Barb and Anita, the AT presenters, have an awesome Writing Task Analysis web that stretches about four feet. It at give you a sense of what a student who struggles faces.. Students with challenges need a strong motivation to write. One successful strategy is to write for real purposes. Here is a list of websites that give
students a real reason to write.
Tikatoc is a “National Parent Award” winning website where young writers can write and publish their own picture books. They can create their own stories or choose a story spark. Using the templates provided for the page layouts, students write the text, and illustrate their book by uploading their own drawings or pictures or find pictures on line, and print it. There are step by step instructions for students. A hard copy can be purchased or a digital copy can be downloaded for 2.99. Teachers can create a free account, enabling collaborative writing projects.
For an easy way for students to share ideas and collaborate by blogging, “Kidblog” has been designed for elementary and middle school teachers to make it as simple and functional as possible. The teacher creates a class and students can just select their names to login and can immediately begin to create a post. The layout is clear and there are no advertisements. A simple link enables students to find other students’ blogs easily. The teacher controls the blogs but posts can be viewed by a third party with a password (such as a parent). Compared to Word Press and Edublogs, the process is more teacher and kid-friendly.
The “ePals” website is dedicated to connecting students in classrooms around the globe. Students can click on a map of the world and use the drop down menu to find an ePal in the country of their choice. The site has collaborative projects that students can participate in to develop a greater appreciation of what it means to be a global community. Teachers can register for a free email service called “SchoolMail”.that features collaboration tools.
The “My Hero Project” was set up by a group of parents as a way for people from every country to share the stories of people who have touched their lives. Students can view many biographical entries, videos and art about people who have made a difference and can submit their own written and multimedia projects of individuals who have inspired them. There are helpful guidelines for writing a quality article or creating a video presentation. There is even an international film festival that students may submit their entries to ‘celebrate the best of humanity’ with categories for elementary, middle, high school, college students and others.
“Spine Breakers” is a site (by Penguin Books) for students from 13 to 18 where they can share their ideas and written and multimedia material. There are reviews, alternate endings to books, illustrations, short stories, poems and comments which they can read, view or listen to or create their own to submit. Contributing is simple and it does not require registration to participate, but students can join and become a “Spinebreaker” which is free.
The “Make Literature” site is a writing community whose aim is to have writers work together to “reach the best story line and start to build a new book on it”. Students can submit anything, from the fragments of a story line to a full short story. Budding writers can subscribe for free, but guests can post as well. It has some simple guidelines for writing a story line, which serve to focus a student on the task. Students will enjoy reading the story lines or stories and can post comments and reviews.
On the “Share What You are Reading” website (by Scholastic), students from K to Gr. 12 can write a review of a book they have read and share it with other students. There are reviews of a large collection of books which are listed alphabetically by title and by genre or grade of the reviewer To guide students in writing an effective review, there is a hyperlink to “Writing with Writers”, by author Rodman Philbrick (http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/index.htm). Students can then publish the reviews on the “Share What You are Reading” website. They are screened for appropriate content, but not all reviews get published. Reviews vary in quality. The site makes the task very doable for even a struggling writer.
For older students who are interested in songwriting, the “Ultimate Songwriting” site offers a general guide for beginning to write songs and many other features for budding song writers. Students can read songs by others and critique them or they can submit their own songs for feedback( http://www.ultimatesongwriting.com/lyrics-critique-for-songwriters-3.html) It supports the collaborative aspect of song writing. A blog on the site enables students to share their own song writing joys and struggles. This site is in the top 1% of sites for volume of users.
“Strip Generator” is an on-line comic creating community. Registration is free and students can create comics using a bank of characters and props, templates and text bubbles. Cartoons created can be viewed and commented on. Additional theme packs of characters and props are available for purchase. There are many comics to read, view, share and collaborate on
“Monster Exchange” was developed to encourage integration of technology and collaboration. Groups of students create a monster on paper or using a drawing program and then describe it. The teacher uploads the written descriptions for a partner classroom anywhere in the world and they try to recreate each other’s monsters. Then both classrooms upload the drawings and compare it to the original pictures. Pictures, description and redrawn monsters are uploaded using their “Monster Gallery Builder” which does not require a HTML code. It has proven to be a very successful interactive project for students in late elementary.
On the “School Tube” website, students can watch a wide variety of videos produced by students and screened to assure they are suitable for school viewing, and write and produce their own videos to upload. Each day, staff screens the emails and features one a day on their website. Teachers can register to create a free channel for their school or classroom. When they register their class, teachers can become moderators of their students’ videos so that they can go live right away. There are video contests that students can participate in with prizes, although the contests usually are directed to Gr. 9 to 12 classrooms.
Posting a message to the troops is a real writing task that students can do to raise the morale of military personnel who are far from home. Students can log onto this site and write a message. There are guidelines listed to insure students’ messages are posted .By logging into the national defense site, students can email soldiers directly.
