My daughter has enjoyed reading the blog posts of Jane Espenson, whose niche is screen writing, because she hopes to one day become a screenwriter.
You all have a Google Reader account and hopefully subscribe to blogs about your passion. You can use one of those blog posts as a model to begin your journey in writing about your niche.
As you leave this class, I hope that you will continue to blog and discover that you have a niche that is worth writing about and that your audience will enjoy reading. You can continue to use the blog you have created or you can start all over. Edublogs uses the wordpress platform, so you can switch to wordpress if you desire.
One last note, if you decide you would like to continue blogging, I encourage you to sign up for 31 days to Build a Better Blog. You will receive a blog tip in the form of an e-mail everyday.
Good luck, and I have enjoyed having all of you in class.
First, go to the Save the Words web page. Register to adopt a word.
Register as a new user, but do NOT include personal information. Use your student email account.
Next, pick out a word to adopt. When you adopt the word, it will ask you if you want to order a shirt; skip this ad.
Go to your student email to see your adoption certificate.
Finally, write a blog post with this word and also decide how to use the word in a conversation. In your blog post, let us know your plan for incorporating your adoptive word into a conversation.
See Mrs. Seale’s example blog post below:
I adopted the word tragematopolist at Save the Words. While researching the origination of this word, I discovered that it was used in the 17th century, and it means a seller of sweets. This word is not commonly used today, but Save the Words is trying to keep this word from disappearing. Maybe this blog post will inspire readers to use tragematopolist in other blog posts or in conversation. I am planning to introduce this word to my children today. A new neighborhood with a shopping area is being developed within bike riding distance from our house. The new neighborhood will feature small shops on a town square. I am going to tell my children that I hope that a tragematopolist will open up shop on the square. I am sure my children will be confused by my statement, but I will encourage them to discover the meaning of the word, and I just might reward the one who figures out what it means first with a trip to the tragematopolist.
Congratulations on learning so much about a third world country!
This will be your last third world country post. I would like for you to reflect on what you have learned. Do you think it is important that students learn about people and other cultures on our planet?
Also, do you think America has a responsibility to help countries that are struggling with famine, war, disease, and other issues?
For this last post on a third world country, I am asking you to consider the questions above and write a well thought out post that demonstrates honest reflection.
Your PSA should focus on a strong message, such as, an environmental concern, a natural disaster, a human rights violation, an economic problem, or a social issue.
You need to explain the problem. Use facts and visuals that will gain the attention of your audience.
Focus on changing minds, calling to action, and raising awareness.
End the PSA with organizations and websites that your audience can go to for additional information or to help.
We are going to find out what your fellow students know about third world countries.
Develop a list of 10 insightful questions to determine if other students are knowledgeable about the third world and the country you have been blogging about.
First, write a blog post listing the 10 insightful questions, and your rationale for each question. In the same post, predict the outcome of your survey. How do you think Bryant students will answer your questions?
Example question and rationale:
Looking at this map, what are the names of the countries in the shaded area?
Rationale: I created this question to find out if Bryant students know the names and locations of third world countries.
Prediction: I predict that students will be able to name some African countries, but they will not be able to point out their locations.
Blog posts must be up by Monday. You cannot interview students until you have created a blog post. We will begin interviewing on Tuesday during 1st block. I will find classes that will allow us to interview students. If you want to interview your friends or people you know, then you will have to make arrangements to do that during lunch. I will allow you to check out the camera or ipod during lunch, but it must be returned before the end of lunch.
Create any props you might need for the interview before Tuesday. The example above would require a print out of the map. You will also need to decide if you want to make an audio (voice only using the iTalk feature of the ipods) or a visual (flip camera) interview. If you choose to create a video, you must make sure that we cannot identify the student you are interviewing. Be creative in avoiding full face shots. You can also use props to cover the students face.
