Spooky share

You all worked so hard on your spooky stories--I'd like for you to take some time today to see what your classmates have come up with.  I've divided the class into groups of four or five--see the lists at the end of this post.  Please find the blogs of the other members of your group (check the sidebar of the class blog) and complete the following:

1.  Read your classmate's Halloween-inspired story and leave a comment with 3 specific, supportive and complimentary remarks regarding the story and how it was written. 

Go beyond a short, generic comment and get specific. As in:  "You really got me with that twist at the end--I would have never guessed it was her sister stalking her all along.  Creepy!"  Or:  "Your use of dialogue was effective and pulled me into the story.  I never thought a conversation between a little boy and the demon living in his closet could sound so natural."  Don't cop out and put a rushed, generic comment like, "It was scary" or "Nice job."   

If, by chance, someone in your group has not posted a scary story, move on to step 2 on that blog and check back later in the block or focus on the other group members' stories.

2.  Then browse the rest of that classmate's blog and choose 3 other pieces to leave a positive, specific comment on.

3.  Move on to the blogs of the other people in your group.

4.  If you have time and would like to read and/or comment on other class members' stories, you can cruise through the blogs on the sidebar of our class blog and see what others have been up to.  Leave comments if you have time.

5.   In a New Post on your own blog, write up a brief summary of the scary stories of each of your classmates in your group and name at least one detail or technique you really liked.  Add a bit at the end of your post about your Halloween plans (and if they come close to anything in the stories you read!).

We'll be moving on to a new theme next week, so today is the day to offer this feedback and post what you've read to your blog.  I won't be giving credit for late posts on this one.

Groups of 4 (and 5):

Ansley
Bethany
Raven
Liana

Megan
Mikala
Alexis
Kinzie C.

Marissa E.
Jessica
Katie B.
Collin
Ashley

Marissa M.
Katie S.
Lauren
Austin

Taylor
Mackenzie M.
Allison
Bo
Allie


Thank you!  Be careful out there on Halloween and enjoy your long weekend...You are all such boo-tiful people...

scare tactics

The prompts in the previous post were fairly light-hearted in relation to Halloween.  For this assignment, the prompts are a bit darker...Feel free to shape them to something you are comfortable with...

I found some interesting horror story starter ideas at a blog called Nighthags Writing Corner.  Please go to this post and this post also this post and take a look at all the sentence starters, art and photos and choose one (or more, I suppose) to inspire a piece of writing of no less than 500 words (about 2 pages double-spaced). 

You'll have two class periods to draft, polish, then post your piece.  On Thursday, we will take time to read each other's work and you'll get some comments from your classmates (more on that later...), so you'll need to have your piece posted by then. 

When your piece is ready (and at least 500 words), please share it in a New Post on your own blog.  Give your post a creative title and be sure to include the image that inspired it or put the idea starter in bold within your piece.

Halloween spirit(s)

Choose at least 3 of these to respond to in answers of 400 words total in a New Post on your blog.  Your answers may be fact or fiction or both...Include an image...

• While trick-or-treating, my friends and I decided to explore a dark street we had never noticed before...

• The best costume I ever wore was…

• My favorite Halloween was the time I…

• As I looked at the Jack-o-Lantern, it seemed to be looking back at me. Then…

• As I reached into the bag of candy, I thought I heard a voice saying, “Pick me, pick me!”

• Write a Halloween poem using the following words: bat, pumpkin, candy, spooky, night, orange, black, witch, scary, wind.

• Write a recipe for a magic potion. Next, explain what the potion would do if someone drank it.

• I was putting my Halloween costume on when I heard something moving in my closet...

• On Halloween night, while trick-or-treating we passed the cemetery. Suddenly we all felt a cold and spooky wind...

• What are your favorite Halloween treats? What is the best one you ever received?

• List all the Halloween costumes you have had in past years.

• Describe how to make a great Halloween costume using mostly supplies you have around the house.

and the beat goes on...

Create 3 New Posts on your blog Friday:

 1:  Ask a Teacher About Music...write about the answers to the questions about music you got from 2-3 teachers you spoke with.  Include your own answers to each question, too, and write about how they compare to the teachers' and/or anything you found interesting or surprising.  Include images.

2:  Lyrics Shuffle:  In another post, share something you came up with when we looked at the 6 songs with the lyrics all cut apart and scrambled.  Include an image.

3:  4 Songs Freewrite:  In another post, write a narrative poem of 10 or more lines inspired by the one or more of the 4 songs we listened to in class on Thursday (Three Libras by APC, You Shook Me by AC/DC, Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton, Golddigger by Kanye West). Include an image.  Here's my example:

Shadow Lake—an hour from home

A summer night—I am 16.

I shouldn’t be here.  I am not allowed.

He broke up with me a month before

and hasn’t called since.

She came with me but

asks him to dance.

He is working so he says no

but laughs as she nudges his arm.

He is too old for me.

He has outgrown me.

I am vulnerable, stupid, young

and I feel like my fourth grade

flat-chested self.

I will go on to break hearts too

but for now I just want the pulsing music

to stop making my head spin

and for him to quit looking away from me,

through me, across the sweaty dance floor

at other girls, older, wiser than I.

Have a great weekend!  We will move on to skerry stories next week for Halloween! : )

music to our ears...

This week we will be looking at different ways music can inspire us to feel, think, act and even write. Create a New Post on your own blog with the word "music" somewhere in the title and type up your answers to at least 5-6 of the questions regarding music on the sheet I passed out today.  Go for about 400 words.

Add images to your post to make it visually interesting...

Thanks! Hope you have a great day!

keepin' it real/reel

2 New Posts this week:  Share your thoughtful answers to 4-5 of the Dan In Real Life questions.  Shoot for about 250 words.  Include an image.

Do a second New Post answering the following questions about your preferences in movies.

• Tell us about your favorite movie and why you like it.
• Tell us about the kinds of movies you don't care for usually.
• Tell us about how often and where you usually watch movies.
• Tell us about what you need for movie viewing (environment, food, company, etc.)
• Tell us about what this survey says about you.
• If my life story was made into a movie...

Include images in this post also. Thanks!

through the window

Create a New Post on your blog today with one of the Window Poems you created in your journal during class--either the poem about the view out of your own chosen window OR what you wrote about the view through the window of Edward Hopper's painting of the yellow house.  You could, of course, post both.  Feel free to add to or revise.  Include at least one image.

Here's my example...As you can see, I didn't follow directions and wrote about the view looking into a window (my neighbors'!  creeper!) rather than out.

Window Poem:  On the Birth of Alex C.

I see chili pepper barstools

through the kitchen window

of the house next door--

barstools I wouldn't have chosen

but a dining table I might have

and a pantry I envy.

The man of the house

ducks down quickly behind that table,

shielding himself from the glow

of my headlights, but I still see

he's in only his tightie-whities.

Tonight the lights are still on

long after my neighbors' normal bedtime.

New babies always disrupt schedules,

change lives completely.

Melting ice drips from the gutter

above the window onto mounds of

lingering, dirty snow on the driveway

between our two houses.

Shiny balloons float above the table

heralding congratulations upon

the family's new arrival.

A new mother leans for a moment

against the kitchen counter

trying to catch her breath.