Using Blogs as a Resource

I used a blog for a communication with parents of my first grade students last year. I posted information about upcoming and current events, current areas of study, vocabulary words, and videos of students doing author's chair. I had about 30% of parents check the blog on a regular basis and only 3 parents would make comments. I felt like this was a good way to use a blog in a 1st grade classroom because the students would not be able to read it and make comments on the posts on their own. I would take time every other Friday to view the blog on the projector and read it together with the class. The students and parents really enjoyed it, but it was more of an online newsletter.
When I move into a library, I would like to use a blog for book clubs where I have the students make comments on posts about books that they are reading. I would also like to show students how to search for blogs that interest them, how to follow a blog, and how to set up a Google Reader page so they can bring all their blogs to one place. I believe that students can gain a lot from blogs that are interactive.