Beginning with Blogging

At the start of each school year, I like to begin my teaching of various academic areas with "launching" units.  Whether it is in science, reading, or even writing, I like to help my students to recognize the purpose behind why I am teaching these subject areas to them and why having knowledge in these areas is important.  For example, in science I do a mini "I Wonder..." unit.  My students and I talk about how scientists have such an exciting job, one in which they get to wonder about the world they live in and then create experiments around these inquiries to help them find answers to their questions.  We write our "wonders" on little pieces of bread shaped paper and display their thoughts on a bulletin board that features an image of a large loaf of Wonder Bread that reads, "I Wonder...".  Then, we vote on our favorite three "wonders" and conduct experiments following the scientific method to find answers to our questions.  This short and simple unit helps to get my students excited about science and instills interest within my students for future learning.  I firmly believe that when children are interested in a topic, the learning process becomes easier and more enjoyable for that child.
As a result of the technology course that I am currently taking, I've begun to wonder how I can incorporate various forms of technology into this and other launching units to make them even more meaningful for my students.  Below is an example of one unit that I have been brainstorming adaptations for.
As a way to launch the use of strong vocabulary in my classroom, my students and I read aloud the book Donovan's Word Jar by Monalisa DeGross.  In this book, a young boy collects words that are interesting and writes them down onto a strip of yellow paper.  He then collects his words by placing them into a glass jar.  My students and I mimic Donovan's behaviors and collect our own examples of strong and interesting vocabulary words by adding them to our word wall.  Next year (because I won't have a class blog up and running in time before we complete this book for this school year), I would love to have a label on my class blog titled "Our Word Jar".  Under this label, students could post various interesting words that they have found and place them in a digital word jar.  When students need an interesting word for their writing, whether it be in class or at home, they can simply access this digital word jar.  Included as part of this label might be links to other vocabulary resources or sites having to do with the book Donovan's Word Jar.
As I learn more about the various forms of technology available to me, I become more and more excited about my role as a teacher.  I am hopeful that, by incorporating technology more often into my daily curriculum, I can help my students to become both active and interested learners.

Here is a SchoolTube video that relates to the chapter book Donovan's Word Jar.  It is just one example of some technology-minded activities teachers can do with their students based upon this chapter book.