ENSENADA,MEXICO

SANTA CATALINA ISLAND

CARNIVAL PARADISE

CARNIVAL PARADISE

Spelling List for May 1

California Academy of Sciences
aquarium
museum
planetarium
exhibit
herpetologist
species
renovated
canopy
naturalist
natural history
evolution
diorama
tortoise
penguin
invertebrate
climate change
habitats
pendulum
Earth's rotation
coral reef
aquatic
terrestrial
anemone
amphibian

Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park

I hope you will join us on the field trip to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

Click here to see photos of some of the Academy of Science exhibits.

Click here to explore the museum web site.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Hi, Richard, Linda and my classmates:

Several weeks ago I ran into a novel named The Five People You Meet in Heaven in the Asian Branch of Oakland Public Library. The book is written by Mitch Albom, the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesday with Morrie, I was absorbed in it at the first glance. The edition of the book I got from the Oakland Library was published in Hong Kong in Traditional Chinese. As I read more and more, I was deeply moved and attracted to this wise and imaginative book. So I returned to the library and borrowed three other editions of this novel from two different branches of the Oakland Public Library - the English edition, the simplified Chinese edition, and the Audio Book edition. Maybe editions in Spanish or other languages that I don’t understand are also available. In 2004, The Five People You Meet in Heaven was adapted to a TV movie, but it is a pity that I haven’t found the DVD yet.

I am glad and honored to share this lovely story with every one of you. When I set out to write a summary of the novel to recommend the amazing book, I found a lot of information about the novel posted on web. I collected some of the brilliant introductions and posted them here. I hope you enjoy and love the story.

About the book

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age, His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.

Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you've ever thought about the afterlife -- and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure.

Click here to read the beginning of The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Spelling Words for Friday, April 24, 2009

1. protect

2. environment

3. sustainable

4. recycle

5. reusable

6. organic

7. conserve

8. compost

9. altered

10. dumps

11. emissions

12. landfill

13. potent

14. wastes

15. calamity

16. pollution

17. global warming

18. uninhabitable

19. drought

20. parched

21. reservoir

22. devastating

23. decompose

24. biodegradable

25. conservation

Spelling List for Friday April 17

regarding
misrepresentation
description
dynamic
conflict
proper
academic
vital
oral
assert
recommendation
handle
accept
access
asset
necessary
overall
friendly
formal
discuss
offer
aspect
conduct
ethical
mock

Hi classmates!

How have you been guys? Do you still remember me? I apologize because I haven't gone to school for a while. The reason is because I have been busy doing many college projects. However, I'm happy to see your posts! I'd like to visit you, and I hope to do it soon. =)

How is Richard doing? I heard that he has absented a couple of times; therefore, Linda has been substituting him... I hope he recovers very soon and feel better every day! I miss you guys, and I hope you're doing excellent. ;)

Here is a picture with some of my classmates from the college. We were having a break after all the work we've done. I hope you like it! :) See you soon...!

HI, Classmates,

My name is Ya Ling. I will post a story soon!