Set up an individual blog for each student, and instruct your students to write on their blogs at least once each week. Write a new blog topic for each week of your class, using current news topics and popular issues as your inspiration. Tell your students to check your blog topic each week and to write about your topics. Instruct your students that each blog should be at least 400 words, include a structured introduction and conclusion, and discuss a series of points. Tell your students that they do not have to use sources for their writing, but that they should cite any sources that they use.
Consider the blog format as an informal writing environment, and grade students' blog work by reviewing their writing structure. Point out any glaring errors of form, and encourage your students to use the online editing functions of the blog to correct spelling and textual errors. Remember that developmental writers need to understand how to construct their writing into a specific format: introduction, discussion, and conclusion. Focus on these areas of your students' writing, and make sure that their ideas flow well.
Instruct your students to visit the blogs of four other students and to comment on the information that they read. Make sure your students understand that all comments should be respectful, academic, and grammatically correct. Direct students to write comments that are at least 100 words. Grade these comments for grammar, professionalism, and word choice. Comment on some of your students' posts, especially posts that do not attract many comments from other classmates.
Pull your topics for large papers from popular new media sites. Use these topics to inspire your students to write. Popular new media sites offer a range of topic possibilities, each with social and political ramifications to which your students may be sensitive. Show your students how to use those sites to research their topics. New media, such as Internet searches, online news organizations, and popular opinion Web sites, offer a wealth of information. Although this information is not acceptable for higher level research classes, you can use this information to teach your students how to properly document their sources and use sources in their papers.