Get Into the Spirit!

This week is Homecoming Spirit Week at my school.  This is one of my favorite weeks of the year!

 

MONDAY:   Roll Out Of Bed Day

 

 

 

TUESDAY:  Tie-Dye Tuesday

 

Yes, I bought these jeans like this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY:  Wacky Wednesday

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY:  Go Green Day

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GG’s First Giveaway – For a Very Good Cause!

Grading Girl’s First Giveaway!!

October 13th update:  The winner of this giveaway is Stefanie Dell’Aringa.  She will receive a set of the Yum Yum Time Bowls!  Check out her beautiful poem:

Unwrap Me
by Stefanie Dell’Aringa

Scout’s honor, this is my life:
I feel like an Egyptian mummy
being wrapped in slow motion from the feet up
My insides are like pottery breaking
As the python cloth squeezes
Unwrap me, please, and let me be a boy again
Because my ankles are tired
And I don’t like the word “prosthetic”
If Star Wars was real, I’d light saber myself
Out of this mess
Hurry, and find me a cure
Until then, I’ll go outside
I’ll blow hot, angry air into my trumpet
I’ll eat cake. Sweet!
I’ll decide I can wait
And then I’ll go to bed and dream
Of a ladder made of Legos
That reaches straight to heaven
and it doesn’t hurt to climb it

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few years ago, I stumbled upon the most adorable bowls that offer portion control with a smile. These unique little conversation pieces are perfectly portioned for snacks – nuts, fruit, candy . . . you name it.  I have two sets and bought another one for my brother and another for my mom.  These are the subjects, in fact, of one of Grading Girl’s first reviews.  Check it out for details:  Yum Yum Time

Well, since purchasing these bowls and writing my review, I’ve sadly learned that Tracy Adler’s 9-year old son, Elliot, has been diagnosed with CMT2 (Charcot Marie Tooth) in October of 2007 when he was 7 years old.  In a nutshell, his nerves are dying – starting at his toes.  Right now, Elliot must wear braces on his legs while he fights very hard to not let this stop him from doing all the things he wants to do – a very heavy task for a young, brave boy!  There is not much awareness out there of this degenerative disease much less the funds for research.  Perusing the Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation website, I shockingly discovered that so little is known about this that many people undergo years of testing before being diagnosed because most doctors cannot even recognize the symptoms!!!  As the disease progresses, many people have to wear braces constantly and/or use a wheelchair.  In the worst cases, CMT can impair breathing or even death.   As Tracy writes on Elliot’s blog, whatever nerve and subsequent muscle loss he experiences between now and a cure will most likely be gone forever. So a cure is not only important – but time is of the essence.

To help raise much needed awareness of this horrible disease, Grading Girl is hosting a contest:

CMT – GG’s Challenge for Awareness

Tracy Adler has graciously offered to giveaway a set of her YumYum dishes (set of four/one of each color) to the lucky person who writes:

• a short poem illustrating the perseverance of this brave boy OR
• a statement that pinpoints what CMT is

• no minimum or maximum length
• if you’re penning a poem, it does not have to rhyme

• the statement or poem that touches the heart of this boy’s bravery will win the set.  I’m not looking for Shakespeare, only true genuine words!

Here’s all you need to do:

1.  Go to Elliot’s blog titled Elliot’s Corner and read a couple of his (short) blogs to find out about his condition.

2.  Come back to this blog on Grading Girl.  Submit your poem via replying with a comment.

3.  Please submit by Monday, October 12th.  The winner will be notified within a few days of the deadline and will receive his/her Yum Yum dishes!!

Elliot’s blog is at http://elliotadlerscorner.blogspot.com/

Tracy Adler’s Snackware site is www.yumyumdish.

Find out more about CMT at Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation

Elliot has his own Twitter account and updates regularly.  Following him is a joy @ElliotsCorner.  Tracy also updates on Elliot’s condition @TracyAdler.  Follow them both!

Let’s Cure Readicide!

Over the summer, I was inspired and awakened after reading Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide:  How Schools are Killing Readers and What You Can Do About It.  Kelly Gallagher is a high school English teacher in Anaheim, CA whose theories I’ve been advocating and utilizing for a few years.  Four years ago, I designed our school’s sophomore reading strategies classes based on his philosophies in  Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, and Teaching Adolescent Writers afforded me new creative opportunities with my senior expository writing students.  

Readicide talks about the “mind-numbing” practices in our schools that turn students off to reading such as the overuse of study guides and paragraph-by-paragraph overanalysis of literature.  He illustrates data-based research to show just how drastically reading is dying before offering specific strategies to curb this epidemic.  It’s a quick read – it took me all of two hours to sweep through.  For those that haven’t read it, GG highly recommends it!

During our department meeting today, we viewed the 20 minute DVD Gallagher produced that depicts his guidance with the Article of the Week (AoW).  AoW is one of the practices he advocates to curb ‘readicide.’  He points out that while his 9th grade English students could analyze characters in Lord of the Flies, they didn’t know how to discern Al Quaeda from Al Gore nor could they identify the current Vice President of the United States.  This brings up a great point – most students don’t read outside of the classroom; most students are current-event-illiterate.  AoW combats that.  It involves sharing a current events article (i.e. Business Week, Wall Street Journal, etc) with the class at the beginning of the week and then asking them to turn in a response along with evidence of active reading at the end of the week. 

Gallagher graciously shares all articles he used last year for his 9th and 10th grade English classes along with his current collection he is beginning this year.  He shares them on his website, kellygallagher.org.  He asserts that AoW is now practiced in every single English classroom at his school; consequently, students leave the building at the end of the year having read approximately 140 pertinent articles they would otherwise have not been exposed to.

I am definitely incorporating AoWs into my reading classes as well are many of my colleagues.  I am using some of Gallagher’s articles along with my own.  Grading Girl gives Readicide an A+ for eye-opening data, researched reasonings, and practical strategies that assist teachers with helping students gain back an interest in reading and, thus, an interest in life.

What Bugs You?

People love to complain, rant, and rave – my students are no exception.  I use this lesson early on in the year to get them warmed up to writing.  They rarely experience brain freezes for this one!

What Bugs Me . . .*

• Talking loudly on cell phones at inappropriate times and places
• Shopping on the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas
• Subscription cards that fall out of magazines
• Telemarketers
• People who lose all manners to get a parking space
• Filling my car with gas
• Drivers who don’t observe the rules of the road and crash into your less than 2 month old car!!!!
• People who say “ta” instead of “to.”
• People who update their FB status 12 times a day.

. . . You get the picture!

YOUR TURN TO RANT AND RAVE –

1. Brainstorm a list of at least ten things that bug you.
2. Choose ONE to write about.
3. Type a one-page description of why this particular issue/item/etc. bugs you.

There!  Doesn’t that feel good to get that off your chest?!?

adapted from Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers

Find the Fib

People usually love to write about themselves.  Writing can be therapeutic, it can be a chance to express oneself more openly than one may in person, and it can provide a creative channel to explore.  Here’s an assignment my seniors run with time and again:

Find the Fib*  

Below you will find five statements about me. Four of the statements are true, one is a fib. Can you guess which one is the fib?

1. My voice is the voice of two characters on a pinball game.

2. I worked as a runway model.

3. I was interviewed and appeared on a national television show to give my opinion about one of the past season’s American Idol contestants.

4. Teri Hatcher is my third cousin on my mother’s side.

5. I hang glided 1400 feet in the air, and later jumped off 100 ft cliff.

 

Now it’s your turn!

a. Type five statements about yourself. (think of your accomplishments, accidents, travels, mishaps, etc) Four statements must be true and one statement must be a fib.

2. Print a copy of your statements. Go to as many classmates as possible. You must go to at least ten people, but the more the better. Keep track of how many people can spot your fib and how many cannot. Tell me your results here: _____ # of people you fool _____ # of people who correctly guess your fib The person with the fewest correctly guessed fibs will be officially titled the “Best Fibber” of the Class of 2010!!!

3. Now . . . choose one of your true statements to elaborate on. Your assignment is to tell the story of this statement in writing! (minimum one well-developed paragraph)

*adapted from Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers

btw – the fib is #4!  🙂

Advise the Adviser

Adviser or Advisor???

AP style tells us to use adviser rather than advisor but it does not indicate why.  I am interested in learning the reason.  Perhaps it has to do with the etymology of the word.

Maybe because the root verb (“advise”) ends in the letter E, the -er suffix is preferred to the -or suffix.  An analogous case is the verb organize, which becomes organizer (and clearly not “organizor”).

Dictionaries say these words are synonymous.  Neither seem technically incorrect or correct.

What do you think?  Comment back – do you use advisor or adviser?