Why Digital Writing Matters in Education Writing teachers like me (and perhaps like you) have been caught in a tight spot for some time now. On the one hand, computing technologies have radically transformed the meaning of "writing." On the other hand, high stakes assessments and their impact on teaching have limited what counts as writing in school. As a teacher, I feel pulled in different directions. Thankfully, there are some good educational resources available. Digital writing challenges what counts as writing and reveals the gap between how writing works in the world and how we teach it in schools.Digital writing platforms and services are ways to innovate instruction and learning. Why Writing Matters I always find it worth starting with why writing matters in education and in life. A second Commission report concluded that writing is a "threshold skill" for hiring and promotion among professional employees. The "Digital" in Digital Writing What distinguishes "digital" writing?
English 50 Exercises for Story Writers English 50 – Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers Basic Theory: What is a short story? As soon as someone delivers a definition, some good writer will write a story that proves the theory wrong. About the only thing we can say for sure is that short stories are short and that they are written in what we call prose. Short stories have a narrator; that is, someone tells the story; have at least one character in them; have some action occur (or perhaps fails to occur); take place somewhere; that is, there is a setting for the action; and someone either learns something or fails to learn something (theme).With these five characteristics in mind, we can create an almost endless supply of exercises to help sharpen our techniques of story telling. Narrative Voice Twenty or so years ago, voice was the "rite of passage" into a successful writing career. NOTE: It is quite common for writers in the early stages of their careers to imitate the writers they are reading or admire most.
Creative Writing Ideas, Courses Online, Free Classes for Writers A List of The Best Free Digital Storytelling Tools for Teachers 1- ZimmerTwins It is all about creative storytelling. ZimmerTwins is a web2.0 tool that allows students to give vent to their imaginative powers and exercise their storytelling skills from early stages to advances ones. 2- Digital Story Telling in The Classroom This section provides resources and materials for teachers to use with their students in storytelling. It helps students personalize their learning and perform better. Students can use these materials to create a movie or interactive slideshow to tell their stories. 3- Story Bird This is an awesome website that allows students and teachers to create short art inspired stories to read, share or print out. 4- Someries Someries is a fantastic storytelling site . 5- PicLits This is another awesome website where students can choose a picture and start drawing or writing a text on it to create a story. 7- Capzles This is where you and your students can create rich multimedia stories with videos, photos, music, blogs and documents.
The Seven Basic Plots: Christopher Booker Examines Common Narratives in Storytelling According to the British journalist and author Christopher Booker, there are only seven ‘storylines’ in the world. In his book, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, a work that took over forty years to write, Booker surveys world literature, outlining commonalities and showing that, although there are a multitude of tales and endless variety in the telling, all narratives are really variations of the basic seven. Booker’s work is detailed, interesting, and very long—over 700 pages—but his message is simple. Whether they represent the deep psychological structures of human experience or whether they are merely constructs of tradition, no matter what the story, you’ll find one or more of these basic plotlines: Rags to Riches Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Although it may seem reductive to restrict all narrative to these seven basic plots, it is actually quite instructive.
Welcome | Book-in-a-Week Welcome to BIW’s home on the web. This group has been a source of encouragement for hundreds of writers for ten years. It is an honor to be listed in the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Our motto continues to be BIC HOK TAM, which means butt in chair, hands on keyboard, typing away madly. This is the best way we know of to get any writing done. We hope you will join us in meeting our writing goals. Moe BIW List Moderator/Webmaster What Members Are Saying: “There’s something about BIW – something about us all being in this together – that motivates me to push to make my goal no matter what else comes my way. “BIW is by far the best internet writers group I have ever participated in. “BIW is strenuous but not stressful; meaning, the only pressure to meet our goals comes from the inside not from something external (like job pressure). “There is incredible support and friendship available in a writing group such as this one. Be Sociable, Share! M.
How to write for Blogging Students Pick a topic that affects other students. Photograph: F1 Online/Rex Features Since we launched it in January, Blogging Students has been a rip-roaring success, attracting record numbers of readers and making a huge impact on the social media, especially Facebook. These are the top three blogs so far: • Why have drug users become so reckless? • Why you shouldn't do postgrad, with 85,000 • And What will you do if you get a 2:2? Those who've written blogs for the series have benefited in several ways: they've got their own contributor page on the Guardian, which is a boost to their CV. Though a few have turned up perfectly formed, most have been through a discussion process that has taught them about pitching and writing and, in several cases, how to take a photograph that doesn't look like you snapped yourself on a phone in the loo. So how could you get involved? You'll notice that these blogs are not like people's personal blogs. Oh, and one last thing.
