You teach us!

As a table/group:

Come up with or find a fun and useful writing activity to lead the class in. 

• Activity should take 15-30 minutes
• Each person in the group should complete the activity in advance to share as examples
• Something in journal:  writing, gluing, drawing, etc.
• Leave a comment by the end of class today on this post with a brief explanation of what you plan to do.
• Create a clear and interesting visual aid to put on the SMARTBoard during your activity--this might be a Google doc or Google slides (share it with hfraser@sps.org before you teach).
• Plan who will say what and be ready to present confidently and enthusiastically and in an easy-to-understand way.
• Don't miss the day your group is scheduled to present or you won't earn the points.

Wednesday, 12/2      Katie + Taylor

Thursday, 12/3         M'Kenna + Taylor + Jacob + Maddie

Friday, 12/4              Josh + Tanner

Monday, 12/7           Jordan + Glenda + Jesse

Tuesday, 12/8         Samantha + Mariah

Wednesday, 12/9    Laura + Meghan + Zachary + Emma

Thursday, 12/10      Daniel + Ben + Riley

We will be working on your Altered Book Final Project alongside these activities—bring supplies this week if you can (scrapbook paper, ribbon, Mod Podge, tabs, embellishments, stickers, etc.)

We will also start collecting for our Holiday Basket when I get more information on our family--you can be gathering household supplies like cleaners and paper goods and/or food in the meantime.
  

Thankful for you (and for the break!)

Good morning!  Just two days here this week and then a little break!  And then only 14 school days left in the semester after that!  Wow.  I am thankful for sweet, bright students like you all who make coming to school every day a good experience for me.  I hope you and your families have a safe and lovely (and yummy!) holiday.

Take a look at your grade check and make up any missing work from the PHOTOS section and newer on.  Circle those on your sheet and give it back to me by the end of class tomorrow.  I need to post grades for progress reports again first thing when we get back from break.  We will be moving on to a couple of final projects and won't be backtracking then.

As we discussed, we'll try to have a little POTLUCK in class tomorrow!  Bring a food to share--maybe something you wrote about or have a memory connected to or maybe just something that's easy for you.  We will do a little activity inspired by my fav Maya Angelou and then you might have a little more time to work on the Chromebooks getting caught up on posts.

If you're caught up with everything and would like to leave some friendly, supportive comments on your classmates' posts, please do so.  I know they'd appreciate the feedback.

Keep writing in your journal, too.  We may not do as much together in class over the last few weeks, but I'd still like you to be putting your thoughts and ideas down on your own.

Happy Thanksgiving!  XOXO

Re+vision=taking another look

By the end of class on Monday, please choose 3 of your longer posts to revisit and refine.  

REVISION means to re-SEE.  This could include adding to a story  (at the beginning, end, and/or middle).  This might also involve letting go of some of the writing you've already done and replacing it with something that works better.  This could also mean writing something entirely new--a story or poem or something else--inspired by one of your answers to the assignments like the Dan in Real Life or Maya Angelou questions where you just posted your thoughts on topics.

• Post each piece in a separate New Post
• Title them Revision #1, Revision #2, Revision #3.
• Copy and paste your original text into your post.
• Highlight changes/additions in your new version.

Think about which of your pieces reflect some of your best thinking, writing, creativity, and potential and how you could take those significantly further.  Editing or correcting typos would polish your pieces for sure, but the focus here is to expand on ideas rather than just touching up what is already there.  

Progress Reports go out again the week after Thanksgiving, so catch up on anything you are missing before we leave for break.   Be sure that you've posted your food-inspired writing, too, and let's plan to EAT in class on Tuesday!  Bring something--maybe the food that inspired your writing piece--to share with everyone and/or we could get bagels or donuts. 

You all continually amaze me with your creativity and your responses to the assignments we've done in class...I am so inspired by what you all come up with!  I am THANKFUL for  YOU!  XOXO

Writing about FOOD!

We’re heading into a season of celebrations and family gatherings, many of which are centered around food.  I’d like us to take some time to think and write about our connections to food—memories, opinions, preferences, experiences.  I can think of all sorts of directions this contemplation might take you…

Please write a piece of your choice inspired by food.  The piece might be 300-500 words, any genre.  I thought of a few ideas, but there isn’t really a wrong answer here, so feel free to shape this assignment however you see fit.  This might take a really personal slant for you, or you can take a more observational, factual approach if you’re more comfortable.  Include an image.

