Internet & Chat Acronyms in English

A: Hi ppl!B: WB How RU?A:
Fine. BTW, howz things with your bf?
B: 2gether 4eva!A: hey, wanna see a film l8r?
B: Can’t 2day. Tmrw?A: Sure. Shrek3? Fred saw it, said ROFL!
B: ok, but IMO, spiderman will b more fun. KWIM?
A: brb
B: ok
A: b. Sorry. Phone
B: NP. I gtg anyway.
A: ok cul8tr!
B: hand.

Any idea what the conversation above is about? Can you translate it into 'normal' english? This dictionary site should help you. You should also ask Kat or Kamil for the puzzle page of frequently used acronyms. When you think you know them all, try to use as many as you can in an email (or blogpost), and then post it on your blog. Remember to show it to your teachers!

How to create a comic strip

Go to http://www.toondoo.com/. You'll need to create an account, so click on 'Register' in the top right hand corner of the page. Fill in your details and when your account is created click on the pencil on the right hand side of the screen that says 'create your own'.

Next you need to choose the layout for the cartoon- pick a 3 frame strip. Then just use the tabs at the top of the screen to choose your character, background, props and text.

For your project, you need to create at least 6 frames– this should be one continuing story. Each frame needs to have at least 2 full sentences in English.
Don’t forget to give your story a title!
And don't forget to Click Save when you're done!

How to Create an A3 Poster

To prepare and print an A3 colour poster you first need to choose your topic. You can either choose from the list below or ask Andrea if you have another idea for a theme.

• Top ten things to do in London
• Advertise your blog
• You can use one of the weekly themes- Sinister London, British Museum, Thames, Art Attack or Shakespeare.

Firstly, you need to prepare your document to be printed as an A3 page. Open Microsoft Word and go to File, in the top left corner and click on Page Setup. In the upper part of the window that opens you will find three tabs. One of them is Paper. Click it and choose Paper Size: A3. You can also choose if you want 'Portrait' or 'Landscape' orientation.
You should add some WordArt to your ad! Go to Insert then Picture and click WordArt, choose a style, and type the text you want. Remember to move to wherever you wish and drag its corners to make it larger or smaller
Do you want to change the background? Nothing simpler! Go to Format, click Background and choose the colour or photo you want.
Add a picture or 3 to your page? Go to Insert / Picture and choose From File to locate the picture you want in your folder. Remember you can always choose to include ClipArt in your ads
Remember to preview your work of art before you print it! That can easily be done by going to File / Print Preview.
Have fun with your creations!

Powerpoint Presentation

Your presentation must be based upon any weekly theme or excursion. The themes for the weeks are:

• Horror
• Pirates
• Art Attack
• Shakespeare

To start creating your powerpoint go to the desktop and open the program Microsoft Powerpoint

It should include the following things:
At least 6 slides (not including the title!)
Pictures
Text
Transitions between slides
Animated text
You will present your completed slideshow to your class (which means you have to be able to talk about your chosen topic, not just read from the slide!). The best ones might be able to be shown at the Friday Night Leaving Ceremony and Entertainment Evening!

Project Overview

Hi Guys,Time to get started on some projects! At the end of this course each student will have a blog (set up with comments enabled, a visitor counter and link list, and with photos or video on it, and a completed profile) as well as a copy of their class dictionary. Apart from that, you also have to choose to do a few of the following things:
A Powerpoint Presentation
An A3 Colour Poster
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Gameshow
A Short Story
A Comic strip
Create your own hero and write a blog as if you were them!
An email or blogpost using as many different chat acronyms and shorthand as possible.

Blog Requirements

A Visitor Counter
A list of links to the other blogs in your class
Some photos
Regular blog posts (every two days, at least)
Comments and Word Verification enabled so that anyone can write you a comment
And don't forget to email the address of your blog to your friends and family so that they can read it!

How To Add a Visitor Counter

To add a visitor counter, you need to sign up to a site such as statcounter.com, which provides free visitor counters for websites.

Once you have a counter, you can see how many people are visiting your blog and where they are from. To get started, just go to http://www.statcounter.com/ and click on "Register Now - It's Free (We promise!)". Follow the instructions to complete registration. Make sure you tick the box that makes your stats public, so everyone can see who is looking at your blog!At the end of the registration process, statcounter will say 'here is your code'. You now have to add that code to your blog. Select and copy the entire code for the 'Visible Counter' so that you are ready for the next step.

To add the counter to your blog, you need to go to your dashboard, then click on 'Layout', then 'Add Page Element' in the place where you want your counter to appear. Find the element called 'HTML/Java script' and click 'Add to Blog'. Add a title if you want, and then paste the code from statcounter into the box, and click 'Save Changes'.Your counter should now be visible when you view your blog!If you have any problems, ask your teacher!

How To Enable Comments and Word Verification

Everyone should make sure their blogs have visitor counters and link lists. Click on the links here or in the side bar if you don't know how to do this. You should also make sure that anyone can comment on your blog by going to 'settings', then 'comments' and changing the 'who can comment' box to 'anyone'. The only problem with this is that then robots can write advertising comments on your blog. To stop this, look further down the page for 'show word verification on comments' and change it to 'yes'.

How to Create a Link List

From your Blogger Dashboard (after you sign in):
Click on 'Layout'
Click on 'Add a Page Element' in the sidebar of your blog.
Find the 'Link List' option, and click 'Add to Blog'
Type a title for your list, such as 'Grisham Blogs' or whatever you like.
Don't worry about the number of links or sorting, but go straight to the 'url' and enter the url of the first blog you want to link to. It is easier to copy and paste so that you know it is exactly correct. (Remember you can use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-C anc Ctrl-V to copy and paste!)
Type the name of the blog - this will be what you actually see in your sidebar.
Click on 'Add Link'
Repeat steps 5 & 6 for all the blogs in your class (but not your own, of course!)
Remember to click 'Save Changes' when you are done!

How to Upload Pictures/Photos in Blogger

First, make sure the picture that you want to upload is compressed, so the file is not too big.

You can also crop it or edit it in MS Picture Manager.
Sign in to blogger as usual.
Start a New Post (or edit an old one).
Click on the tiny picture of a picture above the text box where you usually write your post .
In the new window that appears, click on "Browse", and find the file where the picture you want is saved.
When you have chosen your picture, click on the blue "upload image" button.
Wait for your picture to be uploaded, then click "Done"
Remember to click on the orange "Publish Post" when you have finished uploading your picture and typing your entry

How to edit a picture/photo in MS Picture Manager

• Use 'my computer' to find the file that you want to edit.




• Select the picture, but don't open it yet.




• Click on 'file' then 'open with' and then 'Microsoft Office Picture Manager'.




• The picture and the progam will open. At the top, you can select 'edit picture' to compress, crop, resize etc.