What is a quality blog comment?

How will you engage your learners with blogs and blog comments?

Begin by identifying regular opportunities for your learners to read blog posts and comments by:

  • registering your class blog for Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu

  • connecting with class and individual blogs in your school and cluster

  • reviewing comments as an opportunity to introduce elements of a quality comment and associated vocab i.e. identify who wrote comments, what do they notice about the comments

  • identifying a new post or a post of interest

  • enabling class conversations i.e. Think/Pair/Share or Give One/Get One in response to blog posts/comments

Collaborating to create a comment in response to a blog post

  • Teacher Models - cast blog to a screen

  • Type the comment with input from the learners

  • Talk aloud encouraging use of vocab prompts in response to Cybersmart commenting criteria (a greeting, something positive, thoughtful, helpful)

  • Model proofreading before publishing

  • Publish using Name and URL (class and class blog)

Empower 1:1 learners to confidently navigate to a range of blogs and identify elements of a blog post on their device.

Smart Learners are empowered to

  • navigate to their class blog

  • locate the recent comments gadget

  • locate any new comments on a blog

    • locate the Comments link and recognise how many comments a post has.

    • identify who wrote the comment

  • locate the link to their Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu teams' blogs

  • locate and read the published comment on their device

  • locate the individual blog feed on the class blog and can connect as above.

Engaging learners with blogs and blog commenting as early as possible will empower them to connect with the purpose of blogging and the elements of quality blog comments.

Provide multiple opportunities for learners to connect with vocabulary in meaningful contexts

Smart Relationships: What is a quality blog comment?

The Slide Deck includes multiple opportunities for learners to engage with the elements of a quality comment.

Make a copy of this Slide Deck. Identify a selection of quality blog comments from either class, individual or cluster blogs and add hyperlinks to your copy of the slide. Share your copy for your learners on your learning site.

Looking for blog posts with comments? Browse the Summer Learning Journey blog posts for examples.

Select quality comments which demonstrate our blog commenting criteria

Identify opportunities to harness quality blog commenting in different learning areas and to support self and peer assessment e.g.

  • model commenting in response to success criteria

  • identify opportunities for learners to use blog commenting to share feedback

  • use blog commenting to support learners to make connections with what they have learnt and next steps

Involve parents, families, and whānau in their children's learning.

If learners have their own blog and blogger profile connected to their Google account they are able to comment on blogs using their device. Use a copy or repurpose the Slide Deck to enable learners to identify the elements of a quality blog post.

Create sets of printable cards which include a selection of vocab that learners can harness to practise creating quality comments e.g.

Use printable cards to practise creating comments collaboratively, mix and match, reading aloud.

Encourage learners to contribute additional sentence starters and vocabulary

Repurpose and design your own e.g.

Build a Blog Comment by Cam @ Kootuitui

CT - Scratch Blog Commenting by Mark @ Te Ara Tūhura

We need to learn to recognise a quality comment if we are to write and respond in kind.