Enhancing writing and creativity through ICT

Karen YagerKnox Grammar School and University of NSW

yagerk@knox.nsw.edu.au

Objectives Ways to use ICT to enrich

and improve writing skills Access to a range of

effective Web20 tools and sites

Planning of assessment for learning writing task/s

http://assessment4quality.wikispaces.com/Authentic+Assessment

Syllabus Requirements “Learning to write and represent for a variety of

creative, personal, academic and functional purposes will help pupils to express themselves, facilitate learning in school and communicate effectively with others.”

“extensive opportunities for pupils to engage in sustained, authentic and creative writing and/ or representation of texts”

“opportunities for pupils to be exposed to and engage in producing a variety of multimodal texts to represent ideas effectively and with impact”

Confident Writers Language acquisition takes place when the

learners realise how meaning is expressed accurately.

Listening precedes speaking and reading precedes writing. Each one builds on and supports the other.

Students become confident and articulate communicators of English by utilising their receptive and productive skills.

Outcomes LO3: Generate and select

ideas for writing and representing for a variety of purposes, audiences, contexts and cultures

LO4: Develop, organise and express ideas coherently and cohesively in writing and representing for a variety of purposes, audiences, contexts and cultures

Outcomes LO5: Review, revise,

proofread and edit to improve writing and representing

LO6: Produce a variety of texts for creative, personal, academic and functional purposes, using an appropriate register and tone

Planning A4L

As we work through the ideas and sites begin to

plan an assessment task for learning or

a series of small tasks that you

could use in your classroom.

ICT & Learning

“Teach both Legacy and Future. If we’re smart, we’ll give our kids their heads to use all their technology and passion to learn, as we steer them in positive directions and truly enjoy the ride” Marc Prensky, 2008.

Why ICT & Writing?

Connections: Learning to ‘story’ Craft: Focus on the writing

process and representation Confidence: spelling and

grammar Vocabulary: synonyms,

definitions Refinement: Editing, spell

check, peer marking, publishing Creativity: Images, sound, video

clips, Web 20 tools…

The Research “Technology can become an obstacle to

learning, especially when a student is first exposed to a new and/or novel technology. The student may become too focused on the technology and neglect the need for developing creative ideas” (Mohler).

“Technology is best seen as another tool in the repertoire available to learners and teachers for expression and communication” (Andrews et al., 2006)

http://cunningham.acer.edu.au/dbtw-wpd/textbase/NSWIT/NSW_Digest_1_09.html#Availability

The Research Lankshear and Knobel (2003)

assert that children are becoming so adept at ICT use outside of school and finding computer-mediated communications so satisfying that visions of school-based literacy, as well as teachers’ pedagogical approaches, will need to adapt to become more rooted in the multi-modal literacies encompassed by ICT.

What do the students need to learn? Why does it matter? What do they already know? What do I want the students to do or produce

to demonstrate their learning and understanding?

How will they get there? How can technology be a powerful tool? How well do I expect them to do it?

Learning first; technology as a tool!

Improving WritingTo improve the quality of student writing: Explicitly and systematically teach the structure

and language demands of the writing task Focus on audience and purpose Explicitly teach the thinking processes involved in

writing Immerse students in examples of the required

style of writing Model and jointly construct texts • Use guided and independent practice • Employ peer and self reflection

The Craft of Writing

Begin with observations, chunks of writing, little moments...

Jottings: Journal, notepad, iPhone or wiki/blog

Write from experience and passion

Focus on the sound , look and feel of the words

Sentence of the day!

The Craft of Composing a Narrative

Explicitly teach all aspects of a narrative

Zoom into the word and sentence level

Using short, timed activities Listening to the sound of

the writing Peer and self marking Quality feedback

Features of a NarrativeExplicit & Systematic Teaching Audience Genre Structure Ideas Character Setting Vocabulary Syntax Cohesion

Using writers to model effective writing: Extracts from novels: http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/vintage/offthepage/extracts.htm

Flash fiction with a motif and extended metaphor. Focus on the idea first through images or quotes and

then planning the narrative using a mind map. Starting in the middle of the action focusing on the

verbs. Peer and self editing through a wiki or blog or insert

comment in Word.

Activities

Structure Organisation of a

narrative: orientation, complication, resolution, coda

Sophisticated: flashback, different perspectives, circular, parallel, stream of consciousness, moral, reflection

Mind maps to plan for a narrative: Inspiration or Kidspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/); Webspiration: http://www.mywebspiration.com/ ; Freemind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download

Co-authoring using One Note

Activities

Composing the same narrative using a range of structures such as circular or two different perspectives.

12-word novels and six word stories. Twitter texts Novels in 3 Lines:

http://twitter.com/novelsin3lines: Invented by Fénéon, these miniaturized, epigrammatic texts are highly compressed, self-contained stories.

Activities

Blank, befuddled, thoughtless, bemused, he sits in front of screen as boredom ensues.He accelerates. The thrill explodes! He clips the kerb, breathes his last.

Ideas Creation,

selection and crafting

Sophisticated: world view, maturity, extended metaphor, satire, motifs

Stipulated in assessment task that narrative must feature one or two significant ideas and at least one metaphor, motif or simile that reflects the idea/s

Film clips A word cloud to

brainstorm ideas using Wordle - http://www.wordle.net/

Activities

Setting Development of a sense of time and place Focus on showing not telling through imagery

appealing to the senses especially sound, colour, touch and smell, strong verbs, contrast, and a variety of sentence structures.

Atmosphere Colour Symbolism Genre Authenticity Detailed descriptions Images and film clips

Creating an uncomfortable atmosphere

Sight Smell Taste Sound Touch

• Harsh light/darkness• Sharp edges• Cool colours• Stainless steel•Flickering light•Sheets of rain

• Sour• Acrid• Heavy scent

• Vinegar• Sickly sweet

• Discordant music• High or low pitched sound•Rumbling thunder•Rasping sound

• Hard textures• Extreme temperature• Scratchy coarse textures•Cold steel of a school bench•Raised goosebumps

The Senses

Character Portrayal and

development of character Idiosyncrasies Talismans How they move and act in

the setting Dialogue and voice Relationships Actions Perspectives and values

Activities Build your wild self (primary):

http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ - create a half-human half animal character and download them so that they can become the main character in a narrative or blog story.

Voki: http://www.voki.com/ - create an avatar for a blog story or students can play with the crafting of a character. The students can add setting, clothing and even record their character’s voice.

Podcasts: Audacity http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/17-audacity-tutorial.htm

Dialogue GoAnimate:

http://goanimate.com/ http://www.makebeliefscomix.co

m/ Pixton Comics:

http://www.pixton.com/uk/home http://www.makebeliefscomix.co

m/

Toondoo: http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon

http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic

Animoto: http://animoto.com/

Vocabulary Range & precision of

language choices Sophisticated:

effective figurative and sound devices, powerful verbs, adverbs and adjectives, reflects the genre

Activities Glossary: for each task or

unit of work Grammar Skills:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/

Grammar Monster: http://www.grammar-monster.com/index.html

Cyber Grammar: http://www.cybergrammar.co.uk/index.php

Visuword: http://www.visuwords.com/ - a beautiful online thesaurus to find more effective synonyms.

Paragraphing & SentencesParagraphing: Segmenting of narrative Sophisticated: Deliberately drives the pace, topic

sentences, varying paragraph length such as a single sentence paragraph

Sentences: Sound and meaningful Sophisticated: lexical density and variety of

beginnings and length, such as: complex, simple, compound sentences

Tapping into Imagery

Inanimate Alice: http://www.inanimatealice.com/ - tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century in China

Dust Echoes: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm - lyrical animations beautifully illustrated of Aboriginal myths.

State Library of Victoria: Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas: http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/ - amazing images and extracts from texts to inspire writing.

Imagery Focus on imagery

through visual images or film clips

Video clips from Youtube or films: the trailers of films or a short clip from Australian Screen or Film Australia: can be used to stimulate writing - Australian Screen: film clips: http://aso.gov.au/titles/alpha/A/

Digital TextDigital Text A digital timeline A narrative A reflection A life-story Local hero A podcast Choose your own

adventure Alternative perspectives A soundscape A digital poem A news report A travel tale: Google Earth

‘Stories are the

lifeblood of a

nation’ Garth

Boomer.

The Steps Students create a folder Craft the text – word

limit! Storyboard Find or shoot the images

that enhance the text or film the text

Record reading of text on MP3 or microphone

Download any sounds or music or video clips

The Steps Students use a

storyboard to plan story, transitions and effects

http://celtx.com/: easy to use free software that has outstanding storyboard models and scaffolds for students

Digital Storytelling Designed for a specific purpose and audience Design process with its planning,

storyboarding and selecting images and sound continually forces students to consider the quality and impact of the digital narrative

Selecting images and sound focuses students on the genre and form

Peer marking encourages a focus on audience

The Sites http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovid

eo/sites/about/pages/howto.shtml http://www.photobus.co.uk/index.php

?id=2

http://www.changinglives.com.au/2008/04/abrar-autumn-and-i.html

http://www.dipity.com/ - Digital timeline

Poetry Distillation of

language focuses pupils on the craft of writing!

Sound and rhythm of words demand attention

Nuances of meaning

‘To see the world in a grain of sand…’

Poetic Creativity

Found poems Digital poems with

images Podcast poets Haiku: http://

www.haikusociety.com/learn/famoushaikus

Museum Box: http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

Imagery Poetry http://www.abc.net.au/rn/poetica/fea

tures/pod/ or http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do: Poets reading

Instant poetry: http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm: Students can create poetry at this site.

Sonnet Central: http://www.sonnets.org/ - access to hundreds of sonnets and recordings too inspire writing.

Readings of Shakespeare’s Sonnets: http://town.hall.org/Archives/radio/IMS/HarperAudio/020994_harp_ITH.html

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Exposition Severn Suzuki’s speech delivered at UN

Earth Summit 1992 focusing on the ideas and the purpose of the speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsDliXzyAY

The Green’s television advertisement election campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQVnIKDoOA

EDF Energy Advertisements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx3Y5RV9YR4&feature=related ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JMBa6h7Eo&feature=related

Martin Luther King – Extract from ‘I have a Dream’: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Exposition Students visit for Persuasion 101:

http://prezi.com/62290/ Persuasion map:

http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/persuasion.pdf

Persuasion in 30 seconds Students deliver a 30 second speech

presenting their point of view on the merits of one vs. the other from the following list:

Solar power vs. electricity Cars vs. walking Book vs. Kindle Plastic bags vs. green bags Class blog created as a platform or

Voicethread - http://voicethread.com/

Sharing Blogs Wikis Voicethread Peer

assessment Collaborative

writing Google Docs

Critical Reflection

Invites deeper understanding and promotes greater self-awareness of writing skills and knowledge

Digital Portfolios Wikis and Blogs Podcasts

Great Web20 Resources

Cooltoolsforschools Wiki: http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/?responseToken=08d40fc592f425e0609f7b90a024fde22

http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=33292