Week 2: Let’s learn to comment

Admin for week 2:

When visiting many blogs last week, I noticed your pages in Edublogs often didn’t allow for comments to be written. You might need to do the following:

  1. Go to your about me page and open it in your dashboard.
  2. In top right corner, click on screen options and make sure Discussions and/or comments are ticked. Close screen options.
  3. Now below the writing area for your page you should see a dropdown labelled Discussions.
  4. Make sure you have ticked the boxes about leaving comments.

I also noticed some of the About Me pages and posts have too much personal information such as full names, dates of birth, when and where you go to activities after school. Remember not to include this type of information in your posts.

If your About Me page isn’t visible as a link on your blog, you will need to add the widget called Pages to your sidebar.

 

About week 2: Commenting skills

This is another important week in the challenge. Blogging is all about having your voice heard and connecting with others who might like to read and comment on what you have written. But, as in many things we humans do, there are some protocols bloggers in schools like to follow.

Check out these videos about leaving quality comments. The first video was created for one of the very first blogging challenges back in 2009 by Mrs Yollis’ grade 3 students and it has been seen by thousands of students who have taken part in the blogging challenges since then. This video is suitable for all ages but specifically primary/elementary school or lower. But those in middle/high school or older might like to check out the second video which is more suited to an older age group.

Teachers: You might want to visit the post about teaching quality commenting on the Teacher Challenge blog. It has an excellent video about the possibilities of blogging through commenting. It also includes the videos below and others you might want to share with your class. You also find out about commenting and blogging guidelines, paper blogging and other ways to use your blogs to connect globally.

Using Edublogs? Check out these posts about comments: Comment overview,  managing comments,

Mrs Yollis and her third grade class

Nicolas Weiss – Leaving high quality blog comments

 

Activity 1: Create a ‘How to comment’ page on your blog

Many themes and blogging platforms have different ways to leave a comment. You might need to click on the title of the post, or click on a number in a circle or click on the words ‘Leave a comment’. Write a page for your blog explaining how to leave a comment. You could write it as a set of steps or perhaps create a video showing what to do. Be creative. Here is an example on  my family history blog. Mrs Yollis created a video showing how to comment on her blogspot blog. You might prefer to add the instructions in a text widget on your sidebar instead of a page. Remember, though, if you change themes you might also need to change these instructions.

Activity 2: Make a set of commenting guidelines – you might be able to combine this with activity 1

Explain what you expect when someone leaves a comment on your blog. .

  • What type of comment is acceptable?
  • Which type of comment will you put in the trash?

Here are some examples:

Huzzah commenting guidelines,  a Glogster poster about commenting, WarriorKat used a variety of tools for her guidelines, notice how Sophie included a link back to Mrs  Yollis’ blog where she got her information from, Emme created a PowToon, Darcey included some interesting points, Kyndal has her guidelines here

Activity 3: Leave a comment on this post – you might be able to combine this with activity 4

Each week the best posts published in the Student Blogging Challenge are featured in our Flipboard magazine.

To check your posts we need you to leave a comment with a link to your post on this blog whenever you finish a weekly activity.

So your activity is to practice leaving a comment below with a link to your post for an activity you’ve completed this week or last week.

But first you need to know the difference between your BLOG link and your POST link

  • Blog link: https://studentchallenge.edublogs.org
  • Post link: https://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/2017/10/01/week-1-lets-introduce-ourselves/

If your teacher is moderating and approving your posts, you will need to wait until this has been done before leaving me a link in a comment.

Activity 4: Use some HTML in a comment

Did you check out Mrs Yollis’ blog? She includes a page with some HTML (code) you can use when commenting especially on blogspot blogs. If leaving a comment on an Edublogs blog, here is a post explaining the HTML to use.  If you want to leave a link to your blog that looks neat and tidy, check out this post.

Activity 5: Visit other student or class blogs

Visit 4 other blogs on the lists above the header area. Leave a quality comment on one post on each blog. Might be the About Me page or another post you found interesting.  Write a post on your blog mentioning who you visited, which post you left a comment on and why, then include the comment you left. Hint: make sure you copy the comment before you hit the submit button. Here are some examples from other students: Allegra , Izzy, Callie but try to include a link to the actual post you left a comment on

Will visitors to your blog find it easy to search for a post they might be interested in commenting on? Maybe you need to start using Categories and Tags or Labels (blogspot) or Categories (weebly) or Categories (Kidblog) or make sure you have an archive section.

Let’s visit other blogs

Congratulations to the students from Thailand who wrote some great introductions then were first to leave me a comment on last week’s post. Here is their class blog with their names on the side if you also want to visit them.

I also enjoyed reading an A-Z post from Caleb.

Visit some younger classes and read the student posts:

I have started adding posts to our Flipboard magazine for #17stubc – check in the sidebar.

Got more time to fill this week?

Check out the page above my header called Post Ideas. Lots of topics and special days to write about in your blog.

Next week we look at activities relating to digital citizenship week 2017 particularly images and media.

156 thoughts on “Week 2: Let’s learn to comment”

    1. Great work! Thanks for sharing. Here’s a tip — the text is hard to read so maybe you could change the text colour or the background colour.

      Happy blogging!

      Reply

    1. Nice work, Jonathan. Your guide makes it clear how to comment. I’m wondering if you should make the background of your blog a little lighter as it doesn’t really contrast with the black text. Just something to think about.

      Keep up your great blogging!

      Reply

  27. Hi Miss W., my name is Ellasyn. I have read thought your whole post and I am working on completing the activities. Did you know that once you post a comment you cant get it back or edit it? Thank you for explaining how to do the comments and the two videos were very helpful. I hope you have a nice day!

    Reply

    1. Hello,

      You are engaging reader while instructing them on how to comment on your post. Excellent! I like the theme you are using. Did you use HTML code or visual editor to bold your font?

      Best wishes.

      Mrs. Trivedi-ziemba

      Reply

      1. G’day Mrs.Trivedi-ziemba,
        I always use the visual editor whenever possible. I might use text editor when embedding cartoons or things like the spreadsheet of names etc.

        Reply

    1. Hi Miss. W,
      I commented Leon’s post because I found it very interesting.
      Here is what I said:

      Hi, Leon

      The reason why I like this post is because you tell us how to overcome learning our way. Me, I am a practical learner, I need to practice a lot to understand something.

      Here is a direct link to Leon’s post: http://leonisd21.edublogs.org/2016/11/16/what-type/

      Reply

  59. Hi, I’m Trevor and to finish my comments I am commenting on your blog. I like your videos you posted. I hope to see how you added those videos.

    Reply

  65. Hi Miss W.
    I’m glad you keep us updated with new challenges and we are able to do these with such amazing help. I am finishing up this challenge and then I’m going to finish up commenting on 4 other blogs.

    Reply

  67. Hi Miss.W! My name is Emma. This is my first time doing The Student Blogging Challenge, and I am loving it! I think that it is amazing what you come up with! I also LOVE the the fact that you live in Australia. I have always wanted to go there! I will definitely will do this challenge again in the future! If you would like to visit my blog the link is http://emmatheweathergirl.edublogs.org/ and the link to my week two stuff is http://emmatheweathergirl.edublogs.org/the-wonderful-ways-to-comment/

    Reply

    1. Glad to see you are enjoying the challenges Emma. I notice you are adding pictures but the attribution seems different to what I am used to with Edublogs.

      Are you using the compfight plugin? On your dashboard>plugins> find compfight and activate it. Next time you write a post there should be a button above the writing area that you click on where you want a photo. It should give the attribution like on the photos in my posts.

      Reply

      1. Hi Miss W. ! I have been using compfight and I didn’t know anything about the plugin. Thank you for the great information! I will try to make these changes as soon as possible. Have a nice day!

        Reply

  77. Hello guys!I wrote a page about How to comment posts and pages!If you wanna see it, click here

    Reply

  78. Dear Miss W.
    Hello once again!
    I have put more effects in my Week 2 Activity 4 “Use Some HTML in a Post.” Hope you will like it.
    http://bubblecandy.weebly.com/home/week-2-activity-4
    Please check the code below:

    My Favorite Country

    My favorite country is Japan.

    I admire Japan because the people
    are very friendly and respectful.

    The seasons in Japan are all four seasons, like….

    Summer

    Spring

    Autumn

    and

    Winter

    That is why I like Japan.

    Regards,
    Anusha

    Reply

  79. Dear Miss W,

    Thank you for doing this for us it is making me better at writing and helping my computer skills. I also got all of my post done and I’m forward for next week

    Thanks, Lukas

    Reply

  81. Dear Miss W.

    I have completed Week 2 Activity 4 “Use Some HTML in a Post.”
    http://bubblecandy.weebly.com/home/week-2-activity-4
    Please check the code below:

    My Favorite Country

    My favorite country is Japan.

    I admire Japan because the people
    are very friendly and respectful.

    The seasons in Japan are all four seasons, like summer, spring, autumn and winter, thats why I like Japan.

    Regards,
    Anusha

    Reply

  82. Dear Miss W.

    I have completed Week 2 Activity 1 and 2 “Use Some HTML in a Post.”
    http://minecraftartjcb.weebly.com/home/week-2-my-favorite-artist
    Please check the code below:

    Robert Norman Ross

    Robert Norman Ross, known as Bob Ross is an american painter, art instructor, and television host. He was the creator and host of television show, “The Joy of Painting” which was aired for at least a decade on PBS in the United States.
    I like his paintings and drawings so much. Among his drawings, these are the ones that I like the most.

