New Response Guidelines

Due Dates
Blog Responses (Regular) - 2/1, 2/8, 2/14
Final Paper Due - Friday 2/22
Presentations - Adapting that into an iMovie project


Here are some examples of good responses thus far. They are in now way perfect, but they fall in the top percentage of good responses.

1st Response to the Genre Study

Your first blog response to your book is due by Friday.

Start a new blog response for your new book. To begin the post, type your author's name, the title of the book, and the pages you've read so far. Then, write 175-225 words about your first impressions of the book. What have you noticed so far? Don't merely retell the plot...focus on something larger.

This is your first grade of the third quarter.

Group Blog Response

Yesterday I asked you to blog a group response in the library. In case you didn't get to it, here are the guideline questions:

Why did your group choose to study that genre? In a larger sense, why do you think people read books in your genre? What types of things do you think that particular genre provides humanity?

Your Wikis

I've constructed wiki pages for you. Find your period and blog name, click and add your content. Remember, you are to take the information you organized on Friday and transfer that to the wiki. If any of your group members were missing their research, that information must be added to the appropriate subheading.

Period One
One Man, Three Ladies - Mystery
Extraordinary Voices - Horror
Skool Prisoners - War Fiction
Fab Five + 1 - Sports Fiction
Lecture Ignored - Gothic

Period Four/Five
BARP - Genre Unknown
Education Four Eternity - Genre Unknown
Literature is Powerful - Genre Unknown
Minds of Chained Teenagers - Genre Unknown
Pathological English - Genre Unknown
Ruff Writers - Genre Unknown
United Learners - Genre Unknown
Wudd If - Genre Unknown

Period Six/Seven
Determined Motivated Speaders - Genre Unknown
Editor's Post - Genre Unknown
Hubris of Sugar and Spice - Genre Unknown
Kielbasa, Potatoes, and Everything Else in the Stew - Genre Unknown
Raven's Nest - Genre Unknown

Period Nine
Classy Never Trashy - Young Adult Literature
Hold Your Chin High - Mystery
Hold That Dictionary - Sports Fiction/Nonfiction
MOA(T) - Young Adult Literature
Poetry Prodigies - Young Adult Literature
The Despair of Craig Blitzer - Horror

Organizing Your Information

Today you'll be assembling your blogmates information into a well organized, digestible form. Create subheadings (ex. Major Characteristics) and paraphrase your information under these subheadings.

Steps:
1. Read over the major guideline questions.
2. For each step, group members should look for relevant information.
3. Record the information until all information is exhausted.

Notes:

• Not all information will be important, so don't feel you have to include all the information. Discuss the points. Figure out what's important.
• Depending on the information you have found, you may have to create more subheadings than the guideline questions imply
• Each group member must create their own sheet, but everyone should have the same information on their paper.
• The paper you record information on today is a rough draft. Don't be afraid to cross out or draw arrows.

Starting your Research

Today we're getting going on that wiki. I've prepared a sample wiki about the epic characteristics of the epic genre. It's a tad incomplete but it should give you an idea.

Today you are going to work in teams of two.
You and your partner are going to research the characteristics of your genre. Each pair must fill out a "researching for your wiki" worksheet.
On Friday you will with your blogmates, share research, and layout the information for your wiki.

Genre Study Project Materials

This week we are embarking on a new project. Make sure that if you have a book from the library (or from my classroom library) that you return it immediately. We go back down to the library on Monday.

Adding Your Motto/Mission Statement to Your Sidebar

1. While in "Page Elements," add a page element to your "Sidebar"
2. Choose "Text"
3. Type your motto or mission statement into "Content"
4. Save Changes
5. View your blog to make sure it worked

Uploading Your Comic Life Header

After you have completed your header in Comic Life:

1. In the file menu choose "Export - Export to Image(s)
2. Save the file to your desktop

Then, sign in to Blogger

3. Under Layout (or Template), go to "Page Elements"
4. Find your header. If your template doesn't have a header, "pick a new template"
5. Click "Edit" your header
6. "Choose" a file from your computer. Find your header .gif
7. Choose placement "Instead of title and description"

Creating a Blog Header

Today in class we entered into preliminary blog header design discussions. Today I expect you to work on your finished draft, be it photograph, multiple photographs, or drawing.

Directions for Using Comic Life:

1. Import your photos into iPhoto
2. Drag the photos to your desktop
3. Open Comic Life (App folder)
4. Look to the bottom of "Album" and choose finder. Find the desktop and select it.
5. Choose "Page Format" from the "file menu"
6. Change "Page Size" to "Customize Size (in points). Change the width to 660 and the height to 200
7. Change "Orientation" to "Landscape"
8. Play around and format your picture/pictures/text.