Blogging with Grade 2

In the last month I've started using Kidblog with the Grade 2 classes at my school. It is so exciting!!!! They get so excited to write for their friends and even more excited when they get comments! They seem to view comments as currency. I will never forget the student who said to me, eyes shining, "Miss!! I'm rich! I have 19 comments!!!" Several of the students have even continued blogging at home.

Responding critically to text

Sometimes, however, comments can backfire. When a student sees that some students have received more comments than they have, they can get discouraged. In these cases, I have found it very rewarding to have conversations with these students about why they think their classmate's post received more comments than their post. Seven year olds are capable of analyzing their own work and, with guidance, determining how to make it better. We've discussed the importance of choosing a good title, having an interesting first sentence, staying on topic, organizing writing so it makes sense to the reader, using font styles and colours to attract the reader's attention, and applying appropriate spelling strategies.

Responding to art

We have also used the blog to respond to art. In celebration of the 100th day of school, the Grade 2's used a website to make a picture using 100 snowballs. We saved these pictures to our computers, then uploaded them to the blog. Each student then viewed each other student's artwork and left them a comment - a sentence stating something specific that they liked about the picture, and another stating one thing they could do to make it better. It took a little practice, but they left some great responses and learned how to give and receive feedback from their peers! A skill, I think, most of us could use a little practice on.