There are tons of ideas on the Scholastic Website. In particular, I was looking for ideas for Language Arts for Middle Years students. I came across a lot of neat stuff.
I would use this website in conjunction with a "Writer's Workshop" in my Language Arts classroom. During Writer's Workshop, teachers begin by doing a "status of the class". During this time, the teacher asks what each student is going to be working on during that particular time period. Students can be working on first drafts, second drafts, final drafts, proof-reading and editing, peer editing, teacher conferencing, etc. I would use this website as one option for what students could work on during writer's workshop. Students could log on to the website and get ideas for topics to write about (since writer's workshop is about giving students choice in their work), or to practice different writing skills, such as developing topic sentences, creating setting or mood, creating strong characters, or even grammar and spelling. Students could assess their own needs (based on peer and teacher conferencing) and could then work on them within this website. Students would need to keep records (in their writing folder) of what they had worked on and what they had learned from the website, and how this will help them with their writing. In addition, students would have to rotate through turns using this website (they also need to spend time on writing, editing, etc., not just browsing the website!)
Students will benefit from this website because they can work independently on their writing skills. It will give students ownership to improve their writing, and make them responsible for determining the areas that they need to work on. In addition, the website will help to give students ideas for creative writing pieces and enhancing the effectiveness of these pieces.
Curriculum Links:
English Language Arts : Writing
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