Read more non fiction and be inspired at the same time.

One of my favorite magazines and online journals is Good.

They run a regular series called People Are Awesome and it's one of my favorites.  Feel free to read any of these stories and respond to them on your blog.

You're welcome.

Working hard on picture books...

Social Action Wrap Up/Nonfiction worth checking out

I have read and been inspired by a number of social action stories this week.  Here are links to read and discover on your own.  If you are moved by one, please write your next blog post in response.

Anonymous Donors Pay Off Kmart Layaways

Time Magazine names "The Protester" their Person of the Year.  Click HERE for a photo essay of 35 different protesters.  Click HERE to read the stories behind this choice.

Google just donated millions of dollars to help fight human trafficking. Read the story HERE.

Google's marketing campaign to raise awareness also includes a Slavery Footprint interactive tool for individuals to become educated on how people are contributing to modern day slavery.  Visit Slavery Footprint and check it out for yourself. 

A Letter to 811

Dear 811,

Overall, I am impressed with the close-reading work you are doing--that means that you are looking at micro details and responding to them!

As you move forward, I want you to focus on trying to string some of those micro details together to come up with an overall theory.  Your theory can be your focus for the post and the micro details become the support for your theory.  This will also cause your writing to be a bit more formally organized.

Also remember to consider the "extension" aspect of reading: what is the author trying to say to you as a person? What is the story truly about (beyond the plot)?

Here are some All Star Mentors to visit this week for inspiration:

Eleni writes about big, interesting ideas in a super organized, focused way.  You should definitely read her posts if you need an example on how to have a theory and how to elaborate on it using both mico and macro details!

Delia's most recent post on Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld is a great example of writing around a theory or big idea.  Her title helps introduce what she is focused on.  (That is one way you can tell if you have ONE theory...does a clear title come to mind to introduce your work?)

I'm looking forward to reading your work in the coming weeks! Remember that as you challenge yourself with more sophisticated books, chances are you will have more interesting things to discuss.  This is a point in the year when some of you will want to consider weaning yourself off of Young Adult Literature and moving into some "bridge" or adult fiction!  We'll talk more about that in January.

Sincerely,
Ms. Robbins

A Letter to 806

Dear 806,

I feel like I need to write this letter to different halves of the class: the half who is actively writing thought provoking posts on their blogs and the half who has missed either one or both of the last two posts (or more).  You are such a smart class and it is disappointing to see students blowing off not only homework credit, but an opportunity to really think through your independent reading book.

Overall, for the people who *are* updating their blogs regularly, I am noticing readers picking out micro details and making inferences about them, which is great.  The next step is either writing LONG about those micro details or stringing a few together to come up with a theory.

Beyond writing long, I want you to focus on EXTENSION.  Remember our the "Process of Critical Thinking in Literature" display in our room.  This is the last part of the critical reading process. Ask questions like: Does this relate to me? people my age? What is the author trying to tell me about this? I will be looking for smart extension work for your next post.

Here are some All Star Mentors to inspire you to write.  I encourage you to read these posts and see what they are doing not only as writers, but what does it seem they are doing as active readers while in their books?

Nathan is reading Linchpin by Seth Godin,  a nonfiction book about creativity and wrote some seriously thought-provoking posts about it.  It inspired me to want to pick up the book!

Talyah wrote about the book Something Like Fate and had some really interesting thoughts about friendship.

Adam came up with some great theories about the character Jack in The Lord of the Flies. I would love to now hear a bit of extension...what do his thoughts and these characters teach us about people? Life? Leave him a comment with your opinion when you visit.

I'm looking forward to being inspired by your next round of posts!
Ms. Robbins

A Letter to 804

Dear 804,

As I've been reviewing your blogs, I've noticed some improvements.  Most of you are trying to write in paragraph form, many are including interesting titles and I noticed some interesting comments.  I want you to continue to grow as writers, though, so here are some updates for you  and some examples of All-Star-Mentors...people in your class who are doing their reading response/blog work really well.  

• Most importantly, your blog needs to be about a theory you have about your book.  This is designed to build on what we covered in our very first unit.  I would now like for you to check back at this post every week and choose one of the 9 options to try out for you post.  Include the option you are trying out as a label to your post.  
• Remember, retell should only be used to give context for your ideas.  I do actually read your posts:) I can tell if you just wrote three paragraphs of retell!  
• Please, please write with an academic tone.  It can still be personal, but the work you post should represent your best self: capitalization, underlining or italicizing titles, etc.  

