ELA Blog Directions, Guidelines, & Set Up

We will be creating an online community of readers, writers, and thinkers using blogs this year.  It is an incredible opportunity to share your work with a REAL audience, rather than have your thoughts live just in your notebook.  We will be doing plenty of work together on how to make this way of reading response work for you.  For now, I want you to follow the directions below to set up your blog and then try out writing a reading response. Google requires that you are 13 years old or have your parent/guardian's permission to have an account, so please talk to your family about it when you give them the permission slip.

By Thursday, September 11th: Create your blog, turn in the permission slip and URL form

By Monday, September 15th:  Your first post is due, which will be a reading response based on a summer reading book.  Please write your response based on what you know about reading response from last year. Use this as an opportunity to show me what you now about how to write a response to a book. 

I am available during zero period Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday and am more than happy to set up a time to help you if you are having trouble.  Please try not to wait until the last minute to set this up!

How do I start a web log?

1. Go to www.blogger.com and click on the “Create a Blog” button.
2. Blogger is a part of Gmail and you will need a gmail account if you don’t already have one.  If you already have a gmail email address, simply type it in.  If you don’t, you can create one, using some combination of your first and last name if possible.    Don’t forget your password! Write your address and password in a safe place.  You can now also use this account for email, or use it just for your blogger account.
3. Follow the directions to name your blog and create its URL.  The name and URL do not necessarily have to match.  (For example, Ms. Robbins's blog is called “Books Upon Books,” but that URL was already taken, so her URL is http://www.room116ela.blogspot.com/.  Mine happens to match - my blog is The Starry Void, an allusion to one of my favorite Pablo Neruda poems, and my blog is http://www.thestarryvoid.blogspot.com/.)
4. Follow the directions to pick a template, and your blog is ready to go!  Feel free to adjust the design if you want.

Privacy Settings and Options

1. It is important to first adjust the privacy settings.  Click on the blogger icon and then your blog’s name or just go to the “Design” link at the top right hand corner of your blog’s page. You will see a list come up on the side.  Click on “settings” to get to the “privacy” settings and click on “edit.” Answer “no” to both questions so that it won’t come up in a search.  Click on the “save changes” button. 
2. On the left, under “settings”, now click on “posts and comments.” Change it to “user with google account.”

Adding Gadgets

Click on “design” at the top right hand corner again.  Click on “layout” on the left hand side.  Click on “add gadget”.  When you find one you want, click on the “+” sign.  Be sure to save changes! As you customize your blogs, feel free to utilize all the tools available to you on blogger. The following are required:  

1. Labels: Label each post according to your focus (for example, “character change” or “theme”).  You can also label posts according to topic (“friendship” or “sports”) or title (“Hunger Games”).  

2. Blogroll: you can create a list of blogs you are reading on the sidebar. Everyone will be responsible for commenting on a handful of other blogs, so this is a great place to put the blogs you plan on keeping up with.  Each time an author posts something new, it automatically moves that blog to the top of your list. You can add in the blogs once I add them to our home base blog, thestarryvoid.blogspot.com. 

3. List (REQUIRED):  Please make an online list and call it “Finished Book List.” As you finish a book, add it here. 

Additional Guidelines
1. This blog is a part of a school project. Therefore, all content on your blog must be related to your reading and writing life in some way. Please do not use this blog as an online journal.
2. My expectation is that we are a community of readers and writers. I will be monitoring all blogs and trusting that your words that appear online will come from a place of respect for your fellow classmates as well with a tone that is appropriate for school.
3. For my own sanity, do not add any kind of sound gadgets to your blog.  Also, please type in readable colors (no pink or yellow) and fonts (avoid ones that are cursive or all caps, especially). 
Thanks!  Let's get this blogging started!
 
-Ms. Rear

Getting Philosophical. . .

For your last real blog post (except for a final reflection in June) during our philosophy unit, it would be great if you could really start trying to make your reading matter to your thinking.  Create a synthesis page and write a blog post about your book club book - this will give your philoso-phamily much more to talk about when you meet about your book!

I want to read blog posts that move from the book to larger philosophical questions (ones that would work for a Socrates Cafe, for example).  How can you connect what you're wondering about in your book to what you're wondering about in the world?

Read these - they're all pretty good places to start - although all of them could have delved deeper into the questions they're asking; try to answer your own questions!!

