Writing - Context Clues

In writing, you can gain a lot by context clues. If you don't know the meaning of a particular word, the other words in that sentence (or paragraph) may help you! I received an email today that perfectly illustrates this! (It also shows that teachers don't know every single word out there!)

Before showing you the email, let me give you a bit of background. I was asked to create some PowerPoint slides for a short presentation that'll be a part of a video conference. I needed these slides (and the information contained on them) to give viewers an idea of what I was going to talk about. I created the slides & sent them in to some "big cheeses." (Isn't that a great idiom?!)

Here's a copy/paste of the email that I received (minus the sender's name).

"Great job at hitting the salient points."

I was not familiar with the word "salient." However, from the context clues in that sentence, I was able to tell that the sender (one of those "big cheeses") was happy with what I did, so I knew the word "salient" couldn't be bad! But, because I didn't know it, I went to an online dictionary site to look it up. Here's what I found!

salient:
Pronunciation: \ˈsā-lyənt, -lē-ənt\
Definitions:
1: moving by leaps or springs
2: jetting upward salient fountain>
3a: projecting beyond a line, surface, or level
3b: standing out conspicuously : prominent; especially : of notable significance

So, based on the context clue in the email of "great" and looking at the definitions of the word, I learned the word (as used in the email I received) was using the final definition (3b).

:-)

Do you use context clues when you read? How much do you think they help you?

Vocabulary - Use It Or Lose It (Part 26)

In past blog topics called "Vocabulary - Use It Or Lose It," you were typically given a list of terms & then you would pick a few to define. This one will be similar, except I'm going to take an excerpt of an article from the NY Times.

The article is titled "Oxford’s First Female Professor of Poetry Resigns" and can be found here. The topic was not only interesting, but the article had lots of great vocabulary words in it. Here's a bit from the article, with some of those important terms underlined.

"Oxford University's first female Professor of Poetry resigned Monday after acknowledging she had helped publicize charges that her rival for the post had sexually harassed a former student.

Ruth Padel, the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, made history at Oxford when she became the first woman to be elected to the position of Professor of Poetry since the job was created in 1708.

The five-year post, which is usually awarded to prominent Oxonians, carries few formal responsibilities but packs a lot of prestige: Previous title holders include W. H. Auden and Seamus Heaney.

But Padel's election was marred by Nobel literature laureate Derek Walcott's decision to withdraw as a candidate from the election after anonymous letters attacking him were sent to Oxford academics.

British newspapers reported that the letters made reference to an allegation of sexual harassment made against the St. Lucia-born poet by a former student in the 1980s." (For the rest of the article, click here.)

Pick one of those words, go to an online dictionary (like Merriam Webster), and look up the definition. Then, come back to this blog, post the word, and the definition. Be sure to review this blog topic & the responses so that we can all learn from each others' replies!

Blogging - Writing vs. Speaking (Part 2)

Did you see the blog topic from May 15th about the audio blog? (To check that out, visit this link: http://elearningbroward.blogspot.com/2009/05/blogging-writing-vs-speaking.html.)

Let's return to Voice Thread to see another example of an audio blog in action & to see how people from all over are participating in it!

Click this link: http://voicethread.com/#q.b1191.i13695 and watch the voice thread. (If you want to participate on the voice thread, either by talking or typing, you will need to join the site. But that is quick & easy to do!)

After reviewing that, try to find some other voice threads that interest you! Go to this site (http://voicethread.com/#home and click the link that says "Browse" (on the top of the page, near the left side). Then, type in any word or phrase you want and press the "Enter" or "Return" key on your keyboard! See what comes up! (Key words like "math," "poetry," "history," and even "blog" bring up lots of neat voice threads!)

Once you've had a chance to do this, come back here & let us know what key word or phrase you used & what type of voice threads you found! Did any seem really good? If so, tell us so we can visit them too! :-)

OperationNice.com

When reading the NY Times online the other day, I saw an article that mentioned the OperationNice.com website. While this blog post won't specifically focus on writing, I think this is worthwhile to post.

The NY Times article gave the following description of OperationNice.com: "OperationNice.com links to news articles about good deeds and asks bloggers to take an oath of niceness. The blog was created 10 months ago by Melissa Morris Ivone, a 28-year-old graphic designer in Cinnaminson, N.J., who was inspired after a stranger held the door for her in an elevator. She wanted to create an oasis of good vibes online.

“Blogs, message boards and comments sections are just settings for people to verbalize their (usually negative) opinions,” Ms. Ivone wrote in an e-mail message. “Personally, I wanted a little corner that was free of all that.”

So far, more than 1,100 readers, many of them fellow bloggers, have taken her oath of niceness, allowing them to post an Operation Nice seal of approval on their blogs and Facebook pages."

