I've been a bad blogger lately. While I had good intentions of doing 1 blog post per day, that just didn't happen last week. It's a good thing that I don't get paid per blog topic, isn't it? Just kidding!
However, this has actually inspired me to do today's blog post about letter writing. In fact, today we'll focus on writing an apology letter! (Yes, this is my way of apologizing for being a bad blogger.)
Visit this site (http://www.letterwritingguide.com/apology.htm). Did you know that there are two types of apology letters that you could do (business and personal/friendly)? Did you learn anything important about each type? Have you ever had to write an apology letter?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tell me a story - August's edition
Normally, each month begins with a "tell me a story" blog post. This month, it's a little late. But that's ok because it's here now!
Get those creative juices flowing. I'd like you to write a short story (4-7 sentences). Your story must start with the portion of the sentence that I give you below. You can then take your story in any direction from there. Have fun with it, be creative, and focus on all of those good writing things that we've talked about in our blog: planning/pre-writing/brainstorming, subject-verb agreement, correct capitalization, correct punctuation, and more! (It sounds like a lot, but I know you can handle it!)
Ok, are you ready? Here's how you should start your story.
"One hot summer day, a few of the students at the school decided to. . . "
Get those creative juices flowing. I'd like you to write a short story (4-7 sentences). Your story must start with the portion of the sentence that I give you below. You can then take your story in any direction from there. Have fun with it, be creative, and focus on all of those good writing things that we've talked about in our blog: planning/pre-writing/brainstorming, subject-verb agreement, correct capitalization, correct punctuation, and more! (It sounds like a lot, but I know you can handle it!)
Ok, are you ready? Here's how you should start your story.
"One hot summer day, a few of the students at the school decided to. . . "
Saturday, August 15, 2009
SpellingCity.com (Part 4)
One of my favorite "classic" novels is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. If you haven't read it, ask for it at a local library and make it your "end-of-summer" reading!
SpellingCity.com has a vocabulary list for this novel that has words that everyone should know (even those who haven't read the book). Your task for today is to visit that word list, pick out 2 words that you don't know, look them up in an online dictionary (found here) and then to post each word & its definition.
The Scarlet Letter vocabulary list can be found by clicking here.
Have fun! :-)
SpellingCity.com has a vocabulary list for this novel that has words that everyone should know (even those who haven't read the book). Your task for today is to visit that word list, pick out 2 words that you don't know, look them up in an online dictionary (found here) and then to post each word & its definition.
The Scarlet Letter vocabulary list can be found by clicking here.
Have fun! :-)
Friday, August 14, 2009
SpellingCity.com (Part 3)
Have you heard of the book "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley? I bet you have & you might have even seen the movie too.
SpellingCity.com has a vocabulary list that goes along with that book. However, even if you haven't read that book or seen the movie, it's chock full of good, important words to know!
Visit the list (http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=1208624) and pick out 2 words that you either don't know or don't know too well. Then visit an online dictionary site (such as Merriam-Webster) and look up those 2 words. Lastly, come back to the blog, post each word & its definition.
Be sure to check back often to see what words other bloggers have added! This way, we can all learn from each other!
SpellingCity.com has a vocabulary list that goes along with that book. However, even if you haven't read that book or seen the movie, it's chock full of good, important words to know!
Visit the list (http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=1208624) and pick out 2 words that you either don't know or don't know too well. Then visit an online dictionary site (such as Merriam-Webster) and look up those 2 words. Lastly, come back to the blog, post each word & its definition.
Be sure to check back often to see what words other bloggers have added! This way, we can all learn from each other!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
SpellingCity.com (Part 2)
If you didn't yet review yesterday's blog post about the SpellingCity.com site, please do so before going any further. (You'll definitely want to go over the words first!)
Today, we're going back to SpellingCity.com, but this time, it's to play a spelling game. How fun is that?!
Visit this link (http://www.spellingcity.com/which-word-best-completes-the-sentence.html), play the "Which Word" game, and then report back on how you did!
