Getting Started

This blog has been set up to chronicle the Abbotsford Online Writing Project. The plan is to invite middle school students from across the Abbotsford School District to participate in a collaborative and interactive writing experience. The advancement of literacy is one of Abbotsford School District's Goals. Blogging is proving to be a powerful tool to enable students to express themselves and interact with other's ideas. I believe that blogging will give many students an expanded opportunity to write for an authentic audience and to interact with the writing of many other students. So, welcome to the Abbotsford Online Writing Project. Feel free to browse the writing found on this site and the sites linked here. Leaving a positive, constructive comment is appreciated. When discussion the writing aspect we would encourage you to use the BC Performance Standards for writing. They can be found here: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/perf_stands/writing.htm

Some background to the project...

I came across this paper you might be interested in: http://www.cdlr.tamu.edu/dec_2004_proceedings/Rynearson1.pdf "The primary research question guiding the study is: Are web logs a viable technology for improving students reading/writing achievement? The study addresses this question directly by measuring students performance on end-of-year measures of reading/writing achievement." It's a great read. Unfortunately the results are not in as yet. However, the way the project was designed is of interest to me. This paper was found on a great edu-blogging website: http://www.weblogg-ed.com/