Rubric Help

Here is some Rubric Help in the form of websites that are helpful in creating useful rubics of all sorts:
http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/
I hope you all find these useful as well as enjoyed the experience of working in responsible colaborative groups!!! It feels as if you all had fun with this project. I know that there are some of you who feel like the person in the following image but it won't be for much longer:

It is almost over!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End Is Near!!!!

Greetings dearest students!! The end is soon upon us and instead of worry you all should be feeling joy and happiness. The holidays are right around the corner as is our winter break:)
To clear up some questions regarding studying for the final please visit your books website at:
http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_kasten_literature_1/26/6729/1722707.cw/index.html

Stay on the home page and select the chapter option at the top of the page. From there you will be given various options; choose the option for self-assessment. Take the multiple choice and true false quizzes if you wish to review for the final.
Regarding the blog/author study folder that is to be submitted on Monday December 7th; I feel that I have gone over this issue ad nauseam. If you still have questions of this nature please communicate with your classmates or make time to come see me in my office.
Thanks and have a great weekend:)

The Magic School Bus Series as Nonfiction or "Faction"

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score//Magic/magictg.htm

Above is a great website to use in conjunction with this book; The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor. Another great website is:
http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/
this is a Scholastic website that contains a myriad of activities as well as lesson guides.

 Have fun I hope you enjoy this!!!!

Chapter 9:Nonfiction Blog All 3321 classes!!!!

Greetings everyone! The weekend is almost upon us. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter on Nonfiction (chapter9) and how this genre has changed over time to encompass a wide variety of aesthetically pleasing and informative books. I particularly liked the information regarding boys and nonfiction. I think that armed with this information we are given the opportunity to motivate and engage all of the boys in our classrooms; regardless of age.
Here are some great nonfiction books to look for or familiarize yourselves with:

Could a work of art really take 500 years to complete? Leonardo's horse did! Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by the duke of Milan to create a bronze horse. After years of work and before the horse was cast in bronze, the clay replica was destroyed in 1499. Leonardo died before resuming work on the horse. In 1977, Charles Dent vowed to build the horse and give it to Italy as a gift from the American People. Sculptor Nina Akamu completed Dent's dream. On September 10, 1999, the statue was unveiled in Milan five hundred years after the French destroyed Leonardo's horse.

When people think of pirates, they usually envision swashbuckling, adventurous figures who spend their time searching for buried treasure. But this is a distorted, romantic view. In reality, pirates were little more than thieves and murderers dedicated to plundering, looting, robbery, and enslavement. Milton Meltzer, who has been called "arguably the best writer of social history for children and adolescents ever," uncovers the true-and often bloody, always fascinating-stories of pirates and piracy, both past and present. Here are the real Blackbeard and Captain Kidd-and other notorious pirates-as well as the forms of piracy that plague us today. Meltzer's vivid, well-researched text and Bruce Waldman's striking monoprint illustrations give readers an unforgettable look at this nefarious world.

EDRG:3321 All Classes

Greetings everyone! I found a video link regarding the "Stiletto Stoners" that we discussed today in class. This link is more informative as well as a little bit longer than the one we saw today in class. Here is the link:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/33087077#33087077

For this weeks blog there are a few options. You may blog about chapter 8 if you must but I would prefer that you blog about some of your favorite books of Fiction. Tell us a little bit about the books that you like as well as give us a web link (if it is available) so that we may become more familiar with the book as well as its author.

As you all know one of my favorite authors is Stephen King! I love almost all of his work, now he really knows fiction. I think that he lives more in his fictitious world than he does in reality, I guess that is why he is such a great writer. Here are some books of his that I recommend to you all as well as his official website:
http://www.stephenking.com/library/bachman_novel/thinner.html

On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen's life and will, thus, appeal even to those who are not aspiring writers. If you've always wondered what led Steve to become a writer and how he came to be the success he is today, this will answer those questions.

Several years after his wife's death, novelist Mike Noonan still suffers writers block. A dream inspires him to return to the couple's summer retreat in western Maine, a lakeside house called Sara Laughs. Shortly after arriving, Noonan is caught in the middle of a custody battle involving the daughter of an attractive young widow and the child's enormously wealthy grandfather. He also discovers that Sara Laughs is haunted and that his late wife, Joanna, still has something to tell him.

Billy Halleck commits vehicular homicide when his lack of attention to driving results in the death of an old lady on the street. Overweight Halleck is a lawyer with connections, though, and gets off with a slap on the wrist. After his trial, a gypsy curses him with a single word, "Thinner." Halleck begins to lose weight uncontrollably and must pursue the band of gypsies who are responsible for his dwindling condition.











I hope you all enjoy the website and let me know if any of you have read these books.

EDRG:3321 TUESDAY & THURSDAY

Greetings everyone I know that you are all looking forward to a restful weekend!!! I wanted to give you an update for your blogging options. For your next blog you may blog about:

• Chapter 6: Traditional Literature
• The Path of Needles or Pins Little Red Riding Hood by Terri Windling the story may be found at the following website: http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrPathNeedles.html
• You may also research, using the Internt or other means, an origional version of a Fairy Tale that interests you and discuss how you would go about using it in your classroom as well as what you thought about the changes.

