Student Blogging Challenge Week 8: Celebrations

The year is quickly drawing to a close and for a lot of people, that means the season of celebrations is upon them.

This week we’d like to find out about the celebrations and festivities that are important to you. You might learn a few things about different cultures as well. Week 8 of the Student Blogging Challenge looks at festivities and celebrations around the world

Week Seven Recap

Trophy image -- great workLast week we had some students publish ‘free choice’ posts.

You can find them all here.

Let’s take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:

  • Noe is from California and shared some information about the recent fires.
  • Evelyn wants to know what games you play.
  • Amelia shared her experiences being homeschooled.
  • Jayla went back and completed some more tasks from topics she enjoyed including this Emoji Kahoot!
  • Noah told us about his ffavoritesport — field hockey.
  • Izzy wrote an excellent post about a family vacation.
  • Ash shared some information on the Mona Lisa.
  • You can view more great work on our 2018 Student Blogging Challenge Flipboard.

Reminders

  • Some people have put a link to a Google Doc/Form/Slide presentation in their post BUT it can’t be viewed without logging in. This resource shows you how to make your Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms public.
  • Do your posts have images? Images make posts much more shareable and they stand out a lot more on our Flipboard magazine. Remember, you can’t just use any image you find online in your blog posts. Re-read the information in the week 3 postto find out free and easy options for images you can use.

Time to begin this week’s topic…

Celebrations And Festivities

We have a diverse group taking part in the Student Blogging Challenge with lots of different cultural backgrounds represented.

Around the world, people celebrate different holidays and festivals. As we learned in week five, there are many benefits to learning about similarities and differences.

It can be fun to tell people about our own traditions while hearing about others!

Want to learn a bit more about just some of the holidays that are celebrated around the world? This video might help.

This resource from ABC Australia also has some useful videos and information.

ABC Education Australia Celebration resources

Celebrations Poll

 

Week Eight Tasks

This week there are five tasks to choose from that explore holidays, celebrations, and festivities.

Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below.

Week 8 Tasks STUBC Celebrations

Task 1: Family Celebrations

Think of all the holidays, festivals, or celebrations that are important to your family. Write a blog post about this. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!

  • You could make a list of your family’s celebrations with a short description for each one, or
  • You could choose one celebration to explain in more detail.

Don’t forget to include lots of information about your holiday so your readers can get a clear understanding of this special day/season.

You could include things like:

  • The time of year/date it’s celebrated.
  • What you do to celebrate? Are there special costumes, decorations, music, lights, food, prayers etc?
  • Do people give each other gifts?
  • Who is involved in the celebration? Do you visit other people or host family and friends?
  • What special memories do you have?

You might even like to do some research into the origins of your holiday.

Task 2: Photo Spark

Often, holidays and celebrations include different decorations, food, costumes, or other objects. Think of a celebration that’s important in your family and share at least two photos of something that represents that holiday. Write a reflection to give readers an idea of the significance of this object. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post! 

Check out this example on the New York Times — Holiday Memories. 

Holiday Memories NY Times

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for sharing this idea. 

Task 3: Spice Up Your Blog With Mrs. Vazquez

Your house or classroom isn’t the only place you can decorate for the holidays, why not decorate your blog?

Alethea Vazquez is a wonderful teacher who is a commenter and a past STUBC participant. She has been very busy helping us with this task.

Head to Mrs. Vazquez’s “Christmas Fun” blog to get lots of ideas for themes, backgrounds, widgets, countdowns, music, puzzles and more!

Vasquez Happy Holidays Blog Screenshot

Tip: Decorating your blog is fun but make sure your visitors can still read your posts amongst all the colour and action.

If you decorate your blog, you might want to write a post about it telling others what you did. You can then submit your post in the Google Form below.

Task 4: Holiday Craft

The holiday season can be a great time to make some craft!

Create something and then add a photo of it to a blog post with a description. Or you could even make a video tutorial for your readers!  Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!  If you find inspiration from a website, be sure to include the link in your post.

