Monthly Archive for January, 2007

How to write a helpful comment

Published on January 29, 2007 in How To.... 0 Comments

Questions to ask yourself:

  • do you agree?
  • do you disagree?
  • if you find something that is interesting, can you explain why?
  • is there something that you don’t quite understand? do you need more details?
  • do you share common interests?
  • what did you learn?
  • what can you add? what can you suggest? can you make other connections? (try not to repeat their ideas)

What to remember when commenting:

  • check for audience (security) and proofread your comment (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and sense)
  • ask yourself the questions above
  • be respectful: politely express different opinions
  • respond to the ideas, not the person
  • be sure you are in the right blog
  • write as if you are speaking to the individual in person–do not use IM speak

Commenting on Historical Fiction

Published on January 26, 2007 in Books, Historical Fiction and How To.... 0 Comments

Today Ms. Nickles and I will show you how it is possible to develop a conversational thread in the comment section of a blog post. Some of you have done this already, but most of you have not. To give you an idea of how it works go here. As you will see, I made some mistakes! It is just as important to check your comments (for sense, punctuation, spelling, and capitals) as you do with all your other writing. If you make mistakes people won’t want to come visit again. And remember, we want to make your blogs public very very soon!

Once we have gone over this with you, please visit the blogs of classmates who read the same book as you did and write comments. (That will be two or three blogs depending on the book.) Try to think about some questions that will get a conversation going! And then don’t forget to go back to visit and add another comment. It can be fun!

Ms. Edinger

Email Accounts: Rules for Class 4 License

Published on January 26, 2007 in Special. 0 Comments
  • You may only e-mail teachers (ask their permission first)
  • No bad language
  • Don’t say anything over e-mail that you wouldn’t say in person
  • Don’t write anything you wouldn’t say to a large group
  • You may only e-mail teachers if those teachers have given you permission or have e-mailed you first
  • No sharing passwords
  • For Class 4, your accounts will be 30 minutes per day
  • Your e-mail mailboxes will be accessible to your teachers (personal not private)
  • Your password must be of the form “noun” plus “number” and is to be shared only with your parents and teacher. Examples might be: sneakers45, guitar246 or books617.

Immigration Historical Fiction Project: Write about your book

Published on January 24, 2007 in Historical Fiction. 0 Comments

1. Look in your book for good examples of historical research and literary devices and mark those places with post-its

2. Choose the best ones and write them on your worksheet (3 for each)

3. Get a laptop and in MS Word, write a rough draft paragraph explaining why your book is a good example of historical fiction

4. Revise your paragraph

5. Check for spelling, capitalization, sense, punctuation, grammar, security, and audience

6. Have an adult check your paragraph

7. Post it on your blog

Immigration Historical Fiction Project: Rough Draft Paragraph

Published on January 24, 2007 in Historical Fiction. 0 Comments

Here is the rough draft of a paragraph that we wrote together using our examples of historical research and figurative language:

Amistad Rising by Veronica Chambers is a historical fiction book about Mende captives from Sierra Leone who rebelled against the slave traders to win their freedom. Veronica Chambers uses lots of good descriptions and figurative language to make the story come to life, to explain the feelings of the captives, and to help you feel like you, the reader, are really there. Veronica Chambers used great language, which included personifications, similes, metaphors, etc. For example, when the captives were in jail in New London, CT, she describes Cinque so well with personification such as, “fear gripped him (page number),” that you feel like you’re sitting next to him in the cell. Another reason why this is a good example of historical fiction is the way the author uses similes, such as “When the rain falls it’s like tears of happiness” (page number goes here). Amistad Rising also includes many historical facts. One example is when the president, Martin Van Buren, forces an appeal and sends the case to the Supreme Court. There, former president John Quincy Adams, backs them up with a very lengthy argument. This is a great example of historical fiction.

Immigration Historical Fiction Project: Finding Examples

Published on January 24, 2007 in Historical Fiction. 0 Comments

Here is an example from the book we read together, Amistad Rising:

Finding Examples

Commenting Assignments

Published on January 11, 2007 in Special. 0 Comments

To be sure that each student receives at least three comments on his/her first post, I randomly* chose three students for each of you to comment on. By all means do more if you have time — try to do a variety so everyone gets a bunch of comments!

MB1 will comment on EC, OF, and LK’s blogs.

ZB will comment on AI, LK1, and MD’s blogs.

