Category Archives: Social Studies

My Capstone Experience

Posted on by
Reply

You’re in front of a lot of people, your hands are sweaty, public speaking is not your thing. You’re trying to remember your lines. Well this is Capstone. Have you ever done Capstone? Well I had to. It is a project that you do at the end of fifth grade. By now I think you are wondering what my topic is. It is Artificial Intelligence.I had to do so many things for example do research, write an essay, make a script template, and present the final product. You could choose a ted talk or a WeVideo. I chose TED Talk.

Ok now let’s go back to the start of capstone you have to choose a topic that you’re interested in and something you don’t know that much about as you know I chose AI. So for the first part of the research this process was long and took two weeks. As you can tell this part is really important because if you don’t have the research then what are you going to present? I had to research my sub questions that mean stuff to help me answer my big question. My sub questions were who and how was AI created, what was AI like when it first started, what are the major ways it has changed, how is AI advancing, and how is AI being used today in schools, businesses, and everyday use? I used a lot of resources such as books and websites. There wasn’t anything that was too hard but some information was hard to find.

The essay. A long writing piece is long and takes a long time. It is meant to put everything together and when I put mine together I found out that I think that AI will change so much more than it already is. For some stuff that was challenging I think it was the typing, and putting all my research together. It was nice that we had A week to do the essay. It was not that hard we already had the research we just put it in. But the one thing that made it harder was it had to be three pages and mine was not so I had to do more research and that annoyed me because research is hard. But it was not that much research so I was ok. If you would like to see my full essay click here.      

Script template. It is where I shorten my essay down. I hate this so much because we did all the hard work to do the research and that took two weeks to do. But it needed to be under six minutes because you did not want people to be staring at someone talking for ten minutes. Like I said you can do a WeVideo or a TED Talk. And I chose TED Talk but why. I wanted to do it because I did a WeVideo and it took a long time to make. I did not do a TED Talk so that is why. If you would like to see my script template click here.       

After all this work I am almost done. It is time for the final product. But there is so much more work you need to make a slideshow. It is not that hard but it might take a while. It is about twenty slides long. Memorizing it took me a while but you wrote it you should know it. But after a while I got it and I just need to practice for a little bit so I have it fully in my brain. And I need to present it. I got this. It is my end of fifth grade project so I should be great and I am great.

All and all, Capstone was a good experience to do a big project and it will help for middle school. And it is so much fun to learn facts from others and they will learn from yours. 

If you would like to see me present here it is.

 

 

Courageous course

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever wondered what it is like when you go to a ropes course? I went to one for a field trip. In this reflection you will learn about my favorite challenges and you will understand what I learned about myself and my classmates and what I learned about teamwork. 

I enjoyed many challenges at the ropes course. My favorite was the rope bridge challenge I like is because it was the easiest  you had to be on a bridge and not touch the ground and not touch another person. Another one I liked was the lava island challenge because I was really good at it. It is where there are three islands and you could not touch the ground there was a plank and that would not touch the ground either and the plank is smaller than the space. Finally, the last one I liked was the rope swing challenge because you needed to get to this platform and without touching the ground I liked it but it was the hardest one out of the five and I got many tries.

Additionally, I learned a lot about myself, my classmates and teamwork. What I learned about myself is that I can be bossy. But I can also be bossy with really good ideas. Like on the lava island challenge, where the goal is to cross three pieces of wood and not touch the ground.  We had a big plank to use which could not touch the ground either.   I said to the group “I have an idea”. No one listened to me but my friend Reznor. He said “listen to Asher”.   Everyone listened to me,  My idea was to stand on the plank and some teammates would help hold people on the plank.  This idea helped us complete the challenge. What I learned about teamwork was to let people go before you. Because I would much rather everyone getting to the other side than just me getting to the other side.   

In conclusion, at the Bedford Ropes course, I learned that it is easier to work as a group.  It will help you in the future when you are older. This field trip was fantastic and I can’t wait for another fun field trip. 

 

 

Home Of The Brave Refletion

Posted on by
Reply

Oftentimes in literature authors have windows and mirrors. In the book called Home Of The Brave by Katherine Applegate, The main character’s name is Kek and he is a refugee who is from Sudan and moved to America his mom is missing and the rest of his family is dead. I had widows and mirrors and here I will share them. Windows and mirrors are something that shows you and a window is something that is new to you. 

I never had to realize the wealth and  privileges in America but Kek realizes the wealth and privileges. For example he went to school and he went to his class room and his teacher told him to sit at a desk but  he said “no man can afford such a nice desk like this”. Also when Dave was showing him the new technology on earth he learned what a lock a light switch was. He thought a washing machine was for cleaning dishes. And that is why kek does not realize the wealth and privileges. I never felt this way because I never stopped and thought I Just used the thing. 

Another window for me is learning a new language. Kek learned a new language. His first language was an African language but it did not state it in the story. One way this is a window is because at school he goes to a class where he learns how to speak english and everybody speaks a different language. Another example is that learning a new language is a window for me because he does not know what a lot of words are so when he hears a word like in french fries he needs to know what those words are to extend his vocabulary. He also is learning a new language so he might get confused with other words from his old home. 

And that is why in the story home of the brave the main character Kek realizes wealth and privileges and learns a new language. I can tell that doing these things were hard but Kek kept trying and that is why the book Home Of The Brave by Katherine Applegate is a great book.  

Identity Map Reflection

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever thought about your identity? We all have our own identity. I made a map about my personality. An identity map shows who you are and you can make it in your own creative way. If you read this you will see what is on my identity map and my friends at my table’s identity map.

There are objects and things on my identity map. It shows who I am. I am proud of these items and  they are important to me.  I am a dog lover. I have two dogs. One is 15 and his name is Brisket, the other one is two and his name is Kugel. They have  been a part of my life for a very long time. I am also a car lover. My dad has a Lotus. My favorite car is a Rolls Royce. Zzzzzzz…  Lastly, I am a lover of  sleep.  Sleep makes your body healthy. Sleep also energizes you. 

I also learned a lot about my tablemates’ identities. My tablemates’ names are Sydney, Josh and Kayla. They have also made maps.  Sydney is a competitive xcel gymnast. She is a tennis player who plays every friday. Josh is Rubik’s cube solver. He solves three by three and has been doing it for a year. He is also a coder who started last summer. Kayla, is a Libra. She has brown hair and she is a softball player. She has been playing softball since kindergarten. 

In conclusion, I made an identity map and shared it with you. I learned that although I have some similarities to other children in the class, we all have unique qualities and enjoy different activities. What is on your identity map? If you made one I would love to read it.