The Secret Life of Bees: Challenge Assignment

If you get a chance to go see the Secret Life of Bees you can take me up on this Challenge Assignment.

Challenge: Watch the movie the Secret Life of Bees and post an essay on your blog that compares and contrasts the movie and the novel.

Make sure to address three similarities between the book and the movie and three differences (that's a total of six points). Also, share what you truly enjoyed about the movie versus the book, and vice versa.

Spell check. Include a photo in your blog post. All the standard requirements for an essay apply.

This assignment is due by Wednesday, November 5th at 5:00pm.

Why I Ask you to Watch what you Say

Election 2008

In four years many of you will be able to vote for the next President of the United States of America. Will it be a man? A woman? An African American? A Jew? A Mormon? A Native American? If there is one thing this current presidential race has shown us, it is that the possibilities of who can be president are no longer to limited to white, male, protestants.

Your assignment:

Create a blog post about the 2008 Presidential Election. You have creative freedom as to what this post is about. Your requirements are the following:

- You must write at least three paragraphs. You must spell check.

- Link to a current news article in your post. Like this. Your link can be from any current news article about the election, but it must pertain to your post in some way.

- This can be an opinion piece or a factual piece, but you must provide back up for your opinions and facts. So show us where you found your information. (This will probably require more links!)

- Include a photo connected to the election. If it is not clear how it is directly connected, please explain it.

- Comment on four of your classmates' blogs. You must comment on people's blogs whose names do not start with the same first letter as your own name. For example, I could not comment on Christian's or Carli's blogs, because my name starts with a C, like theirs.

- Complete by Sunday at 5:00pm.

Two Blog Posts: Pictures and My Hero

This weekend create two blog posts:

1. In the first post a photo or headshot of someone that you really like. (That statement is ambiguous on purpose.) Explain why you like the photo and what you think it says about the person. Keep the photo school appropriate. Think about this in relation to the hero project. Spell check.

2 In the second blog, introduce us to your hero. Write the 'blurb' about them that you want to put under their small, side photo in our hero book. Keep the word count to between 45-50 words. (A challenge I know!) Post the side photo of them that you plan to use. If you need to use the school scanner on Monday, you can. Spell check.

Have these blogs finished by Monday when you get to school (unless you need the scanner for the photo in the second blog post.)

There Goes My Hero!

Last week I proposed that we use this as our theme song for the Hero Project. After reviewing these Foo Fighter lyrics, I'm not so sure.

Halo anyone?



There's just something about the, "he's ordinary" in the lyrics that resonates with me. After all, our heroes are ordinary. They're our friends and family.

Too alarming now to talk about
Take your pictures down and shake it out
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He’s ordinary

Don’t the best of them bleed it out
While the rest of them peter out
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He’s ordinary

Kudos my hero leaving all the best
You know my hero, the one that’s on

There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He’s ordinary