Today's task is for you to visit the OperationNice.com website and then for you to come back here and tell us what you liked about it. Did you participate on the site? Did you find anything that inspired you? Do tell!

Always awesome alliteration!

Have you heard the term "alliteration" used before? Even if you haven't, I bet you're familiar with it or could recognize it. Take a look at the sentences & phrases below. Each is an example of alliteration.

Candace creates candy canes.
Stephanie sang so soulfully.
Trent's terrific trees
Always awesome alliteration

Wikipedia defines alliteration as a literary or rhetorical stylistic device that consists in repeating the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in close succession. An example is the Mother Goose tongue-twister, "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers …".

Do you want to see some examples of poetry that use alliteration? Visit this link: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112392/alliterationclassics.html.

Next, come back here & try writing a 2 or 3 word phrase that is an example of alliteration. (If you get stuck, you can "borrow one" from the poems that you see.)

Writing - Let's End Hunger (Part 5)

Do you remember past blog posts about the freerice.com website where you could play vocabulary games and help end hunger? For every question that you answer correctly, the freerice.com website will donate 20 grains of rice through the United Nations' World Food Program to help end hunger. Isn't that wonderful?

I'd like you to visit the site (http://freerice.com/index.php), play at least 3 vocabulary games, and then come back here & post your results. Did you win all 3 games? Did you win 2 of them? Maybe you won 1 of them. Don't worry about the result, but do give it your best shot & see if you can learn something new while helping someone else.

Paraphrasing

Many times, a boss or supervisor may want you to write a short summary to paraphrase what was said or what happened at an event (like a meeting). Paraphrasing or summarizing means that you're not giving a word-for-word account of what transpired, but that you're giving the most important points or an overview of things.

Let's look at an example.

Perhaps you're at a restaurant and your friend says this to the waiter: "I have some questions about the breakfast specials. Are they all prepared with butter? I'm not sure that I want butter. What about the pancakes? Are they made with butter too? Oh, forget it. I'll just order the waffles and not worry about it."

You might paraphrase that by telling someone that your friend asked some questions about the food, including if it was made with butter, and he decided to order the waffles. (Do you see how that is a much shorter way to give someone the main idea?

I'd like you to give it a try! Visit one of the sites below and pick a story to read. Then, come back here & paraphrase what you read in 2-4 sentences.

Travel Channel
CNN Entertainment
USA Today

Blogging - Writing vs. Speaking

I don't know about you, but when I think of blogging, I think of writing (or typing). However, I learned about a new website called "Voice Thread" which is a way to do a talking blog.

Visit the Voice Thread link below and watch the short presentation about writing an argument essay. If the presentation doesn't automatically start, click the play button (shown to the right of here). Once you've watched it, report back. Did you like the "talking blog" that was Voice Thread?

http://voicethread.com/#q+writing.b240964.i1254955

More Vocabulary?

Do you want to do more vocabulary? Try this link. http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/Choice/Level%20A/Level%20A%20Unit%201/multiplechoice.html.

Report back on how you did!

Vocabulary - Word of the Day

The Merriam-Webster website is really great! You can find an online dictionary, thesaurus, Spanish-English translator, and even definitions for medical terms! (To visit the site, click here.)

One of my favorite things at the site is the "word of the day" archive. This lets you see different past words of the day and you can click on any one to view the definition. So let's work on some vocabulary today. Please visit the link below and click on the word listed for any 3 days. Write down each word and definition. Then come back here & report what you found!

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/wodcalendar.pl

I'll start with one that you might already know!

May 13, 2009
calamari: squid used as food

Remember, do that, but for 3 words! :-)

Writing - When do you capitalize a title for someone?

Have you ever wondered when you should capitalize the title for someone? Sometimes it can be hard to know when it's correct and when you don't need to do that. The following rule comes from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) site.

Capitalize titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names.

Example 1.) She worked as the assistant to Mayor Hanolovi.

Example 2.) I was able to interview Miriam Moss, mayor of Littonville.

Notice that when the title of "mayor" comes before the name (as you see in example 1), it must be capitalized. When that title comes after the name, it does not need to be capitalized. If you're not using a name at all and just using the title, it does not need to be capitalized. An example of that is shown below.

Example 3.) Mr. Brown was interviewed by the principal of the school.

Now you try! Write two sentences that involve a title. Make sure you follow the two rules from the OWL site and write those sentences correctly. Some sample titles to use are below.

officer
pastor
commissioner
mayor
governor
councilman / councilwoman
bailiff
judge

Tell me a story - May's edition

Let's work on some creative (and fun) writing! For this edition of "tell me a story," I'd like you to compose a short story (4-8 sentences long) and to incorporate the following items: flowers, rain, rabbits, 2 red pens, a laptop computer, and a local park. Remember to write your sentences correctly and be creative! Your stories can be funny, serious, romantic, or just plain odd! It's up to you!