Thursday, March 3, 2011

Learning to Write Quality Comments

We received an awesome number of comments this week 
(we now have more than 940)
from our quad-blogging buddies in

I needed a simple system to make sure that our buddies received replies, so I printed out the comments we received and glued one or two into each child's writing book.
This gave them the chance to spend time composing without worrying 
about computer skills as well.

I was thrilled with the comments the children have made, 
and  some good conversations are developing.

Read for yourself!

For great advice about quality comments visit Mrs Yollis and her class and watch their videos.

Teachers, what system works for you?
Children, what do you like most about blogging?

7 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. McKenzie and B4,

    I think you are a great bunch of writers! In addition, I think Mrs. McKenzie has a terrific idea to help get each comment answered in a meaningful way. If a writer has a chance to read the comment, think a bit, and then compose a quality reply...everyone will be happy. The readers and the commenters!

    Can't wait to read the new comments, and I really enjoyed meeting everyone today! I especially loved being read to! Wow!

    Your pal and #900,
    Mrs. Y♥llis
    California

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great idea, I actually gave another teacher this same idea a few days ago because of the limited computer time his students had. (Not having the comments pasted in a book, these are older students that don't need quite that much help.) The only problem I can think of is you may soon run into a shortage of glue and paper!

    Mr. C
    NoelTigers.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mrs McKenzie and B4,

    Firstly, congratulations on reaching 900+ comments since your blog started, what a great achievement!

    I like the way you printed out each comment and ensured your students replied. As we all know, replying to comments is good blog ettiquette and essential for developing meaningful global relationships.

    In 2KJ and 2KM, we read comments we receive on our blog and assign students to reply to each comment during reading groups. We always have a computer group and their job is to write comments or, when necessary, reply to comments. An adult has to check the comments with the students first to edit them.

    Mrs Morris and I are so happy that lately some of our students are using their initiative and replying to blog comments at home! That is always a nice surprise!

    Your friend,
    Miss Jordan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs. McKenzie and B4,

    What a terrific idea to have the students respond to comments during class writing times. In our class, we had a day where the students used our netbooks and commented on one of the blogs we follow using powerful paragraphs. They really enjoyed it.

    We will have to try this idea out in our class to see what happens. We read each of our comments left on our blog as a class, but the children respond to them at home. This idea would be a really good addition to our blogging experience.

    Congratulations once again! Job well done.

    ♥ Mrs. Webb-Scheers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Mrs. McKenzie and B4,
    I love your idea of printing out the comments and then writing them in a book before publishing them on the computer. We don't have any class computers (except my teacher laptop) so this makes it an easy manageable way to get the kids connected.
    I'm looking forward to starting and making it part of my reading rotation.
    Thanks,
    Miss. Leakey

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Mrs. McKenzie and B4,
    Great idea for responding and learning to write quality comments. I think I will try it in my class. We received your lovely postcard the other day. How far are you from the ocean? Can you swim there? Are there big waves?
    from,
    Mrs. Lynch in Quebec

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs Lynch
    We are an inland town so the nearest ocean is an hour's drive away. We can go either north-west to Westport or south-west to Greymouth. There are places where it is okay to swim in the ocean, but often it is rough and there are rips.
    How far are you from the ocean?

    from B4

    ReplyDelete