Q1: Week 3 - Posts Due 9/5

This week, blogs will be due Tuesday, September 5 because of the holiday Monday.  Once again, you will have two posts this week:

Post 1: Reading Response to your current outside reading book!  Two developed paragraphs with minimal plot summary (no more than 2 sentences).  If you are struggling with what to respond to, try reading as a writer: How does the author engage the reader's attention?  What do you notice about how the book is structured?  What examples do you see of personality, emotion, or vivid detail in the voice?  (Quote if appropriate)

Post 2: This week falls between the anniversaries of two major tragedies of the 21st century.  For your second post this week, please read or view something related to either Hurricane Katrina or September 11th and write a 2-paragraph response.  If you choose to read something (anything from a poem, article, or short story to a novel or nonfiction book), count all of the time you spend reading toward your 120 minutes.  If you choose to view something (like a documentary), you may count up to 30 minutes toward your reading time for the week.  Make sure to identify what you read or viewed (a link would be great, too) - this should not simply be a piece about your own experiences.  Also, please avoid conspiracy theory articles or videos about 9/11.

Alternatively, you may read or watch something about the Baton Rouge flood of 2016 or about Hurricane Harvey, following the same guidelines.

Reading Ideas: (suggestions, not requirements)

Katrina: Blood Dazzler (poems by Patricia Smith), A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (graphic novel by Josh Neufield), Zeitoun (nonfiction narrative by Dave Eggers), Voices from the Storm (oral histories of storm survivors, edited by Lola Vollen and Chris Ying)

9/11: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (novel by Jonathan Safran Foer), several other possibilities

Q1: Week 2 - Posts for 8/28

Our blogging routine has begun! Once again, you will have two posts this week:

1. A reading response to either your current outside reading book or your second summer choice book.  Remember, don't summarize the plot; instead respond, react, notice things that stand out, etc.  Remember to include the title of the book in italics.

Beginning next week, I will ask you to log your reading with an expectation of 2 hours per week.  That can include the time that you read during my class if you meet certain requirements: you arrive in class with a book (whether yours, the library's, or one that you've signed out from my classroom library; NOT one that you've just picked off my shelf); you are already reading when the bell rings and you read the entire time (if you are running to the bathroom, water fountain, your locker, etc. during reading time, or you are still finding the book on your computer or chatting when the bell rings, you may not count that day's time).

2. For your second post, think about something exciting or story-worthy from the past week or two, or from the summer.  Limit your story to about a five-minute period, and tell it as a scene, using as much vivid detail and imagery as you can.  Try to make your readers feel like they are right there.  Again, no more than five minutes should elapse between the beginning of your story and the end.

As before, please dedicate about 15 minutes per blog post.  Set a timer if you need to.  You may write informally, but please use standard spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Happy writing!

Welcome to English I!

Welcome to English I!  I am looking forward to our year together!

As you know, blog posts will be a routine assignment in my class.  They will be an opportunity to share and think through our reading, to try out new genres and writing strategies, and to communicate with each other and with me about how our work is going.

For this week, you will make two posts, due Monday, 8/21 (you may post at any time before the end of that day):

1. A free post.  This is a good opportunity to introduce yourself and your blog, and to discuss your expectations, goals, or concerns about the course, but you may choose another topic if you'd like.

2. A response to one of your summer reading choice books.  Remember that a plot summary is not a response.  For examples of responses, click here to read some of my responses and some strong student responses from previous years.

As with all blog posts, you should have two well-developed paragraphs in each post, and you should spend about 15 minutes per post.  Set a timer if you need to, and do the best work that you can within that time period.
Here are some response sentence-starters that might be helpful to you:

•One thing I noticed was…•I wonder why…•What I liked (or disliked) most was…•Something that surprised me was…•What I find confusing is…•As I was reading, I…•The author wants us to think…•…This is important because…•…I can relate to this because…•…This is similar to…•One strategy I used was…