July 24, 2009

Summer School is coming to an end! Today is our last blog! Please read these instructions carefully for today:

1. Do blog (below)
2. Make sure all blogs are published, NOT just saved.
3. Make sure you commented once on everybody's blog- that is an easy way to make sure you have 15 total comments!
4. Make sure you respond at least once to every comment people left you.

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This will be short today, and should only take you TEN minutes.
Write for me please:

1 thing you loved about summer school.
1 thing you didn't love about summer school.
1 thing that maybe you didn't like but it helped you.

Reflection on "Any Small Goodness"

As you know, Arturo learns many important life lessons in our class novel Any Small Goodness. Think of a time when you learned an important life lesson and write about it, using 8 correctly spelled verbs in the past tense.

Gangs

Why do you think gangs exist? Why do they exist in certain neighborhoods and not in others? Tell me in 5-7 sentences.

Silent Reading Books

Think about the book or books you have been reading this summer during our silent reading time in the beginning of each class. Give us a "teaser" of one of the books in 7-10 sentences. Do NOT tell us what happens in the end! Please describe the setting (where the story happens), the main characters, and some interesting details that don't give away the whole story. Think of this blog as a movie trailer, kind of like this one.

July 20, 2009

1. Reflect on what you did this weekend. If you went on the fieldtrip to Santa Monica, tell us about that unless you did something more interesting this weekend. If you did not go on the fieldtrip, tell us about your weekend.

I want you to write sentences using 7 verbs in the past tense. At least two of these verbs should be irregular (meaning that they don't end with "ed"). They all need to be spelled correctly. You can use this page as a reference to check the spelling of your verbs.

2. Blog
Clearly, some of us have been having issues posting on each others' pages. I think I figured out a way to fix it. Please identify the people's blogs who you are having trouble with so I can help them fix it. Then, finish your comments from last week! Remember, you were supposed to leave 5 comments and respond on 3. You will need to do the same this week!

3. Project
If you finish everything else, start researching for your project. Every minute is precious as you only have until next Monday to turn these in!!!!

July 14, 2009

Good news, guys! The surgery has so far been a success! Your maestra can see! Just for fun, I posted this video for you guys to watch what I went through yesterday. This video is not of me, but the procedure is the same. Kind of gross, right? :)

Now to the lesson for today. In class you already started brainstorming. Here are a few more videos to help you with the process.

1. A Book Review
2. The Story of Rachel Carson
3. Che Guevara
4. Paolo Freire
5. Maradona

You MUST complete a brainstorm by the end of today and pick a topic. After you complete your process, I want to answer this question on your blog:

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Write three sentences about your topic and some of the ideas you have for your video. Who will your story be about and what are some of the ideas you came up with for your story? Tell me in 3-4 sentences. Don't forget to comment on your friends' blogs. Remember, this is JUST part of the Prewriting Process. We won't draft until next week.

I miss you! See you tomorrow.

Ms. Harding

July 13, 2009

A. Do you consider yourself an honest person? Have you ever cheated or lied to anybody? When do you think lying or cheating is OK and when it is it wrong?

Tell me about it in 7-10 sentences

B. Watch this video

July 10, 2009

Think of the characters so far in the book "Any Small Goodness." Which one reminds you the most of someone in your life? Give three reasons why this person reminds you of a person in your life.

July 8, 2009

1. Write a blog that is 7-10 sentences long answering the following question:

Think about the play we read in class titled "Luck." It seems that the people from the valley are never happy with their situations and always focus on the negative, but the people from the mountains always find the positive things about their situation. Do you think you are more like the people from the valley or the people from the mountain?


2. Finish your introduction activity from yesterday.

3. Work on your blog.

Create a Community

You have two assignments today.

A. Assignment number 1 is to edit your blogs. Many of them have mistakes in them. When I grade them, I will be looking for the following:
1. Capital letters in the beginning of sentences.
2. i am not unimportant, I am very important, so your "I" must be capital!
3. Verbs that agree with the subject, for example: "Ms. Harding is cool" not "Ms. Harding are cool."
4. Every verb must have a subject. Don't say: "Am tall." Who? What? Help me out, here, I don't know.
5. Finally, in English- People do not HAVE years. EVER!! Check for this in your introductions, please!!!


B. Assignment Number 2 is to follow all of your classmates' blogs.
Look on the bottom right side of my blog. Do you see all of your names? I created a list of all of your blogs on my page so it is easy to find each other's blogs. Have you also noticed that I am "following" all of you? This too is an easy way to connect blogs. I want you to follow every one of your classmates. This is VERY easy. Follow these steps.

1. Click on the first person's name on the list (Adrián.) It should take you to his blog. On the top, there should be a button that says "Follow Blog." It asked you to confirm and then "voila!" - you are now following him. Do this for every one of your classmates.

2. If you have difficulty with this, ask your classmates for help. If they can't help you, ask me.

3. Now that you have finished adding your classmates to your blog, it is time to comment! I would like you to leave 3 two sentence comments on each other's blogs. Comment on blog one or blog two.

Blog 2- July 2, 2009

What Matters Most?

In a full paragraph (with correct punctuation) tell me about the people, activities, and things that are most important in your life.

Blog Introduction-Tell Us About You!

1. My name and age.
2. Where I live now.
3. My high school
4. City and country of origin.
5. My family and friends
6. My hobbies
7. Favorite sports teams
8. Interesting things about me