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Paste a copy of your PUBLISHED  Personal Narrative in a comment box.

When you post it HERE, you are saying your Personal Narrative is the best it can be.  There will be no changes  after it is posted HERE.

Make sure that you post a final copy in your WNB:Personal Narrative TOO.

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VOCABULARY:
dish
diffuse
altercation

DISCUSSION:

Why, despite winning 127 games over the last two seasons,do the Dallas Mavericks consider those years failures?

How has coach Avery Johnson responded?

What key on-court change did the Mavs make?

Click HERE to READ the article!

Thumbnail from usatoday.com

Click HERE to VOTE!

Thumbnail from  www.snapshotpics.com

With your partner, work on the following task:

• -RA:Read Aloud Nominations
• Bill Nye:Measurement
• USA Today DQs (Select ONE)

Make sure both USERNAMES are at the top of your postings.

VOCABULARY:
tweak
journeymen
marginally

Multiple Choice: 
1. Which phrase best describes
the Cleveland Cavaliers attitude
going into this season?
a.) cautiously optimistic
b.) gloomy
c.) uncertain
d.) very confident
2. In the article, reporter Roscoe
Nance writes that general manager
Danny Ferry is “choosing his words
carefully.” What does he mean?
a.) Ferry is lying.
b.) Ferry is trying to remain neutral.
c.) Ferry doesn’t have an opinion.
d.) Ferry can’t talk very well.
3. According to the concluding
quote, which phrase best
describes Cleveland coach Mike
Brown’s feelings about the team?
a.) He hates them.
b.) He thinks they could be better.
c.) He thinks they will win the title.
d.) He only likes LeBron James.

DISCUSSION: Why didn’t the Cleveland Cavaliers offseason go as expected?

How do experts view the Cavs’ chances to defend their Eastern Conference title?

What prevented the team from making roster moves?

Click to READ the article!

Thumbnail from www.arps.org

The Catch

A sea of red was slowly filling the new state-of-the-art stadium designed to bring baseball’s best fans a ballpark to match. The sun beat straight down from the heavens as I sat on a hard red bleacher seat spitting sports banter back and forth like a tennis match with my cousin, Don, admiring the dramatic view of the Gateway Arch.

A group of boys to our left were being obnoxious in their quest to score a baseball from one of their beloved Redbirds. “Hey Edmonds, toss me a ball,” yelled a broad shoulder boy decked out in Cardinal gear.

“My Mom thinks I’m a good boy,” said a little lad with hint of sarcasm in his screechy voice. Wouldn’t it be cool if a player gave a ball to someone else in the bleachers, I thought as I watched the annoying entourage bag for a souvenir.

“Who is with the girl in the white hat?” shouted a high pitch voice from over my shoulder. I glanced back and saw a slender lady pointing towards the lush green outfield. I stared straight down onto the field at a Cardinals player holding a ball from his outstretched arm asking if I was the parent of the girl in the white Redbirds lid with pink stitching with a point from her to me. My body language told him proudly that I was the father.

Is he going to give Mary a ball? I thought to myself. Instantly the ball ascended upwards like a balloon towards my outstretched arm. My eyes zoomed in on the flying object like an owl about to snatch its prey. Do not choke raced through my brain as the ball got closer and closer. SMACK! The ball hit my bare hand and stuck like a fly caught to tape.

I slowly lean over and handed the ball to Mary as my brain overloaded with childhood dreams of snagging a ball at a game. She looked up at me with wide round eyes and said with a twinkle of excitement, “He must know it is my birthday!”

Select from the list of  read alouds below. Please share a few reasons why you think your selection for read aloud  would be a great experience for our class.

Crash by Jerry Spinelli

The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte

It’s a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison

Night Hoops by Carl Deuker

The Last Shot by John Feinstein

Roughnecks by Thomas Cochran

Brian’s Song by William Blinn

Honus & Me by Dan Gutman

Thumbnail from www.fpanet.org

What were some of the most important words related to the topic, and what do they mean?

List a few things you learnt from the video.

Did any parts of the video puzzle or confuse you?

Why is this topic important?

Have you had experiences in your life that help you understand this topic?

BONUS QUESTIONS 

What are some units of measurement for length?

What are some units of measurement for length?

What are examples of things we measure?

What are some tools we use to measure? 

Thumbnail from BillNye.com

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

This your PERSONAL ESSAY folder only. Post your work in the comment boxes.

Conversational topics that get you excited, or news stories that make your blood boil or get you laughing out loud, are likely to be provide good fodder for essays. Small gripes and observations also offer worthwhile material.

However ‘big’ or small’ the subject is, however important or trivial it might seem on the surface, make sure you set it in a frame that allows your reader to identify, empathize, and be involved.

The hook is the device you use to get your reader’s attention. It’s the doorway through which you welcome and orient them to the piece. Try using:

*          A question. (“When was the last time you went without a meal?”)

*          A quotation from someone famous or something you’ve read/overhead. (“Be careful” were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.

*          A strong statement that your essay will either support or dispute. (“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”)

*          A metaphor. (“The starlings in my back garden are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words. The crows all belong to the same biker gang. You need to know their secret sign to join their club.)

*          A description of a person or setting. (“Michael once mowed the lawns around Municipal Hall wearing a frilly apron, high heels and nylons, with a pillow stuffed under his sweater so he looked pregnant. And it wasn’t even Halloween.”)

Write as evocatively as possible. Employ all the senses. Using sight comes naturally to most writers; push harder to convey ideas and images through sound, taste, touch, and hearing.

*          Think of your essay as a camera lens. You might start by describing a fine detail (your personal experience or perspective, a specific moment in the narrative), then open up the lens to take in the wide view (the general/global backdrop), then close the piece by narrowing back to the fine detail. Or go the other way. Start with the wide view, focus in, then open up to the wide view again.

*          Take your ideas from wherever you can. Note your reactions to everything, pursue passing preoccupations and distractions, consider what makes you, glad, angry, passionate in what you read, see and hear. Mine your own past for incidents, images, lessons and epiphanies.

*          In a personal essay you have the freedom to think what you like on a subject, but your reader should go away with a good idea of why you feel that way.

Many forms of writing require authors to keep themselves out of the story. Writing personal essays and opinion pieces allow you to have your say, and guarantees you an audience who’s willing to listen.

By Lois J. Peterson

http://www.poewar.com/having-your-say-writing-personal-essays/