Using Technology to improve writing class

Web Resources and Strategies for Teaching 6 Traits of Writing for Elementary TeachersThis presentation will focus on Writing topics pertinent to all Writing teachers and will include resources for the 6 Traits of WritingPresenter: Katie HuberKatie.huber@fortthomas.kyschools.usWhy should we care about technology in Writing class?Our students come to class more equipped than ever before to work with technology in the classroom and there are tremendous resources available to teachers in the area of Language Arts.

Examples of technology to be discussed-websites-blogs-apps-sites and other applications that allow students to record presentations/speaking-Podcasts to save for students to view on their own time as a resource-Document cameras-online penpals as authentic writing-Track Changes in MS Word6 Traits of WritingIdeas-the piece is focused and conveys the message clearly to an audienceWord Choice-the author uses good words, strong verbs and adjectives etc.Organization-the writing is organized into paragraphs and follows the form correctlyVoice-the piece sounds like the writerSentence Fluency-sentences that begin with a variety of words and are different lengthsConventions-the nuts and bolts; grammar, punctuation and spellingExamples of Great WebsitesWritingfix.com

http://www.english-online.org.uk/games/grofdoom/advisory.htm (great game that requires grammar skill and thinking)

Brainpop.com

http://www.readwritethink.org/

http://www.safeshare.tv/

http://www.safeshare.tv/w/RjXVfBDYEZ

Blog options-Does your school website have a blog component? SchoolPointe does.http://www.fortthomas.kyschools.us/olc/teacher.aspx?s=125

Other blogs: kidblog.orgEdmodo.com (kind of a Facebook meets Blackboard)

AppsI found the following app for my iPhone 4 and think its pretty decent for voice to textI use it for a student that has great ideas but cant get them on paper although it does not put in punctuation so he has to spend more time editing to get his sentences set up the way he wants them toDragon Dictation-green with white lettering-Dragon

Pic of Apps

Apps contdIdioms app-English Idioms Illustrated-by Robot Media-Free app but only gives the first 23 free and then you can buy the rest for a few dollars; App looks like a blue box with an abstract face using as eyesIve shared this app with some students that are trying to spice up their writing and they found it usefulGrammaropolisSites and other apps that allow for recording/speakingVocaroo.com- allows you to record and save a copy of the recording on your webpageYou can also record on your SmartBoard with the record feature-it only records what is said and what happens on the screen, my students think it looks like an alien drawing on the board when they see itVoki.com-type in text and it will project the words for students to hear (great for lost voice)

PodcastsPodcasts are a great way to record information for students to view later. Ive done many podcasts on difficult math topics so they can watch at home, hear my voice and the vocabulary I use in class and see how to solve a problem. Im beginning to use this in my language arts class and will make some grammar reviews along with project information. Research shows students will tune you out after about 3 minutes so keep it short!Link to my webpage

11Podcast Example

Audio Clip from Book Project Podcast on my WebpageClick at the bottom of the screen to access the play button

Document CamerasDid you know you can record on your document camera? Its easy to do and it will record what is on your projector screen. This is another great way to record things for students to view later if you post to your webpage.

Also, saving examples of student work (such as writing pieces) to show what to do or not to do and let the students mark on it. In order to mark on it, you must save the file and open it in the SmartSoftware and then its ready to be written upon .Online penpalsEpals.comhttp://monsterexchange.org/Great examples---show Jerri Paynes room and what they didFor Monsterexchange the students draw and then give directions to a new class on how to draw the monster that they created. Its all about giving clear directions. At the end, students share the original monsters. This was done with a 2nd grade class but I can see that my 5th graders would enjoy it too.Track ChangesWithin Microsoft WordStudents can e-mail you a document and you open it and click Review and Track Changes. You can then click New Comment and the student will see it when you send it back. When they submit it again, you will see the changes that they made so you can verify whether they made the changes that you suggested.Websites with great 6 Traits Resourceshttp://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/sixtrait/menu.htmhttp://so024.k12.sd.us/6%20+%201%20traits.htmhttp://msjacoby.com/6traits.htmlwww.ttms.org/PDFs/05%20Writers%20Workshop%20v001%20(Full).pdfhttp://www.literatelearner.com/6traits/page_template6t.php?f=mainhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp?topic=persuasive

