MySpace Project Idea
Somewhere on Anne Smith's blog is a post about the day she allowed her students to use their cell phones in class. I don't fully understand what the lesson consisted of (it involved ring tones), but Anne's kids were wildly excited because their cool teacher allowed them to use their favorite technology in the classroom.
I have been trying to design a creative (and yes, cool) project for the independent reading that my kids are required to do each six weeks. The English 10 PLC (good for me--I just used the latest buzz word) has decided to encourage reading for pleasure. The kids read a book of their choice and then complete a project about the book and share it with the the rest of the class.
I kept wondering how I could bring technology into this project. Cell phones weren't calling to me......Then--eureka--I remembered that Lary Kleeman had a student in A.P. English who created a MySpace page for Stephan Daedalus, the protagonist of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
So I've decided to create a MySpace book report. I'm still working out the kinks. The worst kink is that MySpace is so horrible. (Many parents won't let their kids get near it, and I can't blame them for that.) My project won't involve actually logging on to MySpace. It will borrow the format and the idea of MySpace. The kids will create a MySpace PowerPoint. On various slides, they will create a "space" for the protagonist of the book they're reading. The project will involve quite a bit of writing and creative thinking. They'll also be required to insert quotes from the book. I'm excited about this--and will share what I produce with anyone who's interested in the idea.
One problem: I wish I could log on to MySpace from my computer at school. I've had to do all of the work at home.....
I have been trying to design a creative (and yes, cool) project for the independent reading that my kids are required to do each six weeks. The English 10 PLC (good for me--I just used the latest buzz word) has decided to encourage reading for pleasure. The kids read a book of their choice and then complete a project about the book and share it with the the rest of the class.
I kept wondering how I could bring technology into this project. Cell phones weren't calling to me......Then--eureka--I remembered that Lary Kleeman had a student in A.P. English who created a MySpace page for Stephan Daedalus, the protagonist of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
So I've decided to create a MySpace book report. I'm still working out the kinks. The worst kink is that MySpace is so horrible. (Many parents won't let their kids get near it, and I can't blame them for that.) My project won't involve actually logging on to MySpace. It will borrow the format and the idea of MySpace. The kids will create a MySpace PowerPoint. On various slides, they will create a "space" for the protagonist of the book they're reading. The project will involve quite a bit of writing and creative thinking. They'll also be required to insert quotes from the book. I'm excited about this--and will share what I produce with anyone who's interested in the idea.
One problem: I wish I could log on to MySpace from my computer at school. I've had to do all of the work at home.....
posted by Cheryl Makovsky at 2:54 PM
3 Comments:
I can't wait to see how this turns out, Cheryl. It is so creative, and I know the kids will love it!
Very interesting idea. I think PowerPoint can work, but I'm wondering if there might be a better choice for the technology piece of this. Let's brainstorm a little bit about this - I'm wondering if maybe a Wiki would be a better choice. Are you up for tackling another technology tool?
I've actually used MySpace and Facebook for one of my AP seniors' Hamlet projects. I prefer Facebook, as do many parents; we can't access it from school, either, but many of my students went to each other's houses or the public library to create their character pages, ask questions of other characters, and respond to questions as of their own character.
I was very interested in your April 07 blog (found through random search about AP essay prompts) where it looked as though students were creating their own prompts. Would you kindly share your criteria/assignment with me, please? I'd like to use it with my students, too! Also... how is the blogger working with your school servers? I haven't tried it yet in AISD. Thank you!
-Ashley (jrobins1@austinisd.org)
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