Monday, April 28, 2014

New World with Christopher Columbus

Topic:  What if traveling through time was really possible?  every adventurer dreams of the possibility of a machine that could transport living beings back to a certain period of history.  If you had the opportunity to travel back in time, where and when would you go?  Why would you make this choice, and what would you be most interested in seeing?  

A New World with Christopher Columbus

Do you think time travel is possible and able to be done? Well if we could time travel, I would want to go back to Christopher Columbus’s time and be one of his explorers that go on the journey to America with him. First of all I would like to go there because I like the feeling of adventure and trying new things because it exhilarates me. Also I would go there because I would be dying to see what it would be like to see what a “New World” would look like before it was touched by humans. In addition, I would like to be somewhere new and start fresh, and see what the turnouts would be. I would like to time travel to Colbumus’s time because it would be a fresh start, I want to try new things, and see the shocking senery that would be waiting for me in the “New World”
First of all, I like being adventurous and trying new things and see what would be there lying for me. I think Columbus’s journey was really adventurous because of the fact that if you weren’t into being brave and adventurous then you would’ve never went on a journey to a brand new world. Also trying new things was a no brainer to the new settlers.  They’re doing something nobody has done before and I would’ve been proud of that. Sailing to america would’ve been so new to everyone.
Second, I would want to go there because you never get to see how stunning America must’ve been in the past when it was barely touched or polluted. It would’ve been beautiful and would have had miles and miles of trees. Also seeing the Native Americans watching us as we dock in front of a beach would be stunning and they would probably look very suprised. I would see it as being a beach with sand and palm trees shading the area we land, with tall and mighty Indians standing there with a mixture between concerned and confused faces.
Last but not least, a fresh start would be cool, starting from scratch and using the shortage of tools to build new ones would have been like a game. Using tools as efficiently as possible to take much advantage of them as possible would’ve been fun. Also being somewhere new would totally change the way I think and act. Not knowing what’s behind each bush, tree, shrub, or even logs would make me more careful and more aware of my surroundings.

Now you see why I would want to go to Columbus’s time and want to be an explorer. The fact that I’ll be doing something new, being more adventurous and more daring.  Also the fact that everything is new and starting from a fresh clean sheet of paper would be interesting and intriguing. Now would you not want to go to the time of the New world? I would definetly want to, how about you?

Geometry

When I say geometry or area you’re probably already getting out of your seats but it is actually very interesting and surprisingly fun.  Geometry and area are more engaging than you think and I’ll tell you why. My math teacher is named Mrs. Gardner and she is very efficient and fast with all of her math work. Also area feels like a divide, conquer, and regroup kind of thing, and I like it that way. Last of all, F.P.A is a way my math teacher told us to find the area of triangle, parallelogram, rectangles, and trapezoids. Now allow me to explain why geometry and area are so highly thought of in my math world.
The math teacher that I have for 6th grade is named Mrs. Gardner. The reason she is really quick and very efficient with her work is that, she likes to find her own way of finding the area. For example the communative multipication she calls it the ‘double dating’ method so that we can remember it better.  Also she is different because she likes to ‘overprepare’ us so we never miss a single question on the quiz or test.
Area is a simple way of saying what is the size of the surface inside a shape. And for composite figures that have more than one shape you split them up, do each shape, and come back with the final answer, which is fun for me because I like seperating and coming back. Next, area causes you to use different combinations of math subjects like adding, multiplying, and dividing which practice and review your skills to add, multiply, and divide.
Last but not least, F.P.A is a way of finding area for different kind of shapes. The F means formula. There are different kinds of formule like base times height, divided by 2. The P stand for plug-in, plug in means you write down the equation with all the numbers and signs. Finally the A stands for answer, you use the plug in to figure out the answer.  Again F.P.A is another fun way of finding area because when you do F.P.A you need to put more effort into the probelm and think more about what the probelm is.
Geometry and area are really exhilarating and all those reasons to me makes me think it’s more than just a boring topic and makes me think more about the subject and how it is really fun. My math teacher makes it fun, area feels like a game of divide and conquer, and also that F.P.A is a really fun way to do it. If you stayed in your seat long enough to read this then you can understand that area is a more than just a math subject, it relates to really life and is really fun.

Friday, April 4, 2014

The Sound of a Snap

Is it just me or is snapping really annoying? Snapping really bothers me.  It bothers me because a snap is not a musical sound but it is just a noise.  It also bothers be because I can’t snap.  When people start snapping, it gets too repetitive. The sound of repeated clicking is too irritating to my ears.  There isn't a lot that is more annoying to me than snapping.   
“Click,” is the sound of a snap.  A lot of people would think it’s not annoying but to me it’s annoying.  The way a snap echoes is so distracting and makes my mind wander and lose focus.  Every time I hear a snap in a place with a lot of people I can tell that it is a snap even if I’m not trying to hear it.  The way it’s in every music video makes me so angry.  
Second on the list of reasons why snapping is annoying is because  I can’t do it.  You must be thinking “Ha, Kevin can’t snap.”  No, I can’t.  I've been made fun of enough times to understand my snaps sound like muffled “shh.”  If you can’t do something while other people can, it makes you feel unequal to them.  
Last but not least snapping is so repetitive. When somebody snaps, they’re going to do it again and again so there is  no wonder that the sound is going to be extremely bothersome.  One click is already annoying enough but when the sound gets repeated there are more than one click so it gets even more annoying.

Snapping is really annoying because it’s too repetitive, the sound is too annoying and irritating, and also since I can’t do it makes snapping a down factor for me. Well if you can snap, good job you can snap, don’t do it near me.

Too Much Homework?

Have you ever had too much homework? Well kids in other countries have no time for sports or socializing because of their homework.  I’ll show why you have more homework and why it’s needed. The reason you get so much homework is it is believed that homework makes excellent study habits and helps with the learning of the topic overall.  Also kids in other countries, they consider homework and school work really important, so they work even more and also they even have private lessons for many different subjects.
 Well first of all homework back then didn't exist. In the early 1950’s it was thought to be useless and unneeded. Then when the 1980’s rolled around homework method was used more in some states. Then in the early 1990’s other countries’ economy started soaring faster than the U.S and we couldn't catch up. So America’s government decided, “Hey let’s increase the expectation of students in schools.” After that was in place around 2010, the schools got worried about the kids studying habits and their academic performance. The schools deliberated and they decided, “Homework can improve and encourage study habits and it will help the kids with their work.”
So now you might be thinking, “Hey that’s why we get homework.” But now when you hear about countries like India you will be amazed and shocked. In India kids at school are more pressured, have to meet higher expectations, and HAVE MORE WORK. And they don’t even know that America’s whining about how much homework we have.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Introduction for an Essay



Today we learned about introductions for stories and mainly focused on the grabber, topic sentence, and the three main thoughts that make up an introduction. A grabber is what grabs the reader into the story like personal opinion, a shocking statement or a humorous statement, and etc. A topic sentence is not that descriptive but is the most important statement. The three main thoughts support the topic sentence and later on in the essay these thoughts are written in more detail.

Camping at Lake of Ozarks


In my opinion, every 6th grade in America should have camp in March.  In mid March the red team of 6th grade went on a school camp.  We went to the Lake of Ozarks YMCA camp on a bus.  I felt excited and overjoyed to be going to camp.  After we arrived, my friends Murad, Dennis, Robert, and I hopped off the bus and walked to the rows of luggages that laid there waiting. We parted ways and I skipped to my luggage and picked it off the brown rust that was on the ground. After everyone had picked up their luggage, we marched into what they call the common area. After we were all settled they announced the cabins.  I was with Luke, Murad, Dennis, Garrett, Daniel, Trevor our cabin leader, and a few others.
I gazed at the cabin we were going to live in for four days.  The beds were clearly never used.  There were fluffy new sheets with clean and untouched bathroom.  I felt lucky to have a fresh new cabin. My friends and I chose our beds by screeching at each other.  I had a bottom bunk farthest away from the window. After we had our time to unpack our sleeping bags, we got ready for our first lunch.
After staring at the night skies for an infinity, I trudged out of the star gazing section and went over to my cabin leader as we lined up to go back to our cabin. We started marching on the newly made sidewalk to the new cabin we were assigned to nine hours ago. I walked into the cabin and I fell deathly onto my bed and I heard quiet shouts calling me to take a shower. I ignored the buzz of sounds swirling around me and I shut my eyes and I swiftly drifted off to sleep.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Strong Verbs

Today I learned with Sarah strong verbs and did practices about strong verbs versus weak verbs. We also reviewed show not tell a little. I learned why you need to use strong verbs instead of weak verbs because it can point to a topic, instead of I bounced the ball, I dribbled the ball. Also it can write more details to what the character is doing and it can paint an emotional picture.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Show not Tell


This is a show not tell that I did with Sarah.  Show not tell is not tell the reader what going on but putting a clearer image by showing the reader whats going on.



Tell:  The kids were disrespectful to the teacher.
Show:  The kids started screaming above the teacher’s voice, and started sticking out their tongues and started making the teacher mad that she could have popped a vessel. The kids also started throwing paper airplanes and did not listen to the teacher.  

Tell:  The iguana got away.
Show:  The turquoise colored iguana was spinning and turning and started making the boy tired. Then the iguana slithered out of the boys grip and scurried away. It looked back and saw the boy chasing it once more and darted into a tiny crack in a rock.

Tell:  We had fun throwing dead leaves into the fire.
Show:  We threw the dead and dried leaves into the fire and heard the crackling of the leaves burning and disappearing. We could see the black smoke dancing up into the night sky.  All of us stared at the burning leaves.  We threw more in and we started laughing and giggling.

Traveling to My Homeland



This is the first writing sample I wrote for Sarah.


Writing Sample:
Topic Choice:
Write about the most fun trip you have ever had.

My most fun trip I had was when i went to Korea when I was in 5th grade. it was a fun trip and i got to see my siblings and relatives a lot. All my siblings lived in Korea so i was really happy and it was a good time. One of the things i liked that i did with my cousins were. So we went to a water park and we stay in a hotel for maybe, like 3 days and we had a ton of fun. Another thing i liked about Korea was we were stuck there because something about a job visa and i had to go to school for about 3 months. I met a ton of friends and almost everyday after school i hang out after school and we either just talked, play dodge ball, and play soccer. Well when we came back i was happy and sad for many different reasons. I was happy that i was back home, also because my friends were apparently worried about me so when i came back they were all happy. I was also sad because i will miss my friends that i made in Korea, and i couldn’t see my siblings in a long time again.