Week 4: Free choice

Cabra hispanica Montserrat

Pedro Luna Guillen via Compfight

The first three weeks of the challenge were mainly learning lots about blogging skills you need when working on public sites on the internet. You should have learnt the following so far:

  • Avatars – what they are, how they are used, how to create one and upload to your blog
  • About me pages – difference between page and post, what is private information and what you can say on your blog, being a good digital citizen
  • Commenting – what makes a great comment, what you expect from a comment on your blog, guidelines for blogging and commenting in your class
  • Images, sounds, video – what is creative commons, how to find safe and usable images, what is an attribution and how to write it, websites with great images, creating your own images, using images for puzzles and games, an image paints a thousand words when writing a story or poem

In a couple of weeks, we will be playing a commenting game. But you need to get prepared for this.

Make sure you have at least 5 other student/class blogs linked on the sidebar of your blog, in a page near your header area or in a recent post that your visitors can find easily. Make sure these are blogs from other students/classes around the world, not just those in your class or school. Perhaps have a blogroll or link category called Global students and/or Global classes. Here is how to add a blogroll if using Edublogs or Blogger. If using Kidblog write a post mentioning at least 5 great blogs you enjoy visiting. Your teacher may be able to add links on the class part of the Kidblog.

Have some visitor widgets on your blog sidebar – maybe a revolver map or a flag counter – this way you can see where your visitors are coming from. Remember only one visitor in 30 will actually leave a comment.

Make sure your blog looks interesting:

  • Maybe change your header to suit what you are writing about.
  • Do your pets make a noise as soon as your blog is opened in a tab? That can be annoying so make sure the visitor can click on the sound button if they want to hear your animal pet.
  • Have you changed the tagline under the title of your blog?
  • Have you included some tags or categories to help your readers find a great post?
  • Does your background image make it hard for your visitors to read your posts?
  • Have you written some interesting posts for your visitors to comment on?

This week’s activity is free choice

Have some interesting posts for your visitors to read when they get to your blog.  I am not going to give any clues as to what to put in your posts but remember the following, especially if you want a post flipped to our magazine. Also take note of the page titled ‘Post ideas’ above my header.

Having read many student posts, I came up with the following essentials in a great post.

  1. catchy title
  2. includes at least one visual (with attribution) whether photo, cartoon, video or another web 2.0 tool like padlet or glogster
  3. interesting topic with the passion of the author coming through
  4. well written and not copy/pasted from somewhere else
  5. shows it has been proofread and spellchecked
  6. written in paragraphs – at least three of them
  7. includes links to other websites on similar topics – at least two of these

When you have finished your post(s), please come back here to the blogging challenge and leave one comment on this post. Mention what topic(s) you wrote about and leave a link to your post(s). Check out how Roman left one comment for all posts completed.

Those posts covering the seven things mentioned above will be added to the flipboard magazine. Many students are forgetting to add links to other websites relating to the topic they have written about. Help here from Edublogs and Blogger.

Mentors:

Can you please check your students blogs this week and get back to me via email or comment with names of students who are not really participating in the challenge activities? By now students should have an about me page or post and at least two other posts/pages relating to images, avatars or how to comment. You might need to search around the blog to find pages or click on the 3lines under each other to find a sidebar.

Also thanks to those mentors who are writing back on student blogs. There have been some great story endings where mentors have joined in the activity. The students really appreciate these comments.

Still more time left this week

  • Read some of the posts in the flipboard magazine – your teacher might want to create a class flipboard magazine to add to your class blog
  • Visit other classes this time in the lists above the header of the challenge blog.
  • Reply to any comments left on your blog especially if from a mentor.

