Category Archives: Writing

Capstone Blog Post #3: Creating My Essay

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Now that I am far into the project with all my research done its time to now think about my essay. Also I will show my essay at the end of this. When I wrote my first draft I didn’t really understand what to do so I just each sub question as a body paragraph. After reading several examples and starting to understand it much more I was able to think of a claim, “There are three ways that March Madness has evolved and 6 teams have has the most success competing in the tournament.” Using this I began my essay. I started off with an introduction that I didn’t really like. After a couple of days of thinking I finally thought of the perfect hook. Next I made three different body paragraphs that each had a reason from my thesis. I put all my research in for each body paragraph. The next part of my essay was the conclusion. This part was simple for me because I restated my claim and ended it by giving the reader to think about. The next and final part of my Essay was feedback and revisions. I spent tons of time looking over my essay for any possible revisions. After that I asked some friends to read my essay and give me some feedback. Then after fixing everything and making my essay the best possible essay I could make it. I loved it a lot. But this isn’t the end I still have to make my script. Here is the essay though:

 

 

 

The Evolution of March Madness

by Ben

 

Think of this… A tournament played every year that takes place in March. Several Division 1 college basketball teams compete in one of the biggest sports events. Can you guess what it is? If you guessed March Madness then you’re correct. But March Madness wasn’t always the fun, crazy and awesome basketball tournament played every year. So how has it changed? I’m sure that now you are now wondering how March Madness has changed. Lucky for you, I’m about to save you a lot of time because in this essay I’m going to be showing you different ways that March Madness has evolved and what teams have had the most success competing in it. March Madness has evolved because of the Pod System, the change from eight teams in 1939 till now where 68 teams compete and because of the invention of bracketology. And six teams that have had the most success competing in March Madness.

One way that March Madness evolved is the creation of the pod system. For example, in the early 2000’s the NCAA basketball committee decided that they were sending too many teams too far from home. They came up with what they call a pod system where they put teams to play as close to home as possible. They try to keep it relative to what seed (Which is the number your team is given based on your skill and wins that season) the teams are in, while still keeping them as close to home as possible.

Another way March Madness evolved is the changes from having eight teams compete in the tournament in 1939 until now where 68 teams compete. In 1939 there were only eight teams in the tournament. By 1951 there were 16 teams in the tournament.  Then, in 1975, they doubled the number to 32 teams in the tournament. In 1985, they expanded the number of teams to 64 teams competing in the tournament. The person I interviewed, professional writer Michael DeCourcy, states, “The move to 64 teams in 1985 was super important and it really changed the tournament in a good way.”  In 2001, after the Mountain West Conference joined Division I and received an automatic bid, pushing the total teams to 65, a single game was added prior to the first round. In 2011, they expanded it to 68 teams. 

My final way that March Madness has evolved is the invention of bracketology. Bracket pools changed the tournament because it has helped the tournament grow and get more popular. The bracket pools used to be not that popular, but as they got more and more popular the more the tournament started to grow. Also, in order to have the publication of the bracket done, instead of having to put it in people’s mailboxes there had to be a way of knowing which teams were in the tournament. 7 years after the internet was first created Joe Lunardi started experimenting with how to project the tournament and that’s where bracketology was born. In order to facilitate the tournament bracket without having to put several copies of paper into people’s mailboxes. That’s another element of the tournament that has changed.

The 6 teams that have had the most success competing in March Madness are Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke and Indiana. For example, Kentucky has competed the most in 58 different tournaments. North Carolina competed 50 times, Kansas competed 48 times, UCLA competed 47 times and Duke competed 43 times. You also get a total win count of how many games you win in the tournament. Kentucky has won 129 total games. North Carolina has won 126 total games, Kansas has won 108 total games, UCLA has won 101 total games and Duke has won 111 total games. Also there are championship games where if you win it you win the tournament. UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Indiana have won the most championships or as some people call it “titles”. UCLA has won the most championships winning 11. Kentucky has won 8, North Carolina won 6 championships, Duke won 5 and Indiana also won 5 championships.

