Understanding interests: passion blogging

Students might participate in an exercise called "passion blogging", in which they write about themes that interest them. Students begin by creating "heat maps", which are giant hearts filled with drawings and phrases representing their interests. They then choose one or two themes to investigate further and search for relevant articles, photographs, and videos. In addition, the teacher provides supporting class lectures on the attribution of sources, texts, quotes, and imagery, as well as mentor texts to help students with their writing.

Students' blogs can cover a wide range of topics, from pheasant hunting to hunger strikes to mountaineering, and allow students to delve deeply into topics that interest them. Students are also required to read and evaluate several of their classmates' blogs as part of the process. Overall, the low-stakes activity acts as a springboard for students to improve their literary analysis skills for more difficult projects, while also assisting teachers in getting to know their students better.