EVERYONE PLEASE READ!!!

Hey Guys!!!
Please please please please PLEASE come over to the keystonewrites.weebly.com site and post all of your previous works!! The forum here is no longer available, but Dvora and I both would love to get the blog up and running again!!

***IMPORTANT NOTICE***

Hello everyone!! As you know the forum is no longer available. Instead of having to pay for the forum we have moved the Keystone Writes! Blog! We now have a fully functioning website complete with a new forum! Sadly the works that were in the forum are not on the new site so please please please come share your works there!!! The new site is: keystonewrites.weebly.com

Hope to see you guys there!!! :)

Jen and Dvora

Forum Malfunction

Hey guys! I'm sorry we have just learned that the company that we used to create the Forum is now charging to use them when the content is classified as an adult site. We apologize for this inconvenience and are working on getting a new and improved forum back up and running as soon as possible!
Thanks for your patience!
Jen and Dvora

Winning Contest Idea!

Hey Guys! So we have the winning contest idea now!!!!! Thank you to all who voted! I apologize for this being so late, it has been extremely difficult trying to keep up with everything that has been going on, but here it is!

The winning contest idea for the very first ever Keystone Writes! writing competition is De Ja Vu Dreamer! It was a close call between this and mystery text, but De Ja Vu dreamer one by a single vote!


The De Ja Vu Dreamer contest is to write a descriptive piece about a dream, either good or bad, as if it came true. This can be a poem, short story, song, etc. Please remember there is a twenty-five (25) word minimum, and there is no maximum, but be reasonable please! Don't forget to take a look back at the Contest Rules and Regulations post before submitting any stories! As of right now we have three contest judges, but we are looking for another, so if you are interested in judging this contest instead of participating please send me an email at JenniferLeigh96@gmail.com!

Lastly, please send any and all submissions to keystonewrites@aol.com. In the subject bar please include your name, the title of your piece and the email, you wish to be reached at. Thank you and Good luck!
I can't wait to read what everyone will write!!!

Happy Writing!!!
Jen :)

Contest Final Votes!

Hey Guys!
It has been utterly silent around here lately! :( but we are starting to get more votes for the contest! I have re-opened the poll, but it will close once and for all on Wednesday, June 19 2013 at 11:59pm EST. On Thursday June 20 2013 I will post the winning contest idea and we will then officially begin the contest!!! *Excitement* Can't wait to see your stories!!!!!
Happy Writing!
Jen :)

Top Three Contest Ideas; Time to vote!

Hey everyone!

The following contest ideas were the top three chosen by Dvora and I for the very first Keystone Writes! writing contest! *excitement* :D Please read over the basic description of each contest, then vote for the contest you would prefer to participate in. The poll will be posted in the next day or so! You can look over the descriptions and begin brainstorming! The poll will include only the name of the contest (the names are in quotations. Good luck and Happy Writing!

1. “De Ja Vu Dreamer”: Write a descriptive piece about a dream, either good or bad, as if it came true.

2.  “Mystery Text”: You just purchased an old/ used book. As you are flipping through the pages a mysterious sheet of paper falls out. Write a short story or poem that illustrates the above prompt. Maybe describing the paper? What happened when you saw it? Or the experience of getting the book? Is it a mystery thriller? Or just an old sheet of paper? It’s up to you!

3. “New Life”:  write a monologue for an original character. 200 word minimum. 

Keystone Writes! Contest Rules and Regulations

Hello Everyone! Now that we have reviewed and selected the contest ideas, we have put together the basic rules and regulations for ALL future contests. They are outlined below:

Contest Ideas/Submissions/ Voting

1. All contest ideas will be reviewed by me and Dvora. We will select a minimum of 3 ideas that we feel will present the most creative and challenging contest. The top three ideas will then be posted in a poll on the home page and for a period of at least one week all members will be allowed to vote for the idea that they like the best. The idea that gets the most votes will be used for that months challenge.

        - For the first challenge, we will be posting the poll by April 22^nd and the idea that receives the most votes will be presented in early May.

