engaging reluctant writers using e learning tools

Engaging reluctant writers using e-Learning tools.Catriona Penecatriona.pene@core-ed.org

Reluctant Writers.

● Nothing to write about. (ideas)

● No format to follow. (structure)

● Lack of words. (vocabulary and language)

● No reason to write. (purpose)

Then along came... technology!

and everything changed.

What do we want for our students?

● To write with a purpose.

● To write for an audience.

● To experience success.

● To take responsibility but at the same time get the support they need

to improve.

● To be able to see and share their progress.

● To view themselves as writers, authors and publishers.

Ideas.I don't know what to write!!

We want to:

● Give students something to write about.

● Provide them with an experience, framework, image(s), around which

to base their writing.

● Give students exposure to good models of writing.

● Support them with structures.

Piclits.

● http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx

● A resource of images for students to write about.

● Lists of related vocabulary for students to use.

Storybird.● http://storybird.com/

● A visual storytelling community. A global hub of readers, writers, and

artists of all ages.

● Students choose picture packs to write about and then create books

from their stories.

● Books can be saved and shared, emailed to others or embedded into

a blog.

The Literacy Shed.● http://www.literacyshed.com/

● A website for teachers filled with ideas for literacy teaching using

visual resources such as film, animation, photographs and picture

books

● Resources are organised into genre. (mystery, fairytale, sci-fi etc)

Build your wild self. ● www.buildyourwildself.com

● Create a fantasy creature mixing human and animal body parts.

● Describe your creature!

Other sites/apps to inspire writers.

Create-a-car. Android App Online

Create-a-monster. App Android Online

Create a super hero. Online Online

Create a story. Fill in the blanks. Online.

Digital Storytelling Apps.● Let students write about their photos, their work, their experiences

and then easily publish and share.

Pic Collage, My Story, Scribble Press

● Or allow them to record themselves telling their stories.

Puppet Pals, Quick Voice, Story Robe.

Using Green Screen - Put the student in the picture.

● Keynote, Pages.● Apps - Superimpose, Green Screen

Using images, sound files and video to build the imagery before writing.

Using images, sound files and video to share the imagery after writing.

● Real Rain posts on blog.● http://room10sfx.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/rain-has-gone-for-now-at-least.html?q=rain● http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1781310978086000426#allposts

We want to:

● Give students exposure to varied vocabulary.

● Equip them with tools to access rich vocabulary.

● Teach them about language features in a fun and

memorable way.

Vocabulary.Moving past the "I went to the shop.

● Wordle.

http://www.wordle.net/

● Taxedo.

http://www.tagxedo.com/

● Word cloud.

● Visual Thesaurus.

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

● Onomatopoeia.

● Simile.

● Alliteration.

Telescopic Text. ● http://www.telescopictext.org/write/

● Expand a simple sentence into a whole paragraph by adding detail and description.

Sentence Structure.So what goes where??

Monkey business Game.

Sentence Clubhouse.

Patchworker Game.

Kung Fu sentences.

Fill in the blank stories.

Punctuation.What goes where?

● Alien punctuation.

● Punctuation Game 1

● Grammar Blast.

● Gorewrite

Spelling.

● Fearless Frieda Game.

● Spelling City

● Trapped!

● Apps.

Spellosaur Reading Eggs Spelling.

Audience and Purpose.So why would I want to write anyway?

Communicating. ● Emails, digital postcards, texts, photo stories...

Telling Stories.● Writing books, making movies, puppet shows, online reflections, blog

posts...

Blogging.

● Authentic Audience.

● Purpose for writing.

● Reason for quality.

● Sharing with family, friends, and the world.

www.room10sfx.blogspot.com

● A positive class attitude around writing.

● Quality not quantity.

● Students who struggle with handwriting no longer held up in writing.

● While the class is actively engaged in writing activities they enjoy,

you are able to withdraw small groups or individuals to focus on

specific learning areas.

Advantages for you.

My challenge to you is...That you look to using these tools beyond being just

motivators, to using them to enhance learning by providing deep and meaningful writing experiences.

Because really it isn’t about the technology, it’s what you do with it that matters.

and if you haven't already joined...

Virtual Learning Network.

VLN Groups - Blended e-learning literacy.