Comments4Kids: The Why's and How's of Commenting

http://comments4kids.blogspot.com/

Before we get started typing this morning, I want you to do a little research on blog commenting. You will need to go the my Comments4Kids blog and read the information there. Pay specific attention on the home page to the Rules for Comments4Kids as well as follow the links on the right of the blog. Tomorrow we will discuss it more.

When Do We Write?

Click this link to post.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

We will be spending this week examining the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last Friday. You will need to write a post each day over some aspect of the disaster and its impact on Japan and the world. We will be meeting daily to discuss what you have learned.

Wallwisher: Where Do We Write?

Today for our 5 Minute Think we will be answering the question: Where do we write? Double-click anywhere on the page, add your first name in the name box then type your answer. When finished click "Ok". The answers will be moderated.

Poptropica

"Poptropica is a massively multiplayer online game and virtual world, targeted at children ages 6 to 15, where players can travel, play games, compete in head-to-head competition, and communicate safely with each other. There is a role-playing component as players are encouraged to finish "island missions" and get medallions."
Wikipedia.com

It has been a couple weeks since I have given you a mental health day, enjoy!

5 Minute Think: What Do We Write?

Directions:

1. Students use your first name only. 
2. Answer the question in the box.
3. Only answers to the question will be posted, anything else will not.

Current Events: Looking at Our National News

Photo by Vince_Lamb

Today we will be looking at a national issue, the protests taking place in Wisconsin. We will be looking at two sites for information. Remember, we are trying to identify bias in reporting.

Fox News

CNN

Read at least two different stories from each site. Write a paragraph giving both sides of the story. Write a paragraph explaining if you think one or both of the sites are biased. At the bottom of the post hyperlink the stories you read by typing the title of the article and hyperlinking it.

Introducing Personal Learning Plans

We are going to use a google doc to do some brainstorming. Click here to edit the document.

New Zealand Earthquake

Photo by Geoftheref

Two days ago there was a huge earthquake in New Zealand. Here is a link to the Google News page with the latest information. Find two disparate articles (double click on disparate if you don't know what it means) to write a summary about. Make sure you use the 5W's and H to do the summaries so you don't miss reporting any information. Also, remember to hyperlink back to the original stories. If you don't remember how to hyperlink, ask another student.

If you would like to add a picture or two to your posts, geoftheref has several Creative Commons licensed pictures from the quake.  You must give attribution to geoftheref if you use his pictures. Notice how I attributed the picture above. That is an acceptable way to attribute a picture. The link for the picture takes you to the page I downloaded it from. The link to geoftheref takes you to his profile page on Flickr.

If you need to, you can list the 5W's and H like I have below on your post, but write the summary.

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How

As usual make sure you have the words spelled correctly. :)

Current Events Assignment February 17-21

Excellent job on the last assignment! This time we are going to try to look for a specific instance of bias in a news story. Follow these directions:

1. Find a news story that has obvious bias.
2. Write a blog post and hyperlink back to the story.
3. Copy/paste the part of the story you think shows bias onto your post.
4. Explain why you think it is biased.
5. Bonus points if you can correctly identify a cultural bias :)

Current Events Assignment February 14-15

Go to one of the current even news source links on the left side of the blog and find a story that you think is interesting. Make sure it is a big enough story that you will be able to find it from at least two other news sites from different countries.


Read the story carefully in all three newspapers and write a post to your blog answering the following questions:

1. What happened in the story?
2. Where did the story take place?
3. Is there a difference in the way the story is reported among the three sites? Explain.
4. Can you find any words or phrases that show a bias? Explain

Make sure you write your post as a good paragraph. You will have two class periods to do this so take your time (especially you, boys!) 

I should be back Wednesday, tired and cranky. :)

What is Going on in Egypt?

If you haven't been watching the news over the past few days, there are some troubling activities going on in Egypt. Use at least four sources to answer the questions below. Please hyperlink back to the articles in your post.

1) What is happening in Egypt that is getting a lot of coverage from the media?
2) Who is Hosni Mubarak?
3) Why is it happening?
4) When did the problems start?
5) Where are most of the protests happening? City? Place in the city?
6) How do you think this will end?

Can We Find Some Great International Papers to Follow?

Today we are going to sift through your observations and try to find some good international news sites. I would like you to go through your list and compare the newspapers. Find two that you would recommend for us to use and then do a google search on the name of the newspaper to see if you can find their on-line page. When you find the address, add it and the name of the newspaper to the new Google form below.

Link to the scanned newspaper spreadsheet.

Link to the new Google form.

Front Page Scanning Part 2

We are going to try doing this assignment again. This time you will be able to add the information provided on a Google Form. Read the assignment below and add the information to the form:

Newspaper Front Page Scanning Form

Spreadsheet with the Data

You will repeat this exercise on Wednesday and Thursday using the same newspapers. On Friday we will analyze the information.

Front Page Scanning

Today we are going to be looking at the front pages of a bunch of different newspapers and trying to see if there is any conclusions we can draw from them. We will be using Newseum to look at the front pages and working together to look for patterns. What kinds of things do you think we will find?

Find at least ten newspapers you can read and decide if their focus is local, national, or international. Make a list and identify the name of the paper, the city and country it is published in, and which focus you think it has.

Click here for the Newseum's front page list. Front Page

The Australian

Today we will be perusing The Australian. Today I would like you to find a local (Australian) story and an international story and write a summary of each in the comments to this post. We will be sharing these the last ten minutes of the period.

Mail and Guardian- South Africa

The Mail and Guardian is a news site from South Africa. I see a lot of similarities between this site and typical sites in the United States (not just because of the online dating ads ;). Does this site "feel" different from the BBC site or Al Jazeera? 

After checking out the site, take a look at this post from Al Jazeera, US Beggar's Priceless Gift. Then look at articles on this story on the BBC site, CNN, or FoxNews. Did any other story use the word "beggar"? Does this word seem offensive to you? Why do you think Al Jazeera used the word in the headline?  BTW, I didn't find an article about this story on the Mail and Guardian.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is a news site that is based in Doha, Qatar. Today you will be looking through the site. Do you notice a difference between this site and the BBC News site?

BBC News

Today we are going to look through the BBC News website.

 Why do you think I want you to look at a news source outside of the United States?

Christmas Island Refugee Tragedy

Read this article: Boat Horror Kills Up to 50 at Christmas Island

Answer these questions in a comment on the blog:

1. Where is Christmas Island and which nation "owns" it?
2. Where are the "refugees" coming from?
3. Why are they trying to get to Christmas Island?
4. Who is responsible for taking care of the "refugees"?
5. What do you think will happen to the "refugees" that survived?