Classroom Blog and Website Creation Tools

Lesson Idea Name: Sharing Literary Opinions via Blogs

Content Area: ELA
Grade Level(s): 8
Content Standard Addressed: ELAGSE8RI3: Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions
between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

Technology Standard Addressed:

Creative communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of
purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropr iate to their goals.

Selected Technology Tool:

☒ Blog ☐ Wiki ☐ Other: Website Creation Tool (list):

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable): www.weebly.com/ www.wix.com/ www.edublogs.com

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level): (Level determined by the specific lesson idea)
☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

Engagement: Students have a lot of options for this assignment: which characters to pick, which medium to
use, and which website to create. It is the instructor’s hope that a myriad of choices facilitates interest in an
individualized assignment.
Representation: Students can express themselves in different ways through their choice of a medium
(auditory/visual).
Action and Expression: Students are able to use multiple tools for composition and choose which website
(if any) upon which to publish their work.

Lesson idea implementation: As a class, students will be reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. One of
the projects correlating with the book will be this lesson, which will likely take two weeks to complete.
Students will compile information about two of the characters in the novel; their choice, but the characters
must be dominant enough to give significant detail. As per the standard, students will compare and contrast
their characters through a medium of their choice—an essay, a series of drawings, a movie—as long as it is
approved by the instructor within 2 days of the assignment being given.
Student work will be published on the classroom “blog,” or website, not created for this purpose but already
in existence as the classroom blog. Each student also has the responsibility of creating their own website
using weebly.com or wix.com, and then publishing their work onto the front page. The websites can be fairly
rudimentary—the point is to introduce students to the concept of having their own online space and the
opportunities that come with sharing work online.

Importance of technology: Technology is important here because it allows students to publish and share
original content. While the assignment can be completed without the online factor, encouraging students to
share their work online facilitates their emergence into a fast-growing, hyper-connected world of educational
media.
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 Classroom Blog and Website Creation Tools

Inspiration (optional): N/A

Internet Safety and Student Privacy: Students and parents concerned about the publication of their work
online can choose to use an alias, leave the name off their work altogether, or simply not publish their work
on the classroom blog. Students may set their Weebly or Wix page to “private,” if necessary, and anyone
needing to opt out altogether of the online publication aspect of the assignment can

Reflective Practice:I think it would be fun for students to add on to their blog/website as the school year
progresses, in that they can post their other major projects or works of their choice onto their blogs. The
goal is personalization combined with professionalism; students should be given every opportunity to share
their work if they desire it and learn how to express their learning in an engaging, viewer-friendly manner.

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