preclectic.com

Got some plain text just lying around? Everyone does. Dip that text into Wikipedia and see what sticks. Seriously, just Wikify those words.

creativity, writing context, reference, wikipedia

Silent.  Fast. Unbelievably accurate. Do you have what it takes to be a Grammar Ninja? If so, you may want to hone your skills for the NCTE’s much anticipated National Day on Writing on October 20 of this year.

Related links:

• If you intend to become a secretive,  silent stalker moving through literary circles, a shadowy figure, striking fear into the hearts of your enemies, arm yourself with NinjaWords.
• Many wonder but few live to tell how ninja work.
• Nimble with numbers? Precise when probing polygons? You may be a math ninja.
• Any more questions? Ask a ninja!

writing language, words, writing

Feeling a need to read but don’t want to end up saddled with poor prose, failing fiction, or a boring biography? Never fear, the BookArmy is here. A literary legion on a mission to connect readers and authors, this battalion of bibliophiles allows bookworms to stay abreast of reading-related events, watch book trailers,  join groups, swap reviews, and be first in line for numerous free giveaways and early-reader copies of much-anticipated texts.

This resource, though fairly new on the scene, harbors great potential for media specialists, treachers, and students, not to mention anyone else who enjoys reading. Administrators should be thrilled to see a High School Literature teachers using BookArmy (or other, similar services such as  LibraryThing or Shelfari) to help students share and classify the books they are reading. Mix these kinds of resources with the likes of Bibliomania, WhatShouldIReadNext, LibriVox, Project Gutenberg’s Top 100, and the Online Books Page and educators have a cognitive toolbox ready for some serious intellect-building.

writing litearture, literacy, reading

There are definite advantages to having pupils compose written assignments using a word processor. For starters, many young authors are reluctant to write with pencil or pen because they know that, after initial editing, they’ll eventually have to reconstruct the work again and again and again. Typing their thoughts, no matter how meager the text, saves nascent scribes the hassles and frustrations of rewriting. Once aspiring writers have captured the essence of their ideas in digital form crystallizing and refining concepts becomes even more efficient. The availability of a built-in dictionary/thesaurus ever present, ever ready to offer linguistic assistance makes word processing even more attractive. Digital manipulation of written assignments also makes sharing drafts with teacher and peers possible and much more likely. For educators who are prudent enough to allow learners to integrate technology in this manner there’s an additional perk: an online text analysis resource from UsingEnglish.com. After pasting student-generated text into the UE Text Content Analyser this useful site displays statistics such as:

• a word count
• the number of unique words in the work
• the number of sentences in a pasted passage
• the average words per sentence
• information about lexical density
• and data regarding the Gunning Fog readability index.

writing

Language Arts teachers: Want to engage students and whip up a little creativity? Why not allow your pupils to drop by the Hero Factory. Once there, students can generate their own superhero. Afterward, encourage your learners to draft a story about their caped crusader.

writing comics, LA, language, writing