Some cool fun stuff...

Make your text at glitterfy…. (Add into your blog like a picture after you save to your computer…)
Make your book title out of books… Amaztype Huh??!! Click Here.
Want to add words that no one knows about?? Try Save the Words! Adopt a word today!
Make a talking Avatar on Voki! See an example here.
Need music for a project? Try this site........

How will I be graded??

You will have several different grades.

One will be based on the attached rubric. Rubric For Blogging.

The second will be a self assessment that will happen at the end of your blog when you finish the book.

The third will be a poll that you create yourself and add to the blog so your classmates can tell you what they think!

Finally! The FINAL project!

What should I do? Think about how you can summarize the book, or show something that you REALLY enjoyed….. You could create another ending. Make a book trailer. Write a song, a poem, and essay. It is really up to you and your group how you want to approach the project. You can do an individual project or a group project… Just get it approved first, come up with a plan and present it to your teacher.

The Correspondant

Your job is to write a friendly letter to one of the major characters in the section of the book that you are reading. You can write the letter as yourself or as another character in the book. Write the letter on Microsoft word and then post it. Remember to use spell check.

Things to keep in mind:

• Are there questions that you want to ask?
• Be specific about where the character is and who you are.
• Do they speak a certain way?

Display your letter as a blog post.
Here is a link to a page with letter format.

Other ideas:

• You can write an interview with a main character and a news reporter or TV reporter. You could even film an interview with a FLIP camera.
• You can write a “Dear Abby” letter where a character is asking for help, and then you can write them back telling them what to do!
• Write a friendly “email”

The Connector

Your job is to find connections between the section your group is reading and the outside world. This means connecting the reading to your own life, to happenings at school or in the community, to similar events at other times and places, or to other people or problems that you are reminded of. You might also see connections between this section and other books you have read. There are no wrong answers – whatever the reading connects you with is worth
sharing.

If you are writing about your connections they should be in COMPLETE sentences. They should EXPLAIN how and why you connect to the story in DETAIL. A one sentence explanation is not acceptable and does not show the reader that you have actually read the book.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help make these connections..
Sample Questions
 What connections can you make to your own life?
 What other places or people could you compare this story to?
 What other books or stories might you compare to this one?
 What other characters or authors might you compare to this one?
 What is the most interesting or important connection that comes to mind?
 How does this section relate to those that came before it?

How can you show these connections?

• Make a prezi at prezi.com
• Write, write write and then write!
• Write a poem..
• Let us know if you have a great idea!

Illustrator/Media Expert

This role should be fun, one of the best parts is that you have CHOICES! For this section you will be representing the section using some sort of media, art or tech tool. You can concentrate on characters, setting, main ideas, or even a theme that you discover on your own (for example, friendships in the chapters, family, peace…).

Here are some ideas for completing your role OR you can think of a new one and ask the teacher first.

• Make a photostory of settings, characters or even summarize the section. You can use downloaded photos, videos or scan some pictures you find. Or use the online tool VOICE THREAD. It is SUPER fun and you can easily make a book trailer (but remember not to give away the end of the book!!!!)
• Make a review using one of the FLIP cameras. You could review your section, make an advertisement for the book, summarize it.. be creative!
• You can draw a comic strip, a setting, a scene from the book (if you like art then make it cool!). We can scan it for you so you can display it on the blog….
• Use wordle.net or tagul to make a word cloud showing what the main parts are or who the characters are… Or cool words, or…or …or Note: Wordle for some reason is easier to display on WordPress, but you can display a link to Tagul which is more animated.
• Use CAPZLES to make a time-line of your section. It is a really fun program!
• Use creaza to create a film or a comic strip about your section.
• Create an online comic with ToonDoo Here is a great Slideshare that shows how to use ToonDoo, the last few show you how to embed a Toon Doo into your blog....Hint: You must click on "Publish to the World" in order to embed in your blog.
• Use GoAnimate to make a cartoon film about your section. (Let your teacher know when you want to use this and she/he can add you to the GoAnimate4Schools site!). If you want to embed your animation like below then tell the teacher, only teachers can embed…

GoAnimate4Schools.com: Example to Embed in Blogs

• Use GLOGSTER to make an online poster for your section or create a movie poster for it. If you make a movie poster then pick some REAL movie stars who you think would match the characters. Make sure you create an account before you create a glogster so that you can save your creation.
• Make a BOOK TRAILER!!! fun!!! Here is a site with some good ones to start… Here is a HOW TO MAKE a BOOK TRAILER website, including a great PREZI that gives lots of tips... Read BEFORE you make a book trailer. for Book Trailers it is easy to use Animoto, before you sign up get the CODE from Mrs. Barber so your Animoto's can be more than 30 seconds....
• Make an AVATAR of your favorite character and write a character description on DOPPELME (make sure you sign in so you can use all the cool tools). Make sure you include a paragraph describing your character, why you made them look that and why you picked that character.
  
