Fresh Look Fridays - Magnetic Poetry

Are your students having poetry writing blocks? Today's Fresh Look Fridays post features the fun online Magnetic Poetry site.

Students drag the virtual fridge magnets to form sentences, poems, short stories, etc.   Using the website on a SMART Board as a center gets kids up out of their desks and adds a bit of a starting point for those writers who are struggling with putting words to paper. 

Bonus tip: use the new transparency layer in SMART Notebook 10.6 (Windows only right now) to add digital ink for words that aren't on magnets, then take an area capture of the overall work and save to a Notebook page.


As a once-in-awhile formal English teacher (I could write an essay as a Social Studies teacher, ergo I could apparently teach Language Arts too), I know that poetry wasn't always the most highly anticipated unit for students.  Anything that gets students a bit more engaged with writing is great in my books.


Vanessa

"Gotta Keep Reading"

I realize I might be a bit behind discussing this video that has gone viral on YouTube, but I feel that what it represents is pertinent none the less:





There are a few things that I really like about this video:

- Kids look like they're having fun (don't we all want our students to show enthusiasm in school?)

- It demonstrates the power of using contemporary, pop culture events to reach students on a level they're familiar with

- The singer has a great voice!

- Organizers took great care to mimic the original Black Eyed Peas flash mob scenario as closely as possible

- The use of technology is key to the success of this activity. Had this event been held without proper audio components or without a numerous camera angles, the video would not have been nearly as effective.


Kudos to the educators who organized this wonderful activity!

Vanessa