New Monthly Non-Fiction Blog Post!

Starting now, you will be required to include at least one blog post per month that is in response to a NON-FICTION TEXT.  

You are looking for an article that is at least 5-6 paragraphs long that presents an idea that you can analyze and think deeply about.  Doing this assignment well requires finding an interesting article! Take the time to do that! Ask your family what kind of online news sources they read.  Great resources for this response are: 

The New York Times' Upfront Magazine (There are also copies in the classroom) 

USA Today's Opinion Section

The Daily News' Opinion Section 

The New York Times


You should use the same techniques for reading non-fiction that we have been working on in class.  Think about the main ideas (the explicit, or, what the author wants you to know) and what the author wants you to feel or think (the implicit, subtle ideas) and how the author achieves this (what intentional craft moves did he/she use?)  Your response will be structured like your non-fiction summaries, with an added third part - YOUR OWN OPINION.  Each paragraph MUST be 5-7 sentences long.  You must formally cite where your article came from (page R-3 in your agenda or noodle tools at ms51library.org) and provide a link if possible. Here is an overview of the structure: 

Part 1: a summary that includes what the author wants you to know? 

Part 2: an analysis of what the author wants you to feel and think and HOW the author achieved it (statistics, an appeal to emotion, loaded words, perspectives that are present or missing, etc.)

Part 3: your personal response to the article: formulate your own opinion on the ideas and issues presented in the text.
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Here is a writing guide with questions to help you get started.  This is a review from what we did during the first unit.  Revisit your notes!

For Part 1 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, answer these questions:

1.  What is the overall main idea of the text (remember, you found this by looking at the main who+what of each paragraph)?  What is the entire text mostly about?  Include 3-4 details and try to directly quote at least one. 

     For Part 2 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, answer these questions:

        1. What does the author want readers to think or feel?

           2.. What are some craft moves the author uses to achieve this?  How do they work?  Try to include at least one direct quote here.

  
For Part 3 of a Nonfiction Blog Post, write your personal response, using these as sample questions:

         1. What will you take away from it?  

         2. How has your thinking been shaped or changed, and why?  

         3.  Do you have an opinion on the issue now?

3       4. Is there anything else you want to know?

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Use the Non-fiction Blog Response Student Checklist in order to help you prepare for and write your posts! 

Blog Post Due 12/5: Studying a Picture Book!

For this week's blog post, you will be writing about a picture book we read in class or one that you loved growing up (and have access to, so you can read it closely).  Here is the reading work you will need to do:

• You will first read and interpret as "a reader": what does the author want you to know, feel, and think? 

• You will then read as "a writer": what craft moves did the author use to get you to feel and think that way? 

Once you are done studying the text, you can choose a claim/thesis that came out of your thinking work and use specific evidence to back it up.  Here are some sample claims from Fox.  Notice that they are ARGUMENTATIVE and require explanation.  Once you choose your own claim, figure out how you can best support it with evidence, and how you can extend--meaning, what is this teaching you about humanity? 

It is ok that Fox is manipulative because he is lonely.  

Fox's manipulative behavior is selfish. 

Dog is naive.

Dog is an example of the best kind of person and friend.

Even though Dog is a bit naive, he represents the best of humanity. 

I can relate to Magpie because she has made mistakes and learned from them. 

The theme of the book can be summed up in one of the lines: "I will be your missing eye and you will be my wings." 

Magpie's journey home is representative of the work that good relationships take.  

Blog Post Assignment Due 1/25

This week I want  you to continue with the thought process we have been working on all year (Observe+Infer, Interpret, Extend) and connect it to some of the visual arts work we have done in our poetry unit, including our study of Frida Kahlo's "Self Portrait on the Border" and the pairing of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat with Maya Angelou's "Life Doesn't Frighten Me."  Your job is to:

•  Find a piece of visual art that you love and display it at the top of your post (use the button that looks like a picture when you write your post).  
• Make observations about the work you chose.  What do you infer from them?  What do you think that the work is actually about based on them?
• Turn these ideas into an organized blog post.  These steps are the same ones you should be following each week to meet standards anyway.  Remember: 

Paragraph 1: A lead, an introduction to the work, your theory
Paragraph 2: Evidence that supports your theory
Paragraph 3: Extension: how do you connect to this work? how does it connect to humanity? etc.

*as always, write more to exceed standards and check out mentors if you need help.
*don't forget that you are now commenting on at least TWO other posts per week!

Here are some online galleries that you can visit to find a piece of visual art that you love or find thought provoking.  Be sure to take your time to browse and explore so that you can find something you are excited about!

The Google Art Project takes you to amazing museums around the world. 
The Museum of Modern Art's (Manhattan) online collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's (Manhattan) online collection
The Brooklyn Museum's online collection

Extra credit: Along with  your post, write a poem in response to the piece of art.  It must incorporate at least three of the poetic devices that are on your sheet (that you are actively studying!) Name those devices in an introductory paragraph to your poem. 12 line minimum.

Assignment due Wednesday 1/18 instead of your regular post

Since we are working becoming a stronger community of readers, I want you to spend this week reading and commenting on other people's posts instead of you own.  You must comment on at least 3.  When you are done, you will create a post that nominates an "All Star Mentor." Your post must include the following:

• Your nomination (a single post by a single author) with a LINK to the post

• A paragraph explaining why you think that writer exemplifies the kind of blog/reading response writing we've been talking about all year. Be specific. 

This is a great opportunity to give a shout out to someone else's hard work...it doesn't happen often enough! 

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: 

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