LESSON ONE ... BLOGGERY

BLOGGERY

Standard/Unit Goal:

How do students see themselves as learners? What are the responsibilities of a blogger?

Performance Objective:

(What will the students know and/or be able to do by the end of this lesson?)

Given information about the process of creating a blog, students will be able to create their own blog and navigate through it, and other’s blogs, as demonstrated through the creation of their own blog.

Prerequisites:

(How can we connect prior learning and be sure students have the knowledge necessary for success?)

Students will have a working knowledge of a computer. This will be formatively assessed based on student’s abilities to turn on the computer, log-in, and navigate through the instructions of the first prompts.

Cue set:

(How will I motivate the students to learn and focus them on the goal?)

1. I will hand students an Admit Slip and ask them to take notes while watching the video A Vision of Students Today, which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o , on the projection screen.

2. I will then put up the prompts “do you think that this is an accurate vision of students today?” and “what does this vision mean for learning in a classroom?” and ask students to take 7 minutes to write down their answers to the prompts.

3. We will then discuss their responses, creating a collective picture of the needs of a classroom.

Best Shot:

(What is the best way to teach the most new material to the most students in an actively engaging manner? What two modes am I using to reach various learning styles?)

1. First, I ask students “What is a blog?” and have them write their answers down in order to facilitate discussion.

2. After 5 minutes, we will share our understanding of a blog, including a survey of how many students currently engage in blogging.

3. I will then ask students to go to 3 different blogs, and write down their observations of those blogs.

4. I will then break students into groups of 3-4 and have them contemplate the question “What are the responsibilities of bloggers?”

5. I will inform them that they are to come up with a list of rules for responsible blogging in our classroom, and that they will have to share-out with the rest of the class.

Guided Practice:

(While students are actively practicing/using their knew knowledge, can I assess their understanding of the content?)

I will manage the group discussions by going around the room and listening to their discussions, and commenting as if I were involved in their group.

Closure:

(Am I closing the lesson so that every student is engaged, and is demonstrating new learning they have acquired?)

Students will share their list of responsible blogging rules, which I will then post on the WIKI. I will explain that students may edit these rules in order to come up with a more complete list if necessary.

Independent Practice:

(Are the students being held accountable for new learning?)

For homework, students will be asked to write a paragraph about something that they would be interested in blogging about, as well as the responsibilities that may be involved in that blog. Adaptations/Enrichments/Extensions: Have I accounted for the special needs of my students on all ends of the learning spectrum?

Formal Assessment:

(Is my formal assessment aligned with my lesson goals and standards?)

Students will be formatively assessed based on their participation in both of the classroom discussions. They will also be assessed based on the completion of the homework assignment, and later in the creation of their own blog.

Back to ... UNIT ONE ... BLOGORAMA

Back to ... THE HISTORICAL PUZZLE OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT

Go to ... LESSON TWO ... BLOGSTRUCTION