In conclusion, March Madness has evolved because of the Pod System, the change from eight teams in 1939 till now where 68 teams compete and because of the invention of bracketology. And the 6 teams that have had the most success competing in March Madness include Kuntucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke and Indiana. Next time, whether you are rooting for your favorite team that is about to win the championship or when you are mad because your team just lost in the tournament, just remember this tournament has changed over the years.

Castone Blog Post #2

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For the next step in capstone we had to do an interview. Originally I already knew who I was interviewing because one of the reasons I picked my topic was because I could interview this person. That persons name is Denny Grace he compteted in March Madness and I thought that he could really help me with my research. When the time to try and schedule an interview got close I scheduled 5/13/21. Then my awesome aid Ms. Clemente emailed someone named Micheal DeCourcy. He is a writer/reporter and a bracket analyst for march madness. My parents and I emailed him and I was so excited while I was waiting for a responce. When he responded he said he could do the interview on 5/11/21 at 4:00 pm and we did…

My questions for my interview were:

  1. Why did you decide to write about sports?
  2. How long have you been writing about sports?  How long have you been covering college basketball?
  3. Has anything changed since you first started writing than right now? (Rules and stuff)
  4. Do you go to the games or do you watch them on tv and write about them?
  5. Do you think that you have helped people change the way they look at March Madness and why it is enjoyable?
  6. How long does it usually take to write a whole article? What’s involved?
  7. Do you agree that March Madness should stay an annual event and do you find it enjoyable?
  8. Is there anything in March Madness that you think should be changed? 
  9. How has COVID impacted college teams?  
  10. How has COVID impacted you as a reporter?
  11. Over the years, what are some changes (e.g., rules)/guidelines that you think shouldn’t have been made to how NCAA tournaments are played?
  12. What are some challenges of being a reporter?
  13. Do you have any college teams that are your favorite?  Why or why not?
  14. What college teams have had the most success competing during the time you’ve been reporting? 
  15. What’s your favorite memory of covering March Madness?

The interview went well. I got tons of infortmation just on one interview! For example I learned:

In the early 2000’s the NCAA basketball committee decided that they were sending to many teams to far from home. They came up with what they call a pod system where they put teams to play as close to home as possible relative to what seed your in.

I also learned:

There were lots of teams that thought they were going to have a chance to play in March Madness in 2020. For example, Penn State was going to qualify for the tournament. Lamar Stevens played for three years on Penn State hoping to make the NCAA tournament, but then because of the cancellation of the tournament in 2020 due to covid-19 he was never able to play in the NCAA tournament before he got drafted.

Another thing I learned is:

Bracket pools used to be not that popular but as they get more and more popular the more the tournament grows. In order to have the publication of the bracket done instead of having to put it in people’s mailboxes there had to be a way of knowing which teams were in the tournament. Joe Lunardi started experimenting with how to project the tournament and that’s where bracketology was born. In order to facilitate the tournament bracket without having to put several copies of paper into people’s mailboxes. 

My interview with Micheal Decourcy didn’t stop me with my interview with Denny. Denny and I still had our interview planned for 5/13/21. When the day of the interview came we had to reshedule. We couldn’t really find a good day and time to interview. Then on 5/17/21 on such short notice my dad texted Denny and he said he would love to do the interview that day at 6:15. My questions for the interview were:

  1. What made you want to play college basketball?
  2. What school did you attend?
  3. What years did you participate in March Madness?
  4. What years have you won March Madness?
  5. Who did you play against?
  6. In your opinion what are the key factors for winning a title?  For example, mostly the coach/coaches? 
  7. The chemistry of the players on the team? 
  8.  Was any experience from one year different from an experience from another year?
  9. Do you know how high the hoops were when you played?
  10. Do you know how far the three point line and freethrow line was?
  11. Did you and your teammates enjoy playing and do you like that it’s a traditional event every year?
  12. Do you keep in touch with old teammates? Why or why not?
  13. How many people were originally on your team and do you think you wanted more or less players?
  14. What is your experience being with a team?
  15. Is now any different from when you used to play?
  16. When you were about to play in March Madness was anything different than you imagined it to be because sometimes rules or stuff change?

After the interview I was super excited because I had done 2 interviews for my project in less than one week. I got all the information I need from each of my interviews and it is a lot. The due date for the interviews was Wednesday, 5/19/21. I was lucky enough to have both people able to do the interview before the date. Now I can’t wait to start writing my capstone script!

Favorite temperatures for it to be outside

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This is my graphing project. I surveyed my classmates and teachers and asked them, ” What’s their favorite temperature for it to be outside?” I tallied my results and created a bar graph. On my slideshow, I created both a bar graph and a pictograph to display my data. One thing I enjoyed about this project was learning about graph and different types of graphs. One thing I found challenging about this project was having to make the lines, numbers, bars and pictures all lined up, having to be the same size and making them big enough to see but not to big. I hope you enjoy viewing my final Google Slides Presentation.

South Carolina

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Here is my expert book on South Carolina. You are going to learn about some places in South Carolina and some good and bad things about South Carolina. You are also going to learn what are the same and different things about South Carolina and North Carolina. It took me 2 months to write and learn how to write an expert book. I learned some text features and added them in the text I also added photos and made sure they were all the perfect size and and lined up. All the hard work paid off. Hope you enjoy my expert book!

Thanks for reading my book!

Persuasive Essay

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I believe that it is very important that every room and hallway should have air conditioning at Heathcote Elementary. In my opinion piece, I shared my reasons, which are kids sweat without air conditioning and that student lunches will melt, get  mushy and spoil. It is good to have students that work with air conditioning and not sweating bullets. Also, it is good to have kids that are not starving for the whole day because their lunch spoiled.

I did a project that contained something called screencastify.  Using screencastify I made a google slideshow and I made a video of me talking about why we need air conditioning in the school. I included many reasons, intro and a conclusion. Once you watch my video you will be really convinced.

My First Time on High Ropes

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This is my personal narritive. In our first writing unit we learned about endings, beginnings, and dialogue. I chose this story to bring back fun memories from my first year at Camp Taconic. Aerial was my favorite activity at camp. Hope you enjoy the story.

 

“Are we going to Aerial next,” I asked my counselor Ryan.

“Yes,” he replied as we were just finishing up Archery.

When we got to Aerial I wondered how tall is High Ropes? It was bunk boys cabin two (B-2)’s turn to go on high ropes and the bunk boys cabin one (B-1)’s turn to go on low ropes. Since I’ve never gone on high ropes before I had to take a little test.

During the test I learned I had to say, “Hook to element Hillary,” so Hillary the counselor who was giving us the test knows I’m going onto the next obstacle. She would say, “Hook to element Ben,” and that was my signal that I was allowed to hook to the next element to go on the next obstacle.

After the test, I went up the stairs and didn’t want to go on the free fall or the big Zip Line instead I wanted to go on the mini challenge course. The first obstacle of the mini challenge course was really easy because it was a little zip line.The only thing that was not easy about it was the pain because it feels like the harness was pulling me up when the gravity was pulling me down harder then the harness felt like it was pulling me up and made my thighs hurt. The next obstacle was a log that was pretty thin. That was so scary because when I looked down I was really high in the air, with a lot of trees and bushes under me.It got scarier because it

felt like the log was really loose.I didn’t want to take another step but then… I said to myself I have to. When I took another step all of a sudden my foot slipped off the log and I fell off the log. Luckily my harness caught me!  I was trying to get back on the log and I slipped another time. Finally I got back on the log and kept going.

When I finally got to the end of that obstacle I took a deep breath and said,  “Hook to element Hillary.”

Hillary replied, “Hook to element Ben.”

The next obstacle was two ropes with wooden blocks hanging on the ropes. There were ropes sticking out from top to bottom on the left. Two wooden blocks later, there was another rope sticking out from top to bottom on the right and so on. When I was on that I mainly held on to my harness and stepped on the two ropes.

The next obstacle was one rope with five balls on it that I had to jump across.

I said to Hillary, ”Hook to element Hillary,”

“Hook to element Ben,” Hillary replied.

After I jumped across the balls I looked to see where I was. Guess where I was?I WAS AT THE END OF THE MINI CHALLENGE COURSE!

I was so excited that I finished the mini challenge course as I was zooming down to  the ground on the big Zipline!

And that my friends is my first time on high ropes!