Reader's Workshop Blog Post #2

What book are you currently reading?  Who is the author?  What page are you on? Tell us about the main character(s).  Who is the main character(s)?  What does the author directly tell you about him/her?  What does the author reveal indirectly?

AOW #1B--Oarfish

Read both of the short oarfish articles (link below), write a comment on the blog addressing the following questions (that means your should write 2 paragraphs):

• *What did you learn from reading this article?
  
  
  *Do you think this story was worth reporting on?  Why or why not?

“18-Foot-Long Sea Creature Found off California Coast”

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/15/18-foot-long-sea-creature-found-off-calif-coast/

“Oarfish Washes up in Oceanside”

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/oct/18/oar-fish-oceanside-offbeat/

Independent Reading Post

Before the end of reader's workshop, I would like you to post a comment on the blog about the current book you are reading?

      Include the Following:

• The title and author of your book.
• Tell us a little about the exposition.
• Don't give away the climax or the resolution.
• Tell us your opinion (support with evidence).

AOW #2-Blog Response

AoW 12-13.4

Directions: Mark your confusion. Show evidence of a close reading. Mark up the text with questions and/or comments. Write a blog response (approximately 250-words) to one of the topics listed at the end of the article.

Vocab: binge: excessive intake dehydration: lack of water marathon: an extended event, normally a run

expel: get rid of coma: when your body goes to sleep and can’t wake up fatalities: deaths

Teen Hospitalized after a 4-day Video Game Binge

Here's one way to tell that you've been spending too much time with the Xbox: Your lips turn blue and you collapse

Source: The Week.com, 8/12/12

Early Tuesday morning in Columbus, Ohio, 15-year-old Tyler Rigsby emerged from his bedroom after at least four straight days of playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, lured out by his mom with the promise of visiting his aunt's house. Once there, Rigsby collapsed three times, his face pale and lips blue. Emergency doctors at a local hospital treated him for severe dehydration and exhaustion, and his mom, Jessie Rawlins, promptly got rid of the Xbox. Rigsby isn't the first person to sacrifice his health thanks to video-game addiction, either. Here's a look at his story, and the bizarre tendency to game-till-you-drop:

Did Rigsby really play Modern Warfare for four days?

Four or five; his family isn't really sure. Rigsby did nap for a couple hours here and there during his marathon gaming session, and leave his room a few times — for snacks, bathroom breaks, and one quick shower — but otherwise was holed up with his Xbox. By the time he arrived at his aunt's house, "it's like he was looking at me but he wasn't there — it was like he was looking through me," the aunt, Jennifer Thompson, tells WCMH-TV. "We were talking and I heard a thump and I looked over and he just fell."

What caused him to collapse?

Dehydration, most likely: When you expel more liquids than you drink in, your blood volume shrinks, lowering blood pressure, sometimes to the point where a lack of oxygen in your brain makes you pass out, says Dr. Mike Patrick, an emergency physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Severe dehydration can also cause brain swelling, seizures, kidney failure, coma, blood clots, and even death. Of course, it's possible Rigsby passed out because he had barely slept for four or five days, says Dr. Patrick. "After so long, [your neural system] stops firing and you just go to sleep whether you want to or not." This was the first time Rigsby had such an incident, Rawlins tells The Columbus Dispatch. "I never in a million years thought that a video game would involve his health."

Are such gaming-related mishaps unusual?

Not unusual enough. In some ways, Rigsby was lucky, says Michelle Castillo at CBS News. Other non-stop gamers who forgot to drink liquids have died. Asia seems especially prone to gaming fatalities: Last month, a Taiwanese 18-year-old died in an internet cafe after a nonstop 40-hour Diablo session, while a Chinese gamer died in February 2011 after playing for three days with little food or sleep.

But the problem is global. In August 2011, 20-year-old British "Xbox addict" Chris Staniforth died after a blood clot traveled to his lung from his calf, a consequence of sitting for extended periods. And the gamers themselves aren't the only ones who get hurt: In 2010, a British mother was banned from the internet and given a two-year suspended sentence for neglecting her three kids and two dogs because she was so engrossed in the online game Small Worlds.

What lessons can we draw from Tyler's close call?

For one, says Dr. Patrick, those who insist on marathon gaming need to use some common sense: Remember to drink and eat enough, get up and move around every once in a while, and turn off the TV or computer and get some real sleep. We also have to look at Rigby's "mom's inability to intervene and end this persistent threat to the health of her child over the course of five days," says Owen Good at Kotaku. Five days! Getting rid of the Xbox is a good step, but I doubt it "totally solves all the problems in this household."

Possible Reflection Topics: (Create a Blog Response for one of the following Topics)

• Are you a hardcore gamer? If not, do you know any? What’s the longest stretch of video gaming that you or your friends have ever done?
• In your opinion, do video games have an overall positive or negative impact on teenagers? Why?
• Should there be a minimum age for playing video games? Why or why not?
• Should Rigsby’s parents be charged with neglect for letting their son do so much gaming?
• Is video gaming something you need to keep under control in order to be successful in high school? If not, what are your “binge” habits and how can you work on controlling them?

Article of the Week #1

No More Curtain Calls for Elephants and Why Elephants Need Circuses and Zoos

Elephant AOW-link to article

Which claim about elephants in zoos and circuses convinces you the most? (You may want to type your response to this question in Google docs first)

Please include your first name, last initial, and class period!!!

Example Response: 

The claim that I could connect with the most was the one from the second article titled Why Elephants Need Circuses and Zoos.   I feel elephants need humans in order to survive.  I thought the point about the habitat of elephants disappearing or shrinking was valid.  It is true that animals in zoos and/or circuses don’t have to worry about obtaining their own food.  It seemed sad and cruel to me that elephants have to endure walking miles and miles to obtain food and water.   Then when they trample farm fields or eat the humans’ food, they are killed.  This seems crueler then keeping them in captivity.  Also, I liked the comparison the article made to humans using horses versus humans using elephants.  It made me think.  Is there really a difference?  Why don’t people criticize the human interaction between horses and humans like they do with elephants?  I realize there are circumstances where humans have abused elephants in captivity, and perhaps humans have not always provided the best living conditions for elephants, but I’d like to think that most humans treat animals with respect.  I want elephants to be around for a long time, so I think elephants do need people to protect them and to make sure they do not go extinct.