Accessing the Blog
1. Go to Access Library Page (www.tinyurl.com/accessatoms)
2. Click on “Online Book Clubs”
3. Click the teacher’s name
4. Select the book club you are leading
Once on the Classroom Blog—How do I find my groups’ page?
1. Click “Book Groups” from the top menu bar
2. A drop down menu will appear with the book titles
3. Click on your group’s book title and you will be taken to your page
4. If the whole post from that week does not appear, click “Continue Reading” to see the entire post.
Logging In—How do I Log In and Leave a Comment on a Post?
1. Under the weekly post, click on “Leave a Comment”
2. A comment box will appear at the bottom of the page.
3. You must enter a valid email address and your name in order to comment.
Threaded (nested) Comments—How do I reply to a Student’s Post?
In order to create a dialogue, it is best to reply directly to the comment you are responding to.
Be sure to click the, “Leave a Comment” link, directly under the comment you are replying to.
Weekly Schedule (example)
Before 3 pm Monday—Parent leader posts initial response to weekly question
Monday-Wednesday—Students post initial response to weekly question
Wednesday-Friday—Students respond at least 2 more times to posts made by others in their group
Wednesday-Friday—Parent leader also responds to student responses, encouraging
conversation and asking authentic questions or for more detailed responses.
What is expected of me as a group Mentor-Participant?
Read the Book
We would like you to read the book at the same pace as the students. Each week we will
have a deadline posted for what pages need to be read by the end of that week.
Model Responses
There will be a new posted discussion question on the blog each weekend. We would like
the group leader to be the first person to respond so the students can see a response modeled by
an adult. These responses need to be posted before Monday afternoon when students do their
Example Response: stating the main problem of the book and the readers’ predictions about
what will happen.
“The main problem of the book is Melody wants to be understood, and viewed as a normal
girl in society. The medi-talker does help her communicate, but she still has issues trying to
keep up with conversations. Many of her classmates don’t talk to her or acknowledge her.
Many times people will be overly nice or simply ignore her. The people who do understand
her, her family and Ms. V, have a hard time understanding how she is feeling at times as
well. My prediction is as Melody grows older, and continues to improve her skills with the
medi-talker, others around her will begin to understand who she is, and how intelligent she is.
This can already been seen by her getting all the questions correct on the kids’ quiz tryouts.
Some of her classmates and teachers are seeing that just because she has a physical disability, she is still an extremely intelligent and kind person. By the end of the book I think many people who interact with her will realize what an amazing person Melody is.”
-(example parent response)
Maintain/Monitor Discussion
Students will be expected to post his/her initial response to the weekly question by
Wednesday. Once they have posted their initial response, they are expected to reply to other
group members’ comments at least two more times before Friday
We would like you to monitor and model responses to student comments throughout the
week.
For example, if a student’s comment is minimal or vague, post a response asking them a question to draw out more information.
Example Reply to Student Response:
“Great work, Gabby. I like the fact that you got right to the point in your writing. You
focused on a few details and gave specific information about them. I feel like I get a good,
general understanding of the story from your description. It’s interesting to think about what
Nate would do with the money if he won the “Million-Dollar Throw.” What do you think he
would decide to do?”
