Final Project: Character Blogs

Character Blog Matrix

This Language Arts lesson plan focuses on students creating a character blog for a novel of their choosing.  To make this lesson plan more technologically integrative, I adapted the lesson plan to include more technology.  I used exclusively only resources I compiled from the technology inventory I created in a previous exercise.  The original lesson plan detailed only a blog to be created by the students.  For those students who do not excel in writing, I adapted the lesson to also creating a video diary for the character.  In this way, the five or six session lesson integrates more than one form of technology.  I aimed to have students use technology on a personal level, as well as a cooperative level.  They use technology here to communicate, and to accomplish a common goal.  Any adaptions made are bolded.

Session 1:

Row one encompasses the introductory portion of the lesson plan. Students will choose a character from a novel that they wish to mimic for a blogging/video diary project.  Utilizing the novel, they will map out the events, choosing four significant events that they will discuss in their blogs or videos.  As a class, we will discuss the elements of novels that cause characters to be who they are.  We will compile a list on the board for students to see. Students will begin a Webquest worksheet.  They will be searching through Blogger for blogs and what message each blog conveys through its design and posts.  For those who do not finish the worksheet, it will be homework.

 Session 2, 3 and 4:

Rows two, three and four function as research into the students’ blogs.  Those that choose to do a video diary will post their entries onto a Blogger site, so this still applies to them.  In row two, students will utilize their novel and the four main events they chose to begin writing reactions for their chosen characters.  Those that chose blogging will begin to write journal entries right onto Blogger, reacting to events in the novel just like their character would.  Those with the video diary project will begin writing their scripts in a similar way, and may even begin to record their diaries utilizing the school’s webcams if available, or a camera I supply, or one they can bring in.

Row three details the students’ incorporation of the blogging site’s capabilities.  The narratives/scripts that the students have written must correspond with the components of their blog.  Attention to detail here is important, because parts such as the blog’s background, must match the character’s personality.  If students choose to incorporate pictures into their character’s blog, the pictures must also relate.  Their goal is to create an authentic blog their character would create based on how they analyzed their character’s development.

Row four incorporates the first assessment portion of the lesson.  By the end of the fourth lesson, students must have completed at least three main entries or videos to ensure the students are on track.  This checkpoint will be an opportunity for the students to go over with me what they are doing for their project, and to ensure they are remaining as true to character as they can.  I will read over some of their scripts or blog posts, posting feedback on their pages.

Session 5 and 6:

In row five students will have partners.  Working with these partners, the students will be able to identify portions of the blog that need to be corrected.  At the beginning of session 5, I will have a presentation detailing what sorts of things to look out for while the students are reading their blog.  I will provide them with a checklist, and project it onto the screen for those who are more visual learners.

Row six incorporates another assessment portion of the lesson.  After the students go around and look at each other’s blogs (video and blog posts) they will have the opportunity to revise their work.  They will use the worksheet from the Peer editing portion of the lesson in order to strengthen their blogs.  When they have finished they finished editing, they must post a general reaction to their experience with blogging on a group discussion board in order to reflect on their use of technology and what they have learned about their character.

For the final row, students will have the opportunity to view other’s work.  Using a blog rating worksheet, students will walk around to other students’ work and either listen or read their character blog.  Students will decide if reading or watching the blogs makes them feel like they are actually in that character’s shoes.  This will serve as another portion of the assessment for the lesson, to see if students were able to accomplish the task of creating a character blog.  Students will take into account the blog as a whole, taking a look at elements such as the background, music etc.  To reflect, students will comment on at least five peers’ blogs and describe how and why things worked or didn’t work.