Classroom Blog Uses in First Grade

Upon thinking about the uses of blogging in first grade, I came up with a few ways that blogs could be incorporated into my classroom.  For starters, it could easily remain as an interactive communication device between parents and me.  Feeds could be about what we are currently working on in class and how parents could support the learning at home.  I have already discussed this idea with several of my students’ parents, and they were very excited with the opportunity to help direct their child’s learning and offer ways to further enrich the curriculum through their various expertises from their occupations.  For example, while working on our drawing skills, one parent who is a physical therapist, has suggested how they could post exercises that promote fine motor skills for other parents to practice with their children at home too.

Another useful tool would be to display and discuss student work.  While my students are not able to write much, what they can do they are very proud of.  Displaying their work with an audio file of them discussing their work would be very exciting to them.  In a way, the blog would then be a classroom portfolio that would demonstrate students’ growth throughout the year.  We could easily return at any time to discuss student work and what skills they have developed from posts that are months apart.  This is a skill that I always struggle with because students frequently misplace their work or have taken it home  when it would be nice to refer back to on occasion during the closures of our workshops.  This digital copy would ensure that their work is always readily available.

What are your thoughts on blogging in the primary grades?  Given the limited ability of younger students, I would love to hear anyone’s creative ideas for including them more in the blogging process in a way they would comprehend.