Category Archives: Social Studies

Westchester County Board of Legislators

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Did you know there are seventeen legislators for Westchester county? I didn’t know that until my class took a field trip to the Westchester County Board of Legislators. In this blog post you will hear all about what I learned on this field trip. You will also learn about all the things I enjoyed during the field trip.

Two things I learned from the trip are the steps of how a bill becomes a law in a county and about how legislators discuss and sometimes they disagree. The first step in a bill becoming a law is, it has to go through a committee of legislators, but not all have to attend. Also people from the public can attend the meeting. They go around discusing their opinions to the chairperson (he or she is in charge of the meeting). Then they all vote YAY (yes) or NAY (yes). If the majority vote NAY, then the bill stops there, but if the majority vote YAY, then the bill goes to a full chamber of legislators, clerks, public speakers, and the chairperson. There they go around discusing their opinions to the chairperson again. Then they all vote YAY or NAY again. If the majority vote YAY then the bill becomes a law. If the majority vote NAY it goes back to the committee to improve it. I also learned when legislators don’t agree they try to convince other legislators. Sometimes legislators get convinced when other legislators state their opinions. Sometimes legislators completely disagree with other legislators and they stand by their opinion.

Two things I enjoyed was being a legislator and meeting Legislator Benjamin Boykin. I liked being a legislator because we get to vote on laws. Everybody got to state their opinion/vote on a bill into the real legislator microphones and got to sit in a real legislator chair (inside of the real chamber that the legislators vote in). I liked meeting Benjamin Boykin because he is the real legislator for my district. We got to take a picture with him and he gave each and everyone of us a certificate of merit signed by him and the chairman.

In this blog post, you read about what I learned during this field trip and what I enjoyed during it. I hoped you learned an interesting fact from this post. Would you want to be a legislator for Westchester county?

American Revolution Jacob Blog Post #2

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The topic I picked was a TED talk on Paul Revere’s engraving (The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King-Street). The reason I chose my topic was because at first I was studying the Boston Massacre and I couldn’t think of what my main topic was. Later on when I was studying I found a picture of Paul Revere’s engraving and that greatly sparked my interest. I am doing a TED talk because I am good at public speaking. I did not want to do an ignite because the slide auto advance.

When I was done with my narrative, I needed help with putting chunks of it into a script template. It was hard for me to even out and have enough information on each slide. I got help and I finished my script and moved on to memorizing it. My favorite part of the project was finding images and putting them in my slideshow. I also liked memorizing my script. I learned from this project that when you are finding information you can’t copy and paste you have to put it in your own words. Another reason I am presenting through a TED talk is because I have a lot of information and I needed more slides. I am very excited to present in front of the parents. Practicing has helped me memorize my whole entire script.

American Revolution Jacob Blog Post #1

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I chose to study about Paul Revere’s engraving (The Bloody Massacre that was perpetrated on King Street) because I was interested in how the engraving was important. 

At first, it was hard to find notes because a lot of websites about The Boston Massacre did not have info about the engraving. But my teacher Mrs. Rago found a great website for me and that is how I got all my information. In the beginning of the research phase I wished I had not copied and pasted every thing because it took a lot of time to make it into my own words. At first, I thought that would make taking notes easier, but I learned that if I just take notes in my own words it makes the work easier.

When I finished my research I started making it into a script and I was feeling good because I was actually doing good with the script.

I feel my project is going well and I am excited to present in front of the parents. I am good at public speaking so I have no problem doing a TED talk. I have a lot of information on my script, but I don’t think I will be able to remember it all. So I think I will take a long time  to memorize my script. I think I need help with memorizing my script.