2. All contest submissions should be sent to the following email address: keystonewrites@aol.com. For the first contest, Dvora and I will review all submissions (along with one - two other judges, pending selection). For the following contests, the top four that receive 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place as well as the one honorable mention, will be given the opportunity to act as judges for the next contest, in addition to either myself or Dvora. The two of us will alternate as contest judges. The password to the email account will be changed after each contest so that only the current contest judges will have access to the submissions. Those acting as judges will be unable to participate in the contest in which they are judging. This is to maintain an unbiased vote. The contest judges reviewing the submissions are only a preliminary voting committee. The contest judges will select the top 4 submissions (each of which will receive a prize).

3. After submissions have gone through the preliminary judging, the top four submissions will then be posted on the blog under the Contest Submission sub-forum. Another poll will be set up listing each of the submission. All members will then have the opportunity to vote on which submission they believe deserves 1^st place. There is a limit of ONE vote per member. After a period of a minimum of 1 week the member with the most votes will be given the first place prize and so forth in descending order (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and honorable mention) will be recognized and receive their prize.

4. The first place winner’s submission will be posted on the home page of the blog, as well as on the Keystone Writes! Facebook  page.

5. After a member has placed in a contest, they cannot be considered for a winning submission for at least two additional contests. This is simply to ensure that everyone has the chance to win.

6. Each contest will be unique. Therefore each contest will have a special set of rules when chosen. These rules will be left up to the member who invented the contest. However, all unique contest rules most comply with the rules stated here as well.

Acceptable Conduct

1. These contest are meant to encourage writing, and are meant to be friendly. Everyone will have an equal chance at winning. If anyone feels that the contests are unfair, or feel they have not received the same chance as others, please contact either myself or Dvora and we will look into the issue and attempt to resolve the problem.

2. Please present positive constructive criticism. Any negative, disrespectful or inconsiderate comments will be removed and the user responsible will be warned and if they continue the user will be blocked and will not be allowed to continue participating on the blog.

3. The contests are a competition and there will be winners, not all participants will win. Just because you do not win one contest does not mean that you will not win another, and it definitely does not mean that you are not a great writer! Ever member has exceptional writing skills and it will be very difficult to select winners!

4. If at any time participants begin to act in a negative or disrespectful way due to the contests and the issues cannot be resolved, the contests WILL be discontinued. Please be respectful of everyone’s work. Everyone works very hard to perfect their work, and just because one does not necessarily like someone else’s work does not mean that that persons work is bad. Any words that downgrade someone’s writing should NEVER be used. Words such as: bad, terrible, unintelligent, horrible etc should never be used. Acceptable phrases such as: different, unique, well-thought out etc are encouraged.

If you disagree with any of the above contest rules and regulations please, please, PLEASE send me an email so that we can work out any necessary revisions before the contests begin. If anyone feels like they will be hurt if their work does not receive the same number of votes as others, we can reconsidered a more private voting system. However, this will make it much more difficult to keep the voting process a democratic arrangement. However, if you feel this way please let me know and Dvora and I will reconsider the voting process.

If you have any questions please email me at JenniferLeigh96@gmail.com 

Happy Writing and Good Luck! 

-Jen 

Contest Idea Deadline: April 19th, 2013 11:59 E.S.T

Hey Guys!! 
Now that we have received enough contest ideas to get started, we have decided to start setting some deadlines so that we can get our first official Keystone Writes! contest started!! 

So here is the first deadline; all contest idea submissions most be posted in the Weekly Wednesday Writing subform by 11:59 pm E.S.T on April 19th, 2013. Any submissions made after this date will not be considered for this contest. 

Dvora or I one will be making a post before April 22nd to outline, the contest rules, and process for sumbissions! 

If you want your contest idea to be considered for the upcoming contest please, please, PLEASE get your ideas submitted no later than April 19th, that is ONE WEEK from today. If your ideas are posted after the deadline they will not be considered for the first contest, however they may be considered for following contests. 
BE CREATIVE! and HAPPY WRITING! 
-Jen :) 

If you have any questions feel free to send me an email at JenniferLeigh96@gmail.com

One Day Without Shoes

Hello my Keystone writers!

A fellow Keystone Writes! Member brought to my attention a movement called “One Day Without Shoes”. Here is a little information to get the wheels turning in your brain:

Millions of kids around the world do not own even a single pair of shoes. What’s the big deal about shoes? Shoes are just a simple accessory right? WRONG! Shoes are a form of protection from a dangerous parasite, known as hookworms. Hookworms are soil transmitted parasites that attach to a host (aka us humans with bare feet) and feeds off of it. They can cause serious damage to the host including, but not limited to, malnutrition, anemia, and stunted growth. Hookworms affect over 740 million people worldwide. Something else that you may not know is that not having shoes can cause a lesser education. Nuts right? I’m sure you have seen the “no shoes, no shirts, no service” signs in many public places. This is true for many schools as well. Schools often require a uniform, or have certain clothing regulations and without shoes children will not be allowed to enter. Now are you ready for this? For every year of school that a child attends there is a 10% increase in their future earnings. One pair of shoes could be the difference between living on the streets, and being the next Bill Gates all because a child will be able to attend school.

I’m sure you’re wondering what the point of this post is, so I’ll get to the point. A shoe company known as TOMS, partners with other organizations to help kids who do not own shoes in order to help them have healthier todays and brighter tomorrows, by giving a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes someone buys. TOMS puts together an annual event each year called “One Day Without Shoes”.

 It is a pretty straightforward event. On April 16^th, 2013 spend the day not wearing shoes. Just 24 hours without the comfort of shoes, no matter where you need to go, be it errand running or sitting in your house. It will not cost you a penny, yet the moment you walk out of your home without shoes, your act will yield curiosity, curiosity will yield question, question yields conversation and conversation yields action! If one pair of shoes can make a difference, can you imagine what kind of difference just the 70 of us could make? Please join me and Rene in this simple action of spreading the word to help those in need! If you will participate on April 16^th please post a comment on this post to let us know!

If you want to read some more information please visit the site: onedaywithoutshoes.com 

Word of the Day: Troubadour

Troubadour
(n.)
Definition: 
1. One of the poets from the medieval time period who wrote poetry that was mostly about love
2. A wandering singer
Parent language: French
Sentence: Henry was a troubadour for Halloween, singing ridiculous love songs to every woman he encountered.

Hey Everyone!

Hey guys! 

Dvora, being the awesome person she is, already posted the best Weekly Wednesday Writing yet! lol We have the journals (which are absolutely GORGEOUS by the way) and they are bound to make an awesome prize! Thanks to Paperblanks we are able to give away the prizes for FREE, so if you win one of the contests we will mail the prize to you! However, before we can send out any prizes we have to get some contests started! That's the great thing about this weeks challenge! We want you guys to come up with some contest ideas of your own, so that we know that you will enjoy doing the contests! I'm going to go into a little bit more detail about this challenge; specifically about choosing the winning contest idea! 

First; like Dvora said before there should be at least a 25 word minimum length for the works written for the contest. There won't be a maximum, but again be reasonable, the contest won't be open for too long. (the length of time depending on the number of active members. The more that participate the longer you will have!) 

Second; these competitions need to remain friendly! Any rude or offensive content will be removed from the site, the member responsible will be sent a warning about proper blog conduct and disqualified from the current competition. The contests are meant to add a more exciting aspect to the blog and add some inspiration to write! If things start to get out of hand the contests WILL be discontinued. 

Third; To chose which contest idea will be chosen, Dvora and I will look through EVERY contest idea submission; we will then pick out a top 5 or 6 (depending on how many submissions there are) and we will then put up a poll ( like the one on the home page for your favorite piece to write) where everyone can then VOTE to pick out the winner. That way it is fair to everyone; and we can stay non-dictators on the blog! lol 

Fourth; remember this is supposed to be fun and exciting! Be creative and have fun not only with the contest ideas, but with the submissions FOR the contests once the contests are started!  Once we have the contest ideas sorted and chosen; we will post the contest on the home page, along with the guidelines and rules for submissions! 

Last thing! I wanted to apologize for being away for so long; we just had a lot come up all at one time. However, we are back now and want to get things in full swing, so write it up!! 

Be creative! 

Jen 

Word of the Day: Madcap

Madcap(adjective): wildly or heedlessly impulsive; reckless; rash. 

sentence: The thieves put together a madcap scheme; it was impulsive and reckless, no wonder they were caught! 

