created by: kirsten thompson - instructure

Blogging 101. (2015). Uploaded to TPT by Kirsten Thompson. Available online at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaching-In-A-Fishbowl

Created by:

Kirsten

Thompson

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaching-In-A-Fishbowl


Blogging 101

Personal Use Copyright

Thank you for downloading this product!

With the purchase of this product, you are

entitled to print and use the activity in your

classroom for personal use.

This activity is not to be used in commercial use

products for resale.

Please contact [email protected] if you

have any questions or concerns.


mailto:[email protected]


Instructions

This activity was created to with the intention of

it being used in a High School Social Studies

classroom.

Teachers should be familiar with Blogger (Blogspot) as

well as Gmail.

This package can be used through the entire semester to

provide a framework for a blogging project. Blogging not

only provides a cross-curricular opportunity but it also

allows students to:

- Share our learning with an authentic audience

- Catch up on lessons that were missed due to absence

- Review lessons to get a better understanding

- Connect with other classrooms around the world

- Integrate multimedia of all descriptions (text, images,

videos, podcasts)

- Practice responsible digital citizenship

- Receive feedback for their work



Table of Contents

Blogging Schedule & Tracking Charts 3

Getting Started

Gmail Account 4

Author Invite 5

Blogger Tips 6

Referencing 9

Blogging Prompts

In Today’s News 10

This Reminds Me Of 10

In Another Person’s Shoes 11

On the Other Side of the Fence 11

Social Media Showcase 12

Descriptive Illustrations 12

Blog Post Rubrics

In Today’s News 13

This Reminds Me Of 14

In Another Person’s Shoes 15

On the Other Side of the Fence 16

Social Media Showcase 17

Descriptive Illustrations 18

Blog Commenting Rubrics 19

Tutorials

Fake Social Media Posts 20

Tagxedo 21

Parental Consent Form 24



Blogging Schedule & Tracking Charts

- You are required to blog a minimum of one time each month (for a total of 5 blog posts

through the course)

- Blogging is to be completed on your own time (in class when done the requirements of

the day, at school, or at home)

- Blog posts must follow one of the blogging prompts provided in this package

- You may use each blogging prompt only once, but the order in which you complete

them is up to you

- Use the blog post rubrics provided in this package to ensure your blog post meets the

marking requirements

- You post topic must match what is being discussed in class at the time of posting

- You are required to comment on a peer’s blog post a minimum of twice each month (for a total

of 10 comments through the course)

- You must comment on a different person’s blog post each time

- Use the effective comment rubric provided in this package to ensure your comment

meets the marking requirements

*The following charts can be used to keep track of your assignment completion.

Sept, Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.

Blog Post

Completed

Blog Prompt

Chosen

Blog Mark

Received

Sept, Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.

Blog

Comment

Completed

Peer’s Name

Comment

Mark

Received



Signing Up For Gmail

Why Gmail?

A Gmail account is required to use Blogger, the platform in which our classroom blog is hosted.

A Gmail account is the formal email platform in which employers and universities look for and

also allows you easy access to other Google tools like Google+ and YouTube.

How to Make an Account

- Go to https://accounts.google.com/SignUp

- Fill out the required account information

- Think long term; an email should be a combination

of your first and last name

- [email protected]

- Verify your account using one of the provided methods

- You can add a photo or create a Google+ profile if you want (if you don’t, it will not affect

your ability to use Blogger)

- Select “Continue to Gmail” to access your inbox

- Having trouble? Ask me, or watch this tutorial: https://youtu.be/-HPPOxYqgck


https://accounts.google.com/SignUp

mailto:[email protected]

https://youtu.be/-HPPOxYqgck


Author Invite

Email

Once your Gmail account is set up, please send an email with your name to the teacher’s email

Within 24hrs you will receive an email inviting you to contribute to our classroom blog; select

“Accept Invitation”.

