Interactive Writing Tools

Inspiration from Multi-Media Muses

How often have you heard students say, "I can't think of anything to write"? The fact is, we can assign incredibly specific, prescriptive prompts, but what does that teach students about creativity?

This is where Interactive Writing Tools come in. As I teacher, I have found that these low tech, Internet-based writing tools inspire the most reluctant writers while enabling the most gifted writers to really stretch their imaginations. More importantly, these writing sites will help you to build students' critical thinking skills which are necessary for effective writing.

Every site featured here is student friendly, easy to navigate, and absolutely free! I've limited the suggestions to those I've personally used, but I absolutely welcome recommendations for others. Enjoy these tools, and let me know how you've used them! If you're looking for some online reading sites to accompany these writing sites, be sure to check out my hot new Interactive Reading Sites lens.

For those coming here from my recent NJEA workshop in Atlantic City, welcome! All the sites I mentioned are here, and more! Give yourself some time to check them out, and choose just one or two to try with your students. Their successes will encourage you to try more in the future.

For those who missed the workshop, here's another copy of the session handout.

For teaching resources that are frequently updated, be sure to check out my three highly acclaimed blogs: Teaching that Sticks, Teach with Picture Books, and How to Teach a Novel. You'll find frequent picture book giveaways at my Teach with Picture Books blog, so if you're trying to build your library, it's a great place to bookmark!

If you're always on the lookout for great resources and sites, be sure to follow me on Twitter .

Read Write Think

Instant Writing Lessons and Tools

Read Write Think is probably the premiere site for interactive, student-friendly tools. Sponsored by the IRA (International Reading Association) and the NCTE (National Council for the Teachers of English), this site features dozens of Student Materials (my students call them writing machines) which prompt students to enter original ideas in order to accomplish a writing task.

In addition, the site features hundreds of teacher-developed lessons (searchable by skill category and grade) which make use of these writing machines. At your fingertips, then, are your writing plans for the next few months!

If you're in the market for writing ideas, just browsing the machines and the lessons will inspire you. And if you're a newer teacher looking for ways to integrate technology into your language arts program, this is where to begin. Whereas most other sites mentioned below are designed to give the student inspiration, this one is designed to give the teacher inspiration (and then it delivers the tools to make the lesson happen).

Can you tell I like this site? If you're a teacher, tutor, or parent looking for more inspiration, be sure to check out the Six Authors blog mentioned below.

Writing Fun

Step-by-Step Writing Using Graphic Organizers

Don't be fooled by the title of Writing Fun. Yes, it is fun, but it's anything but a frivolous site. Jenny Eather has created an informative, easy to navigate site which offers students the opportunity to see for themselves how helpful graphic organizers can be to the writing process. She offers multiple examples of how to use each type of organizer, shows where this type of writing is typically used in real-life situations, and then, best of all, provides online writing prompts to guide students, step by step, through the process.

And when I say step by step, I mean that. She literally walks students through the processes with clearly paced, easy to follow steps.

If parents are seeking writing help for their kids at home, this might be a good one to show them.

If you find that this site is too busy and you need a cleaner site to look at models of writing, then the Model Writing Bank mentioned below might be right for you.

Model Bank

For example...

This is a different kind of resource, aimed at the intermediate and high school crowd. Model Bank by textbook publisher Holt, Rinehart and Winston features dozens of clear, well organized models in a variety of genres and purposes including book reports, research papers, autobiography, cause and effect, personal narrative, and persuasive essay. As writing guru Ralph Fletcher says, one of the best ways to help good writers improve their craft is to expose them to good models and what he calls "micro-texts." What's great about these, however, is that each contains interactive margin notes, making this site a great resource for interactive whiteboards or individual student reference. You'll also find a detailed, printable Writer's Guide for each model, and models can be viewed and printed as pdfs for use offline.

At Holt Interactive Writing Models you'll find the same writing models, but in a slightly different format. Be sure to look at both sites to see which makes the most sense for your teaching purposes.

