The Write Weblog

Enter....student weblogs!

Student blogs are up! Excitement was in the air today as they got their first look at their official  weblogs. You can check them out by following the links on the left side of the page.  Today we reviewed the "Writing Tips" I previously posted. Then they got their first "taste" of comments and learned how to respond to them. They learned URLs to view their weblog, URLs to work on their weblogs, email addresses (bogus), user names, passwords, copy & paste (or face the despair of retyping EVERYTHING if a glitch occurs), how to post, and proofing their work. Whew! We accomplished a day's work in a couple of hours!

Now I had copied and pasted their first few stories in for them but the post today was done totally by the students. Mrs. Meeler and I walked around and helped. First thing we had the students do was read their story out loud (softly, of course!) Many errors were caught here and we've decided that that is the rule of the day and each and every day from here out! We're puzzled as to why the students resist this so but this great little group will get lots of practice doing that so it becomes second nature.

I passed out a sheet that contained the writing tips. They will use this each time they complete a homework assignment. It will be a quick check for them. We're working on developing good writing habits. Students helped each other today - quick checks of other's work. Suggestions here, suggestions there. Yep, our lab was humming with activities and Mrs. Meeler and I were making great pictures in our head of future reporters and authors.

Students, remember how I said that I wanted to make a picture in my head from your  writing. Writing should paint a picture that immediately forms in your reader's mind. Get the picture?? Good!

Now all the blogs look alike. Later when we get through the mechanics of blogging we will take some time and let them customize the look of the blogs. Later I will have some comparisons of Manila and TypePad, too. I miss some features I had in Manila while at the same time appreciate lots of features in TypePad for classroom use. More on this later....

Next week we are going to meet in the KCCASE lab for a proofreading session. We'll introduce the students to common proofreading symbols and have some hands-on practice. We'll be tweaking this process as we go and maybe can develop some good handouts, guidelines, etc.

I am soaring! It feels so good to be back in the classroom blogging with the kids!

A blogging we will go!

I want you all to know that I was with Mrs. Hooper when she read your comments on her weblog. She was "grinning like a Cheshire cat!" You will understand that feeling when you start to receive comments on your weblogs.

We are ready to proceed! Your weblogs are ready! Hooray! I went ahead and posted for you the beginning posts that you had already made. Now they were posted exactly as you wrote them so be prepared to edit away today! I have a "Common Proofreading Symbols" handout for you. It covers many of the items you need to address. Yep, you're going to become the best little proofreaders at J. H. House!

Remember the Writing Tips we discussed last week! A quick review...........

• Grab the reader’s interest with the lead.

• Use vivid vocabulary so people will make pictures in their head.

• Give lots of details.

• Muse about what you wrote – I wonder, I think, I wish I knew, I think.

• Ask a thought-provoking question.

Here's a few more.....

• Remember to think of a catchy title that entices the reader to read your story.

• When you start a new idea, make a paragraph!

• Read what you have written out loud in a soft voice so you won’t disturb others.
You need to hear what you have written to see if it makes sense.

We'll go over all of this together, tweak it to fit our needs and away we go into the wonderful world of blogging!

I can't wait to see you on Thursday!

KCAASE

What a great skit from Juan, Marcos and Jhonathan! I'd say they really hammed it up! It takes courage to get up in front of a group after only about 5 minutes of practice. They acted out how some folks act at sports events - not a pretty picture, right? However, we know that J. H. House students would always

KEEP CALM AT ALL SPORTS EVENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those letters will help us remember the key words we will be learning for our Bloom's work. We're going to be great thinkers and writers. It's fun to act out skits to help us remember Bloom's Taxonomy. I know you all have these words stored in your brains now.

KNOWLEDGE

COMPREHENSION

APPLICATION

ANALYSIS

SYNTHESIS

EVALUATION

It's fun to get up and "kick up our heels" while learning.

Ms. Meeler and I were so proud of how well you worked last Thursday. You were steadily putting down your thoughts about what we have been doing so far. We liked reading your ideas. Yep, you're sharp as tacks!

We spent time reviewing the previous session. You are going to be a great group. Tomorrow you will bring in your first draft of your concept of blogging. We will go from there. I am really looking forward to reading your first attempt at blogging about what you are learning. See you in the morning!

Review of last session

Two weeks is a long time to wait to meet again but I am sure all of you had a great break! I hope you got lots of rest and had a good time.

First, a quick review of our last session.....

• You wrote some delightful introductions. I liked them so well that I posted them on this weblog for others to read. I'm sure our readers will understand why Ms. Meeler and I are excited about this group!
• We talked about how you would be taking charge of your learning in this group. You will tell the story of what you are learning and what it means to you.
• We discussed how you will use Bloom's Taxonomy to "bump-up" your thinking. This will be a challenge that will make you "sharp as a tack". The blue ribbons with key words from Bloom's Taxonomy have served many students at J. H. House. I'll have to take a picture so we can share these with others. We have huge ribbons with detachable key words under each level. The levels are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I'm going to show you a fun way to remember those words. We're going to do a skit that follows the letters... KCAASE! I hope I have some "hams" in this group. Hey, you will begin to realize why we named the technology trailer the K-Station. It will all fall together and we are going to have a whole lot of fun as we learn!
• You had the opportunity to preview student blogs created by former JHH students. It was so cool walking around hearing your comments. Plus, you all were toggling away between the blogs and Microsoft Word so you could copy and paste relevant posts. Isn't that a super way to take notes?

  So, I'll see you in the morning! Can't wait!