http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/weekly-writer-blogs-building-1113.html
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us
- About IRA
- About NCTE
- About Verizon Thinkfinity
- Standards
- Our Advisors
- Our Authors
- Community Stories
- Promotional Materials
- News
ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
| Kindergarten | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st - 2nd | 3rd - 4th | |
| 5th - 6th | 7th - 8th | |
| 9th - 10th | 11th - 12th | |
Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Weekly Writer’s Blogs: Building a Reflective Community of Support
E-mail
/
Share
/
Print This Page
/
Print All Materials (Note: Handouts must be printed separately)
| Grades | 9 – 12 |
| Lesson Plan Type | Recurring Lesson |
| Estimated Time | Three 50-minute sessions and 15-20 minutes weekly |
| Lesson Author |
Blacksburg, Virginia |
| Publisher |
|
MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY
- Blog and photo hosting sites appropriate to your district or school acceptable use policy, see Websites section for possible sources
PRINTOUTS
- Writer's Blog Assignment
- Reflection Questions for Writer's Blogs
- Example Writer's Blog Entries
- Getting Started with Blogger
- Blogger Entries and Comments
- Common Blog Features
- Blog Entry Checklist
- Example Writer's Blog Comments
- Online Commenting Guidelines
WEBSITES
- The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
- Bloggers' FAQ: Student Blogging, from the Electronic Freedom Foundation
- LiveJournal
- Blogger
- WordPress
- Xanga
PREPARATION
- If you are unfamiliar with blogging, read the details on the Wikipedia Blog entry and the Wikipedia Weblog Software entry, which includes links to a wide range of blogging sites and tools.
- Review the legal guidelines in the Electronic Freedom Foundation's Bloggers' FAQ: Student Blogging.
- Review your district's appropriate use policies to determine the requirements for a blogging site that students can use. Remember that anyone can post to most of the public blogging sites. Some material on them will be inappropriate for your classes. Some schools filter blogging sites, so you may need to speak with your technology coordinator ahead of time to get approval.
- Choose and test a blogging hosting site for your class, following the guidelines of your acceptable use policy. Free blog hosts include LiveJournal, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, and Xanga. Facebook also has a blogging option, if you and your students have access to the tool. Additional sites are listed in the Wikipedia Weblog Software entry.
- Once you choose a blogging site, make a customized instruction sheet that students can use to set up their accounts. Sheets are available for Getting Started with Blogger, and Blogger Entries and Comments.
- Make sure that all students have e-mail accounts, which are needed to set up accounts with blogging and photo host sites.
- Make copies of the handouts for all students, or arrange for students to access these documents online: Writer's Blog Assignment, Reflection Questions for Writer's Blogs, Common Blog Features, Example Writer's Blog Entries, Example Blog Comments, Online Commenting Guidelines, and Blog Entry Checklist.
- Test the Circle Plot Diagram and Graphic Map on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.