Really good to see some of you posting still. I am back from my trip now so I should be able to keep track more often when you do post. I think you will enjoy it more if more of you are blogging and commenting on each other's posts. So think about things to write about and when you see others from class get them to read and write and comment.

Tell what you did for the 4th of July, OR tell about a movie you've seen or would like to see, OR write about something going on in the news (like Iran or Michael Jackson or anything else). Even write about a post you think others should write about and then comment on each other's. 

Bye for now!

So that we are practicing reading critically we are each going to find a blog post that we choose as our "Blog Post of the Week!" As you read others' posts, cut and paste the URL of any post you think is well written onto an Appleworks page that you save as:

“My Blog post of the week of 2-20-09”

During our class discussion about what "well written" means, you said: Uses proper English and punctuation, good spelling (at least), explains well and describes well, shows doesn't tell (as much as possible).

Then on Friday we will each revisit those posts to select our post of the week. Once selected we will post a comment on that person's post explaining to them that this is your winner and ALL the reasons why. 

Pretend another teacher (and class) is thinking about blogging, but they are not sure about it. Write them a paragraph about your experience blogging and explain to them your thoughts and feelings about blogging.

Look over your blog posts and pick one to "remix." Make changes, edit out mistakes you made, add information you left out, add descriptive words and phrases ... basically use the skills you've learned since you originally wrote the post and make it better. Show us what you've learned! If you were a 4th grader in our class you must pick a post you wrote in 4th grade, If you joined us in 5th grade you must choose a post from 5th grade, and if you joined us this year you must pick a post from before the Holidays. It will be like old home week reacquainting yourself with an old friend! 

 

Following the pattern we've learned from reading and analyzing the style in "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown, research your favorite topics and write "Important" style paragraphs about them. 

One of the reindeer has had an accident or is sick and Santa has come to you for help. He wants you to be a reindeer pulling his sleigh. How? He will somehow (that's up to you) magically turn you into a reindeer for the night and then turn you back into yourself. Tell how that happens and about all your experiences that night. Explain turning into a reindeer - does it tickle? hurt? what does it look like / feel like?  Explain / describe pulling the sleigh, landing on roofs, dealing with weather around the world ... what is fun? scary? touching?

Remember, "show don't tell" and have fun!

We had a reporter and photographer in our class last week to talk to us about blogging. Here is a link to the article, and here is a link to some of the photos the photographer took.

Share about our Skype Video Conference with Alan Levine last week in Iceland. What did we talk about? What did we learn about Iceland? What was the experience like? What might it be like to meet him face to face next week when he visits here?

What are the issues that are important to YOU that you want the next president to do something about? We brainstormed and discussed what issues concern us and asked our parents about what issues concern them (without asking who they are voting for, just what issues concern them the most). Then we revisited our list, answered questions and clarified what the issues were about. Next we each thought about which issues are most important.

Now your job is to write a post expressing your concerns to the presidential candidates. Explain what each of your important issues are, why they are important to you and why they should be important to the next president.

Be persuasive enough and maybe you'll have some influence on the decisions the next president makes!

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