My Capstone Experience

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Have you ever done research on a topic you are passionate about, or did a deep dive on anything you like? I did a project called Capstone that is just that. My Capstone was about the Manhattan Project. I came up with a main question, What was the creation of the atomic bomb, and how did atomic spies help to save America. I had smaller questions to break this down, such as what the research and materials were, who the scientists were, who the atomic spies were and what they did, and what missions people went on. The process to create my presentation had a lot of parts, but overall, it was really fun!

When I was doing research to learn more about my topic, it was a lot more difficult than I thought. I had to go to individual websites to answer each of my sub-questions. I found many books that helped me along the way as well. When I was doing research for my first sub-question, I remembered that I had read a book called Bomb, by Steve Sheinkin, and I remember how it talked about how the atomic bomb was made physics wise. I got a lot of research out of that book. In my second sub-question, I used Norwich University’s website, and it gave me information on all the scientists individually! For my third sub-question, I found websites about some of the most important atomic spies. The websites gave me information on their betrayal, and all the information they stole from the Americans. I learned that the atomic spies were working for the Soviet Union, and were forced to gather classified American information on weaponry. Lastly, in my fourth sub-question, all the information I got about missions was in Bomb. Research was difficult, but when I found the right sources, it made life easier.

When I was doing my Capstone Essay, as shown here, I used all the research I had, and made my research into an intro, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. I had around two pages of research for each sub-question, so you can imagine how long my essay might be. In my opinion, the essay was the hardest part of the process. It was not easy to plug research in an essay. When I had finished my essay, I realized that after I timed it, it was way too long. I had a fifth sub-question, and I had to delete it, because it would make my essay shorter, and make it sound better. My essay was different from what I thought it would be. I thought that the essay was going to be pretty short. I was very wrong. After my first body paragraph, I was already over a page. Even though the end result of my essay was very long, I still was able to manage.

My script, as shown here, was a long process. Using some techniques from an immigration script, I was in good shape. First, I needed to choose a TED Talk, or a WeVideo/Movie. I chose a TED Talk, because I thought that it would suit me, and my topic better. I felt that there would be more, and better pictures on Google Slides, than on WeVideo. Choosing a TED Talk infinitely made me feel better about the script making. I started with my script by copying and pasting my introduction from my essay, to the template. While I was doing this process, I had to make some changes because of the time limit I had. I copied and pasted, then re-adjusted the wording of my slide. I also had to figure out what pictures I thought might match what I am saying. Because my essay was so long, I had to cut it down to fit the time frame. After I finished each part of the script, I timed it. Then, when I was finished, I had a time of 5:45, which was perfect.

When I was making my slideshow, it was decently nerve-racking. I knew that everything would have to be perfect, and centered, and precise, and professional. I made my slideshow pretty quick, so I could be really prepared, and completely memorized, come the day of CapCon. The way I practiced was by doing one slide at a time. Once I felt like I completely memorized that slide, I practiced how I would really do it ten times. This made me feel really prepared. When I had finished doing this, I practiced doing ten slides at a time. Finally, I did the entire thing thirty-eight times before I felt completely ready. The week before CapCon, I practiced doing it at home every night. I felt very ready.

Overall, my Capstone experience was not as difficult as I thought. I was able to complete everything at a good time, and I never felt rushed, or upset because I wasn’t ready. I think that this was a great project for me, because it helped me a lot, with time-management, and much more!

 

 

Here Is My Capstone

 

Immigration Video Blog Post

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I have had a really cool experience doing my Wevideo assignment. I had some things that stopped me momentarily but I still managed to do a really good job. This project had a lot of problem solving that was needed to complete it, but luckily, I maintained those qualities. I had a really fun time working on my video, and I am very proud of myself. 

