First Position Ballet Movie

First Position Ballet Movie

First Position is a new documentary film about 6 actual dancers (ages 9-19) at one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions, where hundreds of young dancers compete for a handful of elite scholarships and contracts. The film paints a thrilling and moving portrait of some of these gifted young ballet stars of tomorrow as they push themselves to the limit to realize their dreams. 

Take a look at this video clip from the movie where Michaela DePrince talks about her dreams and her struggles as an African-American ballerina.

Follow Michaela and other amazing ballet dancers on a yearlong journey around the world as they face injury and personal sacrifice on their way to the Youth America Grand Prix competition. It looks like a really inspiring film.

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

SPONSORED BLOG POST: The Power of Green

This post is sponsored by Con Edison.

Student Contest: The Power of Green

How do you and your family save energy at home?

Want the chance to win a family day trip to New York City for fun, food, and fine arts? OK! Are you already saving energy at home? Good! You're halfway THERE!  

• FIRST: Create an original artwork on an 8.5" X 11" sheet of paper that explains how you and your family are saving energy. It can be a poster, drawing, comic strip, collage, or painting.
• THEN: Pair it with a short essay (50-100 words) about your artwork and your "green" ideas.
• ALSO: Read the rules and download the entry form.  
• ANNNNND . . . FINALLY: Mail your completed entry in with your contest submission!

Easy, right? Entries are due May 22, 2012. Good luck!

Harry Potter and Summer Reading 2012

Are you up for the Summer Challenge?

School is almost over and it's time to start getting ready for summer. You've been working your brain muscle and sharpening your skills all year, so you've earned some fun time for swimming, hanging out with friends, going to camp, and READING! Yay!

You know that reading isn't just for school. It is an all year activity, and we're challenging you to break the world record for the most minutes read over the summer. Last year in the Scholastic Summer Challenge, kids around the world read an impressive 64,213,141 minutes. We need your help to break that record, and you can earn prizes along the way!

Take the Scholastic Summer Challenge! You can:

Win Cool Stuff! You can participate in weekly challenges and win virtual prizes. Every month, you can enter a new sweepstake to win awesome prizes. Like right now, you have the chance to win a Harry Potter complete series box-set!

Have fun reading! You can chat with fellow readers on the message boards and look at a virtual world map to see how much kids in other countries are reading. You can find activities and book lists to help you decide what to read next.

Compete with kids around the world! Logging your reading minutes will help break the world record for reading minutes! PLUS, the 20 schools with the most minutes logged will be included in the 2013 Scholastic Book of World Records! How cool is that?!

The Challenge is happening now through August 31st. Are you ready to read?

Whatever After Book #1: Fairest of All

New Modern Day Fairy Tale Series: Whatever After by Sarah Mlynowski

Every time Abby and Jonah enter their basement mirror, they find themselves messing up a different fairy tale! In Fairest of All, Book #1 of the new Whatever After series, Abby and Jonah get tangled in Snow White's story. Once there, they accidentally change major events in the tale! In order for Snow White to get her happy ending, it's up to Abby and Jonah to make things right.

• Read Chapter 1
• Watch the Video Trailer
• Play the Dress Up Game
• Read the STACKS Book Review

What do you think? Are you excited for a new twist on the Snow White story? If you could enter any fairy tale, which would YOU choose? Leave a Comment.

--Vanessa, Scholastic Trade Books

Would You Rather Quiz

Life is full of important questions. Like why is the sky blue? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Where's Waldo? But now it's time for the most important question of them all: Would You Rather? Yes, it's that time again when Ink Splot 26 pushes you to your creative limits and forces you to make some tough decisions. So without further ado, here's what you've all been waiting for!

Would you rather . . . 

1. Fly on the back of a griffin OR swim in the ocean with a sea monster?
2. Learn how to cast spells OR learn how to brew potions?
3. Travel around the world in a hot air balloon OR sail the seven seas in a boat?
4. Star on a TV show OR become a pop star?
5. Go hiking in the Amazon jungle OR spend the day on the beach in the Caribbean?
6. Fight a hoard of pirates OR battle a band of ninjas?
7. Travel to the moon OR journey to the center of Earth?
8. Travel across America on a bike OR ride across the 50 states on horseback?
9. Play in a rock band OR perform a symphony in an orchestra?
10. Read a new book every day for a year OR write a new book every day for a year?

Post your answers in the Comments below. Good luck making these tough decisions!

— Brian, STACKS Writer (a.k.a. BlackBird268)

One Direction Quiz Answers

Yes, the boys of One Direction are cute and funny and talented. But did you know that One Direction has already made music history? In March 2012, their album Up All Night entered the U.S. Billboard 200 pop album chart at #1, the first time ever for a debut album by a U.K. band. Not even The Beatles accomplished that! 

Last week, I posted a One Direction Trivia Quiz with some much less serious facts about these 5 adorable boys from the U.K. How much do you know about the boys' sillier sides? Here are the answers.

Writing Prompt: Funny City Names

Writing Prompt: Funny City Names

Quick quiz! Can you guess what the following names are?

Pee Pee

Gross

Monkey's Eyebrow

Boring

Cow Springs

Fluffy Landing

Last Chance

Did you guess what they are names of? Well, believe it or not, they are all names of U.S. cities or townships. (Actually, you should believe it because it's true!). Which brings me to today's Write On Writing Prompt by Addison:

If you could make up a name for a city, what would you name it? Be as creative as you can.

You never know; maybe one day, you'll see your city name on a map like the wacky list above. And in case you were wondering, here are the city/state match-ups:

• Pee Pee, Ohio
• Gross, Kansas
• Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky
• Boring, Maryland
• Cow Springs, Arizona
• Fluffy Landing, Florida
• Last Chance, Colorado

So let Addison know your made-up city names in the Comments below, but please don't tell us the real cities where you live!

— Ratha, STACKS Writer