Resource: https://www.kpcc.org/show/take-two/2013-11-12/california-public-schools-to-require-students-to-learn-typing
Digital writing has definitely changed and grown tremendously since I was an elementary student. There are a variety of apps available today to make each step of the writing process easier for students. Starting at a young age, students can practice their letter knowledge by tracing letters digitally. Beginning these handwriting skills prior to kindergarten can help students be ready for prereading skills when they enter school. The apps available are also very engaging for students based on their game-like nature. My favorite app so far for this skill is iWriteWordsLite. Though the purchase option is better than the free option, it still is a great start for helping those very young students. This app also doesn't focus on just letters, but also includes simple words to practice as well. This encourages students to make some reading and writing connections which is so important! I plan on using it with my kindergarten and first grade intervention students this school year!
iWriteWordsLite
As a teacher, one of my favorite parts of teaching writing is the prewriting stage. I love the variety of graphic organizers and tools that can be used with students to begin their thinking before fully diving in and writing about a specific topic. One of the apps I tried this week was Doodle Buddy. This app was best geared towards the age range I teach. I feel like students can easily use this app to edit real photos or draw pictures on their own to help capture ideas they want to incorporate before writing words. I also really liked that there was a good variety of stencils, stickers, and background options for students to pick from. I believe my students could use this app with ease and allow for writing to be fun and engaging for them. Another great feature is being able to add speech bubbles to images. My students like when they can add little touches similar to what they see in other books. I am hoping to try this app with my 2nd and 3rd grade intervention students this school year!
Doodle Buddy
Another site I tried this week that I am excited about using in my classroom is Flipsnack. I think that it's important to give students a variety of ways to publish their work and this is a site I think they would be excited to use to finalize their writing piece. When you first sign up for it, it looks like it should be geared towards much older students, but I think with the correct modeling and support, younger students can use it effectively. I think using this site would be a fun and creative way for students to create their own books or magazines about nonfiction topics for final project-based assessments. What I also liked is that students can share their work with myself, their classroom teacher and even their parents. I am definitely going to try using this with my 4th grade students this school year to see how it goes!
Flipsnack
Overall, I chose these apps as my top favorites for a few reasons. First, they are kid-friendly and can serve the purpose they were created for in my classroom. Secondly, I don't think they would take a lot of time to model and teach students how to use. Third, they are engaging and fun for students to use. Lastly, they were little to no cost which is important to consider. These apps support engagement and motivation when it comes to writing because they are interactive, easy to use, contain great graphics and premade templates and so much more! The only thing I can think of that would deter them or distract them while using these apps is not paying attention when I give them directions on how to use them or the purchase add-ons. Overall, I think I could overcome these obstacles easily through reteaching or applying for PTA support in paying for apps that students will use continuously throughout the school year.
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