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Learning Experience/Unit

Blogging by St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES

Subject

English Language Arts (2005)

Grade Levels

Intermediate, Commencement, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

Assessment

Assessment: Students will be assessed on the number of quality responses they post.

Blogging Rubric.xls

Learning Context/ Introduction

Students will be introduced to blogging (web journaling). Students will answer a number of personal questions on a blogging site, following the conventions of English. Students will also have the opportunity to read what their peers have to say about the same topic.

Duration

Planning Time: 30 minutes
Implementation Time: three 45 minute periods

Essential Question

What makes blogging different from personal journaling?
Why has blogging become a popular way to express your feelings?

Instructional/Environment Modifications

Students will have access to a printed version of the journal questions
Students can hand write rough draft to organize thoughts, and then post them to the blogging site.
Students will need internet access.

Procedure

Students will go to the computer lab and access a class blog, mrsgonyou.blogspot.com. There are several web sites that will allow you to set up free personal blogging sites. Before going to the lab, students were able to create a pen name in order to remain anonymous. Students read the writing prompts I posted and responded to the topic that most interested them.

Reflections and Feedback

Students love to use the computer to communicate. They often use Instant Messenger, but I wanted to create a more formal way for them to do this. The students were eager to respond and seemed to really enjoy reading their classmates' responses. Many of them went home and worked on extra responses even though it was not a requirement. I found the time spent in the computer lab was time well spent. Everyone stayed on task; you could have heard a pin drop in there at any time.

The students also enjoyed coming up with a pen name. This allowed them the personal freedom to respond honestly without the fear of being judged by others. Initially, I only took one of my five ELA classes to complete this project. Given the success of the project, I will be taking all of them eventually.