If you're a teacher looking for scored exemplars, check out these Houghton Mifflin Benchmark Papers. Great for popping onto a screen and discussing with the whole class.

Looking for how great authors use words in authentic writing? Check out Notable Sentences... For Imitation and Creation which features some terrific reader-submitted examples of writing which were found in novels that you and I would recognize.

Teacher Tech Resources

If your school is like mine, administrators are always checking to see how you're integrating technology into instruction, Good tech is not an add-on; it's a seamless improvement in your instructional practice. The books below will show you places to start.

Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology

by: Justin Reich, Thomas Daccord

Amazon Price: $25.64 (as of 12/25/2009)

Teaching With the Internet: Putting Teachers Before Technology.

by: Douglas Steen

Amazon Price: (as of 12/25/2009)

The Teacher's Complete & Easy Guide to the Internet

by: Ann Heide, Linda Stilborne

Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 12/25/2009)

The Brainstormer

No More "I Can't Think of Anything"

The Brainstormer is a fun, interactive spinner that provides a random combination of conflicts, characters, and settings. Artist Andrew Bosley came up with the concept, and a friend provided the tech to make it work online. A clever little device that should eradicate that oft heard phrase: "I can't think of anything."

PimPamPum Bubblr

Quick and Easy Short Format Publishing

Bubblr is a simple publishing application that uses the Flickr API (Application Programming Interface) to allow students to search for, and use photos from, Flickr's huge public collection.

So, it simply works like this: a student decides she'd like to write and illustrate a poem about candy. She can search for the photo tag "candy," which brings up thousands of pictures from Flickr which have been permitted (by Flickr users) to be used in noncommercial ways. The student sees a few she likes, so she simply drags them from the mini-gallery at the top of Bubblr's page onto a comic strip-type format in the center of the page. So her illustrations build one by one. Looking at what she has accomplished, the student realizes that one of her poem line mentions jelly beans, yet she hasn't seen any photos of jelly beans yet. She therefore changes her tag search from "candy" to "jelly beans," and voila! Dozens of photos from which to choose. Once she's arranged the photos, she can then add text to each photo, using either a speech bubbble, a thought bubble, or a text box. She publishes the strip, and the project is done! Simply and satisfying! (Users wishing to use their personal photos fro this would, of course, need to upload the photos to Flickr first).

Coming to the computer lab with handwritten poems at the ready, my students were able to produce at least one, and sometimes two, poems in a forty minute period. Some students were much more discerning in their photo choices than others. Case in point: the poem titled "A Day in the Life of a Young New Yorker", created by a young student who dreams of Broadway fame, and is working hard to make those dreams a reality!

Bookr

Another Quick Publishing Site

Bookr is another simple publishing application that uses the Flickr API (Application Programming Interface) to allow students to search for, and use photos from, Flickr's huge public collection. It's from the same production company as Bubblr, and works in the same way.

Here, however, students are creating what looks more like a book, and its pages flip virtually. This would be perfect for a picture book format/picture book length publication, and students can certainly add more pages as they need them.

Some students felt that the text placment was a bit limiting, but most liked the idea of flippable pages. They felt that Bubblr was too much like a cartoon strip, and that serious subjects might not look too serious in that format.

One glitch here to note. While Bubblr had a searchable archive, it doesn't seem that Bookr does. In Bubblr students entered my last name, their class periods, and their personal student numbers, and this formed the author tag. That allowed them to quickly search for, and find, all works created that day in all three of my classes. But Bookr does not seem searchable in the same way. If you figure it out, please email me.

Other Great Teaching Lenses

Keith was up all night working on these!

Like this lens? Keith has written several others for teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and anyone else interested in quality education. Check them out, and offer up some suggestions on what else you'd like to see.

Teaching with Picture Books

Picture books deserve a place in the upper elementary and middle school grades for a number of reasons. Through this site, I hope to make you a true believer! For those wondering, "Are picture books for me?" I've provided thirteen reason...

