And So the Marking Period Ends...

...have you done the following?

-Posted a Welcome to My Blog on your blog?
-Created a Podcast tab on your blog?
-Posted an intro to your Podcast with a verbal logo on your Podcast tab?
-Added the 4 books under your Book Report tab?  Telling me the title, author's name and genre of the book?
-Completed all the forms I have asked for in earlier posts here?

Double check that this is done.  All of the above goes into your English grade for this marking period!

Welcome Podcast

After you have recorded a welcome to your podcast, post it on your blog.  Extra points will be given for posting it on the top or side of your blog rather than in a comment.

Semicolons

One of the areas we did not do well on the first Periodic Assessment was the standards for Language Conventions.  L.C. includes things like semicolons and dashes.  Today I want you to practice using semicolons on Brain Pop.

Start by logging in on the top of the page, our username  and password are written on the white board by the computers.  Read the description and watch the movie, then play the game.

Listing Book Reports

On your Book Report page, please comment on each book you have read this year.  Your comment should include:

Title of the book
Author of the book
Genre of the book

People who want more details can listen to your podcast.

Book Reports for Podcasts

The following is the information I want in your book report:

• Title
• Author
• Genre - what type of book is it?
• Setting and Characters
• Conflict (what is the main problem)?
• Your opinion of the book...

Remember, this paper is the basis of the book podcasts your are going to do and post on your blogs.  If it is too short, the podcast will be boring.  What can you tell us that will make your Bookcast more interesting?

Don't Forget

Don't forget to share your Model Writing #1 with me.  The assignment was:

Please write about a person in your life who has changed you in an important way.  It can be for the better or for the worse. The title of your essay is A Person In My Life.  We are using the standard writing rubric found on my webpage.  Choose the Narrative Rubric on the left side of the site.

You should have:

• created a Google Doc for it
• shared the doc with me, DO NOT EMAIL ME! remember to uncheck the email box while sharing
• complete the form linking me to your document

If you don't share your document with me, I cannot access it. Think of it as an invitation.  I am going to give a grade for completing the the above steps correctly -- I do not want to receive an email saying you shared the document with me!

See me if you have any questions.

Analogies

One example of figurative language is analogy. Analogies compare the RELATIONSHIP of two words to the RELATIONSHIP of two other words. Here is an example:

You are as annoying as nails on a chalkboard. 

The fact you are annoying is compared to nails scratching a chalkboard. In other words, you are the screeching sound that bothers people. Here's another one: 

What moon is to the night, the sun is to the day. 

What is the moon to night? The moon is light at night. And that is what the sun is to daytime too. Here's one last example: 

What a cobra is to a mongoose, a cat is to a dog. 

What is a cobra to a mongoose (remember Riki Tiki Tavi?)? A cobra is something that a mongoose chases. What is a cat to a dog? Do you see the relationship? 

Check out the two videos, Analogy Lesson and Analogy Types on the Video tab on the top of this page. Please take Cornell Notes in your Comp Book. What would be your first question? What is an analogy...  

After you have finished your notes, go to this link.  You can test your knowledge by playing the Analogies Games for each grade level.  How high can you go? 

Found Poetry

Poems are a way of expressing ideas and emotions using writing that has rhythm and sometimes rhyme.  You assignment is to find a poem in a magazine article.  After you have created a Google Doc for your poem, type your poem in the doc, then copy your poem into your blog.  After you have done that, complete this form for a grade.

A New Year!

Welcome back everyone!  Our theme last year was DREAM Big, this year our theme is to QUESTION.  I want you to use the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy (look in your planner page 30) to analyse, synthesize and evaluate!  I want you to ask WHY!

Your first writing assignment is from our DREAM diagnostic.  Please write about a person in your life who has changed you in an important way.  It can be for the better or for the worse.  The title of your essay is A Person In My Life.  We are using the standard writing rubric found on my webpage.  Choose the Narrative Rubric on the left side of the site. 

The Play Posts

The topics for The Play posts are in Engrade, but here they are again:

Day One - what do you think about doing a play?

Day Two - what do you think about your character?

Day Three - what do you think about the play so far?

Last Day - after your performance - what do you think about the performance?  Did you enjoy acting in a play? Do you want to do another one?

One More Form!

Please complete this form:

Blog - The Play Page

SLCs - Post Conference Thoughts

So...how did it go?  What did you think?  Did your parents like it?  How did you feel showing your parents your work?  We are going to do this again next year, what would make the conference better for you?

After you are done blogging, please complete the following form:

SLC - Post Conference Thoughts

SLCs - Pre Conference Thoughts

What do you think about Student Led Conferences?  Do you think they are important?  Do you think your parents will like them?  What do you think about your teachers not talking to your parents, that only you get to present your work to them?  What do you think...!

After you have finished your blog, please complete the following form:

SLC - Pre Conference Blog

FORMS!

Please complete the following forms:

Field Trip Blog

Research Presentation

Narrative Essay

What Do You Think About the Field Trip?

You must create a post on your blog about your experience on Mr. Juarez's field trip to LACMA.  What did you see?  What did you do?  What did you learn?  Do you look at the world any differently after seeing the exhibit?

After you have blogged, please go here and follow the directions.

Our First Video!

Chelsea, Brandon, Cesar, and Jason completed their video!  I think they still need to do it one more time, but here it is!  You can see the video to the right under pages.

Research Topic

Your second blog entry will be to choose a research topic and create 3 questions to narrow your research.  This topic and questions will be posted to your blog.  Your fellow students will read your blog and do your research for you.

Every student must read 5 blogs and post 5 pieces of research information on said blog.  Students must also cite their research.  Below is the proper form for website citation.  Because we are using computers as a tool to help us learn, you can also use a Citation Maker to create your citation.  

Last name, First name of author.  Title of Site. Date of last revision. 

Name of sponsoring organization. Day Month Year of access <URL>. 


For example:

 Afghanistan. 1 November 2005. Central Intelligence Agency. 

3 January 2006 <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/> .

New Blog - First Post

You have just created your first blog.  Now you are writing your first post.  Tell us what you think about having a blog.  What do you think about blogging?  How do you feel about having a blog?  This is an introduction piece.

Remember to use academic, formal tone and style in your writing.  


Your assignment for today:

1.  Give me your blog address - graded.

2.  Make your first post - graded.

3.  Design your blog using the template button.