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Showing posts from October, 2015

Monstrously Fun Collaboration

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Having a classroom blog provides a plethora of opportunities to collaborate and create with classes all over the world. Recently, we were invited by Miss Jordan in Victoria, Australia, to participate in a monstrously creative writing project.  Miss Jordan's pupils are grade 4 students.  They have a classroom blog just like us! The directions for the Monster Project:  Step 1:   Students draw a monster using their imagination. Step 2:   Students write a paragraph detailing the monster.  Important descriptive details to include are color , shape , and size .  Step 3:  Students  trade the descriptive paragraphs with a blogging buddy. This was done via Google docs. Step 4:  Students draw  their buddy's monster using only the descriptive paragraphs.  Step 5: Students  share and compare the original drawings. We used a Google slide show. As you compare the two drawings, what do you notice? (Sometimes a detail or two ge...

Teaching Commenting Skills

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WHY have a classroom blog? Here is a video I made with my second and third graders about the value of blogging.  I hope it convinces you to start a class blog! Blogging has many parts: the post, the comments, and the sidebar. If you do a good job with all of the parts, your blog will be more interesting. Today we will focus on quality comments! Content is key ! In our class, we evaluate our blog comments. A one-point comment is a general comment that doesn't add very much to the post.   Example : I like your blog. Please visit mine!  A two-point commen t adds something to the comment conversation. A commenter might compliment the writer in a specific way or add new information. Another idea is to make a connection. Maybe the post reminds you of an experience that you've had. Share that connection!  Try to end your comment with a relevant question. That way, an interesting conversation can develop. What  should I say in my comment? Here is a video made...