Group items tagged

The basic principle of The Flat Stanley Project is to connect your child, student or classroom with other children or classrooms participating in the Project by sending out "flat" visitors, created by the children, through the mail (or digitally, with The Flat Stanley app). Kids then talk about, track, and write about their flat character's journey and adventures. Although similar to a pen-pal activity, Flat Stanley is actually much more enriching-students don't have to wonder where to begin or what to write about. The sender and the recipient already have a mutual friend, Flat Stanley. Writing and learning becomes easier, flows naturally, and tends to be more creative. This is what teachers call an "authentic" literacy project, in that kids are inspired to write of their own passion and excitement about the project, and given the freedom to write about many things through the rubric of the Flat Stanley character.

"The TeachingAuthors are six children's book authors with a wide range (and many years) of experience teaching writing to children, teens, and adults. Here, we share our unique perspective as writing teachers who are also working writers. Our regular features include writing exercises (our"Writing Workouts"), teaching tips, author interviews, book reviews, and more."

It begins with a story start. A story start is the first chapter of the book. The rest of the story is up to you. The story start could be written by a professional writer, a teacher, you or your classmates, or maybe even a celebrity! You write your version of Chapter 2. Take the story where you like. The only limits are your imagination and a word count. At the same time, other BoomWriters will be writing their own version of what happens next. Submit your entry. When you're done (and before the deadline), you submit your entry for review. If it's accepted, you'll get points and BoomDollars. You'll use BoomDollars to purchase accessories for your Boomer avatar. Vote, Vote, Vote! You and the other BoomWriters vote on the entry you think is the best. Of course you can't vote for you own entry, and you won't know whose entry it is you're voting for. You may be able to vote more than once, which is good, as voting also earns you points and BoomDollars. Did you win? If so, then your entry becomes the official Chapter 2 of the book. If not, don't worry because there will be many more chances for you to win. It's a book! The competitions continue until the book is finished. Then, *Boom!* you're a published author! The end result? A real book that you, your friends, family, and the whole world can buy. Imagine that, a book with your name in it that you helped write.

"Welcome to my story ideas web site. If you want to write short stories but are stuck for ideas then you've come to the right place. Here you will find various idea generators that will provide you with as much, or as little, help as you need. There are plenty of ideas for short stories - from first lines and titles, to fully outlined characters or scenarios. A new addition is the twist in the tale generator to help with those surprise endings. Novel writers will find these ideas useful as well. There's also a random generator which will give you three words to try to spark your imagination into life. If you prefer visual prompts try the image generator. In the library you'll find books to help generate story ideas, get rid of writer's block and help with the creative writing process. Have fun and get writing!"

"The NWP Digital Is website is a collection of ideas, reflections, and stories about what it means to teach writing in our digital, interconnected world. Read, discuss, and share ideas about teaching writing today."

"The NWP Digital Is website is a collection of ideas, reflections, and stories about what it means to teach writing in our digital, interconnected world. Read, discuss, and share ideas about teaching writing today."

"I've been working hard to give kids and teachers activities to use to help with creative writing. If you've been to one of my workshops, you know creativity is fantastic fun! So, here is a line-up of fun things on my site. I'm up to over 300 pages, and adding more all the time. You'll find plenty of free activities and information on all kinds of things that are meant to get creative juices flowing. I'm now also starting to offer additional creative writing helps that can be purchased. Enjoy the site! And feel free to email me with your comments!"

Writing resource for getting kids to write.

Great website for boys about writing haiku, enjoying nature, and letting your voice be heard. (Girls can enjoy this too! Write your own "galku")

Katie, who runs the site is one of the most helpful people I know. Titkatok is constantly offering free services to help teachers use their site and make it managable in the classroom. It is one of my favorite sites to recommend to elementary teachers for writing.

This is a great site for online writing/publishing of stories. The books created here cannot be printed out, but can be shared online.

Tikatok is a site where students can create their own books complete with illustrations. They can collaborate with other students while writing and editing and published their finished books on the web as well as sharing them with others. Parents who are interested can purchased printed books.

"sim­ple. you'll see one word at the top of the fol­low­ing screen. you have sixty sec­onds to write about it. click 'go' and the page will load with the cur­sor in place. don't think. just write."

This is a great resource for interactive prompts, lessons and materials for writing classrooms.

English - Reading, writing and spelling and grammar skills can help you tell a story, share your ideas, write a letter and make sense of instructions. We use them everyday and they help us understand each other. Math - Why do numbers and formulas matter? In this section see how knowing about sums, averages, shapes, graphs and measurements can help you out with many tasks. Science - Want to know about how our world and all the things in it work? We look at materials, energy, light and sound; and, even observe humans, plants and animals in this section.

"Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you're into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here."

Downloadable writing paper for individualized needs

These are some great lessons and writing strategy worksheets/posters.

Nanoogo is an online platform used by kids to write stories, create original artwork, and express their unique talents! It is meant to be fun, but we are serious about its educational value. Teachers are using Nanoogo in many ways to enhance classroom engagement while addressing the core curriculum.

Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud. Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end. Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now.

"Communication skills are critical for today's students. Reading, writing and the ability to tell a story set the stage for success. The Hub, a new TV destination dedicated to bringing kids and families together, is partnering with Discovery Education to support teachers in this important endeavor. Here you'll find inspiration to engage and inspire your budding writers. Meet the artists, editors and writers that bring good stories to life-and watch your students' communication skills soar!"

"In a research paper titled "Unlocking Literacy with iPad," Ohio English teacher James Harmon found that state-compiled statistics indicate that those students with iPad access in the year leading up to the Ohio Graduation Test had a 6-percent greater chance of passing the test's reading portion than those without, and an 8-percent greater chance of passing the writing portion."