Division 1: At the End of the Long Hall

The fourth blogging challenge challenge is up. You can access it here.

The third blogging challenge challenge is up. You can access it here.

The second blogging challenge challenge is up. You can access it by clicking here.

The first challenge is up. click the link here to read it.

The 2009 Student Blogging Challenge is now underway. There are a number of important links that you will need to participate in the different challenges.

Here they are:

The Challenge Page - Here you will find the various challenges as they appear.

Challenge Participants - These are the classes and students who are participating in this year’s blogging challenge. Take some time and read through other students’ blogs—this will give you lots of ideas for things that you can use in writing and designing your own blog.

Challenge Posts - Keep up to date on the posts that other students are writing related to this year’s blogging challenge. This is a good way to generate ideas for your own work.

Good luck and enjoy this years Challenge!

Here we go.

This week, in order to introduce you to the world of blogging, There is a small task I would like each of you to do. Once you have finished this task, demonstrating that you understand the basics of good internet etiquette, you will earn your own blog. Ready?

Use the blogroll on the right hand side of the page to explore class and student blogs from around the world. Read a number of them and see the types of things that students are posting about. When you find one that you like jump in and join the conversation.

The task:

Comment on at least three (3) student or class blogs. Find a post about something that you feel you have something to add. Press the comment link and leave a comment.

So that I can keep track, I would like you cut and paste each of the three comments into a Word document so that you can print it and hand it to me.

You will need to have that and your signed rule form in the In-Box to earn your blogging stripes.

Let’s Go!

photo: Globe by Mishel Churkin

What do you know about being internet savvy?

This may be the first time that many of us are stepping into the world of blogging. First and foremost I need to be sure you know how to keep this a safe experience.

Here is a small task:

What are three things that you may write about in a blog? What are three things you should NEVER mention in a blog and why? Write your answers in two separate paragraphs but in the same comment.

On Tuesday and Wednesday night this week, we performed our musical production December in Our Town to a packed audience. Ticket requests were over 400 for the two nights combined; but from where I stood watching the evenings unfold, I know that we were closer to 500 audience members over the two nights’ performances, and if you include the 100 or so that attended the dress rehearsal on Tuesday morning, we had nearly 600 guests see our performance!

A lot of people helped make the performance a success, and I hesitate to start listing them, because I’m bound to miss someone. The real excitement of the whole production for me was seeing how much success so many in our 6/7 class had in the production, whether on the stage side, backstage, or on the promotions and ticketing side. It was fun to watch everyone contribute and add their creative flair to the whole affair.

We raised in the neighbourhood of $200 for the local food-bank as well as two full car-loads of food which was delivered to the food-bank drop-off at No.2 and Blundell on Wednesday and Thursday Morning this week! What a wonderful outcome from our event, to know that our hard work, in turn, will support some of the local families in need this holiday season. Now that is the spirit of December in Our Town!

Now that it’s over, we can get back to regular gym classes, and we won’t be singing quite as much (some of us, at least), but I think that this event is one that we will all fondly remember for a long time!

We chatted about the Caldecott Medal in class the other day, an I wanted to let you all know about some other book awards you might be interested in.

Why Care About Book Awards?

Award winning books are some of the best that have been written, hands down. These books go through months-long processes of being read, and reread by thousands of teachers, authors, critics, professors, and students until the panel for any given award decides on a long-list of books. Once a long-list is created, then it is, over a few months, reduced to a short list, or a list of finalists. It’s from the finalists that the winner is chosen and the award is given. Some people try to read all of the short-listed books for their favorite awards each year.

Some Different Awards

The Red Cedar Book Award is B.C.’s young reader’s choice award. You’d have a good reading year if you chose all your books from the short-list for this prize.

The Stellar Book Award is B.C.’s teen reader’s choice award.

The Caldecott Medal is awarded for the most distinguished American picture book for Children.

The Newbury Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

We are furiously preparing the school for our upcoming musical performance which is on December 9. Big congratulations to all of the actors and stage crew who have been selected—you guys and girls are the heart and soul of this.

Keep your eyes open around the school for more events and info regarding the performance.

Oh, and get your ticket requests in early, there are a limited number of seats available, and you don’t want to be left out!