In my Language Arts class we were told to do a TED like Talk about something that we value. I have loved soccer since I was 2 and I wanted to do something based on soccer. I did not want to something like how to pass a soccer ball or how to juggle a soccer ball I wanted to talk to my classmates about something that I think should change in our world. So I decided to talk about Women’s Soccer Salaries.
During My TED like Talk I talked about the difference between women and men’s salaries. I talked about how the USWNT raised their pay salaries and also gave my call to action. Now my call to action was not about standing up for Women’s soccer salaries ( now I would love if you would do that to.) but it was to not let anyone stoop you from doing what you want to do and to stand up for yourself no matter what.
In our Language Arts class we read The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. After we finished reading this book each student made a book about our Ideal World. We worked with Peg Gignoux to design our books. We wrote a story about our Ideal World talking about education, food, government and everything that went on in our Ideal World.
My Ideal World was named Double Skys. It had a soccer field, beaches, lakes and forest inside the book.
This a couple of weeks ago I was able to get to the Masters. I was really lucky to be able to do this and I had an amazing time. When I was at the Masters I was able to get high fives from Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg,Tommy Fleetwood and Will Zalatoris. I was also able to sit in the front row on hole eighteen and my brother got golf balls from multiple players such as Freddy Couples, Max Homa and José Maria Olazábul.
Augasta National
The Augasta National was started by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. They decided to hold an annual event beginning in 1934. Clifford Roberts wanted the event to be called the Masters Tournament, but Bobby Jones wanted the event to be called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. They called it that for five years but finally changed the name to the Masters in 1939. The first ever tournament was held March 22,1934 but beginning in 1940 the Masters was scheduled each year during the first full week in April.
Masters
“The Masters Tournament is home to some of golf’s greatest moments. Amidst blooming azaleas, towering pines and flowering dogwoods, the Masters ushers in a stage unique to golf.” The Masters is held over four days and 72 holes. Golfers compete for a chance at the green jacket and a place in Masters history.
Prizes
The prizes for the winner included their name engraved on a permanent Masters trophy that stays at the club house. They leave with a replica of the Masters trophy which they get to take home with them. A gold medal with the view of the Founders Circle and finally the Green Jacket.
This Year’s Champ
This year’s champ was Scottie Scheffler. This was his fifth appearance at the Masters and his second Masters win. He is ranked #1 in the world right now and is an amazing golfer. Something that I have learned about golf is that a lot of being good at the sport is having the right mindset. Scottie Scheffler is amazing at being cool, calm and collective. There are alot of amazing golfers but they get upset at themselves and that sends their game down hill. An example of Scottie being cool, calm and collective is on hole 10 he doubled boggied. And then on hole 11 he boggied but then he came back and made an eagle and a birdie just because he did not get mad at himself.
This Tuesday, the Durham Academy 6th grade participated in a tree-planting event on Ross Road with the organization Keep Durham Beautiful.
Keep Durham Beautiful is a nonprofit organization that works with the City of Durham and Durham County to help keep Durham beautiful and clean. Visit their website to learn more about them and how you can help keep Durham Beautiful. https://keepdurhambeautiful.org/our-work
We planted trees at Ross Road, a place where people who get paid a low amount of money can afford housing and still live a nice life. We planted trees to make the space nicer and provide shade for the people living there.
We could each plant our own trees, and some people had to do two trees. The process took a while, but it made me feel accomplished and proud. Most of us did not realize what it was like to plant trees and what you had to do and I learned a lot that day. Some of the things I learned included
- You have to keep the mulch three inches away from the tree trunk
- The width of the hole has to be two times the width of the bucket
- other leaves can feel if another leaf is getting damaged
- It takes 15-20 years for a tree to grow full-size
- You want to loosen up the roots and dirt before you plant the tree
Overall I learned a lot and it was a great experience. Check out the Keep Durham Beautiful website to see what you can do to help Durham.
Do you know what a wisdom tale is? It could be a Fable, Tall Tale, Legend, Myth, etc. but it has to have a moral. These morals relate to our everyday life and reflect on our day. During our Language Arts we took four months to discover the arts of wisdom tales and create a comic about one. We started out by learning about the history of stories and types of stories. Afterwards we read around twenty wisdom tales from around the globe and learned the summary and moral from each one.
Afterwards we met with visual storyteller and artist Brittain Peck came in and talked to us about strategies, tips and what he had done as an artist. We learned that simple shapes such as circles and squares tell a whole lot especially with color. We also learned that he liked using three boxes and three rows when he was making comics. I also learned that the awesome mural in Happy and Hale in Durham is done by him.
