Listen to two people talking (either live or on T.V.) for a few minutes. Watch what they do with their hands, face, and body. Notice whether they listen to each other, talk over each other, or hesitate before they speak. What do they say? What do they do as they speak? What do you think they are feeling during this conversation?

The kids then shared their homework (if they wanted to – and many did) with the rest of the class. Below is an example of a student that watched a scene from the movie “Parent Trap.”

What do they say?

“Hallie, we got a major problem, said Annie. “Dad is in love with a different girl! You and Mom need to come to California.”
What do they do as they speak?

Annie is talking to Hallie on the phone. Hallie goes into her closet to talk because she doesn’t want to be heard. Annie is talking on the phone and hiding in the bathroom.

What do you think they are feeling during this conversation?

Annie doesn’t know what to do.

Next, we created a paragraph that included the setting, dialogue, emotions, and action all mixed together.

“Hallie, we got a major problem, “said Annie. Annie is talking to Hallie on the phone. “Dad, is in love with a different girl!” Hallie goes into her closet to talk because she doesn’t want to be heard. Annie doesn’t know what to do. “You and Mom need to come to California,” said Annie. She is talking on the phone and hiding in the bathroom.

I was able to use my TabletPC and Microsoft Journal to project this on the board for them. This way I could also use various colors for each type of sentence (dialogue, emotion, etc.). In this way, we were able to see how pure dialogue can be expanded into a short, descriptive scene by adding these details.

Here is a screen capture of the journal page.

As I travel through this unit logging my experience, please also check out my wikispace for updates. I will eventually be posting all of my assignments there while I use this blog for reflections.

Stay tuned for the next writing adventure . . .

This summer I spent some time getting “wired” myself. I was inspired by a presentation made by our Director of Academic Technologies on an inservice day in February. Next, I was invited to a technology conference in May. I didn’t have my first computer experience until I was taught Basic on an Apple IIE in 5th grade. Today’s kids are different, and if I don’t figure some of these things out I will not be able to help my students navigate through “Life 2.0.”

Here is what I’ve been up to:

1) I set up this blog. Those people who know me best know that I am always someone with something to say. Therefore, putting it into writing in the form of a blog was a natural fit for me. For those of you who are intimidated by the idea of blogging – take heart! There are still many way to get “wired.”

2) I set up a wiki as a space to write, share, and further organize notes. I was given a summer grant which involved a lot of reading. It was a new and different way to take notes. Now I don’t have to retype them later, and I can edit them as many times as I like. Click on the link to see what I have accomplished so far. This is a much more efficient way to work with a group than by emailing documents back and forth.

3) I joined Classroom 2.0. This is a great social networking site designed for educators. I set up my own page and was surprised by how quickly I began to connect with other teachers across the world. For those of you who are reluctant bloggers, it is a way to write short blurbs without the pressures of maintaining your very own site.

4) I began reading other people’s blogs. I use Netvibes as my RSS aggregator (a way to organize the blogs I subscribe to). I am in the process of linking some of these blogs to this blog so you can check them out yourselves. I have a mixture of blogs written by teachers and class blogs where the writing comes from the students. I hope to set up a blog for my class in the future as part of our writing curriculum.

5) I set up my family road trip on GoogleMaps. I was able to figure out the best route from place to place and link placemarks to webpages for lodging, attractions, restaurants, traffic information, etc. I could also share the link to my map with my family members ahead of time so they could comment on what excited them. Click here to see where we went!

So you can see why I am energized for this year in a new way. Far from being overwhelmed by technology (as I used to be)I am now inspired and trying out a “can-do” mentality. I know that embracing these things has enhanced my life, and I will begin to translate some of these new ideas to my teaching this year.

Think of it as an adventure!