Social Media Networking and Community Building
In these activities, students will leverage social media for academic purposes while reading the novel "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park. In the past, students have kept reading logs to summarize each chapter of the book using a Google Sheets template. Now, the goal of this lesson sequence is to create a more engaging way for students to interact with the text and one another. What better way to increase engagement than the use of social media? Most of my students have multiple personal social media accounts, so they have plenty of prior experience from which to draw.
Activity #1: Twitter
Objective: During this novel unit, students will summarize key events from the text and show evidence of character analysis by creating a Twitter account as one of the two main characters in "A Long Walk to Water."
Activity Details: Students will post as Salva or Nya a minimum of three times per chapter. Posts will be evaluated based on the strength of their connection to the text and the provision of relevant details and/or characterization. Students will tag all of their social media posts with #Room208LostBoys in order to find and interact with one another.
Exemplar Twitter Account:
Activity Details: Students will post as Salva or Nya a minimum of three times per chapter. Posts will be evaluated based on the strength of their connection to the text and the provision of relevant details and/or characterization. Students will tag all of their social media posts with #Room208LostBoys in order to find and interact with one another.
Exemplar Twitter Account:
Activity #2: Voicethread
Objective: During this novel unit, students will participate in academic discussions using Voicethread.
Activity Details: Students will respond to weekly literary analysis prompts that require them to cite textual evidence in order to support their claims. Students will also be required to respond to two peers, either to agree or disagree, citing additional evidence from the text. Students will share the links to their weekly Voicethread using Google Classroom. A sample prompt was set up, as seen in the screen capture below.
Sample Voicethread Prompts:
Activity Details: Students will respond to weekly literary analysis prompts that require them to cite textual evidence in order to support their claims. Students will also be required to respond to two peers, either to agree or disagree, citing additional evidence from the text. Students will share the links to their weekly Voicethread using Google Classroom. A sample prompt was set up, as seen in the screen capture below.
Sample Voicethread Prompts:
- How does the economy and/or politics of South Sudan affect the lives of Salva and Nya?
- How have the characters adapted to their harsh climate?
- What aspects of Sudanese culture are unusual to you? Why?
- How does the environment play a role in the conflict(s)?
- Why do you think the author chose to tell two parallel stories in "A Long Walk to Water?"
- Discuss the theme of "A Long Walk to Water."
Activity #3: Padlet
Objective: During this novel unit, students will conduct collaborative research and draw conclusions about a variety of topics related to "A Long Walk to Water."
Activity Details: Students will work in collaborative groups to establish Padlet walls where they will post relevant research links, including images and videos. The instructor will provide a selection of general topics and students will join research groups based on their interests. Students will be required to post three resources each, with no repeating links. After this collaborative research phase, all students will then work in table groups to create collaborative Google Slides presentations using the resources posted on the Padlet walls.
Topics for Padlet Research Walls:
Activity Details: Students will work in collaborative groups to establish Padlet walls where they will post relevant research links, including images and videos. The instructor will provide a selection of general topics and students will join research groups based on their interests. Students will be required to post three resources each, with no repeating links. After this collaborative research phase, all students will then work in table groups to create collaborative Google Slides presentations using the resources posted on the Padlet walls.
Topics for Padlet Research Walls:
- Child Soldiers
- Geography of South Sudan
- Sudanese Civil Wars
- Tribal Lifestyle/Traditions of South Sudan
- Wildlife of South Sudan