Thursday, January 29, 2015
Check Your Writing
Friday, December 12, 2014
Teamwork Informational Report
1. Make a plan for the process. Think about the topic and what main points will be stressed.
2. Conduct research and take notes. Use a range of resources — from essays, articles, videos, and the Internet to do this. Take notes without copying word-for-word to reduce the risk of plagiarism. Be sure to copy websites and titles of articles so you can cite your sources.
4. Write the first draft of the report. Use the outline as a road map.
Possible topics might be:
Teams are Built Through Cooperation
Put Your Problems Aside and Put the Team First
Drama Kills Teams
All Teammates Must Contribute
Everyone Must Give 110%
It's About the Team and not the Individual
No I in Team
Teams Work Together to Make Everyone Succeed
Team First
Helping Others Makes the Team Strong
Working Together is More Fun
Together Everyone Achieves More
Helping Makes Better Teammates
Working Together Is Easier
Working Together Helps Everyone Succeed
Team Focus is Important To Go Far
We Not Me
None of Us is Smarter Than All of Us
Teamwork Makes Dreams Work
Selfish Doesn't Work in Teams
Cooperation Counts in Teams
Teamwork is Not Something You Have, It's Something You Have to Achieve
The Whole is Greater Than the Parts
Everyone Included
A Successful Team Beats with One Heart
If No One Works on a Team, Then the Team Doesn't Work
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Zero Tolerance for Writing Errors
Starting today there is zero tolerance for mistakes in writing. The school year is half over. Students in Reading Workshop have been writing every day. The expectations for writing are for students to use the skills that have been taught.
Students are expected to write without errors in spelling and mechanics. Each student has tools available, including a computer with word processing and spell check, a dictionary, online sites like Answers.com and Dictionary.com, peer assistance, and spelling buddies. There really is no reason for writing with mistakes, other than a lack of effort.
If students don't know the difference between your and you're, it's time to learn. The first letter in words in a title, proper noun or to start a sentence must be capitalized. Tiny mistakes mean huge differences in grades.
Step it up Reading Workshop students. The responsibility for writing cleanly and clearly is on you.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Have You Checked Your Homophones Lately?
Reading Workshop students, please give your readers a break. Check your homophones and get it right!
For more information see Your Homophone is Out of Order.
Thanks to Gineriella for allowing this edited version of her video to be used in the classroom.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Free Advise or Advice
The words advice and advise are often mixed up, which is quite understandable since they have similar spellings and meanings.
'Advice' is a noun: you can give someone a 'piece of advice'. For example, let me give you some advice about travelling in China.
'Advise' is a verb: He advised me to always keep my passport on me when I was in China. His advice was very useful.
Image from http://www.erikaliodice.com/career-advice-i-wish-someone-had-given-me/
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Yes, Commas do Matter
And I wouldn’t dream of goin’ nowhere
Silly woman, come here, let me hold you
Have I told you lately?
I love you like crazy, girl
So, Reading Workshop students, when there is a pause in a sentence, but not a complete new thought, be sure to put in a comma.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Why Their Matters
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Your Homophone is Out of Order
Is your writing ringing in the ear of the reader? Have you checked for mistakes with homophones? Since texting and IMing have become so popular, this has become the most frequent mistake in writing. It’s also become extremely common among bloggers.
This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say. “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this blog has lost its mojo.” Here’s an easy rule of thumb—repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds goofy or wrong, “its” is likely the correct choice.
3. There, They're, and Their
This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread. “There” is used many ways, including as a reference to a place, “let’s go there” or as a pronoun, “there is no hope”. “Their” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Always do the “that’s ours!” test—are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there. "They're" is a contraction for “they are,” as in “they're going to answer the homophone." :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Rules for Blog Comments
As students in Reading Workshop begin to build their blogs, post by post, the need for some structure in commenting is evident. Hopefully these guidelines will help students engage in meaningful dialogue, comment by comment.
1. Be nice. No name-calling and personal abuse, please.
3. Opposing opinions are welcome, as long as they are respectful of the views of others. If you disagree with the opinions of the author, express it politely.
5. Avoid repeating yourself. If many people have already said something, please don’t say it again. Once you make a point, support it, but don't keep saying the same thing over, and over, and over.
6. Don’t make comments like “Great post.” If you read it, say why it was great. Add something to the conversation. Add your own view, or thoughts to the topic.
Always remember the most important rule for blog comments is to comment.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Get it Right, or Do Not Post
Chris Pirillo discusses the need for PUGS--Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling in this video.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Student Blogs on WordPress
Check out the sidebar for a link to all of the student blogs.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Grading Students' Blogs
Did you spell everything correctly? I would hope so. After all, who would want to write something that is available to the whole world, and misspell words? Can the reader understand the topic because you stick to it? Following these minimal standards will earn you at least a D.
Did you use correct grammar? Can the reader follow your post in an organized manner? This is still a most basic expectations for writers that want to publish their work. The skills learned in the primary grades are not too much to expect for work posted on the WWW. A C means satisfactory and not meeting this criteria would surely not be sufficient for earning any higher grade.
To build loyal readers, first you must have interesting content presented in a well-written way. Supporting details draw in the readers and give them understanding. If posts are written cleanly, the words illustrate the meaning, and the reader can visualize your ideas, you will earn a B.
Occasionally someone will write something that makes the reader pause, and think, or causes the reader to agree or disagree. Sometimes hours after reading an essay, the reader is still thinking about it. When a blog post has that something special, then the writer deserves an A.