Craft inspiration:

  • Origami Club has a list of origami (paper folding) objects you can make with a Christmas theme. There is origami for other holidays too.
  • DLTK has lots of ideas sorted into different holidays.
  • PBS Parents shares a range of craft ideas for different celebrations.
  • Easy Peasy and Fun has lots of Christmas craft ideas.

Easy Peasy and Fun Christmas Craft

Task 5: Fun And Games

Once you try out at least two sites, write a blog post about it and let others know whether you recommend it. You should take a screenshot of the site and include the link.  Don’t forget the essentials of a great post! There are lots of fun websites online where you can play games, create things, and get in the holiday spirit!

Here are some examples of sites. If you know some good sites, please leave a comment and let us know!

Magnetic Poetry — This is where you put words together to make a poem. It uses Google Drawings or Slides.

Google’s Santa Tracker has a range of different activities from coding to mapping to translating. They are available in December. Check them out here in December. 

Topmarks has a selection of Christmas games. Many are for younger students.

Google’s Emoji Creator that we mentioned in week 4 has had a holiday makeover. You can make your own emoji with a festive look. Check it out. 

Made with code holiday emoji creator from Google
I made this emoji using Google’s Holiday Emoji Creator

Submit Your Post URL 

If you want a commenter and other participants to visit your blog, remember to fill in the Google Form below.Examples of post URLS for STUBC

Student Blogging Challenge Week 7: Free Choice

Phew! You’ve been working hard and now it’s time to catch your breath.

This week you’ll have some space to catch up on old tasks that interest you or write a free choice post.

Week seven of the Student Blogging Challenge allows you to catch up or write a free choice post.

Week Six Recap

Trophy image -- great workThere were many great posts submitted again by classes and students.

You can find them all here (or click on the week six box on the sidebar on Mrs. Morris’s page).

Let’s take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:

Reminders

Here are a few important reminders:

  • Some people have put a link to a Google Doc/Form/Slide presentation in their post BUT it can’t be viewed without logging in. This resource shows you how to make your Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms public.
  • Do your posts have images? Images make posts much more shareable and they stand out a lot more on our Flipboard magazine. 
  • Remember in week 3 we discussed that you can’t just use any image you find online in your blog posts? Sadly, I’ve noticed some people are still doing this. You might want to re-read the information in the week 3 post and go back and edit some of your old posts that include images that are not free to use.

Onto the tasks…

Week Seven Tasks

Task 1: Catch Up

You might not have had the chance to complete a task for week 1-6. Or you might have enjoyed one of the topics so much, you’d like to complete an additional task. Go for it.

Here are the links (you’ll also find them on the sidebar of the challenge blog).

Remember, the forms are now closed for the week 1-4 tasks but you can submit your task for weeks 5 or 6. You’ll find the Google Forms at the end of the posts.

Task 2: Free Choice

sign saying go

What’s something that interests you? Write a post about it! Don’t forget about the essentials of a great post.

Stuck for ideas? Check out these blogging prompts for students. 

If you write a free choice post this week, feel free to submit it in the Google Form.

Task 3: Visit

You might have a bit of extra time this week so it could be a good opportunity to visit at least one other blog and leave a quality comment.

Remember to ask a question and check back to see if they replied to you (most platforms have a box to tick so you can get an email when there is a follow-up comment).

Student Blogging Challenge Week 6: Science

Some people think blogging is all about reading and writing but it doesn’t have to be. You can integrate any subject into blogging.

This week we’re zooming in on science and there’s something for everyone!

It's week six of the Student Blogging Challenge and we're talking science.

Week Five Recap

Trophy image -- great workThere were lots of great responses to our tasks about similarities and differences.

You can find all the submitted tasks here (or click on the week 5 box on the sidebar).

Many of these posts are interactive so the students would love to get a comment from you!

Let’s take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:

  • Lily was super creative getting to know her readers with a ‘Which Disney princess are you?’ quiz.
  • Rhiann drew a picture and asks how you like your food.
  • Morgan did a great job completing a number of different tasks that includes Google Forms.
  • Wolf used a tool called Voki to share a book review.
  • Cora explains the music genres she enjoys most and shared some videos.
  • Loe made some images and asks what sort of person you are.
  • Emily has 10 questions for her readers which she’d like you to answer in a comment.
  • Lianna is surveying her readers with quizzes made with AnswerGarden and Google Forms.
  • You can view more great work on our 2018 Student Blogging Challenge Flipboard.