Setting Up Authorship

- Sign In to your account via the invitation email

- Select “Accept Invitation” (top left)

- Select “Continue to Blogger” (bottom left)

- Select the orange pencil icon, “Create new post”, to access the blog document



Blogger Tips

1 ) Post Title

- This is where you put the title of your blog post

- It can be as simple or creative as you like

- It can include the name of the blogging prompt you are selecting or it can be unique

2 ) Font Size

3 ) Text Formatting Options

4 ) Link

- Any website that is included in your post should be actively linked (so that readers can

access it with one click)

- This includes links that are part of references

5 ) Insert Images

- Images should not be copy and pasted into your post (they don’t consistently show up when

done this way)

- Images should be saved to your file and then uploaded through this button

- Any images not taken by you require a reference (see referencing page)

6 ) Insert Videos

- Videos can be saved to your file and uploaded through this button

- You can search YouTube directly through this button and upload any YouTube video that may

be applicable to your post



Blogger Tips (Cont.)

7 ) Spell Check

- It is important to check our work before publishing, remember that your post is being

published to the internet and is publically available.

8 ) Labels

- Labels help organize our classroom blog and makes it easy to find posts

- Once your post is written you should label your post with:

- The unit your post is about

(ex) The First Peoples and New France

- The blogging prompt you used

(ex) In Today’s News

9 ) Schedule

- You can post-date or pre-date your post to coincide with a specific date

- Remember, you need one blog post per month!

10 ) Preview

- Once you are done your post you can select “Preview” to see how it will look once published

- This is a good option to make sure your images and videos format correctly

11 ) Publish

- Hit publish once you are done

- The post page should close once your post is published; don’t x-out until you know your post

has gone through



Blogger Tips (Cont.)



How To Reference Images You Find Online

Name of the Image. (Year it was posted). Uploaded by Name of artist, organization, or website

title. Available online at: direct link (not extremely long Google link).

1 ) Find the Name of the Image

- This can be found by hovering your mouse over the image

- If the hosting website has not named the image, simply title it based off the

website headings

* Some graphs, charts, ads may have a title in the image itself

2 ) Find the Year it was posted

- A year may be posted on the image itself or directly below

- If the hosting website has not dated the image, scroll to the very bottom of

the website and find the website’s copyright year

* If you find the image in a blog, use the year of the specific blog post

3 ) Find the Name of the artist, organization, or website

- An artist’s name may be posted on the image itself or directly below

- If the hosting website has not attributed the image, scroll to the very

bottom of the website and find the organization name that the website is

copyrighted under.

- If an organization name is not found at the bottom, include the website name

4 ) Find the Direct Link

* This is NOT the long, complex link from Google

- Include a link that takes you directly to the webpage where you find the

original image



Blogging Prompts

In Today’s News

- Summarize what was discussed in today’s class; your post must include enough information

so that if someone was absent they would fully understand what went on.

- Your post must contain at least 2 quotes of information about the concept that you’ve found

through an online source, the classroom textbook, or school library

- Remember to include a reference!

- You can include text, images, infographics, videos, and audio files to explain the concept

- Remember to include references for anything you find online

- You can chose to take pictures of assignments done in class

* Your post cannot include the notes provided in class, it must be in your own words

This Reminds Me Of

- Explain how a topic discussed in class is related to:

- An earlier concept in the class

- A concept from another social studies class (in an earlier grade or if you are taking

more than one social studies class)

- A concept from a different subject area

- You must effectively argue why you believe the concepts are related or are similar. You can

do this through text, graphs, images, infographics, videos, audio files, combination, etc




Blogging Prompts (Cont.)

In Another Person’s Shoes

- If we learned about a person:

- Summarize the person’s historical significance.

- Your post should include information about their successes and challenges, as well as

how their gender, ethnicity, sociological background influenced their journey

- If we learned about an event:

- Summarize the event’s historical significance.

- Your post should include information about the result of the event, as well as the impact

it had on every group involved

- You can include text, images, infographics, videos, and audio files


On The Other Side of the Fence

- Take an event or situation that was discussed in class and explain what it would have been

like from a different perspective

(ex) If we learned about what it was like for Europeans living in New France, try to

explain what it might have been like for a First Nations person who is used to travelling

to the area to fish and now can’t due to all these new people

- Your opposing perspective must be logical.

- You can show a different perspective through a paragraph explanation, a chart summarizing

similarities and differences, a diary entry, etc

- You can include text, images, infographics, videos, and audio files to explain the perspective




Blogging Prompts (Cont.)

Social Media Showcase

- Create and embed a social media post from the point of view of a

historical figure discussed in class.

- The post can be short (Twitter and SnapChat don’t allow for many

characters) but must fully and accurately explain the situation being

shared (this example is too vague)

- Remember to include references for any images you find online

- References can be typed into the blog post itself, they don’t have to be part of the

social media post

*See tutorials section for links to where you can create fake social media posts

Descriptive Illustrations

- Create and embed a “Tagxedo” illustration that uses descriptive words to explain a historical

figure discussed in class.

- Your Tagxedo must include 60 descriptive words about your selected person:

- 20 will be their name

- 40 are descriptive words about him/her

- dates - family - cultural group - places

- battles - job - personality - known for...

*See tutorials section for a step-by-step walkthrough of how to use Tagxedo


Blogging 101. (2015). Uploaded to TPT by Kirsten Thompson. Available online at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaching-In-A-

Fishbowl

Blogging Rubrics

In Today’s News

Met

Not Yet

- The post fully summarizes what was

covered in class (no word limit)

- If someone was absent they would

have enough info to fully understand

the concept/topic

- The post includes 2 applicable quotes

of information from a source other than

the classroom notes

- Each quote includes a full reference

- Any images, infographics, videos,

audio files, etc that are included are

fully referenced

- Post includes blogging formats like

title, labels, correct date, etc

- Post has been spell-checked and is

free of spelling and grammar errors

- Post has consistent formatting




Fishbowl

Blogging Rubrics (Cont.)

This Reminds Me Of...

Met

Not Yet

- The post explains a logical

connection between a topic discussed

in class and another concept

- Minimum 500 words

- The post is presented as a

persuasive piece of writing and makes

an effective argument for the

comparison



fully referenced









Fishbowl


In Another Person’s Shoes

Met

Not Yet

- The post fully summarizes the

historical significance of the person or

event (minimum 500 words)

- The post includes information about

their successes/challenges, & how

gender, ethnicity, sociological

background influenced them

- The post needs to cover the event’s

result & its impact on every group



fully referenced









Fishbowl


On The Other Side Of The Fence

Met

Not Yet

- The post fully summarizes what the

event/situation would have been like

from a different perspective

- Minimum 500 words

- The opposing perspective is logical

to the situation being discussed



fully referenced









Fishbowl


Social Media Showcase

Met

Not Yet

- The post fully explains the situation

being shared

- No word limit

- The style of information shared fits

the social media tool that is used

(hashtags in Twitter, longer

explanation in Facebook, emoji’s, etc)



fully referenced









Fishbowl


Descriptive Illustration

Met

Not Yet

- The 40 descriptive words fit the

historical figure being shown

- 60 word limit (20 are the person’s

name, 40 are descriptive words)

- The image used can be easily

recognized as the historical figure



fully referenced









Fishbowl

Blog Comment Rubric

Effective Commenting

Met

Not Yet

- Comment shows understanding of the

post

- Builds upon the original post by

adding in unique perspective

- Allows for a conversation to develop

- Minimum 250 words

- Includes at least 1 relevant reference

to a related source (video, text

website, other post, etc: cannot be

Wikipedia)



fully referenced

- Comment has been spell-checked

and is free of spelling and grammar

errors

- Comment has consistent formatting




Tutorials

Fake Social Media Posts

- The following websites can be used to help create fake social media posts for the Social

Media Showcase blogging prompt.

- Depending on the website you may be able to download/save your post as an image file or

you may have to screenshot it, paste it into paint (crop appropriately), and save as a PNG file.

- Once it is saved directly, or through paint, you can insert into your post by the “Insert an

Image” button.

- These websites are just suggestions to get you started, you can use any other tool you find to

create posts as well.

1 ) Fake Twitter Post

- http://simitator.com/generator/twitter/tweet

2 ) Fake Facebook Post

- http://simitator.com/generator/facebook/status

3 ) Fake Snapchat Post

- http://snapsr.com/

4 ) Fake iPhone Message Post

- http://www.ios7text.com/


http://simitator.com/generator/twitter/tweet

http://simitator.com/generator/facebook/status

http://snapsr.com/

http://www.ios7text.com/


Tutorials (Cont.)

Tagxedo

1. Find an image of your historical figure online and save it to your file in a place you can find it

easily

- Remember to reference your image!

- Find an image with no background or has a background that is all one colour

- Real or drawn is ok

- Preferably mostly black and white colours

- Headshot is best

2. Open www.tagxedo.com on internet explorer (doesn’t work well in Chrome, FireFox, etc)

- Click on “Create”

3. Under “Options”, hit the triangle beside the word “Shape”, a pop-up box will appear on your

screen

- Click on “Add Image”

- Find your image in your file and hit “Open”


http://www.tagxedo.com/


Tutorials (Cont.)

Tagxedo (Cont.)

4. Edit your image so that your person’s picture creates a silhouette that is recognizable and

not “blob-like”

- Threshold changes how much space you have to write on

- Blur changes how in focus your picture is

*Remember I need to be able to recognize your person!

- When happy with your image, click “Accept”

5. Enter your 60 words

- 20 are his/her name (remember capitals)

- 40 are the descriptive words about him/her

- dates - family - cultural group - places

- battles - job - personality - known for

- Hit “load” under the Tagxedo title – a pop-up box will appear



Tutorials (Cont.)

Tagxedo (Cont.)

-In the box “enter text” type your 60 words with a space in between each one

- When done, hit “submit” and close the pop-up once it has loaded

6. Customize your picture using the “Colour”, “Theme” and “Font” options

- Do not change the orientation or layout

7. When happy with your result, select “Full Screen” in the bottom right-hand corner

- “Print Screen” your picture (make sure your mouse isn’t covering your picture)

- Paste your finished copy into paint

- Crop and save as a PNG file



Dear Parent/Guardian,

This year the class will be participating in a class blog. You might be wondering, “what is

a blog?” A blog is essentially a website or an online space where student can access, display,

and share their learning with an authentic audience.

The primary purpose of this project is for students to create a multi-media “textbook”

for the course, written by students - for students. Students are responsible for creating one blog

post per month (for a total of 5 posts through the course) as well as commenting on their peer’s

posts at least twice per month (for a total of 10 comments through the course). All students have

been provided with a comprehensive “Blogging 101” package that takes them through every

step of this process from how to sign up and tutorials to writing prompts and rubrics.

We can use our blog to:

- Share our learning with an authentic audience

- Catch up on lessons that were missed due to absence

- Review lessons to get a better understanding

- Connect with other classrooms around the world

- Integrate multimedia of all descriptions (text, images, videos, podcasts)

- Practice responsible digital citizenship

- Receive feedback

Keeping our students’ safe on the internet is of the utmost importance to us. As such, the

following guidelines have been implemented to minimize security risks:



- Students will only be identified by their first name only

- No personal information, addresses, last name, family info, etc

- Posts will be monitored by the teacher

- Any posts containing questionable material (inappropriate

language, personal information, etc) will be taken down and

reviewed with the student(s)

- We ask that any parents/guardians/family members who are posting

comments only use their first name to describe themselves so that they

don’t identify their child

- Ex. “John’s Mom” as opposed to “Mrs. Smith”

Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact

me at school.

We ask that you review the following information & return this portion to the school by

_______________________________.



My child may post blog posts using their FIRST NAME only.

I would like my child to post blog posts anonymously.

My child may have their image/video posted to the blog (no identifying info).

My child may not have their image/video posted to the blog.

My child may have their voice posted to the blog in a podcast (no identifying

info).

My child may not have their voice posted to the blog in a podcast.

Student Name (printed):______________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name (printed):_____________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name (written):_____________________________________________


created by: kirsten thompson - instructure

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