Find student blogs on the sidebar

Work using images

Some great stories to finish are found here: Fiona, Roman, Anusha, Christian, Leon, Idyl, Tristan, Quincy, Nate, Caleb, Layla, Isabella, Emma, Kait, Stefan, Phakamon,

Some jigsaw puzzles to try are found here: Mai Thao, Vince, Van Anh, Brandon, Isma3el, Jori, Anusha,

If using free Pixabay images, check here to see how Mai Thao wrote the attribution links

Caleb used a different comic strip creator

Remember YOU have to visit other blogs, leave comments and the URL of your blog before you will get any comments on your blog. This is how the conversations and connections get made – by visiting and commenting on other student and class blogs.

145 thoughts on “Week 4: Free choice”

  2. Hi Miss W!
    This comment is really late, but I completed my SBC Week 4: Free Post. I wrote about my trip to Maui and my hike to Haleakala. If you have time, please check it out! 🙂 Here is the link:
    SBC Week 4: Maui!

    Have a good day!
    Naho

    Reply

  12. dear Mrs. W
    I have complete the challenge. I have created a “weird” in a fun way story in which i’ve invited the readers to complete

    Reply

  15. Hi Ms.W

    I have finished my week 4 story, here is a link to go check it out.
    I wrote about something that happened to me with a lawn mower.

    Reply

  18. Dear Ms. W

    I have completed my Week 4 – Free Choice activity. I introduced a book called “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London. I summarized the book in my way and said what I like about it.
    Sincerely, Jasmine

    Reply

  24. Dear Ms. W, I have finished the week 4 assignment. My post was about something that happened to me as a kid.

    Best Regards, Djibril

    Reply

  25. Dear, Miss. W

    I have completed my week 4 free activity. I made a bucket list about what I want to happen in my life. If you look at it I hope that you will like it and if you do please comment

    Sincerely,
    Lukas

    Reply

  42. Hi Miss W.
    This is my favorite page on my blog because I’m a complete nerd over stats, standings,players,and the NFL in general.

    Reply

  45. I’m having fun with the choice of projects we are getting this. We get to be creative and make something cool. Have a great week!

    Reply

  49. Dear Ms. W,
    I completed the activity of week 4. For this activity I decided to write a story about how tough my week was. It was extremely tough because of how busy I was during and after school. I hope you enjoy it.
    Here is the link to my story: http://tahiryisd21.edublogs.org/
    Sincerely, Tahiry

    Reply

  63. Dear Ms. W,

    I just finished my SBC Week 4. For my free choice post, I wrote about my experience the first time I went snowboarding. Click here.

    Hope you enjoy!
    Nate

    Reply

  66. Hi Ms. W.,

    I am sending you my posts the second time. I guess I was unable to send them properly the first time. Please ignore my previous messages if you did receive them.

    The links for three posts for Week 4 – Free Choice are listed below:

    An Imaginary Interview With Eragon from Brisingr by Christopher Paolin
    http://krazykem.weebly.com/home/week-4-free-choice8352347

    An Imaginary Tour Guide to Alagaësia
    http://krazykem.weebly.com/home/week-4-free-choice5167842

    Junk Food Shouldn’t be Banned in Schools
    http://krazykem.weebly.com/home/week-4-free-choice

    Many regards,
    Kait

    Reply

  77. Hi Ms. W,

    I have finished my “Free Choice” post. It was very fun to do, because I was able to talk about something that I really like. TECH. My post is all about the iPhone Ten, and most of it’s specs. I hope you enjoy reading it and if you’re wondering. No, I do not own an iPhone Ten. I just watch a lot of YouTube, and the news. Anyway here’s a link for my post enjoy! (http://hmsbrady.edublogs.org/2017/11/01/sbc-week4-free-choice-iphone-ten-x/)

    Yours- hmsbrady

    Reply

  82. Dear Ms.W,

    I have completed my Week 4 free choice writing. I wrote about my first time going camping and it was the weekend before school started for 5th grade. I hope that you have time to visit my post:
    https://goo.gl/W9Fcjx

    Reply

  84. Dear Ms. W,

    I have completed my Week 4 – Free Choice activity. In my post I talk about how to survive Disneyland with some great tips and essentials. When I go to Disneyland I always use these tips. I hope you could check it out; here is the link: https://goo.gl/yFWSe3

    Best Regards,
    Giselle M.

