Blogging along the Way

Lesson Title: Blogging along the Way- using Blogs to reflect on a field trip experience. 

Type of Web 2.0 Tool: Blogs & Fliker (or other photo uploading sites) 


Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Brief Description of Overall Lesson:

Prior to this lesson, students will have just gone on a field trip.  During the field trip students were encouraged to collect "artifacts" of their visit (such as photos, videos, recordings, and tangible mementos of the place that they visited). 

During the lesson: 

Begin the lesson by doing a quick write: 

"What is your favorite part of our recent field trip?" (Encourage students to write about the educational aspects of their field trip and not just Lunch) ;) 

Begin by opening up a discussion to remember and reflect on the different parts of their experiences.  Ask students to share some of the mementos that they collected and what they show or mean.

Students will then be instructed that they will be creating a blog post about their favorite/most memorable/most educational/etc (whatever you want them to focus on) from the field trip. The students will be expected to incorporate their mementos into their blogs by posting the relevent pics, videos, etc that they've collected.  Remind the students that the items they add to their post should be explained to their audience. 

Once their posts are added to the classroom blog encourage the students to browse through their classmates' posts and add comments* 

*Good opportunity for a discussion regarding positive online commenting etiquette.  It is also good to encourage students to write more then just fluffy encouraging statements such as "Great Job", "that's Cool", etc.