Posted on December 16, 2024 by tmellin32

Have you ever thought to make a feature article? I made one. There was many more steps to make it than I thought. It was pretty challenging. It took a long time to make but it ended up looking really cool.

My topic is softball. I came up with it because softball is my favorite sport. I know lots about it and there was no research in the feature article project. When my teacher told us we had to know a lot about the topic we were writing about, softball just popped into my head, since I knew a lot about it. My message for my feature article was softball is unique. I came up with that message because I really thought it was different from other sports. Even though softball is similar to baseball, they do have lots of differences. I wanted to show the reader the differences between softball and the other sports.

I thought there were lots of parts that were challenging, but there were also some parts that were fun. One thing that I thought that was pretty hard was putting in the pictures, captions, and text. We had to keep consistent spacing, and text size. I thought this was hard because once I had the layout, some of my text did not fit and some of my pictures did not fit. I also had to make room for captions for the pictures. Sometimes the pictures barely fit and there was no room for captions, then I would have to revise and adjust the picture so it would fit. That was only one picture. Some of the pictures did fit though. Once we got the hang of the formatting and making the feature article it got easier. Another thing that I thought was pretty easy was writing the actual text. I knew a lot about softball so I put what I knew that fit with my message. Another thing that I thought was hard is coming up with is the headings. I had to ask myself does this go with my message or does it not.

I used lots of techniques. A technique I used was a vocabulary box. A vocabulary box was helpful because it showed some of the words in the article that maybe some people wouldn’t know of. I used a vocabulary box twice. Another technique I used was a diagram. I thought the diagram I made would be very useful for people who did not know where the positions were and what the field looked like. I also used a fun fact box. One other thing I used was captions to describe the pictures. I was very proud of how the feature article all came together. I spent a whole month writing and putting it together. I didn’t think my feature article would look that good because the formatting was really hard. In conclusion, making this project was pretty hard and took multiple steps. How it turned out in the end was worth the process.

Here is my feature article!

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.

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.