Did you know? You are more likely to get attacked by a cow than a shark!

Monday, February 25 - Your task today is to look up 20 interesting facts (5 from each website listed below) and post them to your blog. The next step is to then take two of the twenty facts and find additional information on the subjects. The main purpose of this exercise is for you to become experienced with search engines and to begin thinking of a possible topic for the research paper. You are to take the two articles and post the URL (website address) to your blog for others to read. Please also include 2 pictures related to the articles and a brief description of each. Here is a step by step guide on how to accomplish these tasks as well as an example of the assignment:

1. Go to the following websites:
http://hookedonfacts.com/
http://www.interestingfacts.net/
http://www.nicefacts.com://
http://www.amusingfacts.com/

2. Write 5 interesting facts from each of the four websites (20 total)

3. Find additional information on two of your facts by searching a website, such as National Geographic, PBS, New York Times (and so forth. 

4. Include these two articles'/websites on your blog with a brief summary/description.

5. Create a link to the websites by copying and pasting the URL (website address) into your blog.      

6. Add two images that relate to the two articles you have linked.

7. Title your blog entry: 20 interesting facts!


Here is an example of the assignment:

                                                                    TWENTY INTERESTING FACTS!

1. In 1938, Time Magazine chose Adolf Hitler for man of the year.
2. Twelve people have walked on the moon.
3.  Kilts are not native to Scotland. They originated in France.
4. During a typical human life span, the human heart will beat approximately 2.5 billion times.
5. Many people who read the word yawn or yawning begin to feel the urge to yawn.
6. Cold weather makes fingernails grow faster.
7. Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors.
8. Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse, was afraid of mice.
9. Albert Einstein never wore any socks. 
10. More than 2,500 left handed people a year are killed from using products made for right handed people. (That is unfortunate since Ms. Wood is left handed)



Leonardo da Vinci's drawing of an armored car in the year 1487


The article depicts Leonardo da Vinci's inventions including the first armored car. The article gives 12 other interesting inventions such as the helicopter. I find it really fascinating that many know of his artwork but few know that he was also an inventor. I wonder what it would have been like for the citizens of Italy to be driving or even flying 500 years ago! I can only imagine what would have happened with our own technology if society would have progressed at a much faster rate!

The National Geographic website has a ton of interesting and exciting information about Albert Einstein. I was unaware that he was good friends with Edwin Hubble and actually helped with the Hubble Space Telescope. This telescope allowed Edwin Hubble to discover that the universe is much more massive than we had ever imagined. Hubble's work included the discovery of other galaxies and they are constantly expanding. I was even more surprised that Albert Einstein had thought of this five years earlier in 1919 and actually wrote his theory down on the back of an envelope!

I love books! How about you?

Thursday (February 14, 2013)

First off, Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, you will be blogging on the books that you have been reading. Please let Ms. James or Ms. Wood know if you do NOT have a blog yet or are unsure of how to make blog posts.The blog post is worth 40 points and needs to be finished by the end of class! The directions for the reading blog post are as follows:

1. A short summary of the book you are currently reading.

2. A passage or a quote  that is more than two or three words and an  explanation for what it means and why you chose it.

3. A picture that is NOT the cover of the book! It needs to be an image that is related to what is happening in the book or a symbolic representation of a character.

4. Please title your blog post with, "Reading Response #1"

Fifteen minutes before the bell rings we will begin generating possible ideas for the research topic. I want you to write down five things that you are interested in researching and freewrite about one of those things. Please use the sheet provided and hand it in at the end of class!

Monday's Work: Read, Blog and Trivia

Hello and welcome to my first blog post! I wanted to fill you in on a few things that we will be doing today.

TODAY (1/28)- Reading Response blogs. Please look over the scoring guide so that you know how to get an “A” on the blog. You may use this 90 minute class period to read silently and post to your blog.

Some helpful hints: be sure to include a photo that is NOT the cover of a book; have it be related to the author, the theme of the book or even a symbol. Please also include a quote and be sure to put it in quotations. Also, a quote is not merely two words but it is a phrase or a passage. Explain why you included the quote in your post. Once you are done with your reading response blog post, I want you to watch and read the following links about The Crucible. I think that these will be interesting and some of the trivia may be asked on a later test! Hint, Hint.






Movie Trailer

 


 



Interesting Trivia







 With any extra time you may have today, please read more about Ms. Wood! Here are 10 (and counting) things about me!

· I am from a small Dutch inspired town called Pella, Iowa.

· I have a orange tabby cat and he is named after one of my favorite songs, Mr. Bo Jangles.

· Mr. Bo Jangles knows how to come when called and will fetch pens. He rules the apartment.

