Hey everyone! This is the last post for my “Best Work” category!  It will include two pieces of work like the language arts one.  This time, I am going to be talking about my work from library research. Enjoy!

The first piece of work that I am going to be talking about is my September 11 Remembrance Research.  I had to write about what I researched about it, so I wrote about a lot of different memorials.  Here it is:

Whenever I think about September 11, I feel sad and depressed.  So many people lost their lives. Even though it happened 17 years ago, many people are still affected by it.  There are two of the largest manmade waterfalls where the towers used to be. The names of nearly 3,000 people who died are engraved there.  The waterfalls are meant to be a “powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.  In Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey, artist Zurab Tsereteli found a way to express the pain and grief of 9/11 survivors. A 100-foot tall bronze monument with a 4-ton nickel teardrop was built. From far away, the Twin Towers looked like one building, which is why Tsereteli’s memorial is one larger tower with a tear in the middle to represent the grief.  There is another memorial that isn’t as well known. It is two piers that have 110 boards to represent the 110 floors in the World Trade Center. There is a steel sculpture that reads, “In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.” There is another sculpture in Battery Park, New York City. The sculpture is called The Sphere, and it is meant to symbolize world peace through world trade.  It was built for the opening of the World Trade Centers in 1971. It was damaged during the 9/11 attack, but it manage to survive. After 9/11, two items were found inside of it. There was a Bible and an airplane seat. Currently, the sphere isn’t just a sculpture. It is, “an icon of hope and indestructible spirit of this country.” The next structure is on Staten Island in New York City. On 9/11, Staten Island faced a loss of 274 people.  It was one of the hardest hits the community took. The memorial was built for members to come and reflect the lives of loved ones. The structure is made of two thin, white structures. They represent postcards to the loved ones. The last memorial is at Boston-Logan International Airport in Massachusetts. This memorial is made to represent the lives lost on American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 to Los Angeles on 9/11. A Place of Remembrance was created through a public design contest.  This memorial is a glass cube with the victims’ names etched on the walls. The ceiling of the memorial looks like a “fractured sky” because the creator said that no one ever looked at the sky the same way again.

I chose this piece of (amazing) work because I spent almost an ENTIRE period researching, taking notes, and writing this out.  It was tiring hehehhe.  I think it turned out good! (I hope I have no spelling mistakes…)

The F I N A L piece of work that I will be showing is my Here I Am writing.  Here I Am is a picture book, so our teacher gave us an assignment to give the book words! It was really fun and creative! Here is my work:

Today is the day, the day I never wanted to come. This miserable day that may ruin my entire life. I feared that this day would come eventually. Today is the day that I move from my home to New York.The plane is a crowded space. The aisles filled with people of different height and ages. All of those people took a seat when the plane was about to take off. The whole flight was long and dreadful. I felt the need to stretch the entire flight. Eventually, I found myself drifting to sleep for most of the flight. At least I found something to take up time with.  The airport was massive with many people inside. I felt like such a small person amongst the wide variety of people.   We soon entered a yellow vehicle known as a taxi. It took us around the entire city. After about 15 minutes, it dropped us off in front of many random apartments. It took us some time, but we finally found our apartment. When we went inside, I felt this feeling of emptiness, but when I reached inside my pocket, I realized that maybe things would be alright.  I decided to take a little walk outside. There was a little pond near a restaurant. I stood there for a bit deciding what to do. Eventually, I reached into my pocket and took out a tiny seed. It was the only thing I had that reminded me of home. I carefully held the seed in my hands. It started to glow a bright red. Instantaneously, the scent of my home started to emit. It started to feel a bit like home.  Within minutes, I had to head back to the apartment. I layed down on the bed in between my parents. They were already asleep, but I couldn’t get myself to doze off. I stuck my hand in my pocket and took out the little seed again. This time, my whole imagination was released. Leaves and birds emerged from the small seed. Anything was possible with this tiny seed.  I spent most of my days inside the apartment. If I wasn’t in the apartment, I was wandering around the city discovering new things. Everything seemed pretty boring. I started school a few days later, but nothing seemed to be of my interest. Things just seem to be getting duller and duller.  My mom asked if I wanted to go for a walk, but I had to decline. I wasn’t in the mood to do anything. As soon as she left, I saw a mysterious figure outside of my window. I opened the window and looked down. It was a little girl jumproping. While I was looking down, I accidentally dropped my seed. It hit the girl on the head and fell to the floor. She noticed and picked the seed up, but she started to jump away. I called out for her, but I guess she couldn’t hear me. I ran down the stairs in hopes to catch her before she gets away.  We raced through crowded streets and past busy shops. After running for what seemed like forever, I lost sight of her. I thought the world was over, but it was just merely the beginning. After letting go of that seed, I started to become more attached to my new home. I realized that moving may not have been so bad after all.   While walking through the park one day, I spotted the same girl near a tree. I walked over, and she handed me back the seed. I showed her what this seed resembles, and I started to lead her to a dirt patch. We squatted down and buried the seed together. In an instant, the seed grew into a big and healthy tree. To me, the seed resembled a new start to life.  The girl and I soon became good friends. Our little siblings became friends as well.  As I walked onto the bridge, I looked at my reflection and thought, “Here I am.”

