Blogging Eagles

A Summarizing We Will Go

Do you know what one of the most difficult writing skills is for a lot of people?  Yep, the title of the post gives it away - summarizing!  Who can tell me what I mean when I say "summarizing"?  Summarizing is when you put something in your own words and condense the content into just a few paragraphs. 

Today, we will practice summarizing on our blog.  First, go to the Time for Kids website and pick out an interesting article.  Read the entire article and minimize your screen.  Open up Typepad in a new window, log in, and start a new post.  Your post will be a summary of the article you read.  Remember to give a good title and include all the important parts of a paragraph! 

The Break is Over!

After a nice week-long vacation, we are all back and eager to continue blogging!  Today, finish up your drafts, check your comments, compose a new post for your readers, and make some comments to other blogs.

When composing a new post, tell your readers about your week away from school.  Make it fun and exciting by using vivid vocabulary and lots of details.  Remember the parts of a paragraph when typing your post:

Introductory Sentence - tell your readers what your paragraph is going to be about.

Detail Sentences - write 3 to 5 sentences explaining what you did over the break.

Conclusion Sentence - tell your readers what you wrote about.

I can't wait to read your posts and make comments!  Happy Blogging!

A Unique Valentine

Today we will have some fun colloborating Valentine stories.  Each of you will open up Microsoft Word and compose a new post.  Come up with a catchy title for a Valentine Story.  Then I will give you 5 minutes to start typing your story.  When 5 minutes is over, you will move to the next computer and read the introduction of the story your classmate started.  Then you will have 2 minutes to continue typing the story.  We will rotate computers every 2 minutes.  When 30 minutes is over, go back to your computer and read your Valentine Story.  Proofread the story and correct mistakes.  Then we will publish the wacky Valentine to your blog! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's Comment!

Many of the 3rd and 4th graders were able to start their blogs last week!  You will soon discover that reading your comments is a very exciting part of blogging.  Today, we will work on our comments as we comment to other blogs.  There are several things you must remember before you type your comment!

1.  Read the post thoroughly!

2.  Respond with a good comment starter, not just "yes" or "no"!

3.  Proofread your work - remember everyone can read your comments too!

So, what do I mean when I say a "good comment starter"?  Here are some good examples that Ms. Davis, a teacher from Georgia State University, uses with her students.

• This made me think about...
• I wonder why...
• Your writing made me form an opinion about...
• This post is relevant because...
• Your writing made me think that we should...
• I wish I understood why...
• This is important because...
• Another thing to consider is...
• I can relate to this...
• I discovered...
• I don't understand...
• I was reminded that...
• I found myself wondering...

Today, I want you to make three good comments to some of our JHH blogs!  Start your commenting off to this post and tell me how you feel about blogging.  Are you excited, nervous, etc? 

Back to the Real World

I hope everyone had a great break!  I sure did, but I missed seeing all of you.  Take a moment to comment to this post and tell me all about your adventures while you were not in school!

Today, the 3rd and 4th graders will work in Harcourt Math while I call you up individually to set up your blog.  Your introductory posts should be ready to post.  Hopefully, we will get to that next week.

5th graders will go to their post on the math problem.  After you finish your writing your post, go to the other blogs and try solving their problems.  I'm still excited about seeing who will stump Mr. Harris!

Who is "Elfin'" Around?

Well I guess it is the time of year when even teachers begin to act a little silly!  I caught the third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade Eagle Club teachers dancing like elves! Go to Elf Yourself and turn you and 3 of your friends into dancing elves. 

Now, let's pretend you really were an elf for a day.  Comment back to this post and tell me all about your adventures as an elf!

Posting our Problems

Monday's 5th Graders had a lot of fun posting their word problems on their blogs!  Mr. Harris made a deal with them and if he cannot solve their problem in 2 minutes, he will buy them an ice cream!  Go to either Terion, Josh, Laura, or my post and try to solve our problems.  Use scratch paper to work out the problems and comment back your answers.  Once you are finished solving a problem, go to typepad and post your own word problem.  Remember you must be able to solve your own problem! 

Can You Stump Me?

Have you ever written your own math word problem?  Well, today you will write one as your post.  Before you begin your own problem, read my example below. 

Mrs. Meeler went to Papa John's and bought 4 large one topping pizza's for $7.50 each, 2 3-liter cokes for $2.50 each, and 2 orders of breadsticks for $3.25 each.  How much money did Mrs. Meeler spend at Papa John's?

Work the problem out on scratch paper and comment back to this post with your answer!  After you answer my word problem, type your own problem in typepad.  We will have fun commenting our answers to each other! 

Thankful at JHH!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, let's spend some time reflecting on all that we have to be thankful for at JHH.  We have a great school with the best students, teachers, and administrators.  We have a clean and safe building to learn and live.  Our cafeteria serves tasty breakfast and lunch meals.  And we have the best art, music, and P.E. programs!

Now I want to hear from you.  What are you thankful for this year?  Write a detailed post telling your readers all about the things you are thankful for this year.  Remember to start your paragraphs with a topic sentence, then your detail sentences, and end it with a conclusion sentence.  End your post with a thought provoking question! 

Introducing the Third and Fourth Graders

Our Third and Fourth Graders are new to blogging and they have been working very hard on developing their first post. 

We have spent the last several sessions creating an "All About Me" web in Kidspiration 2.  Several of you are finished with your web and are ready to start typing your paragraph. 

Remember that a paragraph has 3 parts.  The first part of paragraph is your topic sentence.  The topic sentence tells your readers what your paragraph is about.  Ask yourself, "What is the paragraph about?"   Then write your topic sentence based on the answer. Since you are writing about "you", your sentence may sound like this:  My name is Todd, and I am going to tell you all about myself. 

After your topic sentence, you will write your detail sentences.  Detail sentences tell your readers more information about the topic.  Look at your web you created in kidspiration 2.  Write one sentence for each category (school, things I like, things I am good at, I don't like, home). 

The last part of a paragraph is you conclusion sentence.  Your conclusion sentence tells your readers what your paragraph was about.  It is very similar to your topic sentence, but it should not be the same exact words.  If my topic sentence is My name is Todd, and I am going to tell you all about myself. a good conclusion sentence would be That is all you ever wanted to know about me!

What are a few more things to remember about writing a good paragraph?

• Indent the paragraph (tab key on the keyboard).
• Capitalize the first word in every sentence.
• End each sentence with the correct punctuation mark.

I can't wait to read all of your Good Paragraphs!  Let's get busy!