Today, we're going back to SpellingCity.com, but this time, it's to play a spelling game. How fun is that?!
Visit this link (http://www.spellingcity.com/which-word-best-completes-the-sentence.html), play the "Which Word" game, and then report back on how you did!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
SpellingCity.com
I love finding new websites that have helpful things and this one, SpellingCity.com, is very neat! Check out this part (http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=1044081). There you will find some "sound alike" words (also known as homonyms or homophones). View the list of 37 sound alike words. (If you don't know the meaning of some of them, be sure to visit an online dictionary like M-W.com to look them up!)
Tell me the"sound alike" words that you found most interesting & explain what they mean.
I found #19 (mall) and #20 (maul) to be interesting. The first one (mall) is a place where you'd go to shop. The second one (maul) means to be bitten or attacked by something (like a dog).
Now it's your turn!
Tell me the"sound alike" words that you found most interesting & explain what they mean.
I found #19 (mall) and #20 (maul) to be interesting. The first one (mall) is a place where you'd go to shop. The second one (maul) means to be bitten or attacked by something (like a dog).
Now it's your turn!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Writing and Spelling
The whole point of writing is to get your purpose across to the reader (or readers). However, spelling errors (even small ones) can jump out at your reader and begin to pull the focus off of your ideas. We all make spelling mistakes, but the less of them you make and the more often you catch them, the better your writing will be.
Check out this fun spelling game called "SpellaRoo" and challenge yourself!
Click on this link (http://www.funbrain.com/spellroo/index.html) and then select the "beginner" or "intermediate" level. Each game will give you 10 turns. Play it and then report how you did! Was it enjoyable? Is that a site you'd share with anyone else (family, friend, co-worker)?
Check out this fun spelling game called "SpellaRoo" and challenge yourself!
Click on this link (http://www.funbrain.com/spellroo/index.html) and then select the "beginner" or "intermediate" level. Each game will give you 10 turns. Play it and then report how you did! Was it enjoyable? Is that a site you'd share with anyone else (family, friend, co-worker)?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Essay Writing Online Workshop
If you're an active participant or even just an active reader of this eLearning blog, you know that writing is a super important skill. Come learn even more about essay writing, including how you can quickly & easily make a great, well-organized essay. Wednesday (8/12/09) will be essay writing day with 2 live online workshops to go over this topic!
Don't miss out! Attend the morning (11:15am) or evening (9:15pm) session by using the link below.
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=613&password=M.653D55F283174376BB1D5DEDEEB09A
Be sure your computer has working speakers and they're turned "on" so you can hear the presenter!
Will you be there?
Don't miss out! Attend the morning (11:15am) or evening (9:15pm) session by using the link below.
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=613&password=M.653D55F283174376BB1D5DEDEEB09A
Be sure your computer has working speakers and they're turned "on" so you can hear the presenter!
Will you be there?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Technology & Internet Terms (Part 4)
One of my new favorite sites is Common Craft because they have short animated video clips about different topics "in plain English," meaning that the explanations are simple & understandable. How many times have you tried to learn about something only to have the explanation confuse you even more? Well, that won't be the case with Common Craft!
When you visit that site, click the link to "Browse Videos" (on the left side). You'll then see some different categories listed (where the bottom one on the left is "technology"). Make sure that technology one is selected and check out some of the 15 topics listed! Each video is short, so if you only had 5 minutes, you can probably watch 2 or 3 of them!
Once you've watched 1 or more, come back here & report which one (or ones) you watched and what you thought!
http://www.commoncraft.com/
When you visit that site, click the link to "Browse Videos" (on the left side). You'll then see some different categories listed (where the bottom one on the left is "technology"). Make sure that technology one is selected and check out some of the 15 topics listed! Each video is short, so if you only had 5 minutes, you can probably watch 2 or 3 of them!
Once you've watched 1 or more, come back here & report which one (or ones) you watched and what you thought!
http://www.commoncraft.com/
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