I chose this (also amazing) piece of work because it took me SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO LONG to do.  I had to literally read the book 20 times.  It’s seems like an easy picture book but NO! There is so many things to look at and write about. I thought that the end product was good considering that I sometimes stayed up till 10:00 doing it. Yeah…I hope you enjoyed!

 

Hello! Now, I am going to be talking about my best work for language arts! This will include two pieces of work because I am really proud of these two things!

The first thing is an essay about the book, Outsider.  We had to explain what a character meant in his quote.  It was really fun to look deeper into what the character meant.  Here is the essay:

In chapter 9, Johnny tells Ponyboy to “stay gold.”  It is a reference to the Robert Frost poem that Ponyboy recited to Johnny when they were at the hideout in Windrixville Church.  I think that Johnny also means to “stay innocent.” Johnny applied this to youth and innocence. Nobody can be unaffected by the harshness of life.  Johnny seems to realize how useless fighting is, so he tells Ponyboy to stay innocent. He could have great qualities that set him apart from the rest of his group.  

“Nothing gold can stay,” means that all good thing must come to an end.  The name of the Robert Frost poem is Nothing Gold Can Stay. The poem says, “Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold.  Her early leaf’s a flower; but only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, so Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day, nothing gold can stay.”  You cannot be untouched by the harshness of life. Eventually, everything will lose its innocence, but Johnny wants Ponyboy to keep his innocence for as long as he can.  

Johnny want Ponyboy to keeps his innocence.  He wants his golden traits to set him apart from the rest of the Greasers.  Johnny knows very well that Ponyboy is better than the regular Greaser. To Johnny, fighting is useless.  Compared to Greasers such as Dally, Ponyboy seems like a person who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Ponyboy becoming like Dally is the last thing Johnny would want.  Ponyboy has many qualities that make him unique compared to the average hoodlums.

In the quote, Johnny applied youth to what he meant in his quote.  Nobody can stay innocent for their entire life. Everyone is affected by the roughness of society.  Johnny wants Ponyboy to stay the smart and intelligent boy he is. He should always be able to look at sunsets, movies, and books to find happiness.  

All good things must come to an end.  You can’t avoid what life has coming. Johnny has and always did want the best for Ponyboy.  He saw the good in him when everyone else didn’t.

I chose this because I was REALLY proud.  I spent a lot of time and thinking to make this.

The next piece of work that I am going to show is my Challenger Mission Resume.  It is just a cover letter, but I was really proud of it.  It took me a LONG LONG LONG time to think about what I was going to write.  Here it is:

Dear Ms. Kojima,

My name is Raya, and I am writing to apply for the Remote and Life Support position at the Challenger Mission.  I work well with others, and I am a quick thinker. I can solve problems quickly. I think that I would be a good fit for both of these jobs.

My first choice is Remote.  I have the skills needed to do well for this job.  I have good teamwork skills and I can work really well with people. One of the roles of Remote is to identify and solve emergencies.  I have good critical thinking skills and can work with others to find the best solution to a problem.

My second choice is Life Support.  Again, I have good teamwork skills, so I would be able to work well with my partner.  One of the roles of Life Support is to conduct test and record results. I am meticulous in work and believe I would excel in making sure that tests are accurate. Another one of the roles in Life Support is to work well under stress. During my 6 years of playing golf, I have had my fair share of stressful situations, and I have learned how to excel in those scenarios.

