November 8, 2009
Here are the completed challenges.
Please join us next Monday. If you are looking for a different and engaging way to write, then I recommend trying Write or Die! It’s a blast and it really helps.
Enjoy!
__________________________________________________________
Click here to see the written entries
Click here to see the graphic design entries
__________________________________________________________
Here were the instructions for this week’s writing and graphic design challenges:
Challenge for writers, by Bonet Graphic Designs
This time, you get to choose the story genre! Simply start your 500-1,500 word story with one of the following story starters:
1. Her name was Lily, but the villagers only knew her as The Captain…
2. The tile slipped and landed with a crash…
3. It was karaoke night…
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Challenge for graphic designers, by Prisca
An oxymoron is when two contradictory terms are combined to create meaning. Shakespeare used them quite frequently: “heavy lightness”, “sweet sorrow”, “bright smoke”, “cold fire”, etc. You can choose one of these oxymorons or create one of your own and design an image that represents that oxymoron and is obvious to anyone who stops to look and think about it. (I’m thinking like the popular image of a screw and a baseball…something like that but with oxymorons).
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Have fun!
Remember to post your story/design or link no later than Saturday 11/07/09 by 11:59 pm. If you want me to post it for you, please e-mail it to me before the deadline!
__________________________________________________________
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Monday Challenge | Tagged: challenge, children's literature, cold fire, contest, design, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, karaoke, Monday Challenge, writing, writing challenge | 
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Posted by Prisca
November 7, 2009
Rating: 5/5
Rumpelstiltskin is not an evil little creature intent on taking a woman’s firstborn child in exchange for her life. He’s actually a sweet man who is vertically challenged and wants nothing more than to be a father…if only a woman would marry him!
In this new spin on the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale, Meredith is offered marriage to the king in exchange for a certain amount of gold, which she must spin from straw overnight or the king will take her life. When Rumpelstiltskin shows up with an offer, she’d rather marry him!
Years later, their daughter goes to shop in town with her father’s golden coins. The king recognizes the gold and puts her in the same predicament as her mother. No little man comes to her rescue, but with cunning and compassion she escapes death and teaches the king a valuable lesson.
This is a beautifully illustrated story that keeps you wondering what will happen next. Topics include fatherhood, independence, empathy, charity and the value of work.
This story is a step in the right direction, where characters are not constricted to the gender box and are free to work for what they want with compassion and intelligence. I highly recommend it for all ages.
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Award Winners, Picture Books | Tagged: Award Winner, review, book review, children's literature, funny, Picture Books, picture book, children's book, humor, family, fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, Diane Stanley, Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter, folk tale, spinning gold | 
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Posted by Prisca
November 6, 2009
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Banner Advertising | Tagged: banner, banner design, bonet graphic designs, Bonet graphics, business card design, cute snowman, cute snowman card, featured book covers, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, new banner, once upon a book banner, snowman, snowman christmas card, snowman holiday card | 
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Posted by Prisca
October 26, 2009
Here are this week’s challenges! Remember, these challenges are now posted every two weeks. If you are curious about this challenge and want to know more/participate, please read this first.
Challenge for writers, by Bonet Graphic Designs
This time, you get to choose the story genre! Simply start your 500-1,500 word story with one of the following story starters:
1. Her name was Lily, but the villagers only knew her as The Captain…
2. The tile slipped and landed with a crash…
3. It was karaoke night…
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Challenge for graphic designers, by Prisca
An oxymoron is when two contradictory terms are combined to create meaning. Shakespeare used them quite frequently: “heavy lightness”, “sweet sorrow”, “bright smoke”, “cold fire”, etc. You can choose one of these oxymorons or create one of your own and design an image that represents that oxymoron and is obvious to anyone who stops to look and think about it. (I’m thinking like the popular image of a screw and a baseball…something like that but with oxymorons).
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Have fun!
Remember to post your story/design or link no later than Saturday 11/07/09 by 11:59 pm. If you want me to post it for you, please e-mail it to me before the deadline!
__________________________________________________________
Like this blog?
Click here to subscribe to this feed in any reader or check out the sidebar for more options
Leave a Comment » | Monday Challenge | Tagged: button, challenge, children's literature, contest, design, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, humor, kidlit, Monday Challenge, oxymoron, writing, writing challenge, writing contest, writing for children, writing for young adults | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
October 25, 2009
Here are the completed challenges.
Please join us next Monday. If you are looking for a different and engaging way to write, then I recommend trying Write or Die! It’s a blast and it really helps.
Enjoy!
__________________________________________________________
Click here to see the written entries
Click here to see the graphic design entries
__________________________________________________________
Here were the instructions for this week’s writing and graphic design challenges:
Challenge for writers, by Bonet Graphic Designs
In keeping with the spirit of the month, you’re writing another Halloween story. This time, I want you to write a 500-1,000 words combining two of my favorite things: the Toy Story movies and Halloween. Feel free to use the characters from the movie or introduce new toys of your own.
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Challenge for graphic designers, by Prisca
Another Halloween challenge! (What can I say, it’s one of my favorite times of the year) Create an image for a poster that represents what Halloween means to you. The only words allowed on the poster are: Happy Halloween!
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
__________________________________________________________
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Leave a Comment » | Monday Challenge | Tagged: challenge, children's literature, contest, design, devil duck, ducky, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, Halloween, Monday Challenge, rubber duck, Toy Story, toys, writing, writing challenge, writing contest, writing for children | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
October 21, 2009
In the years I was still a middle school teacher, students would come up to me with difficult questions which I would try my best to answer, or send them to someone who could help. You might be familiar with some of these questions: “Why is it that I can never be good enough?”; “Why doesn’t anyone like me?”; “I try to be more like X. Why can’t I be more like X?”
Regardless how much I (or the school counselor) tried to help and soothe their insecurities, my students were rarely satisfied and struggled daily to fit in. In their eyes we were, after all, “clueless” grownups who were out of touch with today’s middle school realities. We can try to relate. We can even pull up painful memories from the past and share our stories. However, while the advice we give can be helpful, kids will appreciate and relate better with ideas and advice from other kids their own age.
Rating: 5/5
This is exactly what Annie Fox’s easy to read Middle School Confidential series provides. I had the opportunity to read book one of the series, Be Confident in Who You Are, and was hooked from page one. (Actually I was hooked on the cover first, illustrated by Matt Kindt, but don’t tell anyone! Repeat after me: never judge a book by its cover.)
The book is both a visual and intellectual treat. Boys and girls learn how to deal with bullies, friendships and self esteem issues while navigating pages written partly in graphic-novel style and designed to look like a magazine. This will certainly attract habitual and reluctant readers alike! Readers feel free to read the book from cover to cover or flip through the pages, stopping at a section of interest. They are also encouraged to stop once in a while to take quizzes, ask themselves questions, put themselves in someone else’s shoes and, (the best part), read what other kids their age have to say about being confident in who you are!
Don’t assume that this book is illustrated in pink, nor written with rose-colored lenses. Hard questions are asked and kids from all backgrounds are given voice: from the tallest kid in the classroom to the gay student who is terrified of coming out to family and friends. The frankness in every kid’s shared frustration or idea is refreshing and real.
The book does not boast a quick method for fitting in or being liked by everyone. It simply states reality and gives advice on how to build confidence and play to your strengths. It does not lecture, nor does it speak down to the reader. In a friendly, engaging voice, the text provides the reader with a safe place to ask and wonder about those tough middle school questions.
Some of the sections of the book include: Sometimes I just Lose It; Meet The Opinionator; and I Don’t Get It. My favorite part, and one that applies to tweens and adults alike, is the Relax & Re-Center section, where Annie Fox lists some ways to reduce stress. It’s so effective, by step five I’m not only relaxed, but laughing.
In case you’re wondering, step one is to stop whatever you are doing. By the time you get to step five your eyes are closed, you’re focused on breathing and then…”Relax your hands and fingers, feet and toes. Relax your butt muscles…”
After you’ve relaxed those butt muscles (and hopefully had a good laugh like I did), head over to Annie Fox’s website to learn more about her other books and advice for students, parents and teachers.
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Leave a Comment » | Informative Books, Teaching, book | Tagged: Annie Fox, book for boys, book review, books for boys, bullies, children's book, children's literature, confidence, friendship, GLBT, graphic novel, kidlit, magazine, Matt Kindt, middle school, Middle School Confidential, multimodal, reluctant readers, review, school, self esteem, self help, self help for kids, YA, YA literature, young adult | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
October 12, 2009
Hi! It looks like my doctoral studies got the best of me these past few weeks, so I have not been posting much. On the bright side, I have been reading so many books I will not run out of material to talk about any time soon! I am currently reading Annie Fox’s Middle School Confidential series and all I’m saying right now is that I’m hooked! I will blog about them soon.
Aside from reading, I was busy with last minute tweaks to a paper I co-presented this past weekend with my doctoral committee chair and fellow grad student for the Florida Association of Teacher Educators’ (FATE) 2009 Conference in Daytona Beach, Florida. Our paper was titled: Beyond Access: Engaging Technology in Academic Societies and it was about moving online classes beyond discussion forums by incorporating a multimodal format that engages image, sound, text and speech (we demonstrated with Power Point and Voice Thread). People asked questions, shared their experiences and spoke to us after the presentation, so it went very well.
I learned quite a few things by attending other presentations, which I want to share with you here.
First of all: the food! Seriously…the FOOD! We were given breakfast, lunch and a mini snack buffet. Usually I don’t stick around for food, especially at conferences (if you’ve ever been to one of these, you know what I mean!). However, the food provided by Chef PAPA’s was exquisite! If you’re ever in Daytona Beach, FL, make sure to visit this restaurant. You won’t regret it!
Ok, no more about food, I promise.
The first presentation I attended was 3D Virtual Worlds in Education: A Look at the Virtual World Experience of Quest Atlantis as a Pedagogical Approach to impact 21st Century Learners, by Jesus De Leon, M.S., Roxanne De Leon, M.S., and Deborah Gordon, M.A. I learned about Quest Atlantis, which is a free educational 3D virtual world designed by Indiana University. I don’t know how I had not heard of this before, (I’m a teacher who loves playing video games and am intrigued by educational games), and I wish I had heard of this while I was still teaching at a public school. You see, though it’s free, it is exclusive for K-12 teachers.
In this virtual world, students create an avatar (they can even dress them!), and go on quests that are associated with educational standards as well as social commitments. The best part? The students don’t even realize they are learning. I saw some screen shots of the game. The graphics are not the best I have seen, but interesting enough to keep me engaged. Even better, there are over 500 quests to choose from! Students have to read, write and figure out how best to save the world. I could go on and on about this game, but I’ll let you check it out here.
The next presentation was titled Permission to Tell Stories: Digital Ways to Invigorate Stories using Digital Storytelling, Glogging and More, by Dr. Susan Wegmann (she’s on Twitter: @DocWegmann). I was already familiar with digital storytelling in the classroom, but I had no idea about “glogging and more”, so I decided to attend. She provided many useful links on digital storytelling. Instead of telling you about them, you can actually download her presentation and links here.
I went to this third presentation because I’ve always had trouble with math (this includes my current headache with a statistics class). Sirin Coskun, Doc student, presented: Designing Dynamic Software Activities for In-service Teachers to Improve Visual Understanding. She presented different activities using the program Geogebra that helped connect abstract mathematical equations to real life. I was simply floored by the activities in Geogebra (which is free, by the way). According to the website, the program “joins arithmetic, geometry, algebra and calculus. It offers multiple representations of objects in its graphics, algebra, and spreadsheet views that are all dynamically linked.” You have to see it in action to know what this means! I wish this program had been around as I was growing up and suffering through math…
That’s all I have for you! If you have heard/used these ideas/programs before, I’d love to hear about it. Other ideas and programs as also welcome.
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2 Comments | General, Teaching | Tagged: 2009 conference, 21st century literacies, 3D virtual worlds, avatar, beyond access, chef papa, conference, daytona beach, digital storytelling, dynamic math activities, educational games, engaging technology, FATE, florida association of teacher educators, geogebra, glogg, glogging, k-12, multimodalities, new millennium learners, presentation, quest atlantis, quest game, RPG, teacher educators, technology, video games, virtual worlds, voice thread | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
October 5, 2009
Here are this week’s challenges! Remember, these challenges are now posted every two weeks. If you are curious about this challenge and want to know more/participate, please read this first.
Challenge for writers, by Bonet Graphic Designs
In keeping with the spirit of the month, you’re writing another Halloween story. This time, I want you to write a 500-1,000 words combining two of my favorite things: the Toy Story movies and Halloween. Feel free to use the characters from the movie or introduce new toys of your own.
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Challenge for graphic designers, by Prisca
Another Halloween challenge! (What can I say, it’s one of my favorite times of the year) Create an image for a poster that represents what Halloween means to you. The only words allowed on the poster are: Happy Halloween!
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Have fun!
Remember to post your story/design or link no later than Saturday 10/17/09 by 11:59 pm. If you want me to post it for you, please e-mail it to me before the deadline!
__________________________________________________________
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Leave a Comment » | Monday Challenge | Tagged: challenge, children's literature, design, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, Halloween, Monday Challenge, writing, writing challenge, writing for children, writing for young adults, YA | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
October 4, 2009
Here are the completed challenges.
Please join us next Monday. If you are looking for a different and engaging way to write, then I recommend trying Write or Die! It’s a blast and it really helps.
Enjoy!
__________________________________________________________
Click here to see the written entries
Click here to see the graphic design entries
__________________________________________________________
Here were the instructions for this week’s writing and graphic design challenges:
Challenge for writers, by Bonet Graphic Designs
Halloween is coming!
In honor of this awesome holiday, write a 500-1,000 word Halloween themed story for children/young adults (anywhere from 8-18). Vampires, zombies, werewolves, fairies–anything you can imagine!
Keep it PG please! PG-13 is okay too.
Challenge for graphic designers, by Prisca
Halloween is in the air…
…And in every store I walk into! September is not over yet and they’ve been selling the merchandise for weeks. I love it! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year and I can’t wait to see all the gals and ghouls dressed in their favorite costumes.
That said, I want you to create a Halloween-themed design that can go on a T-shirt (a black T-shirt, of course!). The design you create has to represent some aspect of Halloween. Remember these are kid-friendly sites, so your designs cannot be rated above PG-13!
Have fun!
Remember to post your story/design no later than Saturday 10/03/09 by 11:59 pm. If you want me to post it for you, please e-mail it to me before the deadline!
__________________________________________________________
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Leave a Comment » | Monday Challenge | Tagged: black cats, challenge, children's literature, contest, graphic design, graphic designer, graphics, Halloween, halloween design, halloween story, kidlit, Monday Challenge, pumpkins, T-shirt design, witches, writing, writing challenge, writing contest, writing for children | Permalink
Posted by Prisca
