Using the Internet in Language Arts

Educators using the Internet crave hands-on, step-by-step methods for integrating the network into their curricula, to really enrich students and to use the Internet in the most worthwhile way, educators should weave the use of Internet resources into their own lesson plans. But, that requires a healthy knowledge of what's out there on the Net, plus the time to navigate to various sites and check out their usefulness.

Remember: the best lesson plans do not use the Internet as an end in itself. Rather, they employ it as a means to an end, incorporating its resources as an extra tool to attain a larger educational goal.

When to use the Internet in the Classroom

• not in your textbooks or classroom library
• based on data collected by governments or public interest groups
• likely to require specialized knowledge
• best understood from eyewitness accounts
• fast-breaking news (voting results, earthquakes, economic data)

• in-depth historical information (there are exceptions, such as the Civil War)
• a quick overview or definition of a topic

• collaborating on projects with students all over the world
• finding and contacting experts
• getting real-world experience in researching and evaluating information
• publishing students' projects and publications

• face-to-face interaction with other students and teachers
• drawing, writing, building, planting,, or any other hands-on activity (although it can supplement these activities).

SAMPLE LESSON PLANS

Writing (Autobiographical)

• Write autobiographical poems to help students get to know each other.
• Practice writing with concrete and abstract nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
• Communicate with and get to know a distant class via email.

• Personal computer with an Internet connection, including email and WWW access
• Simple word processor and printer, or pencils and paper
  
  PROCEDURES:
  1. Before beginning the project, find a class to communicate with via email. It can be a class you're doing other projects with or, to find a partner class, post queries to the apppropriate education newsgroups or mailing lists.
  2. Review the differences between concrete and abstract nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Students can use gopher or the WWW to access the grammar tips and other usage documents at the University of Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).

     	URL:http://owl.trc.purdue.edu/
     

     
     
  3. Prepare your autobiographical poem in advance and write in on a chalkboard or post it on a bulletin board in the classroom for students to read. Here's an example:

     	Line 1	Your first name			Priscilla
     	Line 2	Son or daughter of...		Edward and Priscilla
     	Line 3	Four traits (adjectives)	curious, ambitious, 
     						funny, talkative
     	Line 4	Lover of (concrete nouns)	pizza, doughnuts, dogs, cars
     	Line 5	Who acts (adverbs)		cautiously
     	Line 6	Who needs (abstract nouns)	understanding
     	Line 7	Who fears (concrete nouns)	spiders
     	Line 8	Who hopes for (abstract nouns)	peace
     	Line 9	Resident of			Pittsburgh
     	Line 10	Your last name			Franklin
     

  4. Have students write their autobiographical poems, then exchange them with a remote partner class via email. This is a great way to match students with similar interests for further correspondence.
  
  EXTENSIONS:
  
  Have each student use a computer ilustration program to do a self-portrait. If the school has an image scanner, they can scan in a photo of themselves. Teach them how to attch graphics files to email or to encode non-text files, and send the drawings with the corresponding autobiographical poems to the partner class.
  
  Excerpted with permission from The Educator's Internet Companion. (717) 393-1000
  
  
  

  Writing (Creative)

  
  Students are expected to discuss the fundamental elements of fiction, access the Internet writing resources and clip art, write the beginning of a short story, proofread, and send the story via email to a partner class for continuation.
  
  GRADE LEVELS: 2-12
  
  OBJECTIVES:
  • Work in teams to produce a fictional short story.
  • Find information about writing and proofreading on the Internet.
  • Constructively evaluate other students' work.
  • Communicate via email with a distant class.
  
  MATERIALS:
  • Personal computer with an Internet connection, including email, WWW, and gopher access.
  • Word processor, graphics viewer (such as MacPaint, Paintbrush, or LView) and printer.
  
  PROCEDURE
  1. The teacher will coordinate this lesson with a partner class. The two classes will cooperate in writing a short story, each taking a turn and using email to send completed sections back and forth. One class (Class A) will initiate the project by writing the beginning of a story and sending it to the partner class (Class B). For instructional materials and ideas for teaching creative writing, access the YaleInfo gopher server.
     
     Gopher to:yaleinfo.yale.edu
     
     Go to the Brows YaleInfo (Yale and Internet Information) menu, and select YaleInfo Index (search YakeInfo by keyword). Enter creative writing as the keywords.
  2. One or more weeks before starting the project, both classes should subscribe to the Creative Writing in Education for Teachers and Students mailing list. Print out discussions and have students contribute where appropriate.

