2. Acrostic Poem
In this online tool, students can learn about and write
acrostic poems. An acrostic poem uses the letters in a
word to begin each line of the poem. All lines of the
poem relate to or describe the main topic word. In
addition, as part of the online tool, students are
prompted to brainstorm, write, and revise their
poems, thus reinforcing elements of the writing
process. Students can also print their finished acrostic
poems.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Writing Poetry
3. Alphabet Organizer
Alphabet Organizer has numerous applications for
classroom instruction. Students have the option to enter
one word, more than one word, or a word and related
notes for each letter of the alphabet. Elementary students
can use the tool to create an alphabet book with words for
each letter of the alphabet. The tool can also be used to
have students brainstorm and discuss background
knowledge on a topic they are beginning to study. At the
end of the unit, the chart can be revisited to add new
information or to correct erroneous information.
Alternatively, the tool can be used for a vocabulary study
by having students enter vocabulary words and related
notes or definitions. This interactive tool enables students
to print an alphabet chart or pages for an alphabet book.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
4. Animal Inquiry
The Animal Inquiry interactive is a versatile tool that can
enhance student inquiry in research at the elementary
level. The graphic organizer invites students to explore
four facets of animals [basic facts, animal babies,
interaction with others, and habitats (shown at left)]; the
possibilities for extensions or adaptations, moreover, make
this a a nice complement with inquiry-based projects. The
follow-up writing prompts can be used to organize
research questions as well as to record findings. After
completing individual sections or the entire organizer,
students have the ability to print out their final versions
for feedback and assessment.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Inquiry and Analysis
5. Bio Cube
Summarising information is an important post reading and
prewriting activity that helps students synthesize what
they have learned. This tool allows students to develop an
outline of a person whose biography or autobiography
they have just read; it can also be used before students
write their own autobiography. Specific prompts ask
students to describe a person's significance, background,
and personality. The finished printout can be folded into a
fun cube shape that can be used for future reference.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
6. Book Cover Creator
The Book Cover Creator is designed to allow users to type
and illustrate front book covers, front and back covers, and
full dust jackets. Students can use the tool to create new
covers for books that they read as well as to create covers
for books they write individually or as a class. Students can
use text tools to add formatting to their titles and book
notes, add shading to background areas of the cover, and
draw original images to illustrate their covers and dust
jackets. The tool is easy to use, made even easier with the
Book Cover Planning Sheets, printable PDFs that students
can use to draft and revise their work before creating and
printing their final book covers or dust jackets.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Writing and Publishing Prose
7. Character Trading Cards
Creating trading cards for their favourite story characters
will challenge children to think more deeply about what
they read or even watch in movies or on television. By
answering a series of questions, children zero in on what’s
obvious and not so obvious about a character. Not only
will they describe the character’s appearance and actions,
but also probe for thoughts, feelings, and motivations. The
cards also offer a chance for children to consider their own
impressions: What is likeable or not likeable about a
character and what personal connections might children
make?
Grade: 8-12 year olds
8. Circle Plot Diagram
Introducing the concept of text structure to elementary
students is made easy-and fun!-through the use of the
Circle Plot Diagram. The tool can be used as a prewriting
graphic organizer for students writing original stories with
a circular plot structure (e.g., If You Take a Mouse to
School), as well as a postreading organizer used to explore
the text structures in a book. By students inserting main
examples of a story's plot directly onto the circular
interactive (shown at left), the concepts of structure and
plot are reinforced each time the tool is used. When used
as a prewriting exercise, the diagram can be printed out
and shared with peers and teacher for feedback and
revision in this phase of the writing process.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
9. Comic Creator
The Comic Creator invites children and teens to design
their own comic strips. Their creations can be just for fun
or as part of more structural learning activities: planning
writing activities, before- and after-reading activities, and
responding to books.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
10. Compare and Contrast Map
This interactive graphic organizer helps students develop
an outline for one of three types of comparison essays:
whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences, or point-to-
point. Links to the Comparison and Contrast Guide give
students the chance to get definitions and look at
examples while they work. The tool offers multiple ways to
navigate information including a graphic in the upper
right-hand corner that allows students to move around
the map without having to work in a linear fashion.
Students can also click the Review My Map link and
preview what they have written, return to the map for
revisions, or print the completed map.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
11. Diamante Poems
Diamante poems give children a leg up in creating a poem.
These diamond-shaped poems follow a set structure,
requiring children to supply different parts of speech, such
as adjectives and –ing words. The poem’s seven lines may
be used to describe one topic or two. For instance, the
poem can be all about chocolate ice cream or about ice
cream and hot chocolate. The middle line (the fourth) can
be seen as a link, where the writer makes the connection
between the two.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
12. Doodle Splash
Teaching K-8 students to visualize what they are reading
and to create graphic symbols helps them develop as
readers. Doodle Splash interactive combines the process
of drawing with analytical thinking about a text by pairing
an online drawing space with writing prompts that
encourage students to make connections between their
visual designs and the text. The tool can be used for
whole-class discussion of a short story (or part of a novel),
small-group work, or individually, where students use
doodles, symbols, drawings, shapes, and colours to
construct a graphic of their story or chapter. After
completing their individual or group images, students have
the ability to print out their final versions for feedback and
assessment.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
13. Essay Map
Expository writing is an increasingly important skill for
elementary, middle, and high school students to master.