Wonderful News/Weekly Wednesday Writing

Hello, everyone!
Jen and I have some wonderful news to share with you all: we have managed to acquire fifty beautiful journals for contests that we'll be holding! The journals were a gift, a donation from the wonderful company Paperblanks (www.paperblanks.com). Ms. Faye Mallett handled the donation, so many thanks to her!
We will be holding our first contest very soon (the date depends on when we get more active members, so please tell all of your Keystone friends!), and the special thing about the first one is that you guys get to choose the topic! For example, the contest can be to "write a short story about an adventure that you wish you went on" or something like that. Make it creative, add a suggested word length, and post it to the Weekly Wednesday Writings section of the forum (this is our Weekly Wednesday Writing; it was Jen's idea). You can suggest a poem, a story, a song- anything! The suggested length must be a minimum of 25 words (if you choose to propose a micro fiction piece). There is no maximum, but please be reasonable because each contest will only be open for about 1 - 3 weeks. Jen and I will choose whichever contest idea we like best. We'll then tweak it (if necessary) and keep you posted about when the contest will be open to submissions! The number of winners will depend on how many people participate in the contest. 
Please email me or Jen with any questions or suggestions! And please continue to spread the word about Keystone Writes!
Once again, thank you, Paperblanks, and thank you Ms. Mallett for your wonderful gift!
Have fun, everyone!

Word of the Day: Tawny

Tawny
(adj.)
Of a dark yellow- brown color.
(n.)
A shade of yellowish- brown.
Parent language: Middle English
Sentence: Instead of buying a beautiful golden Labrador from the breeder, we opted to adopt a tawny mixed breed from the local shelter, and despite her unattractive appearance, she is the best pet we've ever owned.

Word of the Day: Periphery

Hello everyone!
Sorry for our temporary absence; we're back now, though!
I'd like to present the first Word of the Day since January: periphery.

Periphery
(n.)
The external boundary of any area (from dictionary.com)
Sentence: The periphery of the village was dotted with guards; the month before, it was surrounded by thieves, and the government wanted to ensure that no more robberies would occur.
Parent language: Latin and Greek 

Weekly Wednesday Writing Challenge

Hey Guys! 
This weeks challenge comes from the book Now Write! Fiction. If you have the book you can use that as a reference, it is on page 5-7. For those of you who do not have it, I am posting the challenge here. :) 

Through The Senses: Robert Olen Butler

This is a seven stage exercise. Do each stage separately! that is an extremely important note! Just make sure that you complete one stage before you move on to the next. Force yourself to write moment to moment through the senses only! don't worry about style or wording; just keep it flowing through your senses. Do not use any abstraction, generalization, summary, analysis or interpretation. Don't think just write! Make sure you write in the first person (you meaning your chaaracter). Now that I have given you a little bit of intro, here are each of the steps: 

Step One: You awake abruptly, though it isn't morning, and you are not in a bed. But you are in the place where you live. The room where you awake is right in objects and their associations. You are breathless and anxious from a dream you can't, and won't, remember. You look around the room, everything is shaped by an unspecified anxiety. Let's see the room, in the moment, through the senses. 

Step Two: One object in particular catches your attention and suggests a  strong connection to your anxiety. Move toward the object; touch it, experience it sensually.

Step Three: The object evokes a memory as vivid as a dream but not the one you woke from. It is a real memory, one based on wanting, desiring something. But this is a surface thing you want-- an object, a gesture a touch, whatever. Focus on the moment-to-moment, specific memory of desiring this thing, which nevertheless, carries an intimation deeper than yearning. But don't go to that deeper desire yet. Experience the surface thing through just your characters sensibility. 

Step Four: Now let the memory of this want include a moment when a secondary memory is evoked. This second memory involves another object, different from the one you are touching in the present but similar to it in its basic sensual pattern. This second memory surprises you. You deeply connect it to the first. And the wanting suddenly goes deeper, into a state of being, a state of self. Don't label it. Play it out in the moment through the senses. 

Step Five: In that second memory you are moved to an action driven by your yearning. Let the action happen moment by moment. 

Step Six: Some part of the action will bring you back to the present, to an awareness of the first object. Re-experience your object. Your sensual perception is altered, is reshaped by the emotion and yearning you have experienced in these two linked memories. 

Step Seven: Now, back in the present, in light of all this, you take an action. 




