Tools+for+Writer's+Workshop

1. [|**Wordle**] is a tool similar to Tag Crowd. The fun part of Wordle is changing the fonts, colors, and direction. After writing fairy tales last year, my students copied and pasted their writing into Wordle. I then asked them if the resulting image showed the most important ideas that they wanted their writing to convey. Some students were shocked when the largest word in their Wordle was "like" or "get". For the first time they went back to revision without balking. They saw the purpose of it. I didn't ask them to use Wordle again, but I saw them using it.

2. **[|Vozme]** was another revision tool for writer's workshop. I tell my students over and over to read their papers before turning them in, to have a friend read them etc. etc. Nevertheless, when I start grading writing I see many careless errors where students skipped words because their brains were going faster than their fingers. With this tool they can copy and paste their own writing and turn it into an audio file. By listening to someone else read their writing they can hear many errors that they just read over. //MO GLE Writing 1A Follow a writing process to c. reread, revise for audience and purpose, ideas and content, organization and sentence structure, and word choice//

3. **Podcasts** are another great way to provide an audience for writer's workshop. I downloaded Audacity for free. It is amazingly simple to use. My first podcast was the first day of summer school in 2008. Since the theme was sports, students simply introduced themselves by telling their favorite sport. They had such fun listening to themselves. Later we wrote our own poetry based on [|Poetry Frames] and had a Poetry Slam.

4. **Wikis and Blogs**-wikis allow authors to collaborate together, while blogs allow people to comment on the work of others.
 * [|Mrs. Stolte's Blog] -my colleague uses student blogs for prompt writing and literature response
 * [|My Blog]-used for class discussions and book discussions
 * [|A Really Different Place]-sample student blog

5. [|Etherpad] allows users to collaborate in real time.
 * Brainstorm with a group for a collaborative writing project
 * Peer edit