My Chair

My chair is fabulous. It is the right size for me. It is not too big and it is not too small. It is not lumpy and bumpy but is smooth, soft, and comfortable. It also has five wheels which allow the chair to move easily. I tap the floor, and my chair rolls where I want to go. The back of the chair leans and lets me relax. I love my comfy chair.

by Wilbur

Circus Ad

Come see the circus

The crazy, cool circus show

There are games galore

And animals all around

The lions are loud

Like a big fireworks show

The elephants are

As big and tall as oak trees

It's amazing and

It's spectacularly great

The July fourth show

You do not want to miss it

by Orville

Our Camping Trip

Last week we went camping. When we first got there, Mom and Dad set up the tent, canopy, and storage containers. Wilbur and I played soccer. We used two trees as the goal.

Playing Soccer

Wilbur and I helped Dad set up the canopy.

Later, after everything was set up, fireflies came out. I caught them in my hands. Wilbur looked at them and chased them. He did not want to catch them.

The Finished Camp

Didn't Dad do a great job?

We went on a walk. Some little creatures flew over our heads. We thought they were birds at first, but they were really bats! They were brown and had triangular wings. We also saw a rabbit, a frog, and lots more fireflies.

Wilbur, Dad, and Me

Looking for Birds

We returned to camp and enjoyed a family time. We sang a Psalm, prayed, and read chapters of Little Pilgrim's Progress. Then we went to bed and slept in sleeping bags.

Under the Canopy

Listening to Mom Read

The next day we went bird watching again. You won't believe this! We saw a summer tanager and an ovenbird.

On the Trail

Bird Watching

We had a great time camping!

Events Leading to the Civil War

by Orville

There were many events that led to the Civil War. But these three, the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, are very important. They all attempted to keep the North and South together and happy but failed.

The first compromise was the Missouri Compromise of 1820. When Missouri was to be admitted to the United States, there were many arguments in Congress about it. If it entered as a slave state, that would tip the balance of power in the Senate and give the South an advantage. Missouri was finally admitted as a slave state, and Maine was admitted as a free state. Also, slavery was banned from the territories north and west of Missouri. This kept the peace for some time.

The next compromise, the Compromise of 1850, allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. In exchange, the south received the Fugitive Slave Law. This law made it illegal to help a slave run away. If a person was caught helping a slave flee, he could be fined a lot of money and/or imprisoned. This angered some Northerners. Many had read Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and they had read the writings and heard the speeches of abolitionists, like Frederick Douglass. They were upset about slavery. This compromise did not really help at all. It actually made things worse because Northerners did not want to have to return runaway slaves to the South.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Steven A. Douglas said that there should be “popular sovereignty” in the territories of the USA. This meant that the people in the territories would be allowed to vote and decide for themselves on the issue of slavery. This repealed the Missouri Compromise.

After all these events, the North and South did not want to make any more compromises. As President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. That meant the nation could not be half free and half slave any longer. They had to solve this problem the hard way. They had no choice but to go to war.

Wilbur's Bird Journal

I wrote about the birds I saw and heard in my journal. I also drew pictures of them. I put in other facts about birds in my journal like how to spot the differences between birds that are very similar and mnemonics I use to remember their calls or songs.

Some of the birds in my journal are blue jays that I saw at my bird bath, a male cardinal that turns round and round on the suet cage, and woodpeckers that I saw in the tall trees around my house.

Making a bird journal was really fun. I liked it a lot.

Pictures from my journal:

These birds visit our feeder often.

American Crows and Their Nests

We sing "I like playing baseball in the summer" to the tune the Baltimore Oriole sings to help us remember it.

On this day of birding, I saw a Black Vulture and heard a Canada Goose.

Blue Jays like to visit our birdbath.

The Indigo Bunting is my mom's favorite bird, so we sing "I am Mommy's favorite bird. Yes, I am." to its song to help us remember how it sounds.

Can you spot the differences between an American Crow and a Common Raven? If you can, you are on your way to being a great bird watcher!

Orville's Bird Journal

This year the YBC held a new contest. It was a Bird Journal Contest. I entered it, and it was fun. I began my journal on March 1. On this first day, IT SNOWED! AND IN MARCH! I did not think I would find birds in the snow but I did. I heard a Tufted Titmouse. What a nice picture for my first page!

This was my first entry... a Tufted Titmouse on a snowy day.

I didn't just bird in my backyard, I birded in some different state parks and my grandma's subdivision. Each day I birded for 15-30 minutes. It took me until April 15 to finish it.

I drew this to show what birds like to visit our magnolia tree.

For each day I birded, I wrote in my journal the date, weather conditions, the birds I saw and the ones I heard. Then, I drew a picture of a bird seen or heard that day at the bottom of the page. I liked drawing the pictures at the bottom of the page because it helped me learn to pay better attention to what the birds look like.

I made sure to label my Downy Woodpecker and to write in "peck" for the sound I heard while I watched him that day.

I also added some extra pages like a graph showing the four birds I saw most often and mnemonics I use to remember bird calls.

Would you like to make a journal of your own? Here's how to make one:

1. Set aside a time to bird watch at least once per week. Bird for as long as you like each time.

2. Buy an unlined, spiral bound sketchbook. My mom found mine at Wal Mart for under $3.

3. Each day, watch your feeders at home, visit parks, or go for a walk around your neighborhood. Look carefully in trees, on power lines, in nesting boxes, along the ground, and in the air. Pay attention to bird behavior and habits.

A female cardinal that nests in our yard loves to look at herself in the mirror on our van.

Carolina wrens are in the habit of nesting behind our shed in the spring.

4. After you have bird watched for your set time, write down the weather conditions, the date, what time you started birding and when you finished as well as what you saw and heard. If you are not sure what a particular bird is that you saw or heard, write down a description of the bird. Include its shape, size, and colors. Or try to take a picture of it and use a field guide later to try to identify it.