Have fun with this blogg and don't forget to continue blogging about the various authors, books, and websites.
See you soon.

Genre Projects for EDRG:3321

Hello everyone, I hope that you all had a restful weekend. It seems that there are some questions and/or concerns regarding the Genre Projects that will be presented toward the end of the semester. Let me start off by saying that at times I am deliberately vague concerning what I want you, as students, to produce in regards to the book that your group chooses. I do this so as not to hamper your creative styles, still there are those who would like me to give them specific parameters and details. If that is what you are expecting from this blog you are sorely mistaken; what I will give you however, is a run down of some ideas or suggestions of things that have been done before. Some students have chosen to display what they took away from their reading experience in the form of a "movie trailer". To do this you may use Movie Maker, PhotoStory 3, PowerPoint, or a re-enactment in the form of a play, Readers Theater, or a skit depicting a significant scene from the book.
PhotoStory 3 is a free download that can be found at the Microsoft website and I think that it is very user friendly. A great deal can be done using this program especially with graphics and music.
The goals of each presentation should be to display in each groups own fashion what they "got" out of the reading experience and how they would best depict those sentiments to the class. The time limit is different depending on each of my classes due to class size and the frequency with which each class meets. Use this project to be creative and choose a book that you will all enjoy reading; don't over-think this project. We will have some time in class to work on it! I hope this clears up some of your questions. See you all soon.

All 3321:EDRG classes for Fall 2009

Hello Everyone I hope your week has gone well! There seems to be some Blog confusion regarding the actual assignment. EACH WEEK you should be blogging about the assigned chapter, including the following:


• What you liked, enjoyed, or agreed with in the chapter

• What made you change or question your current way of thinking or approaching certain items regarding literacy

• What you may have not agreed with or did not like about the chapter

As for the "Author Study" you should also be including EACH WEEK the following in order to meet the requirements for this assignment:

• Current books, authors, and/or websites that may be used in your classroom to promote literacy

• A certain author may have 2 or 3 books that you wish to highlight, if this is the case go for it! that same author may also have a website that is both motivating as well as engaging and if this is so then by all means include the url for the website

• If you find 2 to 3 books by various authors but that are in the same genre then you may discuss those books

The main goal or objective of this assignment is to get you, as future educators, the tools that you need in order to promote literacy in your classrooms. These tools include the knowledge of where to find meaningful authentic multicultural literature for your students so that they may grow to become lifelong learners. Have fun with this project!

Monday & Wednesday

Greetings everyone, I hope that you had a restful weekend! Blog for this week. Blog about what you have read thus far taking into consideration what you have enjoyed about the text, what topic or area has caused you any confusion or raised questions, and what you may disagree with or find interesting. For your author profile continue looking for new books, websites, current authors etc. Have fun with this project as it has the potential to be quite engaging. Here is a book I found that I thought was
interesting:

All Angel’s father (a.k.a. the Devil) wants is to be a part of her life. And in return he has the power to give her anything she wants --- including popularity and a date with her long-time crush, Cole Daniels. But Angel will only accept him on her terms: get out of the devil business and leave his special powers out of the equation. Is Angel condemning herself to an eternity of lunch at the losers’ table? Or can she and Daddy Dearest strike some kind of deal?

BEDEVILED: DADDY'S LITTLE ANGEL


by Shani Petroff

Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin Young Readers Group

ISBN: 9780448451114

Ages 8-12

240 pages

Have fun with this website as well there is a great deal of information to be found here!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/9780448451114-about.asp

3321 Wednesday Night

Good Job everyone on setting up your blogs. I am sure that you will enjoy this project much better than the traditional pen and paper journal approach. You are going to blog about Chapters 1 & 2; tell me about what you liked, didn't like, had questions about, and/or what made you think.
For the Author Study; begin finding authors, books, and websites to support your search for modern day children's literature. Tell me what age group it may be used for and how you would use it in the classroom! Have fun with this!

Here is a great book by a local Author Mrs. Bertrand she is an Instructor at St. Mary's University. She will most often come to your classroom and discuss her work if you give her some timely notice. She has three books in this series.


Here is the web address for the book: http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_kasten_literature_1/

3321 Wed. night

Great new book that I found on Pam Ryan's website:

This book features a little as its main character.

My Monday Wednesday People!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! I finally got everyones blog addresses on the list and e-mailed out to you all. This should save you a great deal of time instead of having to recreate the list it will be in your e-mail in the form of an attachment. Remember to give some detail regarding the webistes that you are visiting as well as the various authors that you choose to examine. Have a great weekend and stay safe:o)

Monday Night Madness!!!!!11

3321 I have a student in my class who wishes to leave early, so we must press on!

3321/ M&W: Chapter 1 My views on Lit.

This is a sample blog that I am using for Class Today!

Good Job Everyone

Hello everyone!!!! Good job on those of you who have successfully completed your blogs. If you are viewing my blog go ahead and click the option to "Follow" my blog so that you have instant access to my blog and I will have access to your home page from mine. Don't stress out you all are doing a great job. Way to go 3321!!!!!!!!!

http://www.pammunozryan.com/index.html
Here is a great author who specializes in Multicultural literature. She has a great website (featured above) Visit and check out her work.