Here's a great post where Daniel starts to think about choices in the context of war: http://arcofthenoid.blogspot.com/2012/05/philosophy-and-war.html

Life, love, and happiness according to Francesca: http://rottinghyacinths.blogspot.com/2012/05/value-of-life-in-if-i-stay.html

Elsa starts to get into some really interesting ideas about the right way to parent and the nature of knowledge/ignorance.  To make this more philosophical, she could add some of her *own* thinking on these really important issues!
http://elsa5.blogspot.com/2012/05/room-reoccurring-things-in-room.html

New York Times New York City Haiku Contest!

Check it out!  Deadline is April 5!

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/a-call-for-haiku-about-new-york-city/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

All-Star Non-Fiction Critical Analyses

Jose is inspired by Malala: http://josebooksforschool.blogspot.com/2013/12/non-fiction.html

Su writes with finesse about an article about Islamophobia: http://booklandexpress.blogspot.com/2013/12/since-911-us-policy-enforces.html

Lillian dissects a writer's effectiveness on an issue she feels strongly about: http://eternitylilli.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-article-ban-on-gay-marriage-denies.html

Tomas goes above and beyond in this post, building and elaborating upon the critical analysis structure to create a lengthier and more detailed analysis of an Upfront article about e-cigarettes: http://stairwaytoheaven9999.blogspot.com/2013/12/critical-analysis-on-smoke-signals.html

Sophie learns about a different side of living in New York City from a popular NYT article about a homeless girl: http://sophieandhercats.blogspot.com/2013/12/invisible-child-non-fiction-critical.html

PICTURE BOOK DUE DATE POSTPONED

Because of my absence and the snow day, I am pushing back the due date of the picture book to THURSDAY, January 9.  Please spread the word if you see this post!

All-Star Mentors on "Faithful Elephants"

These students did exemplary work on their "Faithful Elephants" blog posts!  Look to these for inspiration and guidance!

Isabel's post!  http://isabelsbooks2000.blogspot.com/

Su's post!  http://booklandexpress.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-report-on-faithful-elephants.html

Tomas's post! http://stairwaytoheaven9999.blogspot.com/

Non-fiction Critical Analysis Guidelines

We are ready to start posting our non-fiction critical analysis work!  You will publish a non-fiction critical analysis on the due dates specified on your blog due dates slip.  You can also choose to publish a critical analysis at any point for any other blog post, but the ones specified must be critical analyses.

You should use the same techniques for reading non-fiction that we have been working on in class.  Think about the explicit (obvious, main) ideas (what the author wants you to know) and the implicit (subtle) ideas (what the author wants you to think or feel) and how the author achieves this.

So, FIRST, you will discuss both the explicit ideas, SECOND, the implicit ideas of the text, and. . .

THEN, you will add a THIRD part to your response - you will formulate your own opinion on the ideas and issues presented in the text.

********************************************************************************

YOU ALREADY HAVE THIS IN YOUR NOTES:

For Part 1 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, answer these questions:

1)      What is the overall main idea of the text?  What is the entire text mostly about?

2)      What are three or four details that contributed to your understanding of the text?  Try to use at least one direct quote in this part.

3)      How do those details support and connect to the main idea?

   

       For Part 2 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, answer these questions:

1)      What does the author want readers to think or feel?

2)      What are some craft moves the author uses to achieve this?  How do they work?  Try to include at least one direct quote here.

 

       For Part 3 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, answer these questions:

1) What will you take away from it?  

2)  How has your thinking been shaped or changed, and why?   Do you have an opinion on the issue now?

3) What else do you want to know?

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Use the Non-fiction Critical Analysis Checklist in order to help you prepare for and write your posts!

All-Star Non-fiction Mentors

Read these for inspiration when you're writing your non-fiction critical analyses!

http://bnw828.blogspot.com/2013/05/bbc-news-outrage-at-syrian-rebel-shown.html

http://busyfizzyizzy.blogspot.com/2013/01/nonfiction-blog-post-selling-new.html

http://georgiapeach99.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-non-fiction-post-blade-runner.html

http://oliviaortiv.blogspot.com/2013/05/non-fiction-may.html

Blog Requirements, and Revising for Voice, Tone, and Audience

Blog Expectations:
You will have one thoughtful response due every other Friday. 

