Title: Tips for Publishing a Great Post
Course: Book Blogs - Journals for Book Club Discussions (Grades 3-8)

"We're counting on you!"

That's the attitude your group members have as they eagerly anticipate the publishing of your weekly posts. They're counting on you, because each week you have a unique "job" to do. You are the only member of your group completing your task (e.g. Character Analyzer) that week. As such, in order to have a robust discussion, your group members need you to do a wonderful job on your job!

Part of your post for the week is a summary of the section you read. But note, the summary is not the most important part of your post. Many students will spend an hour composing a detailed retelling of the story, and then spend 5 minutes thinking about their job for the week. This is backwards!

A summary should be just that: a highlighting of the important events and characters from the current section. The summary should be about this week's section only! Don't review the beginning of the book each week. Just highlight your most recent reading.

As stated above, your "job" is the part that's most important in your post. Take time to take brief notes (on Post-Its) as you read that will help you remember your thoughts when it's time to compose a post. Your mind can quickly go "blank" if you don't give yourself some hooks to grab onto when you finish your reading. You'll thank yourself for taking notes when it's time to publish your post! Taking time on the "job" part of the post will also help your group members whose job it is to comment on this portion of your writing. Give them plenty of ideas, observations, and opinions to comment about.