Group+Middle+School+Writing

I. Concerns (August): Include: Status of final performance-based assessment (GRASPS) Include: Status of sequence (6-Facets and WHERETO) Include: Web 2.0 tool or tools: How is that working? Is it going to facilitate learning?

II. What is going well?

III. Next steps: What do you need? EXIT SLIP for July Class for group (Meghan, Katie, Christina)

Concerns: We are still trying to decide how to assess this project.
=== Needs: We need to come up with a list of various titles of book titles for our students. We want this list to be contemporary, include various reading levels. We need to detrmine how we will assess the students' product. === === Good Things: Our group is excited to create a new project for our students which we really feel we will use and will keep studennts highly engaged. This project is going to combine contemporary young adult literature, different genres of writing and technology. We are feeling energized to work on something we have never done before. We have discussed the use of digital posters, like Glogster, with many other professionals and have found them all to say how valuable this new tool is. ===

A 4-screen "cinema" organized to display student-created book trailers. The first link briefly describes how she developed this wiki. The second lik is her very appealing way of displaying the trailers. I wonder if maybe this is something you could work with your librarian on? Or, consider whatevery you decide to have as your culminating experience that you save all of the students' work in one place as a beginning of what you'll do the next year? Again, just a thought.

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Annotated bibliography: For resources and examples see: "Education World ® Technology Channel: Visual Literacy: Hooked on Glogster: Posters 2.0." //Education World® The Educator's Best Friend//. Web. 22 July 2010. []. This article was found from a very credible site called education world. It discusses one woman's revelations with the use of glogster. Brenda Dyck comments on the usefulness of the technology and how her children although grown and others in the classroom are benefiting from communicating via the web. This useful site talks about glogster and how it can appeal to different learning types such as digital learners as well as help the visual literacy skills students need to have as 21st century learners. The site goes on to give great examples of how to use glogster with the curriculum as well as an example. The site offers links to other glogster sites that can help other teachers get started on this useful and exciting tool. "YouTube - Detailed Tutorial on Glogster EDU." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 22 July 2010. []. This YouTube video is excellent in training a novice on how to use glogster. The directions are clear, easy to follow and very specific. Not only does the video tell you what to do, but it also shows you what to do and how to be successful at learning how to use the website. "YouTube - Glogster in Classroom." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 22 July 2010. []. This YouTube video displays a great example of how glogster can be used in the classroom. The video is taken place at Whitehall High school in Pennsylvania where Mr. Grier, an honors British Literature honors teacher is preparing his students for their senior graduation project. Glogster is going to be used as their visual that will aide them in a 15 minute presentation. This interactive video shows how students are engaged when working and stay on task. Students are enjoying their work and find what they are doing is useful. The technology piece is a great communication skill for students to use for part of their collaborative project. Other teachers who view this video will have a chance to see the success when students are really motivated to do their work in a technological setting.

http://englishcompanion.ning.com/group/ecnbookclubadolescentsontheedge?xg_source=shorten_twitter
=Digital Toolbox: Blogs from the National Writers Project= Writing project teachers and their colleagues have found blogs to be a useful addition to their teaching and learning practices, both professionally and in the classroom. A blog (a contraction of the term //Web log//) is an online publishing platform that supports teachers and students in posting text and multimedia on the Web, usually in chronological order.
 * Date:** January 30, 2009
 * Summary**: Weblogs, or //blogs//, are online publishing platforms that support individuals in posting text and multimedia on the Web. This article explains how to start a blog for use in the classroom.

Why use blogs?
Blogs provide a way for students and teachers to publish text, audio, or video for a wide audience of readers and responders. Blogs can be used for many purposes in the classroom: to journal ideas, to share news or research, to post group reflections around a topic or a set of topics for others to comment on, etc.

Popular Blog Applications used by NWP Educators

 * [|WordPress]
 * [|Blogger]
 * [|TypePad]
 * [|Squarespace]

Teacher-Consultant Blog Examples

 * [|Bud the Teacher]
 * [|Kevin's Meandering Mind]
 * [|Blogwalker]

Writing Project Blog Examples:

 * [|Western New York Writing Project]
 * [|Hudson Valley Writing Project Summer Institute 2008 Weblog]
 * [|Western Massachusetts Online Newsletter]

Other Resources

 * [|100 Blogs Every New Teacher Should Read]

[|Tumblelogs][|Micro-blogs]

How do I start using a blog?
One of the best ways to see how blogs work is by reading blogs. There are many sites online that will help you find blogs of interest. Check out [|Google's directory of weblogs], for example. The [|list of blog hosts] is expanding. Some blogs are free to use, while others include advertising or require a subscription. Some blogs are developed as open source packages while others are commercially available. Most blogs share these benefits:
 * An easy-to-use interface
 * Management tools to allow for editorial control of site and publication options
 * The ability to post multimedia
 * Predesigned themes to help you design your blog
 * The ability to broadcast via RSS to subscribers.

Requirements for Use
Users typically create an account to use the service, and since the blogs are stored online in a shared Web space, users must have Internet access to access their blog.

=Adolescents on the Edge= BOOK CLUB SELECTION ON EC NING: This book club features ReLeah Cossett Lent and Jimmy Santiago Baca leading a discussion of their new book "Adolescents on the Edge" Members: **2** Latest Activity: **46 minutes ago** We are grateful to Jimmy Santiago Baca and ReLeah Cossett Lent, authors of //Adolescents on the Edge: Stories and Lessons to Transform Learning//, for their willingness to join our community and lead a discussion of their important new book. You can view a video overview of their book by clicking here. Clicking here will take you to the page that offers a special EC Ning discount price. This book club will begin July 18th and run for about two weeks. Order now so you can be ready for this important discussion!

Stories and Lessons to Transform Learning
//*Price and availability subject to change without notice.// OverviewContentsSamplesReviewsPD Services //“Literacy is freedom and everyone has something significant to say.”// —Jimmy Santiago Baca Fusing Jimmy Santiago Baca’s talents as a writer of memoir with ReLeah Cossett Lent’s expertise in building and empowering classroom communities, //Adolescents on the Edge// offers a completely new approach to reaching at-risk adolescents. Centered around conflicts and life-altering choices, Baca’s gripping personal narratives—delivered through short stories and live-from-the-classroom videos—will resonate with students and provide rich opportunities for them to reflect on their own decision making. Through these stories and their accompanying activities, students witness the power of literacy and learn that their power, too, lives in the words they speak, write, and share with others.
 * Imprint**: Heinemann
 * Availability**: In Stock
 * Grade Level**: 6-Adult

Adolescents on the Edge is the [|EC Ning’s July Book Club selection]. Buy now with free shipping and discuss it on the EC Ning in July. This **free shipping** offer only lasts until August 1, 2010 so get in on the book talk now! Use coupon code: **AESXJB**

A comprehensive wrting site: [] The site has some great connections to what they call "going deep with 6-traits" and connecting it to texts. []

[] A great site for ELA middle school teachers. Wonderful ideas.

[] This middle school teacher uses three very specific web 2.0 tools with her middleschoolers.