Author: john1011

Our Trip To The Met-John

john1011 6th Grade Writers

On Thursday, the sixth grade took a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum Art. We visited the ancient Greek and Roman section of the museum because that is what we are studying. We traveled there in a bus driven by our math teacher, Joe. When we arrived we sat on some benches and talked. There we met our Met tour leader. Her name was Bambi and she was open to questions. We walked up some wood stairs and came to a room filled with glass cased with broken pottery inside of them. Then she asked, “What is art?” I would have answered but I thought someone would try to disprove me.

We walked on through the room of pottery and we went onto a room with a chariot in it. I was amazed how the chariot was in one piece. I learned later that it was found in several pieces and put back together by experts (I was kind of disappointed by that!) We walked around the building looking at statues and then we went to a room that was completely painted. It showed images of buildings gilded with gold and red walls. They were very beautiful. The tour guide said that it was carefully pieced together from a building in a town near Pompeii. it was another town destroyed by the famous volcano that destroyed Pompeii. Even though it was Roman, it was still pretty cool.

We moved on to the starting area and then had lunch. We went to a park and met a kid and played tag with him (long story). Once we all had a well earned break, we went back to the museum and looked at the artwork. We had a Percy Jackson scavenger hunt where we had to find objects in the Percy Jackson And the Olympians. We found armor that was the same type of armor in the books. We then tried to find artwork that we researched the night before. We then went back home and rode of into the sunset. Overall I liked the trip.

Nature’s Classroom-John10

john1011 0 - NATURE'S CLASSROOM, 6th Grade Writers

Our whole middle school went to Nature’s Classroom, in Ivoryton Connecticut. I had a good time there even though the trip was cut short due to an “snowstorm”. The most memorable part of the trip was the Underground Railroad Activity. At night, all the councilors role-played and acted as slave traders. They told us to act like slaves. We had to act our part so we had to look at our feet and not talk to our “masters”. After that, a mock auction took place inside. One of my dear friends was sold because he was a carpenter and followed instructions.

After that, we had a well earned dinner. We had been doing activities all day so we were very tired. When we ate our dinner we discussed how we felt when we watched the mock auction. I said that I liked how we felt  how slaves would have felt. We then started the actual underground railroad. We started  at a plantation in Pembroke, Georgia. There, our field group leader Rustache told us to pick cotton (leaves). A group of teachers led us away from the “plantation” and into the forest. We traveled through the woods and met an Abolitionist. She led us on the right path and continued forward. We got captured by a bounty hunter who almost brought us to a sheriff.

We thought we were dead, but it turned out that a man who was walking along took us to bring us to the “sheriff”. He actually brought us to another abolitionist. There she hid us in a fake wall. The town’s sheriff came in and talked with the abolitionist to see if she was hiding the escaped slaves. He was convinced so he left. A moment later, he rushed back in because he forgot his walking stick. As he came back in, he saw  us and chased us back into the woods. Many kids thought that was the most fun, exiting, and scary part of the activity.

Everyone kept on traveling and trekking through the woods. It was hard to see anything so we couldn’t really remember where we traveled. I remember we went by the farm where a rooster that attacked me lived. We eventually came to a road that was the border. We crossed it and met a guy standing on the steps. He was our field group leader, Rustache. He asked if he knew us and we all thought he was a bounty hunter. He told us “Welcome to Canada!” and surprised us.

We then went inside and talked about what we learned and how we felt during the activity. I thought it was really fun because we learned a lot and role-played at the same time. Once we finished that we all talked about the experience. We learned about the first slave ever, an indentured servant from Ireland. We also looked at a time line that included the revolutionary war, civil war, civil rights movement and the Emancipation Proclamation. Overall, I thought it was a fun experience and would do it again.

Student Led Conferences By John

john1011 0 - Student Led Conferences, 6th Grade Writers

SLC stands for Student Led Conferences. They are an alternative to parent teacher conferences. At PDS we have them because the teachers believe students should know how they are doing in school. Students prepare for the conferences and run them. Teachers aren’t a big part of the meetings but when the student has no more to say, the teacher asks questions to the student. Most of the time the student prepares enough for the whole presentation.

To prepare for the meeting, students fill out printed agendas and goals. There we write down strengths, weaknesses and goals. We supported the agenda with data from our reports, tests, homework and worksheets. Some of us made power-points and worked on them. I didn’t make one because I think it’s easier to just make an agenda.

The actual presentation was only thirty minutes compared to about a week spent preparing for it. It was a little stressful when I got in the room but the nervousness stopped when I saw Joe our teacher. He is a really goofy guy so it was not as stressful as I thought it would be. First I told my parents about my strengths as a learner. Then I explained some problems. I then told them my goals and how I could achieve them. My parents, my teacher an I all discussed some other goals that I could try to complete over the next trimester. We all chose one and discussed how to complete it.

This goal started when my teacher Joe said I go on tangents. That is what I learned from this experience. I found out that I could write down all the things I want to say on a notebook and I could share them with my adviser later. Over all I think the SLC was a good experience.