All Star Mentors from 804: 

Anouk did a great job about writing a post about Tina Fey's Bossypants that encourages conversation! She pulled out something that made her think deeply and wrote about it in an engaging way. 

I challenged Mark to write a blog post explaining why so many 8th graders still love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, even though it's below your reading level.  He did a great job explaining and if you read all of his posts you can tell that he takes time to think of a thought-provoking topic.  

I am looking forward to reading posts that challenge me to look at the world in a different way or open my eyes to new insight! 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Robbins

Blog Reflection Week!

This week is dedicated to looking back on your first four posts and reflecting as a writer.  How can you improve your writing about reading?  This post goes hand in hand with the paper that you will fill out and return to me about what you learned from this experience.

Good blogging habits:

•          Are you crafting interesting titles that make someone want to read your post?

•          Do you mention “spoiler alert” if you are going to give away the ending?

•          Are you remembering to use good grammar: spelling, capitalization, underline or italicize titles, etc.

•          Are you commenting on other people’s blogs? It is now a part of your weekly blogging responsibility to comment at least once a week.  Have a blog roll of people who you want to read on the side of your blog.  Make sure your display name is your first name and last initial so you can get credit.

Good writerly habits:

•          Do you include context so that the reader doesn’t feel like he/she is jumping into something half way through? (context should be 2-3 sentences in the first paragraph and include the title, author, character, setting and conflict)

•          Are you including too much retell? Your blog posts aren’t a review of a book or a blurb on the back cover.  Your post should be focused an interesting idea that you want to unpack and share. 

•         Are your blog posts focused? Concentrate on one idea (a character, a theme, a line, etc.)

•          Are you using paragraphs? At minimum, you should have an “introduction” paragraph, an “observe/infer/interpret” paragraph and an “extension” paragraph.  These show me that you can write for an audience, that you are doing deep thinking work in your book, and that you are seeing how literature relates to life. 

Good examples: Check out these mentors to see what you can learn from them. You will be choosing one to focus on for your next blog post. 

Ana did a great job making her book relateable to her reader, whether they read the book or not.  Notice how she "bookended" her post to get the reader interested and to leave them thinking.

Layla did a great job structuring her post, making me think and now I want to read Fight Club!

Tori shows how to write a post on unpacking a line and does a great job making the reader think!

Gabi's posts are great examples of the Introduction/Observe+Infer+Interpret/Extension structure!

Sophie's posts are passionate and thought provoking.

Finding Quality Research for Your Social Action Picture Book

Your job in the lab today is to find and print out research on your social action topic so that you can be an informed, educated author who children and trust and believe.  You should have your completed K/W chart and directions in front of you.  This blog post is meant to be an online guide.

1. Revisit the blog post we used for our general social action webquest. Many of those websites will lead you to organizations whose own website has an "overview" that can serve as an article, specific case studies you may want to print and read or even additional websites to check out.

2. Visit M.S. 51's Library Homepage. "Worldbook" may have a great overview for you, "Proquest" may guide you toward interesting articles and "Opposing Viewpoints" might be an interesting read if your topic is controversial (it will show you both sides).  I will have the passwords on the board in the lab.

3. Finally, try a search engine like "google" or "ask." (Remember that these ARE NOT WEBSITES.  You cannot cite "google" on a bibliography.) Use key words about your topic to help you  narrow down all that is on the world wide web: words like "organization," or "nonprofit" alongside your topic may help you get to a website that has solid overviews. 

REMINDERS:

• Make sure your research in CURRENT (the article is from the past few years).  

• Print only what you will READ--it is ok to copy and paste the parts that are relevant to you onto a Word document.  

• As a back up, save your documents in googledocs OR send yourself an email of the websites you are using (have an open email to yourself and just copy and paste the link in the body of the email), just in case!

• Staple all articles to your K/W paper.  We will begin our reading in class together.  

• You will be creating a bibliography for your picture book, so you MUST write down the source of the information.

Social Action Immersion Lesson: What social issues are people fighting for?

Today's experience is designed so that you can see a wide variety social issues that people care about.  The links below combined with your handout will guide you.  These sites may even send you to additional links and organizations. It is important to go into this search with a serious attitude.  None of these subjects are to be taken lightly. The goal is for you to not only be exposed to a number of issues, but also to begin to narrow down topics that  you care about and want to pursue during our social action unit.  This post will also be a resource to you later down the road when you are researching.

