Objects of Interest

A blog about Social Learning, Instructional Design, Curriculum Development and Trends in Online Learning.

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Social Learning - Lesson Ideas for Teachers

As teachers and students prepare to go back to school, it is a good time to consider adding some new tools to your teaching repertoire. Here are some Web 2.0 lesson ideas to implement in your classroom this year.

Classmate Connections - No matter the size of your class, having all the students in a social learning space brings them all together.
Course Blog - Create a class blog and share it publicly to let others know what your class is learning and doing. Add an RSS feed so students can subscribe to the blog and get updates on the go.
Individual Student Blogs - Enable students to blog on their own to learn how to share their work with others. Journals for critical reflections.
Post homework, notes, and lectures - provide easy access for students. Share materials, news, current events, changes to syllabus or class schedule.
Share resources / build a class knowledgebase. Both students and instructors can share interesting websites related to class topics via social media.
Brainstorm - Encouraging students to brainstorm on class topics outside class time provides more opportunities for sharing great thoughts.
Multimedia. Easily embed content from other sites to share with the entire class. Integrate videos, podcasts and other media into teaching
Create a class publication that is easy to edit (wiki or blog) – create a class website using a wiki.
Create a class newsletter and keep parents informed about what you are doing.
Create groups for subsets of students (study groups, group projects).
Class conversation – Continue the conversation outside the classroom - When something relevant to class happens during a time when class isn’t in session, students can discuss it through social media.

Class Projects

Book reviews. Students can post their book reviews for the instructor to grade and other students to read.
Use ranking and voting widgets to Poll the class. Use polls as an interactive teaching tool in class.
Showcase Student projects. Use a wiki to showcase student projects
Author visits. Use Invite by Email feature to invite authors (or guest lecturers) and allow students to interact with the visitor.
Use comments and feedback to extend the conversation beyond just posting to wikis and blogs.
Inclusion. Students who may have to be out of the classroom due to special needs or illness can connect remotely and stay a part of the community.

Blogs

Creating Character Blogs - Lesson Plan Link - Click Here

In this lesson, students learn the basic elements of blog creation and then create a blog from the perspective of a fictional character. Students demonstrate understanding of the text by including images, quotations, links, and commentary on their blogs. Students then help one another develop their blogs by acting as editors during the creation stage and reviewing one another's blogs upon completion.

Character Blog Requirements Handout

Weekly Writer’s Blogs: Building a Reflective Community of Support

In this digital rethinking of the traditional weekly writer's logs, students analyze example writer's blog entries then begin the habit of writing their own weekly entries, which focus on the writing that they have done over the past seven days. These reflective assignments ask students to think about their progress on writing activities and to project how they will continue their work in the future, while communicating with classmates about the same.

Journals

Exchanging Ideas by Sharing Journals: Interactive Response in the Classroom

Link to Lesson Plan - http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/exchanging-ideas-sharing-journals-1054.html

Students brainstorm possible generic prompts for their journals, then practice an exchange with their partners. As students begin using the journals, mini-lessons are presented on responding to prompts, creating dialogue, adding drawings, and asking and answering questions. Students can choose their own partners, or partners can be teacher-assigned so that less proficient and more proficient writers can be paired.

PDF of Prompts for Journals

What does the story remind you of?
What kinds of images did you see while you were reading?
What do you think will happen next in the story?
What do you like most about the main character?
What kinds of surprises did the story give you?
Compare this story to another story you've read.
Compare this main character to yourself or another character.

Rubric for Teacher Assessment

Journals for K - 2 Students - Family Message Journals - http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/launching-family-message-journals-77.html

"In our classroom you will be writing letters to your family about things you do in school. I'm going to write one first to show you what I mean." Think aloud: "What should I write about? Hmmm, what did we do in school today? Oh, I know, I'll write about the science actvitiy we just did before recess, when we compared different kinds of apples. I'll start by putting the date up here in the right corner and on the left side I'll write 'Dear family.'" (demonstrate on chart paper or chalkboard as you speak). "Now, that's how a letter looks. It starts with a date and greeting" (point at each again). Tell students they will begin their own messages in their own Family Message Journals. (This could be done in a second session). Tell them what activity or experience they will write about. Something learned or read or discussed or experienced that day works well—anything can be the topic of a message. For example, they might write a response to a book read aloud.

Daily Reading Response Journals - Include these details for each journal entry:

The Date.
Two significant quotations from the day's reading and the page number that they appeared on in your book (Keep in mind the type of quotations you will need for your project).
Personal connections between your own life and events in the day's reading (Keep in mind the type of essays you will write for your project).
Interesting questions you want to discuss further in class.

Wikis

Collaborating, Writing, Linking: Using Wikis to Tell Stories Online

Students begin by reading untraditional books that use fragmented storylines, multiple perspectives, and unresolved plots. They apply these same types of strategies to their own writing, which they then publish using wiki technology. In doing so, students practice important literacy skills including searching for information, integrating images into text, and creating storylines that are reflective of the new types of reading found on the Internet.

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/collaborating-writing-linking-using-1087.html

Brainstorming for Wiki Writing - Download Handout

News Stories: Students write news stories on school, community, or world topics and create a news wiki.
Book Reviews: Students write book reviews and collaborate to create a wiki.
Literary Elements of a Novel: Groups research and evaluate symbolism, characters, theme, etc. Students then build a wiki page.
Poetry Wiki: Students write poems and add them to pages on a wiki.
Vocabulary Wiki: Students create a wiki page about a new vocabulary word. The page can include the definition, a sentence using the word, an image, etc.

Math Projects

Show Your Work Wiki: Students create a page that shows detailed steps about how to solve a math problem.
Problem Solving Wiki: Students work together to solve a word problem provided by the teacher.
Famous Mathematicians: Groups research a famous mathematician and his/her contribution to math today. Students then create wiki pages of the findings.

Social Studies and Geography:

Wars: Groups work together to research specific battles and create a page about that battle.
States: Students research state capitals, symbols, nicknames, brief history, etc. Students work collaboratively to create a wiki page on the state.
Industrial Revolution: Students research different aspects of the Industrial Revolution and report on a wiki page.
Understanding Cultures Wiki: Students research a culture and work in groups to explore topics such as holidays, religion, traditions and beliefs, etc. Each group creates a page on the wiki explaining the topic.

Science:

Body Systems: Students create wiki pages on the different organ systems in the body.
Planets: Groups work to research a planet and post findings and pictures on a wiki page.
World Climates or Biomes: Students choose a climate or biome and research temperature, rainfall, humidity, etc. Students then create a wiki page including the findings.
Animal Classification: Groups choose to research reptiles, fish, amphibians, birds, or mammals and create a wiki page including research findings.

Podcasts

Podcasts can be created from original material by students and teachers or existing audio files can be downloaded for classroom use. Creating a podcast allows students to share learning experiences. It provides them with a world-wide audience that makes learning meaningful and assessment authentic. Teachers can use the technology to provide additional and revision material to students to download and review at a time that suits them. The flexibility that such time-shifting offers makes podcasting a valuable educational tool.

Spark!Lab Podcast Listening Guide

Prototype Online: Inventive Voices is a podcast series from the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center that reveals the stories behind the invention. These podcasts can help students gain a broader understanding of invention and inventors, and can lead to a greater understanding of invention’s important role in American history and culture. While this listening guide was designed to accompany the four podcasts listed below, it can also provide a starting point for using and discussing any podcast in the Prototype Online series.

Link to Podcasts - feed://invention.smithsonian.org/podcasts/prototype.rss

Podcast Activity Guide - http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/lemelsonpodguide.pdf