Chocolate Teacher Weekly February 6, 2009
In this issue‌ Gettin’ Hype Letter from the Editors A Preview of Things to Come
Learning has never been this SWEET!
A letter from the Editors Dear Readers, When we were first approached with this venture, we were apprehensive. We were both alarmed, yet intrigued by the prospect of what could come out this project. Though we have done nothing like the before in our lives, we are confident that our alliance with the character know to us only as ‘Chocolate Teacher’ will be a fruitful one and one that will be beneficial to you the reader as well. The CT, as we refer to our partner, though strange and reclusive, does have a heart of sterling silver and will do a great job each week in presenting exercises and activities for your educational pleasure. We will be harsh taskmasters in order to insure the highest quality product exits his mind and finds itself on the pages that you will peruse. There will be myriads of guest writers, from all walks of life, will be invited to pen things to tickle your fancy and even we will scribble down words for our fine publication every now and then. Reader, we welcome you to what we hope will be a great journey. We thank you for patronage and hope only that we don’t disappoint you (too frequently.)
Sincerely, Julia 13B Lang & Octavia Lang Editors-in-Chiefs
Get Hype!!!: Inserting Hyperlinks into the your Edublogs By Chocolate Teacher Have you ever read a book about anything and wished you could see a picture of what the author was talking about? Perhaps you’ve gone to a dictionary to look the word up or asked an adult, but maybe you still came back a little unsure of what the author was really saying. Well, through blogging, we can help to alleviate those concerns. One of the very coolest things about blogging is that you can take you reader on a journey through the internet so that he or she definitely knows what you’re talking about. Gone are the days when someone will mention the name of an animal, sports star, singer, or car and not be able to show their reader a visual of what was mentioned. How is this done? Elementary, my dear, Watson! Strap on your seatbelts, its gonna be a short ride (but a fun one...I hope). To the left is a blog post that I wrote in reference to the Springs Preserve field trip that was recently taken by my fifth grade class. I’m going to use to illustrate how to add hyperlinks.
Step 1: Find Text and Highlight it
If you’ve never been to the Springs Preserve before, then you might not visualize exactly what I’m talking about. You might think of a zoo...or perhaps use your background knowledge and think about some nature preserve or national park you yourself have visited. I, as the author, want you actually see what I saw in order to make sure you know exactly what I mean.
The first thing we have to do, is find some text that we’d like to hyperlink. It’s generally a good rule to hyperlink anything that would need a picture or explanation that could be found somewhere else on the internet. If you’re not sure your reader has had an experience with something...hyperlink it. Notice the highlighted “Springs Preserve” to the right. Highlighting the text or image is the first thing we have to do.
Step 2: Push the button! Next, you need to find the icon that looks like a chain link that is one of the tools you can use add things to your blog. CLICK THIS BUTTON while your text is highlighted. Your page should look like the one to the left. There are four things in box: Link URL (the address you want to link the text to), target (do you want the new page that opens to open in a new window or not), title (what is the name of the link you have created), and class (how do you want the link aligned).
Step 3: Fill in the Blanks!!! Insert your information in to the blanks. Place the website you wish your reader to head to in order to read more information about what you’re talking about or to see a picture of it in the LINK URL box. It’s really easy just to visit the site and highlight and copy the address and then just paste in the box. In the target box, I always prefer that a new link not navigate me away from the page I was reading, but you can make your own choice. Give your link a title as well, I called mine “Springs Preserve Website.” Choose to align your link in the center and then press ‘INSERT’ at the bottom of the box.
Step 4: Preview your Blog Preview your blog to make sure the links work. If they don’t, make sure that you inserted the correct address to send your reader to.
If you have any questions, send them mdlang@interact.ccsd.net
You thought you were safe… You thought that you could hide and it would all go away… After a year, it has found you again… Oh, the horror, the terror, the AGONY…
CRTs Coming Soon to a classroom near you...
What’s Sweet for Next Week... A Preview of the Coming Week in the Land of Chocolate for all you Rip Van Winkles...
Weekly Blog Topic: Construct a Food Chain and Food Web
Monday, February 9th–Tuesday, February 10th Photo Essays about the Springs Preserve Wednesday, February 11th– Thursday, February 12th—Food Chain Gangs Friday, February 13th- The Blog-tastic Food Chains
Next Issue: Monday, February 9th, 2009...where will try to figure out the answer to the age old question, “Which came first...the Predator or the prey?”