Thursday, January 30, 2014

Reading Reflection 2 (January 30, 2014)


In the article, What Would Romeo and Juliet Say to Jack and Piggy on Facebook, teacher Pamela Carver created an assignment through social networking for her eighth grade English class to do. In this assignment, they used the social networking site Ning, to have each student create a page and with the use of readings they had done over the year, took up a role of one of the characters they had read about. By assuming the role of whatever character they were assigned, they were able to demonstrate understanding of the text by having the personality and the characteristics of that character. With this character, they would interact with the other “characters” they read about, even if they were from different books. This made it fun for the students by connecting the readings of The Odyssey, Lord of the Flies, and Romeo and Juliet. Students would do status updates and comment on each other’s statuses where they would discuss the book and their understanding of the book without even knowing it!

I think this is a great and creative idea for students, especially at the middle and high school levels. You get the substance of a book report because they have to know and understand the book to be the character and write their status updates about things going on in the book. However, it is not as dull or as typical. Kid’s lives are so immersed in social networking and it has become a huge part of American culture that this assignment comes second nature to them. The fun is pretending to be a character and being able to act silly with it.

This addresses NETS-S because of the use of a social networking site. This is what students are using the internet primarily for and it allows them to interact with other students online while learning about the characters and the plots on the books they read. This is something they can do both in and outside the classroom.   

Carver, P. (2013, February). What would romeo and juliet say to jack and piggy on facebook Learning and Leading, 40(5),

3 comments:

  1. Jaclyn,

    I hope you don't mind If I comment on your post. I need to write one more comment on someone's blog and I choose yours. I love the different ways educators are using technology for the students benefit and not just to help educators. Letting students become the characters that they read about opens their imagination and gives them new perspectives on characters that they read about. This type of activity makes the classroom a fun environment where students are excited to be one of their favorite characters from their readings. This program allows them to use their technology that they already know such as writing a post. The technology not only gives students a chance to enjoy themselves but also keeps with what technology they are comfortable with. Its a wonderful tool that I hope I can use in one of my future classes.
    Patricia Starnes,

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  2. Jaclyn,
    This is a very interesting article, and use of social media. I think it was a great idea for that teacher to incorporate social media into her English class. Students will be much more involved in an innovative assignment like that one. The more interesting and fresh the assignments feel to the students, the more attentive and involved those students will be. It is also a great way to gauge how much the student has learned throughout the course of his or her readings throughout the year.

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  3. Jaclyn,

    I love that idea! It seems like a such a fun way to really learn about a story and its characters. Kids would definitely be engaged in that assignment. I agree with you that it would be super fun to act like a character and be silly with it!

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