Kiernan,+Lisa

 Deliverable #2 Integration of an Edublog

I would like to integrate a blog into my Literature Circles and use as an addition to our Reader Response Journals. During our Literature Circle time I introduce comprehension strategies via a read aloud where I model in a think aloud form. I am hoping to take one journal entry per week and have it posted to my blog.

Reading GLE’s

R–4–4.1 Identifying or describing character(s), setting, problem/ solution, major events, or plot, as appropriate to text; or identifying any significant changes in character(s) over time (State) R–4–4.2 Paraphrasing or summarizing key ideas/plot, with major events sequenced, as appropriate to text (State) R–4–4.3 Generating questions before, during, and after reading to enhance recall, expand understanding and/or gain new information (Local)
 * R-4-4 Demonstrate initial understanding of elements of literary texts by…**

R–4–5.1 Making logical predictions (State) R–4–5.3 Making inferences about problem, conflict, or solution (State) R–4–5.6 Identifying causes or effects, including possible motives of characters (Local)
 * R–4–5 Analyze and interpret elements of literary texts, citing evidence where appropriate by…**

R–4–16.1 Comparing stories or other texts to related personal experience, prior knowledge, or to other books (Local)
 * R–4–16 Generates a personal response to what is read through a variety of means…**

Guided Practice: Students will listen to the Read Aloud/Think Aloud and interact with the teacher by making their own Inferences, asking their own questions, and creating visualizations while the teacher reads. Students will then practice in a group with picture books. Finally, students will practice on their own with their literature circle books, stopping to discuss their group’s inferences, questions, etc.

Students will:
 * Read the assigned chapters and post to the blog, answering questions posed by the teacher.
 * Post their inferences, visualizations (drawn & captured via digital camera), and questions to the blog.
 * Comment on other student’s questions that have been posted.
 * Summarize the story using the Somebody wanted but, so outline we utilized throughout the school year.

Potential trials I am eager to integrate this into my classroom that I am almost willing to toss all the paper and pen activities and go strictly to online learning but I am still working out the logistics of how. We have 1 computer lab in our school, which can be utilized by anyone who signs up for it, as well as 2 laptop carts with sign up sheets. A potential trial I may have is the computer lab may be occupied. I think I will be able to avoid this by choosing 2 or 3 days per week that my class will use the lab.

Many of my 4th graders are not familiar with this type of technology; therefore, we will have to spend time introducing them to the logistics of blogging.

It would worry me as to how many students have access to the internet outside of school, or even if parents will allow their child to participate if they are unfamiliar with the technology themselves.

During my Literature Circle groups I have 3-4 book talks going on at the same time. I will need to organize my blog in a way that all groups will be able to post to their specific book questions. I may be able to solve this problem by posing theme related questions or general character development questions. Many of the books I choose all have a similar theme.

Evaluation:

5 – All questions have been answered. Assigned reading is complete. Journal response has been posted to the blog. A thoughtful response to classmate’s questions has been posted. All of the assigned writing was complete, using lots of details and examples from the book, responded to someone else’s comment in a positive way.

4 – All questions have been answered. Assigned reading is complete. Journal response has been posted to the blog. All of the assigned writing is complete with good detail and some examples from the book, Tried to respond to someone else’s comment in a positive way.

3 – Some questions have been answered. Assigned reading is complete. Participated in the discussion some of the time and sometimes forgot to wait for a turn to speak. Post to the blog is complete but with some errors.

2 – Some questions have been answered. Assigned reading is incomplete. Participation in the discussion was sporadic and most of the time forgot to wait for a turn to speak. Did not attempt to post to the blog.

1 - No attempt was made.

Deliverable #3 Integration of an Edublog Lisa Kiernan Grade 4

The technology I would like to implement in my classroom is a classroom blog. A blog, or Weblog, is a tool, very similar to an online journal, in which an online community read an entry, and posts comments to that entry online. The definition of a blog can be found [|here] courtesy of Wikipedia.com. In the classroom, a Weblog is called an Edublog, a blog used specifically for education. An excellent service that supports this technology is bloger.com. Blogger is a free site that allows for the owner of the site to moderate comments. It is very easy to use, just type and publish. My Edublog will start as a communication tool for parents which will turn into a class newspaper for my students. In place of a classroom newsletter, we will be posting information, creating a classroom newspaper, on [|www.mrskiernan.bloger.com]. Through the use of a blog, parents will be able to communicate with the teacher as well as other parents. It will be useful to have all important dates as well as homework assignments in one space on the internet. By parents subscribing to the blog via the RSS feed, they are instantly updated to any changes made on the blog. Edublogs are becoming more and more useful in today’s classrooms. A blog can be used as a publishing tool for student writing, a discussion tool for book talks, or as an information/communication tool for parents and teachers. The article entitled [|“Welcome to the blogosphere”] gives wonderful examples of blogs used in education and describes the uses for an Edublog. [|Mr. C’s Class Blog] is a great example of how to use a blog in the classroom. There is a lot of information in this 5th grade blog, such as a science investigation on “goopy stuff”. If you read through the student comments you can see just how enthusiastic the students get and how much further they are taking their learning on their own. Many of them came up with “what if” questions to further investigate. My blog will keep parents informed as to what is going on in our classroom. A blog is very easy to update and respond to. Students and teachers who have already incorporated blogs into their classrooms find that students have a sense of pride in what they are writing partly because it gets instantly published to the web, and partly because the ability to comment on the post. In the article [|Blogs for Kids], Sharon Housley gives several reasons why blogging in the classroom is a positive experience for students as well as some links to more information on blogs and safety on the internet. Many newspapers and news outlets like [|www.cnn.com], [|www.usatoday.com], and [|www.msnbc.com], utilize blogs where their readers can comment on stories they’ve read. Regional news sites like [|www.projo.com], allow you to read a local news story and post a comment. Our classroom blog will be similar in the way that after a student written story, people will be able to comment. For example, a post on a recent field trip may comment on by students stating their favorite part or by parents who attended the field trip. One possible roadblock to implementing this technology is getting buy-in from parents. It is a scary world out there and students have access to technology at home, school, and even wireless access through video games. Students, parents and teachers need to all review [|internet safety rules] as often as possible. This [|article] from cbsnews.com explains how to help students blog safely not only in school, but on social web sites like myspace.com and facebook.com, which is popular among middle and high school students. By being diligent and keeping communication open between parents, teachers, and students, I think we will be able to educate our students to be smart internet users. Students will need access to email if they would like to create their own blogs, like the students in Mr. C’s 5th grade. A site that offers pen pals through email, online projects, and monitored student email is [|www.epals.com]. Through epals I can obtain a monitored, secured email address for each student in the class, free of charge. Epals provides a parent consent form for students under the age of 13. Each student needs to have a consent form before the teacher can set up an email address. Creating and implementing a blog in the classroom is a new experience for many, me included, however when searching the web there are so many resources out there full of ideas and examples of edublogs. [|Classroom Blogs and Wikis] by Doug Caldwell gives many excellent examples of blogs, wikis, and resources for teachers. In the future I would like to integrate [|www.mrskiernan.blogspot.com] into a virtual book talk for my students.

Deliverable # 4 Final Project Lisa Kiernan Grade 4 Washington Oak School