Interactive Math Sites

Some kids love math! They're good at it, and they enjoy a challenge. Other kids hate math! For them it's hard, or worse, boring! This lens was created with both groups in mind! Whether you're a teacher, parent, or tutor, you'll find thes...

Teaching That Sticks

Teaching that Sticks owes its title and its purpose to the remarkable book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath. As educators, whether in the classroom or in the training room, we are constantly seeking ways to g...

How to Teach a Novel

How can a teacher best approach the teaching of a novel? This lens will break it down step by step, from the abstract notion of “What’s worth teaching in this novel?” to the concrete concerns of “How will students be held...

Around the World in 80 Books

This site is designed as the online companion piece to "Around the World in 80 Books," presented by Keith Schoch at the 2009 NJEA Teachers' Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Here you'll find dozens of helpful links along...

Tikatok

Quality Results in a Quality Publishing Environment

At Tikatok students can create a very sophisticated "book" online. What's so different about this site is that it provides not only story starter ideas (dinosaurs, heroes and villains), but also Story Sparks, which are basically sentence-long plots for your creation. As students work through their stories, they're given prompts along the way, and plenty of tools for customizing text, images, and pages. Finished projects can be saved in many ways, and even published as quality hard cover books. Highly recommended!

Note that because this site is so much more sophisticated than others, students will need more time to work on their projects. Be sure to view the introduction video together. I'd also suggest having stories already drafted, or scheduling the story drafting session as an entirely different lesson from the actual book creation. I also recommend having illustrations either scanned in and available as jpegs, or created using a program such as Sumopaint (below) and likewise saved as jpegs.

Story Bird

Picture Perfect Stories

Story Bird is similar to Tikatok, but with one huge difference. The illustrations are provided. Professional illustrators have uploaded a number of gorgeous images in widely varying styles which will help writers become inspired. It seems that the site makes money when users choose to order hard cover prints of their creations, which in turn earns the illustrators some dough. It also serves as a nice showcase for illustrators who would want their work to be seen by larger audiences. I personally have no problem with either concept!

It's worth a look, because in the case of reluctant writers the images might provide some incentive to write. The finished results are quite impressive as well.

(Note that in several place on the site you'll see beta and sneak peek version. This is a hint to me that they might eventually change over to a pay site).

Writing with Writers

Guided Writing Lessons

This site, sponsored by Scholastic, is somewhat simple in its functions when compared with others here, but is perfect if you're looking for a simple, sequential approach to a genre of writing. At Writing with Writers students are guided through the writing process by a famous children's author who writes in this genre (hence the site's name). The genres, hosted by such writers as Jack Prelutsky and Virginia Hamilton, include Biography, Descriptive, Folktale, Mystery, Myth, News, Poetry, Speech, and a Book Review. Once done, the site offers students the chance to upload their writing to Scholastic's showcase of writers.

These tasks are especially suited to independent computer use in a classroom where three to four work stations are available and teachers can't afford to constantly "check-in" with students who are on-line. It's also a great site for students to explore independently (for homework or extra credit) since it has so few elements to distract students.

Bubble

Organize Your Writing

Bubbl.us is an online mind mapping tool that allows students to either brainstorm or organize thoughts. My ugly yet simple attempt pictured here attempts to diagram the two ways to name triangles. Students, however, will be infinitely more creative with this application, and should be allowed a good portion of time just to play around with it.

I've learned that applications like this need no explanation; the students figure it all out intuitively, and then show me all the features that I missed. Can also be used as a creative poetry application, or on a white board as a whole-class organization activity.

How to Teach a Novel

For Teachers Who Want to Do It Well

How to Teach a Novel is a frequently updated blog featuring insights, resources, and links for teachers using novels in their reading and language arts curriculum. For those who have attended Keith's workshop of the same name, this is a great oportunity to keep up with the latest additions to his bag of tricks (as well as his occasional tirades).