    Regards,
    Jori

    Reply

  86. Dear Miss W.

    I have completed Week 2 Activity 4 “Use Some HTML in a Post.”
    http://ww2aircraftofamerica.weebly.com/blog/week-2-use-some-html-in-a-comment
    Please check the code below:

    My Favorite Aircrafts

    My favorite aircrafts are the American B17 and F7F Tigercat. I like those two aircrafts because the stories on how they served their country are just incredible. The ways these two aircrafts were made are really cool. And I really like the way their pilots and crew took awesome care of their planes such as cleaning and keeping them in good shape.

    Regards,
    Vince

    Reply

  101. Hello Miss. W! I’m commenting as part of the student blogging challenge and I wanted to thank you for a great learning experience so far, keep up the good work!

    Reply

  102. Hi, Miss W. My name is Kenna. I have finished week ones blogging challenge look take a look at my blog if you would like. If you find any errors please comment.

    Reply

  104. Hi! My name is Emma. i just finished some of my challenges. I love the idea of this challenge. we are learning how to comment. I watched the “How to comment” videos. And i am commenting on some peoples blogs.

    Reply

  105. HI, Miss. W, I completed the all about me post and my avatar post, I really like edublos its fun.

    From Emily

    Reply

  107. MISS.W I LIKE YOUR BLOG AND I THINK ITS COOL THAT YOU LET EVERYONE TRY THIS AND MEET OTHER PEOPLE

    Reply

    1. G’day Cinderblock,
      One of the main reasons I created the challenge was to allow my students to comment on other student blogs around the world.
      PS. Writing everything in capitals is considered shouting, so make sure you haven’t pressed the caps lock button when leaving a comment.

      Reply

  108. HI!!!! My name is TAZ, i live in Ohio. i love NASCAR and i love music. i am loving the edublogs idea. i have made groups on google hangouts and its fun.people have many interesting posts.

    Reply

    1. G’day Taz,
      I had a group of grade 4 students invite me to a Google hangout when they had some questions about the blogging challenge. I work with this group but they live about 3 hours drive away from me in Northern Tasmania.

      Reply

  109. Dear ms .W
    i like the way you put some color
    there is really nothing to say so i think you did a good job i didn’t see any spelling corrections

    Reply

    1. G’day Katie,
      Thanks for the comment. I try not to have spelling mistakes. Whenever I read a magazine or newspaper, if there are too many mistakes, I stop reading it. It shows the author and editor have not taken the time to proofread properly.

      Reply

  111. Dear Miss W,

    Hi I am Ethan and this is what i have learned about on commenting
    1.Compliment the writer
    2.Add new factual content
    3.Make a connection
    4.Ask a question
    5.proofread your post
    Please check the following link https://jbda17.edublogs.org

    From,
    Ethan

    Reply

  113. I have finished activity one for this week. Thank you for the videos on how to comment. They really helped me on my ‘How To Comment’ post.

    Reply

  115. Hi my name is Hanna, I live in Ohio,
    some things I learned about commenting is that when you comment you should try to compliment the writer, add a new factual comment, make a connection, ask any questions and then when that is done then you should always proofread your comment before you post it.

    Reply

  121. Hello, Miss. W! I am very excited to be a part of the student blogging challenge! This is my first year doing the challenge, so far I am enjoying it! I think that this was a fantastic idea to do this for kids. I would like to know, how you came up with this idea? Also, why did you decide to make the challenge? Thank you for all that you are doing! Please check out my blog! Here is the link: http://straws734.edublogs.org/

    Reply

    1. G’day Straws,
      Back in 2007 when I first began blogging with my grade 6/7 students, I realised they were only getting comments from me and each other. I wanted them to get comments from around the world, so a friend of mine, Sue Waters, from Edublogs, put out a tweet. A teacher from Portugal, one from Canada and one from USA replied and so we began the challenge by linking up our students through commenting and posting.

      Reply

      1. Wow! That’s really cool! Thank you so much for responding! I really appreciate it! Hope to learn more! Thanks, again!

        Reply

  122. Dear Miss W. ,
    Thank you for the information and the chance to do this. Also thanks for the tasks that help me become a better writer. I hope that I really like this challenge. I hope this will help with my computer skills and blogging skills. Hope you like my blog.

    Reply

  123. Ms. W.,
    I just wanted to comment on your post to tell you I am really appreciative of the chance to do this blogging challenge. It is really fun and I really enjoy working on this. It gives me something to do and it is like a competition between my class. I just wanted to thank you for this and making me a better writer while I do this. I will definitely keep this blog throughout the years.

    Reply

  124. Hi Miss.W,
    I really like what you’ve had us do so far.I hope I hope I keep enjoying what you have us do.Also, thanks for helping me get some more computer skills.One question though do you like to play sports?

    Reply

    1. G’day Jraldow,
      Thanks for leaving a comment. I think you will enjoy the activities throughout the challenge.

      To answer your question, no I don’t like playing sports but I love watching cycling and swimming especially Tour de France and then at the Olympics or Commonwealth games.

      Reply

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