By blogging buddy and colleague Jim Haynes at ACMS has been using his blog with me as a means to promote electronic interactions between his 6th graders and my 9th-12th graders.
Jim's suggestions given in an email are highlighted below.
"The first is a letter to a planetary leader explaining the benefits of a tilted planet to a planet without a tilt. They were supposed to describe seasons and explain how the tilt causes seasons in effort to persuade the leaders of this planet to either change their tilt or leave it alone. I don’t think I did a great job with this one, so the letters need work. It is supposed to be persuasive so if your students comment, have them focus on that piece of the writing."
"The second is a friendly letter to a younger student describing the phases of the moon. There is no persuasive piece in this one, just a simple 10 sentence paragraph that describes each of the 8 main phases of the moon. If your students comment on either of these, have them focus on the descriptions and details."
His post to the gl blog can be accessed here
My students are given the Jim's suggestions as well as my guidelines for replying:
1. address the student by his / her first name
2. write something positive about their blog post
3. critique / suggest something for improvement
4. "sign" your reply with your first name and last initial
Most students respond appropriately but for those who don't, then COMMENT MODERATION helps!
Thanks to Jim, his students and mine for this continuing interaction with ACMS and ACHS!
Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment