Writing
Blogging in your target language

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.

Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at “Using a blog for language teaching” for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.

This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.

Outcomes:

Upon completion of this task students will be able to:

  • analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts
  • produce written entries in a class blog
  • interact in a polite and respectful manner

Technology required: Computer, Internet, class blog

Procedure:

The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.

  1. Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.
  2. Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:
  3. Ask students to:
    • comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).
    • Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).
  4. Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (Hypertext Literacy, what is it? and  Using a blog for language teaching)

Reflection:

Ask students:

What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?

Optional: 

Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as Wisemapping.

Source/attribution: Digilanguages Author: Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo

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Additional Content

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>“Using a blog for language teaching”</a> for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.<strong>Outcomes:</strong>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:<li>analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts</li><li>produce written entries in a class blog</li><li>interact in a polite and respectful manner</li>
<strong>Technology required: </strong>Computer, Internet, class blog<strong>Procedure:</strong>The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.<li>Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.</li><li>Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:<ul><li><a href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/”>Reading Strategies: Raising awareness</a> or</li><li><a href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″>Analyzing: Developing critical reading skills</a></li>
</ul>
</li><li>Ask students to:<ul><li>comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).</li><li>Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (<a href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″>Hypertext Literacy, what is it?</a> and  <a href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>Using a blog for language teaching</a>)</li>
<br /><strong>Reflection:</strong>Ask students:What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?<strong>Optional: </strong>Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as <a href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/”>Wisemapping</a>.<br /><strong>Source/attribution: </strong>Digilanguages <strong> Author: </strong>Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>“Using a blog for language teaching”</a> for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.<strong>Outcomes:</strong>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:<li>analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts</li><li>produce written entries in a class blog</li><li>interact in a polite and respectful manner</li>
<strong>Technology required: </strong>Computer, Internet, class blog<strong>Procedure:</strong>The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.<li>Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.</li><li>Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:<ul><li><a href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/”>Reading Strategies: Raising awareness</a> or</li><li><a href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″>Analyzing: Developing critical reading skills</a></li>
</ul>
</li><li>Ask students to:<ul><li>comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).</li><li>Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (<a href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″>Hypertext Literacy, what is it?</a> and  <a href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>Using a blog for language teaching</a>)</li>
<br /><strong>Reflection:</strong>Ask students:What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?<strong>Optional: </strong>Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as <a href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/”>Wisemapping</a>.<br /><strong>Source/attribution: </strong>Digilanguages <strong> Author: </strong>Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>“Using a blog for language teaching”</a> for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.<strong>Outcomes:</strong>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:<li>analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts</li><li>produce written entries in a class blog</li><li>interact in a polite and respectful manner</li>
<strong>Technology required: </strong>Computer, Internet, class blog<strong>Procedure:</strong>The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.<li>Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.</li><li>Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:<ul><li><a href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/”>Reading Strategies: Raising awareness</a> or</li><li><a href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″>Analyzing: Developing critical reading skills</a></li>
</ul>
</li><li>Ask students to:<ul><li>comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).</li><li>Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (<a href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″>Hypertext Literacy, what is it?</a> and  <a href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>Using a blog for language teaching</a>)</li>
<br /><strong>Reflection:</strong>Ask students:What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?<strong>Optional: </strong>Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as <a href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/”>Wisemapping</a>.<br /><strong>Source/attribution: </strong>Digilanguages <strong> Author: </strong>Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>“Using a blog for language teaching”</a> for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.<strong>Outcomes:</strong>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:<li>analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts</li><li>produce written entries in a class blog</li><li>interact in a polite and respectful manner</li>
<strong>Technology required: </strong>Computer, Internet, class blog<strong>Procedure:</strong>The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.<li>Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.</li><li>Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:<ul><li><a href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/”>Reading Strategies: Raising awareness</a> or</li><li><a href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″>Analyzing: Developing critical reading skills</a></li>
</ul>
</li><li>Ask students to:<ul><li>comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).</li><li>Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (<a href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″>Hypertext Literacy, what is it?</a> and  <a href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>Using a blog for language teaching</a>)</li>
<br /><strong>Reflection:</strong>Ask students:What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?<strong>Optional: </strong>Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as <a href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/”>Wisemapping</a>.<br /><strong>Source/attribution: </strong>Digilanguages <strong> Author: </strong>Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo

Blogging is a powerful tool for language teaching and learning. It engages students, gives them the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, communicate, and interact with each other. It fosters autonomous learning and it offers also a different and dynamic means of communication between teachers and students, both for developing activities and offering feedback.Before developing this activity, you may want to have a look also at <a href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>“Using a blog for language teaching”</a> for some insights and information on using blogs in the language classroom.This activity will show how to practice the target language using blogs.<strong>Outcomes:</strong>Upon completion of this task students will be able to:<li>analyze and select relevant and interesting online texts</li><li>produce written entries in a class blog</li><li>interact in a polite and respectful manner</li>
<strong>Technology required: </strong>Computer, Internet, class blog<strong>Procedure:</strong>The procedure for this task also varies depending on the specific language. Please, refer to the specific language materials for further details.<li>Write a blog post, discussing a topic of interest to the class.</li><li>Ask students to research an online article related to the topic. You can choose a topic that you are discussing in class, or the topic of the text they read in one of the following activities:<ul><li><a href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/reading-strategies-raising-awareness/”>Reading Strategies: Raising awareness</a> or</li><li><a href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/analyzing-developing-critical-reading-skills-2/?role=10&subCategory=125&workPackage=115″>Analyzing: Developing critical reading skills</a></li>
</ul>
</li><li>Ask students to:<ul><li>comment on a post on the blog, and include a link to the article they have found (remind students that they need to attribute the source of the article).</li><li>Ask students to comment and discuss entries made by their classmates in the blog (remind students to ensure their comments are respectful, even when highly critical).</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Remind students of the specific characteristics of writing for the web (<a href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/hypertext-literacy-what-is-it/?role=11″>Hypertext Literacy, what is it?</a> and  <a href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/using-a-blog-for-language-teaching/?role=11&subCategory=133&workPackage=116″>Using a blog for language teaching</a>)</li>
<br /><strong>Reflection:</strong>Ask students:What is the style of your written posts in the blog? Formal/informal? Standard/colloquial? How do you determine this style? Can you identify critical comments and discuss their politeness?<strong>Optional: </strong>Create a list of key information provided in the blog entries in order of importance. You can use a Mindmap tool such as <a href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”http://www.wisemapping.com/”>Wisemapping</a>.<br /><strong>Source/attribution: </strong>Digilanguages <strong> Author: </strong>Laura McLoughlin, Valentina Rizzo