| Writing
Writing is sometimes referred to as humankind's greatest invention. Undeniably,
the development of communication by writing was a pivotal step in the
advance of human civilization.
Modern theories on writing instruction focus on the process of writing-the
practices experienced writers typically use as they craft texts. The process-approach
to writing focuses on methods for generating, drafting, revising, and
polishing a piece of writing. As inexperienced writers become better versed
in these steps and the various strategies they entail, they become more
aware of textual and syntactic possibilities and how they help to achieve
meaning.
Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | WebQuests | Bibliography
Places To Go
ABC's
of the Writing Process
This site shows the five basic steps in the writing process: prewriting,
writing, revising, editing and publishing. Viewers will find suggestions
for how to complete each step and links for more ideas.
Writing Den
Writing Den is designed for students Grades 6 through 12 seeking to improve
their English reading, comprehension, and writing skills. It is divided
into three levels of difficulty: words, sentences and paragraphs.
Paradigm Online Writing
Assistant
This is a comprehensive online textbook covering all aspects of writing.
A+
Research and Writing: Step by Step
This site, at the Internet Public Library, provides excellent information
on how to research and write a research paper.
University
of Richmond Writing Center
This site, maintained by the Writing Center at the University of Richmond,
includes excellent material on getting started with writing projects
and tips on peer editing. Visit, also, the material in "Focusing & Connecting
Ideas."
The University of
Victoria's Hypertext Writer's Guide
Although written for college students, this guide from the University
of Victoria contains many good points that can help younger writers as
well. Clear suggestions and examples help students with the process of
writing, including organizing, outlining, drafting, and editing their
work. There are sections on grammar, spelling, and usage, as well as
proper use of quotations.
Purdue's Online
Writing Lab
Purdue University's OWL is one of the most extensive collections of advice
about writing on the web. About half of the more than 75 handouts address
punctuation and grammatical issues (e.g., "Dangling Modifiers," "Making
Subjects and Verbs Agree," "Commas") and include exercises for the user.
Others focus on style ("Conciseness," "Transitions," "Using Nonsexist
Language,"), reference formats (APA and MLA), and give advice about the
writing process itself ("When You Start to Write," "Overcoming Writer's
Block," "Developing an Outline"). The collection also includes advice
on writing resumes and cover letters and gives sample letters for various
purposes.
The Elements
of Style
"The Elements of Style," is an easy-to-understand guide to correct grammar.
This online version contains the complete original text. It is filled
with tips on how to write clearly and correctly and how to avoid the most
common grammatical errors.
Help
Your Child Learn to Write Well
This online article provided by the U.S. Department of Education Office
of Educational Research and Improvement underscores the importance of
writing to a child's emotional and academic well being. It provides pointers
for parents and others to help establish a love of writing in young people.
Vocabulary University
Visit the Vocabulary University to learn how
to punch up your writing with new and fresh words.
People To See
Index
to Internet Sites: Children's and Young Adults' Authors & Illustrators
This site serves as an index to author and illustrator Internet sites.
It is designed to foster easy access to curriculum related sites for teachers,
school librarians, parents and students
Internet
Public Library: The Author Page
This site at the Internet Public Library invites students to learn about
some of their favorite authors, plus read their answers to questions posed
by other students.
Scholastic's
Author Index
Meet your favorite authors and discover some new ones. The site features
live interviews, classroom activities, and author profiles.
Children's
Author
Websites
This hotlist of author websites.
Fairrosa
Library Author and Illustrator Site
The Fairrosa Cyber Library maintains this page of links to author and
illustrator web sites. The site includes a list of author birthdates arranged
by name and date.
Great
Writers and Poets
A fairly wide-ranging directory of links to resources on the Web for numerous
authors, including information on Nobel Prize winners.
LSU
Libraries Webliography Author Guides
This online directory is an index of indexes. It contains pointers to
individual author guides or other cumulative documents that deal with
specific writers.
Things To Do
The
Writing Process Web Tutorial
Take this online self-tutorial which guides teachers and students alike
through the Writing Process with the analogy of creating a "Magnifique"
pizza.
The
Writing Process
Learn more about the writing process by exploring the various stages
in
the writing process. Take the quiz at the end to see how much you learned.
Guide
to Writing a Basic Essay
This online tutorial teaches some basic essay-writing concepts.
The Diary Project
Inspired by the bestselling "Zlata's Diary", this site invites you to
record your thoughts and experiences. Write as freely as you would in
your own journal. Entries can be posted anonymously or with first names
and ages attached. You can read entries from others on a variety of topics.
Storyteller
In StoryTeller, you are the author. You can contribute a story yourself
or read the many stories written by children from around the world. Click
on the topic you'd like to contribute to.
Wacky Web Tales
Choose from over a dozen different story titles, then fill in the blanks
for different parts of speech. After you've identified all the words,
click and a nonsensical story will be made with them.
Instant
Muse Story Starter
The Story Starter is designed as a writing prompt tool based on the creativity
technique called random input. The idea is to get writers thinking "out
of the box" by injecting random elements into and existing story, or to
help blocked writers jump-start a brand new story using the "givens" generated.
The
Biography Maker
Learn what you need to know to research a person and write a biography.
The
Hero's Journey
"The Hero's Journey" is an online creative writing environment created
for storytelling. It features a detailed reference section based on the
work of author and mythologist Joseph Campbell with linked examples from
mythology, student writing, and the movie "Star Wars". Students use the
writing tools to create their own stories and develop the characteristics
of their primary character by responding to the tool's framing questions.
Guide to Grammar
and Writing
Learn how to structure sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Ask and receive
answers to specific grammar questions. Take a quiz to test yourself in
many areas, from grammar and spelling to vocabulary. The site also includes
advice on various kinds of essays (including research papers) in the
Principles
of Composition section.
English
Online Writers' Window
Writers up to age seventeen are encouraged "to share their work and help
each other improve their writing." Published works are categorized by
age range and genre, and reader feedback is solicited about each piece.
Categories include short stories, poetry, research papers, book reviews,
television reviews and movie reviews. There are also five continuous stories
that you can add to.
Send it
to Zoom!
ZOOM, a PBS television series and awesome Web site, goes beyond stories
and poems and also wants your art work, recipes, science experiments,
media reviews, home movies, plays, brainteasers, jokes and craft ideas.
Although just a portion of the work submitted gets published on the Web
site, some of makes it to the television show.
The
Global Campfire
Interactive story telling is based on the written activity commonly referred
to as a "story tree", where a group is given the beginning of a story,
and asked to add a line or paragraph to the story and pass it along to
the next person. In this way the story grows and changes as it is passed
from one person to the next. At this site, you can read one of the stories
that interests you, add the next part of the story, and check back later
to see if your contribution has been added to the story.
Paragraph Punch
This web site takes users through the actual steps of writing a basic
paragraph. Users develop an idea and write their own topic sentence,
body,
and conclusion. The web site provides questions that help to guide users
step by step through pre-writing, writing, organizing, editing, rewriting,
and publishing. Completed paragraphs can be transferred to a word processing
program, HTML editor, or e-mail application.
Famous Quotes: Famous Ephitaphs
Eulogy Writers: Famous Ephitaphs
Epitaphs:
A-Z
Read through
epitaphs for famous and not-so-famous people. Write your own ephitaph.
History
of Writing
Explore
the history of writing from earliest man to present time.
Omniglot: A Guide
to Written Language
Study the differences among the alphabets of the
world. Who uses the Coptic alphabet?
Non-Sexist
Language
Follow these
guidelines to make your writing more gender sensitive.
The Cliché Finder
Hold the fort! Use this searchable
website to find out if your writing is filled to the brim with
clichés. Don’t
eat your heart out if it is, just consider this website a guiding
light to help you seize the bull by the horns and write
better.
Roget’s
Thesaurus
Learn
new words to add variety to your writing.
Grammar
Safari
Go on a grammar safari
to “provide you with (usually) hundreds
or thousands of examples of any particular English words you choose,
used in authentic communication.”
What
is Plagiarism?
Learn
how to avoid stealing other people’s words when you write.
The
Writer’s Workshop: MLA Citation Style
Cite
your sources correctly using MLA style.
The
Writing Center : APA Style
Cite your sources
correctly using ALA style.
Easy Bib
KnightCite
Citation Machine
Use these websites to automatically spin out
a finished bibliography in either MLA or APA style.
Teacher Resources
The
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 6+1 Traits of Writing
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory has developed a Six-Trait
Analytical Assessment Model for evaluating writing. The six traits include
ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.
(The Presentations Trait has recently been added to make it 6+1 traits.)
This site provides a wealth of information about the six traits, including
lesson ideas and downloadable handouts.
Educator's Reference Desk - Writing Lesson Plans
A variety of writing-related lesson plans.
Author
Cards
This webquest suggests you have student create author cards, which are
the literary equivalent to baseball cards. Each card will create a picture
of the author, biographical information, list of books the author has
written, a brief description of your favorite title by that author, and
an explanation of why you like that particular book or author.
Edgar
Allan Poe: Father of Horror
Have students learn more about the works of the 18th century weaver of
horror tales, Edgar Allan Poe.
F.
Scott Fitzgerald and the 1920s
Students assume the role as "party planners" and to plan a
Jazz Age bash
worthy of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald themselves. Each student chooses
a different role to research about the 20s. Then students collaborate
to create a party for the class (minus the bathtub gin, of course).
WebQuest:
The Odyssey
Student are directed to plan a Disneyesque themepark based on their knowledge
and understanding of Homer's Odyssey.
The
Salem Sentinel: A Webquest
This webquest has students create a newspaper depicting the life and
times
of the individuals who lived within the area of the Massachusetts Colony
in the time of the setting of the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Banned
Books Quest
This webquest has high school students look at different perspectives
on censorship in schools, particularly the potential of books being
banned by local school boards. Placed in the role of concerned citizen,
school library media specialist, lawyer, or public librarian, student
groups will develop a recommendation for the board.
The Flat
Stanley Project
In the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, Stanley is squashed flat by
a falling bulletin board. One of the many advantages is that Flat
Stanley can now visit his friends by travelling in an envelope. This
premise provides a reason for classrooms around the world to keep
in touch with each other. The Flat Stanley Project was created by
a group of teachers who want to provide students with another reason
to write.
WebQuests
Bibliography
- Atwell, Nancy. In the Middle : New Understandings About Writing, Reading,
and Learning. Boynton/Cook, 1998.
- Elbow, Peter. Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing
Process. Oxford Univ Press, 1998.
- Kirby, Dan and Tom Liner. Inside Out: Developmental Strategies for
Teaching Writing. Boynton/Cook, 1998.
- Moffett, James. Teaching the Universe of Discourse. Boynton/Cook ,
1987.
- Strong, William. Sentence Combining : A Composing Book. McGraw-Hill,
1994.
- Sunflower, Cherlyn. Really Writing! : Ready-To-Use Writing Process
Activities for the Elementary Grades. Center for Applied Research in
Education, 2000. d Books, 1992.
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