Digital communication is synonymous with 2020. Maybe more so now than ever before, being able to clearly and professionally chat online is something students should be practicing. Adults too for that matter. Let's be honest...were we ever really all that impressed by emails and comments left by our coworkers? 😜

Comments and emails need to be direct, concise, and professional. This can TOTALLY be taught at the elementary level and beyond!

Sure, we're working to encourage a generation of texters that short notes can be both grammatically correct and detailed even if they're brief. Will they be resistant? Probably. But as soon as they start receiving clear and meaningful messages from their classmates, they'll be hooked! Trust me on that one.

In my 1:1 classroom, I used Google Slides and Google Docs daily. Even when we weren't separated by distance learning, having students leave comments on each other's digital work amped up our classroom community so much!

So how do we encourage this? First things first! We need to make sure our learners are comfortable with the tools for leaving comments. Here's how it's done:

This information and more is included in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE.

Click the image at the bottom of this post to get your copy today!

Leaving Comments on Google Slides/Docs

Step 1:
Click the comment button in the upper-righthand corner.

Step 2:
Select “Comment”

Step 3:
Write an AWESOME comment!

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OK, now that we know how to leave a comment, what kinds of things do we want our students to write about? Remember, this reaches way farther than the classroom (my favorite kind of skills to teach!).

Social VS Scholarly

There's a time to be social and there's a time to be professional. Comments on our classmates' work are definitely something to take more seriously. After all, we want to make them feel good about their work, don't we?

Knowing someone took the time to read something you've written AND to leave a thoughtful, well-crafted comment can really brighten someone's day **cough cough...feel free to do so at the end of this post 😉 **

Social Comments are more appropriate for Instagram and texting. It's the kind of writing that doesn't offer much in the way of feedback or effort. Here's an example from my TPT resource:

Scholarly Comments, on the other hand, offer so many different things! These all-important types of comments are...

✔ Connected to the content

Your comment shouldn't come from left field. If the author wrote about the dangers of chopping down trees in the rainforest and you choose to comment on the font they chose or what you're doing after school, you've missed the mark.

✔ Connected to something learned in class

Don't you just love when a student refers back to a lesson you taught them? Not only is it an absolute teacher win, but it also helps the commenter and those reading the comments recall important skills.

Providing students with sentence starters can really help with this!

This reminds me...
Your use of ____ helped me understand ____!
I like how you used ___ to explain(show/inform/etc.) _____.

✔ Starting or continuing a conversation

Questions, new ideas, explanations, reminders, suggestions, connections -- they're all welcome comments!

What's not acceptable? Just saying, "I like this," or "This looks good." Nobody gains anything from that. Show your friends you've actually read their work by being specific when commenting!

✔ Challenging someone’s point of view

While all of the skills outlined here helped create a strong classroom community for me and my students, this one played a particularly big role.

I always explain to my students the importance of thinking critically about what they're reading. Especially in today's world with information being thrown at us from every direction, we need to be prepared to ask the hard questions and challenge the thoughts of the writer. That being said, this must be done respectfully and kindly.

Ask a question. Think outside the box. Be willing to give constructive feedback. Above all, do it with empathy.

How would I feel if someone left this comment on my work?
Am I providing this writer with a different perspective or am I insulting his/her beliefs?
Will this help improve the overall quality of their work?

Getting our students to write valuable and thoughtful comments on their fellow classmates' work is so worth the effort for all involved. In fact, the earlier we get them practicing it the better!

That's why I'm offering this FREE and interactive Google Slides presentation on my TPT store. Click the image to get your copy! 😁

A special shoutout to Krista Wallden of Creative Clips for her always adorable clipart!

Happy commenting!