Setting up the Activity in your Classroom:
All the articles in the Writing with Writers project are formatted
to be read online or printed. Depending on the availability of
classroom computers and time, you may wish to print these articles
for individual reading at home or in class.
The Writing with Writers project is meant as a skill building
exercise that should be done individually. However, students can
work collaboratively in leveled reading groups, joint brainstorming
sessions, and peer reviews of their written works before submitting
it for teacher assessment and online publication.
If a computer is available for each student, students can work
on their own. Hand out the URLs or write them on the board so
students will have a guide through the activity.
If you are working in a lab, set up the computers to be on the
desired Web site as students walk into class. If there are fewer
computers than students, group the students by reading level.
Assign each student a role: a "driver" who navigates
the web, a timer who keeps the group on task, and a note taker.
If there are more than three students per computer, you can add
roles like a team leader, a team reporter, etc. Students can work
through the steps together this way and then write their poem,
book review, news article, etc. off line and enter this written
piece into the publishing element individually.
If you are working in a learning station in your classroom, break
out your class into different groups. Have rotating groups working
on the computer(s), reading printed background information, reading
examples of the genre, writing their pieces, reading each other's
work, and editing their work.
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Additional Resources:
Biography:
Biographical Profiles of Important 19th Century African Americans
http://www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/
The 19th-century African Americans profiled here include Frederick
Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Nat Turner, as well as some lesser-known
figures such as Mary Ann Shadd.
Black History Month
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html
Suggested activities and lessons are linked to appropriate sites
on the Internet for a complete online curriculum for Black History
Month. Topics covered in this site include contemporary poetry,
African-American leaders, and Buffalo soldiers, among many others.
Also at this site: a video download of a one-woman play, "Incidents
in the Life of a Slave Girl."
Folktales:
African-American Almanac: Folktales
http://www.toptags.com/aama/tales/tales.htm
Read dozens of African and African American folktales.
American Folklore: State Folktales
http://www.americanfolklore.net/ss.html
Read a folktale from your state or read historical and ethnic
folklore
Native American Folklore
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
Read dozens of stories from Native American cultures.
Mystery:
Mystery Net: Kid's Mysteries
http://kids.mysterynet.com/
Students read through mysteries and try to solve them before getting
all the clues.
Myth:
Myths from Around the World
/writewit/mff/myths.htm
Discover myths from around the world including India, Southeast
Asia, South America and more. This is part of the Myths, Folktales
and Fairy Tales online activity.
Myth Brainstorming Machine
/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm
Use this flash component to start your myth writing visually.
You can pick a character, a background, and effect, and print
it out to get your myth started right away.
Gods, Heroes and Myth
http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/
Read different myths from around the world from Greek and Roman
to Native American myths. Includes some crossword puzzles and
other games.
News:
Scholastic News Online
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews
Use the extensive content in Scholastic News online as a resource
for writing your own news article. New daily stories are posted
through the week and the special reports allow for in-depth coverage
of events happening around the world.
Science News For Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
Articles from the physics of candy packing to the behavior of
rats, this site has extensive news articles written for students.
New York Times Learning Network
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html
For the older grades, read about the current news covering all
topics. Activities include writing letters to the editor and a
monthly interactive crossword puzzle.
Poetry:
Poetry Archive
http://www.ibiblio.org/dykki/poetry/
The goal of this ever—expanding poetry archive is to
make poetry available at no cost and to give teachers and students
of poetry new ways to study poets and their work.
Jean Marzollo Web Page
http://www.jeanmarzollo.com/
This site features many of Marzollo's books including her award—winning
series I Spy . There is information on how to purchase
her books, a bio of her life, and fun activities to do with students.
Speech:
Online Speech Bank
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm
Research, listen, and read political speeches from today and yesterday.
Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches From Around the World
http://gos.sbc.edu/byyears/old.html
Read the speeches of famous women arranged by year.
Book Review:
Share What You Are Reading
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/swyar/
Read peer book reviews on any genre and write your own book review
to be published online.
New York Times: Book Review
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html
Read the book reviews on the latest books. Good for older students
to get an example of what they should be writing.
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Graphic Organizer:
5Ws Graphic Organizer: Grades 4–12
This 5Ws (PDF) Graphic Organizer
helps students find the Who, What, Where, When, and How of each
topic. Students will these organizers to fill gather information
for their biographies, news articles, book reviews, and speeches.
Story Elements: Setting Stage: Grades 4–8
This Setting Stage (PDF) graphic
organizer is a visual prompt for students to illustrate story
events. Students use this graphic organizer to write their pieces
in the following genres: descriptive writing, myths, and poetry.
Source: Graphic Organizers to Use with Any
Book by Michelle O'Brien-Palmer
Story Elements: Follow the Clues: Grades 4–8
This Follow the Clues (PDF) graphic
organizer helps students set the stage for their mystery. They
enter their clues that will help them lead to a solution to their
written mystery. Source: The
Big Book of Reproducible Graphic Organizers by Jennifer Jacobson
and Dottie Raymer; Illustrated by Amy Redmond.
Story Elements: Plot Diagram
The Plot Diagram (PDF) graphic
organizer is a way for students to illustrate the plot of a story.
Students can use this organizer to put together their thoughts
on writing their own Folktale. Source: Graphic
Organizers by Karen Bromley, Linda Irwin-De Vitis, and
Marcia Modlo.
Observation Chart: Grades 9–12
This Observation Chart (PDF) graphic
organizer makes students think about the words they are using
in their writing. For use with descriptive writing, myth writing,
and poetry, students think about the sights, sounds, feel, tastes,
and smells that they want to write about.
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