NewsQuest

Student Blogs Created!!

Today the students created their own school blogs. Please note the list of blogs on the left hand side of this screen. Much thought and deliberation went into naming their own personal blogs. Then, even though we had some glitches, themes were explored and favorites were chosen. For those of you whose choices did not work today in class, I believe they are now all fixed. They look great!

Posts were made and the writing is certainly improving. Please check them out and be sure to respond. We won't be meeting for a couple of weeks. All of us wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Students, please try to post your thoughts, insights, and perspectives on the news. I will be checking and look forward to some good reading!

New Member from Colorado

Hello to students at J.H. House Elementary School,

I am a new member, and I am just learning about this weblog, and schoolblogs. I am also a novice on the computer, but I am learning! I very much enjoyed reading your reports on news items, as these stories are important to all of us, young or old. I also found the recent topic of "Heroes" interesting, and I enjoyed the wide variety of your choices. I want to learn more about the subjects you are studying. I hope to be a regular participant on the weblog. Thanks for being there! You are doing such a great job of expressing ideas in writing! I want to hear more!

A Day for Heroes

Heroes can inspire us all, so it is good to reflect on those we view as heroes. What makes heroes who they are and what characteristics do they all share? Our choice of heroes seems to vary through place and time.

Today the students brought in their writings about heroes. We had a range of heroes from Madeleine Albright to Jimmy, a boy who drives a remote control boat. Read these stories. I think you will see the improvements the students are making in their writing. Students, read each others work and think about the reasons your peers chose their heroes. Do you agree, disagree? Did they write clearly and were you able to form pictures in your head from their descriptive sentences?

Parents and others who are responding to all of our writing are so appreciated! I can't begin to tell you what it means to the students to read your posts. We have many who are responding but I do want to say a special thank-you to a Georgia State student, Julie Corey, who has faithfully written to not just one but many of our students. She is very busy with all of her course work and is working with students herself. However, she somehow manages to find time to write not once but several times each week. Accolades to Julie and everyone else who is mentoring these budding writers.

Remember, I will be at a Technology & Learning conference in Dallas, Texas next week. I will be checking in on this site so do a fantastic job with your homework assignment. Write three news briefs and then write a compelling question to ponder. This will certainly give us some interesting topics to discuss.

Plus, remember to design a NewsQuest logo. I've seen your artistic talents. Amazing!

You were really thinking today. Issues discussed ranged from political campaigns to the court case involving Winona Ryder. Try to include an interesting range of topics in your homework assignment.

Thanks to Jennifer for bringing in her idiom shirts! That's what gave us the great idea for a NewsQuest logo. We loved the shirts!

NewsQuest team, I like your ideas, your enthusiasm, and the effort you are putting into this class. Good writing is hard work but don't you feel great when you produce a good piece. Keep it up! Keep your"Eagle-Eye" on the news!

A Wonderful Hero

Madeleine Albright was indeed a great hero! She was the Secretary of State under Bill Clinton­s administration from 1997 to 2000, the U.N ambassador and a member of the national Security Council. Believe it or not, she can speak 4 different languages, Russian Polish, Czech, and French. This enables her to communicate with other world leaders. She found out she was Jewish while on a ship about five years ago. Imagine how that would feel to find out so late!

Even though she is a lady of politics, in her free time she enjoys needlepoint and sewing. The most amazing fact about her is that she had such a high place in office.

We All Have Heroes

Who is your hero? Do you know who my hero is? He is George W Bush, because of all he has done to make our country a better place to live. Like when Osama Bin Laden attacked the towers, Bush put more securities in the airports. The United States is still looking for Osama Bin Laden. I think President Bush is a very smart, determined man because of the decisions he has made since he has been a President. These are the reasons why I think he is my hero.

By: Perla

My Heroes from 9-11

My heroes are the people who were flying in the plane when the terrorist attacks took place. It is believed that they were heading torward Washington. They gave their lives by going as a group to try to stop the terrorists. We think the terrorist were going to attack the White House. They wanted to try to save thousands of lives from being attacked by the terrorists. I'm glad they're my heroes! I would probably do the same if I were in that plane. I just wanted to say thank you for being my heroes!

Ben's Hero

Jimmy Carter inspires me because he made peace with the whole world. He helps with a whole lot of things in our world. Whenever he goes to another country they are always pleasant to him because he has continued doing a lot of good deeds for them in the past.
Jimmy Carter also runs the Jimmy Carter Center, (Where my aunt works.) The Jimmy Carter Center has a huge variety of things to see. Jimmy Carter recently won the Nobel Peace Prize because of his work in Jamaica and Haiti, and not to mention his visits to Cuba. That is why Jimmy Carter is my hero.

By: Ben

Hero? By:Lindsay

Hero?

Have you ever thought about your hero? A hero is someone that you look up to because of qualities and achievements. A hero can be a female or a male although a female is called a heroine.Colin Powell is my hero. He is my hero because he's done many things in his life that are amazing but one thing I admire the most is that he's the type of man that is willling to give up anything and do anything to reach his goal. I would love to be able to do that. Another thing about Colin Powell is that when he was a small boy he lived in New York City and was very poor and now he is at the Presidents right hand as Secretary of State. I certainly could not do that. Colin Powell did many things but I think it's amazing knowing the way he was when he was younger and where he is now.

My Hero, Jimmy

It was the third Saturday of this month. Every third Saturday of the month my dad, sister and I go to a place to drive remote controlled boats. This time we went to a "people who have disabilities fair". Almost all the people had wheelchairs. Well after two hours of waiting, we got out the boats. Then we waited at least an hour, but soon a crowd came and we were in business. I was just walking around when I saw a boy with only feet. I was so amazed. He just had feet, no legs at all. Even his toes were deformed. He also had no arms, just hands. He only had feet and he could drive a remote control boat and his wheelchair with just his feet. He didn't have any trouble at all. At the end of the day, he turned around and I saw his name. It was Jimmy, and to this day, I think he was a hero. He could over come many hard obstacles. At the end of the day, it was worth the wait.

My Hero, Babe Ruth

My hero would have to be Babe Ruth. I mean everytime I think about him I do something totally spectacular, but the best thing I did was a triple backflip. I have a picture of my backflip in my room.

He was raised in an orphanage. Babe Ruth also played baseball as a pro when he was a kid. He made me this way and I never want to change my hero ever again. Who is your hero?
P.S. (Respond)

By: Derrick