Week 5A - The Briggsy Awards

Before I get into this week's prompt (which is also your FINAL blog prompt of the semester!), I wanted to remind you guys of a few things for when I grade the blogs this weekend:

• These are due by noon on Sunday.
• Each entry must be at least 100 words to be given full credit.
• I am not grading these for spelling, punctuation, grammar, or capitalization. I'll I'm looking for is to see that you've followed the prompts, written the required length, and occasionally entertained me! 
• These are summative in the informative writing strand.

Now, for today's prompt:

Pick the annual Briggsy Awards for the 2017 Fall Semester of English 2. Come up with a winner for each of the following categories and provide a short explanation for why you chose each one:

• Most Interesting Part of This Class:
• Most Boring/Useless Part of This Class:
• The Hardest You Laughed In This Class:
• Thing That I Learned That Will Be Most Useful to Know in the Real World:
• Best Thing About Brigs as a teacher:
• Thing Brigs Could do to Make This Class Better For Future Classes:

Week 4A - Must-See TV

You have been tasked to pitch a television show. Write about your show would be, explaining what it's about, where it will be set, what kinds of characters will be in the show, and what kinds of actors it will star. Is it comedy? Drama? Horror? Reality? Spin-off?

Writing with Technology Reflection

Instead of writing a new blog today, I would like you to complete the following survey reflecting on your experience doing the speeches with technology rather than note cards. Click the link below to begin.

Technology Survey

When you finish, you can spend the rest of the time making up missing blogs or working on your book roundup (or any other makeup work you that you may still owe).

Week 3A - Dollar Dollar Bills Y'all!

If you were given $5,000,000 to blow on whatever you wanted, what would you spend it on? As you make your list, make sure you included approximate amounts of money that you've spent so you don't go overboard. Have fun, and spend wisely!

Week 2A - If I Were A...

Write about as few or as many of these as you like, but at least pick one! And remember to write at least 100 words!

If I were a superhero, I would be... (why?)

If I were a type of food, I would be... (why?)

If I were a color, I would be... (why?)

If I were a type of music, I would be... (why?)

If I were a car, I would be... (why?)

Week 1A - Celebrity Crushes

Today begins our second batch of blogs. We're starting all the way over; this is a brand new summative assessment, starting today. There will be eight more entries (I hope) and 20 more comments assigned over the course of the next two months. Each entry still needs to be 100 words.

Other than that, you guys know the drill by now. Onto this week's prompt:

Make a list of three of your celebrity crushes and explain to me what makes them so wonderful in your eyes. Do you think you could ever actually be in a relationship with this person, or is it just the kind of thing where you think they’re attractive? Pictures are optional, but obviously preferable.

Week 8 - 3 Wishes

Before we get to this week's post, this first batch of blogs is due SUNDAY at noon. I have decided that I am going to put them in the informative writing content strand, and that I am NOT going to grade them for grammar and mechanics. Here's what I'm looking for in terms of the rubric:

4 - The blogs are exceptional in their creativity, narrative voice, and use of technology.
3 - The blogs are all completed, and the prompts all have been answered in a way that is interesting and descriptive.
2 - The blogs are all or mostly completed, but they either are too short or do not respond to the prompt in a way that is interesting or descriptive.
1 - The majority of the blogs have not been completed.

Also important to remember is that I can't grade your blogs if I don't have your URL. If it says I'm missing it on the right-hand side of this page, you need to get it to me ASAP today!

Onto the prompt:

If you had three wishes, what would you wish for? Aladdin rules apply; you can't wish for more wishes, you can't wish anyone dead, you can't wish to be a god, and you can't make anyone all in love with you. Those stipulations aside, what are you wishing for?

Week 7 - Dumb Laws

Find some dumb laws and list your favorites, with a little bit of commentary for your thoughts on each one. Here are a couple of websites to get you started:

http://www.legal-forms-kit.com/legal-jokes/dumb-laws.html
http://www.dumblaws.com/
http://tjshome.com/dumblaws.php

Have fun!

Week 6 - Favorite Hollywood Star

You do have a new blog today, but before we get to that, I'd like you guys to take a quick survey about technology because I need the information for my Master's Degree course. Please answer those questions completely and honestly. Click the link below to get started:

SURVEY LINK.

Once you're done with that, answer the blog prompt, as usual! Here is this week's prompt:

Who is your favorite actor/actress?  What makes them your favorite?  What are your favorite movies in which he or she is in?  Feel free to add a picture of him or her

Week 5 - Living In The Past

If you could've been born and lived through any other period of history, anywhere in the world, what would you choose? Would you be a nomad who lived with wooly mammoths and sabretooth tigers? Would you live in Ye Olde England during the time of castles and kings? Would you choose ancient Egypt, or Rome, or Greece? America's Civil War? Columbus's era where everybody was discovering new and exciting lands?Be as creative as you want (you don't have to choose from my list, obviously), and tell me what aspects of this life you find most appealing. Why would you want to live in this era? What aspects of life or events would you most look forward to experiencing? What would this lifestyle require you to live without, and would you be okay with that?

Week 4: Getting Ready For Speeches

Next week you will be giving your very first speech in this class.  What are your feelings about this?  Are you scared/nervous/excited?  Why?  What is your biggest fear when it comes to giving a speech?  What were some other times you've given a speech in front of a bunch of people?

Week 3 - My Animal

Which animal do you think you resemble most closely? Consider quiet, retiring animals like mice; bold and fearless ones like lions; eager, friendly ones like dogs; and finicky, secret ones like cats. Consider your appearence, your personality, and the way you move. Then write about the animal with which you feel a kinship, explaining how you are similar in personality, characteristics, and/or physical features.

Try and be creative with this. The more creative an animal you can come up with, the better!

Also, this week you need to include either a picture (or a link to a picture) of the animal you've chosen. You can do that by working with options on your toolbar when you create a new post. If you have any problems with this, raise your hand and I'll do what I can to help you!

Week 2 - Travel Anywhere

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?  What about this location is appealing?  What would you do there?  Would you want friends and family to go with you or would this be a trip you would prefer to take alone?

Week 1 - A Special Meeting

The word "blog" is short for "web log," which is essentially an online journal. Each of you should have your own individual website set up by the end of the day that you can use to write whatever you want. The point of these blogs every Friday is not for me to grade you on punctuation, spelling, grammar, and things like that, but to let you just write for fun with no strings attached. Plus, ya know, you get to play around on the computer.

In general, these are the guidelines for doing blogs this semester:

1. First and foremost, you need to email me the URL (web address) of your blog website as soon as it is created. It will be http://__________.blogspot.com/. My email address is joel.brigham@olympia.org. Please send that to me before you do anything else!
2. Each blog entry needs to be at least 100 words long.
3. While comments are not required, I'd like you to comment on everybody else's blog at least once over the course of the semester.
4. This blog project is a SUMMATIVE assessment that will be dumped into the Informative Writing bucket in Skyward at two different times this semester.

Okay, on to this week's writing prompt:

If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? consider scientists, entertainers, world leaders, artists, writers, people in your family, and so on. Then, make a list of questions you'd like to ask this person when you meet him or her.