Tweentribune

3-10-10 Hey,guys!  I have found the most exciting thing to incorporate into our class.  The site is called tweentribune.  What is so exciting about this is it allows you to interact with news that is of high interest to kids your age.  Everyday new articles are posted about topics and events from around the world.  This type of reading is called "expository" which means it is of inormation and facts not fiction.  I have signed our class up so now we have our own blog on that site and all of your responses will be pulled together individually so I can track your work. You must sign yourself up under our class and be sure to write down your username and password in multiple places...DO NOT FORGET!  As you read yesterday, all of third trimester is geared toward the expository genre and that means reading and writing.  Starting today, all of your reading for the reading log must be expository and because I am assigning you reading/responding through tweentribune (4 entries per week), that will hit two birds with one stone.  The reading you do on tweentribune can also be recorded on your reading log....awesome :)  Let's break down what you have to do....starting today, you are REQUIRED  to respond to 4 articles from tweentribune.  Each response is worth a max. of 10 points so that is a total of 40 points a week that will go toward your reading grade.  Each response must be Quality to be given any points....reflect on past discussions.  Also, I will send you all a tweet on Sunday evenings to let you know what specific skills you will be graded on for the upcoming week in your responses such as.....punctuation, grammar, commas, summarizing, defending your opinion, details etc....To earn the 10 points you will have to incorporate that specific skill in a QUALITY way!  I have read through some articles already and know that you will love this site.  Remember this, no comments are posted without my permission first and that many people will see your responses not just me........your audience is much much bigger!!!!