Sincerely,

Raya

Hey everyone! I am here to talk about, in my opinion, my best work that I have done in science.  We had to build a paper rocket that we could launch.  We had an investigative question that we needed to answer after all of our tests were done.  We also had to come up with a hypothesis.  We had to insert a straw into the rocket and blow to launch it.

Investigative Question

What effect does weight have on our strawket?

 

Hypothesis (If….then…because…)

 

If we put the paperclip on the tip, then it will go further than the clip at the bottom because the weight is more forward.

 

Materials (Single Column List)

 

Paper Rocket

Paperclip

Straw

Tape Measure

 

Procedures (Numbered Steps)

 

1. Put the clip in the middle of the head
2. Insert the straw into the bottom of the rocket
3. Put the straw in your mouth
4. Point the rocket up
5. Listen to your teacher say go
6. Shoot the rocket
7. Measure how far it goes
8. Write the data down
9. Repeat

 

Results (Date Table – Trials – Averages)

 

Trials	Distance	Comments
1	4.5 meters	Ok
2	5.35 meters	Getting better
3	4.75 meters	Ok
Average	≈ 4.9 meters	Ok

 

(Conclusion)

 

In my hypothesis, I said that the strawket would go further if the weight is at the tip.  I was wrong because a person that did put their weight at the back went 5.7 meters. There are many factors that could have affected how far the strawket went.  Some examples could be how well the strawket is built, wind, how hard you blow into the straw, and many other things. For the investigative question, weight does affect the strawket.  When I had no weight on the strawket, the average distance was about 3 meters. When we added weight to the tip, the average distance was 4.9 meters.

 

I chose this piece because I put a lot of effort into it.  I am really satisfied on how it turned out.

Hey everyone! In this post, I will be talking about my best work in computer! Enjoy!

My best work in computer is a 3D project we have been doing for a while.  I made a small house.  It is only about a foot long. I am really proud of it because it looks really good.  Sadly, I do not have any pictures to show you :(.  In my opinion, it looked really cool.  If you would like to see it, just come to me and ask if I can show you :).  I felt really proud of this because I have never made a 3D object before.  It was such a fun experience :D.

Thanks for reading! I will see you in the next post!

Hey everyone! I am BACK with ANOTHER best work post.  This time it is for MATH! I will be talking about a math magazine we designed.  I hope you enjoy!1!1 (I will be pasting the articles I wrote here)

First Article – Where Animation Began

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio in Tokyo, Japan. It produces films that fill the TV with incredible animations. It was founded on June 15, 1985 after producing “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,” in 1984. Studio Ghibli has continued to produce a various amount of movies. After Nausicaä, their next film was “Castle in the Sky,” which was released on August 2, 1986. It has won over 11 awards and was one of the best films of 1986. It had very stunning animations that astounded many people across the world. One of the next films was “My Neighbor Totoro.” It was released on April 16, 1988. This film had also won many awards. This film was directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. This film won an award for best film in 1988. It has also won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize. “My Neighbor Totoro,” has been in the top 100 movies in many countries. Some of the movies following “Castle in the Sky,” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” were “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Porco Rosso,” “Whisper of the Heart,” “Princess Mononoke,” and many more. The first movie made in the 2000s was “Spirited Away.” It was released on July 20, 2001. It became the most successful Japanese film in history making over $289 million all around the world. This film took over Titanic in the Japanese box office. “Spirited Away,” is ranked among one of the greatest Japanese films of all time. The most current Studio Ghibli movie is “When Marnie Was There.” It was released on July 19, 2014. This film was not directed by Hayaoi Miyazaki. It was directed by Makiko Futaki who unfortunately died in May of 2016. This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Anime Feature. This film was directed by the same person who directed “Arriety.” Both of these films were great films by Makiko Futaki. Studio Ghibli still continues to advance and produce quality films. Studio Ghibli has been a company for 33 years. Their animations keep on improving with new people with new talents joining the company. They are currently working on a movie called “Mary and the Witch’s Flower.” Are you ready for it?

