MOTIVATING THE RELUCTANT WRITER With a focus on using IT/IPAD/IOS devices Kate Tyrwhitt and Ray Becker

Motivating Reluctant Readers Why are they “reluctant”?  Disability – in need of assistance, support Disinterested – in need of motivation, increased interest

Motivating Reluctant Writers Supporting and Assisting Students with Technology Every type of helpful reading and writing device is available. It just takes time to look and find. Some are:  All sorts of Apps for IOS/ipads/ipods  Read alouds, recorded books, text to speech  Kindle, Text to speech software, Natural Reader, Read and Write Gold, BookShare, Test Talker  Websites with templates and scaffolds

HOW EASY ARE THEY TO USE?

RANGE AND TYPES OF APPS ipad-apps-for-storytelling-in.html Sock Puppets: Lets you add Puppets, props, scenery, and backgrounds and start creating. Hit the record button and the puppets automatically lip-synch to your voice. Switch backgrounds to take your puppets to different places, move the puppets, props and scenery to animate them while recording. Cartoon and photo realistic puppets are included. puppets/id ?mt=8 puppets/id ?mt=8 StoryPatch: Storypatch is a storytelling app designed for children to create their own picture books. It has hundreds of images in it’s library as well as the ability to import photos. Students will love this app because they will be creating fun and engaging stories almost immediately. patch/id ?mt=8#

Strip Designer: This is a comic strip creation with included page templates. Add photos and a couple of speech bubbles and additional effect stickers and you have a professional looking comic or graphic novel. You can even paint on the photos or draw sketches from scratch. Cartoon Studio: Create multi-celled cartoons straight from your iPad. Some characters and backgrounds are included all you need to do is select the ones you want and drag them in to place. Add your speech bubbles and you can make any situation both entertaining and informative. Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

Pages lets you create great-looking letters, reports, flyers, invitations and more on your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. And the story gets even better. Now iCloud keeps your documents up to date across all your iOS devices — automatically. So whatever device you’re on, your projects are ready for you to pick up right where you left off. Words have never come so easily. This is the most expensive App I have found. But very good though. Get Pages from the App Store for A$10.49 inc GST

iPad Learning Objectives I want my students to record and edit video on the iPad. I want my students to record and / or edit audio on the iPad. I want my students to read class content on the iPad. I want my students to annotate course readings on the iPad I want my students to be able to use audio books on the iPad. I want my students to use the iPad as a digitial notebook / note-taking device. I want my students to use their iPads to create screencasts to share and demonstrate their understanding. I want my students to create presentations on the iPad. I want my students to create digital stories on the iPad. I want my students to be able to study with the iPad. I want to use the iPad as a student response system. I want my students to create written content on the iPad. I want my students to blog on the iPad. I want my students to create ePubs / iBooks to read on the iPad min= T00:00:00%2B11:00&updated-max= T00:00:00%2B11:00&max-results=23

Make writing fun. Encourage students to write about topics they are interested in as often as possible. Students of all ages love music, so use it! Bring in CDs of popular and eccentric, yet appropriate, songs. Listen to them, discuss lyrics, and have students write opinion papers explaining why they like or dislike particular songs or genres of music.

Make writing relevant. Students need to know that they will actually use writing throughout their lives. Many students see writing as a necessary evil, only to be endured through the school-age years. Allow the students to voice their complaints about writing. It amazes me that, through the years, the complaints remain the same. Students hate to write because they find the process tedious, boring, and tiring. They assume they will fail before they even begin, and they feel they are limited in their ability to be creative.

Eliminate barriers to effective writing. Many students are unclear in their knowledge of basic writing conventions. Others feel they are simply “bad writers.” There are many ways to ease the anxiety that students feel when writing. First, actively teach writing conventions. Second, create and maintain a word wall throughout the school year to assist with spelling and to help students avoid writer’s block. Third, post word usage rules and examples, such as those related to subject/verb agreement and irregular verbs. Fourth, encourage students to create personal word lists for reference. Finally, teach them to use dictionaries, thesauruses, and other resources when searching for words and correct spellings.

A Love of Writing Much of writing is subjective. In order to instill a true love for writing, sometimes students need opportunities to get ideas across without concern for grammatical correctness or standard writing conventions.

Writing Essentials  Have a purpose for writing  Opportunity to work through process from draft to finished product  Audience  Student choice FOR EXAMPLE: