Communication Arts with Technology
MASL Spring Conference 2011
Rene Burress – Buckner Elementary, LMS
Paula Erickson – Fort Osage High School, LMS
K-12 CA support websites
Phonemic awareness
VozMe (http://vozme.com) – Text to speech that creates and mp3 for use in projects.
Read The Words (www.readthewords.com) – Text to speech with avatar. Requires and account.
Forvo (www.forvo.com) – Word pronunciation in multiple languages.
Vocabulary
Free Rice (www.freerice.com) – Multiple grade level vocabulary game.
Lemons for Literacy (http://athome.readinghorizons.com/lemonsforliteracy) - Multiple grade level
vocabulary games.
VocahHead (www.vocabahead.com) – Teacher created vocabulary lists or SAT/ACT vocabulary videos.
BigIQ Kids (http://www.bigiqkids.com/VocabularyProgram/FreeVocabulary.html) – Vocabulary games
and teacher created vocabulary lists.
Easy Define (www.easydefine.com) – Create a list of vocabulary words. Then flash cards, quizzes,
worksheets can be generated using those words.
Fluency
Vocaroo (http://vocaroo.com) – Student can record and play back readings for practice aloud reading.
Zap Reader (www.zapreader.com) – Input text for student to improve fluency or reading speed.
Comprehension
Story Maker (www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/storymaker.swf) - Students can create
animated stories.
K-12 CA Projects
Story telling Projects (www.fortosage.net/bumc)
Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) – Students create animated stories. Teacher must create an account.
Book Trailers (www.fortosage.net/bumc)
Animoto (www.animoto.com) – Using pictures, student create videos. They can add sound and
narration. Teachers must create an account.
Technology Book Reports (www.fortosage.net/hsmc/honorsenglish)
Rather than doing traditional book reports, students create a book report using one of the following
tools. They are required to only do the plot summary (exposition, 3 major conflicts, climax, falling action,
and resolution)of their book.
ToonDoo(www.toondoo.com) – Create a comic strip. Students must create an account.
GoAnimate (www.goanimate.com) for student accounts or (www.goanimate4schools.com) for teacher
accounts– Create an animated cartoon. This website has several limitations for the free part.
Communication Arts with Technology
MASL Spring Conference 2011
Rene Burress – Buckner Elementary, LMS
Paula Erickson – Fort Osage High School, LMS
PhotoStory –
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx)
Free program from Microsoft if your district owns Windows – Essentially a narrated PowerPoint.
Radio Drama – Using Audacity, a free program (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/), students
create a radio drama.
Technology Of Mice and Men Projects (www.fortosage.net/hsmc/english3)
To follow up a novel that the class read, teachers let students pick a project to complete
Facebook character profile – Using a template, student create a character profile from the novel Of Mice
and Men that looks like a Facebook profile page.
Rewrite the ending – Using Word students rewrite the ending of the novel Of Mice and Men.
Graphic Novel – Using ToonDoo, student create a graphic novel of the book Of Mice and Men.
Biographical Glogster (www.fortosage.net/hsmc/english2)
Students create an online poster of someone they consider a hero or someone to be admired with the
use of the online tool, Glogster (http://edu.glogster.com). Teachers create an account then sign up their
students. Once the students are signed up under the teacher account, the student “glog” is accessible
any time. No need to print, unless you want to.