This is also how I will hold you accountable for your reading life.  For instance, you may post about a book a few times if it takes you two weeks (or longer, if the book is especially challenging or long).  Your first blog post might be about a small idea or theory you are formulating about the book, or a line that caught your attention.  Then your second post will be about a bigger idea that you noticed throughout the book. Or, any combination.

Blog posts should be thoughtful and based on your ideas.  They should not just be retellings of the book.  If you write a post that's a retelling, I will ask you to re-do the post.

Before you publish a blog post, you should double check it to make sure it's "blog-worthy".  This, of course, means that you should check all of your spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation, but it means more than that, too!

Here are some guidelines for grammar:

Grammar

One of the biggest differences between writing that stays in your notebook and writing that gets published online is that the writing you post on your blog should use correct conventions and mechanics all the time.  When you are emailing or texting your friends, that is a different kind of writing, and a lack of conventions (following grammar rules) may be appropriate.  Our blogs, though, are a way of practicing writing in an academic setting.  Please practice using academic writing on your blogs.   I'll be looking for the following conventions that you should already be familiar with on your blog:

• Underline (or italicize) and capitalize the title of your book
• Use purposeful paragraphs when you switch to a new topic or idea
• Capitalization in general: you know what gets capitalized! No need for writing in all caps - ever!
• Spell words correctly - no text-spelling allowed!!  (i.e.  it's not "u".  it's "you".)

Blog posts should be academic in tone, meaning that language is appropriate, and that you're using correct terminology (like the names of literary devices, for example).  

Remember, though - a blog is different than a notebook.

One of the most fun (and scary!) parts of blogging is that others can read what you write!  Although your posts should be academic-sounding, that doesn't mean they have to be dry - posts can also have some of your own voice.  Is your voice funny, serious, inquisitive, philosophical?  You can also include text-to-self connections that people can identify with.

Some tips for thinking about audience:

• Give your reader a bit of context so that he or she can understand what you are writing about. Context can be attained in 1-2 sentences and includes the title of the book plus a brief introduction to the character, setting and conflict. For example, "I have been reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, set in a dystopian, futuristic society that forces 12 children to participate in an Olympic-style game, only it is to the death.  The reader is allowed inside the mind of Katniss, the main character, as she fights her way through the games."
• Try to "bookend" your post thoughtfully: use a lead to begin and try to leave your reader thinking at the end. 
• As a courtesy, if you are writing about the end of a book, put a "spoiler alert" in the post so that anyone who hasn't read the book doesn't see what happened in the end, just in case they want to read the book.  It is very possible to write a reading response thoughtfully without giving away the entire plot. 

Hopefully, people will read your blog posts and want to respond.  You can end up having really in-depth dialogues on your blog!  Some ways to invite more dialogue include addressing the reader directly (having an awareness that others are reading what you write), asking questions that you hope people will answer, and including things you are confused or wondering about.

Here are some posts from last year that exhibit voice and an awareness of audience:

Sasha gives a light-hearted take on Bossypants:
http://theperfectdreamland.blogspot.com/

Nathan dicusses his thoughts about The Hunger Games and how his sister's school had banned the book:
http://nathanshotdogs.blogspot.com/2012/03/hunger-games-movie-book.html

Melissa compares life during the Holocaust to our current lives (which connects readers directly to her ideas), and asks questions of herself that readers could also answer:
http://ilikebananaz.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-they-thought-in-holocaust.html

Corinna is so honest about her personal challenges that readers can feel safe opening up and sharing their own:
http://zanzibarbay.blogspot.com/2011/06/weekly-blog-post-truth-about-forever.html

Are there other requirements?

You will also be required to respond to at least one blog post every other week.  Comments and synthesis pages will be due the same week, blog posts the other week.  Do not post anything that is inappropriate or mean in any way.

We will occasionally take a break from posting online to work on our writing craft by printing out and revising one of our favorite posts.

Other news...

Keep an eye out for "All-star Mentors" (posts that I thought were particularly well-written and thought-provoking)!

If you need time to work on a computer, come in at 8 a.m. to my room, the library, or the computer lab.

Useful Websites for MLA format and Works Cited page

Here are some websites that can help you when you're creating your in-text citations or your Works Cited page:

Easy Bib  - look up your source and the site creates the listing for you!

Citation Machine - similar to Easy Bib - also creates your listings for you! 

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) - A comprehensive guide to all things MLA. . .

Jerz's Literary Weblog  - Help with formatting your research writing with directions for Microsoft Word for Windows or Mac