Archive for the 'How To...' Category

Independent Proofreading Strategies (No Individuals To Help)

Published on November 12, 2008 in How To.... 0 Comments

Handwritten Work (such as your journal letters)  No Computers to Use Either

  • read it over slowly (even quietly out loud or backwards)
  • when you see something that doesn’t look quite right:
  • use a dictionary
  • atlas
  • some spelling issues may be helped by sounding out, but not all
  • use base words to help spell bigger words
  • use books to help
  • look at the directions to see if the word you need to know is already written

Computer-Typed Work

  • run spelling/grammar check
  • Read over carefully for meaning and sense. When you see something that doesn’t look quite right:
  • use a dictionary (online if you can do it quickly, otherwise use a book version)
  • atlas (ditto)
  • some spelling issues may be helped by sounding out, but not all
  • use base words to help spell bigger words
  • use books to help
  • look at the directions to see if the word you need to know is already written

Cinderella Stories

Published on March 21, 2007 in Cinderella and How To.... 0 Comments

Today you will (hurray — at last!) post your Cindy stories.

Go to the Edinger House Account, then to the Cindy folder where you will find a “readyforblogs” folder with all your stories inside.

Copy your story into a post. Be sure to give it a title!

Format if necessary.

Post!

Now go to at least three other blogs (we will randomly assign three of these in class), read those stories and comment on them.

c15mb1: c15hu, c15fl, c15jg
c15zb: c15bw, c15sf, c15hu
c15ec: c15hu, c15lk1, c15ai
c15md: c15os, c15ss, c15af
c15sf: c15zb, c15fl, c15mb1
c15of: c15lk, c15ai, c15ck
c15af: c15am, c15md, c15of
c15jg: c15ss ,c15mb1, c15fl
c15ai: c15sf, c15jg, c15ec
c15lk: c15jg, c15af, c15os
c15ck: c15lk, c15of, c15zb
c15lk1: c15md, c15am, c15bw
c15fl: c15of, c15ck, c15am
c15am: c15of, c15ec, c15sf
c15ss: c15lk1, c15mb1, c15lk
c15os c15ec, c15ai, c15lk1
c15hu: c15ec, c15bw, c15md
c15bw c15af, c15zb, c15ss

Have fun!

Comment Starters

Published on March 9, 2007 in How To.... 1 Comment

We’ve talked some about commenting on others’ blogs, and you might find these “comment starters” helpful. I found them on the WebQuest, Blogging: It’s Elementary!.

Try them out when commenting on someone else’s blog:

I can relate to this…
This makes me think of…
I discovered…
I don’t understand…
I was reminded that…
I found myself wondering…

p.s. I found the link to this WebQuest at Blogical Minds.

Visiting Other Students’ Blogs

Published on February 27, 2007 in How To.... 2 Comments

Today you are going to visit and report back on some of your fellow student bloggers. And after today (in addition to book reviews) you are welcome to continue to visit other student blogs (from the list below) and report back on your blog as often as you like.

Step 1: Visit other students’ blogs.
Here are some links to get you started:

Mr. Ahlness’ Third Graders (Seattle, Washington, USA)
Mr. Brune’s 5th Grade Class (Mamaroneck, NY, USA)
Mr. Hanlin’s 5th Grade (Shanghai American School, Shanghai, China)
Mr. Johnston’s Primary 6 Class (5th Grade) (Glasgow, Scotland)
Mr. Noon’s Fourth Graders (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA)
Mr. Sheehan’s Year 6 (5th Grade) (Palmerstown North, New Zealand)
Ms. Bosch’s students at the Nieman Enhanced Learning Center (Shawnee, Kansas, USA)

Step 2: Write comments on some students’ posts. You may be asked to answer the following questions before you are allowed to make a comment:

Your Name: use your username
Your Email: use  edingerhouse at dalton.org
Your Blog URL or Homepage: your blog address  blogs.dalton.org)
Comment: your comments, of course

Step 3: Return to your blog and write a post to tell us what you learned. Please include a link to the blog or blogs that you visited. (Check the FAQ page for information on linking to other web sites.)

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

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!