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Glogster

Helping Students See the Big Picture

Glogster is a cool publishing website that middle and high schoolers really enjoy. It allows text blocks, images, and even videos to be aggregated into a poster-type display. It's truly a mashup of ideas (to use a phrase from the young folk). This Edgar Allen Poe example illustrates a nice (but loud) combination of several elements.

Your best bet is to visit the site to see some examples. And if I were you, I'd use the Glogster Ed site which allows you to register a class. This will provide greater control over what your students see and do on the site. I'd also highly recommend that your students be unleashed on this site only when they have a clear objective in mind for a project, plus some preliminary work completed. Otherwise, too much time will be wasted "playing around."

Instant Poetry Forms

Poetry Writing Made Simple

From ETTC here in New Jersey, the site Instant Poetry Forms allows students to enter prompted words and verses in order to form (you guessed it!) instant poetry. Some of the forms are purely creative and student-centered, while others allow students to enter researched information (such as data on an early explorer) to create nonfiction verse. An excellent way to encourage your poetry-phobic students (usually the boys!). Each prompt generator includes an example of a finished poem in that style, so students can get a good idea of how the finished poem might sound.

Once students have entered their responses in the prompts, the push of a button publishes the poem. This poem can then be copied and pasted into a word document and further edited, or combined with a free online illustration program such as Sumo Paint (see below).

Another interesting poetry site, although not nearly as diverse and robust, is Scholastic's Poetry Machine which walks students through four poems types: limerick, haiku, cinquain, and free verse.

Remember, April is National Poetry Month! If you, like me, want to teach poetry but were never really taught much about it yourself, this is a quick, painless way to get some great results!

Lightning Bug

Writing Prompts and Writing Motivation

From Australia, Lightning Bug is a cleverly designed treasure trove of writing inspirations, tips, and links for the upper elementary through high school crowd. Student users are provided with loads of jump starts such as ideas for plots, character names, and conflicts. Teachers can download related resources and worksheets for all topics. Not as automated and prescriptive as some of the other sites reviewed here, and with a bit of humor and irreverence which the older set will connect with. This is a site which was built with truly creative writers (who might need a nudge of focus or inspiration) in mind!

By the same creator comes The Digital Narrative, which serves as a blog and resource site for teachers interested in all aspects of digital storytelling. A great place to visit if you're seeking ideas or the resources needed to pull them off.

Adsense from Google

An Unlikely Tool for Narrowing Topics

Adsense is Google's brilliant program that matches paid advertising to relevant web sites. I'm sure that Google ads appear somewhere on this very site! What's in it for us as teachers is a tool which Google developed called the Keyword Tool. The Keyword tool is for prospective ad placers to enter the name of their product or service to generate specific topic-related words which might focus their ads.

For example, a company selling products in the swimming market might simply enter the term "swimming." The site returns 190 more specific terms, including swimming pool, swimming technique, swimming history, water aerobics, and baby swimming lessons.

See where this is going? A student who has a general interest in a topic can use this tool to narrow down to a more specific focus. Horses. for example, returns 200 more specific ideas. Even better, a student with two interests (disabilities, swimming) can find a topic which includes both interests, as well as more specific search phrases which would help in researching the topics.

NOTE: The Keywords Tool will NOT filter out adult content. At all. Not an option. So this tool might best be used by the teacher in any instances where the returned results might be considered inappropriate for students.

Teach with Picture Books

Picture Books Make Awesome Writing Prompts!

Teach with Picture Books is a frequently updated blog designed for picture book lovers of all ages who want to use these gems as teaching resources. The site features picture book recommendations, summaries, guiding questions, and cross-curricular extensions, as well as numerous links to sites offering ready-to-download lessons and ideas. Be sure to stop in frequently, since FREE book giveaways are happening every two to three weeks! Recommendations and guest reviews are always welcome!

