How can blogging improve the

quality of sentence structure?By: Kristen Hartley

Avery Elementary

5th grade

“…students who blog also write

more and write better.”

(Ramaswami)

“Teen bloggers are far more prolific

writers than their non-blogging

counterparts.” (Ramaswami)

Why blog?

There are many reasons to blog…◦ Technology can be an attention grabber compared to

the usual paper and pencil route of writing

◦ Students can hide their identity using pen names written down by the teacher or by using their class number, which can decrease anxiety.

◦ Students receive immediate feedback from their classmates and the outside world Teacher’s time is limited

◦ Students get instant gratification of publication, but when knowing others will read and comment, students will typically take time to edit work

◦ Blogs “foster collaboration in the days between weekly meetings” (Glogoff 2).

How to use blogs in the classroom

Depending on the grade level and school policy, there are a variety of ways to use blogs in the classroom

◦ Elementary

Teacher posts questions while students reply and comment on other responses(teacher approval needed before posting)

Teacher creates a page for each student to post their work only (Teacher approval needed before posting)

http://khartle1.wordpress.com/

How to use blogs in the classroom

continued Middle School/High School

◦ Use previous stated, or teacher can connect

links to student pages, having each student

create their own user name and password

◦ Check school and county policy

◦ Penrod (13-14)

Types of Blogs

www.wordpress.com

www.edublogs.org

◦ Example: anne.teachesme.com

www.blogspot.com

◦ Example: calteacherblog.blogspot.com

Examples of various classroom

blogs http://missmohrhardt.wordpress.com/clas

ses/chesaning-middle-school/

http://t3tech.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/i

ts-elementary-my-dear/

http://rooseveltes.wordpress.com/about/

How can I connect blogging to

sentence structure? So many students know the different sentence

structures and types of sentences, but do not practice or put their knowledge into use.

Activity 1: (Sentence Structure)

◦ Prewrite: What are the different types of sentences we use in our writing? What are some examples? Why is this important to know and use?

◦ Complete this on Kristen’s Blog.

◦ Share

◦ http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=125046&title=Sentence_Structure

Activity 1 continued

Take the graphic organizer, and in pairs,

tally the number of simple, compound,

complex, and compound-complex

sentences in the Apple paragraph (titled

paragraph for lesson) posted on Kristen’s

Blog.

Write a short response about your

conclusion. Discuss when everyone is

finished.

Reflection on lesson

Students should concentrate on ideas first. However, students also need to be aware of the variety of sentences and how it can effect their writing.

By the 5th grade, students are already familiar with simple and compound sentences. Before this lesson, students would have had a lesson on complex, and compound-complex sentences.

“Building background knowledge is important because students with greater prior knowledge about a text are in a better position to understand it more deeply” (Zawilinski 656).

“Blogs should be part of a program that is focused on building a writing community of students, teachers, and other educators” (Ramaswami).

Activity II-Collaboration

Review responses and graphic organizer.

Assignment: Rewrite the “paragraph for lesson” on Kristen’s Blog in pairs, focusing on sentence structure. How can you vary the sentence structure to make this paragraph more interesting? What can you add?

To differentiate: Include a website by linking it to your page. Bold the important words in your paragraph. Find a picture to include. Give credit if taking it off the Internet as opposed to clip art.

Post your paragraph once finished. You may use you Grolier, Galileo, or picture books to add details and other information to make it more interesting.◦ See rubric for grading information

Rubric

25 20 15 10

Sentence

Structure

A variety of

sentence

structure is

used within

the written

assignment.

At least two

different

types of

sentence

structure are

used.

One type of

sentence is

used

throughout

the

assignment.

Fragments

and run-ons

are used

throughout

the

assignment.

Topic The paper

stayed on

topic

throughout

its entirety.

The paper

had one or

two

sentences

that were off

topic.

The paper

starts on

topic but then

ends off topic

The paper

does not have

any sentences

to support

the topic.

Completed

On Time

Student

completed

assignment by

due date.

One day late. Two days late. Three or

more days

late.

Rubric Continued

25 20 15 10

Organization Material is

organized

with a well

developed

topic and

supporting

detail.

Material is

organized

with a topic

and

supporting

details.

Material has a

topic

sentence, but

supporting

details go off

topic.

There is no

topic

sentence or

supporting

details.

Reflection

“Blogs mix pleasure with information to

create an information reformation.”

(Penrod 3).

“Bloggers find themselves continually

drawn into deeper layers of the

blogosphere, searching for new

information to include on their sites.”

(Penrod 7).

Scour, Filter, Post (Trammel) Based on Blood’s

book The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on

Creating and Maintaining your Blog

Students who need to scour the internet

for information become more invested in

the information, becoming an expert

Students must pick and choose what is

important to include

Then, students post the best information

related to their topic in their blog or blog

comments

Collaboration and Cross-Curricular

Activities with blogging “Blogs make more sense as cross-curricular

tools. Students should think and write about what they learn across all subjects and grade levels. You want them to have learning and reflective activity in all situations.” (Ramaswami)

Once students understand the concept, show them a basic paragraph on Civil War, Cell structure, etc.

Give a list of acceptable websites or search engines to use if in elementary grade levels

Activity III-Individual

Share others posts with the class and tell what you like about it.

On the blog, post feedback of sentence structure on a minimum of at least three other posts. Give constructive feedback:

◦ Yes-I loved the way you combined your first two sentences into a compound sentence. It sounds much better than the simple sentences used previously.

◦ No-Your first sentence sounds cool.

Reflection

“The critical skill of writing is central to the act of blogging. Because the blogging format encourages students to engage with positions divergent from their own, blogging can potentially enhance analytic and critical thinking skills.” (Ellison 105).

By students reading others blogs and/or posts, students gain insight on different perspectives, receive more knowledge on the topic being read about, and can gain better perspective on their own position.

So, how can blogging improve the

quality of sentence structure? Blogging can be integrated into part of the writing process

Technology can help engage students in writing and help with differentiation (i.e. the more advanced students can add the links, pictures, videos, etc.) The more engaged the student is, and the more they are writing=more practice!

Students receive feedback from not only the teacher, but others in the classroom, making their work more valuable to themselves and others (Students can directly comment on sentence structure if the assignment permits!)

Students become experts on writing material because of the research they conduct

Students who write more, will write better

Works Cited Ellison, Nicole and Yuehau Wu. “Blogging in the Classroom: A Preliminary

Exploration of Student Attitudes and Impact on Comprehension.” JI. Of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia: n.p. (2008) 17(1), 99-122. June 12, 2010.

Ferdig, Richard and Kaye Trammell. “Pedagogical implications of classroom blogging.” T.H.E Journal: n.p. Winter 2004. June 12, 2010.

Flatley, Marie. “Blogging for Enhanced Teaching and Learning.” Business Communication Quarterly 2005. June 12, 2010.

Huffaker, D. “The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. AACE Journal 12(2), 91-98 2005. June 12, 2010.

Penrod, Diane. Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Education. 2007. Print.

Ramaswami, Rama. “The Prose of Blogging (and a Few Cons, Too).” T.H.E Journal. November, 2008 pages 1-5. June 16th, 2010.

Zawilinski, Lisa. “HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking.” The Reading Teacher 62(8) pp 650-661:International Reading Association 2009. June 16th, 2010.