Remember — if you use a tool to create something, it’s a good idea to provide your readers with the link to the site so they know how you did it.

Results Of Our Language Poll

Last week we invited you to take our quick language poll to see what languages our participants speak.

While English is the predominant language, there were a LOT of languages represented in our STUBC community. How wonderful!

Language survey results STUBC

We had nearly 800 responses! (I have now closed the poll).

Here are the top ten languages represented:

  • English 94.8%
  • Spanish 20.5%
  • French 12.5%
  • German 4.5%
  • Mandarin 3.1%
  • Italian 2.9%
  • Russian 2.8%
  • Arabic 2.2%
  • Portuguese 1.8%
  • Japanese 1.3%

Let’s take a look at this week’s topic…

Science

Do you have science classes at your school? Even if you’re not formally studying science, science is all around us!

Learning about science just means understanding our world better. Scientists learn about the world by describing, observing, and experimenting. Anyone can be a scientist!

Want to watch a short overview of the nature of science? This 3-minute video might help.

The Branches Of Science

The great thing about science is there are so many different fields and topics. Perhaps there are some areas of science you find very fascinating and others that aren’t really your cup of tea.

There are three main branches of science that are further divided into different categories.

The Physical Sciences: This includes things like physics, chemistry, and astronomy.

The Earth Sciences: This includes things like geology, paleontology, and meteorology.

The Life Sciences: This includes things like botany, medicine, and zoology.

What areas of science interest you? Task one involves blogging about this.

Why Learn About Science?

Here are 8 great reasons why children should enjoy science more (created by psysci.co).

Do you have any more ideas about why science is important? Leave a comment or write a blog post about it!

Why kids should enjoy science infographic

Week Six Tasks

This week there are five science-related tasks to choose from.

Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below.
It's week six of the Student Blogging Challenge and we're talking science.

Task 1: What Are You Curious About?

For this task, consider what you’re curious about (related to a particular scientific field) and write a blog post about it. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!

Are there any particular scientific fields that interest you? Perhaps you could do some research into the different areas of science. Maybe you could explain some different scientific fields.

Look around you. What do you wonder? Maybe you’re curious about how the internet works or where rain comes from or life on Mars?

Do some research and write a blog post about what you find.

Task 2: Single-Use And Plogging

Your task is to write a post about “single-use”, “plogging,” or any other environmental issue that interests you. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post!

Perhaps you could:

  • Write a persuasive piece about why single-use items are a good/bad idea.
  • Make a poster encouraging people to recycle, re-use, or try plogging.
  • Do some research into plogging and write a ‘how-to’ for others.
  • Explain what initiatives operate in your community or school to help the environment. Do you have a recycling service? Do stores offer you plastic bags? Can you recycle soft plastics to be made into things like playground equipment (for example, we have the REDcycle program that does this).

Any of the above ideas could also be adapted into videos if you’re feeling especially creative!

This week, Collins dictionary announced their Word of the Year — “single-use”.

This was their announcement on Twitter…

Embedded video

Collins Dictionary

✔@CollinsDict

BREAKING! The Collins Word of the Year 2018 is… single-use ♻️ Discover the full shortlist & find out more: http://ow.ly/cluf30ggWHk 

497 people are talking about this

There has been a rise in public awareness about plastic pollution recently and many communities are taking a stand. For example, in most parts of Australia, the major supermarkets and other stores no longer provide free plastic bags.

Continuing with the environmental theme, one of the shortlisted words was “plogging”:

Embedded video

Collins Dictionary

✔@CollinsDict

ICYMI: PLOGGING shortlisted for 2018! Click here to find out more: http://ow.ly/cluf30ggWHk 

See Collins Dictionary’s other Tweets

You can read more about the Word of the Year here.

 

Task 3: Video Prompts

Find a video that interests you, then write a blog post about it. You might write a summary of the video and include your own thoughts or questions. Don’t forget the essentials of a great post! Or, you can make a quiz for your readers about the video. Invite them to answer the quiz in a comment.

Remember to include the video in your blog post. Find out how to add a video from YouTube using Edublogs/CampusPress here. (Tip: If you have a free blog, use the URL method).

There are lots of great science videos online.

Here are two examples:

  • TED-Ed (Tip: Click on filter to find videos suitable for your age group).
  • SciShow Kids YouTube Channel (under 13s should check with adults about accessing YouTube).

 

Screenshot of TEDEd videos

Task 4: A-Z Of Science Words

Science can involve a lot of terminology or interesting words.

Your task is to make your own A-Z of words relating to science. You could even leave a few letters blank and ask for suggestions in a comment. Include at least two images.  Don’t forget to add links to the websites where you got your information from!  

For example…

A is for astronomy: the study of outer space

B is for bunsen burner: a device commonly found in a science lab for heating

C is for carbon dioxide: the gas formed when humans or animals breathe out

D is for data: the facts or pieces of information a scientist uses

Submit Your Post URL to the Google Form. 

In-Class Task 5: Two Truths And One Lie

With a partner in your section, challenge your readers with a simple “two truths and one lie” science quiz.

Your task is to give two correct science statements and one incorrect science statement to the collective Google Slides in Google Classroom. Do some research in a book or online to make sure your information is accurate. If you use a website, include the link in your slide. Ask your readers to guess the lie! Include a link to both of your blogs in your slide!

For example, you might say:

  • The smallest bone in the body is found in the middle ear.
  • An archeologist studies the atmosphere and weather patterns.
  • The blue whale is the largest animal in the world.

Can you guess which one is not true?

Student Blogging Challenge Week 5: Same But Different

We’re almost at the halfway mark of the Student Blogging Challenge!

Let’s get to know each other more this week and try out some fun activities.

Week five of the Student Blogging Challenge explores how people around the world are the same and different.

Week Four Recap

Trophy image -- great workOur emoji post proved popular and there were hundreds of great tasks submitted!

You can find them all here .

Let’s take a look at just some of the fantastic work we spotted last week:

Remember — if you use a tool to create something, it’s a good idea to provide your readers with the link to the site so they know how you did it.

Special Shout Out

Miriam and her dogAll teachers know how great it is to hear from former students. This weekend I was so happy to hear from not one of my students but one of Linda Yollis’ former students!

Back in 2011, Miriam was a role model 3rd grade blogger. She’s now a college student who is running a creative writing club for children at her local library.

Miriam is back blogging after all this time!

This is my second year with the writers club at my library and I decided to try to add blogging so that the children both in the club and anywhere in the world could contribute to the conversation.

Would you take a moment this week to drop by Miriam’s blog and say hi? If you leave your blog URL she will no doubt be happy to visit your blog as well!

Tip: She introduces herself in this post.

Let’s dive into this week’s topic…

Similarities And Differences

We have a diverse group taking part in the Student Blogging Challenge. Even though we live in all different parts of the world, we have many similarities as well as differences.

Blogging is a great way to connect with people that we might otherwise never meet!

At last count, we had students and classes from 27 countries and 6 continents registered for the challenge.

Student Blogging Challenge Participants Oct 2018 - 6 continents and 27 countries

Why Learn About Similarities And Differences?

  • It’s important for all children and adults to understand that everyone around the world is different and that’s okay. We need to be respectful and accepting of everyone, whether they’re the same as us or very different.
  • Even though we might look different, live differently, and enjoy different things, we’re all the same on the inside. We’re all humans!
  • It’s super fun to hear about how other people live and what sort of things they enjoy or their everyday routines.
  • If everyone was the same, the world would be pretty boring. Differences in beliefs, cultures, skills, and interests can enrich our lives and bring new ideas to our world.
  • Hands united togetherIf you respect and get along with all sorts of people, there are many benefits. You’ll have more friends and enjoy living in peace. The world will become a better place.
  • As students grow older, they can enjoy working in a global workforce. At Edublogs, we have people from all over the world on staff. More and more companies are working this way. Geography is no barrier.

