Blog Post #2

For your second blog post, I will be asking you to discuss a particular part of your book. Here's what to do:

First, find a powerful passage with plenty of imagery but no dialogue. Describe and discuss the setting, characters as well as the society and culture in which your story takes place. Next, explain why you chose this passage. What did it add to the progress of the plot? Don't forget, your passage needs to contain at least three of the five sensory images. Respond to two posts and compare your three examples of imagery with the posts.

Your First Blog Post

Now that you are half way through your novels, I have some questions for you:

Think about your protagonist.

1. What is the most annoying feature of your protagonist? Explain with two examples.
2. What is the most impressive quality of your protagonist? Explain with two examples.

Expectations for responses:

Make sure that you clearly state the title and author of your book! For the above questions, your response should be at least one paragraph of 120 words. Once you have done this, you are also expected to read and comment on at least two classmates' posts in relation the above two questions.

You may be asking, "How do I respond to a classmate's blog post when I haven't read his/her book?" For example, ask your classmate to explain and to justify his/her position with more examples. You can also compare your characters to your classmates' characters by finding similarities or discussing differences.

How to respond to this blog post:

You will need to sign up for an email account with gmail or a similar service before you can respond to these blog posts. Please see Mr. Szatmary or Ms. Jensen if you need help with this.

Welcome students!

Welcome to our class blog. I have created this online space for us to communicate and interact about what we are reading, writing  and learning in your English class. This will be a learning experience for all of us. Before we get started, there are a few things to discuss:

Why a class blog?

• It provides another space, regardless of location or time, for us to communicate.
• It creates connections between the members of our class.
• It gives us practice in reading, writing, editing and revising.
• It allows us to write for an authentic purpose and audience.
• It develops our digital literacy skills.
• It gives everyone in the class a voice.
• It allows us to communicate with the wider world as well.
• It teaches us to read carefully and comment constructively on others' written work.

Check out this infographic on blogging by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (from her Langwitches blog).

How to be a better bloggger

When you are blogging, it is important to read carefully what you write before you post it. Check out this infographic from the Langwitches blog:

Being a good digital citizen

Whether you are new or not to blogging, there are some important things to remember in terms of digital citizenship. Even though you are producing content online, this is still work for school. Therefore, the school district's Acceptable Use Policy applies. This is the document that you and your parents signed at the beginning of the school year. Just remember, when posting online, would you be OK shouting this information through a megaphone in the middle of a mall? On a busy downtown street? In front of your entire school? For a short and more visual version of good online ethics and behaviour, check out this infographic:

Source: Wildfire Social Marketing

OK, there's your introduction to blogging. Let's get started!