The goal of every successful ELA classroom is to help students develop into the best possible writers that they can become. The tools below are what we use in my classroom to help students on the road to above grade level writing and beyond. What matters to my students and their parents are the tools below, and how they're used. If you're one of my colleagues, or one of my college students, you might want to use the menu at the top of the page to take a deeper look at our writing process. It's been refined over years to help students to create amazing writing.
Karpie-Created Writing Tools - Essay
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Use the two tools above to write the best possible introductions and conclusions. They are both simple slideshows that, if applied to your writing, will guarantee at, or above grade level introduction and conclusion paragraphs. While they are aimed at eighth-grade students, they can be useful for anyone hoping to write quality introductions and conclusions.
Transitions are the glue that holds writing together. Click the slideshow above to see what transitions look like below, at, and above the eighth-grade level. Honestly, the advice for above grade level introductions will easily hold you over through any level of higher education you could hope to achieve.
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This tool helps students write explanations that are at or above grade level. As you work your way through this slideshow to improve your writing, make sure not to jump to the "expert" level explanations. They're actually for expert writers. If you're at or below grade level, trying to jump to the best possible transitions will be as ineffective as a person trying to go from never working out, to following the training regimen of an Olympian.
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Once you "finish" your essay or quick write, click above to add some flair to your writing. This is an excellent protocol to move level three (at grade level) writing up to level four (above grade level) writing.
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While I cannot overstate the importance of reading and learning for learning's sake, in school, we just have to prove that we have acquired some knowledge. In my classroom, every text students are ever asked to read will connect on deep levels with all the other texts I've asked them to read. Their learning and connections will then be assessed as a final essay or project. I've found that using a consistent connection tool for each unit helps students to connect texts together to create a meaningful educational schema before being asked to write. In short, when the tool used to connect texts becomes easy to use, the cognitively challenging task of connecting learning becomes easy.
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Karpie-Created Writing Tools - Creative
Poetry is difficult to quantify. It's difficult to grade. It's like defining the difference between art and doodles. I'd argue the difference lies in the intentionality behind the design, whether the medium be clay, watercolor or Microsoft Word. The tool above helps quantify how to intentionally write poetry by starting with topic selection and a simple sentence, and then adding all the elements necessary for a poetic aesthetic. [Internal rhyme intended, obviously.]
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When it comes to creative writing, the single, most important skill is to be able to "show" your audience what's happening in a story and not simply "tell" them what's going on. One of my students, Jakayla, articulated the difference better than I ever could when she said, "so 'telling' sounds like you're summarizing a movie to your mom after you get home, and 'showing' is what it's like to actually watch a movie." The tool above will explain the difference between "showing" and "telling" writing, offer some examples, and end with a cheat sheet for aspiring writers to work with.
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I'd recommend using this tool after learning and familiarizing yourself with the "showing" vs. "telling" tool above. This tool shows students how to combine the concepts of being a "showing" author with the tenets of effective characterization. You'll see some examples of each type of characterization, and read some tips, tricks, and important punctuation reminders.
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Download a copy of this plot structure chart (you probably know it as "the witches hat" if you're under fifteen years old) to organize a creative story. Don't forget, when writing a story, the plot moves forward step by step, not by giant leaps.
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Use this tool to learn how to punctuate dialogue correctly. There are a few simple rules, but following them is imperative for an audience to understand your dialogue.
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Writing Tools I Modified
Before writing an essay or quick write, use the evidence-based claim graphic organizer above to organize both your thoughts and your writing. (While I created this Google-based tool, the evidence-based claim concept is based on Expeditionary Learning's graphic organizer.)
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This tool is used when we are doing inquiry-based research, and students are required to find their own sources. It is a lightly modified version of the tool created by Odell Education, so all the credit goes to them. This allows students to self-evaluate sources to produce the best possible research.
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Other Internet-Based Writing Tools
This online dictionary is a great resource to make sure your words are spelled correctly. Auto correct is usually pretty good at figuring out your spelling, but this resource will help you with the higher level, domain-specific and compelling language that auto correct might miss.
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It's time to move past "good" and "bad." The end. Use this digital thesaurus to type in your basic words and swap them out for something better. If you're stuck, a lot of these words carry specific connotations, and are used in specific circumstances. You might need to use this tool in tandem with your teacher to find the right word for your writing.
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Click on the readability tool above if you want to check the reading level of a passage you're reading or writing. It's the most useful readability analyzer I've found because it has enough information if you're a data-driven educator, but it's simple enough for students to use to self-monitor their writing ability.
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WordSift is, beyond doubt, the best tool I've ever found to turn a large amount of text into an infographic. Then, to turn that infographic into an effective way to acquire vocabulary.
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