Credit: Brittain peck website
Afterwards we were told to pick a wisdom tale and make a comic about it. I chose The Red and Blue Coat, a tale from a tale from Africa. I chose this one because a lot in our daily life we only think about ourselves and do not realize that we may be hurting someone else. This tale really speaks out to me about this and I like how they used the example of the red and blue colored coat.
The Red and Blue Coat is a tale about best friends who live next to one another. One day a trickster from the town decided to test their friendship. He walked between their houses with a coat that had two sides, a red one and a blue one so each friend could only see one side. After the man left the friends started to bicker about what color the coat was. The man came back later and told them that the coat was two colors and they had not seen the other side. The moral of this story is that there are always two sides to one story and sometimes you do not see the other side.
During the process of making our comic I used Sketchbook and Comic Life 3 to create and design my comic.
Tips for Sketchbook
Tips for Comic Life 3
I encourage you to read some wisdom tales and I propose you will find a moral that relates to your life. I also encourage you to try to make a comic using Sketchbook and Comic Life 3 because it may start out hard but in the end you will be really proud of yourself.
Habits are an important part of our life sometimes you probably do not even realize you are doing a habit. Your habits may be making your bed every morning or reading for 20 minutes . This year in Language Arts we made a habit to plank every day and add 15 mins each week. We started out at 15 seconds and ended at 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We had to plank every day outside or inside of class. At first I thought this was crazy but soon I realized it was going to help me more than I thought it was. As I planked more and more I started to just know I had to plank that day.
During the plank challenge we were supposed to plank as long as we could. My goal for myself was for 5 minutes thinking that would be really hard, but I just kept going at 10 minutes. My face was red and I was getting tired. I ended up getting 16 minutes and 20 seconds, something I thought I could never do I actually did. For me 30 seconds seemed like a breeze. My new habit is going to be wall sits adding 15 seconds each week. If you have any habits you do each day or you are going to do, put them in the comments below.
Your habits shapes your identity and you identity shapes your habits
Finally it is Christmas time, the temperatures have dropped, school is almost off for break, everyone is searching to find presents while everything is sold out, kids are writing Christmas lists and grandparents are begging to know what they want, and everyone just wants it to be Christmas. Do you celebrate Christmas? Well, I do. We finally finished decorating a week ago and everyone is in the Christmas spirit. The Christmas tree is hung with ornaments. The elf on the shelf is hiding somewhere in our house and the house is decked with lights and decorations. Some of my favorite traditions at my house are decorating cookies, matching pajamas and reading Christmas books. If you have any Christmas traditions tell me in the comments below.
Icy, distant, perfect constantly failing spectacularly.
Eric improved during ski school a natural was better.
He lied he wasn’t bad at skiing slopes spent time.
Her determined she wiped out alone.
Thank you UnSplash for this image.
I am a reader. I read because it is a way to learn and experience a life different then mine or the same. It is always a way to relax and enjoy peace and quiet. While other kids read for school, I read for fun. It is a way to spend time doing something productive while being relaxed.
Reading can be hard for me and can be hard for all of us. Maybe you don’t understand the book or you don’t like the book. Sometimes I need a change in my reading and that is okay. Reading can be easier for me when I am in a quiet and comfortable place.
I love reading historical fiction and realistic fiction. Currently I am reading a book from the nonfiction genre called The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind by Willam Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.
I am usually not a fan of nonfiction books because they bore me but this book is one of my favorites because it is based on the author’s life and his story about how he became an African hero. This story is an amazing true story of survival against the odds.
Do you have favorite authors? Well I do. One of my favorite authors is John Grisham. John Grisham has written many books for adults but his Theodore Boone series is one of my favorites. I found this series over the summer at a local book store near my beach house. Early into the summer I found his first book of the series Kid Lawyer. I loved it so much I read it for a full day on the beach. I immediately wanted to read the next one. There are seven books in this series and all of them have been as good as the other one. This series is in the mystery and adventure genre. They are full of adventure, mysteries and they leave you on a cliffhanger. This is an amazing series that I think you should read.
Reading can take you into a whole new world away from the real one. If you have any recommendations of authors or books please tell me in the comment section below.
Thank you UnSplash for this image.
I have just finished reading Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool. This book is an adventure fiction novel. I chose this book because a friend recommended it to me and told me it was one of her favorites. This book is a window for me. A window book is a book that you can not relate to in a personal way. Mirror books introduce you to a whole new world or a new lifestyle. Navigating Early is about a boy named Jack whose mother died while his father was off at war and when his father returned he was sent to a boys boarding school and goes on a mission through the woods where he meets all times of creatures and humans to figure out the great mystery of his boarding school. I often choose window books over mirror books because I like learning about something different than my life because I am already living my life. Realizing your book is a mirror or window book is a good strategy because it helps you mix up your taste in books a little bit and it helps you figure out what you are reading.
