Sometimes, making use of technology feels like it fits best with STEM subjects. Language Arts still feels like a pen and paper subject a lot of the time. However, each strand of Language Arts, reading, writing and speaking, is largely focused on communicating and we are living in a world where communication is rarely done with pen and paper.
When given a choice, my students almost never use printed text to communicate (aside from occasional note passing in class). They are unlikely to communicate with friends via email. They may use the phone to talk with their parents but rarely to communicate with peers. In my student's world, communication happens mostly within the social media environment using platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. When messages take the form of text they are short and abbreviated. More often than not, my students communicate with eachother using a complex milieu of photos, videos, memes, links, emojis, likes and hashtags.
A grade seven student in 2016 will will probably not use paper notebooks or textbooks in university, they will probably never hand in a paper report to their boss, they will rarely be in situations where they are not able to look up an unfamiliar piece of terminology.
I am not advocating the abandonment of pen and paper writing activities at school, however, its important to recognize the other forms of communicating that will be expected of our students. Its useful to provide opportunities for students to communicate in an increasingly wide variety of ways in Language Arts class .
Over time I have discovered a few areas where technology enhances the way that my students communicate within the context of traditional Language Arts activities.
When given a choice, my students almost never use printed text to communicate (aside from occasional note passing in class). They are unlikely to communicate with friends via email. They may use the phone to talk with their parents but rarely to communicate with peers. In my student's world, communication happens mostly within the social media environment using platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. When messages take the form of text they are short and abbreviated. More often than not, my students communicate with eachother using a complex milieu of photos, videos, memes, links, emojis, likes and hashtags.
A grade seven student in 2016 will will probably not use paper notebooks or textbooks in university, they will probably never hand in a paper report to their boss, they will rarely be in situations where they are not able to look up an unfamiliar piece of terminology.
I am not advocating the abandonment of pen and paper writing activities at school, however, its important to recognize the other forms of communicating that will be expected of our students. Its useful to provide opportunities for students to communicate in an increasingly wide variety of ways in Language Arts class .
Over time I have discovered a few areas where technology enhances the way that my students communicate within the context of traditional Language Arts activities.
Online Literature Circles
I have always preferred literature circles as an alternative to traditional novel study units. They allow students a greater degree of choice and since they have regular opportunities to think about the reading and share they make deep and unique connections to the text.
Until recently I always found the management and assessment side of lit circles to be problematic. Effective lit circle conversations should be a social event however, frequently they were too social. It was difficult to monitor five groups of students having simultaneous discussions and it was frustrating for students when group mates were disruptive, unprepared or off task. Some students were able to engage in meaningful literature circle conversations but many would wilt under the pressure or would lose focus under the relative freedom compared to a one-size-fits-all novel study activity. In my role, roving among several simultaneous conversations I could only ever observe short snippets of what was going on and it was challenging to share learning with parents.
A very effective solution has been to move these conversations online using social media tools. I prefer Edmodo for literature circles, but other tools such as Kidsblog could also be effective. I still provide students with the chance to speak about their reading in person, but they are required to formalize the conversation in an ongoing Edmodo chat.
There are several benefits to moving these conversations online. I am able to join the conversation and prompt student thinking much more effectively. Students are less likely to shirk their responsibilities knowing that I will be seeing their entire contribution. Students have a greater opportunity to reflect on each-others ideas and they are able to elaborate with a lot more detail on their own thoughts.
For any interested in trying out literature circles online my student lit circle guide is below. Email me for an editable version.
Until recently I always found the management and assessment side of lit circles to be problematic. Effective lit circle conversations should be a social event however, frequently they were too social. It was difficult to monitor five groups of students having simultaneous discussions and it was frustrating for students when group mates were disruptive, unprepared or off task. Some students were able to engage in meaningful literature circle conversations but many would wilt under the pressure or would lose focus under the relative freedom compared to a one-size-fits-all novel study activity. In my role, roving among several simultaneous conversations I could only ever observe short snippets of what was going on and it was challenging to share learning with parents.
A very effective solution has been to move these conversations online using social media tools. I prefer Edmodo for literature circles, but other tools such as Kidsblog could also be effective. I still provide students with the chance to speak about their reading in person, but they are required to formalize the conversation in an ongoing Edmodo chat.
There are several benefits to moving these conversations online. I am able to join the conversation and prompt student thinking much more effectively. Students are less likely to shirk their responsibilities knowing that I will be seeing their entire contribution. Students have a greater opportunity to reflect on each-others ideas and they are able to elaborate with a lot more detail on their own thoughts.
