{"id":16502,"date":"2020-06-24T20:42:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T20:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookcreator.com\/?p=16502"},"modified":"2024-10-18T14:58:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T14:58:38","slug":"using-book-creator-for-writing-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookcreator.com\/2020\/06\/using-book-creator-for-writing-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Book Creator for Writing Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Creator can be used in every stage of a Writing Workshop. Let us show you how.<\/p>\n<\/div>

R<\/span>eaders & Writers Workshops are a commonly used practice for helping students to learn to love writing. It gives students the time and space to engage with the whole writing process.<\/p>\n

There are popular frameworks out there like Lucy Calkins\u2019 Units of Study<\/a> or the Collins Writing Program<\/a> which scaffold the whole process for the teacher. These are focused on empowering students to learn to communicate in writing no matter what the genre - be it fiction, poetry, essays, summaries.<\/p>\n

Book Creator can be the perfect complement to a Writing Workshop<\/strong>. Students can potentially navigate through the entire writing process within Book Creator: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. It allows students to deliver a fantastic product to demonstrate their learning at the end of their Writing Workshop.<\/p>\n

Students can choose multiple means of expression when writing. Teachers and classmates can provide feedback while everything is kept organized and in one virtual place. Imagine having all the students\u2019 published work in one library that you can showcase on a class or school website. This would be a great way to track student progress towards goals and share during parent conferences.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cDuring remote learning, my students created \u2018How-To\u2019 projects to finish our non-fiction unit.\u201d<\/div>\n
Kristi Luo<\/strong>, Grade 4 teacher
\nGordon J. Lau Elementary School
\nSan Francisco Unified School District<\/div>\n<\/div>
\"Two

Book Creator in the pre-lesson<\/h3>\n

Writing Workshop starts with a mini lesson where the project is introduced by the teacher. Traditionally this would be in the classroom, but in a scenario where we have to adapt to remote learning, why not consider preparing this material in Book Creator? The teacher can model good use of Book Creator whilst introducing the concepts that students will need to learn, and deliver it to them in a format that they can consume at their own pace from home.<\/p>\n

\"Notebook<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the actual brainstorming, research and pre-writing can take place in Book Creator too. Think of Book Creator as a virtual writer\u2019s notebook. You could even scaffold that by creating your own class or grade level notebook template<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cThe mentor text we started with was \u2018Dear Peter Rabbit\u2019 by Alma Flor Ada. We reviewed the format and purpose of a letter and how the author mashed up the different fairy tales. Then we made a list of fairy tales we knew, and students started working on a new storyline that could include characters from different fairy tales, just as the mentor text had done. Their task was then to do as the mentor text did, and tell their newly written story using only letters written by characters to other characters. This was the result<\/a>!\u201d<\/div>\n
Nicole Brooks<\/strong>, Grade 6
\nSt. Emily Catholic School, Ottawa Ontario<\/div>\n<\/div>

Checking progress with Book Creator<\/h3>\n

Once students are in the drafting phase or have even begun their writing, Book Creator allows the teacher to see work in progress in real time - the books literally appear on the teacher\u2019s bookshelves! Not only that, all the work is saved automatically so students won\u2019t accidentally lose work.<\/p>\n

Knowing that teachers can access their work at any time will provide an extra layer of accountability for the student to stay on track. Teachers can also add co-teachers<\/a> to their library for extra student support if needed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\"Teacher

Jen Hartvickson has been using Book Creator in her Adventures in Writing Camp<\/a>\u00a0since 2014<\/div>

Book Creator for the writing process<\/h3>\n
\u201cSome students have great ideas but are poor writers, Book Creator allows them to participate in a writer\u2019s workshop on an even footing with other students. The great writers can REALLY flourish as they communicate their ideas in a variety of media.\u201d<\/div>\n
Jenny Mitchell<\/strong>, Middle School Teacher
\nHull Prairie Intermediate School
\nPerrysburg, Ohio<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"MediaThe accessibility tools<\/a> in Book Creator are second to none. This is a real leveller for students, as they can choose the media they are most comfortable with and every<\/strong> student can participate in the Writing Workshop.<\/p>\n

Jenny Mitchell\u2019s advice is to run smaller projects to introduce Book Creator in the first quarter of the school year, so they are completely confident to use the app once they start their Writing Workshop.<\/p>\n

If a student is happy to type their text in Book Creator, they can do so and then focus on their book design by formatting styles and colour, choosing the right font and thinking about the appropriate text size for legibility. You might direct them to the \u2018Open Dyslexic\u2019 typeface in Book Creator, which is specifically designed to help with reading for dyslexic students.<\/p>\n

If they aren\u2019t so comfortable with typing, they could turn on predictive text for help with spelling, or even dictate their voice using speech to text<\/a> (available in 120 different languages).<\/p>\n

Some students could turn to recording audio or video directly onto the page to communicate their ideas (with added captions\/transcripts if required). Where appropriate, they could use comic templates<\/a> to tell their story, adding their own drawings, photos or other images to communicate with multimedia. The possibilities are endless!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
VIDEO<\/strong>: Students from Jenny Mitchell's class collaborating<\/a> in Book Creator<\/div>
\u201cI have used Book Creator with 2nd and 4th graders to support our non-fiction research writing that aligns with the writer's workshop. We completed them on the iPads and our youngest students utilized the built-in iOS dictation tools to produce their writing and the built-in Text-to-Speech in Book Creator for the editing process.\u201d<\/div>\n
Leslie DiChiara<\/strong>
\nAssistive Technology & Instructional Technology Specialist
\nNorth Bellmore UFSD, New York\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
\"Pages
Kenna Hire combined text and embedded video<\/a> made with a green screen to bring her book to life<\/div>

Feedback and collaboration with Book Creator<\/h3>\n

If you usually get your students to work together in a Writing Workshop, you\u2019ll be pleased to know that Book Creator has the capacity to allow for real-time collaboration within the app. Again, this is another important consideration for remote learning, but is useful inside the classroom too. The teacher can observe students working together on a book as it happens.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cAt our school the buildings are split K-2 and 3-5. I wanted a way to connect my current grade 5 students back to the other school. We decided that grade 1 students LOVE non- fiction text. We surveyed the teachers\/students to see what topics they like to read about and my students wrote their own non-fiction books<\/a> for them.\u201d<\/div>\n
Dina Santos O'Brien<\/strong>, Grade 5 teacher
\nJames Madison Intermediate School
\nEdison, New Jersey<\/div>\n<\/div>

You could also use this feature to allow students to review and comment on each others\u2019 books. Making the most of the multimedia features of Book Creator, there are multiple ways<\/a> that students (or teachers) can leave feedback in a book. By sharing their voices, students are empowered to inform and inspire each other. In Book Creator, you can view each other\u2019s books all on one library shelf.<\/p>\n

Another great feature that could be useful for many students is the ability to have your book read back to you in Book Creator. You can easily switch between edit and read mode to hear how your book sounds when read - you can even turn on word highlighting to follow the text. This feature is available in multiple languages.<\/p>\n<\/div>

VIDEO:<\/strong> Read to Me<\/a> in action - you can choose to highlight the words as the book is read to you<\/div>
\u201cOur Writing Workshop took place during the Covid lockdown. After reading parts of Dante and Boccaccio's books, students were asked to imagine the way modern sinners could be punished in hell. Unlike Dante's trip to hell, students imagined they were back at school after the lockdown, and they relayed to the teacher the nightmares they had during their time away from the classroom. Each nightmare describes a modern sin like pollution, racism, the exploitation of child labour\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
Daniela Chiarandini & Laura Cappellari<\/strong>, Teachers
\nE. Feruglio, Comune di Tavagnacco
\nUdine, Italy\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

Publishing with Book Creator<\/h3>\n

The simple act of becoming a published author will no doubt be a motivating factor for many students in a Writing Workshop. And if you\u2019re using Book Creator, you really are creating a book, as opposed to a Google or Word doc!<\/p>\n

What we\u2019ve also learned is that students are even more engaged and motivated when they know they are publishing an artifact that will be read by someone other than just their teacher. Publishing books for an audience beyond the classroom is where the power of Book Creator comes in.<\/p>\n

For example, with Book Creator, you can combine student works<\/a> into one book and securely publish that online<\/a> with a couple of clicks. Or you can even showcase a whole library of books<\/a> by embedding it on a class blog.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cFor a poetry unit during remote learning, my class participated in a collaborative book to share their feelings about the pandemic through poetry.\u201d<\/div>\n
Rosita Darden<\/strong>, Innovation Coordinator & Middle-School ELA Teacher
\nGrandview Preparatory School
\nBoca Raton, Florida\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
\"Rosita<\/a>
Rosita Darden published her students' collaborative book and shared it on her blog<\/div>

Reflection in Book Creator<\/h3>\n

Writing Workshops often contain an element of reflection at some point. Encourage students to include an About the Author page at the end of their book where they introduce themselves, why they have written what they did and their reflection on how it could have been improved, what they would do differently next time and any other learning points. Perhaps you could challenge them to present their reflections in a medium they wouldn\u2019t normally use - for example recording a short video reflection to camera<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thank you to those teachers<\/strong> who contributed ideas and examples for use in this blog post. Below are just a sample of the amazing books shared. Writing Workshop example books<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>