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Wordle

Words into Art

Wordle is an online app for generating "word clouds" from any text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text (in other words, they make 'em bigger). The resulting images can be tweaked with varying colors, fonts, and layouts, and then used as you like.

I recently used Wordle to create a title slide for a session on summer camp staff training for the Salvation Army. I reconfigured that slide three times to illustrate some of the options the site permits.

After a couple false starts, I recommend you cluster your words in a Word document first so that you can easily spell check and save them. If you attempt to use the back button to add to or edit your word cluster, you'll sadly discover that the site did not save them. Some additional notes:

The more times you repeat a word, the larger it will appear. So if the topic is Love, and you want that word to appear 5 times larger than the rest, then you will need to type it at least five times.

Words you would like to stay linked must be connected with a tilde (that shift character that appears to the far left on the number row and looks like this ~). So "role model" would need to be "role~model." The tilde will disappear in the final project.

Once your project appears, using the Randomize button lets you see many possibilities you may not have considered.

If you want a certain word (say your largest) to use a specific color from the palette that you're using, go to the Color tab and choose Recolor. That will switch which words use each color, without changing the palette, font, shape, etc.

To save, you must print as a PDF, or easier, click on Ctrl and PrtScrn. This saves the whole screen as a screen shot which can be pasted and cropped to be used elsewhere. (Click Ctrl, then Prt Scrn. Nothing will appear to have happened, but when you right click in a Word doc or Power Point slide, you'll be able to paste the entire screen shot there. Then use the Crop feature from your Picture tools to trim to size).

You do NOT have to send it to the gallery to get the screen shot. Realize that anything sent to the gallery is for public viewing forever. That's especially important to remember if you're using this application with students and prefer their work to remain private.

Possible uses?

creating title slides and program covers
brainstorming ideas
designing "me" poems (based upon interests)
summarizing thoughts from a collaborative session
turning random ideas into art
crafting "found poetry" using original words or text selections (for example, several paragraphs from a novel can be entered, insignificant words can be marked for deletion, and the remaining key words will be formed into a word cloud)

I recently used the app to create custom Valentines for my students. The site offers a gallery of completed projects which might to spark your imagination.

(One additional use, suggested by a colleague teaching in the higher grades, is for students to insert a chunk of their own writing. The resulting word cloud will reveal overused words in a stark, visual way).

Sumo Paint

Heavweight Online Paint Program

While Sumo Paint is not a writing application, its artistic functions certainly complement any writing project which could benefit from illustration. Sumo Paint is free and requires no registration or download. It is as fully functional and impressive as Photoshop, yet much easier to use. What's best about it, however, is that it's free, and any student with an internet connection would be able to create impressive masterpieces in no time at all.

I found that the best approach with students is show them the online demo video, which introduces the major tools, functions, and palettes. Then allow students one full class period to experiment before tackling the specific objective of the lesson.

Hero Factory

Be a Hero... Instantly!

I thought the boys in my class would go crazy for this site (and they did!) but the girls loved it just as much! The plan: create a hero who would be the main character (and source of motivation) for a tale of action and adventure.

Hero Factory allows visitors to custom build a hero of their choice (male or female), making it truly their own through countless combinations of hair color, eyes, noses, outfits, accessories, color schemes, and more. (I created the bearded, bald, super-handsome hero shown here in less than two minutes).

My one concern is that the site does allow the hero to have a weapon (although they don't have to be holding one in the completed image). We agreed, however, that this weapon could only be used to fight off monsters, aliens, and imaginary creatures of all hideous and horrendous dimensions, and that no humans would be killed in our stories. Also, the final image features a nickname for the hero which is based upon the combined attributes chosen. We agreed that these names could be nicknames, but that we reserved the right to christen our own heroes.

After creating their original heroes, some students returned to the application to create allies and enemies as well. (The site is super-easy to navigate, requires no log-ins, and features no ads of any kind. I still can't figure out who even created the site, or for what purpose!) All students found the activity to be exciting, and their written results were just as creative and diverse as the super heroes themselves.

One of my Teaching with Picture Books posts called I Need a Hero features several hero-related picture suggetions as well as extension suggestions. Check it out for a ready-made lesson that will really excite your students!

Photo Peach

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Although I discuss digital storytelling in another blog, I think one site from that category deserves mention here. Photo Peach allows students to combine text and images in the simplest way possible, with stunning results. Click on the link to see an example, and be certain to try the spiral effect as well, which can be manipulated and resized using your mouse.

While this site can certainly be used in a linear fashion to tell a story from start to finish, it also seems ideally suited to poetry, in that the spiral effect in particular would allow the viewer to view lines and images in a random fashion.

I can also see some applications in Math and Science, where the ideas presented need not be read in a left to right fashion.

Recommended Resources for Teaching Writing

Along with the tech knowledge, teachers need a firm foundation in the methods of writing. The following books will profoundly impact your teaching practices.

Trait-Based Mini-Lessons for Teaching Writing in Grades 2-4

by: Megan S. Sloan

Mini-lessons help lift the burden that so many young writers feel to "get everything right the first time."

Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 12/25/2009)

The Art of Teaching Writing

by: Lucy Calkins

Lucy Calkins is a recognized expert on the topic, and for good reason! Solid strategies that are research and classroom proven.

Amazon Price: $39.95 (as of 12/25/2009)

The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing: Strategies, Structures, and Solutions

by: Judy Davis, Sharon Hill

Love this one; it's on my desk in my classroom.

Amazon Price: $29.50 (as of 12/25/2009)

Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6

by: Lynne R. Dorfman, Rose Cappelli

Using picture books as writing models is a practice I totally advocate! This book shows you how.

Amazon Price: $17.33 (as of 12/25/2009)

Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching Information Writing K-8

by: JoAnn Portalupi, Ralph Fletcher

Many teachers swear by this classic; a must-have if you're teaching nonfiction writing.

Amazon Price: $14.63 (as of 12/25/2009)

Six Authors Blog

Inspiration and Ideas for Teachers of Writing

Six teachers have teamed up to bring us the Teaching Authors blog, a fabulous site full of Writing Workouts, teaching tips, author interviews, book reviews, and current events in the world of writing. One feature I love is "Ask the Teaching Authors," where readers submit their real-world problems dealing with teaching writing.

This site is meant for anyone teaching writing, from classroom teacher to homeschooling parent.

MakeBeliefsComix

Comical Relief for Reluctant Writers

MakeBeliefsComix is a terrific interactive site which will help to motivate even your most reluctant writers. For our graphic novels generation, what could possibly make more sense? I won't spend long selling you on the site, because I think you'll see for yourself that it's well designed, highly intuitive, and very open-ended.

If you'd rather not unleash such unbridled freedom upon your young writers, there's good news for you. MakeBeliefsComix has just launched a printables section, with teachers and parents in mind. These aren't coloring pages! We're talking prompts, people!

If you try any of these activities in your classroom, let me know how they work out!

Extra! Extra!

Short and Sweet Writing

Perhaps the simplest, shortest site featured here, The Newspaper Clip Generator allows students to create a fake newspaper article with a realistic look.

From that site you can also access The Movie Clapper. Either of these quick little projects could be incorporated into some of the bigger projects mentioned above, or offered as littles extras for those students who are always finishing early.

Myths and Legends Creator

For More Experienced Writers

For your writers who might have liked the Hero site (above) but crave a richer, more diverse environment for creation, the Myths and Legends Story Creator offers almost endless possibilities.

Here students can choose characters, objects, and settings, and they can even upload pictures created in photo or paint applications. Stories can be built by chapter, and students even have the option to record an audio narration over the story.

While some students will enjoy creating a whole story in this application, others may simply want to create an illustration which can be copied and pasted into an existing narrative.

More Teaching Lenses

To Make Your Life Easier, and Your Teaching More Effective!

