1. Using our Class Blog in Literacy Kelly Jordan

2. We begin every day with a 20 minute blogging session.We look at our class blog and read the new post (if we have one).

3. We read the comments we have received overnight on our posts.Students who have written a comment at home stand up and read it out to the class. The focus is on phrasing, fluency and expression.

4. If there are any blog comments which haven’t been replied to, we select students to go and reply. Their focus is reading the comment and responding by answering any questions and adding new information.

5. We discuss features of the comments, focussing on conventions of writing and what makes a quality comment. We use the following poster as a guide for writing quality comments...

7. At the beginning of the year we model how to write quality comments. We look at comments made by other bloggers from around the world. An example of a “quality comment” from one of our students...

8. Complimenting the post A greeting Asking a question Adding extra information Separate paragraphs A closing to finish the comment

9. We use blog posts and comments as an authentic way to teach a variety of literacy conventions...

10. Spelling, full stops, capital letters, punctuation, contractions, homophones, paragraphs, conjunctions, synonyms, italic and bold text, vocabulary, rhyme, prefixes, suffixes...the list goes on!

11. Sometimes we do a blog post about literacy, and this forms our focus...

12. We also use our blogging buddies’ blogs to help us reinforce a literacy concept... We used this post from Jonah Salsich’s class blog (http://jmsalsich.edublogs.org) to focus on reading with fluency and expression by using Reader’s Theatre. After listening to Jonah’s students read the plays, we downloaded the scripts and our students performed.

13. Sometimes we notice something in a blog post or a comment and the teaching is incidental. It is great when learning can happen “on the spot” and using our class blog to highlight literacy concepts is so beneficial and authentic for our students. Here’s just one example from last week...

14. I noticed the word “hear” in Hamish’s comment and we had a great discussion about homophones. We listed a few different homophones on the board and discussed how we can remember when to use the correct word.

15. Using the blog comments written by our students helps us identify what areas we need to focus on in writing. Their daily comments are like a chronicle of their writing skills and development...

16. A comparison... A comment from Jarrod in September 2011. A comment from Jarrod in February 2011

17. During Reading Groups, students complete their “Work on Writing” task by writing blog comments on our class blog/student blogs/blogging buddies’ blogs. Sometimes we have a focus for the students – eg. WOW words (interesting words). Students need to include some WOW words in their comment!

18. There are now 11 students in 2KM and 2KJ with their own blogs. These students are authentically practising literacy skills every time they blog!

19. Top Three Tips...1. Incorporate blogging into your literacy lessons every day.2. Use other class blogs in literacy lessons – children enjoy learning from other children.3. Use blog comments to reinforce literacy concepts.