    Reply

  87. Dear Ms. W

    I have completed my student blogging challenge for free choice.I decided to make a story about two boys that have a mystery to solve about a haunted house.I really liked the free choice write.I had a question and it is What is your student blogging blog about.Please visit my blogs if you can at https://goo.gl/sKwb5a

    Sincerly
    Edward.G

    Reply

  88. Dear Mrs.W

    The student blogging challenge is going AMAZING! I wrote about all types of stuff! And I think the most impressive one is The incident on Halloween! You should check it out! Its about how I got pranked and…wait I can’t tell you!

    Come checkout my blog for some spooktastic blogs!

    Heres a Link!
    https://goo.gl/5uwG82

    Reply

  90. Dear Ms. W,

    I finished my week four of the student blogging challenge. I wrote about my Jurassic adventure in Los Angeles. I put in my post how I encountered a dinosaur and was very close to one as well. Come check out my blog post here: https://goo.gl/sehJiE

    Sincerely,
    Diego

    Reply

  91. Dear Ms. W,

    I finished week 4 student bloging chalenge. It is wierd but I tried. It is about elemental people who choose. Most of it was just him talking about himself but most where lies. I used an elemental thing for a picture. Plleas do not go and check it out.

    https://goo.gl/WfvLFg

    Reply

  98. Dear Ms. W
    I have completed my Week 4- Free Choice activity. I made a suphero reason of why the Avengers are better then the Justic League. I hope you would like it.
    Heres the link if you want to check it out. https://goo.gl/VkmXdG

    Regards,
    Enrique

    Reply

  100. Dear Ms.W,
    I have completed my week 4-free choice activity. I wrote about how me and my friends drove to Los Angeles. I also put in how we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain and what rides we went on. Maybe you can read it. https://goo.gl/M74eEe

    Reply

  102. Dear Mrs. W,
    I wrote about a clown jumping on my trampoline at 3 AM. But the creepy part was I just came back from Watching IT. And also he came inside the house. Go check it out at https://goo.gl/U5Ki47

    Reply

  105. Dear Mrs.W,
    I have completed my week 4 about my free choice. I would like to talk about my my new blog called,’Someone who kills you in your dream!!!’

    If you would like to read about my blog, go to this link below:
    https://goo.gl/6v46tn

    Reply

  107. Dear Ms W,
    I have completed my Week 4 – Free Choice activity. The title of my Free Choice Activity is ¨Slime Time!¨. I wrote about how to make and different kinds of slime. I also left a link to show more different kinds of slime and how to make it.

    Link to slime: https://goo.gl/poc9vH

    Sincerly,
    Annalisa

    Reply

  109. Dear Miss w,

    Hi there! For week for I wrote a fun story about my sister trying to get my cheesecake. I wanted my story to make people laugh and have a better day. If you want to see my blog about this, click on this link: https://goo.gl/icHvkB

    Sincerely,
    Anisteicia, K

    Reply

  110. Dear Ms. W,

    I have completed my week 4-free choice activity. I made a non-fiction story of the time of when I was going on a vacation, but I was going to the Carnival Cruise Boat
    for the 2nd time. I hope you find my story interesting because I only wrote the exposition. So my story is free to continue, but please leave attribution to the original work.

    Link to my work: https://goo.gl/Pfe8nD

    Reply

  111. Dear MISS W.,

    I am done with my Week 4 Blogging Challenge activity. I made a short story about a boy who has to jump of the highest waterfall in his neighborhood. Here is the link to my blog because I am accepting ending to my story, https://goo.gl/LDkRfe. Hope you come to finish it.