· I also have a Cuban Havanese dog named Daisy. She knows all of her toys by name.

· I have an older sister, Ashley, in the Air Guard and she recently got back from a tour in Afghanistan.

· My kitchen is done completely in cupcakes. I am obsessed with them.

· I was involved in Choir, Show Choir, and Theater throughout high school.

· My first job was at a Dairy Queen, so I know how to do the "Q" on top of ice cream cones.

· My parents live in Monett, Missouri.

· If I could do anything, I would become a jazz singer.

Second Semester Thoughts...Welcome Back!

Welcome back bloggers.  It has been a while since we posted.  Though we are busy composing our descriptive narratives about home, I am also anxious to read about what you are reading.  I just started a book I was given over Christmas break, A Dog's Journey, which is a sequel to A Dog's Purpose.  I haven't had much time to read, but I am looking forward to starting it this weekend.  By the way, it was given to me by my secret pal here at school...Think she knows me well?

Several of you read A Dog's Purpose, and as you know, it traces a dog's life through many rebirths and poignant stories about a dog's relationships with his families. It is told through the dog's point of view.  Right away I think of Katie, my dog who took it upon herself to babysit my new grandbaby when she lived her first year at my house.  Katie laid under her crib, sat by her high chair, waited by the bathroom door, and stayed as close as she could to her "new baby."

So dive in!  Tell us about the book you are reading independently this quarter, any connections you have, predictions you make, and so on!

More later...I made a video of the two of them and pasted it above!  Indulge me; grandmothers like to show off their pictures!)

Getting Ready for Gatsby: Let's Travel Back in Time!

Before you read on, ask youself if you have posted your reading responses, "10 things About Me," your Poe reflections, and response to "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge."  Today in the lab you will have an opportunity to get caught up, read other posts, and then read  and comment below about Gatsby!

Together as a class we are beginning another novel.  I know I say this of many books, but The Great Gatsby really is one of my favorites.  The storyline may seem remote to you, however, if you don't know much about the setting.  Today you have a chance to share what you know about the 1920's, the decline of the American Dream, the morals and values of the upper class, and so on.

This is a picture of the Crick estate

This is a picture of the Gould estate

This is Westbury Gardens

This is Princeton Blair Hall



It is hard for some of us to imagine such wealth as the mansions above or what it might be like to be born into such money that finding a job would never be necessary.  This is a time in our history when the rich were getting richer, World War I had just ended, and business was corrupt.  Any of you watch HBO's Boardwalk Empire?  It provides an interesting view into rum running, crime gangs and police corruption, and very wealthy businessmen.  During this time period, class distinctions seem apparent.  "Old money" blue bloods snub the newly rich, and immigrants must struggle against prejudice and lack of opportunity.

Great Gatsby is not only beautifully written (F. Scott Fitzgerald), it exposes truths about morals and unveils hypocrisy in American classes.

Seen the video trailer?  Here's a link!

Reading Online....

Today we will read Ambrose Bierce online.  There is so much out there that is free to read.  We've been reading Poe in honor of October and mystery and macabre.  Today we will continue the short story unit with another story that takes us to the Civil War era and a popular author of the time who wrote historical fiction.  Here is a link to one of my favorites, "The Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge."

Bierce is clearly one of the prominent voices of the Civil War era.  What do you think  about the sequence of events in this story?  How does that perhaps make a statement about the Civil War?  You can include your thoughts about this piece in today's blog post about your book.

The Point of Blogging: READ EACH OTHER!

Have you taken time to browse through our classroom  sites to learn more about each other?  Today you will be challenged to first proofread your own site, your posts, your pictures.  Review your book responses and check for spelling (there is a spell check button) and sentence structure.  Explain why you posted the picture you did for your book.  Explain the quotation you chose, why you chose it and what it means to the story.  Does your title include the title of your book?  Do you briefly give your readers a summary that will clarify what's going on, who is in your story, and where and when it is taking place without retelling the whole story?  Why did you chose the book?

You are  earning credit for your "10 or more things about me" post and also your comment on the Rules of Safety post (mine), your posts and remarks about Poe and Owl Creek Bridge, and your blog post about your book you are currently reading.

When you are satisfied you have completed the assignments to the best of your ability, your job is to get to know each other by reading all the other blogs in our class.  Last class I included a scavenger hunt for your proof of reading!  However, many of you simply asked each other for answers.  That's NOT the point.  That's not how you were supposed to learn about each other.  Today in the library, you will silently converse with each other by posting appropriate and kind comments regarding the writing.  You have posted information on the blog, and your audience is made up of each other.  Please READ each other's posts and do not talk!