Blog All About It!

A blog is defined by Mr. Webster as "a website on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis." Blogs can be used for an endless number of things....including student writing!!! Blogging is a wonderful, new, exciting way to help your students, of any age, with their writing skills! You can blog about ANYTHING from describing your favorite book character to comparing and contrasting different landforms throughout the US. It can be as simple or as in depth as you would like. You could have students answer with a single sentence or a 5 paragraph essay. 

Blogging not only helps the students improve their writing skills, but it also helps the teacher to gauge how well their children have grasped the understanding of the essential question. By simply posting the essential question and having the students respond with the answer, the teacher can then evaluate the things he/she needs to focus more on or the things the students have mastered.

A blog can be a wonderful collaborative tool in the classroom as well. When students have created their post, teachers, students, and even parents, can then view the blog and make comments. This can begin a classroom discussion with the touch of a keyboard!

While there are many blogs out there, the safest one I have found is www.kidblog.org. You, as the teacher, create student account with the click of a mouse, and can control who can view the page, read the posts and make comments. KidBlog is a blogging tool that can be as open or as private as you want. Teachers, students, parents, and guests all must have a password to view the page.

Blogging gets students EXCITED about writing! They enjoy reading what their teacher or peers have to say in their comments and it only makes them want to write more! So what are you waiting for??? Go get your BLOG ON!!!