When I was starting this, I thought it wasn’t going to be that hard but when I started, my first block took a minute. I was really surprised and I didn’t think that I could finish this within its due date. I was scared at first but as I started working on it more, I began getting further, and further along with the project. I was beginning to feel more confident until I hit a roadblock. I didn’t have some of the pictures I needed. I ended up persuading myself to work on the project a ton at home. I was now moving very quickly and was having a lot of fun doing it! 

As a result of the project, I learned that to complete something important, I needed to maintain my time very wisely. I found that doing this project improved my work ethic. I managed to do the project very well, while taking in the facts I learned about my interviewee. I learned a lot of things that I hadn’t known before. The thing was, even when things went wrong, I figured out a way to fix it. I’m very happy with myself for doing that because I improved my problem solving abilities as well. I think that this project was a very good experience for me. 

I think that this assignment has helped me grow as a person. I learned new skills that helped me be the best I can. I’m very happy with the result.

Immigrant Interview

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Have you ever interviewed someone and learned something about them? In the immigration project that I did, I interviewed Aura, a Colombian immigrant. I think this project is really cool because it taught me a lot more about immigration than I thought I knew. I’m very happy I did it, because I learned so much about Aura and the process of her coming here. If you have any free time, try this too!

When I was preparing for the interview, I had to figure out what questions I wanted to ask Aura. Since she is my babysitter, it was kind of easy to come up with open-ended questions that I didn’t already know the answer to. The limit was 11-15 questions and I managed to get fourteen. I am very proud of myself because my questions were really good and I had a great amount. I also made an organizer to prepare myself for the interview. I made a grid in a google doc and it was really efficient for me to know where everything would go. The questions went on one side of the grid, and the answers to the questions went on the other side. I put the questions in order of: Before you left, when you arrived, and life now. I did this so I knew the order of the questions I am asking. I think this part of the process was really fun. 

My experience of doing the interview was pretty great. It took a really long time but I got a ton of information out of it. Aura’s answers were very thorough and she gave me as much information as possible. She helped me so much and I’m very happy. The interview was done in the basement of my house, because we wanted to limit all noise and things that could get us distracted. My parents were out that night so it was pretty easy to get done. Since her answers were so awesome, it took an hour and a half but it was still worth it. Since it was in person, I had as much time as I wanted so that helped too. I learned that conducting an interview takes time and there is a process before the interview itself, but after you do your first one you realize it’s so fun! I learned so much about Aura but the thing I thought was most interesting was that she is a very dependent person. Now, I see her as independent but before she immigrated, she was dependent. She thought it was going to be hard when she was alone but it wasn’t. She always had people supporting her. I think overall, the interview was really great.

In conclusion, I think the process of the interview and questions was super awesome. I’m really happy I learned so much about Aura that I didn’t know before. This was a really cool thing and if you’ve never done an interview, I recommend you to try it!

Credit to Curling

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A lot of the time, you can try something new and end up liking it. I had never tried curling before on real ice and it was really fun. My class had been working on curling in phys ed and we went on a field trip to Ardsley Curling Club. I had only curled on the wood floor with fake stones on wheels. The delivery was different, sweeping made a difference on ice too. My expectations were different from the reality of what actually happened. I also realized that some things were easier than others. It was difficult, but also so fun! Some things were the same and some were different. The positions had no similarities whatsoever. Also, the coaches helped us understand and helped us play better in the game.

At school and at the curling club, some things were the same and some things were different. At school, we used plastic stones that were really light. But at the curling club, the regulation stones were 42 pounds. At school, we curled in the gym so we were on the wood floor. At the curling club, we were on ice so it was really slippery. At school we were given a carpet square to act like the ice but it wasn’t a perfect comparison. It was a lot harder at the curling club because Some of my expectations were that the rink was going to be really long but the curling houses were really big so it wasn’t as long as it seemed. I still had thought, wow this is really long. The delivery was harder but once you got the stone moving then you can get some momentum. You really have to put a perfect amount of force when releasing the stone. Sweeping helps to make the stone go further but more than half of the shots were still short. There was a really funny time when my friend had a great shot but I swept too much and the stone went just over. Another funny time was when my other friend had a great shot that would be perfect with strong sweeping, and I fell. “Ugh.” Welp, there goes that perfect shot, and my confidence, and my broom.  It was really hard but me and my team won! I was the one to make it in the house which was really cool. I accidentally swept too much and the stone went over the house. These are some of the similarities and differences between school and the curling club, and my expectations and the reality. 

