The beginnings of community: the art (and fun) of the comment.

(Much of this is adapted from Ms. Rear's post. Thanks, Ms. Rear!) 


So now that we've all started posting about our reading, it's time to begin interacting with each other by responding to each other's blog posts.

In order to create a tighter knit reading community, you are now required to create a "blog roll" (or "link list") of the blogs that you want to keep up with regularly.  You are required to comment on at least 3 blog posts from your class weekly.  My hope is that you will get to know each other better as readers (and nonfiction writers) and that you will learn from one another. I  will be checking these responses.

A good, thoughtful blog comment might:
* praise interesting ideas in the original post
* ask for clarification of any unclear parts of the original post
* add the responder's own thoughts to original ideas to build strength
* contradict or challenge (respectfully!) by explaining another aspect or asking a question to further dialogue
* contain connections (to the self, the world, another text, or another part of the same text) to deepen thinking about the post

***  AND good, thoughtful blog responses  always
* are respectful and coherent
* use standard vocab, spelling, and grammar (so that everyone can understand)
* show consideration of the original blogger's work and thought