With such easy access to technology there are so many ways that we can make our (and our students') writing better with minimal effort. Here is a list of a few resources that are my "go to" sites when working on writing something.
1) http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
I absolutely LOVE this website. It is, as the name suggests a digital thesaurus that allows you to visualize the connections between words. After having stumbled upon this site I don't think I can ever go back to a "traditional" thesaurus again.
Besides using it as a means for the students simply to look up synonyms to words they use in their writings, this site can be used as a tool, perhaps projected overhead, as a means to talk about the relationship that words have with one another and maybe explain why in some instances 1 word would make a good replacement and in another instance that same word might not work.
2) http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
This is another "go to" site that I use for general questions regarding correct word usage and grammar. I have also been there to get answers to things that are hard to explain, such as the difference between effect and affect, or toward vs towards.
3) http://www.duplichecker.com/
This is website is meant to check for plagiarism. You enter the excerpt that you are curious about and confirm that you have not plagiarized
This is a great tool to use for student's to check their own work if they weren't sure if the excerpt was changed enough so that it wouldn't be plagarim
4) http://www.toolsforeducators.com/writing/
This site provides different worksheets and flashcards that can be used to help students learn and understand. I think the students could use it as a leaning tool and work on vocabulary that can help their writing.
Nora,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed visiting your websites! One of my favorites here is Visual Thesaurus. It's so neat to have synonyms for all the different uses of a word right in front of you and organized by definition and part of speech. I had a lot of fun typing in words like "show" that have multiple meanings and looking at the web it produced. (Nerd alert!!!) I would definitely encourage my students to use this site.
I also loved the writing worksheet generator. I've only taught older students, but, although they had workbooks to accompany their texts, I frequently found myself creating worksheets in order to address specific areas where they needed improvement. I imagine a tool like this would be great for teachers who know their students and attempt play to their specific needs.
Great Post!
Teresa
Thanks Teresa, I too have spent countless hours typing in various words just to see the connections. It is fun to see the "spider web" expand and contract as you click through :)
Deleteoh, and it supposedly has a limit to the number of searches you can do before you have to pay, but you can just keep resetting the URL :)