A Community of Bloggers
This recipe I piloted in my 4th Block placement in a Home School Program Classroom with 10 students grade 1-6. Students in the Home School Program Class were only in the class for the first half of every day. The majority of the students struggled with social skills and high anxiety. They were placed in the class as a break from their homeroom classrooms. All of the students were delayed in their language and literacy development for their grade (which was why they were in the HSP class). Printing and spelling were major struggles for all of the students.
The project began with a study on discussing how writers learn how to articulate different points of view. 2 times a week the class had access to the computer lab. I set each student up with his or her own blog site (user name/password) and we discussed how blogging helps us articulate our point of view as well as identify others. Before each computer lab I would post a blogging question that revolved around an aspect of point of view (based on the curriculum expectations). Students would have the lab to begin to articulate their point of view in response to the question. As the process went along we developed success and learning criteria for articulating our point of view. Students began to work in and out of class on their blogs. Eventually they were challenged to respond to another student’s ideas by adding more evidence, or defending an opposite point of view. I divided the expectations between the Primary/Junior students according to what their IEP's and curriculum expectations for grade were.
Blogging created classroom community with students of different ages and removed anxiety that existed in face-to-face peer communication. As students learned to encourage each other, and draw on each other's ideas, the face-to-face interactions in the classroom began to grow. Additionally, blogging allowed the content of ideas to flow without being hindered by fine motor skills of printing. As the project moved on, students learned/practiced using spell checkers, and Dance Mat Typing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/)
The project began with a study on discussing how writers learn how to articulate different points of view. 2 times a week the class had access to the computer lab. I set each student up with his or her own blog site (user name/password) and we discussed how blogging helps us articulate our point of view as well as identify others. Before each computer lab I would post a blogging question that revolved around an aspect of point of view (based on the curriculum expectations). Students would have the lab to begin to articulate their point of view in response to the question. As the process went along we developed success and learning criteria for articulating our point of view. Students began to work in and out of class on their blogs. Eventually they were challenged to respond to another student’s ideas by adding more evidence, or defending an opposite point of view. I divided the expectations between the Primary/Junior students according to what their IEP's and curriculum expectations for grade were.
Blogging created classroom community with students of different ages and removed anxiety that existed in face-to-face peer communication. As students learned to encourage each other, and draw on each other's ideas, the face-to-face interactions in the classroom began to grow. Additionally, blogging allowed the content of ideas to flow without being hindered by fine motor skills of printing. As the project moved on, students learned/practiced using spell checkers, and Dance Mat Typing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/)
Sample of Teacher's Blog (we used www.kidblog.org blog site)
Sample of Blog question: In your opinion what is this artifact? Who uses it; what is it used for; and how is it used?
In class activity to discuss/create learning/success criteria for great point of view articulation.
Students using computers to view blog posts/generate responses.
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Stage of Literacy Development
Stage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Stage 3: Literacy for Growth Grade Range
Grade 1-6
Food Groups:
Motivation for Literacy, Classroom Tips
Activity Objective:
The goal of A Community of Bloggers is to build enthusiasm for learning/writing and promote appreciation for the different points of view in our classroom. It is design to help foster social learning in a classroom where social anxiety hinders social skill development. It is a way of connecting and building classroom community with students of different grades and unique learning challenges.
Extensions:
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