The Electronic Pencil

In class, we worked on writing and performing Poems for Two Voices, in which two people read the same poem. The poems are designed for voices to weave in and out on a topic, and our young poets did a fantastic job.

Take a listen:

• Group One
• Group Two
• Group Three
• Mr. H and Mr. M read a poem (written by Mr. H)

We hope you enjoy our voices!

(a comic in haiku)

As we move deeper into poetry, we worked on writing Haikus on Friday. A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that is a 5-7-5 format (based on syllables) and traditional Haikus focus on nature. We wrote two haikus: one traditional and one non-traditional.

Some students then podcasted one of their poems.

Listen to a collection of Haikus from across all four classes.

Have a nice vacation!

– Mr. H

As we explore Figurative Language techniques, we are learning more ways that the writer can engage the reader in exciting ways. One interesting technique is known as Alliteration and the classic tongue twister is a great example of alliteration (the repeating starting sound for a series of words).

In class, we worked on our own tongue twisters and some students shared their words through a podcast.

You can take a listen here.

Here are four tongue twisters that Mr. Hodgson created for all four teachers.

Mr. Hodgson hopes he has happy students here and in the hallways. However, he’s helping hippos to hop, too, so he’s holding up helium balloons in his hands for help.

Mr. Chamberlin is chomping on chewy chestnuts, although the children and chimps choose chocolate cheese-puffs instead.

Mrs. Rice is really a rock star, riding in her race car on roads that rarely run ragged, so remember to record her rags-to-riches story in reruns.

Mr. Meunier merely mentions the moment when his motorcycle went meandering for miles and miles when marbles start to fall from his mouth, making him mumble.

The way to become a legend is through a Tall Tale, right?

Our work in Figurative Language techniques begins with the use of hyperbole, also known as the art of extreme exaggeration. Your task was to write a short tall tale story about some real life event and then use hyperbole to add some creativity to the story.

CLICK HERE to use the comment link to post your story (remember: no last names and remove anything in your tall tale that might identify who you are). I may collect them all and republish as a website.

– Mr. Hodgson, the 100,000-foot-tall teacher of millions of eager students.

So, you may have had a fantastic week of vacation.

Or maybe it wasn’t such a fantastic week.

Your assignment is boil down a day of last week into one sentence and then post it as a comment to this blog post. CLICK HERE TO GO TO COMMENT SECTION.

This is my sentence:

Yesterday was like the Moscow Circus, full of tumbles but very entertaining. — Mr. Hodgson

An avatar is an illustration that represents you in the online world. This is yet another way to keep your identity safe when you are online. Remember: Never use your last name or share personal information in the online world.

Today’s activity is to create your own avatar and then save it to the computers. We may come back and use them for some online projects later in the year.

We are going to use a site called Portrait Illustration Maker. (Go to the site)

Here is an avatar that I made this morning:

Once you complete that avatar and you have saved it, give this Lego Avatar site a try, too. (Go to site)

Here is one that I built:

Which avatar do you like better?

Haven’t you always wanted to create your own comic? Well, here is a chance to do that by using ideas from our daily PeaceBuilder’s Pledge to create a comic that explains one aspect of the pledge.

Follow these steps:

• Get a PeaceBuilder’s Pledge assignment from Mr. Hodgson
• Go to the MakeBeliefs Comic Creation Site
• Use the tools there to build a comic strip around the message on your strip of paper
• Then, email your comic to me. (see directions on the whiteboard)
• I am making a website with all of the comics — you can see the beginnings of it here.

• Finally, make a copy of your comic for your computer.
  • Use the ‘printscreen’ key on the laptop to make a copy of your screen
  • Call up Paint and click paste
  • Use the editing functions
  • Save the comic as a .jpeg file

Once you are done with the PeaceBuilder assignment, feel free to make a comic that you want to make. You can email that one to me, too, if you want.

– Mr. Hodgson

In Writing Class, we often use the illustrations from Chris Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick as visual prompts for writing. The book is a collection of unfinished stories, with just a strange picture, a title and a caption.

Use the comment feature on this post to publish your own Harris Burdick stories that we have been writing this week on the laptop computers. (And go here if you want to read some that have been created by other students at another school).

These are the two illustrations we used this week:

Oscar and Alphonse

Archie Smith, Boy Wonder

– Mr. H

Today in class, students were asked to consider a way in which they would make the world a better place, if they had that power in them. We then recorded some of the students as the first podcast of the school year.

Take a listen:

• Mr. Hodgson’s Homeroom

• Mr. Chamberlin’s Homeroom

• Mrs. Rice’s Homeroom

• Mr. Meunier’s Homeroom

• And Mr. Hodgson himself

Thanks for listening. Feel free to leave a comment, if you would like.

– Mr. H