At the curling club. We had coaches help us. The coaches were really nice and helped us figure out how much to turn the stone, how much to sweep, and how to do the delivery on ice. The coaches’ help really paid off because when we played in the actual game, we ended up winning. I had my friends in my group so it was really fun. We played against my other friends and it was a good match up. We all had good shots and some takeouts. When the other team had gotten a stone into the house, it wasn’t looking too good for us. Fortunately, my next shot was closer to the button than the other teams’. I had chest bumped with my friends and we all said “Let’s go!” The game was awesome. Before we even started practicing everything, me and my friends tested out the ice and I fell down right away. During the game, I ended up saying things like “SHORT” just to sound like I knew what I was doing. The positions in curling were kind of hard to understand. I was the first one on my team to deliver the stone. Then I swept twice, and then went to the other house to tell the sweepers which way to sweep. It was hard but everything paid off. Everybody had to work together to try and get the stone into the house. On my shot, my friends swept really well and they were the ones to put it perfectly in the house. It felt really good to know that I had just scored a point for my team! I’m so happy our class went on this trip.

 Overall the trip was so awesome. I’m so happy to have learned a new sport and enjoy it! It was pretty cool to have such nice coaches and they helped us thoroughly understand the game of curling in a way that we can both play it, and enjoy it. I had so much fun learning the right sweeping techniques, and the delivery. The difference between pushing off of a mat in the gym, and pushing off of a foot holder on the ice. Lastly, my expectations, versus the reality of the club. It was a really fun trip and I encourage everyone to always try something new.

Feature Article Reflection

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My feature article was really difficult but also really fun. There was a long process and I had the most amount of writing in the class. It was fun and hard but the final result looked really awesome.

From the beginning, I knew what my topic was going to be. I knew all the rules and statistics. My topic was football and at the beginning I had ten categories. The reasoning behind this was the fact that I had too many categories that were possible to add. I was able to narrow it down to five. I got all my writing in over a long process. I started out with how to play, and then positions, rules, teams, and the Super Bowl. I had some things that I wanted to include But I didn’t know where I would put them because they did not fit with any of my categories. Luckily Mrs. Cooper showed us that our writing would be formatted with space for pictures, vocabulary boxes, and fun facts.

Formatting was my favorite part. Since I had a lot of writing, I needed to be flexible with ideas for formatting. At first, my article was ten slides long. I worked some things out and narrowed it to six. I had a lot of vocabulary and pictures I wanted to include. That took time to think about as well. At the end of formatting, I had one issue. My conclusion was the only writing that I had left and It couldn’t fill up my Super Bowl page. My conclusion was tiny and I did not want to have an entire slide of pictures. I asked Mrs. Cooper and she said I could make a fun fact page. It ended up looking super cool and it threw in new ideas. Since it was on my last page, it made the article look even better. 

In conclusion, the feature article was really cool and I loved working and playing around with it. There were so many suggestions of what I could do to make my article as good as possible. I had all of the suggestions I needed and turned them into a cool and awesome feature article. 

 

 

 

Trick or Treat

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Oops. The makeup from your costume got on your shirt. Your arm seems dead from your bag of candy. It hurts. More candy, can you take the weight? I can’t believe I got this much. Think about it, you want more, use your younger sibling as a charm to get more. Halloween might as well be the best holiday ever. I think it is. The excitement, the fun, racing from door to door, and the candy of course. Yeah, it is really awesome.

