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    Writing With Technology

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    Subject: ELA (English Language Arts)

    Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

    Topic: Sharing Content Online

    Grade Level: 10, 11, 12, 9

    Standards / Framework:

    • CC.7.W.4 
    • CC.11-12.W.4

    Brief Description: Students will be able to identify the benefits and drawbacks of publishing and/or sharing content online.

    Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with how to navigate the Internet, as well as have some experience using online platforms, blogs, or social media sites.

    Hook:

    • Ask students:
      • “Have you ever read something online that had a significant impact on you? What was it, and why did it affect you the way it did?”
      • “Have you ever shared your writing online? If so, where?”
      • “What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of sharing your writing with a wider online audience?”

    Activity:

    • Have students utilize the T-Chart and individually brainstorm the benefits and drawbacks related to sharing writing online. 
    • Have students discuss and compare their individual brainstorming lists, in small groups or pairs, highlighting common themes and prioritizing the most important benefits and drawbacks.
    • Have students share the top three benefits and drawbacks that their group agreed upon with the whole class by adding them to a T-Chart displayed at the front of the room (digitally or drawn on a board). 
      • Potential Benefits:
        • Increased exposure and potential for a larger audience
        • Receiving feedback from a diverse group of readers
        • Opportunities for collaboration with other writers
      • Potential Drawbacks:
        • Privacy and security concerns
        • Potential for negative or hurtful comments
        • Copyright and plagiarism risks
    • Have students explore an online writing platform of their choice, e.g., a blog, social media, or a dedicated writing website and create a brief, fictional post or story, to share online (you can use a sandbox environment if privacy is a concern). 
    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic displaying the online sharing scenario, making sure to emphasize the potential consequences.

    Closure:

    • Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
    • Have students explain the platform used in the comic to publish personal content including the consequences considered. 
    • Emphasize the experiences and challenges students could encounter while using online writing platforms. Encourage them to reflect on how the benefits and drawbacks discussed earlier played a role in their experience. Reinforce the idea that sharing writing online can be a powerful tool for writers when used thoughtfully.

    Differentiation:

    • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
    • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
    • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
    • Pre-teach popular online sharing platforms, as well as directions on how to share.

    Resources:

    Suggested Content Packs:

    Suggested Story Starters:

    Related Ideas

    What’s the Argument?

    Students will be able to identify an argument, as well as persuasive elements of an argument in a given passage.

    What Are the Facts?

    Students will be able to use a combination of drawing and writing to create an informative comic in which they restate facts.

    Creating a Written Narrative

    Students will effectively use narrative dialogue to develop characters within a personal narrative while also gathering and incorporating relevant information from literary nonfiction texts to support their writing.