Here are some questions and/or journal prompts for your Book Blog #2.
You’ll also find a rubric for your book blog here.

Please don’t feel restricted by the questions below! If you have another question or journal topic you’d like to try, just leave me a comment and I’ll reply asap.

Some possible Book Blog entries (you should choose 3-4, and they should be approximatly 1 paragraph each).
Fiction Questions:
♦ Tell about what happened in the story.
♦ Ask questions about things that confuse you or
that you wonder about.
♦ Describe your feelings about the events.
♦ Describe your feelings about characters.
♦ Copy down a quote from a character and tell
why you think it’s meaningful.
♦ Describe your favorite part.
♦ Make a prediction about what will happen next.
♦ Tell how you would react if you were one of the
characters in the story.
♦ Describe a part that surprised you.
♦ Does the author use any strong imagery in the
story (similes, metaphors, etc.)? Give examples.
♦ Write a letter to the author or a character.
♦ Draw pictures or create graphic organizers using online software.

Non-Fiction questions:
♦ What information surprised you?
♦ How can you use this information in your life?
♦ What information do you question or think might
not be correct? How might you check it out?
♦ What is the most important thing you have
learned? Why?
♦ What is the most interesting thing you read?
♦ What techniques does the author use to make
this information easy to understand?
♦ Where do you think you could look for more
information on this topic?

Our class is finishing up some amazing work online. We have been researching developing nations (en français) and are beginning to document our reading using book blogs (in English). They are still works in progress, but they’re looking great so far! Click on the sidebar to read about their work and leave a constructive comment. Nice work, les amis!

A checklist for students, for when you want to add something to your blog:

1. Études Sociales prezi
2. Nifty Thrifty Fifty prezi
3. Change your theme, add a shelfari, and other fun widgets
4. 2 posts min (one can be your book blog)
5. An image of the novel you’re reviewing
6. Revise for word choice & voice, and then SPELL CHECK each post please and thanks!

1) Open another window (ctrl+N) so you can read these instructions as you work. Then, go to prezi, log in, and click on “embed.”

2) Copy the crazy gobbledeygook code that’s there. It’s called HTML.

3) Log into you blog, and create a post (add new).

4) Write a little description of your prezi (here is my prezi…).

5) Click “HTML” on the upper right-hand corner.

6) Paste your HTML code.

7) Click Publish.

Check to make sure it’s there, and give yourself a high five!
You can even find a cool (appropriate) video and embed it onto your blog as well.

Over the next few weeks, we will be personalising our blogs and adding our first blog posts. Don’t forget the blogging guidelines! Feel free to add a specific, positive comment on your favourite blogs.

First the Do’s:

-Conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of Huron Heights.
-Treat our blog as a classroom space. It is not a place for personal and private issues that are not related to school topics.
-Strive to write respectfully and do not be rude. Blogs are about ideas but agree or disagree with the idea, not the person.
-Make specific suggestions and back up your opinions with facts.
-If you should come across anything online that makes you feel uncomfortable or afraid, minimize your screen immediately and report to your teacher.
-Do ask for permission to use any files that were created and owned by others, including photos, audio and video clips, etc.

And then the Do Not’s:

-Do not post or give out your family name, password, home address, phone number or any personal information that would give information that would help someone directly locate or contact you in person. They se this same guideline when referring to class members.
-Do not post anything that you would not want your family, your teachers, your friends to read. Use correct English and be aware that everything you post is a reflection of you. You are an ambassador for elementary blogging.
-Don’t always believe everything you read online. You need to make a judgment about whether it can be trusted.

Traits of Successful School Bloggers:

-Accept the challenge of blogging to their “personal best.” Having challenging assignments provides the opportunity for them to demonstrate higher levels of performance and successful elementary bloggers welcome that challenge.
-Show improvement on their posts (or comments) with practice and guidance from others. Posts are thoughtful and show sharpened thinking. This includes not only good content, but – because these are school-related blogs – also follows writing conventions including spelling, grammar and punctuation.
-Respond to posts (or comments) by others. They begin to understand the power of blogs is in their connectedness – they are connected to a larger community of ideas. They anticipate and enjoy those connections.
-Work toward including posts (or comments) that include textual references to support their opinions. -They begin to add quotes or links to other works. Their voice is apparent.
-Respect others. It’s okay to disagree; it’s not okay to be disagreeable. Be respectful of others and their opinions, and be polite when you disagree.
-Dare to take responsible educational “risks” to “bump their reading, writing, thinking and blogging up several notches!”
-Celebrate their own and their peers’ successes!

