Week 5 Internet: Storybook Comments

The Week 5 Internet assignment is available starting on Tuesday of Week 5 (after people have had a chance to publish their coverpages). This assignment has three parts:

PART ONE: Tips for making comments. First, please watch this brief video about making good comments. They are third-grade students; I thought it was a very cute video - and yes, these students all blog!

A quick summary of the tips in the video: Compliment the writer in a specific way; add new information; make a connection; end with a question; proofread your comment. 

PART TWO: Commenting on Storybooks. Next, take a quick look at this long list of examples of actual comments on Storybooks, which goes into more detail about the ways you can provide really useful help to people as they work on their projects this semester.

After you have reviewed these tips for providing useful comments, you are ready to move on to Part Three, commenting on four people's Storybook coverpages.

PART THREE: Four Coverpages. You will be leaving comments for four different people about their coverpages - two of them assigned, and two free choice.

• TWO ASSIGNED: Please look at the Storybook list for the class you are in: Myth-Folklore - Indian Epics. You need to look at the coverpages of the two people directly AFTER YOU in the class list. If you are one of the first or second people at the bottom of the list, you need "wrap around" - for the people after you, go on up to the very TOP of the list and start there.
  NOTE: If someone has not completed their coverpage yet (it will be blank), you have another free choice.
• TWO FREE CHOICE: For the other two Storybooks, pick two from the class list, choosing a title that intrigues you for some reason, or you might want to take a look at the project of a person you have gotten to know in the class, etc. 

You need to leave a comment of 60 words minimum for each person about their coverpage. You will leave comments about the Storybooks at the Comment Wall on the Ning Profile page for each person; you will see a link to their Comment Wall next to the title of their Storybook, and there is a box at the top of each Comment Wall where you can type your comment.

Your comments need to be DETAILED and SPECIFIC; the more detailed and specific, the better! If you are not sure what to comment on, here are some questions to get you going:

What is your first impression of the page - specifically, the title (intriguing? exciting? what do you expect to find in this Storybook based on the title alone?), the coverpage image (what kind of mood does it set? what ideas do you get from the image alone?), page layout (how does it look in your browser?), fonts and colors (how do they look on your monitor?), image information (does the link to the image web source  work? is the information placed in an unobtrusive place on the page?).

Would it be good to experiment with changing the title? the image? the layout? Everybody sees things in their own way, so it is very helpful to know how the title and coverpage appear to others who have different preferences, different background knowledge, etc.

Then imagine that you are about to move on to the Introduction: what kinds of questions do you have in mind after having seen this coverpage? If you can let the Storybook author know what kinds of questions you have in mind, that will help in their writing the Introduction. Also, if the Introduction is available, feel free to take a look and provide your feedback on that too!

When you are done, you can complete the Gradebook Declaration.