- Tuesday 18 June 2019
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These days, students have access to a wide range of technological software and applications (apps) to assist them with planning, composing, editing, illustrating and publishing their writing, while only having to focus on one aspect at a time. As the curriculum expectations for the early years of education increase, students as young as five are expected to create texts using sound–letter and word knowledge and punctuation, participate in shared editing and construct texts using digital software.
As we know, writing is a complex process which requires students to implement their knowledge of spelling, grammar, text structure and punctuation, as well as having the creativity to develop ideas. While this is a huge task in itself, they also must have adequate fine motor skills—pencil grip, and finger and hand strength and manipulation—to write legibly and fluently. For most students, the ability to process all of these skills at once proves difficult, and often disengages them from the writing process at a young age.
This highlights the growing need for teachers to develop new and innovative methods of teaching to engage, motivate and extend students' learning to ensure they develop positive attitudes towards writing. Catrione Pene from Core Education explains that reluctant writers often have nothing to write about (ideas), no format to follow (structure), a lack of words to use (vocabulary) and no reason to write (purpose). By implementing the use of technology into everyday writing lessons, students will be able to focus on one or more aspect of writing at a time—building ideas, looking at structure of texts, developing vocabulary or creating real-life experiences for students to relate to.
Things to keep in mind when choosing writing apps
- Some apps advertise as free, but will only give you a sample of their program before requiring you to purchase the full product.
- Some free apps will constantly display advertising pop-ups which could incur charges or be inappropriate for students.
- Titles of apps do not necessarily highlight what is involved in using the app. Be sure to read reviews and use the app before giving to students.
- Some apps are restricted to use only on one device unless you purchase one for each device. This can become very costly.
- Apps with easy navigation and clear directions will allow students to work independently on the task with little teacher instruction.
Suggested writing apps we recommend
Toontastic
RRP Free - Suitable for ages: 6+
This app enables students to draw, animate and share their own cartoon using the narrative structure provided. Students select the setting and the characters for each stage of the narrative then simply press the record button. While recording, students tell the story orally as they move the characters around. Students can then edit or write their story by listening to the recording. Videos can also be exported to the camera roll for future use. https://toontastic.withgoogle.com/
Kids write text types
RRP $1.29 - Suitable for ages: 6+
This easy-to-navigate app explains the structure of various text types and provides a range of examples, ideas and prompts to assist students in their writing. The types included are procedural, persuasive, recount, narrative, explanation, information reports, transactional, description, discussion and online texts. Templates are also provided, which can be used on an interactive whiteboard, printed or edited using a separate app. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/kids-write-text-types/id480079925?mt=8
Sticker story
RRP Free - Suitable for ages: 4–6
This app allows students to select original stickers, letters and backgrounds to create a sticker storybook of one or more pages. When finished, students can view the story as a book and export it to iBooks™ to share with others. When a letter is selected the letter name is played, allowing students to familiarise themselves with the letters of the alphabet or create words with the letters. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sticker-story-the-storybook-creator-for-kids/id925042424?mt=8
Writing prompts for kids
RRP $2.99 - Suitable for ages: 6+
This app can be used as a planning tool to assist students in generating ideas for a narrative. Students select a setting, a character, an object and a situation to inspire their writing. Once they have selected their prompt, they can click the Story button to start writing. Bonus features include 'better word' to develop vocabulary and 'hard to spell words' to assist with spelling. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/writing-prompts-for-kids/id533233202?mt=8
Writer's hat
RRP $1.49 - Suitable for ages: 6+
This app is an ideas generator to inspire creative writing, oral literacy and imaginative thinking. Students will be provided with a randomly selected 'what', 'where', 'who' and 'when' to include in their story. The word box can be used to generate nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs for students to use. Teachers can customise these lists to suit the abilities of the students. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/writers-hat/id449796394?mt=8
StoryKit
RRP Free - Suitable for ages: 7+
This app allows students to create a narrative using text, illustrations and sound recording for telling the story or adding sound effects. Students decide on the layout of the elements by dragging or pinching to resize. They can add, reorder or delete pages from their book as required. Students can upload their stories to a server and email a direct link to themselves to future viewing. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/storykit/id329374595?mt=8
School Writing - AU/NZ
RRP $8.99 - Suitable for all ages
School Writing contains the education-approved handwriting fonts for each Australian state (and NZ, of course), including individual cursive letters. Customise your content from shapes to numbers, letters and words. Built by teachers for education. https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/school-writing-learn-to-write/id498417053?mt=8
What writing apps do you use in the classroom?
We would love to hear about them in the comments below.
In some instances, websites or specific URLs to apps may be recommended. While these are checked and rechecked at the time of publication, R.I.C. has no control over any subsequent changes which may be made to apps. It is strongly recommended that the class teacher checks all apps before allowing students to access them.
Want to know more? Check out our educational resources on English and writing, and read some of our related posts:
- Free Spelling Pack
- Building Students' Confidence with English Skills Practice
- 12 Reasons Why Students Need Regular Grammar Practice