What step are you on? Have you climbed the stairs to writing success?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A Newspaper's Role in Education
Recently I posted about the poor grammar used by a worker at a local restaurant. A teacher today brought in a newspaper from the town where the Wendy's is located.
Some have went without electricity for five days
Image from http://flickr.com/photos/drb62/2054107736/
*
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Zero Tolerance for Errors
Surely students would not have been trying to slide by with a minimal amount of effort! Once again, students show how they can rise to the level of expectation. With the drastic improvement already, I cannot imagine the quality of writing I can expect in a few weeks. I anxiously await some of the phenomenal pieces of work that will be produced this year in Reading Workshop.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Read Aloud to Revise
As explained in the Reading Workshop Notes:
Reading Aloud to Revise
To revise your content, read an essay aloud. Have the listener alert you at any time when your writing does not make sense, or they have a question. Highlight that part, and after you are finished, go back and rewrite. Then read aloud again to a different person. Repeat the process until your essay is easy to understand and interesting to read.
For this to work, the listener must be actively involved, and not afraid to speak up whenever the essay does not make sense, or has grammatical errors. He must also listen for pauses, and be sure appropriate punctuation is included.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Writer's Block
Sometimes I will crank up the music. Sometimes I will read a little, or surf the net. But the main thing I do is just keep trying to get words down. Good, bad, or ugly, I just keep adding a word here, and then a word there until I have a sentence. Before I know it, I have written another post on the blog.
Now, my brilliant young students, I am sure you are asking, "what does this have to do with me and Reading Workshop?"
I have noticed that some of you are sitting there, looking like the keyboard might electrocute you. It won't. I promise. Just put down some words. Any words. You are allowed to make mistakes. You are allowed to not make sense. Go ahead, screw up. We can fix it. If you are not sure about the assignment, ask.
If you are not quite sure, just throw some words out there. Before you know it, the assignment will be done. You will be a success. Your teacher and your parents will be proud. They will smile and tell you that you are wonderful. You will get A's and be on the honor roll. You will win all of the awards.
P.S. Even if all of that doesn't happen, at least you will get the assignment done.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Scary Story
Well, funny you should ask that. The things we will cover include:
1. The plot and developing problems;
2. Descriptive writing and adding supporting details;
3. Punctuating dialogue;
4. Character development;
5. Building a narrative to a climax;
6. Cooperation and writing with a partner;
7. Edditing-git that speling write;
8. Writing with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
The assignment is to write a scary/horror story. BUT, shooting or guns, and stabbing or knives, or killing in any way is NOT allowed! All injuries must be incidental or accidental. The focus is on scaring the reading in only the most imaginative ways!
I can't wait to read them.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Fantastic Commenter
Congrats to the KW's for being selected as the Outstanding Commenters for April. Katie and Kari consistently post with great comments that are well written. You can find their opinions all through the blog. They were two of the first to comment, and continue to join in on almost all discussions.
Congratulations to Trevor S. for also being selected as the Fantastic Commenter for the month of April. He was selected due to his well thought out comments and clean, easy to understand commenting (And his mom posted too).
Trevor S. said...
I think bringing a CD into school and listening to it for the day is awesome. Listening to music helps me focus on my school work or any work. I got a high percentage in the accelerated category on my OAT test. I know that is not as I high as some people in this class but I tried. However I did better listening to music than I had ever done. My mom was not so sure about letting me bring in a CD to school, until she saw the blog. Thanks Mr. McGuire for letting us do such a cool thing.
And his mom said:
Mr.McGuire,
I encourage both of my boys (Trevor & Brayden) to learn all they can now while they are in school. I think all parents want that for their children. Your knowlege will get you everywhere you want to go in the future. When you grow up it is a tough world out there. And it just keeps on getting tougher! Take advantage of the time you have now to learn all you can. When you get out in the real world there are no free lunches! Go to school and learn and have fun. You are only a kid once so enjoy it!
P.S. I'll have my eyes peeled for the McGuire family when we go out to eat!!
Steph Swackhamer
Stay tuned as I will feature the intelligent thoughts of other commenters soon.
Special thanks to the Dangerously Irrelevant Blog for the idea and the certificate!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Writing in Social Studies
Justin did a good job with his introduction and conclusion. He used a W's beginning to introduce the topic to the reader.
I discovered a lot of interesting things about Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was located in the fertile crescent in what is now present day Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syrian, Jordan, Israel and Syria. Mesopotamia started in 4000 B.C. Mesopotamia was also located by two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates.
His closing sums up the topic, and restates a few key points.
Mesopotamia was a very successful culture. In Mesopotamia they had laws, a form of writing and technology. The people of Mesopotamia still affect us today.
By using a simple, but effective opening and closing, and having a body with many details, Justin and many of his classmates did well with this interdisciplinary project.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Hear Your Writing
One of the best ways to improve writing is to read aloud your essay. ATandT Research Labs has a program that will read aloud for you. The program, called Text to Speech, reads what is written. This is a great tool to use when revising and editing in Writing Workshop.
According to ATandT:
Text-To-Speech, or TTS for short, is computer software that converts text into audible speech. You can try it yourself on our demo page. See our Home page for more information.
All you have to do is type or paste your writing into the text box (step 2) and click on the Speak button. To try it, just go to here.
The reasons why I come to school are...
1. Well I have to by law
2. Learning is is fun to me.
3. I get to play basketball.
4. I get to talk to friends.
5. It will help me get a good job in the future.
6. How are you going to get smart just sitting at home. (Home school does not count).