316
TE ACHING TIP
BLOGGI NG A S
A M E A NS OF
C R A F T I NG
W R I T I NG
Jan Lacina
■
Robin Griffith
F
or children of the 21st century, technology
is like oxygen—a necessary component
of their life. Millennial children have an
increased use and familiarity with media and
digital technologies, and as teachers of these techsavvy children, it is essential that we integrate the
technology of today into our classrooms. By taking
small steps and experimenting, teachers will find
that blogging is a fairly simple and helpful support
for writing instruction. The purpose of this article is
to explore ways in which blogs can support literacy
communities, especially as a means of reinforcing
writing instruction. We provide examples of how
blogging is used at the elementary-school level
during the writing process.
Research on Blogging
Blogs, or weblogs, are a popular forum for upper
elementary through middle school, primarily used as
an online medium for self-expression (Jacobs, 2008;
Sweeny, 2010). Research over the past five years notes
that children say they are motivated to write when
they have a choice in topics and when the writing is
relevant to their lives and interests (Lenhart, 2008),
and researchers find that students who create their
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own blog also tend to be productive writers both
inside and outside of the classroom (Lenhart, 2008).
With technology, there is a blending of new ways of
thinking about the teaching of writing, beyond the
paper and pencil forms of writing instruction of the
past, allowing for the integration of information,
communication, and technology literacy (Partnership
for 21st-Century Skills, 2009).
For example, one of the few research studies
on blogging at the elementary school level found
that student bloggers became mindful of and
connected to their audience, and they learned to
take ownership of the writing process and the
writer’s craft (Davis & McGrail, 2011). The teachers
in this study refrained from heavily emphasizing
writing conventions during the developmental time
of writing development, and as a result, children
focused on the drafting and crafting of their own
writing. Children’s writing within the context of the
Jan Lacina is associate dean of graduate studies at Texas Christian
University, Fort Worth, USA; e-mail [email protected].
Robin Griffith is an assistant professor at Texas Christian University,
Fort Worth, USA; e-mail [email protected].
DOI:10.1002/TRTR.01128
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“For children of the 21st century, technology
is like oxygen—a necessary component of
their life.”
blog included various genres as they
freely experimented with rhetorical
devices by using humor, expression, and
playfulness, reflecting on their writing
and its meaning in their lives (Davis &
McGrail, 2011).
Blogs can have many purposes,
beyond a place to document selfexpression. A blog can serve as
a place to publish one’s writing
or used as a forum for receiving
feedback on writing (Lacina &
Block, 2012; Witte, 2007). In such
a blog forum, students can write
collaboratively or serve as mentors
as they draft, revise, and edit their
writing collaboratively in a virtual
environment. Blogs connect the
literacies of the home to school
(Alvermann, Huddleston, & Hagood,
2004; Lacina & Block, 2012). Various
teacher websites provide guides
for creating a blog, including
escrapbooking.com/blogging/class.
htm, www.coveritlive.com, and
www.edublogs.org. Integrating
blogging into classroom writing
instruction can engage students
and motivate them to participate
more fully in the writing process
(Lacina & Block, 2012).
Blogging in an Elementary
School Setting
Karen Arrington is a veteran elementary
teacher, with 30 years of teaching
experience. For eight years, she taught
third grade at Trinity Valley School
in Fort Worth, Texas. She currently
serves as technology coordinator at
the school’s lower school (K–4). Karen
learned through experience that she
needs to model and guide students in
the blogging process, just as she does as
a teacher of writing.
At Trinity Valley School, children
as young as ages 5 and 6 participate
in blogging. With the younger grades
especially, Karen spends time at the
beginning of the year teaching children
about safety issue on the Internet. She
reads the children’s book, It Could
Have Been Worse (Benjamin & Warnes,
2000), to teach how to respond to a blog
comment. She reads the book halfway
through and says, “What do you think
might happen?” In this book, the
main character, Mouse, is on his way
home from visiting his cousin when
he undergoes a series of unfortunate
events. He gets bruised and soaked and
covered in prickles. Karen finds that
children’s literature is a good way to
begin the dialogue of how to respond to
a friend and how to make a prediction.
Karen invests most of her time
teaching the upper-elementary aged
children in the area of blogging
because they have more sophisticated
technological and keyboarding skills.
When Karen implemented the first blog
with fourth graders, she realized that
she needed to provide more support
for these young writers. Because she
saw the power of blogs as the dynamic
interaction and conversation around a
topic, she realized that the comments
were just as important as the initial
posts. She explained the importance
of teaching children how to make
comments of substance when blogging,
what she refers to as “dollar comments”
in contrast to superficial comments or
“penny comments” (Parisi & Crosby,
2012).
A penny comment would be a
comment such as, “I like your blog.
It is cute.” This type of comment
lacks substance, and the author is
left wondering what specifically the
author of the comment likes about
the blog. A dollar comment is a
comment in which the commenter
adds compliment and a specific way
to add new information—or makes
a personal connection. Commenters
may also add a question to develop a
conversation. An example of a dollar
comment that offers a compliment while
making a connection is, “I like your blog.
Your story about your dog reminds me
of my puppy and how much I love her.
She died two years ago, but I will never
forget her. What is your dog’s name?”
Developing comments of substance
is difficult for most young writers.
Young writers, and some older
writers, need to be taught how to
respond to a friend’s writing. To model
this, Karen created a “paper blog”
experience, based on an idea from a
popular teacher blog, yollisclassblog
“Integrating blogging into classroom writing
instruction can engage students and motivate
them to participate more fully in the
writing process.”
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.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-tocompose-quality-comment.html.
Karen began her paper blog
activity by giving the students a
piece of paper with a box for the
post and lines for comments. She
asked the children to write about
their favorite food. She reminded
them that the illustration would
be the equivalent of inserting an
image on the computer. She asked
the students to leave their “paper
posts” on the computer in front of
them and move down three chairs.
Once they arrived at the new seat,
they were asked to read the post
and leave a comment for the writer.
After a series of seat shuffles, the
students returned to their own seats
to read the comments. The class then
discussed the comments and created a
list of suggestions for writing quality
comments (see Figure 1).
The example in Figure 2 illustrates a
blog post that was generated following
the paper blog experience.
Karen acknowledges the
challenges associated with creating
class blogs. She knows it can be time
intensive, especially if the teacher
chooses to serve as moderator,
approving all of the posts before they
Figure 2 Student Blog Post Generated After the Paper Blog Experience
Figure 1 Suggestions for Writing
Quality Comments
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“Whether you are teaching writing in a
traditional classroom or within the context
of a blog, the development of a community of
writers is essential.”
are published online. She realizes
some teachers might be intimidated
by technology, especially when it
comes to ensuring the safety of the
students in an online environment, but
she believes the effort is worthwhile.
The teachers at the school, like Karen,
have a passion and initiative to learn
new forms of technology to benefit
the children they teach. Trinity Valley
School has an innovative technology
experience through blogging—
and many other such experiences.
By taking baby steps, as Karen
suggested, teachers can effectively
begin integrating blogging within
their curriculum.
Guiding Practices
for Starting a Blog
The following four recommendations
are provided to assist teachers in
integrating a blog into their classroom.
The recommendations are based on
Karen’s advice and our own experience
of creating a class blog.
Recommendation 1: Take baby steps.
Spend time exploring and creating
your blog. In designing a university
class blog, we learned the importance
of being comfortable with the blog and
all of the various features—such as
adjusting the settings so students could
post their comments.
Recommendation 2: Don’t compose
online in the beginning. Model and
guide your students first—such as
through a paper-based activity, as Karen
modeled. This type of activity shows
students how to respond to a blog post
with “dollar comments.”
Recommendation 3: Make
expectations for the blog clear to your
students. Wassell and Crouch (2008)
learned from their action research
project on blogging that it is important
to provide a rubric with student
expectations and details for blogging
(see Table).
Recommendation 4: Lastly, promote
choice in topics when creating a blog,
as this helps in the creation of a writing
community. Mills and Chandra (2011)
noted the importance of a supportive
community of writers within the context
of blogging. In a blogging environment,
there is increased collaboration in
creating and sharing of one’s writing
in comparison to the traditional
writing classroom—and as a result, the
formation of a supportive community of
learners is essential.
What We Learned
Whether you are teaching writing in
a traditional classroom or within the
context of a blog, the development of
a community of writers is essential
(Lacina & Block, 2012). Teachers need
the opportunity to model and share
their writing with their students
(Calkins, 1994; Stasz & Bennett, 1997;
Wolf, Ballentine, & Hill, 1999) to show
they are also writers and also sometimes
struggle with writing. We know from
Table Blog Rubric
Criteria
Beginning
Developing
Strong
0–2
3
5
SCORE
Overall Use of Blogs
No comments are made on
blogs of others.
2 required blog entries and
comments have been completed.
Blog entries and 3 comments are
submitted.
Personal Response
Blog comments are lacking
2–3 elements, such as a
compliment, a personal
connection, or a question.
Blog comments are lacking 1
element, such as a compliment,
a personal connection, or a
question.
The author provides a compliment,
makes a personal connection to
the blog comment, and provides
a question to the blog author to
continue the conversation.
Engaged Writing
Blog entries use consistent,
incorrect grammar and
spelling, making it difficult for
others to follow.
Blog entries demonstrate some
evidence of correct spelling and
grammar, and the audience will
have little trouble reading your
blog.
Blog entries use correct grammar/
spelling and have some flair
and originality. Blog entries may
contain hyperlinks.
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the research literature presented in this
article that children also write better
when they know they have an audience
reading and responding to their writing
(Lenhart, 2008).
Blogging during the writing process
allows students to participate in authentic
and engaging discussions. In conclusion,
experiment with blogging. Blogs are an
authentic medium for integrating reading
and writing—and are an exciting form of
technology to explore during the writing
process.
MORE TO EX PLORE
ReadWriteThink.org Lesson Plans
■ “Creating Character Blogs” by Elizabeth Potash
■ “Learning Clubs: Motivating Middle School
Readers and Writers” by Heather Casey and
Suzanne Gespass
IRA Journal Articles
■ “Becoming Critical Consumers and Producers of
Text: Teaching Literacy With Web 1.0 and Web
2.0” by Lara J. Handsfield, Tami R. Dean, and
Kristin M. Cielocha, The Reading Teacher,
September 2009
■ “Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet
Projects” by Erica Boling, Jill Castek, Lisa
Zawilinski, Karen Barton, and Theresa Nierlich,
The Reading Teacher, March 2008
■ “Hot Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to
Promote Higher Level Thinking” by Lisa
Zawilinski, The Reading Teacher, May 2009
■ “Literacy Instruction With Digital and Media
Technologies” by Diane Barone and Todd E.
Wright, The Reading Teacher, December 2008/
January 2009
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