Here's the Plan

Fourth hour asked...I am providing. Here is an overview of where we are going over the next couple of weeks...hopefully!

Please remember...I post lesson plans daily on the white board to your left (when sitting at your desk).

I encourage you to check out the class wiki...lots of info there for you!

Hope this helps!

Reminder: Please email me your blog url and blog title.

Passwords and Posting

During 4B, some expressed concerns about giving out your passwords...so don't. Change your password.

Go to gmail and click on "My Account." There, you should be able to click on "change password."

Later, when this blog is no longer being used as a class assignment, you may use whatever password you want. Okay?

My apologies if this caused some confusion. As long as I am requiring this for class purposes, I have to be able to access your sites if needed...and only if needed. Trust me...I do not have enough time in my day to spend what little free time that I might have browsing your emails! This is just to remove inappropriate comments.

Also...I had also made the statement that all posts should relate or reflect the work of this class. Well...after reading the letter to the editor on Friday, I have changed my mind. Writing of this calibur should, of course, be posted! Wow! Very good!

Just keep me "posted" or get your post ideas pre-approved if you have any concerns about publishing something not directly related to a class assignment.

Now, let's draft and edit/revise so we can post and make comments!

Linking Together

I need your help! Please paste your blog URL into an email, along with your blog title, and send this info to me.

Then I will paste your info onto the wiki so you can check out each other's blogs.

Reminder...read this for blog topic assignments on which to be pondering.

Have a great weekend!

Hollywood to the Rescue

Never fear; Hollywood is here! She, the fearless wonderette, will rescue all fourth grade weak-minded girls from those creatures who simply insist upon being these girls' boyfriends. With her quick shooting rays of red, she will insist that these boys back away and realize that the time is not right for their romantic advances. That's right...those red dots, no, red Holly Berries will shoot out rays of red that will become a force that these advancing young knights cannot overtake...not yet, at least. For the power of the Holly Berry causes the romance to die until they turn thirty (that is what this momma is hoping, anyway!) Once the rays have been administered, Hollywood utilizes her rollerblades to rescue the innocent little girls who had so unwillingly succumbed to the powers of the want-to-be boyfriends. With lightning speed, Hollywood rushes in, scoops up the dim-witted girls, yes, those girls whose mothers have shed many tears at the thought of the monstrous ways of the unwanted cute looks and flashy winks of the eye, and, oh, yes, the teddy bears and chocolates given on Valentine's Day by these miniature men of the future. Then Hollywood returns to commit her final heroic deed...that of saving these now heartless young male minds (yes, heartless...remember, they can now have no romantic thoughts until the age of thirty! Right?). With the love of a teacher, Hollywood shoots her rays once again...this time from what looks like her hair, except they are really coming from her grand brain. With these rays comes a love for learning, as the leaders of the future now go to prepare to be our next doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, truck drivers, firefighters, and, okay, knights in shining armour. With all these wonderous heroic qualities, Hollywood has once again saved the mothers from sleepless nights and the dads from waiting up for their darling innocent beauties.

Isn't that how the story goes? If not, please do not tell this mother any variations to this story's ending!

I look forward to meeting your heros and heroines!

The above is my homework assignment for my new sci-fi world...the world of Hollywood. The assignment? To write a descriptive paragraph about the hero of this unique world. Must also include three "chunks" within the the body of the paragraph.

The sentences are highlighted according to the guidelines in Step up to Writing, an awesome program to which I attribute previous high scores on the End-of-Level Literacy Exam.

9/11 Remembered

Today I read "9/11 Remembered: An Eyewitness Account" to my eighth grade lit lab class and was proudly surprised how my students responded when I said, "You may not remember what you were doing..." Didn't get to finish, for they quickly told me that they do remember exactly what they were doing on that day, seven years ago.

May we never forget. For as vivid as our memories are, the memories of those there and of those who lost loved ones have to be that much more vivid.

Tomorrow on 9/11, I will share this story aloud, this story of Suzanne McCabe, an eyewitness account of when our country was attacked.

May we never forget.

Plan to publish!

Your blogs are created; now the time has arrived to decide about what to post first!

Never fear, the teacher is never far away with just the right blog assignment close in hand!

Blog Topic 1:
As you draft your letter to the next President, plan an excerpt or summary of your thoughts to place in a post.

Blog Topic 2:
Using your assigned novel as a basis, either promote or discourage science-fiction as a genre of choice.

Blog Topic 3:
Later when your sci-fi worlds are completed, plan to introduce your blog audience to your main character.

Then as we subscribe to your classmates' blogs, take advantage of your Reader and comment on one or two blogs. Remember through comments comes the confirmation that you are a published writer!

Blogger Is the Winner!

After some deliberation and debate, Mrs. Huff and I have decided to use Blogger as the class blog type.

If you have created a Edublog or a Wordpress blog....I do apologize, but Blogger is adding some features that will work great for us. For example, soon our Readers can feed right into our blog! I know...the excitement will come as your understanding of these Web 2.0 tools develops. It will...I promise.

So let's all set up a Blogger. (My apologies for pics...I only have Paint to work with here at home, and the quality is just not good enough. Sorry!)

Step 1: Go to your gmail account and click on "more"; then scroll down to "blog."

Step 2: Click on "my account" in the upper right corner.

Step 3: Select Blogger.

Step 4: Proceed to set up a blog.

CAUTION: Remember, this is a class blog, for class assignments, for a grade. Okay? If you want to publish personal posts, please set up another blog in what is now called your "dashboard."

Congratulations you have now left your digital fingerprint on the web! You are about to be a published author!

I look forward to reading your entries and watching you grow as a writer...and reader!