Teach ‘Em How to Fish

Teaching students to blog with “voice”

I recently got an email from Kirsten Roos, a reader of my classroom blog. She teaches science and health in Alaska, and was impressed with some of my students’ blogs. She was extremely complimentary, particularly of my students’ sense of voice (and conventions and creativity) in their writing. She asked me for any tips that I might have to accomplish this. I thought that I would share my answers with you, as well. Maybe some of you might benefit from some of these tips.

Let me just say, though, that this is something that I struggle with, too – I have some very high achievers, and I don’t take credit for the voice that you see in their writing. I’m sure I had something to do with encouraging it, and providing an opportunity to write about whatever they want, practically whever they want, and to an audience that matters. These two factors, more than any miraculous, deliberate, explicit technique in my lesson plans, probably contributed to their developing whatever voice you see in their work (assuming they didn’t have the sense of voice before they came to my classroom!). I also have some much lower achievers, and haven’t been able to work any miracles yet!

Nevertheless, there are some deliberate things that I try to do in my lessons that might be helpful to any of you, trying to get students to blog with voice. Let me take my email reply to her, adapt it a bit, and share it with you here.

Look at my student named “Jake S.” He is actually me. Jake rhymes with Fake, and S stands for student. Kinda funny, huh?
1. When I give an assignment that really matters to me, that I really want quality work from, and is worth the effort as a whole class (each individual, dedicating class time, etc.), then I write an example as Jake.

2. Also, if one of my top achievers completes the assignment earlier than others, I also highlight that article for the class.
One great way to do this is to write a teacher article with a link to their article.

3. Once in a while, I don’t accept an article to be published unless they have “attitude”, “personality”, or whatever.

4. One of my favorite assignments is what David Warlick calls a “Past Blog” (in his Classroom Blogging book) to give them a historical figure, specific or not, and have them write as if they are that person, role-playing the person, etc.. For example, I have had my students write as if they are Pluto. This was right after Pluto was re-classified a dwarf planet, etc. I have done one like this for Early Man, or Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great.

5. This works with Science, too, once in a while. I have done this for the Earth, when we were studying the layers of the earth. I told then to write as if they are bragging to the other planets about their layers, etc. “Don’t just say ‘…core, mantle, crust, blah, blah, blah… Brag about yourself! Show some attitude!” At least for some kids, this encouragement/description of the assignment seems to have worked.

Regarding your particular subject matter, if there’s anything that could be put into a Flow Map, which is to say that if it could be put into a story that moves through time, then that something could be the one narrating the story, telling the readers about the content
that you’re wanting the students to know.
For example, students,
1. Write as if you ARE your body, speaking to you, telling you the reasons why you should exercise.
2. You are a blood cell. Tell the story about going through the body.
3. You are a lung. Write to your audience, telling how the person destroyed you by smoking, etc.

4. In science, they could write AS an organism to all the other organisms in their community, telling how they are unique. Examples would help, here, too. Have “Jake” write as an animal or whatever, and show the classes what you’re after, since this will be a new thing for them.

–
Ed Warkentin
JFK Academy, Dinuba U.S.D.
http://ewarkentin.edublogs.org/ (my professional blog)
http://tinyurl.com/kkd4s (our classroom blog)
http://del.icio.us/wark (my delicious account)
http://del.icio.us/math34 (my math-specific delicious account)
http://courses.fresno.edu/tbese/edw/thesisintro.html (my Master’s Thesis)

Tags: blogging