Visual Writing Prompts from Pinterest

I came across this great Pinterest page and I'll be using it to give learners ideas when they're doing 'free writing.' Below is a screenshot of just a few of the many examples. Click here to check out the pins and be inspired!

Visual Literacy: Inspiration for Literacy Activities

I came across a great resource a couple of days ago on TES containing a link to a posterous site set up by one Rob Smith. Although only a couple of months old, the blog already contains over 50 video clips with suggested activities from creative writing to discussion, inference and deduction and much more. The clips are generally short and the ideas are great for seeing just how many ways there are to incorporate this engaging material into lessons. If you've got 10 minutes to spare, have a browse and see what gems you uncover.

Rob seems to be a Primary teacher, but there is plenty in here for the Secondary classroom too. Be inspired!

Click The Literacy Shed to visit the site.

Stupeflix: Online Video Editor

A couple of days ago, I blogged about WeVideo which allows online collaboration for video projects. Another tool to add to your video kit is Stupeflix, which offers a range of features for enhancing your video. From their theme gallery to adding text, overlaying your video from any one of their 130 music tracks to adding maps and text-to-speech, Stupeflix offers a variety of ways to make your videos more 'wow' before sharing them via social media sites or embedding them. This is a great service for those looking for a multi-feature video editor without the need for downloads.

Integration:

• Learners can use Stupeflix to enhance their video projects and easily bring in other tools such as maps
• The text-to-speech feature could be useful for SEN learners who would benefit from an audio experience of any on-screen text, or for those who prefer this to their own voiceover

Qwiki: The Information Experience

Qwiki is an award-winning knowledge portal which brings together media from all over the web to create a unique "information experience." The audiovisual nature of the search results makes it a particularly useful tool for those who have difficulties navigating large chunks of text. Summaries are read by a text-to-speech application or creator, so it enables users to employ their listening skills too - good for those developing their language skills. An iPad app is also available.

I just noticed a feature at the bottom of the Home page saying that it's now possible to create your own Qwiki, so this could be useful for giving learners a platform to publish findings from their own research or expertise.

Mee Books & The Story Home: Audio Books for Kids

MeeGenius offers a range of free (and paid) books for kids that they can listen to and/or read along with on the site. The stories are beautifully illustrated to engage younger learners and although the range isn't great, it's another place to find free reading content for kids; add them all together and you have a lot of choices to keep them busy!

The Story Home is another site where kids can listen to tales read by a guy named Alan. Unfortunately, there is no read-along option on this site. However, there is a wider range of stories than the previous site and they can be browsed by category, so still lots of useful stuff to keep younger learners engaged and occupied. Given the lack of illustrations, why not get your learners to create their own visual responses?

Word Spy - A Guide to New Words

Wordspy is a great little find. It documents the meaning and usage of new words coming into the English Language. From browsing the front page, I learned that a 'piem' is a poem where the length of each word corresponds to the numbers in pi, thereby offering a mnemonic for recalling pi itself; one for me to take away and use immediately - great!

Integration:

• Entries can be searched in a number of ways including by category so learners studying language itself may well find this useful for a particular topic e.g. the language of insults or economics; as citations of where the words first appeared are included, it's a great starting point for a research project
• The catalogue could be used to enrich writing; I particularly like the euphemism section and I can see how directing learners to it could support them in their attempts at injecting humour into their texts
• In a world where new words are being coined on a daily basis, this is a great repository for simply keeping up with the lingo in a particular field, whether it be Science, Computers, Sociology or others

The Write-n-ator

The Write-N-Ator is an interesting tool for getting younger learners writing. They watch a video and then take a linked writing challenge. Tips for writing are included as are U.S. standard alignments. The challenges span a range of purposes from descriptive to explanatory with some requiring only a sentence or two, and others more. Useful for Primary-school kids or perhaps even younger Secondary learners.

Hello Slide (& Wicked - Science and Maths)

Hello Slide offers another way of presenting information. It's similar to other platforms, such as Voicethread, but it incorporates a text-to-speech function which means that you don't need access to recording equipment. Here's an example:

Integration:

• Use to create self-access instruction whether for flipping the classroom, learning stations or a 'help yourself' section of a website or VLE.
• Learners can produce their own presentations for sharing with peers or paired schools.
• Learners could create stories with narration, explain mathematical/scientific concepts, illustrate geographical events or profile historic figures - consider applications for your own subject area. 

Like this? You might also be interested in these science interactives on plate action, rock formation and more from wicked.org.nz

Boom Writer - Encouraging the Best Writing from your Learners

Boom Writer takes the idea of collaborative writing and adds in the important element of peer assessment with a requirement to do the absolute best writing possible.

Learners write a chapter and then, without knowing who wrote what, vote on the one that should continue the story.

Schools have the choice of then publishing the finished book, or simply access it from the website.

An example of what this can result in is here and the short, clear video below gives an overview of the process.

Zopler - Collaborative Story Telling

Zopler offers a platform for people to write stories together. Once the story's been started, you can invite others to contribute until it's finished. The video gives a quick overview.

Integration:

• Use Zopler for a whole school / class story or for creating a whole class response to an excursion or event.
• Support reluctant writers by having them contribute to or start a story and see it grow into something much more comprehensive.
• Encourage higher ability writers to contribute regularly to experiment with different styles, finding a voice and getting feedback from a writing community on Zopler.
• Stories can be public or private (to an individual or group) so explore these options to avoid inappropriate additions or comments.

Sidevibe

Sidevibe is a useful tool which is now totally free making it eligible for a slot on this blog. It takes the idea of a shared notepad that floats on top of webpages and enhances it with the ability to add links, discussions, prompts and much more. Other tools might be alternatives to some of the features, but it negates the need to click between two media e.g. a webpage and a note-taking tool, thereby saving time and keeping the 'flow' of work going.

Having a test-run with it, I found out that it is not currently supported by Chrome or the latest version of Safari so you'll have to use another browser such as Firefox or Explorer when creating 'vibes.'

Here's an intro below which gives an overview, but really you need to go and experiment with it yourself, and perhaps explore the forums, before its potential applications become fully clear.

Integration:
Sidevibe can be used for many activities; below are just a few:

• turn any webpage into an online activity by providing questions or instructions to follow when visiting a specific URL;
• collaboratively collate websites related to a topic;
• prove discussion / thinking prompts for a webpage containing any type of media from print to video;
• take notes on a research topic as learners move through various websites;
• structure / plan / write an assignment with the criteria / rubric open on the page in front of them;
• receive immediate feedback at the side of a presentation by using Sidevibe as a backchannel.

Panoramas & Imagination

Since attending a Creativity workshop with Tim Rylands at ASB Unplugged 2012, I've been interested in using panoramas to inspire stepping outside of the classroom - at least in a a virtual sense.

The first of a few resources to help with this is Autostitch, the gallery of which is here. With Autostitch you simply input the pictures you've taken and it automatically detects the overlaps and stitches them together in one seamless panorama, which can be navigated with your mouse or keyboard to turn up to 360 degrees. Unfortunately, the demo software is only available for Windows at the moment, but you can still make use of those in the gallery.

CleVR also offers a free service for stitching pictures. The great thing about this site is that you can embed the results into websites, blogs and wikis when you're done. Again, no specialist equipment - other than a digital camera - is needed and the results can be impressive. What's more you can "add interactive hotspots to your panoramas. These let viewers click areas in the panorama for more information. They can display notes, photos or video. They can also be used to link panoramas together into a full virtual tour."

Airpano offers 3D panoramas to move around and explore. I would have embedded one but as soon as I tried, the audio played automatically. Check them one for yourself here.

Photosynth is yet another online platform for creating static and interactive panoramas that can be shared a number of ways including by embedding. There is a comprehensive public gallery available if you don't have the time or means to make your own.

Integration:

• There's no substitute for the real thing, but if you can't take your class to a place of interest let it come to you via an interactive panorama; projected or displayed onto a whiteboard with the lights dimmed, learners can be transported to another place entirely - let their imaginations soar
• As a prompt for creative writing, use one of the high res panoramas to zoom in on a smaller object of interest in the background; as you pan out ask learners to note the detail that is added before looking left, right, up and down to complete the picture and the subsequent writing
• Learners can create their own panoramas to accompany projects on places or topics; add audio and text to create interactive webpages to engage audiences on almost any subject
• If you're a bit of a techie - immerse learners in a fantasy world of their own creation; use the background panoramas for green-screen shooting

My Hero Project

This is such a worthwhile project that I just had to share it. The My Hero project has been around for a number of years, and aims to "use media and technology to celebrate the best of humanity and to empower people of all ages to realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world."

The project is a great way to expose your learners to a range of inspirational people (and animals!) and the site is packed full of lesson plans and resources to get you started. If you are looking for a project that really makes a difference, this could be your answer regardless of your subject area or target age-group.

Learners can contribute short films, artwork or essays on the heroes of their choice so it lends itself to cross-curricular approaches and bonus...it's open to absolutely everyone from nursery to university and beyond. Teachers may well feel inspired to contribute themselves and that's all good. Below is one of the short films produced for the project to give you an idea of the moving stories involved.

ESOL Courses

Esolcourses offers free content for learners of English including song gap-fills, IELTS preparation, vocabulary and listening practise. Although the site is rather UK-centric, there are lots of materials on here that any learner or teacher of English language could make use of. The visual nature of the activities may be suitable in some SEN contexts too.

Highlights:

• Explore the site's different areas to find materials tailored to individual needs; great for personalised learning whether it's reading, writing, listening or speaking that's the focus
• Direct learners to the site for independent study; it shouldn't take too much encouragement to complete quizzes on popular music from artists like Adele, The Beatles and Whitney Houston and immediate feedback is given for responses
• The Signs & Symbols picture quizzes are great for developing visual literacy

Again...but slower

Againbutslower.com puts Wikipedia and Simple Wikipedia side-by-side so you can compare the results from each. If used for differentiation where the (EAL?) learners are making the choice, rather than the teacher, it has great value. Also, as much of Wikipedia has not yet been simplified (information on my hometown for example) there are opportunities for learners to create their own entries which will then be accessed by the rest of the world.

