Shaw's Shenanigans

Better Blogging

Your blogs are coming along wonderfully! I am very happy to see that you enjoy blogging. Now that you have had some practice posting and responding to comments, it's time to look at ways to make your blogs even better. One way to improve your writing is to use the Traits of Good Writing: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency,and Conventions.

Using the Traits means asking yourself some questions about your writing. Let's focus on Conventions and Ideas. Here are some questions to ask:

Conventions

Did I proofread and edit my blog?

Did I make sure everything was spelled correctly? (Don't just rely on spell check!)

Did I use correct grammar, punctuation and capitalization?

Ideas

Did I write about one main idea?

Does my writing make sense ?

Did I write original ideas or perspectives?

Did I describe important details?

By asking these questions, and making changes to your writing before you post, you will write better blogs that are more interesting for people to read.

What do you think you do well when you write? What are some things you need to work on to make your writing better?

Elephants Hatching Eggs....

Elephants hatching eggs, Who's too small to see, Sneetches with stars and Sneetches with none……………what on earth am I talking about? Maybe this will help: little Cindy Lou Who, a dog named Max, a mean old Grinch, and a cat in a hat. I bet you have it figured out now……….it’s Dr. Seuss! March 2^nd is Dr. Seuss’s birthday and children of all ages (that means adults, too!) will be celebrating the wonderful characters he created.

            My favorite Dr. Seuss characters are the Grinch and his dog Max, Horton the elephant, and the sneetches. I also love all the crazy rhyming words he makes up. Reading Dr. Seuss books makes me feel good because they are silly and remind me of my childhood. I also like his books because there is a moral to most of the stories. That means they teach an important life lesson.

           There is more to know about Dr. Seuss. Check out the website and then come back and tell me something about Dr. Seuss that you didn’t know before!

         What are your favorite Dr. Seuss characters and stories? Why are they your favorites? What lesson is being taught in one of your favorite stories?

Blog Beginnings

     I am so excited to have my own blog and to be teaching you how to blog! This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to read what you write. I bet you never thought you’d be able to have your own place on the internet to share your thoughts. I certainly didn’t – not at your age anyway.

    

     As a matter of fact, when I was your age computers were used by some businesses, but very few people had them at home and you weren’t likely to find even one in an elementary school. There is more computer technology in the X-Box in your house than there was in my entire elementary school! Most people had no idea what the internet was, let alone how they might use it one day.

    

     What do you think about being able to write and respond to blogs on the internet?