Halloween is a fun time of the year and a great opportunity to show your creativity while developing connections with others.

Mr. Evil Cheese Scientist via Compfight

 

Activity 1: Dress up your blog for Halloween, then write a post explaining where you found all the headers, images, widgets and tell your readers why you chose each one.
The title for this post should be SBC 4:1 Title.

Events like Halloween and Christmas are ideal for dressing up your blog.

Here’s some ideas on how to dress up your blog:

• Add a Halloween picture to your header or background.  You’ll find lots of great Halloween images that are free to use on Pixabay.  For help, refer to uploading a custom header and uploading a custom background.
• Add an animated gif to your background.  You’ll find some free animated gifs on FG.A.com
• Add some fun Halloween Widgets.  You’ll find a list of cool Halloween widgets on Homeschool Towers Spice up your blog for Halloween post and lots of other ideas on how to make over  your blog for Halloween!  The instructions on how to add a text widget show how to add a widget using embed code.
• Change to a Halloween Style theme.  The theme Monster on Edublogs was originally designed for Halloween.

Activity 2:  Write some poetry or spooky story about Halloween.  Include pictures!
The title for this post should be SBC 4:2 Title.

Write a poem or a spooky story about Halloween and remember to include some images to show what you learnt from last week’s challenge on using images.  We’ve been seeing limericks, cinquains, and haikus in the GitMs!  Those are great models for poems.

Activity 3:  Write a post about how you celebrate Halloween or the History of Halloween.
The title for this post should be SBC 4:3 Title.

Halloween is celebrated in lots of different ways around the World.  Read If Only Best Birds Sang ‘Halloween traditions with photographs‘ post to learn how they celebrate Halloween in Ireland.

Now write a post to tell everyone how you celebrate Halloween where you live or write a post on the History of Halloween.

Activity 4:  Show off your Halloween creativity using some different tools such as powtoon, thinglink, padlet, glogster, soundcloud, poll daddy and embed them into a post.
The title for this post should be SBC 4:4 Title.

There are many cool interactive tools that you can embed into post that create opportunities to grab attention and engage readers in ways that aren’t achievable using text and images.  You’ll find examples of popular tools that you can embed here.

Now choose one (or more of these tools) to show off your Halloween creativity and write a post that includes your embed tool.

Still have more time?

1. Visit other blogs either class or student – choose bloggers from other countries, maybe you will start getting some dots on your clustrmap or some flags on your widget.
2. Check out the magazine on the sidebar – are you featured in there yet?
3. Also check out the One World Our World magazine – this is where I am flipping the Raise Your Voice posts
4. Leave a comment on a challenge blog post linking back to your post so Miss W can visit and leave you a comment.

Miss W visiting your blogs

Starting this week, Miss W will only be visiting blogs where students or classes have left the post URL in a comment with an explanation of why you chose that activity. You will need to wait until it has been published by Ms. Kojima before giving Miss W your URL.

Check out the difference between a blog URL and a post URL:

Blog URL: http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org

Post URL : http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/2015/10/10/raise-your-voice/

Duncan Hull via Compfight

 

A post looks a lot more interesting if you have included an image, as long as it relates to the topic you are writing about.

But where can you get these images?

I’ll Google it

NO NO NO

Not every image on the web can be used in your blog. You need to find ones that have a creative commons license and then you need to give attribution to the owner of that image somewhere on your post.

What’s attribution?

A note to show that someone else took the photo and they have given you permission to use it.

But how can I know that?

Using the correct images, clip art, music and videos is a very necessary skill for both teachers and students. Sue Waters has written a brilliant post showing how to find images, how to give attribution and how to add them correctly to your blog posts.

Please read this post before doing the work this week.

If you want lots of other activities for using images correctly, check out our post from the March challenge. This includes a couple of videos you could use in class regarding images.

We have a plugin called Compfight. Here is part of the teacher’s post that Sue Waters has written about using this on your blog.

To activate, go to dashboard> plugins> find compfight and click on activate> then go to settings and change to look like mine above – #4 is what Miss W actually changes.

………………………………………………….

Time now to get to the activities:

Many students mentioned in their About Me posts about their love of family and doing things with them like playing volleyball with cousins, or going camping during summer.  So the activities for this week will need an image included.

Activity 1: Write a post about a favorite time with your family.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:1 [Title].

Include an image with attribution. If using an actual image of your own family, you need permission from your parents and everyone shown in the image. Make sure you mention in the post that you have permission to use this and maybe that it is copyright to your family so no one else may use it without your family’s permission.

Activity 2: Write a post about a person who has passed away.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:2 [Title].

