I am a reading teacher for grades 3-6. I work with readers who need that extra nudge in the right direction to become proficient readers. I would use blogs in my classroom in two ways. I would have one blog for the students to access to publish their work. They would publish book responses, answers to comprehension questions, new vocabulary words (definition, use in an original sentence), and they would be allowed to post reviews on the books they've read. I would like to see them interact with each other, to just talk about reading in general.
I would also have a blog that parents and students can access at home. I would have assignment lists, due dates, a list of helpful reading strategies, links to good reading websites, and a list of recommended books for the students to check out. I would also include an explanation on what my students are working on each week so that parents are aware of the weekly skill or strategy to focus on at home.
I love the idea of having a blog solely for the comprehension and enjoyment of reading. I teach reading to all third grade classes at my school, so I have a strong desire to create a blog that focuses on some of the comprehension skills that students work on and possibly struggle with. One concern I have for your blog, as I face this in my own classroom, is that the students that need the most practice using reading skills are often the most reluctant to participate in written responses geared towards reading. If you plan on grading responses posted to the blog, I would suggest creating some type of rubric and requirement for posting. An example may be that students have to create one original post and one response to another student's post each week. You could also hold a discussion about the blog discussion at the end of the week. Students may be more inclined to spend more time on their posts if they know it will be graded and discussed.
ReplyDeleteOverall, this is a great idea. Please let me know if and when you implement this in your classroom as I would really like to create a blog of this nature.
I really like the idea of having students publish book reviews. I often have students do book chats in class but I think this would take it to a new level. I'm thinking that I would also like to set it up so that as my students go to 5th grade they can still post book reviews.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if as a class you plan on creating a rating system? Will you have the book reviews organized by genre, interest or reading level? I thinking it might be necessary to figure out a way to organize it when there gets to be lots of book reviews. In the book review it might also be beneficial for students to share where their peers can get the book--classroom library, school library, city library, etc.
I love your idea and can't wait to see how it works out.
Blogging would be a good way to keep students engaged as the build reading skills. One challenge you may face is whether students are able to understand questions and responses that their peers have written. Students could work in small collaborative groups as they read responses to published work. This could help reinforce understanding for those students who struggle with comprehension and vocabulary words. I like that you will have parents involved with their child’s learning.
ReplyDeleteTotally random comment, but I love the layout of your blog. It's so spring(y) and fun.
ReplyDeleteI believe you're idea would be an excellent way to differentiate reading skills for your students. Plus you could upload educational websites and games that will increase student achievement.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the great comments and suggestions.
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