• Make a 60 second RECAP.... Fun! Go here:http://www.60secondrecap.com/
  
• Make a pop-up book using ZooBurst
• Powerpoint??
• Word??
• Any other ideas??? Bring them on!!

Discussion Director

Your job is to create a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don’t worry about details. Your task is to help people talk over the BIG IDEAS in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read. Remember that your questions should have answers that cannot be found in the book.

You should post at least 5 questions for your sections. When you post them it is up to you to have a discussion with the group and have them answer the questions. You can also discuss the questions with your group and take notes on the answers and then post it all together.

Here is what a posted question should look like (notice questions are in BOLD and answers are not. Also Put your name when you answer a question.)

Which character do you like the best so far, and why?

Jack: I really like Hermoine. She is so smart and has a huge memory. She always looks at a problem, analyzes it, and then solves it. She reminds me of my big brother who is also really smart. As a character she was very serious at first, but she can be silly too.

Sam: I like Ron the best. I relate to him as he is very sporty, always getting into trouble and stands up for his friends. I pride myself on being a good friend and I think Ron would be a good friend too.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are reading the section of the book.
What were you thinking about as you read?
 What did the text make you think about?
 What do you think this text/passage was about?
 How might other people (of different backgrounds) think about this text/passage?
 What one question would you ask the writer if you got the chance? Why?
 What are the most important ideas/moments in this text/section?
 What do you think will happen next—and why?
 What was the most important change in this section? How and why did it happen?

If you want to make it different then you can also create a POLL using POLLDADDY or you can make an online QUIZ using Yacapaca or HOT POTATOES and have your team mates take the quiz and then review it as a post! How techie of you

A note about questions….. Look at the following file so you know what types of questions you should ask. You do not want to include more then 1 skinny question (a questions with a yes or no answer or something that can be found right in the book). You want to create thick questions…

Types of Questions

An exercise to help you identify which questions is which!

Student Practice Sheet

Here are some question starters if you are having a hard time creating questions…
Question Helpers

What next??

OK, you’ve got your blog up and running! Nice job!

Way to work it! Now we have WORK to do!

As a first post write down what book you will be reading, your first names, what the purpose of your blog is and something about literature circles. You can also download a picture of the book cover and post it.

Second: Take the book and look at it a group. How many chapters does it have? How many pages? Can you divide it into equal sections (or SORT of equal sections). Basically for each section you will have tasks you need to do throughout the book, and tasks that only you will do for the section. You will still read the sections together and then work on your group work and your individual roles and show each other what you have posted. Try to make a balance and not make the sections too short or too long. Make sure you stay together as a group. Some roles are harder then others so help each other!

Here is a list of roles. Each section as a group pick one of the roles to focus on. Each person in the group will do a project about the role focus. Each project can be different but you need to spend time in the group talking about the projects and the roles and what you are going to do……

Illustrator/Media Expert

Connector

Discussion Director

Correspondent

What do I do???

Every time (everyone, every section):

Keep a list of vocabulary words. After reading each section compare notes for the vocabulary words. Choose at least five words per section and post them on your BLOG with the sentences from the book, the definition and any other information needed. If you want to SPICE it up, you can make a QUIZLET with note cards of your vocabulary words….You'll need to make an account on Quizlet.....

Creating a BLOG in WordPress

As a group you need to create a blog on WordPress which Mrs. Barber can help you with… You need to go to blogger.com and start a blog with one of your log ins. Think of a name and include the namesof the people in your group and ASW. So if Joey, Frank and Mabel were in a group their blog name and URL might look like: "joeyfrankmabelASW". Once you are in the blog then add everyone in your group by clicking on Settings and then Permissions and Add Author. At this point as a group you can pick a theme (under Design) this will be what your blog basically looks like (you can change it later too), make sure everyone in your group is in on the decision making.

Here is a link to the blogger.com support. They have LOTS of information on how to do things in the blog and it will help you when you feel confused.

Blogger Support