How often have you heard students say, "I can't think of anything to write"? The fact is, we can assign incredibly specific, prescriptive prompts, but what does that teach students about creativity?
This is where Interactive Writing Tools come in. As I teacher, I've found that these low tech, Internet-based writing tools inspire the most reluctant writers while enabling the most gifted writers to really stretch their imaginations. More importantly, these writing sites will help you to build students' critical thinking skills which are necessary for effective writing.
Every site featured here is student friendly, easy to navigate, and absolutely free! I've limited the suggestions to those I've personally used, but I absolutely welcome recommendations for others.
Sample resource from the site:
- Instant Poetry Forms allows students to enter prompted words and verses in order to form (you guessed it!) instant poetry. Some of the forms are purely creative and student-centered, while others allow students to enter researched information (such as data on an early explorer) to create nonfiction verse. An excellent way to encourage your poetry-phobic students (usually the boys!). Each prompt generator includes an example of a finished poem in that style, so students can get a good idea of how the finished poem might sound.
Once students have entered their responses in the prompts, the push of a button publishes the poem. This poem can then be copied and pasted into a word document or wiki and further edited, or combined with a free online illustration program such as Sumo Paint (also on this site).
Free Resource:
Check out the session handout which accompanies this site! Download it from here, or click the icon below!