English+Group+3

- knowledgeable and able to articulate and support an opinion about a current event - oral language skills - persuasive writing skills - identifying bias and perspective - analytical/evaluative skills - research skills - how to use wiki pages or blogs as a forum for evaluation (rather than just a place to play or whine)
 * What do you want students to learn?**

- by grading final project (Letter to the Editor and responses to those letters) based on these qualities - examining assortment and quality of source - evaluating questions and participation in interview(s)
 * How will you know they know it?**

- Start by saying, "Go find," and see what students dig up (one article each). - Have them post it on a blog or a wikipage we can all access. - Together, evaluate what makes them credible or not. These articles can then inform the questions they ask. - Move into project: brainstorming activity for developing interview questions. - Interviewing relevant subjects (for example, street vendor, FDA representative) via Skype or a Google+ Hangout < This could be a panel discussion, it could be individuals on their own; it could be done by the whole class at once, or they could divide into groups. - After the interview(s), model a Letter to the Editor in class, and then let them write their own, either on their own or in class. - Post these letters as blog entries or wiki pages. - Respond to these letters, maybe from the viewpoint of the interviewees.
 * What learning activities would help them achieve those goals?**
 * For a shorter project, cut out the interviews and have the Letters to the Editor be based on the cumulative class research alone, which would be accessible via the wikipage.

- Skype - Google+ Hangout - Wikipages or blogs - Internet/library research
 * What technology could help with that?**

www.thenerdyteacher.com education.skype.com www.edublogs.org
 * RESOURCES**