Feature Article Reflection

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Have you ever written a feature article or even know what it is? Writing one was challenging but also very enjoyable. You have to chose a topic, a main idea or message, and a format. I chose to write about the The Men’s Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. There are many reasons why I chose this topic. At the end there were also many things I was proud of and some techniques that I used were more effective than others. It all took a lot of thought but it came out fine. 

The reason I chose to write about The Men’s FIFA World Cup is because I knew a lot about the World Cup and I always had had a love and passion for soccer. I wanted to show exactly how much the players and teams had to go through to claim the worlds greatest trophy so I chose the message “The FIFA Men’s World Cup is really hard to win.” I needed to prove how it was more hard to win than the tennis tournaments or the Olympics. 

The parts of writing the article that were most challenging to write about was the category of The World Cup Qualifiers. I did not know that much of the Qualifiers and had to do a lot of research. Another part that was most challenging was writing something in your own words. Its so easy to just do command c, command v. The problem is that is stealing. Another challenge was the actual part were I had to organize the writhing into a slideshow and find images. There was so many “you have to put it like this” and “you can’t do this” restrictions. Also there was restrictions like all the sizes had to be correct, that you could only have one font, and the line and paragraph spacing needed to be 1.15, forced to the top, and aligned to the left. There were also so many grammar checks that we had to do and looking over a 1,000 word block of writing is a pain. This was also enjoyable because it was fun to play around with the organization. The writing part was also pretty enjoyable because I like it to just be silence and have your fingers flying on the keyboard. It was also really fun to add pictures and have fun fact boxes. Even I learned a little by searching for fun facts. But writing a feature article is different from writing a personal narrative or a all about expert book. That because you have to focus on a single message and you have to do a lot of formatting because it is a article. Not a book. 

There were many techniques that I used when I was writing and formatting my feature article like pictures that explained the text, on the bottom and top of the pages I put red strips to make the article look better, and I used a fun fact box and a glossary. Some things I’m really proud of in my feature article are like learning new things myself and completing the narrative. But the thing I am most proud of is finishing the formatting. It was really fun and hard to organize the formatting. In the beginning the slides just looked pretty bad and messy. But after I finished I was really proud that I had persevered. 

So that is why I chose to write about The Men’s Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, the most challenging and enjoyable parts, the most effective techniques, and the things I am most proud of when I finished.

If you want to read my feature article here it is:

Vote For Aiden of Class 5CL in Heathcote!

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My name is Aiden from class 5CL at Heathcote elementary school. I am ten years old and I like art and math. I have very big ideas that I want you to support! Its easy! My two big ideas are that kids here in Heathcote should have more fun! My second idea is that you can spend more time on the subjects you like. So if you vote for me and I win in the election I will enforce these ideas here in Heathcote. 

My first idea is that kids should have more fun. If kids do really good work they should be able to have more recess, or earn something like less homework, or be able to watch a movie. Due that the students know what they are working for they could work harder. I want this so you can have more fun. Lets say you have a board that whenever your teacher puts a star on it for good work its one minute extra recess. Or if you show your teacher you can sit next to your friends without talking you can chose where you sit. If you don’t think I can’t enforce it I can. Some teachers already have similar things like this such as Davidson Dollars or a mystery walker. All I have to do is make sure every teacher has as least one way to do this and that the students agree on it. Less work, more fun! 

My second idea is that you can spend more time on subjects that you really like. I really want this to happen because most of my class wants to have more time in art class. If you have a subject/special you really like this is the time and place for you! There can be a time in the day where some place in the school is free that you can do anything you like there if your teacher says you earned it. Again, hard work, more fun. So you can have more time in your favorite subjects like continuing class work, drawing or continuing your project in art, or just hanging out with your friends.

So those are my two major things that I will do for the school if you vote for me and I win. Heathcote should have more fun and you can have more time in your favorite subject! Must I remind you though that those people that say their going to let you stay home for days and recess all day are tricking you. They have no power to do that. VOTE FOR ME, LESS WORK MORE FUN.  So what if you were elected Heathcote president? What would your two major ideas be? 

Fun at the Westchester County Board of Legislators

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Our Legislator at the Westchester county Board of Legislators that represents Scarsdale is Benjamin Boykin. He represents district five which is Scarsdale and parts of Westchester and Harrison. I actually met him when my class went on a field trip to the Westchester county Board of Legislators. My three favorite parts when I was there were meeting Benjamin Boykin, going into the chamber room, and hitting the gavel at the end of the trip. I also learned so much on the trip.

I have three favorite parts of the things and I had a lot of fun doing them. One of the things I really enjoyed was meeting Scarsdales, Westchesters and Harrisons Legislator when we were about to go into the chamber room. His name is Benjamin Boykin. He was not supposed to be there that day so we got lucky. He led us into the chamber room and showed us around. He said that it was probably the biggest and nicest chamber room in the state. We took a picture with him and I got to stand right next to him behind the actual chairman chair. He said he represented district five. He is the  Representative for us! We got to ask him questions and the answers were really interesting. It was very fun meeting him. The second thing I really enjoyed was the chamber room and what we did there. When we entered the chamber room it was so big and fancy. Benjamin Boykin said it is the fanciest and nicest chamber room in the county. We were all assigned jobs by Benjamin Boykin. The jobs were Chairman, Clerks, and Legislators. Josh got to be Chairman and got to sit in the actual place where the Chairman sits. He is so lucky, I wish I got to be Chairman. But at least I got to be a Clerk with Lainey. Everybody else got to be a Legislator. The most surprising thing was that we all got to sit in the actual seats in the chamber room. There were microphones on each of them. I got to sit right under the chairman as a clerk facing all the other Legislators. “LEGISLATOR OSCAR!” I said through the mic. It came out louder than I thought. It sounded like the world’s biggest horn ‘farting.’ We used a mock bill to see actually how they do it with a real bill. I had a lot of lines to do! I had to take attendance. Chairman Josh got the most lines though, he had to call on people to make comments on the bill and much. Then me and Lainy recorded the votes and we voted no on the law. When I called on people it sounded like this: “Legislator Maria, no. Legislator Spencer, no. Legislator Oscar, no.” and so on. It was fun speaking through the mic. Plus the chair I was sitting on was extra comfy! The third thing I liked was hitting the gavel. At the end of the meeting we all got to hit the gavel and say “the meeting is now augured.” It was really because it felt like I had a lot of power. It was not the funnest thing to do but I still liked it. So those are the top three things I liked to do when I went to the Westchester county Board of Legislators. They were all really fun to do and I want to do it again. I also learned a lot and you’re going to find out what!

I learned a lot on the trip and I was surprised about some of them. One thing I learned is that the gavel is a hammer that you hit on a piece of wood. The Chairman hits it to bring order to the chamber. That means if everybody is arguing the Chairman hits the gavel and everybody stops. They also do at the end of a meeting and say “the meeting is now adjourned.” Another thing I learned is that there are about 1.3 million people in Westchester and about 20,000 people in Scarsdale. The county executive is the president of the Westchester Board of Legislators. His name is George Latimer and he is running for the senate. Another fun fact is that the very first chairman in the board of legislators is about to turn 100 years old in 2025. That means he was born in 1925. Benjamin Boykin represents district five (Our district). There are 17 districts and because there is an odd number of districts when they vote on a bill there can never be a tie. They also taught us about the process a bill takes before it becomes a law. First somebody introduces an idea to the board. They take it to the committee room where the committee members say what they think on the bill. They can add minor changes and then they vote. If a majority of the committee members vote yes then they take the bill to the board of legislators chamber room. In the chamber room the legislators read the law and make comments. The public is invited. After they make comments the clerk tallies the law. If the majority votes yes the bill is sent to the county executive which is George Latimer at the minute. If he signs it the bill is a law. If he vetoes it is sent back to the chamber room to revise or change. Benjamin Boykin said that most bills they vote on become a law. But if the judicial branch of Westchester County says it is unconstitutional it is not a law anymore. Overall, I really liked this trip I learned so much and had so much fun.

Overall, I thought the trip to the Westchester County Board of Legislators was really fun. The things I most liked on the trip were meeting Benjamin Boykin, going into the chamber room, and hitting the gavel at the end of the trip. I also learned a lot and want to go back soon.

The Fifth Grade

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Do you like hot dogs? Well I do. I’m really looking forward to The Hot Dog Field day, the Board of Legislators trip, the science unit Space Systems: The Stars and The Solar System,  writing more literary essays and studying The Making of a Government & U.S. Constitution. I loved making the identity maps, studying the government, and much more. Also, do you like school? If you don’t, you could be surprised at how much you can enjoy the first week of fifth grade. 

Five things I did in the past week I either really enjoyed or were really boring. Really boring. One thing is the book I started (and finished) called Storm Runner and it is now one of my favorite books. I’m dying to read the next book called “The Fire Keeper.” The Storm Runner is about a boy named Zane and he figures out he is a godborn and connected to ancient prophecy. Now he must travel to the Old World and fight the god of death, destruction, and disaster, A-puch. One time in the book Zane found a elephant sized chicken banging on the door of his house with Hondo and Brooks. It turned out to be Ms. Cab the great seer! I had to reread it three times to make sure my eyes were not malfunctioning. It was so funny! “Holy chicken!” I said, “why is a giant chicken pecking on the doors! Does it want birdseed?!” (Later in the book Ms Cab actually started to love birdseed.) I also started the Wings of Fire series and it is so interesting. The second thing I really enjoyed was making an identity map. It tells everything that makes you, you. I worked really hard on it and almost went over the time limit. The hardest part was making the Real Madrid and Spanish soccer team logos. I had to do it last because my teacher Ms. Cooper had to show me what they looked like so I could draw them correctly. Then when it was the last day to finish the identity maps I could not finish in time. “Please please please.” I begged for more time. At least Ms. Cooper gave me five extra minutes to finish the next day. Yeeeee haw! I thought. No, I’m not a cowboy. The third thing I did that I really enjoyed is probably the most interesting. It is studying the government. The 3 branches are the executive (president), legislative (congress), and the judicial branch. (supreme court). We are going to go much deeper in the government and how it works especially since in November 2024 it is the presidential election. This is one of my favorite topics and I really want to learn more. I ended up reading all the books and watching all the videos that I had more than five pages of notes! Once when I told Ms. Furgatch I had finished with my notes she said to read all them over. “Awwwwwwwww.” A fourth thing I loved was drawing the zentangle hands with Mr Bently. Now for the boring part. The “Responsible Use Policy” (RUP) lesson with Mr. Casal. (yes yes I get it. R u p, don’t make a joke about it.) This is when Mr Casal  gives us a presentation about how to responsibly use our chromebooks and the consequences if we don’t. When it was time to read over the responsible use policy about our chromebooks I thought I was going to die of boredom! When he called for questions so many people raised their hands. AAAAAA we are going to be here all day. I just had to stretch and yawn. So these were some of the great and not so great things I did in the first week of school. Next is what I look forward to. Or should I say, the future. 

Yeah, I agree I  made that last sentence a little too dramatic. Probably I did not need it. But, now for what I look forward to. Now, it might sound funny to you when I say hot dog field day but yes. This is all true. The first thing I look forward to is the Hot Dog Field day. Now, I’m not 100% sure what it is about but I think it is a day when you eat tons of hot dogs somewhere. I love hot dogs. So you can probably see why I’m excited.  What I am most excited about is the Board of Legislators field trip. It’s a half day field trip to a building where you learn all about the government. Specifically the Legislative branch (Congress). So you can see that I really like studying the government. The third thing I’m excited about is studying Space Systems: The Stars and The Solar System in science. I’m fascinated by the universe and would love to learn more.  The fourth thing I’m excited about is studying the Making of a Government & U.S. Constitution. Again the government. One thing that interests me is how people come up with such a complex way of making a government and how it will work so I want to learn more. The fifth and last thing I’m excited about is writing more literary essays. It is so fun to type, type, and type some more! And there you go, the five things I’m excited about. Mind you these are only some of the things I am really excited about but I don’t have enough space to write them. Things like the Halloween Party but that is for another time so adios! (For now)

Overall, I really enjoyed what we did in the past week and I’m really excited for the year to come! To summarize what I did in the past week, I enjoyed reading the storm runner series, making the identity map, and studying the government. I’m excited about the Hot Dog Field Day, Board of Legislators Trip, Space Systems: The Stars and The Solar System, and The Making of a Government & U.S. Constitution. What are you excited about?

AmRev Aiden Blog

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My American Revolution topic was Why did the Colonists win the Revolutionary War? I picked it because I knew that the British military was the strongest in the world at the time so how did the colonists win? I am sharing my topic through a TED talk. The thing that I needed most help with was finding research on what strategies did the continental army use to defeat the British army and what other things helped them. Did they have allies? Was the land in their favor? Did they seek out huge battles and hope they win? The best part about the project was when I was almost done. After all the hard work I was almost done. The project showed me how you can’t just trust one website or think that the internet is always right – anybody could post false information on the internet. You can’t trust only one website even if it is a website like Wikipedia. I’m excited to present but also a little nervous. What if I mess up? Practicing has helped me grow more confident in myself. I need to remember to switch the slides though! 

Extreme Weather Reflections

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When choosing groups I was very happy with the people on it. I got my first choice and had most of my friends in the group. I chose hurricanes because I had already studied them but was very curious about how they were measured. That is why I changed with Max. Firstly, because Max was unhappy about what he was studying and I liked data gathering. I debated on tsunamis but decided on hurricanes. I kind of wished I chose tsunamis but I am still really happy with hurricanes.

When finding information on hurricanes about how they were measured I think I was pretty successful because I had no trouble on finding websites. They had many pages on dropsondes and satellites which they said were the most important in tracking hurricanes. I think I had more success on websites than books because all the books were a bit out-dated. The websites also explained every single detail better than the books.

I was able to make notes that I then used later because there were two great websites, the NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH and the HURRICANES articles which had rich information on dropsondes and satellites. 

My group helped me find the NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH article and Ben found me a great book on satellites. I also supported my group members by finding one website on hurricane Sandy for Ella. I also found the path of hurricane info and the cost of rebuilding from a hurricane for Max which they both used in their script. 

I struggled a bit to turn the writing into a script because I didn’t know what to get rid of. If it hadn’t been for Ben and Jacob I probably would not have been able to say the entire script in 30 seconds. Still I was happy with the script. My mom helped me because she said I had to introduce the things I was going to talk about. I ignored it but later realized she was right.  I changed it 2 days after the presentation and she said it was a lot better. 

When finding images I had a little trouble but I kept switching them. Finally, I settled after 13 changed photos on the second slide, a picture of satellites over a hurricane and a computer viewing a hurricane. Then after one change of photos on the first I settled with a dropsonde about to be dropped.

When memorizing my script I thought it would be hard but turned out to be easy. After a few tries I could say it perfectly. The little changes I made were easy to add and remember. But the thing was when everybody was there I was a little nervous. I’m okay with them looking at me but if they were staring I got so nervous I would forget my lines. 

The best part of working with a group is that they help you. They notice mistakes and without my group my script would have been too long. Working with a group also means you have company. You can talk to them and ask them questions.

The hardest part of working with a group is that you get into arguments, especially when you’re choosing things. Also sometimes when somebody helps you and you disagree the other person has to understand that it is the other person’s choice. 

The thing that I am most proud of is doing the presentation. I had to plow through and get over my nervousness to speak in front of the parents. I was very scared but I still did it. 

Persuasive Writing

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Essay
Have you ever seen a picture of garbage in the ocean? Think about the Great Pacific Garbage patch. It is 3 times the size of France. It has 1.8 billion pieces of floating plastic that kill thousands of marine animals a year. Would you feel bad? Polluting oceans is a problem all around the world. It kills marine life and tons of other animals on the shore. Would you help clean it up? Or would you leave it? The ocean is one of the things that matters most. We need your help to save it!

One reason oceans should not be polluted is because when you dump garbage into the oceans it will wash up to the beach shores. For example, when that happens and you go to play on the beach you will have to step on garbage. When you swim in the ocean you will have to swim in the garbage. One possible solution to this is to use less garbage because garbage is either left, burned, or dumped in the ocean. You can also help by picking up trash on the beach.

Another reason oceans should not be polluted is because it kills marine life. For example, when an oil ship crashes into something the oil kills animals and pollutes the ocean so I think oil ships should have thicker bows. Also the garbage in the oceans smashes into marine animals and injures them. Sometimes it gets into the animal lungs and kills them. Then if they keep on dying, marine animals could go extinct. You might be wondering, “why does marine life matter?” Well animals want to stay alive as much as you do. Also killing marine life would mess up the entire food chain. From plankton to sharks and plants. One solution you can do is pick up trash on the beach and don’t litter in the ocean. The ocean is a big part of earth. 71% of the earth is covered in water. Harming the ocean means harming 71% of the earth we live on. Harming the planet we made home.

My final reason that oceans should not be polluted is that it harms the earth when oceans are polluted. Sometimes the garbage releases fumes into the air. That causes global warming. This melts the home of polar bears. You might be wondering, “why do polar bears matter?” Well if all of the glaciers melts, for one, the polar bears would not have a place to live, hunt, or rest. What if you did not have food you would starve and die. Additionally, if all of the ice on the earth melts, there would be major flooding in all parts of the world. Kills the human species as well and that you should care about!

Oceans should not be polluted because it washes onto the shore of beaches, it kills marine life, and it harms the earth when they are polluted. 71% of the earth will PERISH. Animals will DIE. SAVE OUR OCEANS!

Reflection
I picked the topic oceans should not be polluted because I really like the ocean.

One reason I picked the topic oceans should not be polluted is because I want to save the oceans. For example people are throwing debris into the oceans and I want to stop that.

Another reason that I chose the topic oceans should not be polluted is because the oceans are one of my favorite things and I want to be able to see them every time I go to them.

Video

My Expert Book: China

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I came up with the idea of writing about China because I am Chinese American, I also wrote about China because there’s a lot of information so my book would long even if I only wrote about a few things. It took 3 and a half mouths to complete the whole book, first we brainstormed ideas and chose one of them, then I had to do a brain – dump, a brain – dump is where you write down everything you know about the topic you picked. Then we organized the brain – dump because if I had not the book would be sloppy. After that I wrote 3 idea books with 3 chapters each and chose one of the books. I chose the book that talked about Qin Shihuag, the Great Wall of China, Beijing, Hong Kong, The Forbidden City, Chinese New year, silk, and food. Then I wrote everything down on paper. Next I typed all the things we wrote on paper and made many edits, then in computer lad I learned how to add photos and make them look good and add links. Finally we read through everything, made a dedication page, made the tiniest edits, and did everything to get ready to publish it. After I finished everything I started writing this reflection.  My favorite part was when I typed everything because I like to move my fingers. I felt good and sad at the end, good because I was finally done and really proud of myself, sad because I really liked writing and typing the book. 

This is my expert book.

 

 

Thank you for reading.

Personal Narrative – Mets vs Pirates

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I plopped on the sofa so hard that my butt hurt. I quickly turned on the TV. “Dad! Can I watch TV!?” I yelled.

“Yes!” My dad yelled across the room. I turned on a Mets vs Pirates game from Sling.It was Roberto Clementa day and the TV reporter was busy introducing everybody who had earned a Roberto Clementa award.(Roberto Clementa was a really, really famous Pirates Baseball player.)

A Pirates guy came up to bat and hit a single to center field. Two strikes for the next Pirates hitter. He swung and his bat went flying into the crowd! A lady in the crowd got the wooden bat. I”Wow!”I said to myself.”I wish I got that bat!I would have struck it rich!”

I was imagining the smooth wood of the bat when the announcer said “What a stunning play!”I whirled around and saw a replay of a throw from Fransesco Linder dive for a ground ball and a falling throw to first.

After that stunning play to first the Mets got 3 outs. Jeffmcneil came up to bat. Jeff Mcneil has a .326 batting average. He hit the ball hard, it sailed silently through the air, it was a single! Branden Nimmo who was after him also hit a single.

“Let’s go!”I yelled.

Then a really, really large Mets player came up to bat. He looked like he weighed 400 Ibs.I thought he would strike out because he only had a .184 batting average and only 7 home runs, but he hit a hard hit ball to center field. It’s off the 408 ft wall! Jeff Mcneil scores! Nimmo scores! 

“A two run double for the Mets! Let’s go Mets! Let’s go Mets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I chanted. 

Just then, the  Mets shortstop Fransisco Lindor came up to bat. Two strikes and CRACK!!! The ball sailed over the fence in left field! A 396 foot home run! I jumped up and down so hard that I could hear my dad yell, “Aiden! Cut it out!”

Not realizing that he spoke to me, I screamed “Let’s go Lindor!!!!!” at the top of my lungs.

“AIDEN! Remember Zoe is asleep!” My dad yelled again.

Lights on the TV flashed ‘Home Run!’ People in the stands celebrated loudly as Fransisco Lindor circled the bases. His 36th home run of the season! Mets fans cheered and cheered as loud as a lion roaring. I slowly sat down smiling. 

“Yes!” I said, as I sunk back into the couch.

Suddenly my dad called, “Aiden! Turn off the TV!”

“One sec!” I called back, still thinking of the home run.

What felt like one minute was actually 10 minutes. My dad called me again, “Aiden! TURN. OFF.  The TV!” This time he was a little angrier.

I did not want him to be even more mad so I turned off the TV. I picked up the glass of milk that was sitting in front of me. Sipping it slowly, hoping the Mets would win. I knew that they were in the lead but the Pirates could make a comeback. “I really hope they win….” I said.

Then I trudged up the stairs to brush my teeth.