March 2007
Young Writers Workshop
by knann (via)This site contains many beautifully illustrated worksheets in pdf format that contain the beginning of a story. More story beginners are added frequently to the site, and students or teachers may submit a student story created with a Meddybemp starter. Students whose stories get published receive a free T-shirt and online publication! Selected students become Young Writers Workshop Published Authors!
Kerpoof
by knann & 5 othersKerpoof is a site designed to inspire creativity among children as they interact with the pictures. They can select a scene and add items to the scene and/or adjust object sizes . The scenes are richly varied, containing fantasy as well as international items. The site promises to change often. You can also find coloring sheets to print and color. You and your students can customize your own scenes, if you join (see classroom use tips). - 7759
In the Classroom: Use these online "scenes" for students to create their own writing prompts. Let students choose (you might want to limited their options to save time)and work individually or create a scene for the whole class on an interactive whiteboard. Then print it out and ask students to tell the story or write the paragraph about the scene. Special ed teachers and speech/language clinicians can use Kerpoof to prompt vocabulary development. Incorporate social studies and science curriculum topics by describing scenes with community workers, careers, farm animals, and more. NO reading required except to select print, save, etc.
If you "join" as a teacher, you can save the scenes your class creates and revisit them at a later date. Do NOT allow students to join unless you have parent permission. The information requested is very safe, but it would be simpler to use a whole-class account.
November 2006
Writing Prompts
by knann (via)6 1 Trait® Writing (Dimensions fo Writing) The best prompts are the ones that spark a personal connection between the writer and their ideas. Provided here are some generic writing prompts to get you started, but you will also find some tips on how to write your own prompts. These self-written prompts will offer better starting blocks for your students than the generic prompts because they spring from the immediacy of their lives. Includes prompts for narrative, expository, and persuasive.
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(4 marks)