The Outsiders Blogging Project #pbl #pblchat

I wanted to share with everyone a blogging project that one of our many amazing teachers are getting ready to start in language arts. This is a quick overview that she crafted that I wanted to share out. I think that teachers need to do a better job sharing and connecting. I want to help the cause.

This blogging project will be based on the novel, The Outsiders.

I really hope two things come from sharing:
1. Students and teachers connect and comment to the blogs when they begin next week.
2. Possible connections and learning opportunities unfold from sharing.

This particular blogging project is one part of a major project involving many other classes tackling the essential question. If interested in what others are doing please ask. There are some cool projects in development to go along with this blog like students designing fish tanks in science.

If you want to connect, have ideas, or have questions please let me know.

Title: I am Sam, Sam I Am (exploring multiple selves)

Essential Questions: “What Am I Made Of?”

Additional Language Arts Essential Question: “What is Ponyboy Made Of?”

Classes Involved: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, & Math

What Is Ponyboy Made Of?

Students will explore the skill of blogging and use this exploration to display their understanding of the character Ponyboy in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the story elements and structure, and narrative techniques. Each blog will be written in first person as if they are Ponyboy. During these blogs students will step outside the story and challenge themselves to continue the life of Ponyboy. Each blog has a blog challenge which is associated with a skill, these include: use all five senses, directly quote something that someone said to you, explain an emotion in vivid detail, reference the theme “stay golden”, and write a blog one year into the future. Furthermore, students will learn the skill of helpful commenting and use this skill on one another’s blogs. During comment days students will interact via internet through their blogs, critiquing and complementing one another’s work. The blogging will occur throughout the reading and will lead students to understanding what makes Ponyboy, what life events and experiences made him the person he is. This ultimately connects to the essential question of this unit “What I Am I Made Of?” After we have completed this blog and novel students will create their own narrative, using The Outsiders and Ponyboy as a model and discover what they are made of. 

Here is where they will be blogging at the end of the week