Glenn's Xtranormal

I am always looking for new ways to motivate and inspire my students.  I recently learned about a website that allows its users to create animated videos.  The possibilities seem almost endless with how to use it in the classroom.  I gave my students a quick introduction, but we did not have time to finish our videos in class.  Glenn decided to create his own, just for fun, video at home.  Glenn typed the words used and created the animated moves.  I love when my students take what they learn and use it on their own.  Check out his Rock Star Life video.

Webcast with Backchanneling

Students today watched a live webcast about the book series 39 Clues put on by Scholastic and the authors of the books.  The webcast focused on the traits of writing.  You can check on the webcast and resources at http://scholastic.com/decodingwriting/.  The students backchanneled while watching the video.  Backchanneling is chatting about what is being watched.  You can check out a log of the conversation at http://todaysmeet.com/39cluescast/transcript (you can skip the Twitter comments at the top.)  The backchannel wasn't a home run, but many students did very well with it.  I hope you enjoy.

Write to Persuade

The students in Room 316 are engaged in a March Madness writing competition to select the best invention of all time.  We are down to the Elite 8.  You can check out what the students are writing at write2persuade.blogspot.com .  Feel free to leave a comment voting for the most persuasive arguments.

Weekend Writing

Today we went to see The Diary of Anne Frank.  I want to know what you thought about the play.  Please write a paragraph (about half a page) about your thoughts on the play.  If you need some help, you can think about the following questions:  What did you learn?  What surprised you?  How did this play relate to Milkweed?  What didn’t you like about the play?  How did you feel about the ending?  Or, any other questions you can think of about what you saw.  I can’t wait read what you wrote.