A Google a Day

A Google a Day is a daily puzzle that helps you to hone your search engine skills. Each day you are given a question that you have to answer using Google search. This is a fun way to work on finding better ways to search the net and become more skilled and successful finding things.

Library Survey

Library Media Survery

Please, only students from Noel Elementary should fill out this survey.

Missouri Connections

Missouri Connections- Check with Mrs. Kilby for your username/password.

Marvel Comic Creator Contest

Marvel comics has teamed up with Disney.com to create a contest that has an awesome prize. By creating a comic you are entered into a contest where your comic can be featured in an up coming comic book!

Click here to create your comic.

Your Reactions to the Death of Bin Laden

The big news story is President Obama announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden. Obviously there are a bunch of different news stories that can be read about what happened.  What I want you to do is read several, look especially at those that talk about what may change in the future because of the death. Then I want you to write a quick summary of the story and then tell me how you think the future of the United States may change because of the death. For example, do you think we will now begin to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you think that airport security will be toned down? Or, do you think Bin Laden's death will not have any impact? Explain your reasons for your prediction.

As usual make sure you link to the stories you read in your summary.

Bridge Building Game

A couple students caught me playing X Construct on my phone during lunch today and wanted to play themselves. I told them I would find a PC equivalent so they could try it out on their own. Here is one I found called Bridge Building Game. The purpose of the game is to construct a bridge that will allow the lemming like pink dinosaurs to cross safely across a chasm.

 Here are links to similar games:

Cargo Bridge
Bridgecraft

President Obama's Weekly Address: Gas Prices & Energy Security

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/02/weekly-address-gas-prices-energy-security

How could what President Obama says in this address affect the drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico? How much oil was being pulled out of those wells and how does that compare to the amount of oil the President's plan says we will save? What other options does the President address instead of using fossil fuels? How many barrels of oil will we be importing in 10 years according to the President's plan?

Here is a link to the transcript of the address.

Should British Petroleum Be Allowed to Resume Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico?

British Petroleum has petitioned the United States government to resume drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Read at least one story from each subheading on the linked page. You should see Blogs, United States, and Mississippi. You will link back to them on the post.

Link to the stories.

What is the general tone of the stories? Do they seem to be for or against resumed drilling? What is your opinion of BP resuming drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico? What alternatives could you suggest instead of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico?

Be Careful About Your Social Media Behaviors: Sexting

Today we will read and discuss this article on sexting. We need to be very careful about how we use our social media tools. We also need to consider the long term implications of a thoughtless act.

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. :)