One of the strategies to get students engaged and motivated to learn is to incorporate materials that they love and use in their daily life. Social media is one of them. An increasing number of our students use social media and especially Facebook to socialize, connect, and (hopefully) learn. The good news is that we can leverage the potential of this social media website to enhance students learning. How? Facebook Templates!
Facebook templates, as their name indicates, are templates modelled after Facebook. They are mock up templates that resemble the feel and look of Facebook. As teachers, we can use these editable templates for a wide variety of educational purposes including:
* Character study: Ask students to create Facebook profiles for a character they studied in a novel, short story, or a movie. Encourage them to flesh out as much information about the character as they can. This can be an alternative to the traditional book report activity.
* Students can also use Facebook templates to study a historical character, a famous author, an artist, a popular scientist, a public figure, etc. The key is for students to develop informational writing style, practice brevity, and develop their search skills.
* Facebook templates can be used in the first day of school in introductory and get-to-know me activities where they create facebook profiles of themselves or their peers, introduce each other and learn more about each other's likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests, etc.
The pedagogical strength of these Facebook-focused activities is that they provide students with a medium they like through which they get to practice a number of key skills including: media literacy skills, research skills, writing skills, presentation skills, among others. Students get to practice and develop all of these skills while having fun and enjoying their learning.
[ Related: Free editable newspaper templates to use with students in class]
Now, the question is where can you find Facebook templates to use with students in class?
There are some good resources out there where you can access and download customizable Facebook templates. The good news is that I did the hard work on your behalf and prepared the list below.
These are Facebook templates created specifically for educational usage and most of them are created by fellow teachers. I also included two easy to use web tools to use to create your own Facebook templates.
1- Teachers Pay Teachers
There are several free Facebook profile templates in Teachers Pay Teachers. Simply type 'Facebook profile template' in the search bar and choose Free in Price and you will have a collection of awesome templates to download and use with your students. These templates come in different formats including PDF, Word, PPT, and Google Slides. Here are some of the templates which I think you will find very helpful:
Fakebook - Create Your Own Facebook Profile, by Best Teacher Resources
This is a blank profile that is modeled after Facebook timeline and can be used by students to provide information about characters, historical figures, authors, artists, and more.
Free Facebook Profile Character Sketch Any Novel Activity, by Tracee Orman
Students can use this template to create a Facebook profile for a character in a novel, book, short story or movie.
Facebook Student Profile Form, by Plan Like A Boss
This template can be used in introductory and get-to-know-me activities especially at the beginning of the school year. Students fill in the boxes with their personal information and share with each other.
Facebook Character Profile- Blank Template, by Stephanie Wolters
This Facebook Character Profile can be used in character study activities. 'Students can use this to discuss characters in a novel, or as part of a historical person project, or anything else your mind can imagine.'
Facebook Profile Template, by Inspire Others
Students can use Facebook Profile Template to showcase their learning and share informational resources with others. As the author stated, this template can be used in the following activities: author study, character study, all about me activities, back to school activities, Grandparents Day, and more.
Facebook Profile Template - Character Study, by Sarah Beckett
As Sarah contended, this Facebook template can be used 'for making character profiles during a novel study or read aloud. Students are required to create thoughtful postings that reveal information about the character, while also considering their interests and social network.'
Biography Facebook Template, by Tracie Deardorff
This template, as Tracie stated, 'allows [students] to create a profile page for a character in a book they are reading or to pair with a biography they are studying. Students will need to use details they have learned to fill in categories for the the person's friends, hobbies, about me section, and two recent posts of what the person has been up to.'
Facebook Template - Introduce Yourself Activity, by Meant for Middle
This template can be used in introduce yourself activities and also to create Facebook character profile for character study.
2- Fakebook by Classtools
Fakebook is a tool provided for free by Classtools which allows students to create fake Facebook profiles to use in the study of characters, discussion of historical events, mapping out a plan of a book, and more. Students can edit the cover photo, add their names and personal information, include links to YouTube and Vimeo videos, add friends, etc. They can also save their work and edit it anytime they want.
3- Profile Publisher, by ReadWriteThink
Profile Publisher is an interactive tool that students can use to create imaginary social media profiles to introduce themselves or to discuss a historical figure, or a popular public figure. They can also be used in discussions of fictional characters in a novel or short story. Also, 'the tool could be used for profiles of nonhuman living creatures, inanimate objects or abstract concepts (e.g., profile of an amoeba, an historical monument, or friendship).'This post originally appeared in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning ( www.educatorstechnology.com ).
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