On Monday, May 9, I, along with nine other tenth graders, visited Ms. Kirsch’s classroom and taught her enthusiastic fourth graders how to use the blogging feature that many of you have used for the 10th grade blog project or The Hewitt Times.
The fourth graders greeted us eagerly as soon as we arrived. They could not contain their excitement toward adding media to their most recent blog posts. As Ms. Kirsch described, the students had the choice between blogging about the bridge competition they had in science or the 4th grade poetry slam, in which each girl read her poem out loud in the library in front of her friends and family. Many of them chose to write about the poetry slam, said Ms. Kirsch. Although some were nervous to recite their poems in front of such a large audience, “they just went for it and felt great afterward!”
This is Ms. Kirsch’s second year working on blogging with the 4th grade, and, based on all of the positive feedback that she gave, I assume that she will continue the project for years to come. Ms. Kirsch said that her students “have become better writers through writing and have begun to enjoy writing in a different way. A lot of my students enjoy writing regardless,” she continued, “but for those who find it more difficult, the change of medium makes it interesting for them.”
So what do the fourth graders themselves have to say about the project?
Roshana said, “It was kinda tricky and kinda easy.” But Roshana was up for the challenge. When I asked her whether she
would like to insert a video “the easy way” or “the hard, cooler way,” she confidently chose the latter. Now, you can watch a video that connects to Roshana’s post without even leaving the page!
Karichelle was equally enthusiastic. She very much enjoyed the long process of looking for media to add to her blog before settling on a link to the Dylan’s Candy Bar website and a picture of a so-called “fire-horse.” Click here to check out Karichelle’s post!
By the end of the session, the girls were not only able to add links, photos, and videos to their posts, but captions and click-through links as well! After viewing a sample blog post by 10th grader Isabella Santandreu, we all viewed the girls’ updated posts in awe. The knowledge that they acquired and implemented in such a short period of time was truly fantastic.
Keep up the great work, 4th graders!
To view the entire 4th grade blog, click here.