I took the best notes I could each day, even if I had to write down that I had not seen or heard any birds. Notice on this page after "birds heard" that I wrote "none".

5. With crayons or colored pencils, draw a picture at the bottom of the page of the bird you saw or heard that you liked the best. Write in sounds that you hear also, like "Honk! Honk!" for geese.

Notice that some of the arrows on this page point to pictures. Those are the birds I saw. Some of the arrows point to words, like "Jay! Jay!". Those represent the birds I heard.

6. Keep records of how many of each species you spot over a set time period or how many birds you see each day and create graphs.

This is a graph of the three birds I saw or heard most often during my journaling time. Mom told me I need to use a ruler next time I draw a graph!

7. Write mnemonics for birds sounds. My mom is going to write more about this on her blog later.

These are the mnemonics I use to remember the songs of the three birds pictured. The funniest one is the Killdeer. It's song sounds like the Hotpockets jingle!

Making the journal was so much fun. It was just great when I heard the birding competition coordinator announce, "First place in the Elementary Division... Orville!" He did not actually say "Orville", but I can't tell you my real name! But what I can tell you is "keep on birding. It is fun!"

Rainbow Haiku

Hey, Orville here.

Do you know what I like?

POEMS! Here is a haiku I just wrote.

Look up in the sky. It's a rainbow I tell you. Isn't it lovely?

I also have two rhyming poems. But I will save those for another time.

Until next time!

The Founding Of Mexico City

The city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) was founded by the Aztecs in 1325. It was the capital city of the Aztec civilization. Now it's the capital city of Mexico, Mexico City. It grew to be the biggest and strongest city in Mesoamerica.

It was originally on an island in Lake Texcoco. Now it extends throughout the Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco has drained out and none of the waters have remained since the 17th century. It drained because of earthquakes. In the process, some parts of the city have sunk as much as nine meters. It is on saturated clay from the drainage of Lake Texcoco.

In 1519, Hernando Cortez came to Mexico and invaded the Aztecs. The Aztecs thought he was the god Quetzalcoatl and did not attack him. Cortez defeated the Aztecs and took over Tenochititlan and built a palace on the ruins. He even used some of the Aztec materials. Mexico became a Spanish colony.

Birds of Mexico

There are many kinds of birds in Mexico. There are city birds, mountain birds, desert birds and jungle birds.

One kind of city bird is the lesser goldfinch. They like to eat dropped bits of tortilla and vegetables. It is said to be the smallest bird in Mexico.

A mountain bird is the Inca dove. It eats whatever plants it finds. It is one of the most amazing bird tourists like to see. It is mostly gray and likes to fly.

A jungle bird is the ant bird. Can you guess why it's called that? That's right! It eats ants. It mostly lives in the rainforests where it is warm. It also likes living there because all the rain makes the worms come to the surface of the ground.

A desert bird is the cactus wren. It eats insects and cactus fruit. It's the largest North American wren that lives in Mexico.

Aren't there are a lot of different kinds of birds in Mexico?

Mexican Terrain

Hola, this is Wilber. Today I'm going to write to you about the land in Mexico.

There are two peninsulas in Mexico: the Baja and the Yucatan peninsulas. Cactus and quiet sea coves are both in the Baja Peninsula. The Baja peninsula touches California. The Yucatan peninsula sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico. A popular place to visit, Cancun, is located on the Yucatan. Both peninsulas have beaches to visit.

There are three mountain ranges in Mexico. The three mountains make a V formation. These mountain ranges are called Sierra Madre.

Mexico also has jungles and deserts.

Mexican Food

Hi, this is Orville and I want to write about the food in Mexico.

The early inhabitants of Mexico mostly were vegetarians. They planted corn, beans, potatoes and peppers. Then they started making tortillas.

After the bow and arrow were invented, early inhabitants of Mexico started hunting and ate meat more often than vegetables. They considered it important to teach their children how to fish.

Today Mexicans eat a lot of the same foods which includes beans, squash, tomatoes, fish, peppers, tacos and tortillas. My favorite Mexican food is tacos, with no lettuce!!

Here's how to make tortillas like the Aztecs*.

First you need: scales, 8oz of flour, 1tsp salt, 11/2 cup cold water, 11/2 oz butter, bowl, jug, spoon, rolling pin, pastry board, frying pan and oil for frying. Then, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Weigh your ingredients carefully.

Step 2: Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the butter (with your hands) and pour in the water.

Step 3: Mix it with your hands until you have a loose ball of dough.

Step 4: Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until it is smooth.

Step 5: Move the dough to the pastry board and cut the dough into egg-sized balls.

Step 6: Sprinkle the board and rolling pin with some plain flour to stop the dough from sticking. Then roll out the balls into pancakes.

Step 7: Put oil in the non-stick frying pan and ask an adult to fry the tortillas one minute per side.

Make sure to join us next time when Wilber will write about the Mexican terrain. Until next time, this is Orville saying, "Adios Amigos!"

*from the book, Step into the Aztec and Maya Worlds by Fiona Macdonald, Lorenz Books, 1998

Welcome to The Write Brothers

Welcome to our blog. I am Orville and I am nine-years-old. I am writing with my brother, Wilber. He is eight-years-old. No, we're not the Wright Brothers who invented the airplane, but we call ourselves the "Write Brothers" because we like to write.

We will be writing about what we have learned in school. At first, most of our posts will be about Mexico because we are preparing for an international celebration with our homeschool group. We will also write about bird watching and share our list of birds we sight. We will probably also write about school assignments, like what we are reading.

I hope you enjoy our blog and visit often.

Besides, there may be more surprises ahead. (this was added before Orvilles 12th birthday by Orville)