Imagination Day-John

john1011 0 - Imagination Day, 6th Grade Writers

Our middle school  had a day where the students taught classes on interests. My friend and I taught a class about how to devil-stick. Three people signed up and they were all my friends, so I had a good time. I think it is easy  to teach a class if you know a lot about it. I went to a class on WWII and I thought that the class was well thought out. The teacher knew a lot about WWII and I learned a lot more facts. I learned that the U.S.S. YORKTOWN sank in the battle of Midway and I learned what general MacArthur looked like. I believe that we should do this day again because it was fun and useful. The day started at 9:15AM when we had our first class that went until 10:30AM. Then we had a relaxing break and then another class.  When that was done, we all shared the classes. Overall I think it was an interesting day.

Lego Robotics

john1011 0 - Choice Topics, 6th Grade Writers

Our school has a FLL robotics team (FLL is the First Lego League.) On the team, we build and program a Lego® Mindstorms® robot. We have to complete missions with the robot, and the missions are made in Lego and are placed on a table. The robot has to be automatically controlled and we can’t touch it when the programs are running.
We spent all year building and programming the robot and it is very complex. We also do a research project. The research project is when you do research on a problem and develop a way to fix it using technology. The problem must be related to the theme, and this year’s theme is bio-medical engineering. Our team’s research project is a self cooling cast. The self cooling cast uses nitrogen to cool water that flows through tubing. The tubing is wound in a zigzag pattern around the cast.
There was a competition at our school, and the top four winners get to go to Duchess Community College to compete again. We got judged in many categories. Our team was surprised when we got second best in teamwork. Teamwork is when you get judged by three judges and they determine how good we are as a team. We won first place in research project and fourth place over all. That means in all four categories (Research project, robot design, team work, and robot performance.) The points are added up and the top four teams with the most points win. We are going to go to Duchess Community College to compete against other winning teams. If we win at Duchess Community College, we get to go to another competition. Over all, I think it was a very fun experience.

Letter to Denis by John

john1011 0 - In The Footsteps of Marco Polo, 6th Grade Writers

Dear Denis,

I really enjoyed your presentation.  My friend and I were sitting in the front row. I think that your presentation was really interesting. Last year we studied the medieval times and I found it very fun. You mentioned that while the crusades were fought trade routes still existed. While I watched your movie I thought it was a lot like Tintin. Tintin is a comic book about a boy reporter who traveled the world solving mysteries. We got your book and I look forward to reading it.

From,
John Madalengoitia

What makes a great student? By John

john1011 6th Grade Writers

A great (not good) student must be a great listener. A student must know how to listen proficiently because that is how you learn. I think that a student should like school. A great student must be willing to change the way they learn and then they will learn better. He/she shall be able to cope with homework that is complicated. They must be clever and witty so they can help another pupil with school work. A great student must know when to stop goofing off, because students should never abuse rights. It may seem like it is hard to be a student but it really is not -all you have to do is go to school!

What makes a great teacher? By John

john1011 6th Grade Writers

A great teacher should have certain traits. He or she should be open to comments on how to teach better and the teacher must be willing to teach in new ways. A great teacher should be kind because students will only learn from people who are nice. A great teacher must also be funny because school should be fun and if a teacher is funny, no one would like that teacher. A teacher should not exclude certain students and should not favor any either.

John’s Edgar Allen Poe essay

john1011 6th Grade Writers

10-24-10

Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7, 1849. He was born in
Boston U.S.A. In college he often bet a lot, so when he had no money, his father stopped giving him money. Edgar Allen Poe dropped out of the university of Virginia. He married his 13-year-old cousin when he was 21. Nobody knew they were married. They officially married a few years later. When Edgar Allen Poe was alive, Napoleon was defeated in the battle of Waterloo, and the battle of the Alamo was fought. Poe’s dad abandoned him when him was young. When he was still very young, Edgar Allen Poe’s mother died. Poe was buried with no gravestone. Eventually a stone was ordered. The new stone came on train but the train crashed. The gravestone was placed on his grave eventually, though. Ever since 1949, some mysterious figure places a bottle every day on the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. Edgar Allen Poe was a fantastic writer and some of his work is still very famous.

I will not call Edgar Allen Poe a “nice” Writer because to tell you the truth, his stories were not friendly. His stories were sometimes considered the original. He is sometimes called the father of horror stories because he pioneered horror tales. I think he was a great writer because he used great language. He used interesting language in a sentence from A Tell Tale Heart: “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” I think that this sentence clearly shows Edgar Allen Poe’s variety of interesting words and phrases. I like Edgar Allen Poe’s work not because he is all blood and guts but because he writes creepy and scary. I think that it is odd that it was written in the 1800’s because it is as good as a scary story written nowadays.

The Raven is one of Edgar Allen Poe’s most popular writing. I think that if we were still in the nineteenth century I do not think that Edgar Allen Poe would be as famous as he is now. I think that Edgar Allen Poe is the type of person that invents his own world that has places, characters and objects. Many people say that he got inspiration for his characters from his own life, but I think he invented them completely from scratch. The story “The tell tale heart” is a very popular story. The name I think, does not apply to the story’s plot. I think Edgar Allen Poe could have thought up a better name. If Edgar Allen Poe wrote stories other than horror stories, I probably would read more of his stories because I do not really like scary stories. Edgar Allen Poe is still known as one of the best writers of all time.

This is a picture from Flickercc by Tom Conger called Edger

Edgar