This interactive graphic organizer helps students develop
an outline that includes an introductory statement, main
ideas they want to discuss or describe, supporting details,
and a conclusion that summarizes the main ideas. The tool
offers multiple ways to navigate information including a
graphic in the upper right-hand corner that allows
students to move around the map without having to work
in a linear fashion. Students can also click the Review My
Map link and preview what they have written, return to
the map for revisions, or print the completed map.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
14. Graphic Map
The Graphic Map allows children and teens to chart the
significant points related to a particular item or group of
items, such as chapters in a book, amounts of money
spent, events during a day, month, year, or life, or scenes
in a play. For each point, the child or teen chooses a rank
that shows how positive or negative the point is. This
online tool creates a graphic representation of these
ranked points that displays related images and
descriptions.
Grade: 812 year olds
15. Letter Generator
The Letter Generator tool is designed to help students learn
to identify all the essential parts of a business or friendly
letter, and then generate letters by typing information into
letter templates. A sample letter is included, and students can
learn about the parts of a letter by reading descriptions of
each part. Once students have become familiar with letter
formats, they are prompted to write their own letter using a
simple template. Students follow the steps and fill in specific
fields in the template (for example, heading, salutation,
closing, signature, and so on). They may even add a
decorative border and postscript to the friendly letter. The
finished letter can then be previewed, edited, and printed.
This useful tool provides step-by-step instructions for
familiarising users with the necessary elements of written
correspondence, and can serve as an excellent practice
method for composing and proofreading both formal and
informal letters.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Writing and Publishing Prose
16. Mystery Cube
Everyone loves a good mystery, but what makes a mystery
story work? Most mysteries follow a formula: There’s a crime
or mystery, someone who’s trying to figure it out, clues along
the way, and finally, a solution. This activity asks children to
separate a mystery into its distinct elements, like ingredients
in a recipe. By listing the elements—one on each side of a
cube—children will begin to see how a writer constructs a
mystery. They can even use the cube to cook up some
mysteries of their own!
Grade: 8-12 year olds
17. Postcard Creator
The Postcard Creator helps students learn to identify all the
typical parts of a postcard, and then generate their own
postcard messages by typing information into templates.
Students fill in the address, details on the postcard's artwork,
and the postcard message. The finished postcard can then be
previewed, edited, and printed. After printing their texts,
students can illustrate the front of their postcards in a variety
of ways, including drawing a picture, creating a collage of
images, or printing and pasting clipart in place.
The tool is easy to use, made even easier with the Postcard
Planning Sheet, a printable PDF students can use to draft and
revise their work before creating and printing their final
postcards on the computer. See a completed sample Postcard
based on Where the Wild Things Are for details on what a
student's work might look like.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Writing and Publishing Prose
18. ReadWriteThink Notetaker
This hierarchical outlining tool allows students to organize up
to five levels of information for reading and writing activities.
During or after reading, the Notetaker can be used to compile
and organize reading notes, research, and related ideas.
During the writing process, students can use the tool to
organize their information and plan texts in the prewriting
stage and to review and structure their ideas during writing
and revision. Students can choose the format that the outline
will use (e.g., bullets, Roman numerals, letters) as well as
enter up to five levels of information. The Notetaker includes
a tutorial, which demonstrates how to use the tool, as well as
a Notes area where students can track information that does
not fit into the outline. The Notetaker creates an HTML file of
students' outlines, which can be printed or saved and edited
later in any HTML editor.
Grade: 8-12 year olds
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
19. Shape Poem
By creating a shape poem, children will learn the basic steps
involved in writing a poem: finding a topic, brainstorming for
ideas, coming up with a title, writing, revising, and publishing.
From basketballs to balloons, children can choose from a
variety of shapes. Building the poem inside the shape helps
to focus children’s attention on the topic. Best of all, this
activity teaches children that poetry can be fun and is
something everyone can do.
Grade: All Levels
20. Stapleless Book
The Stapleless Book is designed to allow users to create with
ease an eight-page book simply by folding and cutting. No
tape or staples are required. Students and teachers alike can
use the Stapleless Book for taking notes while reading,
making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary
booklets. Students can choose from seven different layouts
for the pages of their books.
The tool is easy to use, made even easier with the Stapleless
Book Planning Sheet, a printable PDF that book creators can
use to draft and revise their work before creating and printing
their final books. View the video demonstration for the
Stapleless Book to see how to fold and cut the printout.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Writing and Publishing Prose
21. Timeline
Help children plan a story or prepare for a special event, or
let teens review memories and stories from the past. The
Timeline tool allows them to create and organize events-real
and imagined-that automatically become active links, letting
users navigate easily among events on the Timeline.
Grade: All Levels
22. Venn Diagram – 2 circles
Students may generate clear, well-formatted Venn Diagrams
by naming their project and labelling Circle 1 and Circle 2,
then generating concepts that can be placed on the diagram
by clicking and dragging them with the mouse. Students may
place the concepts in either circle or in the overlapping area,
allowing them to organize their information logically. A step-
by-step animated demo shows students how to type
concepts and their descriptions, and how to drag and place
concepts on their diagrams. Students may view and edit their
draft diagrams, then print the finished diagrams for
reference. This is a handy tool for classroom use that guides
students through the process of organizing information in
Venn diagram form.
Grade: ALL Levels
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
23. Venn Diagram – 3 circles
This interactive tool allows students to create Venn Diagrams
that contain three overlapping circles. Students identify and
record concepts that can be placed in one of the three circles
or in the overlapping areas, allowing them to organize their
information logically. Students may view and edit their draft
diagrams, then print the finished diagrams for reference. In
some cases, the Venn diagram tool has been customized to
complement a specific lesson or activity.
Grade: All Levels
Interactive Type: Organising and Summarising
