Constructing Blog posts: IRT lessons for young students

              I think that creating a blog post is a great lesson plan because it is very hands-on and allows the student to interact with their learning. It is also great practice that touches upon audience awareness. To begin this lesson, first have the teacher write a response to a book that most students have not read. Then, give the students sticky notes in which they will ask questions pertaining to the teacher's response. Teachers should model thinking aloud, modeling is always helpful for students of all ages. The teacher should read the questions out loud and ask the students why so many questions were asked. It is important to make the point that writing for a particular audience requires writers to think about the information the audience might need or want and to include it in the response. I think that the next phase of this lesson is more beneficial and valuable.
               In the next phase, have the teacher and students should put the questions into categories based on the type of information that it asks about (i.e background information of the book, information about the author, etc.). This requires collaborative work and allows students to evaluate their decisions. Next, the information should be analyzed. This is important because it allows students to understand the significance of the information and also understand why making a response to a universal audience is important. In this phase, students are constantly checking their understanding and interacting with knowledge! After this the teacher can also have students work in small groups. This should help them think of additional information that would contribute to a worldwide audience. In the end, students should be able to come up with their own personal responses. I like this approach because it scaffolds learning independence and involves social collaboration. It is important to have students consider the audience and have them assume that the audience has no prior knowledge of a subject, this results in more detailed and thorough writing.