Activity Objectives:

The goal is for the students to practice written communication skills, to present information and opinions about themselves and classmates, and to share that information with others.

The activity addresses the following ACTFL standards:
1.1: engaging in conversations, providing and obtaining information, expresing feelings and emotions, and exchanging opinions.
1.2: understanding and interpreting written and spoken language
1.3: presenting information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers

Description: In this blog activity, students begin by composing a number of autobiographical blog entries about describe their interests and hobbies, important life events, future dreams and aspirations, and/or other self-selected or teacher suggested topics. During this multi-week process, students will read one anotherÕs others blogs and post comments. The second phase of the project involves having students write bibliographies of each other using the autobiographical blog entries as the primary data source. Students can also be encouraged to orally interview the person they are writing a biography of to glean additional information. Once completed, the biographies can be posted as blog entries so that they are available to the class to read as a homework assignment.

An in-class follow-up activity involves the teacher asking factual and content questions of the whole class about the biographies. Questions can emphasize amusing content or serious life goals, such as Òwho in the class said they were afraid of the teacher?Ó, Òwho in the class actually wrote on their desk that they are handsome?Ó, Òwho in the class love to dance and hopes to major in performing arts at university?Ó, and so on.

Teacher Instructions:

1. Think up questions based on the current unit or language point to ask students that relate to their personal experiences or opinions. These should emphasize autobiographical content and themes.
2. Consider giving students specific autobiographical questions and have them write answers in their blogs, for instance: ÒDescribe one of your earliest childhood memoriesÓ, ÒWhat is the most important thing that has happened to you in the last year?Ó, ÒWhat do you aspire to be doing 5 and 15 years from now?Ó, and so on.
3. Assign each student another student's blog to read. Students can be in pairs (i.e. students A and B read each other's) or a chain (A reads B, who reads C, who reads D, etc.).
4. Students should use the information in the assigned blog to write a short biography about that student, and post this biography in their own blog.
5. Read all the students' biographies and note interesting points to discuss.
6. In class, discuss the points by posing questions to the class such as 'Who visited Mexico when they were five?' or 'Whose favorite band is XX?'

Contributor: Dana Webber, State College Area High School, State College, Pennsylvania