Blogging Around the World

Back in the day, when students wrote anything, it was for a one person audience, the teacher. Their purpose for writing, a good grade. Did this encourage them to write? Inspire them? Give them a purpose? For most students, I would hazard to say no. They wrote because it was required. It was less authentic and creative. With the explosion of Web 2.0 tools and social media, the potential for a global audience is now at the fingertips of every child. In most cases, our students are already using these tools to share their stories, connect with others, and create new knowledge, but are they plugged in at home AND at school?

Digital writing fosters creativity, collaboration and gives students the opportunity to write to a broader audience. As a result, more effort is usually put into their writing because they know that what they write is going to be read and commented on by others. It is authentic and gives them purpose. One of the easiest ways to get your students up and running is to have them blog. Although there are many blog tools available, my favorite tool to use with students is Kidblog. It's simple and safe for them to use! It is a blogging platform that was created by teachers for teachers and allows students to get the most out of the writing process in a safe and secure environment.

Once you get the blogs up and running, you need to actively market them so you can get some blog readers and broaden the audience. Share it with parents and your school community. Tweet it out! If you are looking to blog with other classrooms around the world, then Quadblogging is the way to go! By registering your class on this site, you are partnered with three other classrooms around the world who are also blogging. The premise is that you get on a cycle where each class is in the spotlight for a week in which the other classes comment. This gives your students an authentic audience for their blogs and the opportunity to comment on the blogs of others, which is great digital citizenship practice. In addition to improved writing, blogging with classes from around the world helps them think globally and makes the world a smaller place!

Blog Resources

• KidBlog
• Blogger
• Edublogs
• Edmodo

Why Have Students Blog?

• Give Them a Voice
• Write to an Authentic Audience
• Share Reflections
• Share Learning in Any Subject Matter
• Increase Writing Motivation
• Track Writing Progress
• Leave a Positive Digital Footprint

Mystery Skype

The world felt a little smaller today. Rather than simply studying geography and practicing map skills in our classroom with books, globes and maps, we made it come alive with our first ever #MysterySkype! This is a guessing game that was invented by teachers in which two classes ask questions of one another until they guess the location of the other class. I've never seen students so engaged and excited to put their map skills to the test. We started by introducing ourselves and then alternated asking yes or no questions of each other. Are you east of the Mississippi River? Do you border the Atlantic Ocean? Do you have a lot of snow? Does your state have a mountain range? Do you border Canada? Are you in the Northeast? Once the students felt fairly confident that they knew the state of the other class, they made a guess. Our first class was in Massachusetts! When guessed correctly, the kids cheered as if their home team had just scored the winning touchdown! In all my years of teaching, no one has ever cheered when they got a correct answer, let alone a whole class. A lot of learning took place today, but this activity wasn't just a geography lesson, it was synergy! It was a classroom of kids working together for a common goal. It was realizing that there are students elsewhere in this world that are in school learning just like them. Social Studies definitely came alive today! This may have been our first #MysterySkype, but it certainly will not be our last!

Michigan Electronic Library

The Michigan Electronic Library (MeL) has many wonderful databases to use with kids. They have recently added a new resource, Book Flix, which is owned by Scholastic that pairs fiction and non-fiction books online. It is geared for K-3, but has some resources that would be just right for older students, especially under the People and Places link. This is a subscription based literacy resource, but if you access it through MeL, it is FREE. Once you access MeL, click on the Kids button and you will notice a plethora of literacy and research resources such as Culture Grams, eBook K-8 Collection, NoveList, and Book Flix. There is also an online encyclopedia, World Book, that includes links to additional websites at the end of each article. Great stuff! http://mel.org Click on the Kids button in the left panel to view a plethora of literacy and research resources. From a Michigan public school, library or university, you will have immediate access to all of these resources simply by clicking on them. From home, you will be asked to enter a Michigan driver's license to verify you are a Michigan resident, since it is our tax dollars paying for this resource (about $4 million).

YouTube Audio Library

YouTube has launched a music library of 150 royalty-free audio tracks that can be used in any video, even those that are not uploaded to YouTube. These audio files can be streamed or downloaded as MP3 files. Genres range from alternative & punk to classical to rock and roll. There is also music for any mood such as angry, happy, sad, or inspirational. This is a tremendous resource for students to tap into when selecting background music for their multimedia projects!

YouTube Audio Library

Series and Sequels

Have you ever fallen in love with a book and wondered if it was part of a series? And if so, which book comes next? Or first? Or second? Thanks to the Mid-Continent Public Library, the answers to these questions are at your fingertips! They've created a database of over 36,000 books in 4,900 series that can be viewed by the title of the series, the subject of the series, the title of a book, or the author.

http://www.mymcpl.org/books-movies-music/juvenile-series