the biggest hotel I had ever seen! When we went inside, the Concierge and staff swarmed us to comfortable chairs and served us hot chocolate and warm towels while my dad checked us in. My family was so tired from traveling we couldn’t wait until we got in to our hotel room! Once we were settled in, we decided to rest. It was the night before I would see me sister. I couldn’t believe it. The next day we would go skiing, and watch my sister’s ski race. The next night, we went searching for Ally. She lived in a Chalet right next to our hotel. So we walked a path to the house and no one was home. We were about to turn back when a car pulled up and the driver rolled down her window. The driver was a teacher that worked at Ally’s school Winter Term. She said that she had just dropped all of the kids of at our hotel. So my brother and I ran down the path to see Ally walking up the path towards the Chalet. My dad ran down the path. Once he reached my sister, he threw her in the air and spun her around. The scene was meant for a movie. My parents started to cry, but my brother and I were just happy to see her. We were a family of five once again.

We went inside to the dining room and ordered our dinner. Ally was talking all night about her adventures and friends she had made during Winter Term. I couldn’t wait for her to come home. She couldn’t come home with us because she still had one more month of school before she came home. That night she was aloud to sleep over with us in our hotel room. I was so happy to see her. When it was time for her to leave, we all said our good-byes. This time I started sniffling. And then she was gone. Back to work, back to school, back to her life in Switzerland. After Ally left, we went on a train to another place in Switzerland called Zermatt. Zermatt’s mascot was a huge pointy mountain called The Matterhorn. We had a great time there and I will always remember the amazing trip my family took to Switzerland.

How to Ski When you go to rent or buy your skis, make sure the boots are tight on your feet and the skis are the right size. If you are old enough you might be able to rent poles to support your balance when you are on the slopes. I think skiing is very easy. All you have to do is concentrate on the slope. Make sure you have your knees bent when you are going down the slope. Remember to lean forward. While you are going down, try to use a pattern of moving up and down with your body. Don’t lean forward too much but don’t lean backwards because you just want to stay in the middle. Next is how to get off the chair lift. Once you get the hang of it, it is very easy. First you have to get in line. Then when the people get on in front of you follow their chair and stand there until your chair come behind you. When you are on the chair wait until you get to the end and then put your skis up. Then hop off the chair and go to the slope you want to go to. Once you get really good at skiing you can try to go to the terrain park where there are jumps and you can do tricks. Before you ski you should eat something like a power bar so you don’t get tired on the slopes. I hope this helps you learn how to get better at skiing.

A Day in Switzerland When I got off the plane I could smell the pleasant smell of snow. I had arrived in Switzerland. I was overjoyed. When we were driving to the glorious hotel I saw the beautiful town of Lenk. As soon as we got out of the car at the hotel I ran to the town with so much excitement inside of me. As I stood there I could here the sound of shopkeepers yelling to sell their goods. I could hear the cars on the road. I could hear the sound of forks against plates inside restaurants. I could hear the sound of children running on the streets screaming in their delight. Everything was happening at once. I could see the skiers on the mountains. I realized that the ski slopes here were much more spacious and steep than the ones at home. I could smell the bakery down the block and saw the beautiful Chalets with timber coming out of the roof. I was in the most amazing place in the world! Dinner was great. I could smell the most fantastic foods ever! In Switzerland they have everything you could imagine in food! For example, beef jerky, eggs, bacon, pancakes, oatmeal, and much much more! The town was my favorite place to go. I could hear and see so much in just one place! Sometimes you could hear the church bells ringing, it was such I beautiful sound. My favorite sight to see was the mountains sprouting out of the ground. They were so giant and snowy. This trip was the best trip ever.

Switzerland is the Best Place to go  Switzerland is the place to be! It has amazing mountains and great skiing. They have dogsledding, skating, skiing, sightseeing, and so much more. I recommend going there because it’s a great place for a family. Switzerland has fabulous restaurants with Fondue and wonderful other choices. If you’re looking for a place to see great things, go to Switzerland.

There are many small towns in Switzerland. Many of which you can see great mountains, like for example, Zermatt. Zermatt has a beautiful mountain called the Matterhorn. Many stories were told about the Matterhorn. Other towns like a very small town called Lenk, has huge mountains and great hotels. Also an awesome place to ski and skate. Switzerland is a great place for a vacation.

Almost every year they get great powdery snow! So you never have to worry about not enough snow for skiing. In Lenk, you can sled down the ski hills on wooden sleds. There are trails that are at least 30 minutes long! There are banks of puffy snow on the edges so if you take a sharp turn you just fall into the snow. At the end you can take the bus back to town.

Another reason is you should go there is because the food is really good and the restaurants are amazing. Especially the pizza place in Link that serves of course pizza but also really tasty Gelatos in all different flavors. So delicious! Go to Switzerland because you always remember the mountains, activities, food and much more.

** Switzerland **


 * S ** o much fun
 * W ** onderful
 * I ** love it there
 * T ** otally awesome
 * Z ** ooming trains
 * E ** vergreens everywhere
 * R ** eally beautiful
 * L ** ooks like heaven
 * A ** wesome
 * N ** ever will be bored
 * D ** on’t want to leave



This I Believe I think I could have done better with my work if I added more to the characters feelings and using more personal stories with my personal essay. I think I did really good with thinking about what to add in my personal essay. I liked looking at my essay after I finished. Also when we got to record our essays. I liked how they turned out too. When I see my essay on Edmodo and look at all the nice comments people have left, I feel really good inside. Like "Great job Perry!" or "I really like your essay!". Not just me but getting to listen to all the other 5th graders essays. Its really interesting to learn what other people believe in.
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