For any interested in trying out literature circles online my student lit circle guide is below. Email me for an editable version.
edmodo_literature_circles.pdf |
Student Voice and Choice in Showing Learning
Many students are reluctant to engage in traditional Language Arts assignments such as book reports, posters, pamphlets and essays. Many more students can be engaged in showing their learning, while achieving similar learning intentions, by leveraging technology to provide student choice. Below are a list of some assignments that my students can choose from to respond to their novel when wrapping-up literature circles. Students are also able to complete more traditional pen-and-paper options if they prefer.
-Use a comic creator app to write highlights from the novel in comic book form. You should remain true to any physical or setting descriptions.
-Write a series of text messages that two main characters in the novel might have written to one another during the course of the entire novel.
-Make puppets, finger puppets or masks representing the main characters of the novel. Then record a video where you act out scenes from the novel.
-Use iMovie to create a book trailer for this novel.
-Create a replica of a Facebook or Instagram page for one of your novel's main characters.
-Use google maps to recreate a journey taken by your novel's main character.
-Choose a character from your novel and write their Twitter feed as they progress through the events on the novel.
-Record a series of video diary entries imagining you are a main character from your novel.
-Create a claymation or brickfilm (Lego stop motion) animation to recreate a significant scene from your novel.
-Use a comic creator app to write highlights from the novel in comic book form. You should remain true to any physical or setting descriptions.
-Write a series of text messages that two main characters in the novel might have written to one another during the course of the entire novel.
-Make puppets, finger puppets or masks representing the main characters of the novel. Then record a video where you act out scenes from the novel.
-Use iMovie to create a book trailer for this novel.
-Create a replica of a Facebook or Instagram page for one of your novel's main characters.
-Use google maps to recreate a journey taken by your novel's main character.
-Choose a character from your novel and write their Twitter feed as they progress through the events on the novel.
-Record a series of video diary entries imagining you are a main character from your novel.
-Create a claymation or brickfilm (Lego stop motion) animation to recreate a significant scene from your novel.
Guiding the Writing Process With Shared Google Docs
One thing that disengages a lot of students from the writing process is the sheer amount of actual printing that is involved. Editing, revising and fully re-writing several versions of a document to achieve a good copy is no longer a reasonable duplication of the writing process. Modern documents are revised, shared, collaborated on and commented on before they are (if ever) committed to paper.
I have my students type a draft of their writing and share it with me using google docs fairly early on in the process. There are a few features of google docs that are quite useful here.
Its easier to revise work- I have never found it very effective to edit my students work in isolation. Students in grade six and seven find it very difficult revise their work effectively when relying on my written comments and editing marks. It is much more effective to sit down with them to have a one-on-one teacher conference at some point in the writing process. Creating an electronic form of their writing early on allows students to make real time revisions during our conversation. We can even sit down with two devices and edit their work together.
Its easier to comment- the commenting system in google docs makes it much easier to suggest revisions and to point out areas of strength and weakness.
File management is not an issue- Too often in the past, students lost their work due to saving it incorrectly or saving it on a corrupted drive. Google Docs allows students to access their work on any device at school and at home. Changes are saved automatically and it is possible to restore any previous version of the file. Now when students do lose their work it takes seconds to bring it back.
Its easier to share- students are able to share their work with me very early on in the process. Not only does this make it easier to revise and mark their writing, but it also allows me to keep tabs on their progress. They are also able to easily share with each-other for peer conferencing and peer evaluations. Link sharing allows me to easily share student writing (including my comments) with parents.
I have my students type a draft of their writing and share it with me using google docs fairly early on in the process. There are a few features of google docs that are quite useful here.
Its easier to revise work- I have never found it very effective to edit my students work in isolation. Students in grade six and seven find it very difficult revise their work effectively when relying on my written comments and editing marks. It is much more effective to sit down with them to have a one-on-one teacher conference at some point in the writing process. Creating an electronic form of their writing early on allows students to make real time revisions during our conversation. We can even sit down with two devices and edit their work together.
Its easier to comment- the commenting system in google docs makes it much easier to suggest revisions and to point out areas of strength and weakness.
File management is not an issue- Too often in the past, students lost their work due to saving it incorrectly or saving it on a corrupted drive. Google Docs allows students to access their work on any device at school and at home. Changes are saved automatically and it is possible to restore any previous version of the file. Now when students do lose their work it takes seconds to bring it back.
Its easier to share- students are able to share their work with me very early on in the process. Not only does this make it easier to revise and mark their writing, but it also allows me to keep tabs on their progress. They are also able to easily share with each-other for peer conferencing and peer evaluations. Link sharing allows me to easily share student writing (including my comments) with parents.