Tellagami: Fun with Short Stories

What fun! Tellegami for iPads and iPhones is a free app, which lets you and your students create stories called Gamis. With the app, you can customize characters and personalize them using your voice and your photos. There is absolutely no learning curve. In fact, it’s so easy to use that a kindergarten student sent a Gami to me. Backgrounds (see below the background with my Corgi) can be changed, characters can be resized, and Gamis can be share on Facebook, Twitter, through eMail, and SMS. Think of putting Tellegami to work in student projects, invitations, journals, and content review.

Creativity & Non-Fiction

Most of what students read today in school is non-fiction, and now, according to an article in Ed Week Teacher, with the introduction of Common Core, even greater emphasis will be placed on non-fiction curricular materials. AP Teacher Nathan Sun-Kleinberger says that students in his classes learn to be creative with non-fiction. He teaches the “Declaration of Independence” as a breakup song and for homework has students create their own “Declarations”.  Sun-Kleinberger’s students write satire like “State of the Union” addresses, but focus on topics such as “texting, zombies, drama queens, the NBA, reality television, and Velcro. Humor, this AP teacher believes, sets students into creative gear. You’ll want to read about his AP birthday card project and “brutally honest” class discussions.

Writing to Please Robot Readers

Some time ago we wrote about Les Perelman’s (MIT) challenge to the authors of a study that claimed machines could grade writing as well as teachers.  Mark D. Shermis, one of the authors of the study, said “mostly Perelman’s criticisms don’t add up.” Perelman, on the other side of the argument, is worried that states will go along with machine grading based on the study. The machine graders may, according to Perelman, lead teachers to teach to please the robot readers, which look for “length and loquacious wording, even if they don’t quite make sense.”

Have You Tried Coursera?

To keep up-to-date with teaching and learning, take a look at the courses offered through Coursera. They’re free, and they’re taught by some of the best professors in the world. You learn at your own pace while watching videos, engaging in interactive practice, self-testing, using feedback, and monitoring your own progress. Some of the courses offered this winter and spring include: E-Learning and Digital Cultures (University of Edinburgh); Fundamentals of Online Education: Planning and Application (Georgia Institute of Technology), General Game Playing (Stanford University), The Ancient Greeks (Wesleyan University), A New History of China (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior (Duke University).

Read&Write GOLD Assistive Software Use Training for Teachers

textHelp, which provides excellent software for students with special needs, has teamed with Atomic Learning to provide free training videos for teachers. Using 2-3 minute videos for each of the features of the software, those who work with students who need special help are better able to meet the needs of their students.  Atomic Learning’s learning sessions takes users on a “walk” through the menu options for reading, writing, and self-editing. Both Mac and PC training versions are available for you to browse.

Self-Confidence for Students with Learning Problems

Designed for all ages, textHelp’s Read&Write GOLD provides students with literacy support for applications they’ll use at school, at home, and in the Cloud. Documents in applications such as Microsoft Word and Apple’s Pages can be changed from text to speech. The program allows students to hear what is on a PDF or text that may be inaccessible. Options include a picture dictionary, pronunciation tutor, and a translator that can translate single words and paragraphs from English to Spanish, French, German, or Italian. Some of the writing, editing, and study skills options are: Spell Check, Word Prediction, Sounds Like, Confusable Words, Verb Checker, Fact Finder, Fact Mapper, and Vocabulary List Builder. textHelp’s  Web apps are compatible with Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone. If you are interested in Read&Write GOLD, download a trial version.

Boundless Free Study Materials for Students

Boundless is a free online resource service for high school students taking AP classes and beginning college students. Content from free material online such as resources from colleges and universities and governments is used to provide just what students need to replace texts for American History, writing, economics, and biology.  You can complete the educator form to find out if Boundless can help your students and your school.

iPad Apps for Students Struggling with Language Arts

On 11/07/12, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) will offer the Webinar, iPad Apps to Support Learners Who Struggle with Reading and/or Writing. The 60-minute learning session ($39 for members, $99 for non-members) will explore how to use a set of iPads to help  “learners of all ages to overcome barriers to reading and writing. “ Those attending will learn about free and inexpensive apps to use with students who are experiencing learning problems and also about the accessibility features available on iPads. Teacher Paul Hamilton, who works with schools on Vancouver Island, will lead the session.

Celebrate Writing with Writing

November is National Novel Writing Month, but the countdown has already started until NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins on November 1. The idea is to make it a goal for everyone to write a novel during the 11^th month. The adult (18 and up) program suggests the goal of 50,000 words, but for students 17 and under, teachers and students are encouraged to set reasonable goals related to age and ability.  The program includes guides and incentives for writers, resources, forms, and materials for teachers. After a novel is written, the text must be pasted into NaNoWriMo’s Word Count Validator by 11:59 p.m. (your local time) on November 30^th. In December, those who have met their goal of number of words collect their Novel certificate and take a look at “I Wrote a Novel! Now What?”

Write like crazy.

Fun with Learning Through Reading

Learning A-Z has excellent resources and eBooks available at modest prices. In addition to the great eBooks packed into Raz-Kids and Reading A-Z, Learning A-Z also produces writing, science, and vocabulary resources. Free samples of eBooks and resources are available online, and you can connect and share with other A-Z educators through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and We Are Teachers. Sign up for the free bi-monthly newsletter to keep up-to-date on all the new books and resources such as trade book lessons, graphic organizers, awards and certificates, leveled readers, themed resources, literature circle books, assessments, writer exercises, science game packs and videos, materials for debating beginning with Grade 2, science diagrams, and more coming from Learning A-Z.