In honor of National Poetry Month I am featuring quotes by poets on my Almost Daily Quote blog. I am also going to do my best to write a poem a day for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). I will keep these on my poetry blog. Any feedback is always welcome.
I am not the only one publishing this month. My students are at that point as well. Last week I got them to start typing up some of their assignments on Google Documents. Even with my prior rant on Google Docs, I still find the service to be very valuable. After my students write up their assignments I require them to add me as a collaborator so I can help them edit their work.
Then, this week, I had them join wikispaces.com. My class website is located there. After they join wikispaces, I have them join my class wiki so they can add their own content to it. Each student is provided with their own webpage. On that page, so far, I have had them write a brief intro (this was freestyle--no explicit instruction past no last names used). Then they were to type in "Table of Contents," "Portrait Poem," and "Memory Paper."
Then we went back to Google Docs. I showed them how to publish their documents as webpages and had them copy the URL. Then back to wikispaces, where I showed them how to link from their webpages to their documents.
Most of them have at least made a start on doing this and are at various stages of completion. But, if anyone is interested in taking a look and leaving a comment, please feel free. Please try to keep comments constructive, these are beginning writers.
Happy National Poetry Month!
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2 comments:
Sounds like you sure have been busy, engaging students as poets.
Thanks for sharing
Kevin
What a great thing you are doing with your students - they are lucky ducks!
And speaking of publishing...
We were very happy to find your blog because we are 22 debut writers looking for classrooms that want to work with authors!
Our novels are both middle grade and young adult and cover a broad range of genres. (To learn more about us and our books, go to www.classof2k9.com.)
Connecting with us could happen in lots of different ways, including an exchange of letters, a question and answer session on our blog (or on yours), a chat room or Skype visit, or when proximity allows, an in-person meet and greet in your classroom (which could also involve more classrooms, an entire grade, or a middle school or high school assembly). The best part about these visits is that they are free! Feel free to pass the word to your coworkers.
In addition to visits, we are also encouraging schools to join our nationwide book drive for literacy. On our site, we give you tips on how to run your own book drive for a needy school or even for your own! It's a great way for students to share their love of reading and make a difference. Check it out here: http://classof2k9.com/?q=node/58
We also hope you'll enter our contests to win books for your home or professional library. Watch our blog for details: http://community.livejournal.com/classof2k9
We know that this time of the school year is busy and anticipate that the fall might be more appealing. We'd love to work with you or your students and look forward to hearing back from you.
We apologize for leaving this as a comment and not a personal email but we could not find one for you:(
Whatever you decide, we applaud your efforts (several of us are teachers too!).Keep up the great work.
Sincerely,
Susan Fine, author of INITIATION (Flux, May 2009) susmatt@earthlink.net
Beverly Patt, author of HAVEN (Blooming Tree, Fall 2009) beverlypatt@hotmail.com
www.classof2k9.com
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