Digital Writing is…

Session One (February 9, 2011):

We explored ideas of writing and processes and were introduced to the wiki world through our Learning Series wiki – Digital Sandbox.

Homework:

1. Complete “Writing Territories” page – add images (consider multiple ways of representation)
2. Sign up to Tal.ki for access to Discussion Board.
3. Read the article: Revising the Writing Process -Chapter 2 (Because Digital Writing Matters – Dànielle Nicole DeVoss, Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, and Troy Hicks (Jossey-Bass, 2010))
4. Add your voice to Discussion Board – create a topic idea/question you wish answered or state a comment; comment on other participant’s pages.

Session 2 – Thursday February 24th (3:30).

Everyone has a story. The challenge is choosing how to bring it to life and who to share it with.

Our Learning Series on Stop Motion Animation started today.  Besides the technical “how to’s”, we discussed how to create voice, mood and motion.  For example, what role does background music play in setting the tone, suspenseful moments, how do we use ‘voice’ in powerful ways, how do we give emotion to inanimate objects…
And it’s always about the story – what message do you wish to explore and communicate?

Copyright Free sites or Creative Commons licensed free sites:

Images: Wikimedia Commons;  Creative Commons Search;  Wylio – Free Pictures;  Burning Well;  Free Stock Photography

Music: Freeplay Music;  Jewel Beat;  Jamendo (these are big files)

HOMEWORK: Consider how music and mood work together or how silent messages work to portray a message.  Think about some ideas (based on what was presented and what you find on the web).  Post your thoughts on these two areas by clicking on LEAVE A COMMENT.

Words Their Way is a program that offers a developmental curriculum for phonics/spelling instruction, reading fluency and vocabulary development. The hands-on activities engage students as they actively categorize their ‘word sorts’ and the assessment inventory provides a clear indicator of where each student is in the process of word development.

We’ve been working with a new group of teachers this term to further our understanding of word sorting.   Check out the page under In The Classroom for details on the actual “how to” process.   An added feature is using technologies to provide multimodal practice.  As well, posting to a blog creates opportunities for shared partnerships with parents.

I’d be interested in any thoughts or comments you have around this topic or how you organize your Words Their Way activities. Click on “Leave a Comment”.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming just around the corner.   You will find all details and registration on the Staff Development Calendar.  Don’t forget that our district pro-d day is February 25th. *Please note that these are ‘learning series’ and attendance is necessary at all sessions.

Reading/Writing with Kurzweil 3000 (Alternate Ed Group):  Feb 2, 9, 23

Stop Motion Animation (Integrate a multimodal approach to engage EVERY student. Tell a story, a PSA, a commercial. Packed with movement, storyboarding, planning, talking and sharing.):  Feb 7, 15, 22

Digital Writing/Digital Teaching (Explore writing skills through a collaborative process using wikis and a variety of other tools.  Harness the multi-modal nature of the web world.): Feb 9, Feb 24, Mar 10, Apr 14.

Literature Circles (Explore critical thinking and reflection in a collaborative environment – whether in-person or online.): Feb 10, Mar 10, Apr 11

District Day – February 25
(a small sampling – more information coming to your schools):

• Smudging Ceremony – 7:30am
• 5 Rs to using Blogs for Primary
• Writing and Google Docs

Today we started our first of 4 learning sessions on Words Their Way, by Invernizzi, Bear, Templeton and Johnston.  In a nutshell, the program provides a developmental curriculum for phonics/spelling instruction, while also promoting reading fluency and vocabulary development.  Its hands-on approach marries well with what we know about how the brain uses categories to group items for meaning making. In doing so, we allow students to make their own decisions about words as well as articulate their understandings.

The Spelling Inventory from the program is a powerful way to assess our students’ orthographic knowledge.  More importantly it is the vehicle that helps us to group our students for instruction tailored to their needs.  It is not a one-size-fits all.

Routines and “how to organize” the experiences were modeled.  This will be picked up to be continued during the February 25th district pro-d.

