| Body | by Lindsay Marean, CASLS
Do you and your students spend time checking people's Facebook status updates, and liking and commenting on some of them? This activity mimics real-world reading and writing on social networks and asks students to reflect on what content is appealing to them.
Outcomes:
- Learners will write Facebook status updates in the target language that are appealing to other learners.
- Learners will skim status updates to find content that appeals to them.
- Learners will reflect on what makes a Facebook status update appealing to themselves and to their classmates.
Resources:
- Internet access to Status Clone
- Ability to print or otherwise display students' fake status updates
- Stickers (or stamps on post-it notes) with the thumbs-up "like" symbol, several for each student
- Reflection sheet
Procedure:
Preparation
- Before class, create a model Facebook status update using Status Clone. Include at least one comment. You can get some ideas for characters and status updates here: http://www.classtools.net/_FAKEBOOK/gallery/index.php. You may wish to narrow the range of posts. For example, talk about a great meal you just ate, or post as if the best thing imaginable has just happened to your character.
- Have students go to the Status Clone site and create their own character name and status update. If time allows, students can add a profile photo and comments from other characters.
- Students print out their status updates and post them up around the room. Include blank space below each post so that more comments can be added.
- Distribute several "thumbs up" stickers to each student.
Pre-reading
- Discuss Facebook status updates with your students. How many students post regularly to Facebook? How often do they check Facebook? What sorts of status updates do they "like" and comment on the most? Do they often write status updates that generate a lot of comments and "likes"?
Guided reading
- Students circulate around the room and browse the status updates. Each student must add at least one comment to a post. Students also place "thumbs up" stickers on updates or comments of their choice to "like" them.
Assimilation/personalization
- Once students return to their seats, distribute the reflection sheets. Have students complete them individually. Then, ask for volunteers to share their answers. As a class, discuss what people find appealing in Facebook status updates, what they are most likely to comment on, and the sorts of comments they tend to make.
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