Twilight-Fantasy

What do you think of the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer?

Johnny Tremain - Historical Fiction

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The refresher English class is reading Johnny Tremain and we are getting close to the end of the book. I have heard many students discussing the book and that they have opinions about the books. I would like to see you share them. Once you have read the originating post for this blog about how this blog is supposed to work, then you may choose what you will blog about:

* Read through the topics listed in the original post and find one you have something to say about.
* What research do you think the author would have done to make the book successful?
* What did you learn about the world, history, art, politics, science, etc. through this book? (It's okay to just read for enjoyment, but sometimes you really get to spark your interest in other areas as well.)
* The choices you make in life will help to determine the direction your life will take. What choices could Johnny Tremain have made differently that would have changed his life forever? You can go back to the beginning of the novel, or use any of the choices he has made since the beginning.

Be sure that as you respond to this post that you include examples from the text that are proving your "point." Be specific in details and in your opinions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is fiction set in a past time period that actually existed. Some works of historical fiction include actual historical characters. Writers may have these characters reenacting actual events, or they may have them act in unhistorical ways. Historical fiction may also contain characters that are entirely the product of the author's imagination. However, the author should conduct extensive research on the historical period so that the characters he or she creates hold attitudes and beliefs similar to those of real people at that time.

Directions for making comments to this post:

1. Use the first line of your comment to put the book title, author, book level, and point value. (These can be found by logging into the Accelerated Reader program and searching for your book title.)
2. You need to write a minimum of 2 paragraphs within your comment to meet the writing requirements for this class.
3. We want more than just a plot summary. We would like to see you think for yourself and tell us your opinions, beliefs, emotions, and connections you have made to the novel. (See the original post for more ideas for post entries.)
   
4. Spelling, grammar and punctuation will be considered part of your grade, so please use the spell checker button at the top of the comment screen (an ABC checkmark).
5. If you are commenting on a post written by another student or a post by the teacher, remember that you are to be polite, constructive, and add information not just agreeing with the what the person said. Be sure to address that person by name so it is not confusing who you are talking to. (ie. Amanda, I liked what you said about... then add your own comments.)
6. If you are referring to a web site, please include the address by copying and pasting it into your post. (There is a link button at the top of this screen to paste the address into so it will make a live link.)

Fantasy

Fantasy writing is a work that takes place in an unreal world and features incredible characters and events.

Directions for making comments to this post:

1. Use the first line of your comment to put the book title, author, book level, and point value. (These can be found by logging into the Accelerated Reader program and searching for your book title.)
2. You need to write a minimum of 2 paragraphs within your comment to meet the writing requirements for this class.
3. We want more than just a plot summary. We would like to see you think for yourself and tell us your opinions, beliefs, emotions, and connections you have made to the novel. (See the original post for more ideas for post entries.)
   
4. Spelling, grammar and punctuation will be considered part of your grade, so please use the spell checker button at the top of the comment screen (an ABC checkmark).
5. If you are commenting on a post written by another student or a post by the teacher, remember that you are to be polite, constructive, and add information not just agreeing with the what the person said. Be sure to address that person by name so it is not confusing who you are talking to. (ie. Amanda, I liked what you said about... then add your own comments.)
   
6. If you are referring to a web site, please include the address by copying and pasting it into your post. (There is a link button at the top of this screen to paste the address into so it will make a live link.)

Nonfiction

Nonfiction is the broadest category of literature, even though it might be the most limited for Accelerated Reader books we have in our library. Nonfiction is often published in much shorter formats so they might not have AR tests. Nonfiction includes:

• autobiographies
• biographies
• journals
• memoirs
• diaries
• letters
• essays
• speeches
• travelogues
• news articles
• reports
• and many more....

Directions for making comments to this post:

1. Use the first line of your comment to put the book title, author, book level, and point value. (These can be found by logging into the Accelerated Reader program and searching for your book title.)
2. You need to write a minimum of 2 paragraphs within your comment to meet the writing requirements for this class.
3. We want more than just a plot summary. We would like to see you think for yourself and tell us your opinions, beliefs, emotions, and connections you have made to the novel. (See the original post for more ideas for post entries.)
   
