As you read The Diary of Anne Frank (playscript by Goodrich and Hackett), respond to the play on your blog. It doesn’t matter what you respond to, specifically, or which parts, as long as you are responding. A few “starters” that might help:

• I liked reading… because…
• I disliked reading… because…
• I noticed …
• I wonder …
• I wish …
• This reminds me of …
• My favourite word/image/phrase is … because …
• I don’t understand …
• Now I understand …
• I think this is about … because …
• Some questions I have are …
• This makes me feel … because …
• I was impressed by … because …
• I think this means … because …
• Something really bothering me is …
• I predict … because …

If you’re really stuck, use this document to guide you through Act 1:  enga08-good-and-evil-act-1-activities. (You don’t have to answer all the questions!)

Please aim to respond AT LEAST 4 times before you finish reading the text. (That’s twice per Act.) And you don’t have to like what you’re reading — just respond to it in some way. If you don’t like it, say so! And say why!

Don’t forget you can also respond to other students’ blogs in the comments!

Image by Franco Folini licensed under CC2.0

Not the name of the next horror film at Vincom, Do I dare disturb the universe is the headline for this years National Poetry Month (and of course the lines from T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” WOW! A whole month devoted to poetry. But what on earth could you do for whole month to celebrate poetry? Well the good folks from poets.org have a WHOLE MONTHS worth of suggestions to keep you going!

What better way to celebrate National Poetry Month than to write poetry. A few years ago, a few folks got together and set themselves a challenge to write 1 new poem everyday for the month of April. It didn’t take long for the fun to spread around the world and NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) was born. We are already a couple of days into April but it’s never too late to start! Add your poems to your blog or keep a notebook.  Remember, this kind of activity is about quantity not quality – just let the words fly!

If NaPoWriMo sounds a little bit too much for you, poets.org recommends 30 different activities to enjoy National Poetry Month. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Put some poetry in an unexpected place – why not leave a poem somewhere unlikely to brighten someones day. Pin it to a noticeboard. Email it to a friend or leave it in a locker. 
2. Get out the sidewalk chalk and commit a poem to pavement – just like the title says, find a poem you like and share it with the community. Don’t forget to check with the owner of the pavement first!
3. Poem-a-day – if writing a poem a day for NaPoWriMo sounds a little tough, why not try reading a poem a day. Sign up and have a poem delivered to you inbox everyday! Nice.
4. Celebrate poem in your pocket day – Thursday April 30 2009 is Poem in your pocket day and this means people from all over will be carrying their favourite poem of the month (or ever!) in their pocket and sharing it with their peers. 
5. Start a commonplace book – as the proverb goes, “great wits have short memories”. Why not save your memory all the trouble by copying down and collecting some of your favourite poems.

National Poetry Month is held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets celebrate poetry.

Image

National Poetry Month Poster 2009

[Edit: I've found a couple more blogs definitely worth mentioning. See below!]

Continuing with our recent push to expand your community, read others’ blogs and thereby develop an audience for your OWN blog, in this post I’m going to point out a few more blogs that deserve some attention. Maybe you’d like to read a few and connect with the writers?

Thanks to Sue over at The Edublogger and my Twitter network, I am finding heaps more blogs by students your age from around the world.  Here are some of my latest finds:

• Mr. Pepper has a class of students in grades 7 and 8 who are blogging. Recent “Honourable Mentions” worth visiting:
  • Austin’s blog: Austin posts an interesting questionnaire — feel free to answer it.
  • Bailey is writing lots of interesting poetry and some very introspective and thoughtful posts.
  • Morgan is blogging about rather inspring topics like what she is grateful for and how to look forward to the future — very positive if you’re having a rough day!
  • Melanie is also writing very thought-provoking poetry and posts.
• Over at Eight is Great I found these student bloggers:
  • Ryan is writing extensive book reviews, and about what he does on the weekend.
  • Alex writes about field hockey and his annoying little sister.
  • Jaime writes a very funny story about his trip to see the movie Taken.
• Thinwalls / Upload way up in northern Canada has a stack of busy student bloggers, too:
  • Tyler has been blogging about the book The Wave and about Venice, Italy.
  • Zelnaga blogs a lot about South Africa
  • Skyler – “Random words from a Random kid” – blogs about Australia, bionic eyes, and music. Yep, random!
  • Logyn shares her history of blogging and RSS. She also writes about Cairo.
  • Devon likes to tell you about his latest World of Warcraft adventures, the World Wildlife Fund, and his project city – one you all know quite well – Bangkok!
  • Clarisse has been blogging about some very interesting current events, including things happening in Tibet, Africa (with the Pope’s visit) and recent studies about red meat. She also uses her blog for vocabulary words.
• Do you love the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer and the film, too? Check out this Twilight fan-blog, created by a fan, Stephie, aged 14. She also runs a joint blog with another friend with different content, called Taking It Further.
• MeghnaK in India is 13 years old and writes about all sorts of things — school, ugly cats, poetry, SMS from her best friends, and more. She has a very big fan base, with lots of comments. Check her out!