Maybe a family member who you have a picture of in your family archives. Or maybe a famous person from your town or country.

Activity 3: Have a relative write a post about their parents or grandparents.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:3 [Title].

They could tell you about their parents/grandparents or you could interview them and ask questions. Find an image of something that was happening in the world during that person’s lifetime. Remember to give attribution.

Widgets

• Many of you are now starting to get visitors to your blog. They may come from your own country or maybe from overseas.
• How do you keep a record of that?
• You add widgets to your blog sidebar. Sue Waters from Edublogs has written a post including 42 widgets including ones mentioning visitors to your blog.

Activity 4: Add at least one new widget to your sidebar and write a post explaining why you chose that particular widget.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:4 [Title].

Activity 5: What have you learnt about using images on your blog? Write a post, create a poster or video explaining your understanding now.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:5 [Title].

Activity 6: Write a post using an image as a prompt. Make sure you have a translate widget on your blog for your visitors to use. Check out the Serbian students linked on this sidebar.
The title for this post should be SBC 3:6 [Title].

Still have more time?

1. Visit other blogs either class or student – choose bloggers from other countries, maybe you will start getting some dots on your clustrmap or some flags on your widget.
2. Look out for another special event post coming soon – lots of creativity for this one.
3. Check out the magazine on the sidebar – are you featured in there yet?
4. Also check out the One World Our World magazine – this is where I am flipping the Raise Your Voice posts

Visit these posts from previous weeks which can’t be flipped to our magazine:

Online vs real life – Rachel & Kelly, Walaa, Shay, Isabel, Brianna, Pailyn, Jessica,

Avatars – Miss Brunton’s class,

About me – Kaitlyn, Anthony, Hannah, Elijah, Kaylynn, Jaaron, Emilee, Logan, Cheyanne, Cade,Michael, Chase, Jason, Taylor, Mrs Powers, Autumn, Hailey, Kendall, Brieanna, Zoe, Isabel,Roque, Liam, Grace, Mary Ellen, Caitlyn, Liam,

Commenting guidelines – Lucy used Powtoon to create a video, Mrs McKelvey’s Bloggin’Frogshave created a video, Dinah used bitstrips for her guidelines,

Commenting post – Kataeya, Michael,

Check out the comments on this post: Faithful Leadership students,  Blog action daysuggestions

Darcey included a video she created for her RaiseYourVoice post

Raise your voice posts: Mrs Black,  Roybel, Joscey, Jared, Jesse,  Isabel, McKayla, Noah,Chloe, Kathryn, Daniel, Calvin, Dalton,  Larissa, Kaya,  Maddie, Daltin, Ty, Skylar, Nathanial,Alicia, TyW, Addie, Shane, Trae, Shaylee, Amber, Jayden, Kadi, Clove,

Miss W visiting your blogs

Starting next week, Miss W will only be visiting blogs where students or classes have left the URL to the post in a comment with an explanation.  Ms. Kojima is moderating your posts, so you will need to wait until it has been published before giving me your URL. Check out the difference between a blog URL and a post URL.

Blog URL: http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org

Post URL : http://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/2015/10/10/raise-your-voice/

This Friday is Blog Action Day 2015.

Every year the students and classes taking part in the blogging challenge also take part in #BAD2015

Blog Action Day is one day each year when thousands of bloggers write a post on the same topic.

Read this post to learn about the history of Blog Action Day.

The theme this year is “Raise your voice”

Read this post about why that theme was chosen.

You can add a badge to your blog if you are writing a post for Blog Action Day. Click on the badge and save to your computer, then go to your widget dashboard and drag over an image widget – add the image then copy the link they ask you to add.

Remember to publish your post on October 16 and not earlier in the week

What could you write about?

Ever been inspired by the actions of a person in your community?

They could be an unsung hero who spends their holidays working with the underprivileged, travelling overseas to help build schools, spends Christmas in a soup kitchen dishing out meals to the homeless. Might be a student who spends their holidays volunteering somewhere rather than going to the beach with friends.

Is there an issue that inspires you?

Maybe animal abuse and what you are doing about it. Think about Malala and her role in improving education for girls around the world.

In some countries, you could be put in gaol for blogging about issues that the government doesn’t agree with. Raise your voice for these bloggers and journalists.

How can technology help in times of disaster?

Often the people of a country can quickly work together in times of disaster, before government departments get organized. Think about bushfires, floods, tsunamis, cyclones and hurricanes- how could you raise your voice at this time?

Indigenous people in your country

Often the indigenous people do not have their voices heard especially when it comes to land rights, voting, the environment and multinationals on their land. Raise your voice for the indigenous peoples.

Refugees and immigration

Often the people of a country are prepared to have refugees live in their country while governments may take a more negative route. What is your opinion on how you can raise your voice for refugees?

One group of students in our challenge have a blog about pressing problems from a student perspective. Maybe you could raise your voice with them.

Remember the power of images in your post or videos or audio – maybe interview someone who has been a refugee or is an indigenous person in your community. Ask them about how their voices were suppressed and what you can do to raise their voice!

 

So your post is schedule to go live on Friday but you still have time for more blogging. More things to do:

Visit some of these great posts from our week 1 activities: Dinah – mentor, Mrs Black – teacher,

Check out these students from the Huzzahnians – Talia, Alinna, Kassy, Ben, Nate, Elijah,Autumn, Connor, Kalea, Morgan

Read some of the posts that got flipped to our flipboard magazine in the sidebar – Mrs Shirley’sgrade 6 students are there

Visit the student or class list and start leaving some quality comments – start making connections.

 

How do we know you have done your activity?

CLICK HERE and leave a comment. Make sure you include the URL of your post so Miss W can visit and leave comments. Tell her what you enjoyed most about the activity.

Also great posts get added to our Flipboard magazine on the sidebar of the challenge blog. Your blog must allow search engines to find you to ensure that Miss W can flip your post.

tasteach or Miss W when on the internet (but in real life her name is Sue Wyatt) is who will be leading us in the Student Blogging Challenge.

Miss W a retired teacher who loves blogging, travelling and genealogy. When she is online she is a fairly talkative person as you will notice with her posts and comments, while in real life she is quiet unless with friends.

Activity 1. Are you a different person online than in real life? How do you change or not? Write a post about who you are online versus how you are in real life.
Your title for this post should be SBC Week 1:1 Your title.

When online, you are usually represented by an avatar – these are used in gaming as well as on blogs. An avatar is supposed to represent the real you. Check out hers–Miss W is a white haired lady with reading glasses. She usually has a cup of coffee in her hand and she always wear thongs on her feet – yes that’s they call them in Australia.

 

Activity 2. Create an avatar to use on your blog when leaving comments. Here is a post including some avatar sites . To add your avatar to your blog, if using Edublogs, check here.

• Like Lego figures – click here and here is a post from Brianna about her avatar
• Like comics – bitstrip avatars from Birney Bulldogs
• Will used toondoo to create a family avatar
• Mrs Vazquez’s class used google slides to show off their avatars

Did you find a great avatar site not mentioned here? Write a post about your avatar and how it represents you. *Include a picture of your avatar and a link to the website where you created the avatar.
Your title for this post should be SBC Week 1:2 Your title.

Activity 3. On your blog you also need a page telling us about yourself. Again you could use a variety of tools to embed on your blog. Be creative:

• Write a poem
• Write an A-Z paragraph eg I am an athletic, yet brainy child who decided that saving the environment is one of my future goals.
• Create a tellegami like our mentor Dinah has done
• Create a list of things people might not know about you like Ms Herring has done
• Write a Who am I like Mrs Keane or Mrs Lyttle
• Students in Ireland paired up to create their about us page, Ms Seitz’ class did the same,Mrs Moore’s class are new bloggers
• Penelope, Warrior Kat, Harry,

If using Edublogs, below are instructions for creating your page.

1. Login to your blog, go to the dashboard>pages>add new
2. Change the title to About Me or something similar.
3. If you only have one row of icons above the box, click on the last icon called the kitchen sink or toggle. This opens a second row which allows you to change font colours.
4. In the box, write a bit about yourself remembering to be internet safe. Make sure you have checked out the pages from other students mentioned – many of them have been blogging for a while.
5. When you have finished click the big  button on the right side of your screen – probably says update or send for review.
6. Once you have saved your about me page, go back and delete the sample page.
7. If your theme doesn’t show pages in the header area, then you will need to go to dashboard> appearance> widgets and drag across the Pages one to your sidebar.

Finished the work for week 1?

Then head off to the class or student list above the blog header and start visiting other blogs. You might not want to comment this week but maybe check them out. Are there any students with interests the same as you? Do you have a mentor yet? Have they left you any comments?

Don’t forget: Add the challenge badge to your sidebar – here is link explaining how to do that.

How do we know you have done your activity?

You go back to the original post and leave Miss W a comment. Make sure you include the URL of your post so I can visit and leave comments. Tell me what you enjoyed most about the activity.

Also great posts get added to our Flipboard magazine on the sidebar of the challenge blog!! So cool!!