Christensen Addition

Your Task:
Pull out a sentence from your story and insert two free modifier present participle phrases in any two positions. Write that sentence as a comment to this post. Then add it to your story. Here are two examples:

Initial Sentence: I raced across the room to answer the phone.
Modified Sentence:        2 Wondering who might be calling so late,
                                         1 I raced across the room to answer the ringing phone,
                                                      2 breathing heavily into the handset, “Hello?”

Initial Sentence: I sat shivering on the park bench.
Modified Sentence:       2 Wrapping myself tighly in a thin blanket,
                                               1 I sat shivering on the park bench,
                                                     2 wondering how to tell my parents the news.

Stage Fright Solutions…

In no time at all, you’ll be up on stage telling your story to a live audience. The session will be recorded. There appears to be a lot of pressure, especially once you hear your microphoned voice boom through the auditorium speakers.

Nervous? It’s normal for performers to feel this way. Here are a few tips for working out the trauma of stage fright:

1. Let your butterflies fly in formation — Imagine them flying in some pattern in your belly. It helps.

2. Remember that your audience wants you to do well because they want to be entertained. They are on your side.

3. Pratice. Your brain forms nurological connections every time you do something, so repeat your performance over and over before you get on stage. It’s not the same to read it in your mind. You literarlly have to run through the actions (movements) of performance.

4. Breath! Air supplies oxgyen and has a calming and relaxing effect.

For this post, comment on which of these strategies might work best for you and why. Or, summarize another strategy that seems to calm the effects of stage fright.

Why police think balloon boy is a hoax…

Have you heard about the boy who was trapped inside a runaway weather balloon as the nation watched and held it’s breath for his rescue? Either way, read this article about the latest developments in order to answer this question:

Q: What happened that tipped authorities to the idea that the whole balloon event might have been staged as a publicity stunt for the family?

Present Participle Phrases

Hey 910 students! For this post, do your writing in Microsoft Word first and then copy your writing into the comment box. Here’s the task involving present participle phrases:

(1) Make a list of at least 5 present participle phrases related to “illness.”
and then…
(2) Finish this sentence by writing three present participle phrase free modifiers for each of the three positions left blank:

2 Present participle phrase free modifier,
1 Adrian ,/, coughed until his eyes teared up,
2/ present participle phrase free modifier
2 present participle phrase free modifier.

Family Shunned Over MySpace Hoax, Teen’s Suicide

Check out this story about a teen girl whose neighbor misled her in an awful way. Do you have a story you can tell that may not be as tragic but might be related to the story of Megan Meier. In other words, have you ever experienced cyber bullying, cyber fraud or some other kind of unethical or illegal cyber behavior that looks like this story in any way. If so, describe it in a comment of at least 150 words or so.

Majority of Students Admit to Phone Cheating…

Ever wonder why Mr. Harold and Mrs. Arbes have decided to crack down on phone use in the high school? Take a look at these statistics and then come up with a 150-word comment supporting or opposing the use of cell phones in schools. Do these numbers change your mind about the high school’s recent decision about the use of electronic devices in any way?

Check out the cheating statistics right here at this link.

What Current Technology Trends Say About the Future of Media (A man’s observation of his kids)

Read this guy’s blog post about what he believes his kids can tell him about the future of technology and a graph from a financial company. Then write your comment with either…

A. an addition that details another trend in technology the author doesn’t mention that you know of,
or
B. a discussion of one of his observations. What else can you say about it?

Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/01/what-my-kids-te.html

Texting Language vs. Skool Language

This article from The New York Times on texting and it’s effect on school writing is quite good. Read at least the first two pages (hopefully more) and then add your comment on the topic.

Particularly, consider this question: Do you think teachers are making a big deal over nothing, or is there a reason for their concern about the future of our English language?

Remember:
(1) Write in MS Word first, in case you don’t finish and need to save your writing.
(2) Write at least 100+ words that add insight to the topic at hand.
(3) Check and recheck your writing in MS Word so that it’s publish-ready.

How I grew this summer…

Ok. So, growing is a term that can be taken very literally. Obviously teenagers have the ability to grow a whole inch in a couple of months. But, let’s think about growing in different ways. Besides height (or width), how can one grow? Here is a short list to consider:

• in maturity
• mentally
• in friendship
• in experiences
• in understanding of something
• in skill
• in …

Ok. So, now that you have a short list to consider, let’s get to the question that Mr. Yurka and I would like you to write about for your first writing lab assignment:

Q: In about 100 words, explain or describe how you “grew” over the summer.

Here are some steps to keep you on track with this writing task:

1. Create a “Writing Lab” folder in your My Documents
2. Start a Microsoft Word Document
3. In at least 100 words, explain or describe how your “grew” over the summer.
4. Re-read your writing several times to be sure the writing is how you want it to be.
5. Save your writing to your Writing Lab folder in your MyDocuments
6. Copy and paste your writing into the comment box of the post you are responding to. That’s this post.

Electronic Attendance Gone Too Far?

RFID

Hey sophomores! Welcome to writing lab for English 9/10. For at least the first half of the school year, you will be asked to comment on posts Mr. Yurka or I upload to our writing lab blog. We ask that you follow the directions, work hard and be thinkers. Those who do the most thinking will likely be the same studnets who produce the best writing. Anyway, the directions for your first writing lab assignment are below.

Directions:
1. Read the article linked below.
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1408/1/1 
2. Open a Microsoft Word Document
3. In writing, describe what Brittan Elementary School tried to do in at least 50 words.
4. Then, using details from the article and your own opinion, explain wheter RFID is a good or bad idea in at least 100 words.
5. Save your writing to your Writing Lab folder in your MyDocuments
6. Copy and paste your comment into the comment box of the post you are responding to.