# 19 out of 31
Bloggin' Like a Boss! "Christopher Columboss" to be exact
Students blog like they were explorers
(per request I have updated this post with more information for implementation)
My student teacher wanted to find a fun way for our 5th grade class to learn about the early explorers of America. (Christopher Columbus, Leif Erikson, Ponce De Leon, Henry Hudson) So groups of students studied an explorer but instead of just presenting the information in a report format, students created a blog. Each student took on the persona of their explorer and posted blogs related to their life. They synthesized the information from their resources then translated it in order to post it on their blog in modern day language with hashtags## and blogging abbreviations (btw) and all! The kids were super excited about this task. I've never seen them research so fervently...they had to find stuff to blog about. Their creativity soared as they formulated their own blogs!
Here is the example blog that my student teacher created as if he were Ferdinand Magellan blogging about his travels and discoveries. Sailin' Like Magellan
Here are a few examples of student blog posts. Be sure to read which explorer it was posted by.
That wasn't all. After they created their blogs, we put them in groups so each student could visit the blogs, read the information and write comments about the other explorers that they had not researched. All in all, I think they made history modern and learned a lot from it!
Update: They researched their explorer on various sites mostly history.com. (one day) Students used Blogger for the student blog creation. (one day) One the final day they read the other blogs and made comments. To organize the groups for commenting, I created a Google slides presentation. I made a table and put one of each of the explorers in the table. Next to the explorer's name I put a student's that researched that researched that explorer and a link to their blog. The directions were to find the slide with their name on it. Then read and comment on all of the other explorer blogs on the same slide. (So that means, in the end, everyone read information on all of the explorers) I gave them guidelines for commenting so we didn't just see comments like "Nice", "I like your blog" or "Good job". I told them to let the "O.W.L." be their guide. They could make an
Observation (I noticed....) or
ask a Wondering (I wonder why....)
or write a Link (I can relate to this.... This reminds me of...)
What an inspired and creative project! It sounds like it was a big hit with the kids!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. can't take all the credit. My student teacher and I worked on it together. It was a hit for all for sure!
DeleteA great integration of history, researching, writing, and technology. Would like more information on the management, e.g. platform for student blogs, time it took.
ReplyDeleteI will update this blog post with more info. But the kids used Blogger (since they all have google email accounts through school) I imagine kidblogs would work fine as well. We took 3 days. One for research, one for blogging and one for reading and commenting on others blogs. (we moved quickly...could've done it longer!)
DeleteSuch a terrific idea! The learning is evident in the writing. And isn't so satisfying when you hit on something that promotes fervent research? Very creative!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'd never seen them so excited for history!
DeleteGreat idea! Such lively writing that also reflects their learning. I think I may try this - we study the American Revolution and there are plenty of interesting people in that time, too.
ReplyDeleteyes, I think the lesson truly stuck with them! You should try it for Am. Rev!
DeleteI love this! My kiddos studied explorers in the beginning of the year and they created books about their explorers. They would have loved this idea. I know your kids were so engaged - and if they're engaged, they learn!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is always the goal to capture them!
DeleteLove this! I bet the kids will never forget the explorers....or their teachers!!
ReplyDelete