Blogger Friday!!!

It's the day before Spring Break and I don't know about you, but I'm SOOOO tired! So, instead of working on vocabulary, or watching me fall asleep on my desk, you are going to be blogging today!

You have three assignments and yes, of course, they are for a grade, so DO THEM!!!!

You will go into your blog and create THREE SEPARATE POSTS, one for each of the assignments listed below! To see a sample, go to my blog, here.

#1: Tell about what you have planned for Spring Break. Maybe you are going on a great trip, maybe you are visiting family, or maybe you are like me, and you are just staying home, catching up on sleep and being lazy! Whatever it is, tell us all about it. Oh, and include in your answer what your IDEAL Spring Break would be! What would you do? Who would you see? Where would you go?

#2: Start a new post and in this one, I want you to follow the directions below. This is just one of those fun, kind of dumb things I found on Facebook. But it was fun and I thought you might get a little chuckle out of it too!

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- in an elevator
8---------- at the dinner=2 0table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that.
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars.
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!


Write down the sentence you made. Now, copy this entire thing, and go to your blog and post the instructions and your answer into it! I can't wait to see what you get stuck with...

#3: This post is unique...not much writing involved, which should make MOST of you happy! :) You have to follow these instructions, or this will not work!

1. Google "your name thinks"
ex: Charla thinks
2. Find the answer on the results that pop up and that will be the title of your new hit song (but don't include the part "Charla thinks" in your title).
3. Now Google your new song title (the one from step 2)
ex: Milkshake
4. Find the name of your band from some of the results
5. Google your band name but this time find a picture in Google Images
ex: The Dresdon Dolls
6. Now take the picture into a program where you can "create" an album cover (I just used Word) using the picture, name of your band, and name of song.
7. Save your cover as a picture, so that you can post it on your blog.
8. The title of your post needs to be the name of your new band! :)

Wikipedia says this about human interest stories:

A human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or persons in an interactive and/or emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy in the reader or viewer.

Human interest stories may be the story behind the story about an event, organization or otherwise faceless historical happening, such as about the life of an individual soldier during war-time, an interview with a survivor of a natural disaster, or profile of someone known for a career achievement.

Often this is what draws us into something that might otherwise just be boring news or history. For example, the movie "Pearl Harbor" (albeit fictitious) has a story behind the story that draws you in and makes you think about what people during that could have been experiencing. It is the only reason I enjoy history, to know that there were real people living real lives during the events that shaped and molded the world in which we live today. Other times, these human interest stories are simply normal people living through extraordinary circumstances. They are "nameless" strangers one day and because of a choice or decision they make the next day they are making headlines! This is what the following story is about...just 3 ordinary kids who made an extraordinary decision!

German lovers – aged six and five – try to elope to Africa

Mika and his girlfriend Anna-Bell found on way to airport with lilo, swimming trunks and a witness for the wedding in tow

• Kate Connolly in Berlin
  
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 January 2009 17.40 GMT
• Article history

Anna-Bell, Anna-Lena and Mika at the police post at the main railway station in Hanover, central Germany, after being caught heading for the airport so Anna-Bell and Mika could 'get married in Africa'. Photograph: /AFP/Getty Images

It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.

"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".

Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "

Mika said: "We wanted to take the train to the airport, then we wanted to get on a plane and when we arrived we wanted to unpack the summer things and then we wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun."

Mika and Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of her children's plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' When we realised the kids were missing we went looking for them." But only when the police called did they realise what had happened.

Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.

Mika told police he instigated the plan having been inspired by a winter holiday with his family in Italy. "Based on this the children began to make plans for the future," Jureczko said.

To allay their disappointment at being caught, Hanover police gave them a tour of the police headquarters. Jureczko said: "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

Your assignment today is to find, copy and paste into your blog a human interest story! Please make sure it is from a credible source and, of course, that it is school appropriate!!!

I found a couple of other stories that you might be interested in reading if you have some extra time!

Here is a link about a man who bought a winning lottery ticket and died the same day.

Here is a story about a baby born 2 days after her mother died. :(

Alphabet Story

Today you're going back to elementary school. Well, not really, but you are going to be using your knowledge of the alphabet in today's post!

Here's what you do: You are going to practice writing a story, with a twist. In the story, you must use all 26 letters of the alphabet. Every sentence must begin with the next letter, until you have a total of 26 sentences.

You might have to be a little creative when you get to X, but I know you will come up with something fascinating!

The story MUST make sense and have a beginning, middle and end. Also, you must use at least 5 vocabulary words from this class; they can be from any of the weeks you have in your Vocab Notebook. When you use a vocabulary word, highlight it so I can give you credit for it.

Go here to see an example! DO NOT COPY IT!

Have fun and Happy Blogging!

It's a Dog's World!!

Dogs love unconditionally, but do they really have feelings? Some people consider dogs as important as people. Others view them as pests! How do you feel?

Today you are going to go to your blog and post a story "through the eyes of a dog." It can be any story about anything (a birthday party, a trip to the vet, a walk through the park, getting picked up by the dog catcher, etc.) as long as it is through the eyes of a dog. Since it is through their eyes, it needs to be in first person! If you have a dog, it can be through their eyes. If you don't, it can be through a dog you have known or just some stray on the street. I want lots of details and make sure you give the dog a personality that shows through your story. This needs to be a story--not just a couple of sentences!

Also make sure you include a picture (or pictures). Remember it does not have to be a dog you know, so pictures can just come from the internet!

Have fun!

Christmas FREEWRITE

Go to your blog and FREEWRITE about something having to do with Christmas. You can make up a story, write about a family tradition, tell about your favorite Christmas present, etc…Make sure you write at least ONE full paragraphs and I will grade on correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, so check carefully for those things! ALSO, before you publish, add a picture to your post that relates to your writing in some way. Happy Writing!

Hink Pinks-6th period only

Hink pinks are riddles that have two rhyming words in the answer. Below are word pairs. You must find another word for each word in the pair and the resulting new pair must rhyme. Go to your blog and post your answers!

Example: A naughty father
Answer: A bad dad

1.) A sushi plate

2.) A fast elevator (in England)

3.) An antelope drink

4.) A warm bed

5.) A lawful bird

6.) An Orca prison (Google what an Orca is if you don't know)

7.) A salamander shoe

8.) A sham cobra

9.) A depressed boy

10.) A large stick

For the next two, I want you to come up with your own. We will all visit your blog and see if we can figure them out by leaving comments with our guesses! (Hint: Think of two words that rhyme FIRST, and then come up with the alternate descriptions...it seems to be easier that way).

11.)

12.)

FREE FRIDAY!

Today is FREE FRIDAY! Therefore, I am letting you write about whatever you choose. The only rules are it must be school appropriate, so no violence, cursing, or putting other people down. Also, I will specifically be grading you for capitalization (especially when you are referring to yourself as "I"). I am also looking for run-ons and fragments. You should avoid these altogether! Lastly, you must write at least five complete sentences.

So, start thinking about what you would like to write about. It can be anything...your weekend plans, your life plans, the car you want to buy, the boy you like, the girl you dislike, etc...

YOU CHOOSE...but choose WISELY!

Halloween controversy

You are going to read an article about a high school that banned Halloween because one of it's students chose to wear an Adolph Hitler costume. We all know who Hitler is and what he did during World War II, killing all people who were not white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed. This included anyone not of Christian heritage, most of all people of the Jewish faith.

So, go HERE and read the article. Then, go to your blog and answer the question the article poses at the end.

Invisibility Cloak

I've always wondered what it would be like to be invisible. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to just slip into Harry Potter's invisibility cloak and know others couldn't see you? What would you do? Where would you go?

We are approaching Halloween, and the most famous of all invisible beings, ghosts, will be out in full force! So, I want you to write a paragraph about what you would do if you were invisible!

What would the advantages of being invisible be? What would the disadvantages be?

Open your mind and be creative! Imagine yourself in this situation and then write about it!

Memories

Memories are said to be one of the few things no person can take away from you. That's a nice thought, don't you think? It is especially sweet when we remember those who aren't with us anymore and are able to keep them here because we can think of a time when we were really happy with them.

Think of how many songs there are about memories. One that comes to mind is, "Memories, like the corners of my mind. Misty, water-colored memories, of the way we were."

Or how about Fall Out Boy's "Thanks for the Memories?"

"One night yeah, and one more time, thanks for the memories, thanks for the memories..."

I'm sure you can think of some more.

So, today, I want you to write AT LEAST A PARAGRAPH about a memory you have from your past. It can be good or bad, but I want you to tell me about it and give enough information so your reader feels like they were there and experienced it with you!

Bonfire

I took this blog idea from Mrs. Kirkpatrick.

I am sure you have heard by now that there will be no bonfire this year. In case you don't know, it was not necessarily a local decision. The Supreme Court actually made a ruling this summer that would hold school districts completely liable for any injuries related to a bonfire. Now that may not seem like a big deal until you consider how many ways people could get injured...and of course, how eager our society is to sue someone. Our local officials decided it would be in the best interest of all involved to do away with the bonfire all together rather than take chances on someone getting really hurt. Now, to seniors this really seems unfair--especially since it is their senior year!! And one day, you WILL be a senior! Rather than fight a losing battle, though, how about if you guys come up with an alternative that would become the new tradition!?! Just think, y'all could be the ones that start something that your grand kids will be doing years from now!! You might even start a trend around the state...you know with the recent rulings there are other cities and schools that will no longer participate in this tradition. So blog about how you feel about no more bonfire...and throw out some ideas of alternatives!! Oh, and remember that ANYONE can read your posts, so KEEP THEM SCHOOL APPROPRIATE!!

I wish...

Finish the sentence below and then continue writing a paragraph (remember that is AT LEAST five complete sentences, no less) explaining your thoughts.

Title your post "I wish."


"I wish there were a law that said _____________. This would be a good law because______...

6th Period ONLY!!

Today we will begin reading, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. The novel discusses several themes, including that of racial division. The main character, Janie, is part black and part white. She finds it difficult to blend in with either of the cultures and is often torn between the two. Think about this situation and comment on what life might be like if you didn't fit anywhere in particular, you just existed. It doesn't have to be a matter of black/white. What other categories do we fit/not fit in? Talk about what this means for individuals as well as for groups of people. If there are any groups you are on the border between, talk about what they are and where you think you fit in the category and where you think others perceive you fitting.

Beauty vs. Wealth

If you had to choose between being WEALTHY and UGLY or POOR and BEAUITFUL/HANDSOME, which would you choose and WHY? Be sure to explain your answer in at least one full paragraph or more. Give a detailed explanation for your answer!

Future

Think about your life in 10 years. That will be the year 2018. Where do you think you will be? What do you think you will be doing? What do you hope your life will be like? Include details about your personal, family and career life. Explain in a paragraph or more.

Thursday Journal

9-11-08

In your blog, answer the following journal prompt in at least one full paragraph (that is 5 complete sentences) or more.

Today is the 7th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Write about where you were when the attack happened. Do you remember what adults were doing or saying around you? What was the feeling you remember having?
If you could do something to help commemorate (remember or memorialize) the people who died, what would you do? Do you think our country is safe from terrorism? Discuss all of these topics in your paragraph.

Journal for Today

Log in to your blog and write a paragraph (at least), to answer the following question.

If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be and why?

You have successfully found the blog for English 2 at CHS. We will use this blog in class to do things such as reader's response, writing journals and taking directions.

You will build your own blog in class, as well!

Here are some helpful websites for building your own blog:

-www.scrapblog.com
-www.thecutestblogontheblock.com

Glad you are here and have fun blogging!