EC will comment on JG, MB1, and AF’s blogs.

MD will comment on FL, OS, and SF’s blogs.

SF will comment on MB1, ZB, and CK’s blogs.

OF will comment on AF, AI, and HU’s blogs.

AF will comment on SS, CK, EC’s blogs.

JG will comment on OS, LK, and FL’s blogs.

AI will comment on AM, FL, and BW’s blogs.

LK will comment on BW, JG, and MB1’s blogs.

CK will comment on OF, AM, and JG’s blogs.

LK1 will comment on ZB, SF, and AI’s blogs.

FL will comment on CK, AF, and OF’s blogs.

AM will comment on HU, MB, and SS’s blogs.

SS will comment on MD, EC, and OS’s blogs.

OS will comment on LK1, BW, and LK’s blogs.

HU will comment on SF, SS, and ZB’s blogs.

BW will comment on LK, HU, and AM’s blogs.

* I have slips with each child’s name in a teapot and draw from it randomly — in front of the class so they know I’m being fair.

Now Read and Comment!

Published on January 10, 2007 in Special. 0 Comments
  1. Read a classmate’s oral history book.
  2. Find their blog.
  3. Click on Login and enter your username and password.
  4. Click on View site at the top of the page to read your peer’s posts.
  5. For the post on which you would like to comment, click on the Comments link directly under it.
  6. Scroll down to write your comment in the field. When you are finished, click on Submit Comment.
  7. When you are finished, click on Logout.
  8. Now do this again with another book. See how many you can do in the next week!

Your First Post!

Published on January 10, 2007 in How To.... 0 Comments

Please write a good paragraph describing your immigration oral history book. Eventually people from all over the world will read these, but for now it will just be the others in our class.

  1. Title
  2. Open up a MSWord document.
  3. Take a look at your book to jog your memory before and as you write.
  4. Draft your paragraph.
  5. Check spelling, grammar, punctuation, sense, capitals, security.
  6. Have an adult check it.
  7. Copy/Paste into post.
  8. Publish!

Our Amazon Reviews

Published on January 10, 2007 in Books. 0 Comments

In December, Elizabeth Bird, a New York City librarian, reviewer, and blogger (better know in the children’s literature blogging world as Fuse#8) visited our classroom and gave us a fantastic overview of amazon.com reviewing. (She is currently one of their top 100 reviewers.) At the end, she helped us polish and post a review for Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, a book I’d recently finished reading aloud. (In case you want to read it, our review, “The Unknown Flat” was posted on December 15th.)Tremendously inspired by Ms. Fuse’s presentation, we have been following her lead by first drafting reviews in MSWord and, after revising and polishing them, posting them on amazon.com. If you want to check them out (and leave comments) here are the links and review dates:
X’s review of Framed, dated December 18th, is titled “Art and Crime.”

H’s review of Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism, posted on December 19th, is titled, “The Molly Moon Adventure.”

L’s review of Molly Moon Stops the World, posted on December 19th, is titled, “Stopping the World.”

A’s review of Alabama Moon, dated December 20th, is titled, “Alabama Moon.”

C’s review of Ella Enchanted, dated December 20th, is titled, “Eall Enchanted.” (The title typo is my fault — my apologies — it is a great review, please read it!)

M’s review of Pish Posh , dated December 19th, is titled, “Spoiled is all she is.”

J’s review of Airborn, dated December 19th, is titled, “Amazing and Exciting.”

A’s review of Eager, dated December 18th, is titled, “21st.”

B’s review of Shredderman, dated December 20th, is titled “Shredin Shredderman.”

O’s review of So B. It, dated December 20th, is titled, “Sad, yet Thrilling So B. It.”

E’s review of The Road to the Majors, dated December 20th, is titled, “The Big Road.”

M’s review of Drift House, dated December 22nd, is titled, “A Crooked House.”

S’s review of Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, dated January 9th, is titled, “Wayside School.”

O’s review of Eragon, dated January 9th, is titled, “From a Kid to a Rider.”

F’s review of The Sea of Monsters, dated January 9th, is titled “The Sea of Monsters.”

S’s review of Pippi Longstocking, dated January 9th, is titled, “The book Pippi Longstocking is a pretty funny book.”

Z’s review of Peter and the Starcatchers, dated January 9th, is titled, “The Mysterious Star Stuff.”