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Writing, Technology, & Teens
APRIL 2008 REPORT

Books on Writing

The Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing
The Tech Savvy English Classroom
Discover Writing Bookstore
Writing and Community Action: A Service-Learning Rhetoric with Readings by Thomas Deans
Tutoring Writing by McAndrew & Reigstad
A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers, Grades 6-12
The Pocket Muse Collections by Monica Wood
Great story-starters, ideas, and prompts for writers of all ages.
Description by Monica Wood
A stunning collection of ideas for adding rich description to your writing
Teaching the Neglected
A 21st century collection featuring Donald Murray, Nancie Atwell, Jeff Wilhelm, Jim Burke, Maureen Barbieri....

Books on Writing II

After The End by Barry Lane
Creative ideas on Writing and Revision
Room 109: The Promise of a Portfolio Classroom
Real portfolios, real kids....
Beyond Room 109: Developing Independent Study Projects
A how-to book on creating learner-centered activities...
Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture by Tom Newkirk
Incredible book that helps us think about the boys we teach.
The Performance of Self in Student Writing by Tom Newkirk
Newkirk maintains that students' personal writing can provide a window into discourses that hold power ....
Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre papers
The book that started the multigenre movement
New Directions in Teaching Memoir
A Studio Workshop Approach

Books on Writing III (elementary)

Writer to Writer: Fluency and Craft in the Multilingual Classroom (k-6)
Second Grade Writers
Units of Study to Help Children Focus on Audience and Purpose
The Resourceful Writing Teacher (3-8)
A Handbook of Essential Skills and Strategies
Writing in Science (k-5)
How to Scaffold Instruction to Support Learning
Writing Without Boundaries (1-8)
What's Possible When Students Combine Genres
Don't Forget to Share (k-5)
The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop
Guided Writing (Grades 2-6)
Practical Lessons, Powerful Results
Assessing Early Literacy with Richard Gentry
Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8
Talking, Drawing, Writing: Lessons for Our Youngest Writers (k-3)
The Ultimate Guide to Classroom Publishing (k-8)

Books on Writing IV (elementary)

Children Writing Stories by Michael Armstrong
A brilliant book...
Writing Every Day (k-8)
Reading, Writing, and Conferencing Using Student-Led Language Experiences
Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft (2-6)
DVD & Book

Expository Writing

Expository Writing Web English Teacher
Expository Writing from Stanford
Expository Writing at Harvard
Guides and examples plus a downloadable book "Making the Most of College Writing"

Interesting Websites

WriteBoston
Building a community of writers in Boston!
Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers, Grades 6-12
If you're interested in creating a writing center, go to this website and type in under Guest Access: wcenters
Teaching Writing
Among the most comprehensive collections on writing on the Web!
Polar Power
Polar Power, a place where students can interact and exchange thoughts, reflections, research, digital stories, podcasts, and po
Movie Montage on Writers
A fun YouTube piece featuring famous scenes from movies focused on writing.
WritingFix
Helpful website from the Nebraska National Writing Project
Random Daily Writing Prompts
...from WritingFix

Interesting Websites II

A Vision of K-12 Students Today
Digital Learning
Writing Report Card 2007
The National Writing Project looks at the 2007 NAEP scores.
Free Rice and Vocabulary
For each word you "get" right, 20 grains of rice are donated to feed people across the planet.
Learning in Maine
A wide variety of interesting questions and materials....
Mike Rose's Blog
Author of Lives on the Boundary, Mike Rose, shares thoughts about learning, teaching, and writing.

Journal Prompts

Journal Prompts for Teens
A wide variety of interesting prompts for adolescents.
Journal Prompt Library
A slew of journal prompts....
Journal Prompts from Canada
Many of these journal prompts are for younger writers.
Fifty-two Weeks of Journal Prompts
A wide variety of interesting prompts in an entertaining online format.

Poetry I

Jared Carter Poetry
Found Poetry
Portrait Poem Examples
Poetry 180--a poem a day for American High Schools
Just the best collection of poems....
Youth Speak (Poetry Slam)
San Francisco Poetry Slam (foul language)
The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens
Barbie & Ken 101 by Rafael Casal
Poetry Slam Performance (foul language)
mtvU John Ashbery's Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize winning poet has hooked up with MTV! Will wonders never cease....
Articles on Poetry from National Writing Project authors
Wow! Double wow!! Triple wow!!!
Magnetic Poetry
Take some time to play with words and write a poem.

Poetry II

Poetry Outloud
Wide array of offerings, including audio, from the Poetry Foundation
Poetry Outloud (Audio Guide)
Thirty-seven poems read aloud, including Anthony Hopkins reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
Poetry Outoud (video)
National Recitation Contest featuring young adults...terrific models.
Poetry for Children
About finding and sharing poetry with young people
ALA: Ways to Celebrate Poetry
American Library Association's website highlighting Poetry Slams, Open Mics, and much more.
Poetry Slam, Inc.
The mission of Poetry Slam Inc. (PSI) is to promote the performance and creation of poetry ...
Best of the Best Children's Poetry Anthologies

Professional Development Information

Publishing Student Writing

Teen Ink
Both online and in magazine format....
The Best Teen Writing of 2006
National Award-winning writing---great models for our students.
The Best Teen Writing of 2005
National Award-winning writing---great models for our students.
My High School Journalism
The National Edition is a weekly, nationwide collection of stories from high school newspapers that are hosted on my.highschoolj

Research on Writing

NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing
A brilliant collection of thoughts about writing and writing instruction.
NCTE Writing in the Early Grades, K-2
NCTE: Writing in the Intermediate Grades, 3�5
NCTE: Writing in the Middle Grades, 6�8
The National Commission on Writing
Reports to Congress...accessible and powerful....
Writing & School Reform (Nat'l Commission on Writing)
Great for schoolwide staff discussions.
Writing Next--A Report to the Carnegie Corporation
A meta-analysis of writing research
What is writing to learn?
Writing, Technology, & Teens
Full Report on April 24, 2008 Study Article Above
Study: Teens See Disconnect Between Personal and School Writing
April 2008 Article from The Journal

Technology and Writing

Center for Digital Storytelling
Reading, Writing, & Computers (Maine Writing Project video)
Podcasts from Wells Elementary School
Digital Storytelling Model: Ken Burns
Why Blog? from The Journal
One High School English Class Blog
Room 119--4th Grade Writing Website
Rural Voices Radio Series (NWP)
Digital Storytelling Model: Capture Wales
Making Connections (video info on using blogs)
ePortfolios from UVM
ePortfolio Models
Websites of Digital Stories
Digital Story Models
Digital Composing & the National Writing Project
A webcast discussion focused on digital storytelling...listen in!
Wikis in Plain English
If you're new to Wikis, you may find this website helpful.

The Short Story

Websites on Writing

CCCC: Position Statement on the Preparation and Professional Development of Teachers of Writing
258 Journal Ideas
Tips on Writing Essays from the College Board
Trucker Buddy International Pen Pal Program
Quick Writes to Enhance Learning
Teaching the Multigenre with Tom Romano
Writing.com (an online community for writers and readers)
Tips for Writers (Colby College)
Rural Voices Radio Series (NWP)
A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use & Copyright
Comic Creator on ReadWriteThink
Postsecret (a website full of secrets)
Top 20 Writing Errors
Multigenre (Alpacas Rock by World by Jen Sirois)
CCCC: Statement on Second Language Writing and Writers
Writing & Learning Differences (All Children Can Write by Donald Graves)
Active/Passive Voice
Graphic Organizers
Glossary of Writing Terms
The Multigenre Paper
Read*Write*Think
Read*Write*Think Lesson Plans 9th-12th Grades
A wide variety of lessons for the English language arts classroom teacher.
Resource Articles from the National Writing Project
Extraordinarily helpful articles on writing from America's premiere writing organzation.
On Being a Writer
A series of articles from the National Writing Project....

Citation Help

Citation Machine
Amazing help with APA, MLA, & Chicago Manual of Style
APA Guide
Chicago Manual of Style
Referen-cite
Nine students from University of Auckland discussing referencing.

The Conventions of Writing

Dr. Grammar
Help with the conventions of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and paragraphing.

Writing & Assessment

On Grading Student Writing: NCTE Position Statment
Powerful & thought-provoking....
Rubistar (Create Rubrics for Project-Based Learning Activities)
The Trouble with Rubrics by Alfie Kohn
If you struggle with rubrics, you're not alone....
6+1 Trait Writing
Sample Rubrics from Chuck McKay
Looking Collaboratively at Student Work: An Essential Toolkit
6 Traits for Elementary School
Rubric for a Literary Analysis Paper

Writing & Assessment II

A Grading Contract... Peter Elbow
A Unilateral Grading Contract to Improve Learning and Teaching--a terrific read.

Writing Center Information

IWCA (International Writing Centers Association)
The Writing Centers Research Project
The Writing Centers Research Project at the University of Louisville conducts and supports research on writing center theory and
INCREDIBLE LINK TO THE WCENTER WORLD! by EWCA (European Writing Centers Association)
A great connection to you-name-it
NCTE Statement on Writing Centers
Helpful resource when pitching a WCenter to an administrator
Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers, Grades 6-12
This Portal has a rich collection of information on Secondary WCenters.
European Writing Center Association
WCenters across the globe.