Imaginative use of Voicethread as a narrated video slideshow to demonstrate construction of book casts by 4th graders intended for viewing by 1st and 2nd graders. -JL
Via tom jackson
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![]() Imaginative use of Voicethread as a narrated video slideshow to demonstrate construction of book casts by 4th graders intended for viewing by 1st and 2nd graders. -JL Via tom jackson No comment yet.
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![]() This collection of videos, writing, reflections, and resources is one small part of the very rich "Digital Is" website produced by the National Writing Project. It documents and supports the work of middle grade students in writing for social change. -JL From the website: The Change Writers project engages students, teachers, and community activists in thinking deeply about their world and in using writing as a tool for change. The journey we're about to share started in the Summer of 2008, when the two of us traveled to New York City to join the Holocaust Memorial Library Summer Institute. And that's where our on-going conversation started on how we could use writing and technology to connect students around issues of social injustice and to empower them to take social action.
![]() Pop quiz: what is one character archetype that appears in almost every Shakespeare play AND Disney movie? I’ll give you a hint by listing some characters: Bottom, Puck, the Iguana in Tangled, Dori in Finding Nemo, the Clown in All’s Well That Ends Well, the Carpet in Aladdin. Got it yet? Second hint: it’s not a Disney princess.
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From
ijnet
At its simplest, a multimedia story combines different elements that complement one another to make the story more interesting, complete or compelling.
Multimedia storytelling often refers to a blurring of boundaries between media online: newspapers and magazines post video, radio stations post graphics and text, TV outlets offering text along with video and maps. Reporters are no longer bound by their medium, but can draw on the strength of all to tell a better story.
![]() In a record twenty years on television, Law & Order served up 465 somewhat distinct plots. Had the writers used Plotto, they could have provided the police procedural with at least sixty years of dramatic tension.
Via The Digital Rocking Chair
![]() By Shelley Wright I teach in an inquiry, project-based, technology embedded classroom. A mouthful, I know. So what does that mean? To begin with, I don’t lecture. My students don’t take notes, at least not in the traditional sense, and we don’t read a novel and simply answer the questions. Via Alastair Creelman
![]() Just like it says, here are links to 100 sites that support the work of writers. The sites are grouped into categories such as: Getting Organized, Finding Information, Getting Gigs, Networking and Marketing, Staying Grounded, Productivity Tools, Getting Paid, and Protecting Your Livelihood. Excellent collection. -JL
![]() iAnnotate PDF is $10 on iTunes, but it’s worth every penny. I generally use my free Dropbox account to upload PDF versions of documents to “the cloud,” then download them to my iPad with the free Dropbox iPad app to open them first in DropBox. Then I open the file in iAnnotate PDF. Just click the arrow icon in the upper right corner, and after it’s installed iAnnotate PDF should appear as a destination app option. Via John Evans, William Morgan, Jonathan Jarc
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From
tewt
EdTechTeacher presents Teaching English with Technology, a resource created to help K-12 English and Language Arts teachers incorporate technology effectively into their courses. Find resources for English and Language Arts lesson plans, activities, projects, games, and quizzes that use technology. Explore inquiry-based lessons, activities, and projects. Learn about web technologies such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, social networks, Google Docs, ebooks, online maps, virtual field trips, screencasts, online posters, and more. Explore innnovative ways of integrating these tools into the curriculum, watch instructional video tutorials, and discover how others are using technology in the classroom!
![]() Current cost is $45. Many writers swear by Scrivener.
Description from Wikipedia
Scrivener is a word-processing program designed for writers. Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and metadata. This allows the user to keep track of notes, concepts, research and whole documents for reference (documents including text, images, PDF, audio, video, web pages, etc.). After writing a piece of text the user may export it to a full-fledged word processor for formatting.
Features include a corkboard, an outliner, iPhoto-like full-screen mode and "snapshots" (the ability to save a copy of a particular document prior to any drastic changes). Because of its breadth of interfaces and features, it has positioned itself not only as a word processor, but as a literary "project management tool", and includes many user-interface features that resemble Apple's software-development environment Xcode.
Keith Blount created the program as a tool to help him write the "big novel", allowing him to keep track of all of his ideas and research. It is his first application, built mostly on libraries and features of Mac OS X from v10.4 onward. In 2011 a Windows version of the software was released. It is written and maintained by Lee Powell. A Linux version of Scrivener remains available in beta form.
![]() Often referred to as the best university-level online writing resource. -JL
![]() A clever technique to outline one's writing after a draft is completed as a means to edit and revise. -JL
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Via Benjamin Stewart |
![]() Kevin Hodgson's thoughts on development and sharing of mentor texts by teachers for students, particularly in the English classroom. Kevin focuses here on mentor texts in stop-motion animation and video game design, reflecting on their purposes and uses. Don't miss his links at the bottom of the entry that take readers to other bloggers who write about mentor texts and digital compostion -JL
![]() Ever heard of Inanimate Alice? Understand what all the fuss is? If the answer is “no” to either, take a gander below. Oh, and full disclosure: I’m borderline obsessed with media as a rhetorical vehicle, and find its increasingly addictive nature hugely important as digital presence bleeds into physical boundaries, especially in the field of education. If you’re less curious, you may want to do some skimming. This is about as brief as I can get it. Via liaoyong, MrHendricks
![]() There are corporate stories that are alike as two peas in a pod. There are presentations that had better not been given. There are commercials that yell at us but do not seduce. There are speeches that nobody will remember, written for and read aloud by CEO's and political leaders. There are blogs written that are abandoned after the first line. There is 'content' on websites that is as interesting as sawdust. There are storytellers telling stories that only they themselves find interesting ... They all have one thing in common. They don't have an authentic and inspiring story.
![]() Good stories can be good for a thousand and one reasons, but failed stories often fail in the same way.
For the fiction students I teach, one of the most common mistakes is to start in the wrong place. Often the actual story doesn't begin until about a third of the way into their narratives. They start off instead with excessive scene-setting, metaphysical speculation, introducing nonessential dramatis personae, throat-clearing, etc. But there's no need for any of that.
One of the first lessons in writing school is (to paraphrase my great teacher Lee K. Abbott) "a story equals trouble"—that is, no trouble, no story. E.L. Doctorow made the same point, a bit cryptically, when he recommended starting a story "as late as possible." By which he meant as late as possible in the crucial action.
![]() "Impossible!" you say? Look, we can't grade the essays for you, but we can reduce the repetitive, inefficient manual labor involved — and in doing so we open up a new world of invaluable student data. Looks like a great tool for many teachers. Via Kathleen Cercone ![]()
Keith's comment January 31, 2012 11:38 AM
Thanks for the mention!
I'm EssayTagger's creator and we need all the help we can get the word out to teachers! Two quick updates: - We've extended our Open Beta feedback period to Feb 10th so more teachers can try us out while we're completely free. - Early subscribers (commit before Feb 10th, 11:59pm CST) will get their first month for $1. Thanks again and let me know what you and your readers think of the grading app!
![]() THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING PROJECT AND VIDEO. -JL
Posted 12/2/11 by Samantha Adams Earlier this week, Adam Brice, Challenge Based Learning (CBL) educator and assistant principal at Ringwood North Primary in Melbourne, Australia received a tremendous honor. What started out as a video to share the school's CBL project with their community became an extremely valuable asset for education at large. We weren't the only ones to take notice and feel that tug as we watched the young students helping communities recover from natural disasters. Brice's video, below, was just awarded the title of "#1 Educational Video of 2011" by EdReach.
![]() "The iPad is a great tool for students to create and publish their own books. Following up from the previous post on Creating you own iBook, there are now a number of Apps that can be used on the iPad to create your own iBook or eBook App." Via John Evans, William Morgan, Jonathan Jarc
![]() New collection of longer-form videos (approx. half-hour) of teachers teaching. First three are high school English: Adapting Literature for a Screenplay What's Your Perpsective? Challenge the Book Making Sense of Symbols, Patterns, and Themes
More supposed to be coming soon. -JL
![]() This site has a very impressive grammar checker. It not only checks the accuracy of your grammar but also makes suggestions for possible improvements. It can really help to boost your confidence to use something like this before submitting papers etc. It also checks for plagiarism. Via Nik Peachey
![]() Very well organized site for teachers and learners. Starts with a page of links to to nearly 60 focused, 2-page info briefs on specific topics. These are categorized into groups: Type of assignments Types of arguments The writing process Grammar Academic style Using and citing sources
Additional areas include: Getting started Research and reading Draft Revise Citation Guides
![]() Reflections on blogging by Rachael Cayley, a Lecturer on writing and speaking at the University of Toronto. This piece was written 5 months into her blogging career and offers 4 interesting lenses through which to view the academic blogging experience. -JL
![]() Interview with authors of this new book, Martha Pennington and Pauline Burton. |