Just a few possible approaches:

a short essay re:  the story behind a family food or tradition

                     re:  what Thanksgiving really means

                     re:  a person in your life who has shaped you through food

                     re:  a childhood food memory

a longer poem   re:  a memorable meal

                       re:  a delicious food

                       re:  a disgusting food

                       re:  a cook at work

                       re:  the scene in a kitchen

                       re:  the scene around a dinner table

                       re:  gratefulness (or lack thereof)

                       re:  a childhood food memory

a recipe for an abstract concept
                       (love, disaster, family, the perfect Thanksgiving)

a letter to someone you’re thankful for

a letter to a cook you know and love praising his/her food 

a letter to thank the host for all the work put into the family feast

a short story re:  a Thanksgiving gone wrong

a short story re:  an epiphany about thankfulness or appreciation

This is... Photo Writing

I like this image...it's a print available at one of my favorite websites called Etsy, where you can buy all sorts of vintage and handmade goods. So much creativity and inspiration there...have a look some time.

I'd like you to do a New Post on your own blog with some writing about one of your own photos inspired by Katy Barber's "Photograph 1969." I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd like to arrange your words as a poem or a short piece of prose. I'll be looking for a vivid description of what we can actually see in the photo, followed by that "twist" we discussed in class, where you intimate or imply what else is "in" the photo...an understanding, an observation, a hint at something that came later, a bigger idea at play...something more. Please include the photo in your post. 

If you don't have a photo of your own or find that too personal, find a striking or interesting photo that speaks to you on the internet or in a magazine or use one we looked at in class and write about it in this same way instead.  

Photograph 1969 by Katy Barber

This is my mother
lifting her hair long
like a low whistle
off her neck
These are her fingers
caught in the tangles
of brown and gold caught in
silver earrings
This is my father
reaching through the lens
to touch the edge
of a new family
to touch her opening belly
under her full dress

This is existing
before I exist

This is me growing up
against their lives
him watching for a sharp
breath from her looking out
onto the border of birth
this is bumping us into three

TG(tomorrow)IF

Tomorrow is the mid-2nd quarter mark!  A few things I'd like you to do:

1:  Your journal is due at the end of the block tomorrow.  You need 20 new, full pages.

2:  Please bring 2-3 of your own photographs you could write about for a class activity tomorrow.  

3:  Please get your grade check signed and bring it back to me.

4:  I'd like our class to participate in the Shoeboxes for Soldiers drive Mr. McMillian mentioned during the Veterans Day assembly.  See the list below for suggested items and bring what you can as soon as possible.  The boxes are due next Friday.

Thanks for being so great to work with! Go Chiefs!

Photos of the Millenium (so far)

With the advance of cell phones, caputring all aspects of history and everyday life is easier and more accessible than ever.  Think about what your great-grandkids will say about all the images your generation is leaving behind--or will many of the images that tell your story/history vanish into cyberspace somewhere eventually instead of being in a photo album for those grandkids to flip through?

This little dog happened to be strolling down a street just after the Pope had passed by--his little smile and upturned chin make it seem like he believes all the applause and fuss is for him!  Adorable.

Choose one of the photos from the 2000s and write a piece (poem or prose, fiction or nonfiction...your choice) of at least 250 words inspired by the photo. This might be a personal memory you have connected to this event or your thoughts about this moment in history...you decide what you'd like to say. 

Here's an example of something I wrote referencing an image from the aftermath of 9-11 that has always stayed with me.  

If the CrackTwo link is blocked on the school computers for whatever reason, you could visit another website with "iconic" or important photos from this decade or the last and choose one from there, or you might be able to Google an individual picture if you remember one or have a certain one in mind.  Include the photo you chose and your writing in a New Post on your own blog.  

Flea Market Photos

In a New Post on your blog, please share some new writing of at least 300 words inspired by the antique flea market photos we looked at in class on Tuesday (or another one if you'd rather find your own).  This could be a fictional short story, a long poem, a set of dialogue, or something else...Include a picture of the picture or another image that fits. Please have this posted by the end of class Wednesday.

Photo Hunt + Captions + Hashtags

In a New Post on your blog, please add all 15 of the photos you took Thursday during our Photo Hunt. Add a caption of at least 25 words to go with each photo, and include a clever #hashtag with each caption.  You can decide whether to label or otherwise indicate which photo on the list each was supposed to be.

At the end of your post, include a quote that suggests something about paying attention or writers noticing everything or the power of photographs.