Reading and Writing Ideas
Invisible Writing using Microsoft Word: Just write! Get your ideas down
without worrying about spelling, grammar, etc. Open a Word document,
change the font color to white, and start typing. After an allotted time,
select/highlight the entire document and change the font to a readable color.
It’s amazing how much writing can be done in such a short time when it is
invisible along the way, eliminating a lot of worry and hesitation.
Roulette Writing in Microsoft Word: Starting with a common prompt (“It all
started when…”), write for five or six minutes. After that time expires, get up
and move to the computer on your right. Change the font on the document in
front of you (just as your own handwriting would be different from the
handwriting of the first writer), read through the story, and then continue the
story!
Ratiocination using Microsoft Word: Using the highlight and strikethrough
tools in Word, follow the ratiocination chart to begin the editing/revision
process on your typed writing piece.
Clocking – Peer Editing using Microsoft Word: Open three documents – your
writing piece, your clocking appointment sheet, and your clocking sheet.
First, turn on comments. This allows each editor to show the writer the exact
location of problems in the piece. As students sit down at each other’s
computers, they open up the appointment sheet and add their name to the
appropriate time. Next, they look at the clocking sheet for the appropriate
directions for their time. Finally, they look at the piece of writing focusing
only on the instructions for that time.
Picture Books using PowerPoint: Students create a series of slides for a short
story they have created. Each slide has an illustration to go along with the
text. This can be used with a summary, with poetry, an ABC book, etc.
Flip Books using PowerPoint and digital camera: Students draw a series of
pictures to tell a story (or give a summary of their reading, etc.). They then
photograph each picture. Students add these pictures to a PowerPoint
presentation – each picture on its own slide, in order. Students can add text a
the beginning for background or to give an explanation. Students then time
the picture slides so that it functions like a flip book (1 second for each
picture). See
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial094.pdf for a
more in-depth tutorial for students.
Comic Strip using PowerPoint (digital camera optional): Students create slides
for each frame/panel of their comic strip story. This is another great way for
students to creatively show their ability to summarize what they have read.
Each slide will have graphics – these can be found online, drawn in a Painttype program, drawn on paper and scanned or photograped, or these could
be photos. Students will add the graphics first and then add the text using text
boxes, thought bubbles, speech bubbles, etc.
Addional Web Resources:
http://prezi.com/
http://www.glogster.com/
http://animoto.com/
http://www.pics4learning.com/