Blog Write

Use your TIPS!

For the last two weeks, the phrase "Use Your Writing Tips" has been spoken over and over!  The first question I ask you when you begin your post is always "Did you use your writing tips sheet to help guide you?"  By the end of the year, these tips will come naturally and you won't even need your handout to guide you.  In the meantime, however, I want you to use the sheet as a guide to help you continue to bump up your writing/thinking skills.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Did I grab my reader's attention with a good lead?
2. Did I use vivid vocabulary and give lots of details so people will make pictures in their head?
3. Did I muse about what I wrote by beginning sentences with I think, I wonder, or I wish I knew?
4. Did I ask a thought-provoking question at the end of my post to encourage good comments?
5. Will my title entice readers to read my post?
6. Did I start new ideas with new paragraphs?
7. Did I read my post outloud to myself to make sure it makes sense?

I know asking yourself these questions and going through the tips takes time, but isn't it worth it when you compose a good post and get so many good comments from all over the world?  Remember, you are writing for a huge audience who wants to know what/how you think.   You have a voice!  Back up your voice with excellent writing and thinking skills.  Let's show everyone that JHH students are the smartest students in the world!

Speechless!

Zachary was "speechless" as he read the article in CNET News and saw the pictures and exerpts of our very own Web Writers!  All of you seemed very excited about some of your new comments.  I think you are starting to realize that you do have a voice and that people - everywhere - really care about how you feel and what you think! 

Some of you brought in some outstanding pieces today!  I can tell you used your writing tips and proof read your work.  Others of you still need to remember to apply the tips we went over in class and bring a well-composed and thought-out writing piece to class.

Although we are making great strides, we still have some "bumping up" to do.  Remember to add lots of details like Graciela did in My Sister's Sweet 15.  Zachary used a great metaphor in his new post on life. 

I was glad some of you had time to post comments to the Teacher Cadets and Getting Heard students at Rockdale High School.  We will try to comment as often as possible to them throughout the year. 

We are really starting to work on our proofreading and revising skills this week.  Remember that writing is a process.  It doesn't just happen over night.  It is something that we need to work on and improve throughout our whole life. 

I can't wait to read your revised posts next week!  Maybe we will have time to work on our Keeper's Poems some next week as well.  We have lots to do!

Blogging 101 - Web logs go to School

I was on top of the world as I read this article on cnet news!  The article, written by Alorie Gilbert, features schools and students who are implementing web logs into their curriculum.  Yes - J.H. House and the Web Writers are among the three schools discussed. 

Take Hillary Meeler's group of fifth-graders at J.H. House Elementary in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers. Every Thursday morning, the students spend two hours writing about current events on their blogs. Meeler, an instructional technology specialist, asks them to choose topics from CNN's student news program and use writing skills they're learning in English class.

The kids love having an audience, she said. Parents, teachers, students and sometimes complete strangers from as far away as Brazil will respond to the blogs with comments. And depending on the tools they're using, student bloggers can track how many times people have clicked on their entries. In an effort to build a following, they often clean up their grammar, stretch their vocabulary and generally write more creatively, Meeler said. "They take a lot of pride in it," she said. "They have to write a title that gets attention, or people won't leave comments or come back."

There are even pictures of you all blogging in the article!  Graciela's My Sister's Sweet 15 post is used as an example in the post. 

In addition to the wonderful article, some of you have some awesome comments to check out! 

Busy as Beavers

Today was a day of hard work!  You were busy as beavers from the moment you came in to the moment you left!  We spent the first portion of class reviewing our writing tips after you read and responded to your comments.  Some of you used the tips in your post, but ALL of you will use them next week.  Right?

After our brief review and discussion of the "Give Me 5" high school writing strategy, we then began editing our homework.  One of the most important steps in proofing your work is reading it outloud to yourself to see if it makes sense.  From now on, I want you all to do this before you come to class.  This will save us valuable time and allow us to explore other possibilities with blogging.

I was glad to work with some of you one on one today.  I hope to get around to the rest of you next week for one on one time. 

After you typed your posts, I showed you the Sandaig Poets blog from a school in Scotland.  We read some of their poems outloud and even got to hear them read it to us!  Wasn't it cool listening to their English?  Next week, we will try to comment to them.  I bet they will be so surprised to get comments from us in Georgia.  Who knows, they may even comment to our weblog? 

This week, you should be working on your piece of What Matters Most To You.  Let all of us know what is important to elementary students.  This is your chance to have a voice and to be heard.  I can't wait to read them! 

Give Me 5!

I hope you all had a refreshing break; I sure did!  I am glad to be back in our regular routine and am happy to meet with you this morning.  As you already know, Thursday is my favorite day of the week! 

As usual, we have lots of work to do!  I can't wait to read your post this week.  I know you will have some interesting topics. 

Before we get started blogging, let's review what we discussed before the break!  Can anyone remember the writing tips you should always use when composing a post? 

1. Grab the reader's interest with the lead.
2. Use vivid vocabulary so people will make pictures in their heads.
3. Give lots of details.
4. Muse about what you wrote - I wonder, I think, I wish I knew.
5. Ask a thought-provoking question.
6. Remember to think of a catchy title that entices the reader to read your story.
7. When you start a new idea, make a paragraph!
8. Read what you have written outloud in a soft voice so you won't disturb others.  You need to hear what you have written to see if it makes sense.

I hope you all used these tips in your post this week.  In Mrs. Davis' high school class weblog, Getting Heard, she outlined some tips for writing as well.  The high school English teacher who Mrs. Davis is working with tells her students to "Give Me 5!"

1. who
2. what
3. capitalization
4. punctuation
5. does it make sense

Make sure you followed our writing tips and included those five main principles of writing!  Then we will blog, comment, blog, comment, blog, comment...