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"Teaching with comics facilitates improved comprehension and social-emotional competencies."

Some nice ideas from R. Byrne on how to use comics for courses and activities -- literature, social studies, book reports, expressing feelings (and ideas). He includes 5 free comic-book makers. Some good examples of PBL.

Another great lesson for teacher training from the Teaching Channel. The teacher looks at themes in _Hunger Games_, but goes beyond the text to what is happening underneath in terms of writing craft. Since the work is familiar, they don't have to work at understanding, but rather can focus on and analyze the "messages" contained in the work. The storyboards are used to have students create a reality show to convey the messages, such as "survival," "acts of resistance," how images and dialogue are used, etc.

"In this video, made while I was Tech Liaison for the Alaska State Writing Consortium, I share some ideas about teaching with Twitter and reflect on using Twitter with both local and distance students at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. "This video was created as part of an online presentation I did with, David Wicks, Seattle Pacific University, and Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University. It was presented online for the Northwest eLearning Community January 27, 2011. We have posted more materials and links to additional videos at their Google site: Twitter in Edu." From Jacquie Cyrus, Guam.

The criteria to get on this list is extremely similar to its companion list [see Best Places Where Students Can Write for an Authentic Audience]: * The work required to create the learning and/or teaching object would not be that great, and could be finished in a reasonable amount of time - a few days at a maximum and preferably much, much less. * The creating and posting process is simple - accessible both to my English Language Learner students and to me. * Posting the piece does not necessarily require any kind of ongoing commitment for communication - once it's up, it might be interesting to check-back after awhile to see if there have been any reactions (if the site is set-up for that kind of involvement), but it's really just a matter of sticking it up there in a place that gets a fair amount of "traffic" and knowing that it's likely others will read it. * There seems to be some kind of enforced standards for all the content that's posted on the site. In other words, when students explore it to see models of what others have written, it's unlikely they will encounter something that is inappropriate for classroom use.

How a classroom blog with 2-3rd grades (ages7-9) can "flatten" the classroom walls. The teacher starts by teaching how to write a quality blog. The video includes comments in a video made by the students themselves. (Very cute.) Students also learned about Internet safety practices. Learning goes on well beyond the class hours and the local culture. Students also Skype with students in other countries.

Video of lesson for preparing students to write using textual evidence, grades 6-8, young learners.

Tips by R. Stannard on how to use G-Docs with your students. Includes how to create a Doc in your personal G-Drive. Students do not need a Google account to access your selected documents. For example, students can discuss a question with a table indicating which group students belong to. Students write their answers/discussion within the cell of the table. Once the doc is created, one student can access a computer to put in all the ideas generated by the group, using a shareable link. Google provides an area to shorten the link so it can be written on the board. [Remember, all students could type in the Doc simultaneously, and chat in the margin of a G-Doc.]

"Peer review has long been regarded as beneficial practice in the teaching of writing. In North American educational settings, learners are often asked to provide feedback on each other's papers. However, when international students come to study either in intensive English programs or in institutions of higher education, they may encounter difficulties during peer review activities because many of them never had experiences with this kind of practice. As a result, students tend to give each other broad, irrelevant, essentially unhelpful comments." This blog post offers help in training students for giving good feedback.

This slideshow illustrates many of the different types of poetry taught by Kenneth Koch in Wishes, Lies, and Dreams. Miking poetry themselves is really the only way to get students to understand the power of metaphoric language--and they will begin using it in their academic writing as well. You can quickly analyze the short poems structures, and then have your students make similar poems themselves. I usually start by having students generate a poem with the whole class at the board, and then send them off in pairs or individually to create their own. Be sure to have students "publish" their poems, either on the Web or in a class magazine. They will be very proud of their work.

What are the top ten? This is for native speakers, but has relevance if you are teaching academic writing at the advanced/university level. "The Comma Splice | The Abused Apostrophe | Subject-verb Agreement | Coordinated & Subordinated Conjunctions | Double Negatives | Disruptive & Misplaced Modifiers | Unclear antecedents Preposition Overuse | Fragments | Run-ons"

Describes ways to use images, video, music, voice, and text in teaching literature with advanced level students to improve writing and pronunciation skills. Students engaged in online discussion through commenting and VoiceThread. By Jane Petring.

I have put together a Wiki for my students to use. I have stressed that it is not part of their regular course but is there for them to visit and assist them in learning English. It goes for 16 weeks (the length of their course) and every week it has sections on Reading/Writing, Grammar, Litsening and Speaking. I also included sectioins on TOEFL, Environmental video and Pronunciation. There are exercises (links) for the students and all in all, it is a fun site to visit. If you want to join the Wiki and make material postings... make yourself at home. Please keep in mind that I AM in Oman and most of my students are young Omani university girls 18-20 years old. They are not the most liberal minded people and not prone to Adult entertainment. They are great students who are willing and eager to learn and a true pleasure to teach. Check it out and tell me what you think. Positive and Negative comments are welcome. So, send your students, send your enemies and even your enemy's students. Feel free to post bills on the local Metro, buses and outside your favorite adult beverage establishment. Gary Harwell www.teachergary.com

Sixth-graders use blogs to express themselves as they learn how to use the technology of blogs and have an authentic audience of others in the class. Students begin with a "paper blog" with comments/responses on Post-it notes. As students finish a book, they talk about the characters and then write about them on the blog, using a specific assignment by he teacher. Includes Common Core standards and suggestions of ways to scaffold the technology for success.

Very useful article with ways to give students concrete examples with citations and references. Easily replicable in your own class. Academic writing.

"Essay Map is a handy tool from the folks at Read Write Think. Essay Map provides students with step by step guidance in the construction of an informational essay. Some of my students seem to struggle most with constructing an introduction and conclusion to their essays. Essay Map is particularly good for helping students visualize the steps needed to construct good introductory and conclusion paragraphs." R. Byrne's description of this tool includes some applications. He suggests Essay Map may be too basic for most high school students, but might be a good tool for middle school or high elementary. However, ESL students of any age might benefit.

"dive into this admittedly overwhelming list and pick the questions that most inspire you to tell an interesting story, describe a memorable event, observe the details in your world, imagine a possibility, or reflect on who you are and what you believe." Prompts are organized loosely by topic, and relate to a published NY Times story.

Each of these links leads to another set of links, so you will have to pick and choose and explore to find what is appropriate for your students.

Great ideas for tools and their uses, categorized by media aspects, e.g., blogging and writing, photos, audio, PLNs, presentations, research databases, search, etc., with an intro to get you started. The list then continues with other, less frequently used tools, such as digital portfolios, Google drawings, notetaking tools, apps, etc.