Any other ideas? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Quick Language Poll

We know we have students from all over the world taking part in the challenge. Most (not all) are writing their blog posts in English, however, there are lots of participants who can speak another language.

We’d love to know what languages you speak! Take our quick poll below.

Week Five Tasks

This week there are four tasks to choose from that are all about similarities and differences.

Our graphic summarises the tasks and I will explain each task in more detail below.
Week five of the Student Blogging Challenge explores how people around the world are the same and different.

Task 1: Two Types Of People…
Come up with something that you think categorizes two types of people and make an image. Do this at least three times. Add the images to your post and ask your readers to comment.

Mrs. Morris recently came across a fun website called 2 Types of People. It shows a series of illustrations that categorize people into two broad groups.

Mrs. Morris reached out to the creator João Rocha who kindly said we could use his images for the challenge.

Here are some of the images.

  •  

 

Click here for instructions on how to make your slideshow.

Now make your own series of images!

How will you make your images?

  • You could try a tool like Google Drawings, Google Slides, PowerPoint, Adobe Spark, or Canva. Just save your creation as a PNG or JPEG and upload it to your blog like any other image.
  • Or you might have software on your computer (like 3D Paint in Windows) or a drawing app.
  • You could also use some of the websites we mentioned in week three to find free images.
  • You can even draw your own images, take a photo, and upload it to your blog.

Here’s a very quick example of an image I made using Canva. (Canva can be used by under 13s with supervision).

Cat or dog

  • Remember, Alethea Vazquez has a tutorial on how to put a Google Slides presentation together. 

Task 2: Get To Know Your Readers
Do one of the three suggestions below.

Sometimes blogging can be a little ‘one way’ — the blogger writes the posts and the readers read them. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

You can get to know your readers and learn more about your similarities and differences!

There are a few ways you can do this. Here are some ideas:

  1. Make a poll for your readers like the ‘What Language Do You Speak?‘ poll I added above. I used Google Forms to create this.
  2. Interview a Student Blogging Challenge participant, a classmate, or a family member and record some of your similarities and differences in a blog post. You could make a Venn diagram using a tool like this one from ReadWriteThink (see the example below–needs flash).
  3. Write a post with one or more questions that you’d like your readers to respond to in a comment (remember to reply to your comments). Your questions could be things like:
    • What are your favorite sports?
    • What fruits or vegetables do you like best?
    • What do you like to do when you get home from school?
    • What makes you happy/sad?
    • What activities do you like doing with your family?
    • Where is one place in the world you’d like to visit?
    • Anything else! 
Venn diagram made on ReadWriteThink

Note: You can save your Venn diagram as a PDF but I took a screenshot instead.

Task 3: Books
Write a book review or book response. 

Write about a book you’ve read where the character was very different from you. Maybe they lived in a different place, had different interests, had a different family structure or so on.

Don’t forget to include the important details like the author and full title.

Invite your readers to leave a comment. Make your questions “open-ended”. So instead of just, “Have you read this book?” You could invite readers to tell you about their favorite book or author.

One of the great things about reading is you can feel like you’re “walking in someone else’s shoes.”

Fiction can play an important role in helping you learn about different types of people and different perspectives.

There are some great books out there that encourage young people to think about similarities and differences.

 

 

Task 4: Music
Write a post about your favorite type of music. You can add a video clip of a favorite song if your teacher agrees.

Music can bring people together! You might find you a have a similar taste in music to someone else. It can be a good conversation starter.

Or perhaps your taste in music is very different from someone. That’s okay too!

Find out how to add a video from YouTube using Edublogs/CampusPress here. (Tip: If you have a free blog, use the URL method).

Example of an embedded YouTube clip

I’ve been teaching music to prep (kindergarten) students so we’ve been finding some lots of fun songs. I really like this one because we all enjoy doing the actions.

It is called The Silly Song and is by an Australian group called The Fairies.

 

Submit Your Post URL to the Form

If you want a commenter and other participants to visit your blog, remember to fill in the Google Form with the URL of the post you published for this week’s task.

If you complete more than one task, please choose your favorite one to submit.

Remember to include the URL of the actual post (copy and paste it so it’s correct).

Examples of post URLS for STUBC