Shelfari and Summer Reading

[Kate McCarron]

I would like to use Shelfari for our incoming 5th graders to post during the summer about the books they have read.  We would keep the group private and would get parent permissions.  However, I understand now that you are supposed to be 13 to use Shelfari.  Has anyone used it for students who were younger than 13?  Did you receive any opposition or concern from parents?  Thank you.

[Martha Hickson]

As a high school librarian, I haven't had occasion to use Shelfari with students under age 13, but have you considered other options or platforms for this activity? Could you have students join and post to a protected wiki or blog instead? Or how about using safe, secure Edmodo as your social-networking platform?

[Kate McCarron]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I really like the Shelfari interface with adding books to your shelf but will have to try some of the alternatives that you suggested.

[Martha Hickson]

Using a Shelfari widget, you could actually have the best of both worlds, Kate. Create the password-protected blog, wiki, or Edmodo forum to which students under age 13 can safely post. Then as students report and comments on the books they are reading, you can add those books to a Shelfari shelf that you maintain. Shelfari will enable you to get generate code for a shelf widget that you can display on the blog/wiki/forum. The widget will display the shelf that you have created for the group, and students can click on a book to learn more about it.

[Kate McCarron]

Martha-Thank you!  That sounds like a great solution.  That's what I love about this Ning.  I still think that Shelfari should see what is happening out there as many Web 2.0 tool shave created a product for schools-Google, Voicethread, Glogster and Weebly to name a few.

[Kara Ross]

I LOVE Shelfari--I have a bookshelf on the library homepage and it starts book conversations. I like good reads too but that one is blocked by the filter at school. The whole have to be 13 years old thing is really getting annoying. I teach 6th graders everyday in a research class and I so wish I could get them on Shelfari for summer reading. I shall check out Edmodo now.

We use moodle and wikispaces so maybe having a summer reading page on the wiki would be a solution for now.

Thanks for posting the idea.