Our school goes all out on Halloween and as 5th graders we get a perk. There was a 5th grade Halloween party and it was epic. The DJ was awesome. He took song requests and pumped people up. On top of that, some of the costumes were insane. My friend Andrew had an inflatable chicken costume that was around twice my height. Wait, there’s more, he also had a two foot inflatable chicken leg and a KFC chicken bucket. He really went all out. My friend Dowlat had a clown costume with a fake blood pumper and a mask that the fake blood went to. He was creepy. We also got to go to the gym. We played gaga and basketball. I brought my own football so I had a catch with my friends. I made a full court basketball shot with my football four times. Another thing that my entire school does is a Halloween parade. Everyone dresses up and we walk in the parking lot. All the parents come for the parade to take photos and admire the costumes. While I walked through the parade I spun my football on the pavement to make it look like I had scored a touchdown. I had a catch on a patch of grass with my friends. That was really fun. This is what was epic in school.

I wonder if barrels of candy are enough, I hope not. Certainly not for me. Because trick or treating means more than a couple barrels of candy. The first thing I did at night was go to my friends’ house. I had a ton of fun there. We played video games, ate a delicious dinner, and talked about funny things. While we were driving into the neighborhood, we stopped and me and my friends hopped out of the car and sprinted toward a giant inflatable chicken, by then we knew it was the perfect meetup spot… after everybody was together. We counted down to sprint to the first house. “Jackpot, no doorbell camera and just a bowl of candy outside with no note. This house better be raided, and by us. Scarsdale Raiders lives up to its name,” I claimed. I had the first hand in the bowl so I rampaged the house. That was probably the best trick or treating moment ever. I met up with my sister and realized she was a charm. She totally got more candy at every house that gave it up. I just made the excuse “she’s so young,” and it worked. The rest of my night was simple, give candy to trick or treaters, and get well deserved sleep, awesome Halloween right? It was really, really fun. 

After a long night, maybe sitting on the couch and greeting people that are trick or treating isn’t the worst thing. I mean you probably have barrels full of candy so you’re good for the night. I’d say you can go enjoy a good night’s sleep. You earned it!

Soaring Sacrifices

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“Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships,” Michael Jordan once said. I agree! You really need teamwork for the Bedford Ropes Course. If you have sixteen people who all have different ideas, you are going to really work together. You can’t think of these challenges as easy, and you won’t after you see how hard they actually are. But they are actually really fun.

There was not one course that I didn’t like but my favorite was the rope swing. The rope swing is when you are standing on a log. You have to get on a rope and try to get on a platform on the other side. The rope swing I really enjoyed, because I got a lot of support from my friends. One time, I was hanging on the rope for a minute and a half so my hands hurt like crazy. I had a massive rope burn but my favorite part was when my friends were screaming, “Let’s go, withstand the pain.”“I laughed another time when they were trying to use a stick to get the rope back. I would have been able to make it but my hands gave out. That was really one of my favorite experiences during the trip. In addition, I got to work with my team to find the best strategy possible because it just feels so good when you execute a plan. Another one of my favorite courses was the Indiana Jones walk. It is very complicated. You have to walk across beams, Climb up a tree, go through the tree, walk across wires and swing on two feet apart swings. Yeah, It’s really hard. I loved this activity because it taught me how much trust I need in myself. You have to test yourself and your ability to balance. On this course I had passed all the thin beams and was working my way up the tree. I had almost reached the top but my balance gave out. I was extremely upset but I knew that I had to try again. I remember my friend named Dowlat complaining that he had fallen on the first beam. He was so upset and said, “I fell on the first one.” That was really funny. The last challenge I loved was the wire walk. There were unlimited strategies to this challenge. I had to crawl on my stomach while trying to get to the checkpoint. We got really lucky because there was a fallen tree and we got to use a pad on the ground to make it easier. I had to think, legs, knees, hands, or stomach. That was my favorite part, getting to choose what strategy to use. These were three of my favorite courses/challenges.