Second Article – VIXX

VIXX is a K-Pop boy band. It is made up of six members. Their stage names are N, Leo, Ken, Ravi, Hongbin, and Hyuk. Their real names are Cha Hakeyon, Jung Taekwoon, Lee Jaehwan, Kim Wonshik, Lee Hongbin, and Han Sanghyuk. They officially debuted in 2012 with the song Super Hero. They have won 26 awards and have been nominated about 100 times. Their most popular song, currently, is Error. It has won six awards. They are still currently making songs to impress many people around the world. Are you ready for a comeback?

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I really enjoyed making this magazine because you could make the articles be about anything you want.  It was very fun to talk about my interests.  Even though it took me a while to write the articles, it was a very fun project that I wouldn’t mind doing again.  I will see you in the next post!

Hey everyone! Again, I am back to talk about my greatest assignment in science! I will be talking about this experiment we did about reaction times throughout the day.

The main question was if people’s reaction times vary at different times of the day.  We tested this by getting a strip of paper with different measurements and dropping it.  Then, we looked at the number it was at.  That is their reaction.  In the end of out experiment, we concluded that reaction times are slower in the morning and faster in the afternoon.  My conclusion was that in the morning, people are more tired, and in the afternoon, people are more awake.  Their brains are working and processing things a lot faster.

(Graph I made in Docs)

Most of the results said that the reaction times are faster in the afternoon.

Thanks for reading! There will be four more posts 😛

THE LAST POST! This final one is about STEM!

In STEM, the most best thing I did was a bird call song project.  We had to use bird chirps/calls to make a song.  It was a really fun project! I did my music on Garageband.  It turned out to be better than what I totally expected! Again…I do not know how to put it on this post :(.  Just like my computer project, just ask me if you would like to hear it!  It was a very…mixed song.  I thought that this would’ve been easier…but it took a lot of time.  ANOTHER THING I LEARNED WHILE DOING THIS IS TO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!! 😛

I hope you enjoyed reading my personal favorite works! I will see you in another aleatory post or whenever :D!

HELLO EVERYONEEEE! Again, like all of my other posts, I will be talking about my best work in drama.

My best work in drama was a presentation I made.  It had to be about an object.  My object was a volleyball.  I talked about a bunch of memories I have with volleyballs.  The speech was about one minute and ten seconds.  Even though it is a short amount of time, when you are up there it feels like millions of years have gone by.  I do not fully remember my speech, but I remember talking about how me and my sister would always play volleyball in our yard.  We would fail most of the time, but we had fun. I think this is a good thing to do sometimes because it will teach you how to deal with pressure.  The most important thing I learned while doing this project is to NEVER TRY TO MEMORIZE THINGS AT THE LaSt SeCoNd!!!!111!!

Thanks for reading :DDDD Hope you have a great day!

Hey everyone! I am back with another post, but this time, it is about my best work in social studies. My best work in social studies is my Picture Bride story.  It is about a girl named Riyo.  She is married to Matsuji.  In this assignment, you had the choice to make an alternative ending. My ending is about Riyo telling Matsuji that her parents died from tuberculosis. Instead of Matsuji telling her it’s okay, he kicks her out of the house. I liked writing this because you could take the story into your own hands. You can make the story however you like. I hope you like my story!

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It was a hot and sunny day in the cane field.  As usual, Riyo talked to Kana but got scolded by the field owners.  After the long day, Riyo went home and saw Matsuji sitting by the table.  He was counting his money to start a strike.  Matsuji told her what everyone was trying to do.  She only contributed two dollars because she was saving up money to go back to Japan.  Matsuji told Riyo to put more but refused.  Matsuji was furious.  He strictly told Riyo that she had to put more money in and stop being so selfish.  Tears rolled down Riyo’s face as she ran off.  Raindrops fell from the sky harshly.  

She crouched down by a tree until Matsuji caught up to her.  It was all silence for a while.  Finally, Riyo broke the silence and said, “Since I already know a lot about you, I will tell you more about me.  The reason why I had to get married in Hawaii is that no one would marry me in Japan.”  He then asks, “Why didn’t anyone marry you back in Japan?”  Riyo didn’t answer for a small time.  Finally, she said, “My parents died from tuberculosis and everyone thought it was because of me.”  Matsuji looked at her.  “Get out of my home,” he said sternly.  Riyo was startled and surprised.  “What?” she asked.  “Just leave…” he said as he started to walk away.  

