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Here is my rule: Never sneer at another person's taste in reading. Never make another person ashamed of a story that they love. You don't know what hunger that book is satisfying. And the book you despise today may be part of their personal canon in ways that you are simply unable to understand.

Create your family's Canon of Beloved Literature, and then distribute it. Post it on your blog. Send it out with your Christmas letter. Give books from it to people you love and care about. Make sure all the books on the list are on your Kindle or Nook or iPad, and sample the ones you haven't read.

To claim that there is now such a thing as “Web 2.0 storytelling” invites risks. For one, some media reports suggest that this type of storytelling could be either hype or a danger. In addition, trying to pin down such a moving target can result in creating terminology that becomes obsolete in short order. Moreover, claiming that storytelling is happening online and is developing in interesting ways contradicts some current assertions about a decline in reading.Accepting these risks, we suggest there is most certainly a new form of expression that is compelling to educators. Starting from our definitions, we should expect Web 2.0 storytelling to consist of Web 2.0 practices.

Lonelygirl15 (http://www.lonelygirl15.com/), which started as a series of short videos on YouTube, grew to include a large number of comments, blog posts, wiki pages, parody videos, response videos, and a body of criticism. In each of these cases, the relative ease of creating web content enabled social connections around and to story materials.

Web 2.0 narratives can follow that timeline, and podcasts in particular must do so. But they can also link in multiple directions. Consider the possibilities facing a reader (or a viewer or a listener) who approaches Postmodern Sass. One timeline follows blog posts in chronological order. Another follows comments to a single post. A third follows links between posts, such as when the author refers to an earlier situation or references an old joke. Web 2.0 creators have many options about the paths to set before their users. Web 2.0 storytelling can be fully hypertextual in its multilinearity.

Middle School & High School GamesEngaging teens in anything that smacks of grammar is usually a difficult task. To teach grammar and hopefully have some fun, try these games. Games are a fun way to engage students in tasks where they do not even know they are learning. Plus, they encourage teamwork and allow for kinesthetic learning. Students can play Stick it the Quickest and word sorts, which require Post-Its and chart paper. Some games require cards and larger teams. One grammar game requires baskets and balls to show correct grammar use. Whatever game you select for your students, they will enjoy this type of grammar practice over a worksheet any day. Choose the game for the grammar topic: Eight Parts of Speech Game Eight Parts of Speech Sentence Sort Grammar Lesson: Action Verbs and Verbs of Being Lesson Identify Noun Case Activity Identifying Parts of Speech Review Game Variety is Important in English Grammar Lessons

If your students struggle with passive voice, contractions, run-ons, comma splices, or pronouns in their writing, try one of the following lessons.