Second Person Point of View — The Writer’s Craft Enrollment Limited Sherry Wilson's step-by-step method helped me organize my thoughts and transform a simple idea into a full-fledged plot. Without her help and guidance, I'd still be walking around with just another "great idea for a story." Thanks to Sherry, though, I've published three novels and know there are more on the way! ~ Debi Faulkner, Summoning, LilyPad Princess and Murphy's Law "Sherry is extremely professional and knowledgeable in this field. As well as being technically proficient in many styles, she also possesses a rich imagination, offering suggestions and alternatives in a way that doesn't impose on the writer's own style. Her observations are honest and valuable, beyond what many others can give. A. "WOW! I really appreciate the work you've done so far. --Lena Jones "Sherry Wilson has a deep understanding of the craft of writing and a natural gift for the art of writing. Being an editor myself, there are not too many people I would trust with my own work.
Writing & Blogging Prompts, Story Topic Generators, Photo Inspiration Writing : Creative Writing & Blogging Prompts Topic Starters, Picture Prompts, and Thought-Provoking Questions for You to Answer "The best learning comes in the doing, and writing from prompts engenders doing. Many writers and bloggers seek out articles, prompts, and story starters to get their creative juices flowing. We've also listed recommended resources outside of our domain featuring more free writing prompts, story starters, daily writing exercises, visual art prompts, and writing topic generators. Writing & Photo Prompts, Tools, & Generators on Creativity Portal "Novels, short stories, flash fictions, memoirs, personal narrative and creative nonfiction, even poetry — all have found publication from their start as writing prompts." — Judy Reeves Take Ten for Writers Exercises Get creative with these exercises from Bonnie Neubauer's Take Ten for Writers! Brickstorming Your Legacy Brick What would you write on your legacy brick in 3 lines with 14 characters each? Be Creative!
Getting Started with Your Own Writers Notebook Aimee confers with a student over her writer's notebook. Getting Started with Your Own Writer's Notebook Aimee Buckner It's the end of May and school is out - at least in Georgia. There are a zillion things I love about the summer: waking up without an alarm, having my morning java out on the front deck, reading books on my front porch, at the pool, at the library, staying up late and watching Letterman every night! The joys of summer... Sometimes I get the itch to redecorate - or decorate actually. Being afraid is a terrible feeling. I am a great "faker." So, I packed up and headed to Columbia's Teachers College for the summer writing institute. That's what changed my life - my first notebook. Seven Stories as a Starting Point To really understand the nuances and rhythms of keeping a writing notebook, you have to have the experience. where a literacy coach asked the teachers she was working with to write the seven stories of their lives. Aimee's Seven Stories (List of Topics)* 1. 2. 3. 4.
TAKING A CHANCE ON PATHOS By EVA HOFFMAN; Eva Hoffman is an editor of The Book Review. Her memoir ''Lost in Translation,'' about living in a new culture and language, will be published in January.Published: November 6, 1988 SELECTED STORIES By Andre Dubus. 476 pp. Boston: David R. Godine. $22.50. Emotional veracity is surely one of the most elusive elements in fiction. Mr. We are accustomed, in today's fiction, to characters who are wretched, or disconnected, or down and out. It is in these usually hidden lives that Mr. But the immediate interest of these short stories and novellas resides not so much in the explosive premises and the detonating endings as in the concrete, sensuous detail, in the patient stitching of modest observation. Lacking stylishness or skepticism, or sharp wit, Mr. Especially toward love.
The Poetry Society (Home Page) Home/IWitness:Video testimonies from Holocaust survivors and witnesses Browse clips of testimony addressing more than 50 different topics. Registered IWitness users can search and watch full length testimonies. Watch IWitness Testimonies » Educators can build custom activities to support learners at all levels, or utilize the myriad of prepared activities. Students can build their own videos, word clouds and much more. Browse IWitness Activities » View student projects and hear from educators about how successfully IWitness works in their classrooms. Check out IWitness in action »
This website is loaded with great info on beginning writers who may have writers block. Also useful for generating ideas and exercises to keep your writing abilities from lying dormant. by ginamichelle1123 Feb 22