Writing+activities

Anyone can make edits to this page (just click on "Edit this Page" up above and remember to click on "Save" when you are done). Please consider adding your ideas or comments on how the lab has worked for your class.

=Possible Uses of your Class Computer Lab Time.=

For Writing Skills

 * Use the VocabProfiler at [|www.lextutor.ca] to check the vocabulary used in a writing passage. The passage should first be prepared in a Word document. It can then be copied and pasted into the VocabProfiler. Once it is submitted, the program analyzes the word choices and organizes them according to the General Word List and the Academic Word list. It also lists the words alphabetically which can help to identify overused and repeated words. Students can consider substituting words for more precise synonyms or choosing more academic language for their writing.
 * Post a MS Word document on your blackboard site that you want all students to edit. (For levels without a site, the document can be posted on a wiki or saved on a set of floppy disks you can distribute to the students.) A printed copy of how you want the document to look after editing can direct the students to center a title, add a name and date, indent a paragraph, double space the text etc. You can pair up students with more tech savvy students helping the weaker students and having the weaker students sitting at the keyboard. For higher level students, the focus can be on editing or reorganizing the content using cut/copy/paste functions or selecting and dragging text into position. Another way to increase the difficulty is to create intentional grammatical or mechanical errors into the passage for the students to correct. This type of controlled editing task can enhance both word processing skills and content editing skills.
 * Swap written work between students or use a standard passage prepared by the instructor and use the track changes feature to identify the organization of the passage. Once the student opens the document, they should activate the track changes feature (Tools on the menu bar and then click on "Track Changes"). Now if the student inserts any text (such as labels for thesis statement, topic sentence, point 1, detail 1) it will be in coloured text and underlined. The student can use File: Save As to resave the document with their own name and it can be printed, emailed or added to the Digital Dropbox for the instructor to check the accuracy of the task. If the instructor is in a smart classroom, or even during the lab time itself, these can be pulled up on the screen and reviewed together.
 * Use a wiki such as this one at www.wikispaces.com to write collaboratively. A wiki for the class can be created very simply and group pages created within the wiki. Group members can write and add and make edits on the page for any type of collaborative work the instructor would like to assign. Instructors can view the history and see what each member's contribution was to the task. One idea that could be done for this. If there are three members in each group, post three tasks on each page. Each group member will have a number (1,2,or 3) They are responsible for the first response to the task. Then they should view the other two tasks and make revisions that they think are helpful or comment on the original response. The task could be a paraphrasing exercise or development of the outline for three body paragraphs of a potential 5 paragraph essay or support development for three points of a paragraph.
 * Use the concordancing tool at [|www.lextutor.ca] to check how words are used in context. By typing a term into the Concordancer, and hitting submit, you will see a number of passages where this term occurs. For example looking at the words 'cause', result' and 'factor', students can see the preposition use that typically is found with each term.