ICT, Writing & the Creative Connections

Karen Yager Knox Grammar School Sydney Australia yagerk@knox.nsw.edu.au

ConsiderationsGlobal skills required for the 21st century workforce:Critical thinking Problem solving Innovation CollaborationCreativityConnectivism through technology

Global citizens

ConsiderationsQuality learning enables

students to:

Engage

Examine and explore

Enrich and extend

Create and construct

Apply

Communicate and share

Reflect and evaluate

Global citizens

Why ICT & Writing?

Connections: Learning to ‘story’

Craft: Focus on the writing process and representation

Confidence: spelling and handwriting

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) conclude

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.

Boys prefer to write action-packed narratives ( Higgins, 2002).

‘Keep it short, keep it sharp, keep it finite’ (Noble and Bradford, 2000).

Boys are motivated where planning and drafting have clear aims (Barrs and Pidgeon, 2002).

CREATIVITYFLUENCY - generating many ideasFLEXIBILITY - shifting perspective easilyORIGINALITY - conceiving something newPURPOSE- vision AUDIENCE - contextELABORATION - building on other ideasEVALUATION - critical reflection

Writing and ICT“Stories now are open-ended, branching, hyperlinked, cross-media, participatory,

exploratory, and unpredictable. And they are told in new ways: Web 2.0

storytelling picks up these new types of stories and runs with them, accelerating

the pace of creation and participation while revealing new directions for

narratives to flow” (BRYAN ALEXANDER ANDALAN LEVINE).

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

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!

The Learning Start with concepts

associated with writing not texts:

Characterisation Representation Narrative Voice Craft or Artistry Perception Transformation Hybridity Imagery Persuasion Manipulation

FocusTopic/Subject/Context/Outcomes

Concept + Key Question or Essential Learning StatementOverarching idea of the unit

(Deep knowledge)Key Ideas + Question

What students will learn by the end of the unit(Deep knowledge)

Key Ideas + QuestionReflect intent of the

outcomes and concept(Deep knowledge)

Key Ideas + Question(Deep knowledge)

Assessment for, as and through learning(Deep understanding, Problematic knowledge, Higher-order thinking, Explicit quality criteria)

Demonstration of key learning ideas

Pre-testing/Pre-assessment (Background knowledge - connections to prior learning)Brainstorming, Graphic organisers – KWL, mind mapping, Y chart, Lotus diagram. Quiz

Teaching StrategiesLearning Activities

Scaffolds / Models –annotated

Teaching StrategiesLearning Activities

Connected & Scaffolded

Teaching StrategiesLearning Activities

Explicit / SystematicBuilding the Field

Teaching StrategiesLearning Activities

Explicit Literacy & Numeracy Strategies

Teaching StrategiesLearning Activities

Integrated ICT

Resources: Could be placed in OneNote

ConceptualModel

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

Programming for Year 8 Writing & Creativity

Year 7 Summative Data: Audience and structure noted as a concern Australian Curriculum Strands: Language: Connecting ideas, features of

texts and cohesion; Literature: Creating. e.g. Use personal knowledge, life experience and literary texts as a starting point for creating imaginative texts in a range of literary forms; Literacy: Creating texts and Multimodal

• Achievement Standards: They create imaginative texts and present points of view that sustain meaning, reasoning and structure. They plan, draft, edit and proofread for appropriateness and accuracy.

Concept: Craft: The qualities of an effective narrative – “Stories are the lifeblood of a nation” (Garth Boomer).

Key Question: How do we craft a narrative that is engaging and affective? Key Ideas: The power of imagery and figurative devices in writing to engage and

move the reader – “Words are like ants...nothing can penetrate into the cracks and gaps of life as thoroughly or as fast as words can” (Orhan Pamuk).

How the structure of a narrative can enhance the quality of a narrative. The importance of close editing.

Programming for Writing & Creativity

Lesson delivery:- All notes, hyperlinks and sample digital narratives in

One Note.- Narrative typed in word and all editing done through

spell check, synonym check (right click on the word).- Drafts uploaded to class wiki or blog for peer

comments.- Students access online module on how to use

MovieMaker, Word, Photostory or Power Point to make digital narratives (can be already loaded to One Note from TaLe).

- Digital texts created and shared on class wiki or blog.

Digital Storytelling “Every community has a

memory of itself.A living memory, an awareness of a collective identity woven of a thousand stories.”

Craft or artistry Construction Hybridity Narrative Voice Perception Faction

Narratives for the future…

Digital 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/audiovideo

/sites/about/pages/howto.shtml http://www.digi-tales.org/ http://www.photobus.co.uk/index.php?i

d=2 http://www.changinglives.com.au/2008/

04/abrar-autumn-and-i.html http://www.dipity.com/ - Digital timeline

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

Audience

Orient, engage and affect the reader Form and

conventions Sophistication: A

twist, irony, subversion through the unexpected

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

Genre Conventions Subversions SettingAudience

assumptions IdeasHybridity

Activities Composing the same narrative with different

complications and resolutions. In power point or word a hyperlink could be used for each change. (Choose your own adventure). Creating a slideshow using sound, images and

words that reflect the genre. Students encouraged to use symbolism. Using movie trailers to inspire writing.

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 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 What if question

Creating an uncomfortable atmosphereSight Smell Taste Sound Touch

• Harsh light/darkness• Sharp edges• Cool colours• Stainlesssteel•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: Short extracts from narrative to ‘test’ the authenticity of the voice

Vocabulary Range & precision of

language choices Sophisticated:

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

Punctuation & Spelling

Accuracy and precision: E.g. direct speech and apostrophes used correctly Sophistication: E.g. ellipsis, difficulty

of words, such as: multisyllabic and foreign words Spell and grammar check, synonyms

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

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

Vocabulary clines, word bingo, word meaning checklist

Activities 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/ and Screen Asia – Asian films, http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/tag/Asia/

Cohesion

Connecting, linking & developing the narrative Sophisticated:

effective connectives, continuity of ideas, recurrent motif or theme

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

Imagery Poetry http://www.abc.net.au/rn/po

etica/features/pod/ or http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do: Listen to one of the poets reading his or her poems and focus on the artistry.

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.

Poetic Creativity

Found poems created in word -"paw through popular culture like sculptors on trash heaps" Digital poems with

images Podcast poets

Rhetoric Youtube: Henry V’s Saint

Crispin’s Day Speech & Barack Obama’s victory speech

Audacity/Garage Band/Adobe Soundbooth: Critical commentary on a soliloquy

Rhetoric: http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

American Rhetoric:http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htmVodcasts and podcasts of speeches such as Martin Luther King.

Persuasion

Persuasion 101:http://prezi.com/62290/: An introduction to persuasion. Essay Map:

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/essaymap/

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.

Audacity Podcasts Oral tales Interviews Speeches Advertisements Performance poetry Raps News/Weather

presentations

Writing with Shakespeare

Digital representation of a Shakespearian sonnet or a character.

Sonnet slideshow Curio box for a character in

Power Point or Photostory accompanied by a recount or personal response.

Virtual Macbeth:http://virtualmacbeth.wikispaces.com/ - a Second Life treatment of Macbeth –fabulous for provoking students into creating their own wiki or blog for one of Shakespeare’s plays or characters.

Writing with Shakespeare

Illustrated Shakespeare: http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/Shakespeare.html - The paintings could be used to trigger imaginative texts about the characters in the plays.

Investigate Shakespeare: http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/#

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

Google Lit Trip

Explore a novel, play or poetry settings or take a road trip with an author!

Add images, commentary and key quotes

Create a unique Lit Trip for an original story, play or poem -http://www.googlelittrips.org/

Whitby Abbey

Critical Reflection

Meta-writing is not a strength of boys Invites deeper

understanding and promotes greater self-awareness of writing skills and knowledge Digital Portfolios Wikis and Blogs Podcasts

Quality Feedback Constructive Precise Connected to what is

being assessed Timely Frequent (Holmes &

Papageourgiou, 2009) Invites self-assessment

and self-reflection Informs future teaching

and learning

Using a class wiki or blog where work can be shared and critiqued Ideas, approaches

and craft of writing Publishing for an

audience

Quality Feedback

Great Web20 Resources

Box of tricks – A-Z of internet sites: http://www.boxoftricks.net/?page_id=29

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