Student Guide Corner

Today's post highlights StoryBird , a free online storytelling tool to engage struggling writers. Storybird offers an extensive collection of beautiful graphics. Students select the graphics they would like to use in their story, drag and drop the graphics in a sequence of their choosing and then write text. It really is as simple as that. It is also possible to read Storybirds that others have created, save them to a reading list or embed them in blogs, wikis, or glogs. Storybird works with Co:Writer word prediction and Dragon Naturally Speaking software.  Here are two to give you an idea of what a StoryBird can be: The Holidays are Here on Storybird When I look up at night. on Storybird Applications - Struggling writers often have difficulty imagining and developing an idea. Storybird provides the external structure which promotes student success. Reluctant or struggling writers seem to love the ability to select graphics for their own creative stories. Because it is a fo...

High school students are required to write essays pertaining to a variety of topics. It's one of their roles as a student. The ability to write well is a life skill. Never underestimate the importance of teaching a student to write effectively. Unfortunately, many students with special needs fall far behind their peers with regard to written expression. Often, they are allowed to write less, or allowed to dictate to an adult scribe or receive so much support, the final product does not reflect their effort. Nevertheless, it is imperative we provide opportunities to improve independent writing skills following explicit writing instruction. Now there is a free, online tool, called Paper Rater , which analyzes writing across five distinct categories : Plagiarism detection Spell Check Grammar Check Word Choice Style Vocabulary Builder And not only is writing analyzed, but additionally, writing instruction is also offered. It's easy to use, no sign-up required. You copy and paste y...