Nectar in a Sieve

Nectar in a Sieve is the tale of a poverty stricken family. This story was told in the perspective of a women. She has seen the poverty, the change of their village, and the death of their infant son. Kamala Markandaya starts the story with present time and the entire book is a flashback of Rukanami's life. It starts with Rukamai getting married. Her mother gave birth to three girls. Each girl took a dowry with her. The first daughter had the grandest wedding with a great gift. The second daughter had a okay wedding, but not as great as the first. Now it is Rukmani's turn to get married. She may not have the best wedding because of the lack of money. She will not take a lot of money. This caused Nathan , her husband, and herself to live a life of poverty. Poverty did not stop them from giving birth and raising a family. They lived a happy life without much food. Rukmani gave birth to one girl and four boys. She ended up adopting a fifth boy that they met on the street.

Nectar in a Sieve is the Indian version of the Pursuit of Happiness. Rukmani and Nathan struggled everyday to feed their children. They sold their most valuable possessions to buy grains of rice. The saddest portion of the book was when one of her sons were killed by the small business bosses. Then she lost her infant son because of starvation. Rukmani has seen her foreign friend leave and her old friend die. (Old Granny died of starvation and Kenny left the country.)The worst news ever is that Rukmani's family is being evicted. They have been living in the hut for thirty years. (Their hut was made of straw and had a mud roof.)Their land was rented from a landlord and the landlord sold the land. Their land was a swamp and was meant for rice growing. The land was sold to the group of people that changed the village to a town. Rukmani was right for not trusting them, but her sons needed money. (Her sons worked for them and one ended up dead. She had another son that worked 100 miles away with his wife and kids.)

When Rukmani's land was sold to the buisnesses, her husband decided to go to their older son's home. Nathan and Rukmani would live with their older son's home, while her daughter would live with their youngest son. That was a sad day for Nathan and Rukmani because they lived in that house for 30 years. They had the family history in that home. They lived off the land and kept their children strong.

It is a classic tale about a poor and simple family. Although they are poor, the family is happy because their home is with their children. Children can bring a life time worth of happiness.

Tintin in Tibet

Many people may not be familiar with Tintin. Tintin is a young detective that solves crime all around the world. He travels with his dog, Snowy. He has a friend, Captain Haddock. Tintin would solve crimes in Tibet, Middle East , or Europe. Tintin in Tibet is about Tintin rescuing his friend from Hong Kong. He sets off from England and travels to Nepal. Then he climbs the Himalayan Mountains. He ended up in Tibet or China. From Tibet , he discovered the Yeti. The Yeti was a Abominable Snowman that is half human and half animal.

Mythology Part 1

Greek and Roman Mythology is defined by the dictionary as a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person.Mythology told by Edith Hamilton is explaining the creation of the gods. The Universe created the first group of gods called the Titans. In Greek Mythology, the universe created the gods not the other way around. In the first part , the book mainly tell stories of what happened when Zeus overthrown has father.

There's the grandfather gods called the titans and their children and grandchildren. Their grand children and children are the 12 Olympians. Olympia was named after Mount Olympia. Zeus is the head god and Hera's his wife. In some stories it said Hera was his sister.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton is enjoyable for Teens and adults. It may seemed boring, but some of the stories are exciting.

The Diamond of Darkhold

Two hundred years after a great disaster, a small village started to Spark. This village is called the Village of Sparks. It has been nine months since the people of Ember joined them. They're in a long and cold winter. There's little to eat and drink. There's no electricity and power. Matches and Candles are running low.
Lina and Doon set out to find food in Ember. Doon planned the trip back to Ember after he read a book. The Book was titled, For the People of Ember. It is similar to the Map of Egress. This book explained a power object that harnesses the power of the sun. It produces electricity for light.
After the Embrities left Ember, a family settled in. It's the family called the Troggs. They settled in to shield themselves from the evil of the world. When Doon and Lina arrived, the Trogg family captured Doon.
It is up to Lina to rescue Doon and find the Diamond of Dark hold. Dark hold is the new name for Ember. Washton Trogg renamed it because the underground city was really Dark.
In the End, Doon is rescued by Lina. They found an entire room full of diamonds. There were thousands of these diamonds. They powered the Village of Sparks by converting solar energy into electricity. Every House had two diamonds and stores had one . The remaining was kept in the arK. The fixed the leaky roof. In the end, the people of Sparks saw a brighter future.

NJASK8 Science Day 1 Section3

What Element from is used in museum display cases?

1. Argon
2. Oxygen
3. Hydrogen
4. Mercury

Mathematics 8th Grade Open Ended

Sarah was beading beads. She was putting beads on a string by 2 whites, 2 blues, and 4 reds.

1. What is the 27th bead?
2. Sarah wants to string 57 beads: what color is the 57th bead?
3. When does the pattern begin again with white?
4. How often does red show up?
5. Use diagrams, pictures, and equations to show your thinking. Write your answer in the space provided in your answer folder.

If x=4 what is y equal to in the equation: 2x+y=35

Mathematics portion of the NJASK

Jim was wondering what was the fractional value of 0.125. What is the value of 0.125?

