Title of Your Post: The Inner Circle
Review your group’s Blogs. Respond to your group members’ last Blog about which character they would like to have as a friend. Tell them why you agree or disagree with their choice and which character you see yourself befriending.
Remember to check T. Holmes’s Blog for hints and how-to’s on responding to your classmate’s Blog.
Check T. Holmes’s responses to your second Blogs for an example.
Do not tell too much of the story.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Post 2 Assignment
Title of your post: Character's Name (Pick a character from your novel and write down that character's name.)
Which of the main characters would you most like to have as a friend? Why?
Give examples from the story. If you wouldn’t be friends with any of them, explain why as well. (5 sentences or more)
If you can find a picture of your character, you may post it beside your paragraph.
This image is optional.
Which of the main characters would you most like to have as a friend? Why?
Give examples from the story. If you wouldn’t be friends with any of them, explain why as well. (5 sentences or more)
If you can find a picture of your character, you may post it beside your paragraph.
This image is optional.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Post 1 Assignment
Title of Your Post: Book Title
Upload an image of the book you are reading.
Write 5 sentences or more describing the basic premise of your book. Make it interesting. Your description should encourage me to check out the book and read it.
Do not tell too much of the story.
Upload an image of the book you are reading.
Write 5 sentences or more describing the basic premise of your book. Make it interesting. Your description should encourage me to check out the book and read it.
Do not tell too much of the story.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Blogging Cautions
Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on your blog. Your blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address.
Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can and will come back to get you if you don’t.
Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably warn them by using a parenthetical note or some other word of caution.
Courtesy of...
The majority of the information below on "creating blogs and responding to your classmates' work" was graciously donated to our class cause by Ms. Sharon Fulmer, English Department Chair, The Academy of Irving:
Creating Your Own Blog
As we begin reading this year, we will also be undertaking a new venture to do more of our writing and responding to the texts online. We will "Mrs. Holmes's Blog" as a way for me to post a prompt and for you to respond to it in the comment section. However, that method limits your ability to revise your writing. Those are two important components of an English classroom.Therefore you will create your own personal blog.
You will be in charge of regularly posting ideas and thoughts related to independent reading as well as responding to questions provided for you. With a blog, you can post your thoughts and responses to reading material, allowing your classmates to read what you've written and to build on your ideas.Likewise, you will read the writing of your classmates and be able to connect to their thinking and ideas.
On a more individual note, the blog will become the primary area where you will maintain a record of your thinking and writing. In a sense it will become an online notebook that will be graded, both for content and writing quality.
To get started, click on the blogger link.
Once you create your blog, cut and paste the address link and email it to tholmes@irvingisd.net , so I can begin compiling all my student blogs in one place.
As you create your blog, make sure there is no personal information on your blog or blog profile. Make sure you do not show your e-mail address on your profile.
Blog Profile:
Your blog name should be your first name and last name initial, like this: Tiffany H.
No personal pictures of people you know or yourself should be on your blog. (Remember this one is for school purposes.)
Do not provide personal idenfication information, including your address, family member names, your school name -- although you may put "AHS", "IHS", "MHS", and "NHS", the city that you live in, where you work, etc.
In all postings, you need to remember the following:
1. Come up with an interesting title - or headline - that relates to what you are writingabout.
2. Always state the title of the book you are referring to.
3. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. These are school assignments and should be treatedas such, with proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling.
4. Write lengthy responses.
5. In your first paragraph, include a sentence that states clearly what it is you arewriting about.
You will be in charge of regularly posting ideas and thoughts related to independent reading as well as responding to questions provided for you. With a blog, you can post your thoughts and responses to reading material, allowing your classmates to read what you've written and to build on your ideas.Likewise, you will read the writing of your classmates and be able to connect to their thinking and ideas.
On a more individual note, the blog will become the primary area where you will maintain a record of your thinking and writing. In a sense it will become an online notebook that will be graded, both for content and writing quality.
To get started, click on the blogger link.
Once you create your blog, cut and paste the address link and email it to tholmes@irvingisd.net , so I can begin compiling all my student blogs in one place.
As you create your blog, make sure there is no personal information on your blog or blog profile. Make sure you do not show your e-mail address on your profile.
Blog Profile:
Your blog name should be your first name and last name initial, like this: Tiffany H.
No personal pictures of people you know or yourself should be on your blog. (Remember this one is for school purposes.)
Do not provide personal idenfication information, including your address, family member names, your school name -- although you may put "AHS", "IHS", "MHS", and "NHS", the city that you live in, where you work, etc.
In all postings, you need to remember the following:
1. Come up with an interesting title - or headline - that relates to what you are writingabout.
2. Always state the title of the book you are referring to.
3. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. These are school assignments and should be treatedas such, with proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling.
4. Write lengthy responses.
5. In your first paragraph, include a sentence that states clearly what it is you arewriting about.
Responding to Your Classmates' Work
One powerful feature of a blog is the ability to leave comments on postings written by someone else. We have done this for class assignments when you submitted your answers via the comment section of the class blog. Periodically, you will read several of your classmates' blog postings and respond to their ideas. The purpose of this is to promote conversation from your blogs which we can use as part of a class discussion.
There is no one way to comment on a blog. For our class purposes, however, it is important that we make the most out of our reading and commenting. Our comments will be more effective if we follow several guidelines.
First, begin your comment by mentioning something interesting/powerful/positive from the blog posting you have just read. It may help to even repeat and quote from the posting. This way, the response is focused on the ideas in the posting. Next, provide some transition from what the blog writer is saying and the ideas or points you'd like to make. This is where you could politely disagree or find a place to expand upon the thinking by making a connection.
Finally, end your comment with a strong idea, or clincher. It could be a question or a powerful restatement of the ideas raised in the blog. Think of these like questions or comments you might use during a discussion to keep the conversation going.
Some sentence starters to assist you could include:
I agree with you when you say "blah, blah, blah..." and I think _____
In your post you say "blah, blah, blah..." but I wonder if ______
You write in your post "blah, blah, blah..." and that reminds me of _____
In your post you mention from the book "blah, blah, blah..." and I'd like to add _
With all blogs, you will be graded on…………
Originality of ideas based on the novel
Development of ideas with support from the novel
Focus Grammar/mechanics
There is no one way to comment on a blog. For our class purposes, however, it is important that we make the most out of our reading and commenting. Our comments will be more effective if we follow several guidelines.
First, begin your comment by mentioning something interesting/powerful/positive from the blog posting you have just read. It may help to even repeat and quote from the posting. This way, the response is focused on the ideas in the posting. Next, provide some transition from what the blog writer is saying and the ideas or points you'd like to make. This is where you could politely disagree or find a place to expand upon the thinking by making a connection.
Finally, end your comment with a strong idea, or clincher. It could be a question or a powerful restatement of the ideas raised in the blog. Think of these like questions or comments you might use during a discussion to keep the conversation going.
Some sentence starters to assist you could include:
I agree with you when you say "blah, blah, blah..." and I think _____
In your post you say "blah, blah, blah..." but I wonder if ______
You write in your post "blah, blah, blah..." and that reminds me of _____
In your post you mention from the book "blah, blah, blah..." and I'd like to add _
With all blogs, you will be graded on…………
Originality of ideas based on the novel
Development of ideas with support from the novel
Focus Grammar/mechanics
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