Twitter With Dystopia
Ideas I'm considering for teaching with our Dystopian novels...
Being that we are working on our "Fakebook" character pages for our Dystopian novels (or you should be grade 7/8!!), I started thinking about other ways we can integratre Social Media in a way that is futuristic....
So I thought we should explore using Twitter and Tweetdeck to create discussions and debates between characters... This would mean that students will have to create a "Fake Twitter Id" for a character, but we need to know who you are, so incorporate your name into the character's name...
ie: stewieshaymitch (this is obviously my Haymitch id) or
jordanthomasmaze or (Thomas is the protagonist in Maze Runner)
dominicfour or (Four is one of the characters in Divergent)
charmainecassia or (Cassia is the protagonist in Matched)
tintinxander or
pjgalehungergames ....
Get the idea?? Your first name, your character's first name or last name ...
We need to know who YOU are, who YOUR CHARACTER is... If your id is taken, or the id you create is too long for Twitter, then be creative, just be sure to include your first or even your last name with the name of the character you are representing.
Now in order for your group to get your tweets, you need to categorize them. That is where the #hashtags come into play. Each group will be assigned a hashtag, so that your group can track the responses.... PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE THE HASHTAG, OR YOUR TWEET WILL GO INTO THE BIG, BIG WORLD OF TWITTER!
ie: stewieshaymitch... type your tweet... then hashtag #smhg (hash tag is the # sign, and the SM stands for Stewart Mitchell and HG stands for Hunger Games...)
*The point of the # hash tag is to categorize your work so we can track the conversation (it blocks out all the "chatter". If you search particular hashtags and your group's hashtag... you will get only those particular group items). If you don't do that, then there is no point to creating the tweet for the class... no one will see it.
https://twitter.com/
So try it! Here are the hash tag codes...
#smhg (Hunger Games Group)
#smmr (Maze Runner Group)
#smd (Divergent Group)
#smep (Eleventh Plague Group)
#smm (Matched Group)
In order to use Twitter, you just need to set up an account, you just need a computer for this. You do not need a phone... It's all free!
Getting Started...
Once you get started, you will see messages like...
The Twitter Teacher1 min
This is a Tweet. Tweets are short messages that have up to 140 characters and can contain links like http://twitter.com.
You will start building a timeline next like this...
Build your timeline.
Follow people to get their Tweets.
Add character.
Upload a photo and describe yourself.
0 / 160
I got the idea from this New York Times site:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/what-would-your-favorite-fictional-character-tweet/
By the way, to find my account on Twitter, you can send me a message, I am
jstewiestewie or Tweet me @jstewiestewie
My Twitter QR code is... Have no idea what QR codes are? Check out my other Blog post!
Other "Stuff" or items of interest....
Pintrest
Posters that were inspired by The Hunger Games
http://pinterest.com/mrsorman/teaching-the-hunger-games/
Modern Dance that Was inspired by The Hunger Games
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/28/2872164/novel-inspires-middle-school-dance.html