Vikidia

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of Wikipedia and I've already blogged about  Simple Wikipedia though you might have missed it if not signed up for updates. Great for most of us using English as the medium of instruction, but now MFL teachers can join in too with Vikidia, currently available in Spanish and French. Designed particularly for younger learners from around 8-13, Vikidia can be used as an information resource as well as edited and contributed to as per Wikipedia. Give your learners an accesible info store as well as a real audience.

Terragen

I decided to go ahead and publish this post so you could explore the resource yourself, but once I've had a bit more of a play with the software, I'll update it with more details and ideas. In the meantime, feel free to add your own via the Comments section below of course.

This is hardly a click-and-go type resource but because of its potential, I just have to share it with you. Tim Rylands presented this at the ASB Unplugged conference in Mumbai last week and it was simply mind-blowing. The free software can be downloaded from here and the rest is up to your imagination and creativity as you create your own landscapes on a planet of your choice. While it might be time-consuming, just think of the possibilities!

I can hardly begin to list all the uses Terragen could have for extended project work or PBL, but here's a few to kick things off. In my ideal world, I'd use it for a long-term cross-curricular project with various groups coming back to the created world through the year for various learning activities. Anyway, individual subject teachers could create a world and then fill it with anything relevant. For example:

• Historians could produce areas which are portals to the past and use the backdrops as green screens for recording events
• Geography - countless ways to interact with landforms and other geographical features before exploring the impact that the peoples you decide to populate the planet with; combine with Google Sketchup for even more
• Art - use your eyes and imagination!
• English / Language Arts - lots of opportunities for descriptive and narrative writing; if non-fiction's your goal, is there anything in the world that couldn't be linked to an entire planet?

Visuwords, Lexipedia & Wordnik: Dictionary Alternatives

Visuwords has been around for a while and I used to use it extensively so I was very happy to be reminded of its existence at the ASB Unplugged conference last week. With all the benefits of a dictionary and thesaurus rolled into one, Visuwords will appeal to those who prefer to see connections as a concrete pattern. Try it out - there's no sign up so it takes less then 10 seconds to see what it can do. Click here.

Lexipedia offers another word-defining visual of a similar nature. The benefit of this one is you can choose the word class by ticking various options such as synonym, noun, adverb etc. And the greatest is bonus for MFL - you can search for words in not only English, but also Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Italian. Click here.

Should you be looking for something a little different, Wordnik might be of more interest to you. Entering a word into this search engine will offer a variety of different definitions from different sources and alongside these appear many examples of the word in use - very handy for those who get the meaning but not grammatical usage. Add in the usual synonyms, antonyms and even a 'reverse dictionary' which shows you definitions containing your search term, and you're almost there...but not quite. On top of all this, you can hear pronunciations from at least 2 dictionaries as well as find out your word's Scrabble score - now that's comprehensive! Click here.

TodaysMeet Backchannel

Sometimes it does take a bit of time for things to filter through, no matter how many times I read them on the numerous blogs I subscribe to. Backchanneling tools definitely come under this category. If it's news to you here's an overview from TodaysMeet:

What finally convinced me to sit up and take notice of this resource was witnessing its use in an inspiring lesson where learners were watching a film and using TodaysMeet to express their thoughts and ask and respond to queries. The teacher was following the stream and was able to feed in comments to alert them to important upcoming sections that they should pay particular attention to or things to listen/watch out for. 

TodaysMeet was the tool of choice, and although there are alternatives (for example Twitter or Google Moderator could be used in a similar way) it's the very simple, no-signup, streamlined interface that lends its appeal. Furthermore, transcripts of the backchannel can be saved as a pdf for future reference. 

Each new topic is assigned a unique url and the backchannel remains open for up to a year.

Edusim Virtual Worlds

I've never been into 3D virtual worlds; my initial fumblings with Second Life were rather underwhelming (no doubt due to my own impatience in mastering the tools), so when I came across Edusim I didn't have high expectations. However, after watching a couple of the videos on their site and then finding a couple more on Youtube, I began to get excited. Why? Well, the videos show primary kids using the interface with ease and the examples given immediately sparked off ideas of how I'd use this in my own classroom. At the moment, I think primary teachers have the advantage in being able to launch the use of Edusim through a concentrated block of time, but secondary teachers could create cross-curricular collaborative projects to really take this to a whole other level.

Integration:

Colonise an imaginary world and then fill it with everything from:

• Libraries holding histories, myths, legends and other texts related to the world (English/Language Arts)
• Fill the terrain with interesting geological features (Geography)
• Environmental management systems (Geography, Economics, Maths)
• Creatures based on life forms studied (Sciences)
• Galleries showcasing works (paintings, illustrations, film, song) from this other world (Art, Music, Media)
• Buildings created from Google Sketchup (Art, Design Tech, ICT)
• Additional villages where they speak other languages (MFL)

The possibilities are as limitless as your learners' imagination!