    Thanks in advance,
    Jaden.C

    Reply

  112. Dear Mrs W,

    This is my blog for week 4 – free choice activity. I wrote about my dog, Snickers. There is more information about her in the blog post.
    Here is link for the post, hope you enjoy it:
    https://goo.gl/ZHirAX

    Sincerely,
    Madison

    Reply

  113. Dear Ms. W

    I have completed week four of the blogging challenge. My post is called “Giraffe Birds.” I talk about wading birds, named because the wade through the water. I discuss the three main species of these birds; the heron, the egret and the crane. Not the machine, the bird.

    Come check it out at https://goo.gl/2kCPJp

    Sincerely,
    Ricky C

    Reply

  114. Dear Ms.W,
    I have completed my week 4 challenge and I made my post about the Greek god Poseidon, I did that because I really like Greek mythology. Mostly because of the Percy Jackson series. Poseidon is my favorite Greek god. Here is a link to my blog.
    post- https://goo.gl/o7s2t1
    Sincerely,
    Gabriel

    Reply

  116. Dear Ms.W
    I have completed my Week 4 -Free Choice activity.My subject was a video game tutorial.I have also inserted a photo.I hope everyone will like it and leave a comment!Please go to this link to see the blog post:https://goo.gl/Mxdu9A

    Reply

  118. Miss W,
    I came up with a Halloween Poem with the help of a classmate, and a student from last year helping our class. Please check it out, I didn’t copy it of the internet and I’m really proud. Here’s the link below!
    http://techkidisabella.edublogs.org/

    Sincerely,
    Isabella

    Reply

  125. Dear Ms. W,

    I have completed my Week 4 – Free Choice activity. I wrote about a book titled ‘Sold’ that I recently read. I liked it because it focuses on gender inequality. I have also chosen a picture from Wikipedia because I couldn’t find any picture of the book title from the free resources that you mentioned in one of your post earlier. I hope you will like it.
    Please check the following link:
    https://farraway.weebly.com/home/week-4-free-choice9949882

    Regards,
    Farrah

    Reply

  126. Dear Ms.W

    I have completed my week 4 – Free choice activity. I wrote about a girl named Amelia who thinks nothing good will come her way now that she has a little brother. I named it Two Cute because it’s two (Spoilers) dog’s that she gets.
    I would greatly recommend it
    https://goo.gl/cEsgKa

    Thank you
    AngieS

    Reply

  130. Dear Ms. W,
    I have completed my Week 4 – Free Choice activity. In my blog post, I spoke about my two favorite Minecraft mobs which were recently added to the game, the Stray, and the Husk. My header image is from Minecraft Forum. Please check it out!
    https://goo.gl/fXD646

    Reply

  131. Dear everyone,
    Please come visit my blog! My blog is a short Halloween horror story. I highly recommend you look at it because it is very interesting, and it gives you some Halloween spirit. So please come visit!

    Reply

  132. Dear Ms. W,

    For Week 4, I have completed a story that was two or three years ago. It was about me going to a class that was teaching about the solar system. On the bottom of the page I will leave a link to the post. Thanks for listening,

    goo.gl/Zw82jc

    Sincerely,
    Stephen.R

    Reply

  134. Dear Ms. W,

    I finished my Free Choice activity. It is about a boy named Fred, who is looking for his favorite candy, Twizzlers. I hope you enjoy my story.
    Here is the link: https://goo.gl/CP7AWh

    Sincerely,
    Jayden

    Reply

  135. Hello, my name is Ricky. I wrote a post all about a certain type of bird; the wading bird. I talked about the three most common types of wading birds, the heron, egret and crane. Not the machine crane. The bird crane. Come check it out at https://goo.gl/2kCPJp

    Reply

  136. Hi Ms. W! My name is Hanna i have finished my week 4 activity Free. If you want to see my activity you can check out my blog at hanna17.edublogs.org. i really thought that this was fun and it was really easy to do thanks for giving us a free choice talk to you later.😊😁

    Reply

      1. G’day Ethan,
        I tried out your survey but it said I didn’t have permission to be there. You might need to change your sharing settings.

        Reply

Leave a Reply to Jaden.C Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *