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Unlock your class's creativity with these incredible storytelling videos and activities. Students will love learning about the key components of creative writing while exploring the Night Zoo! This set of videos was created by Night Zookeeper, an education website that inspires writing through competition and creativity.
Jim Lerman's insight:
Nicely designed and executed video and activity packs the support students in the elements of storytelling. 
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Via The Scout Report
"The LibriVox site is billed as an "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain." This claim proves to be true; the site provides free audiobooks of public domain works from authors such as Dickens, Chaucer, and hundreds of others to forward their mission of recording all the books in the public domain. First-time visitors can click on the LibriVox catalog to search a title or author to get started. One can also view recently cataloged titles or just elect to browse the entire catalog. The new releases area is a fun way to learn about what has recently captured the attention of the folks at LibriVox. One can even register to help record an audiobook for the site. Visitors are encouraged to sign up for the LibriVox RSS feed and to check out their interesting podcasts as well."
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"Writing can be a daunting tasks for many students. It requires focus, practice, and diligence, all of which students are in the early stages of understanding and many may struggle to master. They are constantly learning new vocabulary, new information, and new ways to convey their ideas.
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"This month, we read about a community writing program that was born out of a mother’s frustration with her son’s schooling, and her interest as an educator to reframe the teaching of writing. In the article we’ll read and discuss, “What’s Radical about Youth Writing?: Seeing and Honoring Youth Writers and Their Literacies,” author Marcelle Haddix challenges the dominant narrative about who is (and is not) considered a writer, a deficit narrative that can result from test-driven writing practices and school literacy assessments. She describes her work with young writers establishing youth-led and youth-centered writing practices in which students write about their experiences, tell stories, and connect to critical cultural conversations. Haddix asks, “How can schools create and sustain teaching and learning opportunities that recognize youth as writers and leverage their writing competence?”
"Haddix’s article describes the frustration of a community underserved by schooling, a community based effort to reach students in the margins, and opportunities for writing to heal, empower, and transform communities."
Jim Lerman's insight:
Interesting approach to our professional development. Read a provocative article, see comments by other readers, and add your own.
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Over 100 stimulating photos to jump start creative approaches to language arts, especially writing.
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"Helping students improve their writing can be an extremely difficult and complex task. There are so many variables present in a piece of good writing that must all work together. Grammar, spelling, word choice, plot, sentence construction, voice — how can a teacher help students improve all of these and still have a life of her own that isn’t consumed by grading? Enter WriQ, a add-on for Google Docs.
"Designed for the teacher and not the student, WriQ is a tremendous tool. The system scores and keeps track of students’ spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors so the teacher can focus on the things that computers can’t score as well. This will save the teacher time and frustration in marking those common errors. You can view a good introductory video on the power of WriQ here. The system auto-scores students’ docs and tracks the following measures over time:"
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Your personal writing coach. A grammar checker, style editor, and writing mentor in one package. The best writing depends on much more than just correct grammar. You need an editing tool that also highlights style issues and compares your writing to the best writers in your genre.
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For English teachers, picking a favorite book is almost impossible! But we asked them to do exactly that during our January #NCTEchat, New Year/New Ideas. During the chat, we asked educators to share one text (poem, book, novel) that they would recommend every teacher (or student) read in 2018. As you might expect, we received HUNDREDS of wonderful recommendations!
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“Oh, how wonderful! How like thought! How like the mind it is!” Helen Keller exclaimed when she experienced dance for the first time in legendary choreographer Martha Graham’s studio. Graham herself saw a parallel between her particular art and all creative endeavors of the mind, in which “there is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action.”
"That parallel is what Zadie Smith, one of the great thought-artists of our time, explores in “Dance Lessons for Writers,” found in her altogether fantastic essay collection Feel Free(public library) — the source of Smith’s incisive meditation on the interplay of optimism and despair."
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Your blog might be full of inspiring ideas but are people reading your posts? Are they sticking around and returning when you publish new content?
Best Smart Living Posts's curator insight,
December 19, 2018 6:23 AM
Great tips for improving or doing a makeover for your blog.
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ZineLab allows you to make a zine on the web, taking the DIY spirit from zine makers who build print zines. Include all kinds of different media from photo gallery, articles, video, icons and even customize colours and templates. You can save zines, comment and review them. They're also easy to make and share across the web.
Jim Lerman's insight:
This appears to be an effective way for a student, or group of students, to stay on top of a theme (over time) or a medium to long range project by publishing their own zine. Also, an additional means at a teacher's disposal for alternative assessment. Via Nik Peachey, Jim Lerman
Nik Peachey's curator insight,
November 23, 2018 12:39 AM
This looks very early stage, but also looks like an attractive way to get students publishing project work.
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The best writing apps for iPad, like any concept of ‘best,’ is subjective and further based on need and circumstance. Via John Evans
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Quick, fun, inquiry-based questions to get students thinking critically, discussing positively, and supporting their opinions! Created by Josh Dahn, head of school at Ad Astra.
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Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
January 13, 2019 11:57 PM
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THE FIX FOR IGNORED FEEDBACK
"The solution was remarkably easy and accidentally originated out of my laziness (score one for being a little lazy!). Last year, kids had turned in essays on Google Classroom, but rather than pasting a completed rubric into their essay as I usually did, I made hard copies of the rubric and wrote on them. This meant that I could return papers with comments but without grades.
"And from this a whole new system was born: Return papers to students with only feedback. Delay the delivery of the actual grade so student focus moves from the grade to the feedback.
"The simple act of delaying the grade meant that students had to think about their writing. They had to read their own writing—after a few weeks away from it—and digest my comments, which allowed them to better recognize what they did well or not so well. The response from students was extremely positive; they understood the benefit of rereading their essays and paying attention to feedback. One boy said, “Mrs. Louden, you’re a genius. I’ve never read what a teacher writes on my essay before, and now I have to.”
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Scooped by
Jim Lerman
January 13, 2019 1:25 AM
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Here's how teachers can prepare English language learners at three levels of proficiency for critiquing and writing arguments.
How in the world are we supposed to apply the Common Core writing standards to teaching English language learners?
We've been asking that question of ourselves and others over the past two years, and we suspect we're not the only educators doing so. After reviewing the many resources available that attempt to provide guidance to teachers of English language learners (see "Resources of Note") and combining what we've learned through our daily classroom experience, we've developed a tentative answer to that question.
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Rescooped by
Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
January 9, 2019 1:07 AM
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Are you looking to save time blogging? Blog management is easier with these 137 blogging tools. The tools are all free, easy-to-use, and personally tested.
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Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
January 8, 2019 9:52 AM
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"A new Google Docs add-on can help with that. Story Speaker allows students to easily create interactive “choose your own adventure”-type stories that are then read by any Google Home device."
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Jim Lerman
January 2, 2019 10:17 PM
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"Innovative educators are generally good fact checkers and don't fall for chain social posts like the one making its rounds about seeing the same 26 people on Facebook. They know to verify and that even a basic search on The Google will help you find out if what you are reading is fact or fake.
"A reason so many people were quick to believe "the same 26 people" story is because Facebook does have an algorithm that limits the posts you see. Fortunately, there are fast, simple, and logical ways to change that.
"If you really want to see more posts on your feed, here's what you can do."
Jim Lerman's insight: This post by Lisa Nielsen is more important than ever in this era of growing concern about manipulation by or with Facebook.
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Rescooped by
Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
December 27, 2018 7:58 PM
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"Going back to the toots of digital gaming to find an unexpected treasure for teaching and learning ..."
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Rescooped by
Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
December 16, 2018 9:11 PM
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"Speakd is a free Google Docs add-on that will read your documents aloud. When you have Speakd installed in Google Docs you can open the add-on and press play at any time to hear your document read aloud. Unlike some other text-to-speech tools, Speakd doesn't require you to copy and paste text to hear it read aloud."
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Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
November 30, 2018 7:12 PM
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"We’ve compiled these prompts into a resource for students. With 50 new blog post ideas to explore, “blogger’s block” should be a thing of the past!
Scroll down to find a printable PDF.
Wait! We’re Not Blogging Yet!
If you’re keen to get a blogging program happening in your classroom, the easiest option is to work through one of our free, self-paced courses.
You might be particularly interested in:
"Blogging With Students: This course is designed for teachers who want to set up a class blog (and then possibly introduce student blogs).
"Blogging Bootcamp: This is a course students can work through at their own pace to learn about blogging.
"Also, look out for our next guided Student Blogging Challenge which will begin in March, 2019. You can sign up to receive an email when registrations are open."
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Rescooped by
Jim Lerman
from Into the Driver's Seat
November 27, 2018 8:56 PM
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"When my son was in the fourth grade, he had a teacher who inspired her students to love writing. They wrote picture books and blog posts and filled their journals up with persuasive essays and personal narratives. They met regularly for their writer’s workshop and, over the course of the year, they began to view themselves as authors and writers.
"My son would finish his chores early in the morning and hop onto the computer to start writing. During the summer, he formed a writer’s workshop and co-write stories on a shared document.
"Because of a teacher.
"An innovative teacher. Now, she didn’t design everything from scratch. Her creative genius was that she knew how to curate resources and find the right tools to help her students fall in love with writing.
"I believe that the most powerful element for helping developing writers is the role of a teacher. Yes, teachers are artists and architects, but they also need tools. This is why I created Video Writing Prompts. These are a suite of tools that you can add to your toolbox. Sign up below to get a set of prompts and updates each time I create a new one.
"The website is still in beta but within the next few weeks, you'll be able to download every prompt straight from the site. That way, you can access the prompts, even if YouTube is blocked in your school."
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Rescooped by
Jim Lerman
from Cultivating Creativity
November 21, 2018 8:26 AM
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"Thirteen educators talk about the impact that publishing work beyond the classroom has had on their students.
"We asked teachers whose classes have submitted to our contests and writing-prompt forums why they have students write for us and for other publications. Here are their answers."
Jim Lerman's insight:
These suggestions apply to most means of student expression, not just writing. Making student work public, and not just for the teacher and Mom and Dad, remains a most important factor in student motivation.
