Being a sixth grade teacher
presents many challenges to get students to think outside the box.
When there is more than one mind thinking at
one time, it makes it easier for students to understand a concept or idea and
learn from each other through collaboration or thought insights from
others.
Having a class blog can offer both
higher achievers opportunities to express themselves somewhat freely while lower
achieving students develop ideas on how to respond properly by viewing examples
from other students.
One way I would use a blog in my
class for language arts is to have the students compare and contrast two novels
we read in class.
This would be an ongoing
blog the students can add to anytime they have an idea they would like to
share.
The two novels we would compare are
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.
On the surface both stories doesn’t seem very
similar, but as we read, discuss, and analyze, we find out they have a lot more
in common than what was first expected.
We would read The Hobbit first and start with Artemis Fowl before
presenting the blog assignment.
The idea
is that one could contribute with an idea of a similarity or a difference as it
comes up as we read the second novel.
Others are welcome to comment in support of the student’s idea or refute
the claim using supporting details on either account.
This blog would be a good tool to
use in the classroom because it causes the students to think about their answer
before they present it because they know that someone else is either going to
agree or disagree with their response. It also allows other who has not thought
about a satisfactory response to respond to others to participate in the
discussion.
Using this blog also allows the
discussion to be presented in one voice. There are no students cutting each
other off in mid-sentence and complete thoughts are presented before they are
commented on.
This is just one of the
ways I can use a blog in my class.
I like the way you are dividing up the comparing and contrasting of the two novels by way of a blog. That is so much easier than hashing it out through a traditional paper. The blogging platform seems to fit well with a book reading assignment. I wonder if knowing that the grades and work were going to be done on a blog would motivate the learners to quickly read the books. I know some students love reading, and others despise it. In order to get those students who hate reading books to learn, would you offer and cues or hints to reading in the blog in an effort to get them moving?
ReplyDeleteAs I See it, the challenge would be addressing the needs of those learners that hate to read. How would it best suit them to read a book that seems endless, long and tedious in their eyes?
If there is an overall theme, or idea that you want to get across to students, maybe a slight transparent overlay of thought and ideas can pepper your web design in some way. The student who love to blog and read will have no problem leading the charge in posting, and dialog in the blog. I am just really concerned about the other group.
David
Because of the complexity of both books, we read the novels at a slower than normal rate. I have both stories as graphic novels and I incorporate them into the lesson using it as a tool for discussion, and to maintain the interest of those who are lees than motivated to read. All students are required to read the actual novel, being that is where the assessments comes from.
DeleteUsing a blog is a great way for students to collaborate with one another. From my own personal experiences, I gained the most insight from literature by discussing the text with my classmates. People often have different interpretations of what they read and it is beneficial for students to be aware of perspectives other than their own. One potential challenge that could arise as you integrate this activity into your classroom is making sure that students’ comments respond to the initial prompt. To avoid having students get off topic in the discussion, you can give students a copy of the rubric that you will use to grade their responses and comments. With this rubric, students will have knowledge of the expectations that you have for them as they participate in the discussion. Furthermore, you can comment on each student’s post and redirect their focus by asking them a question that compares the two novels (Richardson, 2010).
ReplyDeleteReferences
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
-Irene
I like the rubric idea, I usually just give a list of what is required for the assignment.
DeleteI think the idea of students comparing and constrating novels is an excellent way to incorporate a blog into your lessons. Especially, since students will not always have the same comparison and contrastions because of the way they interperated the book. I just feel that one issue you might run into is if a students is not as academically advanced as one student what if students critize their answers. I am not sure if your class is grouped that students are on the same reading level or not but sometimes in a class a child may not be on the same reading levels as other. They might not feel confident expressing their idea in class because they will not want to get made fun of based of their response or their interpredation of the book. One way you could prevent this is assigning students numbers instead of howing them post their name on the blog board. As this is something you might want to take inconsideration as cyber bullying is becoming extremely popular in today world.
ReplyDeleteReference
November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Student numbers would be ideal but I do not know how it would work with them being required to sign up for an account. Something to look into. Thanks
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