This trip was a lot about teamwork and learning how to be a helpful part of our community. So I think it paid off. I learned that not everything is about me. On the trip, my cooperation was tested and I had to see how well I worked with a team. I think the trip paid off and the results were incredible. I saw a change in how well I work with a team. In addition, I learned how much cooperation I need in real life. To work in a team there is a ton of cooperation needed. To work in a group means to be patient and open minded. That is what the Bedford Ropes Course taught me, to be open minded. There was a lot I learned about how capable I am to do what I think I can. There were a lot of courses that required a certain point of view that everybody needed to cooperate with. I feel that the point of view was to be helpful. I learned that helpful means not shouting over people and needed to be the one that comes up with all the important ideas. I did so many things that were harder than I thought and after I did it I felt really good. I love that feeling when I feel confident about what I accomplished. This is what I learned on the trip.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork! Cooperation, Balance, and athleticism are so key in this course. I think you can tell, the Bedford Ropes Course is super difficult but super fun. Especially the Indiana Jones challenge, The rope swing, and the wire walk. My blood sweat and tears went into this course. You will be able to build awesome teamwork and cooperation skills. After this, I think you are ready! Will you put it to the test?

 

 

Home of the Brave Reflection

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In a lot of books you have a connection with a certain character. This is called a mirror. If you do not have a connection, it is called a window. I do not have any mirrors with Kek. There are so many things that Kek has experienced but I haven’t. Have you ever been a refugee? Kek is a refugee from Sudan and had to flee his village because of a war. His immediate family is gone. His mom is missing and his dad and brother were killed. There is an incredible amount of windows between us but in all, two feel the most important. 

Kek and I are extremely different in many ways. But one of the windows we have is that I have never been to a refugee camp. I learned that the education in the camp is poor. That seems really awful. I learned that living in a refugee camp is very difficult. One example is considering the fact that he had no family members with him. This would make him feel really lonely and he wouldn’t be able to feel as safe as he would with his parents or brother. In addition, he had to learn English in the camps and it was very hard for him. I never felt what it is like to have to start from scratch with a new language. Furthermore, the education in the camps was terrible so Kek was so new to all the things in America. Lastly, Kek had to wait in a line for the entire day just to get a tiny portion of food rations. I can’t imagine waiting for an entire day and ending up with such a small amount of food. I eat three giant meals a day so comparing that with eating food rations seems insane. This is how I learned how very difficult a refugee camp can be

This window is incredibly awful so I have no idea how Kek went through this because I know I couldn’t. The window is that Kek was extremely lonely. I have never gone through this. I have always felt that I have an awesome family and awesome friends. One of Kek’s losses was his brother. He loved his brother even though he got scolded by his brother sometimes. Katherine Applegate says that Kek would do anything just to hear the scolding of Lual once again. He also misses his father and mother. Katherine Applegate also explains that Kek misses his old home. He said that he didn’t need a thermostat, he used his family’s laughter as warmth. He’s really upset about not having his immediate family with him. At first he was truly trying to sound certain that his mother was alive; though Ganwar is trying to push Kek into reality by telling him that he has to face the truth sometimes. This must have been really hard for Kek and I cannot imagine how he must feel.

In conclusion Kek has faced so many things that I have never experienced. It would be so hard for me to have to know that my parents aren’t with me. I would want to try and be like Kek and just think hopeful. Most of Kek’s life is a window for me but I think it’s pretty cool to read about his life.

Identity Map Reflection

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Have you ever done something like an identity map? If not, it’s so fun. You get unlimited options to write down and you get to draw and color. You can write down your favorite hobbies, subjects, religion, and culture. It’s a really fun project so I recommend it. You will learn about my identity map and other people’s too. Have fun!

