Role Playing - A Web 2.0 Twist on an Old Practice

Your Name and Title: Lisa Hoelscher Ripley, Social Studies Teacher

School, Library, or Organization Name: Leyden High School

Co-Presenter Name(s): Mike Manderino, Professor, Northern Illinois University

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: suburban Chicago, Illinois

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): All level of Humanities educators

Short Session Description: We will outline a model for constructing social networking role playing projects best suited for use in a social studies or literature curriculum.

Full Session Description: This session will guide educators teaching all ability levels in the task of creating a role playing activity utilizing social networking media. This online platform is best used in a history or literature class with content that provides the opportunity for students to create distinct roles from which a perspective can be expressed. This project is designed to be ongoing utilizing the many types of tools provided in social networking platforms. Critical skills in the area of research, contextualization, new literacy skills, disciplinary reading and writing are embedded in this project.  Participants will learn how to scaffold the project to meet the ability level of their students.