Riyo stood up slowly and walked to the cane field where Kana always is.  Riyo saw Kana with her baby as she slowly approached her.  Riyo walked up to her and said her name.  She was startled and swiftly looked back.  “RIYO!” she exclaimed, “You gave me a heart attack.”  Riyo looked at her blankly, “Sorry.”  She looked at me concerningly, “Is something wrong?”  Riyo loudly sighed, “Matsuji kicked me out of his house because I told him that my parents died from tuberculosis.”  “WHAT?!?” Kana blurted.  “I swear the next I see him…” she muttered.  “It’s fine Kana.  I’m going to be leaving to Japan again after tomorrow when I get paid.”  Kana looked at Riyo with sad eyes.  “Riyo…you can’t leave me here.”  Riyo hugged Kana, “You’ll be fine.  I promise that I’ll never forget you.  We should probably sleep now.”  They both lied down on a mattress on the ground and fell asleep.  

The next morning, Riyo went with Kana and Kei to the cane fields.  They worked many hard hours.  After the day was done, Riyo slowly walked to collect her money.  Since Matsuji wasn’t done with working yet, Riyo went back to the house and collected all of her money.  Riyo said one last goodbye to Kana.  Riyo slowly walked to the beach where she got onto a boat and went back to Japan.  

Kana told Matsuji, but he didn’t care.  He walked off, and Kana angrily stomped off back to her house.  Matsuji walked back to his house and contributed his money to the strike.  He looked at the money he had left.  It was not anywhere close enough to be able to afford another picture bride.  He decided that he didn’t need another love.  He sighed and smoked another cigarette.  While he was smoking, Riyo was out at sea going back to Japan.  

She moved to Osaka and found a man there who was closer to her age.  His name was Kenji. She eventually got married and had kids.  Every month or so, she would send letters to Kana.  Every couple of months Riyo and Kana would receive and send letters to one another.  Riyo excluded Matsuji out of her life.  She never wanted to think of him ever again.  When Riyo heard about Kana and Kei’s death she was devastated.  She kept all of Kana’s letters in a box and would read them over and over again every once in a while.  Kenji helped Riyo get over everything.  

Kenji treated Riyo a lot better than Matsuji.  Riyo ended up with a full family with kids.  Riyo wanted to tell Kenji what happened to her parents, but she was scared that she would be rejected again.  She gained up enough courage and was finally able to tell him.  Kenji didn’t mind and still loved her.  Riyo was so relieved.  Both Riyo and Kenji lived to an old age.  Since Matsuji was older, he died before Riyo.  Matsuji able to afford another picture bride, but he didn’t want to waste money just for love.  Riyo and Kenji had grandchildren and were always very happy with each other.  Riyo lived a great life.

Hey everyone! Today I will be talking about my best work in language arts.  My best work is my Alacatraz story.  I feel proud of this work because I put a lot of effort into it.  I think it came out really well. I hope you enjoy reading it. (It is in the perspective of Frank Morris) Enjoy~

It was an eerie day. I will never forget the gleaming light of the watchtowers as I entered the most feared prison in the world, Alcatraz.  When I entered the prison, i saw many others around.  I was led into a dimly lit cell.  The iron bars trapping me inside.  All I could do was sit on the bed and wait.  The air was filled with silence.  It was then shattered with constant ringing of a bell that signified that it was time for dinner.  I casually walked out of my cell.  I gazed around looking for anything that would help me escape.  Suddenly, these two men approached me.  I recognized them because they were on the same boat that took me here. I sat with them for dinner.  We had a lot of small talks.  The bell rang again, and everyone stood up to go back to their cells. I laid down on my bed, closed my eyes, and fell asleep.  I was woken by the loud bells again.  I stood up to go get breakfast. I met the Anglin brothers again, but this time, we sat in a corner.  We silently discussed an escape plan.  Another man slowly sat by us and said that he wanted to join.  He agreed and continued to talk.  Months flew by as we prepared.  Finally, we were ready. We left a dummy on our bed and wiggled out through a hole in the wall.  I saw the Anglin brothers, but the other man wasn’t there.  We decided that we had to go on without him.  We reached the roof.  The salty smell of the sea filled my lungs. We stared forward.  The only thing between us and freedom  is a 12-foot fence and the harsh waters.  We were able to climb the fence and get the boat in the water,  We swiftly paddled away and looked back cheering. WE HAD MADE IT.

I hope you enjoyed this short story! Goodbye for now!