If you teach in the United States, you may be required to tie your learning activities to the Commmon Core State Standards. Here are some ways you can include the common core standards with your everyday blogging.
Write an Opinion Piece
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
A lesson that ties in with this standard is to have your students read an article from the website www.tweentribune.com. Once on this site the students will have a plethora of news articles to read that interests them. After they read their article, have the students write a five paragraph essay about their article. The first paragraph should be an introduction. The second, third and fourth paragraph should be reasons to support their opinion. The fifth and final paragraph should conclude their opinion piece. Once the students have blogged their opinion pieces, they can read other students’ blogs. By reading the blogs from other students, they can share their opinions with their friends on various topics in the comment section. When students blog just one opinion piece, the teacher opens the door to other forms of writing and can meet numerous common core standards.
Writing a Story
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Teachers can exceed students’ story writing expectations by adding just a few tweaks that will make this standard exciting. Have the students collaborate with other students when using the story writing process. By blogging with another student, you are meeting the common core standard that states, “With guidance and support from peers and adults, students develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.”
Story writing is also a great way to introduce features in blogging the students would not normally use. For example have the students paint various portions of their story. Once the students have illustrated their story, they can learn how to upload pictures on their blog. With just a few easy changes, story writing can be entertaining for all students.
Use Blogging To Incorporate Math and Science
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Two subjects that allow the students to develop their vocabulary through blogging are math and science. Students can better understand their math problems by writing out the step-by-step process in blogging. For example, if the students are working on multiplying two digit numbers by a two digit number, have them blog about their step-by-step thought process. The students will need to incorporate their math vocabulary by using this process. They can verbalize that they need to multiply the ones digit first, then the tens digit, and so on. Through blogging, the students have a deeper understanding of the subject they are learning.
When it comes to science, the teacher can have the students blog their vocabulary words in various ways. For example, the students can write their vocabulary word on their blog and then upload a picture to match. Another way for the students to use science vocabulary though blogging is by writing the word in a sentence. The students can then share their sentences and have other students read and comment about their new vocabulary words.
The common core standards are great ways for the teacher to achieve success through blogging.
Photo Credit: red check mark by kklrugl; CC BY license via flickr