1. one- eighth
2. one- fourth
3. one -half
4. one -seventh

Using the linear equation ; y=mx+b

The coordinates are (2,3), (4,3),(4,5),(2,5) for a rectange. What is the new coordinates if it is translated 4 units to the left?

New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge Science Test

The rock formation above was formed in the desert. What was the likely cause of this rock formation?

1. erosion
2. weathering
3. earthquake
4. sandstorm

Open Ended

1. Describe a phase change. Describe how the phase change changes at the molecular level.

1. Describe two type of rocks. Describe how it was formed and three steps in the rock cycle.


2. Describe two types of landforms in the Earth's surface. Describe how it was formed and describe the land form itself.


3. What does astronauts use to look at the side of the moon that does not face the earth?

a. reflecting telescope, binoculars, lunar satellite, or telescope

What is the percent of traits given to the puppy from the mother?

Is it 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%.

What causes insects to evolve when we use pesticides?

1. overdose of the same pesticides


2. using the wrong pesticides


3. using outdated pesticides

Which has the greatest gravitational attraction?

1. rubber ball


2. basketball


3. Bicycle


4. motorcycle

There are organs that function because of conscious thought. Some of the organs that function automatically like the heart. What body system causes this?

1. nerves system
2. circulatory system
3. urinary system
4. digestive and skeletal system

Mathematics Section 8th Grade 2009 Test

I would recommend students to review their mathematics skills over spring break. Buy a NJ ASK 8 Practice book and do the problems.
I would recommend students review inequalities, equations, proportions, area, probability, data , statistics, slope, linear equations, squares and square roots. One of the problems on the test is a square root problems.

There are problems that involve a scatter graph. You would have to use the scatter graph to find the price of the 4 year car. If the original price of the car is 22,500. Then the price decreased by 60%. What is the price of the car that is 4 years old?

There are problems that involve finding the shortest distance. The first question in the test booklet for short constructed response is finding the shortest route.

From the Pick up center, how can you travel the shortest distance and going to every delivery site?

There are Probability problems like the problem that involves clothes.
A boy has 2 white sweaters and 3 blue sweaters; if he randomly chooses a sweater shirt and randomly. What is the chances that he's going to choose a blue sweatshirt and then a blue sweatshirt? Write your answer as a fraction because on the test the multiple choice answers are in fractional form.

There are area promblems like the one that involves a window. There's a square window and the area is 267 square feet. What is the length between which two integers?

1. 13 and 14
2. 14 and 15
3. 15 and 16
4. 16 and 17
5. 17 and 18

New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge Grade 8 Mathematics section

Open Ended Questions

There are 5 cabins. One yellow, one red, one blue, one green, and one orange. There's a set of marbles. There are 10 yellow, 10 red, 10 blue, 10 green, and 10 orange. Each camper has to draw a marble to determine their cabin.

Number 11, Mike chooses a marble. Before him,people have already chosen;4 yellow, 2 red, 2 green, 1 blue and 1 orange. Before Mike chooses his marble; Mike said,"I am not going to chose yellow." Is it correct? Which cabin does mike has the greatest chance of choosing?

Number 12; Richard chooses a marble from the bag. Assuming Mike chose red.Is his chances of picking yellow the same as mike, greater, or lower? What color does he have the greatest chance choosing?

Anwser the question in your anwser booklet.

Language Arts Literacy Day 2 Speculative prompt

Imagine that you had the ability to travel back in time. You have just invented the Time Machine to go back in time. Where would you go? Why would you travel back there? What would you do? What will you bring?

You are given 25 minutes to write the Speculative essay. Do your prewriting in the space provided on your answer booklet. Proofread your work by using the Writers check list given by your test examiner. Read the prompt as much as you like. Remember that the essay is graded on a scale of 1-6 by using the Holistic scoring rubric.

Language Arts Literacy Day 2 Explanatory Prompt

Future Career magazine is conducting a survey for students in middle school. They are asking students what career you want to be when you grow up. They want you to write an essay about your future career and give at least three supporting ideas on why you've chosen the career. Include your future career and three supporting paragraphs on why you've chosen the career.

This is a 45 minute essay. It is graded on a scale of 1-6 from the Holistic scoring rubric. Do your Prewriting on pages 13 and 14. Write your essay on Pages 15, 16, 17, and 18. Proofread your work from the Writers check list given to you by your Test Examiner. Read the prompt as much as you like and feel free to look at the prompt as much as you want.

Language Arts Literacy Persuasive Prompt

Your School Principal has proposed a Community Service Project. He has mandated community Service. Students will use their after-school and weekends to do community service.
Write a letter to your school principal about your opinion. State in your letter, whether you agree and disagree with the proposal.

You 45 minutes to write the letter. Use the space provided in Page 8 and 9 to pre write and use page 10,11,12, and 13 to write your letter. Remember to use the writers check list given to you by your test examiner. Proofread your letter and check all grammar and spelling errors. It is graded out of 6 from the New Jersey Holistic scoring rubric.

New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge

The New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge is administered every year for students in grades 3- 12. This is a state test to make sure all students in New Jersey is proficient. It was mandated after President Bush and his administration signed the No Child Left Behind Bill into Law.
They test Language Arts Literacy and Math. They would test science , but its only to Grades 4,8, and 12.