Get Started with a Great

WordPress Class Site

© 2014 Erik Bean, Ed.D. & Emily Waszak

More Info? CommonCoreLessonPlans.com

Available from These

Book Sellers:

© 2014 Erik Bean, Ed.D. & Emily Waszak

More Info? CommonCoreLessonPlans.com

WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Your students are adept in using social

media for pleasure. Here’s a way to

harness those skills for learning!

Why this book is unique:

• Includes lessons in argumentative

essay writing, thesis generation, and

quality sources.

• Contains rubrics tied to Common Core writing strand numbers. (Big time saver).

• Appendix of "Operationalized" Common Core Writing Standard explanations

so requirements are easier to follow. (Another time saver).

• Rubrics can be used to grade most any writing lessons regardless of the standard.

• Writing lessons can be transferable to most any blog sites.

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

Author Erik Bean, Ed.D.

Some faculty are reluctant to use social media in the classroom either because

their district may not allow it or they do not understand how to best incorporate

it. This lesson plan uses WordPress and features teacher tested steps to get your

class channel up and running. While no social network is 100 percent safe, their

use can help retain student attention, improve writing, and critical thinking skills.

Feel free to share your experiences here.

Did you know most of what the CC Writing Standards require have already been

in practice by districts? The key has been how to best capture and document the

processes to demonstrate each student rigorously meets the guidelines.

Regardless, the standards call for integrating technology into the classroom. This

requirement is where some districts and faculty are uncertain how to proceed.

Compared to non-public platforms like Blackboard and Edmodo, teachers report

higher lesson attentive levels since students knew their parents and others in the

classroom could more readily view their work in and out of class.

Using Social Media Lessons

WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Connect with the authors via several

social networking sites:

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

BlogFellows.WordPress.com

Model Essay Draft Collaboration Site

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

WordPress Dashboard Backend1). First create the

main alphabetical

parent landing

pages A-C by adding

a new page and

labeling as such.

2). Then add new

subordinate pages

based on your

roster by first name

and last initial. Be

sure to apply the

appropriate parent

under “Page

Attributes” in the

right column by

using the drop-

down menu.

3). Add an “About/Tips” page that will stand alone.

Then repeat this process for all main parent alphabetical

student landing pages, D-F, G-I, J-L, M-O, P-R, S-U, V-Z

Creating Parent & Subordinate Pages4). Take your roster of

all available A-C first

names and add them to

the page content in

edit mode. 5). Highlight

the top name then

select the link icon to

embed a hyperlink to

that student’s

respective page.

6). Now click “Or link to existing content.” Find the first student you earlier created a page and

link to it. Be sure to check the box indicating “Open link in separate window/tab.” Finally, click

“Update.” 7). Repeat this process for all main alphabetical landing parent and subordinate

student pages through Z.

ADDING ESSAY DRAFTS: As the site owner, only you will have access to adding the essay

drafts. When you receive them electronically based on class due date, open each one on your

desktop. Highlight all essay text and while in WordPress edit mode on the pertinent student’s

page, paste text. Repeat for all students. Allow 30 minutes for a class of twenty.

Widgets are found under “Appearance.” Customize these to report which student commented last or most frequently. Use these to report which student page has the most traffic or to create a complete site map of every student page as shown at BlogFellows.WordPress.com. Widgets are shown on all pages except home.

Add Widgets to Suit Your Class

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

1. Did the student select a contemporary hero for which much published

material exists?

2. Did the student effectively develop a thesis with two of the most prominent hero

personality traits melding them to his or her most important societal contribution?

3. Did the student use an authoritative third person voice?

4. Did the student include and attribute the hero’s background

5. Did the student define and defend the hero’s personality traits?

6. Did the student defend the hero’s most important societal contribution?

7. Did the student effectively summarize the essay?

Quality Cohort Discussion: Hero Essay

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

• Encourage quality commenting by visibly posting your own remarks.

• Encourage students to pick at least two student essays as well as two peer feedback postings to analyze. If time permits, allow them to analyze more.

Contributing to Comments

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

Sample of Common Core tied rubric that can be used to evaluate the essay draft.

Another rubric (not shown) also applied to Common Core Writing Standards, is used

to evaluate rigorous peer essay analysis collaboration, peer feedback, and visibility.

Draft Evaluations/Assessments

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

Rubrics can be sent back to students electronically, posted to the student’s

electronic gradebook, or printed for individual distribution.

Draft Evaluations/Assessments

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT

Questions?

Designed to Accompany the New 2014 Book: WordPress for Student Writing Projects

Published by Brigantine Media/Compass Publishing, St. Johnsbury, VT