That is the exercise! It is possibly my absolute favorite! I used it to end up writing my short story Angel Wings. I will repost that in the Weekly Wednesday Writing. My story doesn't necessarily follow every step word for word, but it is a fiction exercise, be creative! Do not feel tied down by the specifics of the steps; just write! 

Happy Writings! 

Spread the Word, Get Involved!

Hey guys! The blog is still kind of dead, so we need to get people participating again! Here is something that will hopefully kick start the process! 

I'm sure you guys have a favorite author, story, poem or maybe all three! So here is the deal, I want you guys to post a link to your favorite poem, story or book. You could also just copy and paste the poem or story, or talk about the book! You can post the poem in poetry, and the story/book in short stories! When ever you guys post one of these I will try and read them all and we can get a discussion going! We can talk about writing styles, plot points, sub plots etc! Looking at writing from different authors and comparing styles and taking on ideas can really help kick start the writing process! Please give it a shot! Go ahead and post your favorites! Ill post mine as well! We want to breathe some more life into the blog, so if you have any ideas that you thing should be implemented just send me an email and we will see what we can do! 

Happy Writing! 
-Jen 

Just a Note and an Apology!

Hey everyone! 
I just wanted to apologize, I know I haven't been very active on the blog. I haven't been feeling the greatest, but I am doing much better now! There hasn't been much going on for the past week or so, but I know you guys have been writing! Don't be shy! you can post anything you have written on the blog; we would love to see it all! Also, don't forget about the Cards for Hospitalized Kids challenge! it's a great organization and those kids deserve some amazing cards! Either Dvora or I will be posting another weekly challenge come Wednesday (maybe even one from Now Write! :D) please please please take on the challenges! They are fun and a great way to challenge your skills! haha I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see some more works being posted! 

Happy Writings! 

Word of the Day: Elude

Elude
(v.)
To escape or avoid.
Parent language: Latin
Sentence: The boy eluded his father's anger by dodging his fist and escaping through the fire escape.

Weekly Wednesday Writing

Today's writing challenge is to write a chain of words, then to choose 10 and write a story with them.
Start with a word, then write random words that come to mind after each!

Word of the Day: Audacious

audacious( adjective): 1. extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless. 2. extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive. 3. recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety,law; insolent; brazen. 4. lively; unrestrained; uninhibited. 

parent language: not listed. 

sentence: His audacious lifestyle finally caught up with him when he recklessly tried to jump a gap of thirty feet, ten stories up on a bicycle.

Special Challenge!!

Hi everyone! I'm sure that some of you have seen Jen Rubino's post on facebook about her organization Cards For Hospitalized Kids. Well, I have a special challenge for everyone here at Keystone Writes! This challenge is to write a special, inspirational poem to be written inside of a card that will be sent to Cards For Hospitalized Kids! You can post your poem under the Poetry section on the blog! If you want you can create your own card and send it in as an individual, if you do we would LOVE for you to post a picture of your card! If not, my plan (as long as you guys are okay with it) is to make a card for each poem that is posted and send them all in to Cards for Hospitalized Kids from all of us here at Keystone Writes!. If you don't wish for me to use your poem in a card, or you plan to do one of your own please say so when you make the post! I will make sure to post a picture of the cards I make in reply to each poem that is written! 

One note to remember: Please do not use phrases like "Feel better soon" or "Get Well!" the goal of Jen Rubino's organization is to focus on the kids as a whole and not to focus on the medical condition! 

Also: Dont forget to like the Cards For Hospitalized Kids page on facebook! you can find further guidlines there! here is the link: 
https://www.facebook.com/CardsForHospitalizedKids

If sending in a card on your own here is the address: 
Cards For Hospitalized Kids
6567 N.Olmsted
Chicago, IL 60631

I really hope everyone will take part in this very special challenge!
Happy Writing!

Word of the Day: Xenophobia

Xenophobia
(n.)
Fear or hatred of the unknown, especially of strangers.
Parent language: Greek
Sentence: Peter's xenophobia made him a poor candidate for chairman of the committee, as he was afraid of strangers and refused to negotiate with them.

Word of the Day: Timorous

Timorous(adjective): full of fear; fearful. subject to fear; timid. characterized by or indicating fear.

Parent Language: Middle English

Sentence: The haunted house left everyone scared, but one young girl was especially timorous; she jumped at every sound and couldnt sleep for the rest of the night.

Word of the Day: Candor

Candor(noun): the state or quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech or expression; candidness. Freedom from bias; fairness; imartiality.

Parent language: Middle English

Sentence: The candor of the young politician was unrivaled; no one had ever seen a politician who spoke with such openness and sincerity.

Word of the Day: Milieu

Milieu
(n.)
A social or cultural surrounding. 
Parent language: French
Sentence: The milieu of the place was cold, and the girl wanted to leave immediately, as she was not accustomed to such unloving surroundings.

Reminder!

Hello everyone! I hope your year has been going great so far!
I just want to remind you all about NaNoWriMo. For those of you who forgot, our challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 75 days. That amounts to about 667 words a day. We are seven days in, but it is not too late to join! The original NaNoWriMo, from which our challenge has been adapted, has a time limit of 30 days. Even if you join us today, you would still have 68 days to write your novel: that's 38 more than the original challenge offers, and even that one is possible! Please join us in this project. It is a great way to practice writing and teach yourself discipline! It's also so much fun! 
For those of you who think this is impossible, just know that I already have 4,100 words in my novel, Color. Don't be disheartened by the huge task; you can do it!
Good luck!

Word of the Day: Fervor

Fervor
(n.)
Passion.
Parent language: Latin and Middle English
Sentence: With great fervor, the man described his own accomplishments; the passion he used to tell of his own greatness led others to label him as vain.

Word of the Day: Annihilate

Annihilate (Verb): to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly. to destroy the collective existence or main body of; to annul, make void; to cancel the effective of, nullify. to defeat completely, vanquish. 

Origin: Middle English: adnichilat and Late Latin: annihilatus 

Sentence: During World War Two the United States used the atomic bomb to annihilate enemy forces. 

Word of the Day

Inebriate
(v.)
To make drunk.
(n.)
Someone who is often drunk.
Parent language: Latin
Sentence: The inebriated man crashed into multiple walls as he staggered around with his beer; he was clearly very drunk.

Word of the Day

Polydipsia:
(n.)
Parent languages: both Greek and Latin
Extreme thirst.
Sentence: Katie was always experiencing polydipsia, but when she went to the doctor, he said she did not have diabetes; her excess thirst came from not drinking enough while she was exercising.

Word of the Day: Abnegation

Abnegation (Noun): the act or instance of abnegating, or denying oneself some rights or conveniences; the act of relinquishing or giving up a right. 

Origin: Abnegate(verb) , from Latin abnegatus. 


Sentence: They lived in a society of abnegation, everyone denied their own happiness in order to ensure others. 


( The first time I saw this word was when I read Divergent for Book Club, I know a few of you have already read it, but if you haven't it is really good! You should check it out!) 

Weekly Wednesday Writing!

Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday guys, but here is the new challenge!
Write a poem, short story or other style of text; that reflects your feelings about a major event that has occurred. 
This weeks challenge was inspired by Griffin's Newtown Tragedy poem! 
Your writing does not have to be about a tragic or sad event, it can be about any major thing that has happened, and how you feel about it! 
Be Creative and Good Luck! 
-Jen

Just a suggestion...

Both Jen and I recently ordered Now Write! Fiction. My copy has arrived, and I am absolutely thrilled with it! If you can somehow get this book, it'll help you explore your talent by providing advice, motivation, and most of all, writing prompts! There are over 80 prompts in the book, and I'd like to encourage you all to purchase a copy.
Here's the link (to Amazon): http://www.amazon.com/Now-Write-Fiction-Exercises-Teachers/dp/1585425222

Comment on this post to tell us about your experience with the book!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! 

It is now 2013, a brand new year can bring about many changes! Today is the day we are going to start our attempts at NaNoWriMo and Milwordy! Many people make New Year's Resolutions, do you have any resolutions you want to share? Go ahead and post them in the chat section on the forum! We can help each other reach our brand new goals! i hope everyone had a wonderful start to their new year!

-Jen

Word of the Day: Castigate

Castigate (Verb): to criticize or reprimand severely; to punish in order to correct. 

synonyms: berate, chastise, excoriate, criticize. 

antonyms: compliment, praise.

The young girl was castigated by her teacher for cheating on a test; the teacher believed it was important to correct such behavior before it got out of hand.