"Even in today's technology-laden society, writing continues to be a skill critical to success in many in and out-of-school endeavors. It also continues to be a task that is, at best, not pleasurable, and, at worst, anxiety ridden for many--again both in and out of school. Like many other tasks, writing, depending on the type of writing activity one targets, can be broken down into subcomponent taks, such as setting goals, organizing ideas, composing text, and editing."

We will look at several tools:

• planning and organizing (concept maps)
• tools for different types of writing (Poetry Forge & Powerpoint)
• tools for supporting collaborative writing
• tools for making writing more fun and increasing motivation

Activities:

• Scavenger hunt activity designed for grade 6 students.
  • Poem
  • Clue1, Clue2, etc.

We will also be reviewing basic editing skills using the editexer.doc.

LopArt or KidPix Studio (60 minutes):

• After a quick tour of LopArt or Kid Pix you can have some fun making your own silde show. LopArt or Kid Pix is an easy way to encounter graphics for the first time. It's surprising what you can with this inexpensive softwsare for children.
• You will be able to make your own:
  • slide show,
  • draw graphics of your own,
  • make simple animations and use the impressive collection of clip art available in this program.
  • Play with the program and create a slide show from three individual pictures.
  • Use the person beside you and the help features of KidPix to figure this out.
• Here are a couple of tutorials for your reference:
  • LopArt Manual
  • Learning Electric Company
  • Bob's Place (Kidpix section)
  • Technology Tutorials Around the World

Puzzles on the Net:

• Puzzlemaker
• Eclipse Crosswords (free download)

Free Graphics for Teachers: Please use this site for more free graphics and banners for your web pages. Go to the second section after the Power Point tutorials.

Web sites mentionned in textbook:

• Semantica
• Inspiration/Kidspiration
• Mindjet
• Powerpoint
• Kidscribe
• Scholastic (writing activities)
• Poetry Forge
• Collaborative Writing (Wikipedia)
• Writely (free online writing tool)
• Telegarden
• The Global School House Network (K - 12)
• SWoRD (used in higher education --up to now)