We are going to take a break from the blogging for a couple of weeks and do some good old fashioned story reading and face-to-face discussion in class.  We'll return to the world of blogging in January.  Until then, here are some of the helpful links to give us a better understanding of "the blog" when we return. 

First, is a video simply describing "blogs in plain english," no fancy talk, just plain english. 

Second, take a look at book reviews online (Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Scholastic.com, etc).  Look up a book you like or don't like, or are just curious about whether you would like... read the reviews and see what other people say about the book.  If it's a book you've read, think about whether you agree or disagree with specific things the people said in their reviews.  Did they address everything you thought they should?  Is there more you could add without ruining the book for people who haven't read it yet? 


Then, we'll discuss in January what are good rules of blogging "Netiquette," that is, how to write a great post.  We'll go beyond the discussion of how to be safe online and talk about what would make your writing great.  Until then, continue to play around with posts on kidblog and see what you can learn.  Try writing about something that matters to you.
 
The sixth grade is working on their own private blogs using a site called kidblogs.  One of the topics they are discussing right now is whether celebrities have a responsibility to be good role models or not.  The following commercial is here to give them a specific example to which they can relate the question.  Feel free to write in and give the kids your opinions about this... you may inspire some discussions on their blogs!
 
I spent some more time with kidblogs and I think it will be great for us to use as students become more independent and proficient at blogging.  Until then, we will use our blog here to get our skills up.  Hopefully we will have some students who are able to move up to having their own blogs soon!
 
I'm excited because I think I've finally found a blog/website system that will all work together the way I want.  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  We'll see how it is to manage once I have all you in the library trying to get this to work.  I'm going to post the link to this site on edmodo so that those of you who've been on there this summer can come try it out and give me feedback before school even starts.