How to Teach Reading and Language Arts

Over the past few months I've created a few lenses here at Squidoo that have proven to be pretty popular with teachers, tutors, parents, and home schoolers. I've also created three blogs (that's short for web logs for all us old folks) that have beco...

Dodgeball Versus Darwin

Most of us recall our childhood dodgeball games in school as a type of "Lord of the Flies" experience, where the stronger kids would liberally pummel the weaker on a twice-weekly basis. It seemed to be survival of the fittest. But does dodg...

A Whole New Mind

This site is designed as the online companion piece for "Teaching for a Whole New Mind," presented by Keith Schoch at the 2009 NJEA Teachers' Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Here you'll find dozens of helpful links along wi...

Interactive Resources for Reading Comprehension

We all know that reading comprehension is a valuable, life-long skill, but how does one actually teach it? How can we help reluctant readers develop the self-confidence needed to tackle tough reading passages? What can we do to make the reading proce...

Strategies for Effective Behavior Management

This site is designed as the online companion piece for "Divide and Conquer: Structures and Strategies for Effective Behavior Management of Campers," presented by Keith Schoch at the 2009 TriState Camp Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Here y...

I Write

Focused Tutorials for the Writing Process

IWrite is a pretty heavy-duty how-to writing site that features lots of mini-lessons and tutorials and is at first glance pretty busy and hard to use. This site is more for the teacher or tutor who might use specific sections in order to focus upon the writing process. This isn't a place to just "send the kids to" on their own, since they're likely to get bogged down. Take some time to explore and decide which individual geatures and functions could be used in your writing lessons.

Time for Kids

Homework Helper Writing Help

Time for Kids Writing Help offers hints and helpful downloads (organizers, checklists, etc.) for specific types of writing tasks such as Persuasive Essays, How-To Reports, and News Articles. If you're asking students to write in one of these genres, or if you're assigning one of these for a book report, this site is a huge help!

Have you used these sites? Would you recommend others? Let me hear from you!

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Reply

danielca0720 danielca0720 Dec 16, 2009 @ 11:08 pm

Great lens, plenty of tools any writer would love to have. I just usually stick with pen and paper, but I fear one day; I'll have to move to the twenty first century. Lensrolled and voted.

Reply

natnickeep natnickeep Nov 28, 2009 @ 11:15 pm

I have used a few of these sites like Bubble to map out my ideas and Google Adsense Keyword, and I have played around with Sumo Paint. I just spend an hour or so checking out the other things you got going on here. I love the Glogger thingy. It is like making your own posters on anything, very awesome. Great lens 5* from me. Thanks!

Reply

Josephine Josephine Nov 11, 2009 @ 11:59 am

You have a wonderful site....Thank you for all the work you do !!!!!

Reply

Flynn_the_Cat Flynn_the_Cat Nov 7, 2009 @ 5:13 pm

Very cool. Blessed by an Angel. Also, have you seen Etherpad? http://etherpad.com/

Reply

kschoch kschoch Nov 6, 2009 @ 9:53 pm

Glad you dig the sites! Let me know if you have others I haven't seen yet![in reply to lravidlearner]
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About the Author

Some shameless self-promotion...

Keith Schoch is a 6th grade Reading and Language Arts teacher in Bedminster, New Jersey. During his 20+ years in teaching he earned a Masters in Instruction and Curriculum, served on the New Jersey Department of Education ESPA Mathematics Item Review Committee, piloted tests for Educational Testing Service, assessed candidates for The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and was named a Governor's Teacher of the Year.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Keith specializes in professional development for organizations such as the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the New Jersey Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (NJASCD), the New York State Reading Association (NYSRA), The New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS), and the American Camping Association (ACA). He also shares his expertise with colleagues through three highly acclaimed blogs (see the top of the page).

During the summer, Keith serves on the leadership staff of LakeView Day Camp in East Brunswick, NJ.

Essential Resources for Teaching Writing

These are newest resources by the most popular writers in the field of instructional writing.

The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction