HAPPY WEEKEND! You have reached the end of Week 5! The Week 5 Read and Respond assignment (blog commenting) is available now, and so is the Week 5 Internet assignment (Storybook commenting). Please make sure you get started on those assignments soon; they are due this weekend.
Storybook Stack. If you turned in a Week 4 Storybook assignment on time, you should have gotten comments back from me now, with points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned in a late Week 4 Storybook, or an early Storybook for Week 5 or Week 6, it is probably still in the stack. My goal is always to get every Storybook returned before the weekend that is turned in before noon on Friday. Because the Introduction is often the hardest part of the Storybook for people to write, this is the week where it takes me the longest to read and reply to everybody's assignments... but, fingers crossed, I hope I can get through the stack and have comments back to everybody before the weekend for any assignment turned in by noon on Friday. If not, I will wrap things up on Saturday morning!
Internet assignment - Ning Comment Wall. (repeat announcement) If you did not read the previous announcement about the Week 5 Internet assignment and the Ning Comment Walls, make sure you take a look at those announcements now - you can even get extra credit for making your Comment Wall ready for visitors, both by making some more room on your Ning page, and also by adding a YouTube video to your page if you want, just for fun!
You really can call me Laura! (repeat announcement) Although I sign my emails to you all as Laura, some of you still seem to feel like you need to call me Professor or Dr. or something fancy. No need for that at all, really! Since I'm on a first-name basis with all of you, please do the same and just call me Laura. :-)
Writing Center and Grammar Review. (repeat announcement) As you start working on your Storybook Introduction, and for all your future Storybook assignments, you are expected to turn in a formal piece of writing, with correct English usage, spelling, and punctuation. If you would like some extra help with that, make a visit to the Writing Center where you can get free assistance. Whether you need a refresher course on English punctuation or some help in learning how to proofread your own work, the Writing Center is the place to go! For hours and services, visit the Writing Center website. You can also work on specific problem areas (commas, apostrophes, and run-on sentences are the most common problems people have) by reviewing these topics and then taking some extra credit Grammar Quizzes.
September 24: Dr. Seuss. Friday, September 24, marks the anniversary of the death in 1991 of Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. You are probably familiar with Dr. Seuss's marvelous books - my own favorite is Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. If you want to find out more about his life, his goals as a writer - even detailed information about the poetic meters he used! - take a look at this long and detailed Wikipedia article. Dr. Seuss's books have been translated into many languages of the world - even Latin. Below is the book cover for The Cat in the Hat in Latin, Cattus Petasatus.