This post is a collection of the idea discussed at the Classroom Websites and Blogs session I did with Helen Copeland (@mediatechcrew). Below is the video of the session broadcast live on Google Hangouts. My apologies for the not so great quality... but you can still hear the discussion! Thanks to @peoplegogy for making this idea happen and joining the Hangout! Blogging Tips & Ideas Giving students an authentic audience by having them blog about their writing is a powerful tool. Try some of these sites below as options to start inspiring your students to share their writing. Link up with your PLN to share your students' writing with other students. Use the hashtag #comments4kids and the example websites below to get connected with other teachers whose classes blog. Introduce students to blogging and commenting by using this fun Paper Blogging idea by @mcteach. Acclimate students to the blogging platform and posting by having their first post be a "Hello World" post. Here is the assignment I gave my students. And here is an example student Hello World blog post. You can see other assignments I've posted on our class blog - click on the "Assignments" tag. Provide your students blogging and commenting guidelines to help them learn the online etiquette and digital citizenship needed for blogging. I compiled this list of Blogging Guidelines from several sources last year. Feel free to borrow or pull from these! Weebly Teacher, student, or classroom websites or blogs Pros: Offers extensive options for classroom websites and professional looking blogs. User friendly and easy to navigate for both teachers and students. Student blog comments and posts can be monitored by teacher using edu accounts. Cons: Edu accounts limited to 40 students before having to pay for more. Kidblog Student blogs Pros: Safe site for students of any age to blog. No email addresses needed to sign up. Built in monitoring of posts and comments. All student blogs curated on one homepage automatically. Cons: Only has basic editing features and does not provide extensive choices for theme and personalization. Free account restricts single classes to 50 students and does not allow students to chose their own themes. Upgrade per class for $25/yr or for $2 per student. Pricing Details Edublogs Teacher or student blogs Pros: Intended for educational use already so offers safe environment for student bloggers. Offers Wordpress platform for editing, which allows for creativity and customization. Cons: Only the basic features are free. Blog monitoring and mobile features only available when linked to a Pro account ($40/yr). Pricing Details. Example of blog designed using Edublog by @jaimevanderg : Breaking down the Walls of the Classroom Blogger Teacher or student blogs; teacher, classroom, or student websites Pros: It's FREE!! Links directly to Google accounts. Easy blogging platform with basic editing tools. Teachers or students have freedom of website creation by creating multiple pages on their blogs. Cons: Each student has their own site that is not censored or managed by the teacher. One way to overcome this is adding a teacher/admin to each blog site as @mathletepearce suggests in this blog post. Edmodo Classroom websites for sharing materials with students. A free student information system that offers features similar to a social networking site within a protected environment. Offers grouping of classes and groups within classes, also offers options to give students quizzes, surveys, polls etc. WIX Teacher or classroom websites Pros: Free account offers user friendly editing features and multiple templates to choose from for classroom website options. Includes a blog feature as well. Cons: Not specific to education, so doesn't offer monitoring if you choose to use for student websites or blogs. Examples We are Remarkable (@carriegaffney84) - 2nd Grade classroom website and teacher portfolio. Scholars in Room 239 (@joykirr) - 7th grade classroom website and links to students blogs via blogger What's Going on in Mr. Solarz's Class? (@paulsolarz) - 5th grade classroom website, e-portfolios, and educator links Wolfpack English (@alcp) - 7th grade classroom website and link to Kidblog blog sites Globally Connected (@pneid) - 7th and 8th grade classroom website with links to student e-portfolios via blogger Barnes Class (@markbarnes19) - Author of Role Reversal. Middle school Language Arts classroom website with links to Kidblog blog sites
3 Comments
This memoir essay idea was inspired by @kdwashburn's Writer's Stylus course. This course and Kevin Washburn's other course Architecture of Learning have informed many of my teaching methods. During the Writer's Stylus course, teachers write a This I Believe essay. This writing was key in developing my voice as a writer in so many ways. So now, I have students use it as a platform for sharing. The idea originally comes from NPR's This I Believe radio broadcasts, which you may be familiar with. The website has hundreds of This I Believe essays on it to pull from. So here's how I structure this unit. I teach seventh graders, but it is easily adaptable to any age level. Standards:
1) Mentor Texts: We read and listen to multiple examples of This I Believe essays from the website. Some of them have recording included. Kevin Washburn calls this "Acquaintance and Analysis" where students have an open discussion about what they like about the writing style. This gets students thinking about HOW this type of essay is written. Great Mentor Text: I Believe in the Beatles by Macklin Levine 2) Qualities of a This I Believe Essay: In small groups, students make a list of qualities that define this style of writing (memoir/narrative). We combine these small group lists into one class list to refer to as students write. This helps students to define the style of writing that the essay requires. Looking for Qualities of TIB essay Assignment 3) Pick a Memory: This is often the hardest part of this essay, yet the most crucial. Students need to pick a very vivid memory th base their essay on. This memory drives the belief by having students explain what they learned from this unique event in their lives. It is very hard to write this essay by starting with the "I Believe" statement because that statement should come from the story itself. So, I have students brainstorm several story choices and then narrow their idea down to a very specific part of that story that they remember clearly. 4) Structure of the Essay: I explain to students the basic structure of the essay to give them a framework. This still allows them a lot of freedom with paragraphing and style choices.
6) Modeling: I have my own This I Believe essay that I am crafting along with them. I model for them how I structure my essay (using short paragraphs) and how I incorporate “Show Don’t Tell." I find a place in my own essay to expand sensory imagery and show them my thinking process by writing in front of them. 7) Coaching: Feedback is a vital part of the writing process. This is where I am sure to meet with each student to conference and coach them on how well their essays match the structure framework and push them to think about each element. I limit this essay to no more than 700 words to force a concise approach to the story. I often coach them on how to cut irrelevant details or how to make their I Believe statements symbolic. We also discuss areas of the essay to add Show Don't Tell. 8) Audio Recording: Since the original This I Believe essays are broadcast on the radio, I wanted to add an audio element to this essay. We have a classroom set of Chromebooks, and I needed a web based tool where students could record the essays, so I found Audioboo! I contacted them on twitter, and once I let them know I was an educator, they extended the audio length to 30 minutes instead of three minutes. Bingo! Bonus: Students can also do this on their cell phones using the Audioboo app. I had students record the essays, and then use the embed code to paste the recording into their blog posts. Just like the examples we read for the mentor texts. This year's blog posts with the audio included 9) Publishing & Reflection: Students published the This I Believe essays to their blogs - check them out here. This allows for students to comment on and read each other's blog posts and share their work. It becomes a great time for reflection to see how each student approached the challenge of explaining their belief in a different way. Try This Tomorrow! This could be a great way for you to incorporate Memoir/Narrative writing into your class this year. Please let me know if I can provide more details for you. Check out the resources below! Resources This I Believe Essay Dropbox Folder: Includes mentor texts, assignment sheet, power point, revision checklists, etc.
Essays with audio included Looking for Qualities of TIB essay Assignment More 7th Grade Student Samples: From our blog last year. Please feel free to share with your students as mentor texts. A Dog's Life: This is my This I Believe Essay written during Writer's Stylus about Aspen, my bulldog. There is no "I Believe" statement because I decided to remove it at late stages of editing. ___ Allison Petersen @alcp |
About AllisonAllison is an K-12 Instructional Coach. Her goal is to empower educators to grow continually. Recent Posts#5Tips4LMS Series
Cast a Vision Create Momentum A Problem and a Solution HIGHLIGHTED POSTS Re-Center on Vision Letting Go of Control The Power of Positive Feedback Inspiring a Love of Reading Turning Ideas into Habits The Truth About Writing This I Believe Essay Quiet Leadership Qualities Thinking About New Ideas Goals Provide Focus The Power of Twitter Use Storify to Organize Tweets Build a PLN Categories
All
Archives
July 2016
|