4. Spelling, grammar and punctuation will be considered part of your grade, so please use the spell checker button at the top of the comment screen (an ABC checkmark).
5. If you are commenting on a post written by another student or a post by the teacher, remember that you are to be polite, constructive, and add information not just agreeing with the what the person said. Be sure to address that person by name so it is not confusing who you are talking to. (ie. Amanda, I liked what you said about... then add your own comments.)
6. If you are referring to a web site, please include the address by copying and pasting it into your post. (There is a link button at the top of this screen to paste the address into so it will make a live link.)
   

Let's Talk About Books

I have been struggling with the best way to talk with students about books. I can honestly say that I love to read, and my continuing quest is to help students find books that will love. I have tried many different electronic methods to share what we call "AR journals." These journals are based off of the Accelerated Reader books our students are reading. Now I know that when AR is 20% of a student's grade, then the concept of reading for pleasure is not exactly accurate. However, we try to make reading as much a pleasure as possible. We are hoping that by creating a blog about books, that this will foster a conversation about those books. That the students will read each other's posts and find other books they want to read.

I am going to post some guidelines for the students to get started. And that is just it ... we just want this to be a place to get started with these conversations. We are hoping that they will take off on their own in different directions and get to the real conversations that students should be having about books.

Read the following links before you begin this week's blog:

• Writing an effective blog entry
  
• How to post to this blog
• Blogging Guidelines (long but you can skim it)
  

Some ideas for what you could blog about:

• Why did you choose this book?
  
• What is the subject of this book?
• What books have you read that are similar to this one?
  
• What genre is this book? What other books have you read from that genre? What can you expect will be similar between most books and this genre?
• Discuss the author and what you can expect from him or her. What is their style of writing? What makes them easy, intriguing, difficult, etc.
• What is interesting about the title or the chapter titles?
• How did the author use shifts in time? (Flashback, flash-forward, and foreshadowing?)
• How quickly or slowly did the author move the plot? Was there enough action and character development?
• Did the plot ring true? Would characters act and react this way? Were the circumstances of the story believable? Did it matter?
• Was the talk realistic? Could we hear the individual characters' voices? What did the dialogue show about the moods, ages, intentions, and backgrounds of the characters?
• Did it make you laugh, cry, mad, or any other emotion? Why?
• Did you wonder what would happen next? How does the author keep it suspenseful? Were there any surprises?
• Does the author use short paragraphs or chapters? Sentence fragments? British spellings? Why did the author write this way?
• Does the author use any creative jokes, allusions, or pays on words in interesting ways?
• Was there a surprise ending?
• Was the resolution believable?
• Is there an epilogue, what was the effect of it?
• Compare this book to others you have read.
• What research do you think the author would have done to make the book successful?
• What did you learn about the world, history, art, politics, science, etc. through this book? (It's okay to just read for enjoyment, but sometimes you really get to spark your interest in other areas as well.)
  

But to get started here are some guidelines for posting to this blogs:

• The first few times you use this blog, you will need to reply/respond to the thread named Johnny Tremain, or pick the appropriate book from the threads on the right side. If you don't see your own book listed, please post your own blog starter. We would like to see all the entries for each individual book posted once then replied to for each entry after that. That way, all posts about a particular book, author, or genre are together.
• Your entries will each be at least a coherent paragraph (5 to 7 sentences). If I expect longer entries, it will say that in the guidelines for the thread. Spelling and grammar counts on your grade. There will be no belittling of other students or ideas, just remarks on the accuracy of information and additional comments.
  
• The teacher can delete any of the posts that might be inappropriate.
• The posts you make are visible to the world, so be sure that what you are posting is spelled correctly and that you use proper grammar and punctuation.
• In my experience, blogs have been helpful in organizing my thoughts and evaluating what others feel on topics. It is much easier to write a paper after using discussion boards or blogs because they tend to link information together based on specific topics.
• You will also be asked to make comments to other posts as part of your grade. Each week you should have at least two comments posted. This means you will need to read the posts by others and then make comments back. (Click here for suggestions of how to make a quality comment.)