Sites Contdhttp://www.bcschools.net/bcps/Curriculum/ENGLISH%20LANGUAGE%20ARTS/ela/Content%20Curriculum/Writing/Traits%20of%20Writing/JanChappuis_minilesson_conv.pdf(good Conventions activities)http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=activities+for+6+traits+of+writing&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEAQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ksde.org%2FLinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3DZKfUhJ19l-4%253D%26tabid%3D145%26mid%3D8025%26forcedownload%3Dtrue&ei=1uSTUIW2C8L00gHjyoDoAQ&usg=AFQjCNGoOtHcN-x-OjOGRRm9c6RSBpLPIAhttp://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/11/5-excellent-web-toos-for-creative.html?m=1(fantastic writing prompts)educationnorthwest.orgBooks that focus on Writing and the 6 TraitsGoing Deep with 6 Trait Writing Revisers Toolbox-Barry LaneNonfiction Writing lessonsCASL-great resourceRazzle, Dazzle Writing

Example from Going Deep Book

Rubric from Going Deep Book and WritingFix website

Community of Editors (from Going Deep)

From Revisers Toolbox

My research on Revising and EditingExtensive research over the summer for my graduate classes taught me that students need modeling again and again. They also learn best by looking at writing and a model that needs to be improved rather than one thats nearly perfect.Students need to connect with their audience and prompt. If they havent connected with them, their writing wont be great.Students learn best by being given feedback that centers around not just what to fix but also that focuses on skills that they want to improve upon.Students that do not have great problem-solving skills will not easily revise. Those students that know how to think critically of their own or others work will be better revisers.Students need to find ownership in their writing. If teachers only demonstrate surface-level changes (grammar, punctuation, spelling etc) then thats all students will do. If teachers model thinking and questioning the placement of sections etc, students will start to look at their piece as a whole instead of surface-level changes.How to incorporate the Traits into Writing ClassThere are many ways to incorporate the Traits. One of the authors of a fantastic website (Corbett Harrisons Always Write) says that he does a Trait a month beginning with Ideas in August then moving to Word Choice etc. If students arent ready, he doesnt go on. Im guessing he does 5-10 specific Traits lessons a month on that Trait.Another idea is to teach a Traits lesson or two for each major writing piece. This year I am doing that for my Rank 1 work. With the personal narrative in October, I taught each lesson once and added an extra Word Choice lesson in. I did the same thing for my On Demand work in December and January.Still another strategy would be to introduce each Trait in September and then add only those lessons that are needed (based upon student writing samples) for each of the genres covered. educationnorthwest.org ConventionsOne of the best ideas Ive found for Conventions work (which is an area of weakness for my school and district) is to do a Classroom of Editors. Each child gets to show their specialty within editing by signing up for a category (spelling, commas, grammar etc) and then students meet with different children over the course of editing to get their piece read by a collection of experts.

Ways to improve revising and editing in your classroomMany things that you are probably already doing such as reading student work ahead of time to see what skills and sub-skills are needed and by whom. Then pulling just those students (or everyone if its the majority of the class) to introduce or revisit a lesson and topic.Pulling students in small groups, then talk to one or two at a time about what theyre excited about and what they want to improve upon in their writing piece. You are trying to improve the writer, not just the writing!Having conferences where everyone else (or at least a small group of children) can hear is valuable. They will learn from overhearing your conversation.Student goals: let students write goals for themselves for a unit of writing, the semester or the whole year. Students often have a good sense of their strengths and weaknesses and this is a great way for them to take ownership of their learning! (show the writing example of this!!!!!)Discuss the learning targets during conferences with studentsModel, model, model! Write up some so-so writing pieces for them to mark up. They will love it!Ways to improve Revising and Editing ContdHave students look at published work and discuss how it could have been made better by revising and/or editing. Its amazing the mistakes you can find!Revising for a specific skill or Trait. Some of the great work (especially on writingfix.com) works with a mentor text which could be a picture book, part of a novel etc that asks the children to do something while they listen to it and that leads to a discussion of a Trait. When children understand that Traits are good things that should be in writing, they can work to being better at doing that Trait. Such joy when they do!Traits Strategies List- this is my most prized project this year!Have students mark in the margins of someone elses (or their own) work what Traits the piece is strong and/or weak in. When students see what Trait to focus on, they can look at their list of strategies or ask someone else and they know what to focus on.Have students look for 2 Ps and 1 Q when they do a peer review (2 bits of praise and a question); this really seems to work well!

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