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
- Potential Benefits:
- 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.
Suggested Content Packs:
Make a comic about High School
Make a comic about Cyberspace
Make a comic about Middle School
Suggested Story Starters:
