Iron was really a discovery to people. It wasn't just there for people to use it for their daily tasks and things to do. In the early times of Africa, iron was a great discovery for them. It was discovered by the Nok people of Africa. They used iron for ploughs for farming, spears for the military strength, and axes to cut down trees for homes. All these old discoveries are now used by everyone today. But they helped the Africans with survival.

    Do I care? Yes, I do care about the upcoming presidential election. The president is the one who decides what our future will be. Both parties have a different view of things, and both views affect everybody in the United States of America's lives. Being. president is a very important job for the government. They have a lot of authority, and the president needs to be able to handle it well. The people who are over 18 are able to particpate in this voting. Before voting, people need to think a little bit. They need to decide which president will benefit everyone. They shouldn't pick the one who maybe looks better, or things like that. If the president makes a promise, we have to think, " Will they complete that promise?"  The presidential election is something that all people should think about.

 Today in our Core classes, we learned about how the Roman empire fell, but not by reading or standard study ways. We reinacted the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It was a very exciting game for all of us students to play. When Rome reached its split with the Eastern half, it was time for the Barbarians to come in.
    My group was to be the Barbarians, enemies of Rome. I was against one of my friends who lived in Rome, and that made it even more fun. The Barbarians got to attack every Roman province and Rome itself. I was the Barbarian group "Franks." I had to conquer Gaul with my little army men, and take all their goods. Gaul was producing wool for the Romans. I sent my 7,000 warriors to Gaul, and 4,000 returned with all their goods. All of the Barbarians then teamed up together to conquer many other provinces in the Roman Empire. We lost thousands of soldiers, but it was worth all the loss. We won all the goods of every province in Rome. Then, with the rest of our armies, we attacked the center of the Western Roman Empire, Rome itself. I sent my 4,000 warriors, but sadly, the Romans had 4,000 as well. But, another Barbarian, one of my teammates, sent 1,000 of her soldiers out to help me. All together, we, the Barbarians, defeated the Western Roman Empire. 
    It felt very good to be a Barbarian, because we got to attack the other provinces and Rome. The feeling was great when I put down more soldiers than the other province. I felt very good taking away the Romans' goods for my group of Barbarians. The reason why we felt good, was because the Romans didn't give us the food we deserved, and they forced us to send our children to be their slaves, and in return we got nothing. This made us furious with the Romans, and we attacked.

     Today is the 11th annual anniversary of one of the most horrible event in American history. The twin towers, or the Trade Center, was located in New York. Everything was going well, then, on that fatal moment, the terrorist airplane crashed into the twin towers, and everything collapsed. The people who were on the bottom floor were able to get out just in time, but the people at the top called home and told their family what was going to happen, and said, "Good bye." The people on that airplane had done the same thing when the terrorists showed everyone what they were there to do. Those terrorists, on the same day, crashed a plane into Pearl Harbor. They tried to crash a plane into the White House, but luckily, that didn't happen. Those people are horrifying, horrible, with a dark heart, and dark soul. Thankfully, the government here were able to defeat those terrorists, and end those evil people's horrible lives. The many thousand people who were lost on 9/11 will never be forgotten. 

 For our Core simulation last Friday, I was a Barbarian, part of the Franks, a Barbarian group. If I were to have a different role, I would choose to be a Roman. They are powerful and strong. I would also get a chance to move to Constantinople if I were one of the "chosen ones." The Romans in our simulation also got to have a chance to buy items from other people, and be able to give those provinces protection from the Barbarians, or any other attack. Being a Roman would make me feel great, because we would be the "big guys" in the activity. I'd really want to be a Roman if I got a choice to pick what role I wanted, because of the great and powerful feelings I would feel in the simulation, like being able to go "shop" from different countries, and being able to provide protection. 
     If I were to make a choice whether I should buy anything or not, I would tell my group we shouldn't, because we would need all the protection we could get to help Rome thrive, and not to let it fall. If my team of Romans didn't agree, I would choose to be on of the people to go move to Constantinople. These are my strategies for the simulation if I was a Roman, but that didn't come true. Thankfully, my team and I, as the Barbarians, defeated Rome, and we got to steal everything from them, and conquer all the provinces. 

I was walking as quick as I could home to get a drink of water. The heat was blazing that day, at 104 degrees. As I got home to my village, I was glad to see my mother having ready a jar of water, which was very rare in my country. I ran to my mother, but was stopped when I heard a noise. Camels, and a caravan. I looked to see who was inside of it, and I saw my uncle. He got out of the caravan as the camels cleared away. He walked over to me, and I was surprised, because usually he would go to my parents, not me. As he came closer I got worried. Had I done something wrong? Did I miss the time to face the Mecca? I was trembling as he was standing next to me. "Hello my young little nephew. Well, you aren't that young anymore. You are now allowed to come with me in my caravan! Would you like to come?" I gasped. That was a dream come true! I of course had to ask my parents first. "May I ask Mama and Baba first?" I asked. "Of course you can!" said my uncle. I ran to Mama. "Mama! Baba! May I go with Uncle in his caravan to go travel?" My parents were very hesitant if I should go. But, they let the decision to me. They simply said, " It is your choice."
    I thought I should definitely go, and I thought of the cool caravan, and I wouldn't have to walk, or ride a camel. But then I hesitated, because of my parents. Then, I thought of my excited uncle, who really never talked to me, asked me to go with him. I decided not to go, because of my parents not wanting me to go, and for a couple other reasons. I had a lot of work to do at home, and I should earn money to go buy water, because it is very scarce in my country. I wouldn't think it would be fair to see all the other children, including my siblings not being able to come along with me. I'd have to watch them ride camels and walk everywhere in the scorching heat of the deserts. I told my uncle I didn't want to go, and why, and he was perfectly fine with it. Once my siblings grow older, I have a job, and my parents have changed their minds though, I may reconsider.

Muhammad is a very kind, brave, and faithful prophet. He is listened to by many other people. Why is that? Muhammad believed that people needed to change their bad ways and habits to a new religion and to start afresh. Once, Muhammad went out to pray in a cave, and he heard a voice. It was God. Muhammad wasn't sure if he was going crazy, but the angel Gabriel said he wasn't. Muhammad didn't share any of his hearings from God with anyone, only his wife, Khadijah. Khadijah told her friends about what Muhammad heard, and her friends told their friends, and so on. As soon as people heard that Muhammad had spoken with God, the Arabs were very interested in what he said to find out what the God had spoken to him. Muhammad told everyone what God had said to him each day. Muhammad was then known as a prophet, and a messenger of God. 

Of all the five Islamic pillars, the one that seems the hardest to do is the hajj. It is a difficult, and dangerous pillar for Muslims to do. Firstly, they have to pack special things such as clothing, and travel in very packed busy buses. Then, they have to say goodbye to the people they love, because some Muslims may or may not return. What that means is, during the hajj, people are going quickly and fastly forward. If a Muslim stops for something, the momentum will overcome them, and they could die there. The hajj has other dangerous things involved, such as the throwing of rocks at the devil. Some people get hurt, and fall into the spot where they throw rocks, and they could die there too. Also, they have to kill sheep. The Muslim people have to give their sheeps away, and watch them be killed, which is very sad for them. Another thing is, that on the streets, babies are born, and the family loses their momentum, and bad things happen. The hajj is definitely the most difficult, dangerous, pillar in the Islamic faith.

Islam, is one of the most popular religions in the world. Who knew that something as little as trade helped such a great and common religion spread so far in the world? In fact, trade really did help Islam spread around the world. As Muslim traders went around on their trade routes, they took the religion of Islam with them. Other people from different countries would see what the Muslims were practicing during the trading walk, and like what they are doing. Many of those type of people became Muslims in no time. As they started to practice it, their families started to practice it. As their families started to practice it, other families from all around would catch on to what the others were practicing. The Arab Muslim traders came to their house very wealthy because they helped spread the religion. Those traders would go out the next day, and more people would start to practice the Islamic religion, because they liked the faiths and ideas the Muslims believed in. Those people would come to the Muslims that they saw practicing Islam, and give them many new goods in return for the lovely new faith and religion that they had recieved.