Bloggers of the World Unite!

Aloha 6th Graders and Welcome to your first design challenge of the year!

In this unit we'll be harnessing the power of the internet by building blogs that will help us to connect with others around the world, build a positive online presence and reflect on all the things we're learning and experiencing in this first year of Middle School.  As we talked about in class, our steps will be guided by the the Design Cycle as we begin to start an Inquiry into the power of blogs and how to make our blogs more powerful!

The limits and reaches of our communities are expanding everyday as the advances of global communication evolve at breathtaking speed.  What was impossible for thousands of years has only recently been turned upside down, allowing you the opportunity to put your thoughts, ideas and perspectives out for the world to see...  With today's technology, you can publish almost anything, practically anywhere, at anytime: day or night... for free.

Your thoughts, your perspectives, your ideas...  shaping the world we live in!

OK!

Now, to get started, we'll be looking at existing blogs from our community and beyond to help us get a sense of what marks a quality blog.  You'll be asking yourself:

• What elements or characteristics of the blogs you liked stood out to you?
• What got your attention?
• What visual features did you enjoy?
•  How were you able to interact with and move through the better blogs?
• What kinds of information and how was delivered in a way that got you to stop and read it?
• Once you've seen a few blogs... what features do you think every blog should have?

 Here are a few sample blogs to get started with:

• NeverSeconds (a very famous blog written by a 9 year old Scottish  school girl about her schools food options)
•  The White House Blog (Our governments blog that let's us know how they're leading our country)
•  Ukulele Underground (a local blog that helps people learn how to master the Ukulele)
• MacRumors (a blog dedicated to sharing all the latest Mac related news and speculation with us)
• Ars Technica (a very well run and respectable video gaming news blog site)
• Troy43 (the official website and blog of Troy Polamalu - Pittsburg Steelers All-Star Safety)
• MAKE (a great blog featuring tons of DIY projects, how-tos, and inspiration from geeks and makers)
• The Tasty Island (a honolulu based food blog that goes behind the scenes of some of our favorites)
• Ono Kine Grindz (A blog of onolicious eats from Hawai’i and around the world!)
• Emily's Blog (the 2010 winning student blog of the annual EduBlogs student competition)
• Chemistry: It's "Element"-ary!!! (the 2010 runner-up student blog)
•  Haley's Blog (The 3rd place student blog from EduBlogs competition)
•  LJADTMYP1 Blog (Our class blog... that's right... )
• LJADTMYP1 Students of the PAST!!! (Go check out the 7th or 8th graders blogs!)

Homework:

Remember, you should start off by reviewing at least 2-3 of the blogs listed above.  Make sure you explain what is good about each blog and why each item is good. You should record at least 2 meaningful comments about each blog (including their characteristics or features that positively impact the viewer). We will use this sheet to determine the criteria for an excellent blog.

To earn a 7-8 on the rubric, make sure:

• You have examined 3 or more blogs.
• You have and included more than 2 comments for each blog you review.
• All of your comments are detailed and meaningful. You clearly explain what is good about each blog and why it’s good (i.e. how it impacts the visitor.)

You're welcome to review other blogs you might enjoy, just make sure that they're appropriate for school.  You need to make sure that you copy and paste the full URL (the address on top) of the blog into the Blog Research Sheet.

If you think there's a particularly great blog out there that your classmates would like to review, share it with us in the comment section below. (Be sure to tell us the name and give us the full URL!)

Good luck!

Images and Video Courtesy Of:
Blogs in Plain English by Common Craft
The Independent (article by Lucy Christie)