General Searching for Issues and Topics
The Free Child Project chronicles ways that kids are trying to change the world.  This link will lead you to a list of social issues that kids have shown interest in.  Click through some of those issues to find basic information as well as further links to organizations doing something about the issue.  Remember that ultimately your audience will be a child, so keep that in mind as you are searching.

Environmental
At Our Earth, you can search for various environmental protection groups and find ones making a difference in New York City.

Animal Rights
ASPCA works for the rights of animals. Know ahead of time that some animal rights issues are hard to see. Click only on what you are comfortable with.

Local Poverty
The Robinhood Foundation works to fight poverty in New York City. Click on the link to see who they are helping and about their core mission.

 International Povery
 Scroll down to the bottom of this wikipedia entry on "World on Fire" to find links to all of the charities that were mentioned in the video.

Human Rights
Amnesty International fights for human rights. 


Human Trafficking:
If you are interested in this topic, please see Ms. Robbins for websites to direct you towards both international and local organizations.

At home (or if you have time) if you are interested in the arts and how they connect to social action, check out these links:

Art and Social Action: This link is actually to a lesson plan for an art class, but you can scroll down to the "resources" list and beyond to find links toartists who made social action statements

Great Protest Songs: This blog has a collection of songs and videos that show the history of what people have been fighting for and against by studying music. You will have to watch the video portion at home. A google search will also lead you to other websites that showcase protest songs.

Extra Credit Blog Post Assignment!

Write a response to either the lyrics or video of World On Fire as a way of continuing our discussion from class.  Must be posted by Tuesday, October 25th! Here is the video: 

What do I write about?

Here are some of the notes you took in our first unit that will help you find a topic to write about: 

1.   In life, conflict (and how it is dealt with) causes change in a person (for better or worse). Reading and studying characters helps us tap into the pulse of humanity.  

2. Protagonist-the main character in a literary work (not necessarily good or bad, which means you have to be a careful reader!)

3. Antagonist-the person or forces who oppose or contend with the protagonist (sometimes the antagonist can be like an inner voice or an unseen force…be a careful reader!)

.     4. Unpacking a “loaded sentence”

5. Noticing your protagonist’s journey: task, quest, loss of innocenceinterpret your protagonist’s emotional journey: 

• what positive people/events impacted him/her most?

• what negative people/events impacted him/her most?

• how is your character different now? What did he/she learn? What did the journey accomplish?

• extend your ideas to LIFE and humanity: what does this journey teach you about living

6. Noticing character patterns-archetypes

• The hero-displays courage, self sacrifice and is not perfect
•  The mentor-assists/guides the protagonist, symbolizing wisdom, knowledge, experience  
• The shadow-creates tension in story and represents the darker side of human nature  
• The shapeshifter-a character who keeps changing sides; can’t make up mind; represents uncertainty.

7. Theme: the statement about life that an author wants to share with the reader

8.  Cross-book inquiry: Make connections between your book and another you’ve read

    9. Setting-what aspects of the setting are significant and symbolic?

     10. Approach the book like an appreciation: what did you appreciate (or not appreciate) in your book? 

An introduction.

Welcome to the world of blogging!  There are a few basic guidelines to make sure that this experience is one that helps you grow as a reader, writer and thinker:

1. A blog post is due every Wednesday.  That means I'll be checking Wednesday morning to see who posted in time.  This counts as a homework grade. 

2. Each month (except October), you are required to write three posts about your independent reading book and one post in response to a non-fiction article that you have read.  


3. Generally, your posts on your independent reading book should be focused on micro details (observation+inference) if you are in the middle of it, and macro details (whole book interpretation+extension) if you have finished. You should be using vocabulary that we have covered in class, helping those concepts sink more deeply into your brain (see next post for ideas).


4. Your post should be FOCUSED and ORGANIZED.  Have one main idea that you are exploring.  Use purposeful paragraphs to elaborate on that idea.  


5. Your post should be TEXT BASED and specific. 


6. Even though you should be using CORRECT GRAMMAR (capitalize! no texting abbreviations!) your post can/should SOUND LIKE YOU. This is not a formal essay, but an informal way of conveying to your peers what you've been thinking about in your reading life. 

7. Use the labels on the side of this blog to find MENTORS if you need them. Refer back to this blog if you need help or direction.

Calling all Harry Potter Nerds. And I mean that in the best of ways.

