Issues of Our Times

Using Blogger to follow and analyze contemporary issues.

Students use Blogger to share a little piece of themselves while they make the world a better a place. Creating a grassroots campaign through a blog, they educate readers about an issue while researching, writing and soliciting comments from a variety of perspectives. They also volunteer time at a local organization related to their issue, taking pictures and posting commentary on their blog.

Start with Blogger
http://www.blogger.com/

1. Introduce the concept of Blogging to the students. Explain to students the public nature of a Blog. Discuss with the students the importance of accuracy of information, and source citing on a Blog.

2. Formulate with the class some Blog etiquette rules that the class will be expected to follow. A reference resource is David Warlick's Class Blogmeister Bloggers Contract http://classblogmeister.com/bloggers_contract.doc from The LandMark Project http://classblogmeister.com/

3. Students select a contemporary issue to research. They blog to journal their research and educate readers. Blogs might include...

Links to a total of 10 current event sources. Sources should include news articles from reputable resources, video, websites, RSS Feeds and Podcasts.
Images with sources cited.
An opinion piece or commentary by the student on each linked source.
Opposing viewpoints.
Comments enabled, with moderation by the student, so the public can respond to the student research.

Interview of a person involved or affected by the issue. Include a photo of the person interviewed on blog.
Student attends an organizational meeting, or lecture, related to the issue. A summary and reflection of the event included on blog.
Volunteer two hours of time at a local organization related to the issue. Include pictures from the volunteer experience and written reflection of the experience on the blog.

4. Students present their final projects to the class. Their presentation includes an analysis of the issue and they engage the class in a reflective discussion of their experience. Student presentations include the discussion of the Blogging experience and an overview of the research, videos and comments posted to the Blog.

Thanks to Kim Everist, Teacher, Miramonte High School for this lesson idea.

Cheryl Davis -Acalanes Union High School District