Lesson Plan - revised

Title:
Blog, Blog, Blog - Much to Do About Something

Author:
Kimberly Allard, 4th grade, Vista Grande Elementary, San Diego City Schools

Summary:
Students will use a weblog to promote reading, writing, and communication skills.

Context:
Blogging will take place within the classroom, although blogging from home may also be encouraged after the students have a good handle on the process. The bloggers will be fourth grade students in my classroom at Vista Grande, but may extend beyond this as we get more experienced. We may decide to invite others to contribute.

Duration:
This project will run the duration of the school year, will be ongoing and constantly changing.

Goals:
I hope that the learners will become more enthusiastic about sharing their thoughts about their reading, writing, or beyond. Some of my students are reluctant participants. I am hoping that this will encourage those reluctant students to add their thoughts to the discussion. I am anticipating that participation in this lesson will encourage their desire to write. Students will also learn to back up their thinking with reasons or evidence.

Participants:
In the beginning, the participants will only be the teacher and students. As the project progresses and the students become more comfortable with the process, we may decide to bring in parents, other classes and teachers, administrators, and other participants. This is also dependent of what interest is shown by the original participants and potential participants.

Process:

1. The teacher will send home paperwork to parents to sign for permission to set up email accounts.
2. Students will be introduced to weblogs through a classroom demonstration using the "touchstone" weblogs (see below under resources).
3. Teacher will go over the standards for acceptable internet practice (see below under policies).
4. Teacher will lead students through the process of setting up their own email accounts using gaggle.
5. Students will be introduced to a variety of features and structures of the internet (also meeting the new "Units of Inquiry" standards for fourth grade).
6. Through a small series of lessons, students will be examining the variety of weblogs available on the internet.
7. Students will be instructed on how to navigate the classroom weblog through direct instruction, and then guided learning.
8. After the students have participated in the blog for a short amount of time, the teacher will select above-standard or standard examples from the students' work to share as "mentor blogs."
   
9. Students will learn skills in summarization by writing a summary of the what was discussed on the weblog over the week.
10. After the students are comfortable interacting as a whole class, the teacher will then set up weblog discussions for literature circles.
    
11. The teacher and students will constantly review, evaluate, and discuss the effectiveness of (1) the classroom discussion/interaction; (2) the quality of the writing and thinking; and (3) where to go next.
    

Resources:
The students will access the weblog through 3 means: computers in the classroom, computers in the computer lab, and/or computers available at their own homes. The students will also use some other examples of weblogs to get them started: Holes, Goblet of Fire, Quibbler, and Darren Shan, and another on Darren Shan.


Policies:
The use of the internet is a privilege, not a right. Any student who violates the rules will be suspended from using the internet in the classroom.

Here are the rules:

1) Respect - All students are expected to treat each other with respect. Even if you disagree with someone, you can discuss your disagreement with respect and understanding.

2) Appropriateness - All language and discussion must be "school appropriate." No bad language. No making fun of others or name calling.

3) Stay on Topic - The discussions that we have should stick with whatever is the chosen topic. This weblog shouldn't be used for talking about your friends or relationships in class. It is ok to bring in personal experience, if it stays with the topic.

4) Privacy - We have set up an "alias" for each student (a fake name) to ensure your privacy from the outside world on the internet. However, the teacher has these fake names on record and students will also be aware of these names as well. Do not expect to post something in secret. Although we are setting up the safest site possible, the internet is an open area where people from around the world can peek into your "space."

5) Teacher Monitoring - Be further aware that the teacher and your parents have the right to monitor (read and investigate) what you write.

Products:
There is not a specific product that will be associated with the project other than the posts themselves. Because this project is ongoing and continuously evolving, assignments, expectations, and products might change over time. The teacher will be constantly assessing the process and participation in order to create new assignments.

Evaluation:
The teacher will monitor the discussion on the weblog for the following:

1. Participation - all students must participate in the discussions on a regular basis (at least one entry per week)
2. Relevency - all discussion should show the students' ability to stay relevant with the discussion.
3. Evidence - students should be able to express their thinking and then further back up their thinking with reasons, evidence from the text, or citing of someone else's thinking or posts.