Family photos and author's purpose

Friday evening

My camera batteries, the rechargeable ones, finally lost their rechargeability. I haven't taken pictures in over two weeks. I keep forgetting to buy the batteries when I'm out shopping, but with the Christmas Season coming on, and the opportunities to take great pictures of family and friends numerous, I must buy those batteries this weekend.

Came home from school today and there was the Christmas tree... just the tree... our man-made one.... standing up in the living room! My husband had today off, and had set it up for me... it's a seven footer, which isn't tall by some tree standards, but it's not a piece of cake to assemble. However, the lights are next on the tree agenda, and I'm not relaxed enough to do them tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

I want to include a family Christmas photo this year in my journal. I'd love to see journalers with their families, sometime during the following weeks, on up through New Year's.

I know some of us are quicker to put pictures in our journals than others, but I was wondering, whether you read my journal or you are a new visitor, would you take a family photo and put it in your journal, then come back and leave a link? Or if you are not comfortable with that, because it is the internet afterall, maybe you wouldn't mind sending me an email with your family photo?

Please take a new picture this year.... nothing old from last year! I'm going to try to get a photo of my family, but it may be difficult to get everyone's permission to post it here. I won't be able to post a big family photo until after Christmas day, however, because that is the day we all get together.

I read about you all nearly every day, and you tell stories about the family, with names sometimes, but often times without names. Still, I do relate your screen names with your journals, and your journals with a general theme. Sometimes I imagine your family, your home... not for any predatory intention, of course !... but it's the way I read a book. It's the way I get involved with the characters of a story.

All of our journals have characters, settings, themes, even plots and subplots. Without even realizing I'm doing it, whenever I read something, I find myself making predictions. If I'm not making predictions, I'm making generalizations, drawing conclusions, and making inferences.

I can't help myself... I'm a teacher, and I teach reading comprehension skills to three different grade levels. I am generally aware of these concepts as I read most anything. At the back of my mind, I'm looking for examples I can use in the classroom... no, I don't use your journals or mine as a teaching tool. <grin> It just wouldn't be ethical.

Besides, there are plenty of other examples to use all around me: newspapers, magazines, junk mail, school announcements, invitations, posters, etc., and the thousands of books in the school itself.

Today, I taught author's purpose. The third grade students had to sort several fiction and non-fiction descriptions of written materials into two groups: to inform and to entertain. They were given cards with the description of a text, such as recipes, a book of riddles, a newspaper article about the president, a book of fables, and so on. They seemed to be sure of the texts that were written to inform, but there were a few that were clearly (to me) written to entertain that seemed to confound them. A book of riddles and a book of myths and legends slowed them down a bit. They weren't sure about myths, and only slightly familiar with legends. After I described a few myths and legends, they correctly identified the author's purpose: to entertain.

It seems that my journal has two purposes: to entertain and to inform. It's somewhat biographical, with a few amusing stories now and then, and some informative entries with links and facts .... as my interests and the calling of my profession guide me, and my energy level allows!

What would you say is the purpose of your journal? To entertain, inform, or persuade?

 

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