Hopefully you’ve found a few places to sit, read, and comment. And if you come across any other really cool blogs — they don’t have to be student blogs, by the way — then please leave the URL in the comments below this post! Or, even better — blog about it yourself!

Happy reading! I look forward to seeing your blogs grow!

[Image created using Sign Generator]

Looking Back by WTL photos
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Now that you’ve finished reading the entire text of Twelfth Night, have viewed several performances (including film, stage, and those of your classmates), and contributed to your own performance within this silly play, it’s time to look back and consider where you’ve been.

1. How important is merry-making in society?  This was our central unit question — now that you’ve studied a very silly play, complete with heaps of merry-making, what do you think? Is merry-making important? How? When? Why?
2. What do you know now, at the end of our unit, that you didn’t before? Perhaps you now know a couple of lines of Shakespeare. Or maybe you’ve learned how to better speak in front of an audience. Or perhaps you now know how to work better in a group. Or you know that having fun really is the most important part of creating a play. Or you’ve learned that creativity requires long periods of time in order to “get into it.”  Whatever it is — please tell your readers what you’ve learned in our unit.

Heroes : M by FredArmitage
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1. Look carefully at Antonio’s speech in 3.4.316-321.
2. Paraphrase it (put into your own words).
3. Comment on it.
4. Give some of your own examples of what he is talking about. Use experiences you’ve had, seen, or heard about. 

Friendlies by moriza
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Last week I wrote about how important it is to check out what is happening on other blogs in your community, and I suggested a few places for you to begin.  I hope you had a chance to look around. I know at least one of you did (he was brave enough to share his very insightful reflection on his own blog).

This week I’d like to challenge you to start leaving comments on other people’s blogs — and not just those of your friends. Browse around, see what you can find that interests you. Are there people writing things about what you’re interested in? Do you read something and think, “Hey, I disagree,” or “Yeah, I agree and this is why”? If so, that means it’s time for you to join in the conversation. Leave a comment!  And don’t forget to include YOUR blog’s URL in that comment form.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, look here for an example of what that comment form might look like:

So, your assignment this week: leave at least 3 comments on others’ blogs outside our UNIS community. If you like you may also leave comments on blogs within our community, too.  And see what starts happening to your blog — is your audience growing? 

You’ve had lots of time now to look at your own blogs and those of your classmates here at UNIS. But have you had a chance to see what other students just like you are doing and saying out there in the blogosphere?

Browse around on the following pages… see if you like (or don’t like!) what you see. Perhaps you might even like to leave a comment? Hopefully you will find something that inspires you to write (or read) more than you already are!

• Collaboration Nation – A Middle School Blog – On this site, scroll down and look at the right sidebar. You will see a heading that says Students 08-09. View a few students’ blogs.
• Eight is Great — Another 8th grade class blog with individual student blogs on the sidebar blogroll (look to the right). Browse around, read a few!
• Upload — Formerly known as Thin Walls Blog, this is a class blog from wayyyyy up in snowy Canada.  Look for student blogs in the blogroll again (right side).

The Calm After the Show by Thomas Hawk
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Hanover: police strange parking 15.851.09 by Juergen Kurlvink
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• Have you ever played a practical joke on someone, or been the victim of a practical joke? Write about your experience, making parallels between what happened to you and what’s happening to Malvolio.
• Make a list of all the epithets that are used for characters in 2.5 (e.g. “rascally sheep-biter,” “overweening rogue”).

network by Librarian by Day
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Your next blog post in response to Twelfth Night is going to be an interesting one.  It’s visual and could even be artistic if you want. Here goes:

Draw a diagram or chart that shows the characters and their relationships to each other. 

Ways you can do this and then post on your blog:

• draw it, then take a photo of it and post it on your blog
• draw it, then scan it and post it on your blog
• use Inspiration to create this diagram / chart, then take a screen shot of the diagram and post it on your blog
• find another piece of software that will allow you to do this… this is your challenge if you are a risk-taker!  Ideas:
  • Try out Gliffy.com, an online diagram tool
  • J-Painter might also suit your needs
  • Want something more advanced for drawing? Try Project Draw.
  • Several mind-mapping tools are also available and SUPER easy:
    • Mindmeister - sign up for a free basic account
    • Mindomo - quite simple, in beta
    • Mind42 – that’s Mind For Two