Ms. Santarpia shared this with me--it's called the Harry Potter Companion--and goes through each chapter of every book with commentary, original art, etc. Don't procrastinate too much here, kiddos.

Decorate Ms. Robbins' Room for Next Year

I found this via blackeiffel.blogspot.com and thought it was worth sharing...and inspiration for potential extra-credit poster ideas for decorating my room for next year's students...

This campaign, "Become Someone Else" by the Lithuanian Agency called Love for Mint Vinetu is a clever concept, well executed. Here is what they said about it,

"When one reads books, he/she starts living it and identifies (or not) with main hero. These print ads for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, which sells lots of classics, focuses on the idea of becoming someone else. And provokes people to try on different personas."

What do you think?

BLOG REVISION PUBLICATION

Rather than posting a new post, you will be working on revisions to the old post you submitted to me.  You need to revise according to the class lessons and my individual comments to you.  ALL DRAFTS must be submitted with your rewrite. 

Reminders:

• New 4 paragraph  minimum to meet standards: Intro with lead/theory/context, observations + inferences, interpretation, extension. 
• Major skills: FOCUS, STRUCTURE, ELABORATION
• Focus on editing, especially if you signed up for a small group conference

This is a PAPER PUBLISH due Monday, March 21st. 

Blog Post Assignment: A Film Study of Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet

For this week, I want you to write a focused response to our viewing of Baz Luhrman's modern production Romeo and Juliet.  You may use your notes about the themes, class discussions or any online resources to help you.  Here is a slide show about different techniques used in the film that might help you:

http://www.slideshare.net/mcmrbt/romeojuliet-shot-by-shot

Possible topics if you are stuck: 
The use of color
The use of weather
A theme that stood out to you (from your notes)
Camera Angles

For those of you who were inspired to write by art...

check out the Google Art Project!

Read about it here and feel free to discuss your opinion about making art accessible to the masses.

Read these comment threads and be inspired...

A sample of some amazing conversations happening through blogs--
Read the post, click on the comments and join the conversation.

Pia's post on the painting "Life and Death" by Gustav Klimt

Izzy's post on street art by Banksy (speaking of street art, see Max and Rafaele as well)

Nina's post on how girls and boys respond differently to books

804, 812 and 813 are the best.

804, 812 and 813--

Lately, I have been so inspired by:

1. Your artwork in response to Dylan Thomas


2. Your poems in response to art that you found


3. The poems you found to respond to and the way you unpacked them.


Keep up the good work and amazing thinking!

Mid Year Reflection

As I have been reading through your blog posts, there are a few trends I'm noticing:

Trends I LOVE:
1.  When students really use their blog as a means to explore their reading and the world in front of them.
2. When students have added their own creative writing element into their writing/blog life.
3. When students have pushed themselves beyond the "three paragraphs/meets standards" blog posts.
4. When students grow as writers because they are actively reading other people's posts.  There is an amazing commenting community happening in 804 and it is impacting their writing in an incredible way.

Trends I DON'T LOVE:
1. When students hang out perpetually in the "three paragraphs/meets standards" land.  If you push yourself as a writer and a thinker, your writing about reading will become a place to explore new ideas as you are growing as a person.  If you don't push yourself, you do not grow.
2. When students forget that, though informal, this is academic writing.  You must use grammar conventions, especially CAPITALIZATION.
3. When students retell too much of their book. Come on, guys. We've discussed this.

Next Steps:

We are taking this week off as WRITERS of blogs to spend some serious time READING blogs.  Your job is to find 3 mentor posts.  You can use any M.S. 51 ELA blog...so look at my classes on the sidebar or visit Ms. Rear and Ms. Galang's classes as well.  All of us have posted "All Star Mentors" or "Noteworthy Blogs" if you need a starting point.  Also, leave a comment for the writer that you are using his/her post as a mentor.  The posts you choose should:

a. inspire you to think more, write more or read more.
b. demonstrate more than the "three paragraphs/meets standards."
c. 2 of the 3 must be about reading.  1 can be about creative writing, if you find one you love.

Please post a link to each mentor and write a paragraph per post about why it deserves to be an all star mentor.

We will be using these posts to study from as we choose a first semester post to revise and publish.  Then, the standards will be raised for the second half of the year.  Let's get excited to grow as writers, ya'll:)

A "meets standards" mentor blog post for your poetry post assignment. Or, This poem should change your life. Seriously.

Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye (see, kiddos, I copied the poem AND the poet into the post!)

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

(So I wanted to add a little introduction paragraph...I actually wrote this after I drafted my post)

I often hear the phrase "oh, she's so nice," or "he's too nice,"  or "be nice."  I hate this word because to me, it implies shallow, cold, "good" behaviors that someone could learn out of a book about manners.  I think that the word kindness carries so much more weight.  Naomi Shihab Nye's poem Before You Know Kindness I think really defines what the word kindness means--that it comes from a place of connecting with humanity, from a place of true empathy, from a place of brokenness.


(First, an OBSERVATION/INFERENCE paragraph--or two)
 One of the images that startles me every time I read this poem is that of everything dissolving. In the first stanza, she seems to be saying that the things people hold most dear in life can--and will--dissolve.  That we will experience loss in this world, no matter how hard we "counted and carefully saved." I think that line means that we cannot plan for everything and no matter how much we try to do things exactly right, there will be moments in life where our efforts will be of no use. 


She includes an image of seeing a man dead on the side of the road--that we must see him as a person before we can understand kindness; that we must truly break over his death.  In the following stanza, she uses a number of verbs to show that one must understand true sorrow in order to get to a place of true kindness: know it, wake up with it, speak to it. Those words mean that one must live in a place of hurt. The last stanza brings it together, because once someone understands suffering, then they know the secret of what really matters: "It is I you have been looking for," not the grade or image or money. 



(Then, an INTERPRETATION paragraph)
After reading this poem a number of times, I've come to the conclusion that the title of this poem implies that before we really know what kindness is, something else must happen--that life experience that causes someone to be kind. Someone can be taught to be nice: to share, to say please and thank you.  But kindness comes out of relating to the rest of the humans in the world who understand the most basic part of the human experience: suffering.


To live in a place of hurt the way Naomi Shihab Nye suggests sounds awful--like something to avoid.  But my old pastor used to talk quite a bit about how suffering is part of what makes us human.  Those who suffer connect to a thread that every other person who has ever hurt has felt. When one suffers, he or she realizes what actually matters and is able to let go of the shallow things they used to desire.  And, that when we understand suffering and join in with the throngs of humanity, we learn that we sought love and acceptance through the very wrong things. 


(Finally, an EXTENSION paragraph) 
There are so many ways to apply this and I think I will speak directly to my students.  I think it is important to think of the ways that you have been hurt. Gather up those feelings that you have survived through.  What was it that you wanted most while you were hurting? Now, look around you and try to discover who it is that might be suffering.  Ask yourself what true kindness looks like.  I think. I think that true kindness transcends 8th grade drama.  True kindness steps outside of social circles.  True kindness sees the humanity in one another and treats one another accordingly. And, when I glimpse moments of that among adolescents I truly have hope that maybe one day we will all see each other as people with hearts and stories and brokenness, rather than the other labels I watch students place on each other every day.  That is my hope. 

804's All Star COMMENTER of the week: Isabelle Fernandez!

Check out the blogs she follows at her blog and read her comments!!

Next Blog Post Assignment due Thursday 1/13

I would like for you to respond to a poem of your choosing for your next post.  You may already have one that you love, or you might have to search on www.poets.org or www.poetryfoundation.org (you can search by category or by author...take the time to find one you like!). Your post must do the following things:

• Include the poem itself and poet's name
• Include at least 3 specific observations and your inferences about them
• Include an interpretation of the entire poem based on what you observed and inferred
• Extend your thoughts into connections to your life or the world

You may be creative in your formatting, or allot one paragraph for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th bullet points. I will have a mentor on my blog: www.akindoflibrary.blogspot.com.

812 All Star Mentor: Shadman Maksood

For the past month, all of Shadman's posts have been focused, deep and he has really elaborated on his ideas--something we have been talking a lot about in 812. Go check out his work here and see for yourself, especially if you like Darren Shan (and you should comment with your own opinion!!).

Observe+Infer=Interpretation

Here are the pictures that accompanied our first poetry lesson, in which we decided that poetry is an art form and used the metaphor of painting to hone our skills.  Feel free to continue to observe/infer/interpret and even turn your response into a blog post (isn't writing FUN when you have something interesting to say!! share your thoughts! I promise it will make you feel really smart!).

Remember that this "equation" can be used in all kinds of genres and in all kinds of art.  You can, of course, still consider what the author/painter, etc. wants you to know, feel and think!

Self Portrait 1932, Frida Kahlo

The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali