How Involved are You in Blogging?

As the grading period comes to an end, please count and record the number of your posts and comments.

Grading Student Blog Posts

The students in Reading Workshop just completed an interdisciplinary project for social studies and language arts.  They had to research about a place they had visited, list five facts, and then write a story about their trip.  In addition, for their blog, they had to write an introduction, find relevant links, and post pictures that supported their writing.

The project was graded using this rubric.

A 

• Follows project guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project telling W's (who, what, when, where, why)    
• Interesting/draws in the reader
• Writing has a sense of style
• Provides relative and interesting facts
• Writes a narrative that is detailed, exciting, and complete
• Has numerous links to relevant websites
• Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

B

• Follows project guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project telling W's    
• Provides relative and interesting facts
• Writes a narrative that is detailed and complete
• Has links to relevant websites
• Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

C 

• Follows guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project
• Provides facts
• Writes a narrative that is complete
• Has links to websites
• Two - Four mistakes with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

D 

• Does not follow guidelines
• Incomplete introduction
• Provides some facts
• Incomplete narrative
• Errors with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

F 

• Plagiarizes
• Little sign of effort
• Did not publish post on blog

Student Blogging Stars

Student bloggers have made an excellent start, displaying their writing, sharing their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. As the first nine weeks comes to and end, the students in Reading Workshop were given the task of evaluating their blogs. 

Next, I looked at their responses, and took them into consideration as I graded their blogs. For the most part, students and I agreed on how their blogs should be scored. A few students met all expectations, publishing work that any sixth grade teacher would be proud to display. 

Jessica wrote interesting posts, had great detail, and pictures to support her points. And, she even took time to have a little fun at her teacher's expense. 

Megan always links to relevant sites, shows pictures that fit with the topic, and writes extra detailed posts. 

Sara writes in detail and spends her own time writing extra posts to make her blog interesting and informative.

Alex's blog looks great.  Her content is good too!

Shala posts every assignment and a lot of extras too.  She is also the first to help peers when they need it on their blog.

Tyler is a sports nut and his blog shows it.  Go Browns!

Ridge works to make his blog right.  He posts in detail, finds pictures that fit, and links to relevant sites.  Plus, he writes extra posts.

Great job to these students for their excellent work!

Image from http://www.uwicsu.co.uk/content/440693/membership_services/representation/stars/

Students, Grade Your Blogs

As the first 9 weeks comes to an end, it is time to grade The Reading Workshop students' blogs.  This is a chance for students to have input into their blog grade.  With this embedded Google Docs Form, students can evaluate their work.  

We will be using the Blogging Stair Steps to Success from the post on Grading Student Blogs as a basis for this evaluation.

Student Blog Project Rubric

The students in Reading Workshop just completed an interdisciplinary project for social studies and language arts.  They had to research and write a blog post about an ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian leader. 

We discussed grading and this is the rubric students created.

A  Follows guidelines
    Interesting/draws in the reader
    Writing has a sense of style
    Provides background information that is on topic and correct
    Provides several supporting details
    Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
    Cites sources and does not plagiarize

B  Follows guidelines
    Provides background information that is on topic and correct
    Provides several supporting details
    Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
    Cites sources and does not plagiarize

C  Follows guidelines
    Provides a few pieces of background information that are on topic & correct
    Few supporting details
    Two - Four mistakes with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
    Cite sources and does not plagiarize

D  Does not follow guidelines
    Provide little background information that is on topic and correct
    Few supporting details
    Errors with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
    Does not Cite all sources

F  Plagiarizes
    Little sign of effort
    Not posting on blog


These are the project guidelines:

1. Introduction explaining project

Help the readers understand what the post is about/the focus

2. Identify person and civilization (river)

Give background information about civilization

(Several important facts that explain the civilization)

3. Explain the impact on development of civilization

Include details supporting what you see as the impact

(Should have 2 – 3 details that explain what the impact was and how it effected civilization)

Student Blog Rubric

As the grading period ends, Student blogs must be assessed.  For those striving for excellence, here is the expectation.

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
--------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the readers' attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct

The rest of the rubric can be found at The Reading Workshop Blog Rubric.

For examples of students' blogs that earned a 4, check out these sites:
Hannah's Hideout
Hadley's Planet
Ian's Corner
Bethanie's Word
Hannah's Hangout
Katey's Corner
Kaitlyn's Cave

Student Blog Score Sheet

Students have spent time in Reading Workshop reading and writing blogs, so their grade should reflect their efforts.  In a previous post, we looked at How to Grade Student Blogs.  However, students need an easy method to evaluate their work, and  understand the grade that it merits.   A Blog Score Sheet is an easy way to accomplish this. 

Students can easily check the areas they have completed successfully.  This also provides the opportunity to look at different blogs, and show examples of excellent writing.

Once students have evaluated their blog, then I will score their blog.  If there is a difference between their evaluation and mine, then I can explain what needs to be done to improve the blog, and help it meet expectations.

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How To Grade Student Blogs

One of the challenges of having students write all of their assignments on a blog is coming up with a fair and objective way of grading.  Writing assignments in Reading Workshop are graded with a rubric that looks at several factors to come up with an overall grade.

After considering several rubrics, I created the Stair Steps to Success.  As students' writing improves and posts get better and better, they can climb the stairs to writing success.  

These questions can help certain determine their grade.

Did you spell everything correctly? I would hope so. After all, who would want to write something that is available to the whole world, and misspell words? Can the reader understand the topic because you stick to it? Following these minimal standards will earn you at least a D.

Did you use correct grammar?  Did you take time to check your PUGS?  Can the reader follow your post in an organized manner? This is still a most basic expectations for writers that want to publish their work. The skills learned in the primary grades are not too much to expect for work posted on the Internet.  A C means satisfactory and not meeting this basic criteria would surely not deserve anything higher.

Do you have interesting content presented in a well-written way? To build loyal readers, you must grab the reader.  Supporting details draw in the readers and give them understanding. If posts are written cleanly with correct PUGS, the words illustrate the meaning, and the reader can visualize your ideas, you will earn a B.

Does your writing cause the reader to pause, and think, or cause the reader to agree or disagree? Sometimes hours after reading an essay, the reader is still thinking about it. When a blog post has that something special, then the writer deserves an A.  To earn this, the majority of posts must be of exceptional quality.

What step are you on? Have you climbed the stairs to writing success?

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Reading Workshop Student Blog Rubric

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
3 or B	Concise (2 - 3 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support information Has a "So What?", theme, or lesson Demonstrates understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
2 or C	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening introduces the point of the post Details support information Has a point Shows some understanding of the blog topic Positive tone Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
1 or D	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares a thought, idea, or opinion Opening introduces the point of the post Limited details Point is unclear Shows limited understanding of the topic Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization has mistakes ---------------------------------------------------------

Grading Students' Blogs

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
3 or B	Concise (2 - 3 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support information Has a "So What?", theme, or lesson Demonstrates understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
2 or C	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening introduces the point of the post Details support information Has a point Shows some understanding of the blog topic Positive tone Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
1 or D	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares a thought, idea, or opinion Opening introduces the point of the post Limited details Point is unclear Shows limited understanding of the topic Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization has mistakes ---------------------------------------------------------

Grading Students' Blogs

Want an A on your blog? Climb the stairs to writing success. Climb the stairs to earning a good grade.

Did you spell everything correctly? I would hope so. After all, who would want to write something that is available to the whole world, and misspell words? Can the reader understand the topic because you stick to it? Following these minimal standards will earn you at least a D.

Did you use correct grammar? Can the reader follow your post in an organized manner? This is still a most basic expectations for writers that want to publish their work. The skills learned in the primary grades are not too much to expect for work posted on the WWW. A C means satisfactory and not meeting this criteria would surely not be sufficient for earning any higher grade.

To build loyal readers, first you must have interesting content presented in a well-written way. Supporting details draw in the readers and give them understanding. If posts are written cleanly, the words illustrate the meaning, and the reader can visualize your ideas, you will earn a B.

Occasionally someone will write something that makes the reader pause, and think, or causes the reader to agree or disagree. Sometimes hours after reading an essay, the reader is still thinking about it. When a blog post has that something special, then the writer deserves an A.

What step are you on? Have you climbed the stairs to writing success?

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