Weekly Technology Assignment - Boom Writer

Boom Writer is a unique site based on collaborative writing and student voting.   Boom Writer allows students to work within a safe environment and create one chapter at a time as part of a class.  The students then have the opportunity to vote for the chapter they think is the best fit for the story before moving on to the writing of the next chapter.  If you want, you can even purchase a published version of your book for $9.99.  To learn more about how Boom Writer works check out the "How It Works Page".

Tech Tool:  Boom Writer

Activity:  Creating a collaborative book in your class is a great way to involve all students in the writing process while at the same time validating each individual student's efforts.  In an English class, this can be used to develop a creative story or as a resource for writing prompts.  How about in other classrooms?  What better way to give purpose to your student's hard work than to have them create a resource that can be used by your classes in the future?  Another idea is to have your students begin to create a collaborative journal about their studies, school events, etc.  For more information and ideas, check out Boom Writer's teacher page. 

Example:  Pierce School

Plagiarism Checker

Plag Tracker is a website that will check some written text for plagiarism.  To use this service you simply need to copy and paste the text of your paper into a box and click "start checking".  Plag Tracker will then scan the paper using it's database of academic papers and of course the web using it's own unique algorithm which will then generate a custom report for you.  Check out the screenshot below to see how easy it is to use...

You can also see that they have a poll asking what other features you would like to see used while scanning the paper.

Now What?

This is an excellent site for teachers who want to check and see if a paper was actually written with original content but also for students who would like to see if they have inadvertently plagiarized by using content from the web.  For those of you looking for a site with a little more functionality, Paper Rater is a site that will do the same as Plag Tracker but will also review for grammar, punctuation and spelling.

The Newspaper Clipping Generator

The Newspaper Clipping Generator

Looking around on Diigo yesterday I found a great website for any content area where students can create a fake newspaper clipping called the Newspaper Clipping Generator.  Students who use this site don't have to create an account...all they do is complete a form (see image below) and then click "generate".  Once the article clipping is created students can download the image file for their personal use.

Now What?

The Newspaper Clipping Generator is excellent for any classroom where students are writing (every class I hope) and gives them an authentic avenue for their story.  This would be great as a homework assignment and then you can print the stories and make your own classroom newspaper bulletin board!

Draw A Stickman

Draw a Stickman is a website that I stumbled upon a while ago but was reminded of recently by "i Learn Technology".  On this site you are given a set of instructions (starting with "draw a stickman") to follow which in turn leads to the development of a story.  It is a good exercise in following directions but also drawing and plot development.  I can see Draw a Stickman being used in a language arts classroom to discuss the elements of a story.  You could also use it as a starter activity for creative writing.  There are two episodes to choose and you get started with a click.  Check out the video below for a quick visual on how this site works.




Now What?

Be creative and engage your students using this fun activity which works excellently with interactive white boards.  I also just discovered that there is an "app for that" in the app store.

Boom Writer

Boom Writer is a unique site where students can work collaboratively on the creation of a book.  I have seen this type of site before but this one is different because of the teacher control panel and the ability to purchase a published book at the end for $9.99.  Boom Writer allows students to work within a safe environment and create one chapter at a time.  The students then have the opportunity to vote for the chapter they think is the best fit for the story before moving on to the next part of the book.  When students sign up they can create their own avatar and then get points when their chapters receive votes.  Students can use these points to upgrade their avatar with virtual merchandise.

Check out the introductory video below for more information:




Now What?

Boom Writer is a great way to allow students to individually work on an assignment and then create a unified work.  Students will enjoy the avatar feature where they get points for having their chapters selected.  Teachers will find value in the fact that they can start the book (prompt?) and then have students take it from there.  Ideas for a book...select your next unit (science fiction, comedy, etc.) and have your students use the characteristics of that genre.  You could also do a write-like and have students write like an author you are studying.

Paper Rater

I recently came across a blog post where I was introduced to a great website called Paper Rater.  On this site, students (or writers of all ages) can submit a paper for analysis of grammar and spelling, plagiarism and quality of writing.   Paper Rater is able to provide meaningful feedback through the use of natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, information retrieval (IR), computational linguistics, data mining, and advanced pattern matching (APM).  In addition, Paper Rater will also generate a grade for the paper based on the above criteria and even create a printable analysis report

Now What?

Paper Rater is a great tool for students to use before they hand in a paper because it isn't always easy finding someone to proofread your work before it is submitted.  As a teacher Paper Rater is invaluable because you can hep your students clean up their work before it is submitted to you for a final grade.  This will save you a lot of time correcting grammar, spelling and usage.  You can also choose to use the plagiarism checker as a stand alone tool.