Assignment 3, Headline, Caption, Story

Often enough we find ourselves reading through a magazine, newspaper, or just surfing the web. Your assignment is to select from anyone of the above images and create a news story (5 to 7 paragraphs) that goes along with the image. Keep in mind the essential purpose of any news story is to inform the reader.
You must tell the reader, what happened, why it happened, where it took place, who was envolved, and when it took place. You may also provide any additional information that you find essential to the storyline. This is any exercise in creative writing; so have fun with it.

Assignment 1, Blogger Bio

First of all, congrats on taking a step in the right direction. Life is difficult and it's never fun to make-up for things you messed up the first time, but here you are anyway doing the work and trying to obtain your English credit (one man stands and starts to clap, soon the entire room is filled with applause).

Currently, I teach in the All Nations program. I have two 9th grade sections and one "Honors" English with students ranging from 9th-12th grade. Many of my classes are smaller than the other teachers at my school, however, I still get burned out on paper work. To help out with this, you will not be turning in any hard copy assignments. Instead all of your work will be done through the management of your blog.

Your first assignment is to create a post telling me about yourself. The post should be no less than five paragraphs (I hate telling you the required length, so please don't ask. Instead, write the post the necessary length in order to do a high quality job. Then if it needs to be longer, or even shorter I'll let you know in the comments section). The topic of the post is YOU! I would like to know a bit about yourself, who you are, what you like, what you don't like, most importantly why you missed out on that English credit in the first place. This should be done in your own words, so if you need to express some anger go for it, but please no profanity.

Alright, that's it for this one...oh whoops I almost forgot. In addition to the post you'll need to add all the links to your fellow classmates blogs. The web addresses can be found by clicking on the links listed at the top of my blog.

Assignment 2, Check Please

First
Visit one of the following websites in attempt to bypass the district server
www.lurk.be
www.vtunnel.com
www.figtyourschool.com
www.myspaceproxy365.com

use the searchbox on the bottom to visit www.martinlutherking.org

What information surprises you?

Write down your first reactions to what you view and what your "learn."


Now
Now check the sources for these website(s).

What feelings do you have now?

Write your reactions to these website(s).

What are the dangers to taking things at face value?

Why is it important to check your sources?

What does this tell you about the reliability about some websites?

Finally
Create a post that covers the topic of taking things at face value. How often do you hear something or read something and just assume that it's accurate? Discuss these events in a short blog, no less than five paragraphs. Feel free to add personal accounts discussing miss-information.

Assignment 2, Right Off Your Block

Mining the places you have lived can be a great way to unearth ideas. Too often we feel that the places we were born and raised lack the sort of exoticism that will attract readers. We think this because the places are not exotic to us. We take them for granted. Believe me, I share this feeling. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, which is synonymous with, even symbolic of, cheese.
Of course, what is ordinary to us can be exotic to someone else. The key is being able to truly see the world around you, finding the details that evoke it. A world that is keenly evoked will be exotic to those who don't know it well and will allow those who do know it well to see it with fresh eyes. So don't dismiss the place where you live or where you grew up as bereft of idea possibilities. In fact, it's probably full of them. If you aren't seeing them, look harder. If you hear yourself say, "Nothing happens where I grow up," or, "It's just a normal, typical place," then your missing something. The words "normal" or "typical," are a writer's enemies. They tell us you're not seeing beneath the surface, and readers come to writers for help in seeing beneath the surface. You must follow the command of Ezra Pound's artistic commandment to "make it new."

1) Draw a map of the neighborhood where you've grown up. If you grew up in several neighborhoods, draw maps of each or choose one from among them. On the map(s), write who lived where, note places where events, large or small, took place.

2) Find your city and state in a road atlas. Look at the place through the eyes of a traveler, someone who has never been there before. Note the names of highways and counties, rivers and places of interest. Write these down as though they are unfamiliar to you.Which ones would you like to see? Continue your investigation of this place by thumbing through a travel guide. Note places of interest, and note details that you didn't know about or had forgotten. Find out if you can have 2 or 3 tourist brochures sent to your home.

3) Research the history of the places you lived. Find out how they were settled, which tribes of American Indians lived there. What events in the past helped to shape the identity of this place? What cultural forces helped shape it? Of course, take notes.

4) What is the public perception of your city, state or region? In other words, what do people who don't live there think about--or think they know about--where you live? For example, some people who are not from the South believe it to be a backward, slow-paced world of politically conservative views. We think of southern California as a place of glamour and hedonism. How is your area perceived? Start big, with a region or state, and move to the small. For example, I live on the NE side of Minneapolis, which is seen as the_________________ by people from the South side of Minneapolis.

5) Now that you've gotten yourself ready...it's time to bring it all together. Use your information to write a short-story based off of your home community experience. This means that you base the setting, the characters, and even some of the events off of your actual neighborhood.

Heffron, Jack, The Writer’s Idea Book. Cincinnati, OH: Writers Digest Books, 2000
Heffron, Jack, The Writer’s Idea Book. Cincinnati, OH: Writers Digest Books, 2000

Introduction to Credit Make-Up

Welcome students,
This is a blog that is dedicated to the English credit make-up class, at South High. The class meets on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the school year from 3pm to 4:30 pm. Students will be asked to create their own blogs and act as correspondents with one another to demonstrate some of the learning that has taken place.
So far the class is made-up of many different students ranging from 9th grade to 12th. Some students come to seventh hour every week and some come every other. Regardless, the must all put forth an equal amount of hours and effort if they wish to earn credit.
The class maintains a relaxed atmosphere and is centered on the students' interest. Thus far we have examined short-stories, media literacy, creative writing, and more recently, persuasive writing. The blogs that the students create will focus on demonstrating their knowledge in these topics and more.
Once again, welcome to the Seventh Hour and feel free to look around the blog or if you are a South High student who is looking for an English credit, stop by room 134B yourself. We are always willing to admit new students and everyone who sticks around receives bus tokens to use for transportation home.