Sway in ELA

Spring Break is here! I’m setting myself for a writing challenge: 9 posts in 9 days! First up, a tool for any mode of writing!

Digital Tool: Sway
Publisher: Microsoft Office 365
Device: Any! (Although the app is needed for video files)
Type: publish or present
Similar to: a webpage but can be used like PPT
Features I love: Students can collaborate on the same Sway and embed documents

Template:

Create a template in Sway and share it so anyone with the link can view. Then have students save the Sway in their own Office 365 account. They will be able to edit it once it is their own.

 Writing Modes:

Expository:

Have a research project for students that includes a lot of extras? Sway embeds pretty much anything! From Tweets to Excel to other Sways, Sway not only creates a visually stunning final product, but also one that is perfect for any sort of long range project. Group research? Have students collaborate on the same Sway!

Persuasive:

Argumentative writing and media literacy tend to go hand-in-hand. Students drawing ads, making a persuasive commercial, or creating their own infographics? They can embed media files with ease. If they draw by hand, have them take a picture with an iPad and upload into a Sway. Because it is device agnostic, students can switch back and forth between iPad, computer, their BYOD or home device.

Narrative:

Sway allows students to create a link or QR code, which allows for an amazing way to publish. Students can incorporate drawn pictures or photos for creative or personal narrative. Have them print out the QR code and shorten the link and post to classroom or lockers.

Poetry:

Create a poetry anthology! Create a classroom Sway for students to contribute to or for more prolific poetry units, each student creates his or her own portfolio.

Writing Process:

Conferencing: Students can create QR codes or post links to their draft typed in Sway. Others can fill out an online feedback sheet.

Publishing: This is the tool for you!

Accessibility:

Do you have students who need high contrast, no animation, and/or screen readers? With Accessibility check – something you can use to modify your Sway to be more accessible – and accessibility view – something anyone can enact when viewing a Sway.

4 Ways to Use Discovery Education Board Builder

Did you know that if your district adopted Discovery Education resources, your students can create boards on DE Streaming that give students a chance to make what is akin to webpages? Students have a unique login and are already synced up to your teacher account making it really easy for students to create their boards and then share those boards with you. No printing out or submitting to an electronic dropbox needed. Students think it is pretty neat to be able to customize the page, embed video and pictures, and work with tools that are very similar to setting up a blog. This keeps them engaged as well as gives some good techy skills. So what is DE Streaming ideal for?

Revamping a Classic

Instead of doing a brochure/poster/PowerPoint project that has been done before, have students create DE Boards. Let's face it, by the time my students have reached me, they have made brochures for multiple subjects and PowerPoints galore. I was easily able to convert a career research brochure project into a DE Board by simply adding a multimedia component. Instead of pictures, students are able to use video segments as well.

Converting Boring Assignments to Engaging

Sample of Summary Board

I know that I can't make everything thrilling. Sometimes skill-building involves practicing a skill that is itself fairly boring. When it comes to a skill like summarization - something the kids have been working on for years - it can be a little "blah". Enter DE! After introducing a couple expository summarization skills in class, I had students apply them to video segments from DE. The videos definitely held their interest. They were studying space at the time, so students were able to research concepts from the unit that interested them. It was also a great way of me offering an extension to that leaning as students watched videos on concepts - like Space-Time - far beyond the required curriculum.

My Poetry Board

Publishing Work

The final stage of the writing process is publishing. Taping over 150 essays to a wall isn't really a viable or logical form of publishing. Having students convert their essays into DE pages (students could have 1 page and add to throughout the year or have a different page each essay) is a fun way of having the student feel like they really made something special. They can even press the print button, make it PDF, and post it to the class Edmodo or what have you. 

Creating Own Teacher Board

Create your own board for an interactive lesson complete with videos. You can also add documents, quizzes, and writing prompts.