4+Moodle

= **Forums ** = Online discussions can be a great way for students to practice organizing and communicating thoughts, exchanging ideas, and interacting with peers as well as others. My sixth grade students partnered with some ninth grade students in a study of Robert Frost's poetry. Communicated below are the goals and findings (with student examles) of my colleague and I.

= **Goals ** =
 * Multi-level collaboration and community
 * Students are thinking and communicating about class topics beyond the school day
 * Older students have opportunity to practice leadership and demonstrate a deep understanding of concepts by directing conversation, analyzing student responses, and teaching relevant objectives
 * Younger students have the opportunity to learn from multiple non-teacher resources
 * 100% participation in discussion
 * All students have opportunities to practice and refine intellectual discussion techniques
 * As educators, we have the opportunity to look for discussion trends, evidence of engagement, and levels of understanding which we could then use to determine instructional decisions

Ex:   Ex: //6th grade student's original post, 9th grade student's post, same 6th grade student posts again://   <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">Ex: <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; overflow: hidden; tabstops: list .5in;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Findings **
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">More kids are more honest about their true personal feelings about the poem; less of the in-class “telling the teacher what she wants to hear”
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Kids talk about how they interpret the poem they read
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Motivated to reread poem to check on the validity of what each other is saying- authentic learning
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Text evidence for both grade levels has been there since the get-go; they know that they have a wider audience
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">6th graders emulate how 9th graders communicate ideas, writing structure
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tabstops: list .5in;">9th graders introduced vocabulary and poetic concepts to 6th graders
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Many students posted more than was required; students who rarely speak in class were responsible for some of the more profound and lengthy posts
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The engagement level reached an all-time high when 9th graders posted their original poetry online for the 6th graders to evaluate and critique because they were publishing to a wider audience than just themselves and their teacher