English Companion Ning Group

When is it cheating? When is it collaboration? This thoughtful article from Common Sense Media provides fine advice for parents (or teachers) on how to talk to kids about digital media and ethics.  

This exhibition looks at the world from which Mary Shelley came, at how popular culture has embraced the Frankenstein story, and at how Shelley's creation continues to illuminate the blurred, uncertain boundaries of what we consider "acceptable" science.

Two websites that illustrate how Shakespeare has influenced our language.

What if every student (and educator) was a good online researcher?  I know, you don't have the time to teach information fluency skills.  What if you could get a significant advance is skills with just a 2 -3  hour time commitment?  Here's a great Prezi 'fly by" of the new Information Investigator 3.1 online self paced class.  Watch the presentation carefully to find the link to a free code to take the class for evaluation purposes. 

Successful study skills can be hard but powerful life-long skills. The best methods of study are based on training your mind to be interested to learning new material

Sent to me just now via a my blog. Would be a great piece to pair with "A Modest Proposal."

This blog explores the option of using Evernote as a portfolio tool. Worth checking into.

Mentor Texts: Another great idea from Writing Fix.

Technology and grammar...

ONe of the reasons I enjoy social bookmarking is the chance to look over the shoulder of folks with active & interesting minds. This way I can discover a bit of what they are discovering and sharing. Here's a nugget mined with the tag 'writing' from Miquel Guhlin's Blog Around the corner.\n\nMiguel Guhlin: I'm trying to justify the expense of technology to impact writing. I'm looking less for anecdotes than I am "hard research," whatever that is. However, stories are powerful, so I'm asking that if you have either to share, to add them below in the appropriate section. Using the information here, I intend to justify technology advocacy in my district and other places.

Free readings of public domain literature

"It was a meeting all about ideas (my favourite) and we discussed the best ways that technology could support the process of writing and drive the eventual outcomes. In this post I have included a list of 10 literacy/writing tools or outcomes that, in my opinion, teachers should currently be aware of. Many of them are basic yet still powerful tools in the classroom that support children's writing. They are in no particular order."

"...10 alternative tools that either offer a different perspective on digital writing or are a little known tool, that may have huge potential in the classroom. Not everything is free nor is it online - but the list will hopefully provide food for thought when you are looking at your next non-fiction or narrative unit with your class."

"What is good writing? Ask an English teacher, and they'll tell you good writing is grammatically correct. They'll tell you it makes a point and supports it with evidence. Maybe, if they're really honest, they'll admit it has a scholarly tone - prose that sounds like Jane Austen earns an A, while a paper that could've been written by Willie Nelson scores a B (or worse). Not all English teachers abide by this system, but the vast majority do. Just look at the writing of most graduates, and you'll see what I mean. It's proper, polite, and just polished enough not to embarrass anyone. Mission accomplished, as far as our schools are concerned. But let me ask you something: Is that really good writing?"

Gathering information to share? How do you pull everything together? LiveBinders is your online 3-ring binder. Best of all, it's free! Would be great for writing portfolios.

A Brief List of Genres - Useful for MGRPs