There are an incredible amount of things that I love but among all, there are three that pop out. I really like tennis because I love to play tennis and it is my favorite sport. Furthermore, I love to watch tennis. (I’ve gone to the US Open three years in a row). In addition, there are so many role models in tennis and players with incredible stories that blow me away. I really love Chen-a-Wanda because it’s my happy place and I would do anything to be there a bit longer. I also love it because some of my best friends go to my camp and I have made so many every single year. Furthermore, I love camp because there are so many perks through the seven weeks I’m there that I find. I really love Hip Hop because I have a family of music so I tried it out. By then I found out that it’s awesome. I love the genre of music because I love to listen to pump up music before a game. It’s also really fun to listen to and everyone else mostly listens to pop so I like to be unique. 

I think that it is really interesting to look at my classmate’s identity maps. It’s really cool to look at what other people enjoy. Jennie loves to read because it’s entertaining, fun, and healthy for her brain. She also plays the violin, she likes the violin because she really likes music. She loves to be Chinese because she is proud to be Chinese and she was born in China. Nina really likes dogs because she thinks they’re friendly and playful. She also likes gymnastics because she has been doing gymnastics since she was five. In addition, she really likes lacrosse. She has been playing for three years and she’s made a lot of friends. Suhana really likes dogs because they’re playful, fun and fluffy. Suhana also likes to ice skate because she likes the cold. She has also ice skated since she was five. Suhana likes being an Aquarius. This means she is an Aquarius because she was born in February. 

In summary, you now know how cool Identity maps are! Just a really good way to unwind. I wonder if you’ve ever tried something like that? It’s so awesome to try something new. Most importantly, have fun!

First Week of School

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There is a minute left in math and you need to make eleven with four fours. What do you do, you finally figure it out four! divided by (the square root of four – four over four). You finally did it, you’re so happy. That’s how the first week of school has made me feel, really happy. It’s been so awesome and school just started. Great things have happened and there are great things to look forward to. I could not be more excited!

There are many things I enjoyed in the first week of school. For instance I really enjoyed the Danger of a Single Story Ted Talk. I learned the story of a Nigerian woman and her obstacles and strengths. I learned a story from a new perspective and it taught me so many new things. It was so awesome to see how a person that is very different from me grew up. I’d never seen something like that before. I also liked the identity map because I felt like I could express my traits and what I love most. The identity map was a great way to just unwind and have a little fun. I had unlimited options and wrote so many things that I love. In addition, I really enjoyed the Four Fours Challenge because I learned really good math that I didn’t know before. Also, I felt engaged in it while I was working because it was so fun. I couldn’t tear myself away from the paper, even though it was challenging. Finally, I think Ms. Cooper is really great because she’s really kind, fair, prepared, and organized which helps me learn really well. She is a perfect teacher for me because she not only helps me learn, but she helps me have fun while doing it. This is what I enjoyed in the first week of school.

There are so many things to look forward to during this school year. For instance, I’m really looking forward to the Bedford Ropes Course because I love obstacles.  I have done something like this before so I think I’ll be pretty good at it. It seems like it should be really fun. I’m also really excited for the student teacher volleyball game because every single time I’ve watched it, I want to actually play. I practiced just for this. I’m really excited and it should be fun. I’m also looking forward to Capstone because I’ve heard really good things about it. I love big projects with technology because I get to do some things I love and I’m good at it. Capstone is something in which I get to talk about something I love which would be so fun for me. There are so many things that I really like so that might be the hardest thing, to choose a topic. I am also really looking forward to the moving up ceremony because I am going to smile a lot. That’s what happens to me when I feel really good about myself. I also am going to enjoy the moving up ceremony because I want to end my year in a really good way knowing that my sister is going to be watching me. These are some things that I am looking forward to this year.

Overall, I loved the first week of school and hopefully you can tell. I’ll bet your first week of school wasn’t as good as mine, it would be impossible. I did so many things and there are so many to look forward to as you can tell. I really hope you learned all about my first week of school. How was your first week of school as a fifth grader? What were the awesome things that happened to you? What were you looking forward to? Think about it!