Many questions popped up:

• How do we know where our students are in their literacy progress?
• How do we systematically advance the learning of every student?
• How do we organize the instruction so that we access multiple areas of the brain?
• How do we organize our groups for those teaching sessions?

Other questions may pop up and will be added to this.
What are your questions or what are your thoughts so far? (Click on Leave a Comment)

HOMEWORK:

• given your grade level, choose one of the assessment inventories to assess your students
• bring the marked copies of the spelling inventory to our next session on February 2

• interactive session incorporating some of the routines of Words Their Way
• the use of technology as an element to elicit multi-modal responses and practice

Once again we gathered as a group to explore the writing process.

Some things we tackled this time:

• how to create colour coded folders and move our google documents into those folders (AAAhh, you can just feel the sigh of relief with this organizational structure)
• how to use the revision history as a way to keep track of all the draft revisions
• how to get back to revisions that you liked and write from there (*this one is good when writing starts wandering away from the thesis topic)
• how to attach specific areas of performance standards to the writing for students to self-assess and for teachers to support writing
• how to organize our mini lessons (*Yes they are mini-10 minutes) in response to reviewing the students’ docs

We did some unpacking from the book, Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks and shared ideas that resonated in chapter 3.  One thing out of the many that leapt off the pages was around the notion of ‘conferring’.

” Writers talk in order to rehearse language that will go into what they write and conversation often provides an impetus or occasion for writing. “

We need to give ourselves the freedom to allow our students to talk to each other about their writing and to stretch those ideas into something deeper than when they started.   As a group we did that ourselves and afterwards, we entered our comments into our Session 2 Post.   In this way, we were able not only hear each other, but to return to those written words and further reflect.

Homework:

• refine our mini lessons
  start the process with our students in January (get those technical setups completed and dive into writing)
• Read another chapter (eg. Chapter 6, “Enabling Assessment over Time with Digital Writing Tools”)

• Please take the opportunity to response to any of the following:
  • What do you wonder about?
  • What resonates with you?
  • What questions do you still have?

These are the handouts for the Kurzweil 3000 Refresher session.

• Writing Support
• Writing Support Practice/Play

From  Previous Sessions:

• Implementation Process
• Reference basics v11

Here is your homework for Oct 20th:

• Challenge Activity #2: To get a feel for how your blog will act in posts, please create a few posts and create categories (logical words meaningful to you) to organize them.
• (Some examples may be homework, events, news of the day, questions to ponder, questions to launch a topic of study, criteria sheet and any details on it.)

Consider adding an image to start your post and notice what that does to your post.

Find a few great websites and add them to your list of links (you can categorize these too if you want to group them).

Before the next Blog workshop, please try to complete the following tasks:

A)  Upload 2 – 3 images to your media library.

• 100 pixels by 100
• 300 pixels by 300
• original file upload and resize in editor

B) Create a List of 3 Links

C) Change your current theme and identify the changes observed?  What did you notice?  Then revert back to your original theme if needed.

D) Finish and/or Create a post and page in your blog.

E) Reply to this challenge activity page below:  Think about and describe how you would use the post feature with your students in your curriculum?

Need Extra Help?

Download: How to Add Images Into  Your WordPress Blog

Imagine a simple way to share and connect information with your parent community, your student community, your teaching community.  Imagine being able to update that information or receive comments anytime, anywhere.  In our busy schedules it is increasingly difficult to share everything that we feel is important — enter the web world.  Using platforms like blogs or wikis, we can begin the process of communicating and connecting our curriculum in ways that engage, personalize, and deepen learning.

We’ve even gone a step further by offering our own wordpress blogs via our server.  Get the power of blogs and even more!  We’ll start with simple things  like posting homework, class bulletins and calendar information, then move to how we can use blogs to support literacy (reading/writing) in real and tangible ways.

Our adventure begins: BLOGS – Connecting and Communicating (3 part series)
Session 1: Tues. October 12 (3:30-5:00) Schou – TLC
Session 2: Tues. October 19 (3:30-5:00) Schou – TLC
Session 3: Tues. November 2 (3:30-5:00) Schou – TLC

*** Register now in the Staff Development Calendar.