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The Golden Ratio, Writing Prompts
Monday, May 26, 2008
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It's a quiet day today...for a Monday. It's Memorial Day here in the US, which means well over half of The Problem Site's traffic is on school vacation.
For teachers who are looking for some enrichment activities to help round out the school year, I have a couple interesting things for you.
The Golden Ratio
This is a series of pages which explore some of the fun mathematical properties of the number which is often referred to as The Golden Ratio, The Golden Section, or phi (φ). Take some time to browse the pages yourself, and see if you have students who would find it valuable and interesting to explore the concepts on these pages.
Alphabet Soup
Over at Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction, the weekly writing prompts are going to be "easier" than usual for the next few months. Each week writers will be given a different letter of the alphabet, and they will have to select a person, place, or thing beginning with that letter to write about.
This is very open-ended, and will be great for students (and adults!) who want to do a little bit of writing each week, but don't have a lot of time to spend on it during the summer months.Labels: golden ratio, theproblemsite, writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Merry Christmas, and a Contest!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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Good morning! This is going to be a bit of a hodge-podge posting; please read through to the very end, because this post includes a contest for you to enter, in which you could win a subscription to Quote Puzzler.
First, though, in honor of the Chrismas season, I thought some might enjoy a couple pieces of Christmas writing. One is a very serious and true Christmas story, the other is an amusing series of letters to and from Santa Claus.
Second, I'm working on a new puzzle game for The Problem Site, however, I just got a contract to write a series of 90 math competition problems in the next few weeks, so the game is going to have to wait. Combine Christmas with 90 math problems and doing a wholescale upgrade of Quote Puzzler next weekend, and I'm sure you can imagine, I'm going to disappear from view for awhile!
The Contest
Creating new games and puzzles for The Problem Site is a lot of fun. The greatest challenge is not programming a puzzle, but coming up with a puzzle idea. Do YOU have ideas for educational games/puzzles?
If you do, write up (in detail) how your game/puzzle would work, and explain why it is educational, rather than "just entertaining". Then email it to me at: dtwitchell@virtu-software.com.
The very best game idea will receive a six month free subscription to Quote Puzzler. Other game ideas may (or may not) be awarded free subscriptions, at my sole discretion.
All puzzle ideas submitted will become the property of The Problem Site.
This competition will remain open until January 31st, 2008.
Important Note: Do NOT send your puzzle idea as a file attachment. For security reasons, I do NOT open file attachments from people I don't know! Your puzzle idea MUST be in the main body of your email.Labels: contest, quote-puzzler, theproblemsite, writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Language Arts Teachers - A New Writing Adventure
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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I realize that this blog is designed for information about the Puzzler Sites, and I apologize for breaking out of that design.
I know that many teachers check in here, and I'm looking for language arts teachers who would be interested in testing out an online writing website feature.
The Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction website has a weekly writing prompt (This week's writing prompt involves writing a Fibonacci Poem). Students can join the site and create a piece of writing for the prompt.
However, there is an extra special feature for teachers (which is not yet visible to the public) which allows you to create your own writing prompt for your students.
When you create a writing prompt on the FMOF website, you get a code, which you give to your students. Your students then use that code to access your writing prompt, and when they are done writing, all their posts are visible to you in a single list.
The great news is that your students can create a member account without supplying any personally identifible information, so you don't even have to worry about whether they have an email address to use when creating an account.
If you are a langauge arts teacher, and are interested in trying out this new feature, please send me an email: dtwitchell@virtu-software.com. I'll reply with instructions on using this new feature.
By the way, when you visit the FMOF site, be sure to check out the Featured Gallery - this is some of the best writing that has been submitted on the site, including both humorous (like this: A Chicken, A Dog, and A Cow) and serious (like this: Synchronized Swinging).Labels: writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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Member Login, a New Writing Website
Friday, September 28, 2007
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This morning there was a little quirk with The Problem Site's login system, which I believe is now resolved; nothing major, but if you encounter any problems with the login system, let me know, and I'll get right on it!
Also, while I have your attention, for those of you who are interested in writing, there's a brand new website you should take a look at.
Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction
This is a place where anyone, whether they are children or adults, can spend some time doing creative writing, and get involved in a community of writers. You don't need to be professional - in fact, I built the site for my own use, and I'm certainly not a professional writer!
I plan to introduce a new writing prompt onto the site every week (probably every Sunday afternoon/evening). If you're not sure what a writing prompt is, it's a directed writing assignment. For those who need a little help getting their creativity kicked into gear, a once per week writing prompt is a great way to get started.
This week's writing prompt can be found here: This Week's Writing Prompt
You can also read what has been posted on the site in response to that writing prompt.
So give it a try - create a free writing account, and write something to share with the world!Labels: theproblemsite, writing
posted by Douglas Twitchell at
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