Vote For Me

Posted on November 7, 2024 by tmellin32

Hi my name is Talia and I am running for Heathcote 5th grade president. I like playing softball, and I sometimes don’t have that much time to do my homework. I would like to make changes like more recess time on Fridays and less homework.

The first change I would like to make to Heathcote is more breaks for kids to go outside and play with their friends on Fridays. I think kids should have at least 2 breaks on Friday. I think this because kids need a break from a long week of school work to just hang out with friends. When I am president that will be a law that I will try to make. I will make a meeting with my class so we can discuss if kids should have more recess time.

The second change I would like to make to Heathcote is less homework. I think this because we have activities and sometimes we don’t have time to do homework. When you have a lot of homework and you don’t have time to do it because you have activities you end up doing it very late at night. Then kids will be tired in the morning for school just because they had to stay up late doing homework. This is also one of the things I will change if I am president. I am going to try by speaking about it with my class.

In conclusion, you should vote for me because I am a hardworking and honest person and I will try to make sure there is more recess time on Friday and less homework. Vote for Talia!

Board of Legislators Reflection

Posted on October 21, 2024 by tmellin32

Did you know there are 17 legislators in the Board of Legislators? Each represents different towns in Westchester. Well my class recently went on a field trip there. We got to bang the gavel and so much more. You will learn about my experiences and what I learned at the Board of Legislators trip.

During the trip I had lots of favorite parts. My first favorite aspect from the Board of Legislators trip was talking to the legislator who represented our town and a few others. His name was Benjamin Boyken. I liked talking to him because it was cool to see an important person. I learned so many things from him. When our tour guide said “ you will be able to see your legislator Benjamin Boyken,” I’m surprised because I thought we were just touring the building and what it was like to be a legislator. When I heard her say that I thought when is he going to see us? When he talked to us had a lot of questions answered by my classmates like “How did you become a legislator?” He stayed with us until we went into the next room and he went back to work. Another aspect I liked at the Board of Legislators trip was the mock board meeting in the chamber room. The chamber room is where the legislators gather together and talk about important things such as voting on laws. That is what my class did except it wasn’t real. There was a chairperson and two clerks from my class who were picked to do it. A chairperson is someone who hosts the meeting and bangs the gravel and is the person who calls on the legislators when they want to say something. The clerks are the people who take attendance and write down votes. We also got to sit into the seats that legislators sit in. They even had their names on a plaque on the desk. When we got into the chamber room, I was like “is this where the legislators meet?” “This is probably my favorite room yet.” The Chamber room kind of looked like an extended auditorium but instead of a stage there was a big desk up high where the chair person sits and connected to that there was a big desk lower to the floor where the clerks sit. In the Chamber room we discussed a fake law: Should we ban unhealthy foods and sodas from school cafeterias. We all got to vote and the majority said no. The last part I liked from the Board of Legislators trip was having a mock committee meeting. This was the first room we went to. Our class got split into two groups of two tables and there were two chairpersons one for each table. The chairperson for my table was Charlotte and the chairperson for the other table was Theo. We discussed if all private and public schools should wear uniforms to school. We all voted no. I was like “I would never want to wear uniforms to school.” so I voted no. These were my three favorite parts to do in the Board of Legislators trip.

There were so many surprising facts I learned at the Board of Legislators trip. The first surprising fact I learned was that Benjamin Boyken represented more than just Scarsdale. Benjamin represented Scarsdale, most of White plains, and some of Harrison. Before Benjamin Boyken told us that, I thought there were 17 different Legislators in Westchester county each representing one town. I thought Benjamin Boyken represented Scarsdale and no other towns.That was probably one of my favorite facts. Another fact I learned was that there are 1.3 million people in Westchester and 20,000 people in Scarsdale. “There are 20,000 people in Scarsdale? That’s soooo many, I thought there were way less”. The last surprising fact I liked was when you are in a board meeting people call the legislators legislator and then their first name. For example Legislator Talia. I learned this when we were in the mock committee meeting. Our tour guide told us exactly how the legislators talk and how they call each other and what they discuss. That were my three favorite facts from the Board of Legislators trip

In conclusion, the Board of Legislators trip was really fun. I had so many favorite parts and many facts that I had learned there. Have you ever gone to the Board of Legislators?

