Technology and Language Arts

Download a notes sheet where you can copy and paste links and type notes to yourself

Technology_Tools_for_K_8_Language_Arts.doc

Find a Standard

http://clrn.org/search/standards.cfm

Background Ideas and Information

Aiming for HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills)

Bloom\'s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally.pdf

21st Century Road Map

english_in_black__white.pdf

• Phonemic Awareness/Letter Recognition- ABC Match http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=64
• Alphabet Organizer for story vocabulary http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=35
• Bio-Cube for fictional characters or subjects of informational text-http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=57
• Animal Inquiry Graphic Organizer- whole class http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=20
• Character Trading Cards- http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=56
• Create a comic strip to summarize a story http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=21
• Examine circular story patterns with Circle Plot Diagram http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=26
• Compare and contrast characters, stories, and more using this tool that guides students through the process for planning a compare/contrast essay http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=66
• Create a character trading card for a character they want to use in a story http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=56
• Have students plot a circular story before writing http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=26
• Create a comic strip to focus on use of dialogue http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=21

• Discovery Streaming- videos about authors, videos of stories, videos to provide background for understanding a story, videos about grammar...
• Digital English- K-5 Language Arts resources, including videos and accompanying worksheets and presentations
• Between the Lions- animated stories, games, and more for primary students
• Tumble Books- animated books
• Houghton Mifflin- the online resources to accompany the Language Arts series
• Pokeman Learning League- videos and activities to help teach language arts skills and information, including quotation marks, comparing and contrasting, similies and metaphors, story elements, and more
• Teacher Cadre Projects

Wikis

Break down a book- this site has all kinds of pages linked to a central book http://thewright3.wikispaces.com/

     Here's another great example of a class dissecting all aspects of a book http://wiki.woodward.edu/hannalee/doku.php?id=hannalee

7th Grade Student Reading Wiki- students working on different facets of the books they read during the semester http://7thgradenorthcore.pbworks.com/FrontPage

Reading Rockets 'Meet the Author'- Audio and video interviews with authors of popular children's books, such as Lois Lowry and Chris Van Allsburg.

http://www.readingrockets.org/podcasts/authors

Subscribe at iTunes 

 

Storynory- classic tales told outloud with a little bit of history or commentary before the narrative.  British accent.  Quite relaxing to hear.

http://storynory.com/

 

Teacher Created Materials Podcast

More for Professional Development in Language Arts.

Available in iTunes

 

Hooked on Phonics Podcast

Available in iTunes

 

Watch and Learn Video Podcast

Ideas for teaching reading

Available in iTunes

 

ColeyCast

Student created podcasts; I especially like #37 about their literature circles

 

Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is a great way to get students reading, writing, and communicating.

Interactive Whiteboards

Document Camera

These aren't all related to language arts, but here's a handout with ideas for using a document camera in class.

101_ways_booklet[1].pdf

Language Arts Strands and Activities

Reading: Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development

• Use Inspiration for graphic organization
  • Word study- suffix/prefix, roots,
  • Vocabulary- word webs, story vocabulary, picture dictionaries (these are farm words and pictures to go with them), phonemic awareness (what starts with the letter...)
• Use digital voice recorders to have students practice reading stories out loud (elementary,) use recorders to have older students practice inflection when reading
• Word Central from Merriam-Webster- allows you to build your own dictionary, word of the day, and more http://www.wordcentral.com/
• Check out a Visual Thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
• Phonemic Awareness/Letter Recognition- ABC Match http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=64
• Alphabet Organizer for story vocabulary http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=35

Reading: Reading Comprehension

• Use Inspiration for graphic organization
  • Cause and Effect
  • Chronology
• Use Google to research the events in historical fiction, obtain primary sources to bring the era alive
• Use PowerPoint for story summaries (student generated- can be a simple beginning-middle-end for elementary or a chapter by chapter summary for older students.)
• Use voice recorders to have students provide a verbal retelling of a story (primary or ELD)
• Bio-Cube for fictional characters or subjects of informational text-http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=57
• Animal Inquiry Graphic Organizer- whole class http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=20
• Character Trading Cards- http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=56
• Create a comic strip to summarize a story http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=21

Reading: Literary Response and Analysis

• Research the Author- use Google or another search engine to research the author.  Many authors have their own websites that describe their history, motivation, current work, etc. 
• Use Inspiration for graphic organization
  • Character Maps
  • Story Maps
  • Genre Descriptions
  • Venn Diagrams
• Create a genre wiki, with examples of the genre, information about the genre...
• Create an author wiki
• Create a literary response blog (example: http://schoolblogs.net/wringer/)
• Create a book report/book recommendation wiki- create categories and students can report back on the books they read
• Use a pre-existing book recommendation site http://www.worldreading.org/
• Examine circular story patterns with Circle Plot Diagram http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=26
• Compare and contrast characters, stories, and more using this tool that guides students through the process for planning a compare/contrast essay http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=66

Writing: Strategies

•  Have students verbally tell their story or argument or ideas they want to include in a writing assignment using a voice recorder.  They can get the ideas out without having to worry about spelling or punctuation, and can refer back to their recording. 

Writing: Applications

• Provide students access to multiple examples of the genre they are studying and writing
• Have student illustrate their stories with digital pictures (takes the pressure off for kids like me who cannot draw)
• Write stories in PowerPoint- it helps emphasize using paragraphs in stories, so you don't get one very long page of writing with no breaks and no way to figure out when there is a scene change or when someone new is talking... Students have to figure out when there should be a break.  They can also use digital pictures to illustrate the stories.
• Create a character trading card for a character they want to use in a story http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=56
• Have students plot a circular story before writing http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=26
• Create a comic strip to focus on use of dialogue http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=21

Writing: Written and Oral Langauge Conventions

•  Digital storytelling- PhotoStory is a free Windows program that allows students and teachers to create movies that include media and text. Download it at:

• Create a podcast of student stories, modeled after old-time radio broadcasts. Check out a sample lesson plan at http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=901

Speaking

• Use voice recorders for students who are practicing a presentation.  They can hear themselves and identify ways to improve.

Listening

Other Resources

Knowledge Network from SBC

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/news/CAschools/la.htm

CTAP Region 3

http://www.ctap3.org/handouts/read_tech/techoptionsholt.htm

Electronic School Article

http://www.electronic-school.com/0198f4.html

Storytelling Resources

http://storyarts.org/sitemap.html

E-Mail and English

http://tilleka.tripod.com/

Online Books

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Teaching the English Language Arts With Technology: A Critical Approach and Pedagogical Framework

 http://www.citejournal.org/vol4/iss1/languagearts/article1.cfm

101 Ways to Integrate Technology into Literacy Activities

http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/101Ways.html