One of the most comfortable ways into using Voicethead as a 2.0 tool for education: art. The image-response reminds me of the PIcture-Word-Induction-Model…and I started out trying that, but have ventured into a bit more free-form territory based on student ability and level of interest.
Our latest Voicethread endeavour: as an introduction to First Nations culture and art, we are practicing how to explain our thoughts with details from texts, including visual texts. Ted Harrison is not a First Nations artist, but he is inspired by the North and, in my opinion, he at times draws from Aboriginal iconography in his work. Check out our most recent Voicethread…the kids are getting progressively comfortable with the medium, with great results. We’re currently working on Literature Circles with Voicethread (aussi en Anglais…for now). Youpi et bravo les amis!

I WAS THINKING by Betty on Storybird

Storybird Quick Tour from Storybird on Vimeo.

I am loving Primary Pad – a simplified version of Etherpad, and similar to Google Docs, without all the logging-in or under-13-dummy-account hassle. Check out a discussion we’re having about some extensions and uses for Voicethread….There are also actual Voicethreads on this topic, but this is a great instance of using multiple tools – and the ease of choosing whichever best suits your needs – that really shows off the potential of 2.0 tools for education….
First, the Primary Pad discussion:

and the voicethread – uses in education…

So William Kamkwamba now has several media interviews and videos on his own site:
I’m working on embedding some of the videos into a Voicethread so that we can discuss his wind turbine for science and social studies.
Here is one interview that can’t be embedded into the VT, but can be seen here:

Ah oui. Mme. Horrell, elle aussi, a parfois besoin de l’aide de se concentrer quand elle a du travail à faire.

Learning Skills:
Mme. H demonstrates an exceptional degree of curiousity and a zest for learning! She loves to participate in class, and has a considerable sense of humour. She does, at times, need additional support and reminders to remain on task. For instance, she seems to have developed a peculiar interest for old Sesame Street lectures, particularly those featuring Cookie Monster and Kermit theee Frog. To improve her success, I recommend completing her work first, and then rewarding significant efforts by indulging in old school you tube. After. The. Work.

I have to admit that I discover my best ideas, and the coolest online learning tools, when I should be writing report cards. I also have to admit that with the advent of Twitter, much of my best professional learning has come from my colleagues around the world – those in my “personal/professional learning network.” This is not to say that they outweigh any of the fabulous, one-on-one discussions and excellent pd that goes on in our school board, or in our school.

Perhaps it’s not better per se…but but perhaps it’s better suited. Better for me personally, the community of learners I can select and “follow,” on my own schedule (in the foggy before-bed-but-after-my-brain-can-no-longer-plan-or-mark-effectively hour) (I only ever use Twitter for professional reasons…lest you think I’m a workaholic or a nerd, though I am the latter).

So in my own mini-resolution to blog more about my professional learning, I should preface it by saying that I’m also using this blog to catalogue my thoughts about what I find twitter, to archive the many  many many discussions that are ongoing (because my memory is like a sieve…), and therefore, like all great ideas, they aren’t actually, entirely, my own.

Case in point: the reason for this blog post: an opportunity to embed a voicethread by teachers for teachers, actually discussing the merits and pedagogical applications of the tool. Mind you, there are blogs, wikis, tutorials, and tweets galore on voicethread, but I’m still not quite ready to introduce it to my class. First, because I want to try it out before purchasing the ed.voicethread account…but I’m not quite sure I’m ready to try it without the individual accountability.

Not that we haven’t tried other online tools before – bitstrips being the latest – and not that we don’t have a culture of trust in our classroom. But the possibility of a student accidentally erasing so much is a teeny bit scary.

Anyways. Here is the discussion, embedded, to discuss more later.
After report cards are finished.