Tuesday, March 17, 2015

21st Century Writing Workshop


Can I be in Mrs. Bogard’s classroom?! I absolutely LOVED this article and am completely inspired to try something similar to her work with my students. If this format can’t inspire and motivate my “I don’t have any good ideas” writers to create something amazing, I would be astonished. How motivating! And I’m already scheming up ideas on how I can purchase a Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. Fund-A-Need, PTO money, our Ted Kooser Endowment Fund. I have to have at least one! I can think of about three students that this would save, even though I know everyone will want to use it.

Thinking to the phases of story writing, planning out a story is the first step and a very important one at that. Below is a graphic organizer I created for a unit called Authors as Mentors.


Our stories in this unit have five pages and it seems like the kids never have all the parts required of them no matter how many times I remind them. I like the idea of structuring the unit with a graphic organizer which lists on each page what information they should draw and then eventually write about. The site I used was Popplet. This site was easy to navigate, easy to create an organizer, and would be easy for a student to draw quick sketches in or upload their own photos with a click of the button. 

Integrating new literacies into my classroom would be refreshing to both my students and myself. Allowing them to create writing without a piece of lined paper and a pencil would immediately engage students in a meaningful and novel way. Production would increase, my constant motivation could subside, and Writer’s Workshop would change from a dreaded time of the day to a much anticipated subject. I’m excited to learn more ways to incorporate technology into writing and explore the different ways to support student learning.
 

3 comments:

  1. Josie, before buying the livescribe pen, take a look at AudioNote Lite app for the iPad. It allows kids to draw and record their voice too.

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  2. I really enjoyed reading about Mrs. Bogard's classroom too!! I think the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen would really help those students who struggle in writing. I hope you are able to find some funds to buy some.

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  3. Hi Josie, Mrs. Bogard's article motivated me as well. I had my first graders plan, then record their ideas as part of their pre-writing process. They were highly motivated and their stories were great. Once all students have a device, I can see this being a regular part of the pre-writing process.

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