     Email to: listserv@listserv.net
     Type subscribe CREWRT-L (your name) in the body
     
     NEWSGROUPS:
     
     rec.arts.prose 
     a discussion group
     
     

  3. After students have studied and discussed the fundamental elements of fiction, such as character, voice, and plot, inform them that they'll work together in groups and with a distant class to write their own stories. To make the project more challenging, have Class A find photographs or images of people, landscapes, or objects on the Internet to base their stories upon or to incorporate in some way.
     
     Ftp to:haskell.systemsz.cs.yale.edu
     
     Select the pubs/sjl/www/clipart subdirectory
     
     Ftp to:ftp.classroom.net
     
     Select the wentworth/clipart subdirectory
     
     
  4. If the groups in Class A have trouble getting their stories started, have them visit OWL, the Purdue Online Writing Lab, and look for documents called "Coping with Writing Anxiety" and "Overcoming Writer's Block."
     
     URL:http://owl.trc.purdue.edu/by-topic.html
     
     
  5. Once they've completed the beginning of their stories, teach the groups how to compose email offline and to attach grphics. Have them carefully proofread their work, and all subsequent parts in later steps for spelling and grammatical errors. If time permits, have them go back to the OWL site to find documents on proofreading. When the proofing is complete, send the email to Class B.
  6. Students in the groups in Class B should download, print, and carefully read the story beginning from Class A. Have them analyze the characters, setting, and basic plot elements started by the first class. Guide them through developing the action for the story. Instruct students to access the same online resources for clipart, idea generation, and proofreading. Have the students email the body of the story back to Class A.
  7. If time permits, students from both classes can use email or Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to talk about the story, ask questions, or brainstorm ideas while the story is in progress.
  8. Class A should further develop the story, then email the text back for Class B to write a conclusion.
  9. When the short story is complete, print out a copy for each student in Class A and Class B. Read the book aloud. Students enjoy listening for parts they wrote and changes the other class made in the plot or character development.
  
  EXTENSIONS:
  1. Find a third class and send those students the story to read, edit, and illustrate. Distribute copies of the completed short story to all students in all three classes. Classes can meet in a predesignated IRC channel to discuss the writing process, problems they faced while working in group fashion, and surprises they encountered.
  2. At the end of the school year, have students read the book again and write short essays explaining how their writing skills have improved.
  
  Excerpted with permission from The Educator's Internet Companion. (717) 393-1000

  Other WWW Resources

  
  The following collection of Web sites is by no means a comprehensive list of K12 sites. A word of caution: sites on the Web do change. What is in one location today, may have a new address tomorrow.
  
  
  • URL: http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/BusyT/TOC.html
    Busy Teachers' WebSite K-12
    This site is designed to provide teachers with direct source materials, lesson plans/ classroom activities with a minimum of site-to-site linking and to provide an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the teacher who is learning to use the Internet.
    
    
  • URL: http://ericir.sunsite.syr.edu
    AskERIC
    Here you'll find a variety of lesson plans, including the curriculum for the "Newton's Apple" series that appears on PBS.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.hmco.com/hmco/school/School.html
    Houghton Mifflin's Educational Place
    With a Math Center, Social Studies Center, and Language Arts Center, Houghton Mifflin provides curriculum resources for K-8 teachers to use in their classroom, educational games for students, and links to related resources.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.mightymedia.com/talk/working.htm
    Teacher Talk
    A "Teacher's Lounge" on the Web where teachers can exchange ideas and find support from other educators struggling with the same questions.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.vivanet.com/freenet/k/K12Net/channels.html
    K12Net
    K12 offers online conference areas that can be assigned to different groups to pursue individual projects. Teachers or students can request and use a channel, following certain K12Net guidelines. This means you can initiate your own project and use the K12 Net conference areas to interact with other participants.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.kidlink.org/
    Kidlink
    High kid participation is the name of the game at Kidlink. Many international connections are made here. Find out how to set up or join a Kidlink project and how Internet Relay Chat is used in online projects.
    
    
  • URL: www.bushnet.qld.edu.au/schools/herberton_secondary/bushscen/index.htm
    BushScene
    An international teen magazine completely written and created by the students of Herberton State School Secondary Department in Far North Queensland, Auystralia.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.inform.umd.edu/UMS+State/MDK12_Stuff/homepers/emag
    Electronic Library
    If you have students in grades K-5, and would like to involve them in the excitement of global communication and telecommunication projects, visit Electronic Elementary. A publication by and for elementary students, it is designed to promote use of the Internet for cooperative projects and student publishing.
    
    
  • URL: http://en-garde.com/kidpub/intro.html
    KidPub
    KidPub is an open forum for children of all ages to publish their writing on the WWW.
    
    
  • URL: http://www.mv.com/Writers-Corner/Homepage.html
    Writers' Corner
    Writers' Corner is a monthly session held on KIDLINK IRC, where a group of kids aged 10-15 who are involved in KIDLINK meet up and write together.