My word goal is 3,500 . I’d like to know yours, so I know/have an idea what i wan’t to do next year. My story’s about a girl that is in middle school with her best friend but the bully Roxane does every thing in her power to stop her from succeeding in any way. Her goal is to stop the bully & step up to her but it’s hard with all the people Roxane has on her side to team up on Skyleir (main character) and Brittany (supportive character with same goal) !!! Can’t WAIT to get started !! Are you ready to start?
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Novel Writing Pep Talk
Here is a novel writing pep talk that NaNoWriMo sent out. It’s written by Robert Lipsyte. Hope it peps you up for our big writing month!!
~Ms. Blair
Listen up, Word Warriors.
You have to stop thinking of yourselves as sensitive scribblers waiting for inspiration. It’s perspiration you need. Forget about muses; think coaches. Grab a couple of metaphors off the weight rack and follow me.
We are members of a varsity team that kicks sentences, dunks paragraphs, passes pages, slugs out stories. We need to train just the way physical athletes do—hard, consistently, with discipline and goals—because that’s the best way to improve.
For warm-ups, read. And read like a writer, not like a reader. Look for what you can use in your own work.
Just the way school ballers study college and pro athletes, young writers have to learn the moves of their favorite authors. Examine their techniques, how they handle dialogue, description, plot, sentence structure, simile. See what they do that you like. See where they swing and connect—or swing and miss. Be sure to read not-so-good writers, too, and try to figure out what you would have done to make the story better.
Now you’re ready for your own workout.
Before NaNoWriMo, try to write every day—the same way you would work out physically, but instead of running, lifting, and stretching, you’ll be listing ideas, writing notes, character sketches, and outlines. Always carry a notebook. You don’t want to miss a good thought—but more importantly, you need to get into the habit of thinking of yourself as a varsity writer in training.
Writing is usually something you do alone. But as with most athletes, it’s always better to have a coach and a team for support. By coach, think of a teacher, friend, or family member who can keep you motivated. By team, think of all the other young novelists, online or in your class, with whom you can share problem-solving and ideas.
Okay, let’s get out there.
Ready?
Sit.
Write!
– Robert Lipsyte
First Nine Weeks Wrap Up
The first nine weeks is winding to a close. It has been a grand adventure with challenging obstacles and many laughs. Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far!!
– We learned to Blog! Here were our first posts.
– We worked with Tangrams.
– We’ve learned how to use our senses and observation skills to be Explorers of the World. (Plus, we have super cool Explorer Logs to track all of our discoveries!!)
– We created Found Object Art.
– We had a visit from a real artist, Claudia “Iris” Van Horn, who taught us about Collaboration and Elaboration.
– We learned how to create and use rubrics to guide our work. Example
– We set personal goals and learned how to track them over time.
– We swam, played soccer, and ate a lot at Carley Phelps’ pool party. Thank you again to the Phelps family for inviting us all over so that we could get to know each other better!
– We voice chatted with a middle school class who taught us all about Odes.
– We wrote our own Odes, typed and voice recorded them… and then shared them with the middle school class… and posted them here.
– We created Xtranormal commercials for the Good Day MEA news show to promote the Pasta for Pennies campaign and raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! You can watch them here.
– And lastly, we have started brainstorming and preparing for our National Novel Writing Month Challenge!!!! More info here.
It’s hard to believe that we have accomplished so much in so little time. Students, you are doing an outstanding job and I am so proud of every one of you!!
~Ms. Blair
Pasta for Pennies Commercials
Here are the final products! Four commercials that the students made to promote the Pasta for Pennies campaign and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If anyone else is working on more, let me know and we’ll get yours posted, too.
Pasta Hero
by: 5th Grade Alpha
Crazy Cures for Cancer
by: 4th Grade Alpha
Presidential Pennies
by: 5th Grade Alpha
Assembly Promotion
by: 4th Grade Alpha
National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month is almost upon us!
In one more week, we will be putting our pens to paper – or fingers to the keyboard as it may be – and starting our very first (for most of us) novels!!
This last week, each of the students set a personal word count goal for their stories. As an adult, my word count goal is automatically set at 50,000! Even though I’ll be cheering the kids on, I know I will need their encouragement as well in order to meet this challenging goal.
But we will not give up!! Whether it is a 1,000 word graphic novel or a 20,000 word chapter book – we will write and type and brainstorm and character develop and metaphor create until we have dumped out all the insides of our brains into a fantastic masterpiece! And then we will rule the world!!!!! —– or at least be able to call ourselves “Novel Writers.” Hey, that’s pretty cool, too!
To kick off the project, we will be having an all day Alpha Write-a-thon on November 3rd in the Multipurpose Room, which will include Brainstorming Brain Breaks, Mini-Writer’s Workshops, and maybe even a visit or message from a real author!
Plus, all of us who finish our books and post them into the official “Word Counter” by midnight on November 30th will get official “Novel Writer” pins AND get a copy of our book published! I can’t wait!
So — Alpha kids – this would be a great place to give us a sneak peek about your novel topic. (I’ll give you a hint about mine – it includes a middle school gifted student!)
Parents & Kids – you can also ask any questions you may have about the project and program. A link to a million answers can be found at ywp.nanowrimo.org, too!
Movie Post!
Hey guys. Here’s a new post. Write down your favorite movie . (Comments down below.)
New post each week.
A Unique Halloween Costume
You know those books by Tom Angleberger about Origami Yoda and Darth Paper?! Well, he posted this cool costume idea for being Origami Yoda!! I though you all would think this was pretty cool. Made me think that maybe there would be a lot of neat costumes that could be made out of giant origami. Or maybe you could be a tangram picture made out of all the pieces. Just a thought. Enjoy!
http://origamiyoda.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/origami-yoda-halloween-costume-back-by-popular-demand/
Thank you!
Hi Alpha parents and students,
I want to thank everyone who came to our house for the pool party. I hope you all had a great time. I enjoyed seeing everyone, watching the kids swim and eating the delicious food you brought.
A little about me…
My daughter is Carley who is in Blair’s 5th grade Alpha class. I spend most of my time either on the golf course with my son and husband (who coaches the Men’s golf team at Southeastern University) or on the soccer field with Carley. Carley plays goalie on a competitive soccer team so I spend most of my time holding my breath at the games.
I am not a soccer player or golfer, but I love sports. I started playing tennis when I was six years old. I grew up on the tennis courts. By the time I was in college, I no longer loved the game and quit playing for 13 years. I now play only for fun.
I love spending time with my family. My favorite thing to do is family board game night. Since we are not competitive at all 🙂 it’s always a nice relaxing evening.
I am a right brained thinker like Carley. However, I am married to a man who sees the world in two colors, either black or white (just like our son). I enjoy studying people and spending time helping others.
I believe we have the best Alpha teacher in the world! She is always challenging our kids, helping them think outside the box and fighting for the needs of gifted education. Thanks Blair for all that you do!
Becky Phelps