My First Weeks of School

Posted on October 10, 2024 by tmellin32

Do you remember your first week of fifth grade? I do. I had a good first week. There were so many fun experiences. There are also so many things to look forward to in the year. Parties, and 5th grade privileges. This is what I am writing about in this blog post.

This past week I’ve enjoyed lots of things. One thing I’ve enjoyed this past week is the index card challenge.The index card challenge is where each table gets 100 index cards and we have to make the tallest tower we can. My table thought we should make it 18 inches or taller. We are probably not going to get this high, I thought to myself after our tower kept falling and falling. I was wrong, we succeeded, and made our tower 2 feet tall. Yay, I thought. I was helping build the tower while some of the people at my table folded index cards for the tower to stay sturdy. Another thing I’ve enjoyed this past week is sitting with my friends at lunch.These past years everyone had to sit at their class table. When I heard that the 5th graders could sit with whoever they want I got super excited. Me and my friends can finally sit next to each other and talk to each other at lunch. The last thing I liked this past week is the intro to the government. We learned all about the three branches. I enjoyed the intro to government because I learned a lot of cool things that I did not know before. This is so interesting I thought. These were the things I’ve enjoyed this past week.

I’m looking forward to many things. One thing I am looking forward to this year is the Halloween party. When my teacher told us about it I had no idea what it would be like and I was like “There is a Halloween party this year?” to my friends. I am looking forward to the Halloween party because I like Halloween. Another thing I am looking forward to is fantasy book clubs. I am looking forward to fantasy book clubs because I like book clubs. I thought who is going to be in my book club? The last thing I am looking forward to this year is the volleyball game. The volleyball game is where the 5th graders play the teachers in volleyball. I am looking forward to the volleyball game because I am excited to play against the teachers. These are the things that I am looking forward to this year.

In conclusion, I thought there were many fun things in the first week. There are also lots of things to look forward to in the year. I am very excited for the 5th grade activities. Did you do lots of fun 5th grade activities? I hope this makes you think about how fun your 5th grade was.

Ignite Talk Reflection

Posted on January 9, 2024 by tmellin32

An Ignite talk is where we presented a slideshow and had a speech where we talked about our research question from our topic that the teachers chose. The Ignite had to be exactly 1:45 seconds, 15 seconds per slide. We also had to talk about some reflection on the process whether it was easy or hard or what skills we used. The slideshow had to be one picture per slide. Extreme weather is a natural disaster on the earth. Everyone had a different slideshow, but was connected so there was no pausing between each person.

A challenge for me was memorizing the script because I thought I had it memorized perfectly but when I go to practice it on the chrome book there are a lot of stops because I forgot a part. Another challenge for me was coming up with a research question and finding information to it because all my original research questions did not have a lot to it. A success of mine was putting the ignite together and the steps in it once I found a good research question like paraphrasing which is not copying authors exact words.

I liked this experience but it was a little challenging for me at first to get started. I thought this was fun putting everything together and to memorize the script because you kept trying to memorize it with each script block at a time and it was very exiting to perform it.

Persuasive Writing

Posted on June 15, 2023 by tmellin32

Essay
Imagine if you had to sit on the sidelines and do nothing while watching your family play a fun sport? Wouldn’t you feel not included from everyone else? This is how people with disabilities feel. We need to make sports more accessible for all people, no matter their limitations.

We need to make sports accessible for all people no matter their limitations so that they can play the sport. One solution would be to provide special equipment that allows them to play. One example of something we can make is a wheelchair that we can program so the person can tell it to run and get the ball. Another example is we could make a machine that attaches to the wheelchair that allows a person to raise the chair quickly so they can catch a ball easier. My last example is we could make grabber feet on the bottom of a wheelchair. This would be useful to someone playing soccer so they can grab the ball and kick it hard.

Another reason we need to make sports accessible for all people no matter their limitations is so that they can get across the field without having to travel a far distance or get stuck in the grass. One possible solution would be to make the field smaller. For example, soccer fields and basketball courts don’t have to be as long. This would allow players to get down the field quicker without losing all of their energy trying to get a wheelchair down the field. Another possible solution would be to turn grass fields into turf fields. This would make it easier for wheelchair users to get down the field without getting stuck.

Lastly, we need to make sports more accessible for all people no matter their limitations
so that everyone can get exercise and grow their muscle strength! One example that builds up muscle power is such as soccer. When you get really good at kicking the ball you end up with a really strong foot. Another example that it builds up muscle power is that you get a strong arm when learning how to swing a full swing in softball.

We need to make sports more accessible for all people, no matter their limitations, so that anyone can play the sport, anyone can use the fields, anyone can exercise!

Reflection
The persuasive piece was hard because I had to come up with 3 reasons and 3 examples to go with each reason all to support my claim. First I had to brainstorm a bunch of topics that I could possibly write about. Next I had to choose the topic that I was most passionate about. Then I had to make a short claim that explained my topic. Lastly, I had to come up with 3 reasons and 3 examples along with a lot of editing and revising.

Video

My Expert Book: Hanukkah

Posted on January 31, 2023 by tmellin32

Starting my expert book I had to first think of a topic. Next I had to brain dump a piece of paper. Afterwards, I had to organize my brain dump into my chapters. Then I had to write the expert book on paper. Lastly, I had to make a slideshow and add pictures and links to it. The most difficult part for me was to come up with the idea and chapters. My favorite part was linking and adding pictures. I learned to link, start a new slideshow and write an expert book. I feel really proud because it was really hard to write it.

This is my expert book.

Thank you for reading.

Personal Narrative-Softball Fun

Posted on December 8, 2022 by tmellin32

It was a warm and sunny day, not the kind where you were sweating head to toe though. The kind where it was comfortable, like a patch of soft lilies, when Sabrina and I drove to softball. We were so excited we ran to our coach at the other side of the field in a blink of an eye.

“Race ya!” I said, while running.

Sabrina was way too fast. “Wait up!” I shouted to Sabrina.

“I won,” exclaimed Sabrina. It was too late. I hurried to the bench and tried to ignore that winning talk.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I thought to myself. I Grabbed my glove from my softball bag and speed walked to the black bag of balls. By the time I got there I was practically limping because I was so tired. I pulled out a new clean ball. I walked back to Sabrina and grabbed her by the wrist.”Lets go” I groaned loudly at her, pulling her onto the field.

I raised my arm into a L shape and released the ball angled toward her glove. The throw was not perfect but at least she caught it “KABOOM!” The sound was so loud that it sounded like a million birds chirping. She threw me the ball and I bent my arm ready to catch it. My glove was in front of my chest, I shut my eyes and then opened them. The ball was in my glove.

“Good catch,” Sabrina said.

“Come in for tournament warm up,” the coach shouted. The sound of everybody running in sounded like giant monsters stomping through trees. Suddenly shivers came across me.

“I hope I catch the ball” I worried to myself. It was my turn. I threw the ball to coach, then he threw me a grounder, a line drive, and a pop up.

“So disappointed that I didn’t catch all the balls,” I thought to myself as I made my way back to the dugout to get ready for the scrimmage to begin.

The scrimmage began. Finally, it was my turn at bat. Coach threw me the ball. I swung my bat through the warm silk air but I was too busy looking at my teammates watching me so I missed the ball.

“Strike” coach Jim called.

“Why did I pay attention to them?” I thought to myself. His voice echoed in my head like a bolt of lightning. I breathed in and out three times. I got into a ready stance to hit the ball.

“One. Two. three. Swing!” I murmured to myself. In a flick of time I did what my brain told me to do. CLUNK. The bat made a crashing sound into the ball. The sound was so loud that I had to hold my ears shut and run.

“WOOHOO,” my teammates cheered. The ball went all the way out in the outfield.

“RUN! RUN! RUN!” my teammates and coaches shouted. I ran to first base without the ball getting near me. I was so proud of myself.

Another batter hit so far that I flew to home plate.

At the end of the scrimmage coach said, “pack up.”

While packing up I thought to myself “will I ever make that great swing again?” I couldn’t wait for the next practice.