Here are the reading and writing
strategies that we integrated into the
rubric, organized by standard:
CCR RI 2: Determine central ideas
or themes of a text and analyze their
development. Summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
Summarize and synthesizing text are
skills that students struggle to acquire.
Requiring students to discern core concepts from multiple resources pushes
them to go beyond just repeating text.
The rubric guides students to create
at least three informative/explanatory
texts. One narrative synthesizes the
readings and outlines the central idea,
and another provides supporting details to explain the central idea. These
guidelines push students to look for the
central ideas among all the resources.
To explain the theme of “structure,”
one pair of students wrote:
This Glog’s focus is on the rela-
tionship between structure and
function that exists on all levels
of biology from a molecule to an
organism. Looking at biological
structure gives clues to how it
works, its function. Knowing the
function can lead biologists to an
understanding of what its struc-
ture must be.
Providing a purpose for reading and
viewing has long been a strategy for
teachers to build reading skills as they
scaffold instruction for their students.
Our rubric guides students to create
an audio introduction to provide an
overview of the big idea and a purpose
for viewing the project.
Students either use Audacity or cre-
ate a Voki to introduce their Glogs.
For example, for a Glog on diversity,
one student created a Voki with a dog
avatar who said:
Hello. The topic of this Glog is
the diversity and unity of life. The
diversity in organisms is easy to
see. The differences between a
dog like me and a human like you
are obvious. However, our DNA
and bone structure might be
more similar than you think. Our
similar genetic components unite
us as well as all living organisms.
This Glog will help you see the
differences and similarities that
bond all life.
CCR RI 1: Cite specific textual evidence
when writing or speaking to support
conclusions drawn from the text.
The rubric guides students to provide
supporting quotations to illuminate
the central idea.
CCR W 8: Gather relevant information from
multiple print and digital sources, assess
the credibility and accuracy of each source,
and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
The challenges of reading on the
internet vary widely depending on
readability, content, layout, graphics,
etc. The content of articles published
on the internet also often presents
issues of validity, reliability, and
hidden biases.
Because these students were high
school level, they conducted internet
searches on their assigned topics independently, which required them to
be discerning in selecting resources
to include in the project. Giving them
a purpose for viewing and guidance
to attend to a particular section on a
webpage can enhance their reading
comprehension. Requiring students to
construct similar scaffolding for their
classmates not only helps the intended
audience to better comprehend but
also helps the designers of the project
to evaluate resources and analyze a
purpose.
The rubric guides students to in-
clude a “purpose for viewing” state-
ment for each link to articles on
the internet as well. For example, to
clarify the purpose of a link in a Glog
on evolution, one student wrote:
Click here to travel the 8-million-
year-long path of human evolu-
tion. Examine the climate chang-
es, specific species, and important
landmarks that paved the way to
the evolution of Homo sapiens
you know and love.
CCR RI 7: Integrate and evaluate content
presented in diverse formats and media,
including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words.
Well-chosen graphics can also inform
beyond the ability of text. The rubric
guides students to select graphics that
inform, clarify, and/or extend meaning.
CCR W 6: Use technology, including the
internet, to produce and publish writing
and to interact and collaborate with others.
Learning from and providing feedback to classmates help to foster
collaboration. The rubric guides
students to comment on their classmates’ projects, reflecting on specific
details or elements within each project and making connections between
various projects within the class. Students enjoyed being able to see their
classmates’ work and leave constructive comments. For example, a comment left on one student’s Glog stated:
