Julie Ennis's projects

Adams-Friendship Middle School

7th grade Language Arts

Our first project: Blogging with Literature Circles

We created a blog through imbee.com. The idea was to use a blog to reflect on our readings and discuss various literary elements. Students discussed their opinions, feelings and components of the novel. They were required to post and comment on other's blogs.

Reflection on blog use: Students really enjoyed blogging; using web 2.0 tools enhanced the educational environment since it naturally increased their motivation. Students were excited to share their ideas on the blog and I often found students adding to their blog at home on weekends. In the future I would like to communicate with parents and allow them access to have a better connection between the classroom and community.

Our second project: Poetry through Voicethread

Students learned about poetry and poetic devices found within. They then found their own poem or song lyrics (which are simply poems sung to a rhythm) and were required to decipher the meaning behind the words. Students then found pictures which depicted the meaning behind the poem and finally uploaded the photos to voicethread and read their poem along side the pictures.

Reflection of Voicethread: Students REALLY enjoyed the voicethread project! There were many technical difficulties with students not having email and unable to create their own account; I simply had them create it on my account. I found students who had their own voicethread accounts were more apt to work at home and share with their parents. I did not feel comfortable giving out my login and password to students who used my account. Next time I would have given more time - we completely the projects in just one week; they could have done an even better job if given more time. 

WEb 2.0 poetry