Koelker,+Stephen

Blogging Lesson Plan Steve Koelker

Lesson Plan: Grade 8 Blogging Course: Social Studies Unit: US History and Culture Overview: Students have been researching the influence of rock and roll music on the culture of the 1960s in America. To personalize the unit, each student as become an "expert" on one recording artist or group from the time period. They must formulate an opinion based on the their research as to whether their artist had a positive or negative effect on the culture. Purpose: This activity will help students present their opinions in a forum in which others can challenge their thinking or agree with it. They will need to present ideas clearly and evaluate input fairly. Objectives: 1. Write a blog post of less than 200 words in which you describe 3 highlights of your artist's career. 2. End your post by summarizing your position on whether the artist had a positive or negative effect on the culture. 3. Read 3 other students' blog posts on the topic and comment on their position statements. 4. Reply to at least one comment made on your blog post, pointing out your points of agreement or disagreement with the commenter. Procedure: 1. After completing their research, each student will compose a draft of their blog post in a word processor. Spell-checking is required. 2. Each student will log in to their blog and copy/paste the edited draft as a post titled with the name of their artist. 3. Students will then use the class blogroll to locate and comment on 3 classmates' posts on the topic.

Evaluation Rubric:


 * || 4 || 3 || 2 || 1 ||
 * Position Statement || Statement is strong and is supported by examples given in the post || Statement is clear but does not reflect examples given || Statement is does not take a clear position or lacks examples || No position statement is given. ||
 * Supporting facts || 3 well detailed facts are given || 3 facts are given but some lack details || 3 facts are given but all lack details || fewer than 3 facts are given ||
 * Comments || At least 3 comments are made on classmates' blogs each focused on the position statement made there || 3 comments are made on classmates' blogs but not all are focused on the position statements made there || 3 comments are made on classmates' blogs but are not focused || fewer than 3 comments are made on classmates' blogs ||