Week 16: 525,600 Minutes

 It’s that time again: your FINAL blog prompt for the second quarter! I wanted to remind you guys of a few things for when I grade the blogs this weekend:

·       These are due at NOON on SATURDAY 11th!

·       Each entry must be at least 100 words to be given full credit (and I’m not counting filler sentences like “Hey I’m just about at 100 words now Miss Hudson…one more…ok DONE.”)

·       Each student must have left at least 20 comments on other classroom blogs. Remember, one for every person in this class. Comments must prove to me that you read the blog post, and they must be longer than a few words.

Alrighty, enough of that.

In the musical RENT, the song “Seasons of Love” brings up an interesting question: How do you measure the 525,600 minutes of a year? According to RENT, the answer is simple. Measure in love.

Reflect upon your 2021 and tell me about the things worth remembering (whether good or bad). Keep in mind that 2021 started at the second semester of your last school year. How have things changed since then? Overall, was it a good year? How will you make 2022 even better?

Week 15: What's This?

Jack Skellington, the hero from The Nightmare Before Christmas, discovered snow for the first time when he stumbled upon Christmas Town. The experience is so moving that he starts to sing about all of the new things he is experiencing. 

Imagine that you had to explain snow and Midwestern winters to someone who has never seen the white flakes before. How might you describe it to them? Also, tell them about all of the fun things you can do in the snow! Or, if you’re not a fan of the winter, tell them about the hassles of snow in the winter…and convince them to stay where it’s warm and sunny.

Week 14: Turn and Face the Strange Changes

Hey, here’s a fun fact: YOU GUYS ARE SENIORS!!! 

Scary, right? It’s weird to think about how I’ve been teaching you for almost 2.5 years now. Time flies by when you’re having fun!!!

How do you think you’ve changed since that time? Are they good changes, or are there things that you really miss?

Make the most out of the time you have left! You’re almost halfway!

Week 13: Turkey Day Massacre

Thanksgiving is coming! Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and, of course, turkey... YUM. Imagine what Thanksgiving looks like from the turkey’s point of view. Pretend like you are the turkey. How might you be viewing the humans as they prepare for Turkey Massacre Day 2021? Do you have a plan to escape your fate?

Week 12: That One Song…

Our music defines us as a person. Whether you’re a hardcore rocker, chill out with country, or march to the beat of your own drummer (alternative), we all have the songs we love to play on repeat.

But we also have those songs that we’re almost embarrassed to own or listen to. For example, I still love Aqua’s song “Barbie Girl’. Embarrassing? Sure. Will I sing along every time it comes on? Absolutely.

What’s the most embarrassing song you have in your music collection / are embarrassed to admit you love? Do you remember who you got it from or why you decided to buy it in the first place? When did it stop being “cool?” What memories do you have associated with that specific song?

Week 11: The Eternal Question

So, why DID the chicken cross the road?

Week 10: They do the Monster Mash!

Typically, we celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes, gorging ourselves sick on candy, and scaring ourselves silly over horror movie marathons. 

But what about the ghosts, witches, zombies, mummies, and scary movie villains? They love the holiday as much as we do! How might they (or other monsters) celebrate Halloween?

Week 9: Top Ten…Reasons to be #TeamHudson!

Today’s blog will be nice and easy. Create a top-ten list for something of your choosing! It could be your top ten favorite TV shows, candy, animals, songs, memories from English…totally up to you. Just make sure that you write a little bit about each item. Feel free to include pictures if you have time!

Week 8: A Story in 6 Words

Before I get into this week's prompt (which is also your FINAL blog prompt of the first quarter!), I wanted to remind you guys of a few things for when I grade the blogs this weekend:

·       These are due by NOON on SATURDAY the 16th

·       Each entry must be at least 100 words to be given full credit (and I’m not counting filler sentences like “Hey I’m just about at 100 words now Miss Hudson…one more…ok DONE.”)

·       Each student must leave at least 20 comments. Remember, one for every person in class, and then the rest you can spread out wherever you want WITHIN YOUR CLASS PERIOD. Comments must prove to me that you read the blog post, and they must be longer than a few words.

Ok, so...what'cha blogging about this week?

I shall tell you, grasshopper!

Ernest Hemingway once won a $10 bet that he couldn't write a great story using only six words.  Here's what earned him the cash:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

That's pretty awesome, all by itself, isn't it?  Well, in case you haven't figured out where we're going with all this, I want you to tell me the rest of this story.  Sure, it holds up as a six-word story, but I'm curious to see where you'll go with it.

So go with it!

Week 7: Living in the Past

If you could've been born and lived through any other period of history, anywhere in the world, what would you choose? Would you be a nomad who lived with wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers? Would you live in Ye Olde England during the time of castles and kings? Would you choose ancient Egypt, or Rome, or Greece? 

Be as creative as you want (you don't have to choose from my list, obviously), and tell me what aspects of this life you find most appealing. Why would you want to live in this era? What aspects of life or events would you most look forward to experiencing? What would this lifestyle require you to live without, and would you be okay with that?

Week 6: Tale as Old as Time

One of the defining factors of my childhood was classic Disney movies. I must have driven my parents NUTS with how many times I watched Aladdin. Even now, I still get the urge to relive the magic of Hercules, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (and sing along to every single song). 

Yet, the majority of Disney movies focus on the princesses and their journey to find love and happiness. What about the perspective of the prince, or other minor characters? Or even the villain?

Pick a Disney (or Pixar, Dreamworks, etc) movie and re-imagine it from another character’s point of view. How does it change the tone of the movie? Is the princess still a damsel (in distress?) or does her song for love sound more like the whining of a love-sick 12 year old girl?

Week 5: Back to the Future

According to Doc and Marty McFly, by 2015, the world would have flying cars. So, yeah…about that…

What do you think the future will hold? What inventions might you see in your lifetime that would blow our current technology out of the water? What might happen to societies around the world? How different will our lives be?

Week 4: Time Goes by SO Slowly

Our society is driven by the clock. All work must be done on time, people need to arrive early or risk being criticized for being late, and any relaxation is looked down upon for being useless or lazy. Gotta move, gotta move, don’t be late, gotta go go go go GO! 

Imagine that all concepts of time were erased. All calendars were blank, clocks did not exist, and words like “second,” “minute,” “hour,” or “day,” etc. were all meaningless.

How would the lack of time affect your life? How might it change American society? The world?

Week 3: Ask the Expert

Imagine you are onstage in front of a HUGE audience. You are seated at a table, microphone perched patiently, and a glass of ice cold water waiting at hand.  The audience buzzes impatiently as you take a sip of water, because YOU, yes you, are the expert. And you certainly look smart up there! 

Think of something you know a lot about. It could be anything from a historical event to sports to music to simply sleeping. It could even be something silly! Think of what questions the audience might ask you about your topic. What replies would you give?

Week 2: Science Experiment…Gone Wrong?

Imagine that the Earth and everyone/everything on it was actually just some alien's science experiment. If you were that alien, how would you explain your creation and all the crazy things humans do?

Week 1: How's School?

 The word "blog" is short for "web log," which is essentially an online journal. Each of you should now have your own individual website that you can use to write whatever you want. The point of these blogs every Friday is not for me to grade you on punctuation, spelling, grammar, and things like that, but to let you just write for fun with no strings attached.

In general, these are the guidelines for doing blogs:

1. First and foremost, you need to email me the URL (web address) of your blog website. My email address is hudson@lwcusd21.com. Please send that to me before you do anything else!
   Each blog entry (including Week 1) needs to be at least 100 words long.
2. Make sure to write down this blog's URL, because you will need to check it every single week. Also, make sure to write down your password. I won't be able to remember it for you if you forget!
3. You need to leave a total of 20 comments on other people's blogs over the course of this quarter. This does not mean that you can comment 20 times on one blog. You must comment at least once on every single person's blog. (I'll show you guys how to do that in class next week). A comment must prove that you have read the entire blog, so one word comments like "yay," "yeah," or "cool" will not be counted. 
4. This blog project is worth 50 Major Grade Points--5 points for each entry and 1/2 point for each comment- and is due at the end of the quarter. If you get behind or don't finish one in the allotted time, don't worry; you've got all quarter to get caught up and I won't be grading them until the end of the quarter.

Alrighty, on to this week's writing prompt:

For your first blog, just write about how summer was and how things are going for you in school so far. Are you glad to be back? What classes are you most looking forward to? Do you have any special goals for this year? Is there anything you’re looking forward to?

 

I hope you have an EXCELLENT year!