Analog Social Network

Practice student writing | Build classroom culture

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What is the Analog Social Network?

The Analog Social Network is the perfect project to practice student writing skills while building classroom community at the same time. Just like the network of connections they build on social media in the real world, your students will create the analog version of that right inside your classroom!

Good projects for teens are hard to find...

...especially those that deal with real-world writing scenarios. But this unit has it all: research, writing, discussion, presentation, analysis of social media, and real-world contexts. This resource brings with it lesson plans, handouts, editable teacher pages, and suggested standards for assessment (see for yourself below!). Everything is printable for in-class use, and digital PDFs are also provided.

The Resource Kit

This unit is divided into 5 levels that you can *sprinkle in* over the course of your semester. The foundations laid in Level I are great for the beginning of the year, then simply add in the Levels to follow at your own will! Your students are sure to develop consistent writing habits, learn about themselves and one another, and gain experience in using social media platforms for ~professional~ purposes!

Teacher's Overview Packet

This packet will help create a full overview of the five levels that make up this unique writing + research unit. Use this packet as a guide to help you wrap your mind around how the activities work and grow on each other.

Class Norms Posters (Editable Handout)

Use these class norms posters throughout the unit to create guidelines that students both help produce and follow as they create and interact with each other throughout this unit.

Level 1

Explore Your Strengths

Level 1 (Lesson Plan)

In Level 1, students will learn about themselves as they take two FREE online personality tests and reflect on their results. Great for the first day of class, and an awesome conversation topic for the days to follow, this self-review and reflection will help students understand that everyone has STRENGTHS, and great teams and businesses are made up of people who have different strengths, while our DIFFERENCES make us a stronger team.

Personality Test Reflection Handout

Give students an opportunity to reflect on their personality test results both BEFORE and AFTER taking the test. Personality tests help students to develop empathy because they bring to light the differences in the way people act and respond to events and tasks. We also want to emphasize that everyone has different strengths that can be combined to create really strong teams and cohorts.

Strengths List (Google Form for Teachers)

We aim to help you (the teacher) implement the activities in this unit by providing ways of documenting student and class results. This Google Form can be shared with students after taking the personality tests, so you will have quick access to your students' strengths and personality test results . The form is also editable, so you can add to the questions being asked to garner even more information.

Level 2

Create Your Profile

Level 2 (Lesson Plan)

In Level 2, students will create an analog social media profile after spending time dissecting social media platforms and how they are used by businesses and brands. Students will research and present on best practices before creating their own profiles, as well as writing a series of personality 'posts' that emphasize the results of their own personality tests.

Canva (Video Tutorial: + Transcript)

In an effort to introduce students to new tools used in both school and the workplace, we have created a Canva tutorial that can be shown directly to students. This tutorial goes over the ins and outs of this design program, and students can then use the program to create posts for their 'social media' profiles and other materials throughout this unit.

Social Profile Templates (Using Canva)

If you want to speed up the profile-building parts of this unit, you'll find these social media profile templates very helpful. We have provided both an editable pdf version and Canva option for each of 3 templates. These templates can be used to provide scaffolding and differentiation for students as needed.

Dissecting Social Media (Research Handout)

Social media platforms are some of the biggest marketing platforms in the world, and as students grow up, they will likely be asked to use social media for more than just sharing what they ate for lunch or learning the most recent Tik Tok dance craze. In this activity, students will identify best practices associated with different social media platforms.

Personality Post Examples (Handout)

One of the interesting ways students engage with each other in this unit is through personality posts (social media posts written with the intent to disclose the student's personality test results to others.) This handout provides examples of these types of posts to help students get started. The examples can also be used as a practice activity on it's own.

Social Profile Teacher Guidelines (Editable PDF)

We always want to provide teachers with an easy way to add in your own guidelines, expectations, and goals for students. Keeping that in mind, we have added in a few editable pdfs that teachers can use to personalize the activities in this unit. This editable pdf allows teachers to set their own guidelines for the analog profiles that students are making as part of level 2.

Level 3

Build Your Network

Level 3 (Lesson Plan)

In Level 3, students will meet in groups to build connections between classmates as they review student profiles, read and try to decode meaning in their classmate's personality posts, and help their classmates connect through common interests. This unit involves students talking to each other, asking questions, and creating unexpected connections with others.

Student Connections + Matching Guide (Handout)

As students begin to create connections between students in the class, they can use this handout to take notes. It is important that each group document the connections they have made, and (even more importantly) explain WHY the connections were made, so students can refer back to their choices at a later date.

Level 4

Create-Your-Own Interface

Level 4 (Lesson Plan)

In Level 4, students will create their own social media interface using the connections they made from Level 3. Students will develop a way to present their connections while also reflecting on the need for interdependence in the world today.

Teacher Expectations (Editable Handout)

Take some time to layout your expectations for students with this editable pdf. You can type right into the document before printing and handing it out to students as they begin the Level 4 activity.

Available Resources (Editable Handout)

When setting up the classroom for the Level 4 activity, you'll want to personalize a resource list for your class. Use this editable pdf to document the resources students can use as they complete the activity.

Interdependence Reflection (Handout)

The value of interdependence is one of the focuses of this unit, and this reflection handout will help students spend some time digging into this concept.

Level 5

On-Going Writing Practice

Level 5 (Lesson Plan)

In Level 5, students will participate in on-going writing development through social media posts (on Padlet, Google Classroom Google Slides, etc.) Their writing practice will come through the real-world social media marketing methods of microblogging or writing 'copy'. Teachers can choose from 50 writing prompts that will help students practice persuasive, informational, and narrative writing in a social media context.

Writing Prompts (Handout)

Use this list of 50 writing prompts to help set-up the ongoing writing portion of this unit. Students will use these prompts to write 'social media' posts about school, in-class texts, world issues and current events, as well as many additional topics. The writing prompts are intended to help cover all three of the major high school writing areas including persuasive, informational, and narrative writing practice.

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