Reluctant+Writers

Some children just have nothing to write about, their imagination is stifled and they think they have nothing to write about. There are many reasons for this but one I would presume to say is that a lot of students are visual learners, not necessarily visual thinkers (their imagination has been stifled or ideas have been imposed on them).This is where computers can help...at any age level. I am not particularly advocating that they type (or draft) their story using the computer but instead use the visual aids available to

BUILD A STORY

Use Programmes like KidPix, Kidspiration, Inspiration, Pages, PowerPoint or Word, anything that allows access to a graphic library and get the students to build a story using the graphics available to them. They can then then move them around and create a visual story from the pictures they have found. This visual story can be printed out and used for the motivation for writing which could then be drafted in their writing books. Another idea would be for children to record themselves on an iPod, PDA or a tape recorder talking about their visual story and this can then be played back to them as they are writing.



= Kerpoof for Motivating Writers = software that you can use to motivate children's writing. It is free, colourful and interactive. || Make a Picture - choose a background and make a picture using the graphics provided, use the text button to add text to the page. || Print the page out as full A4 or as a card. You can also choose to print it out in full colour or as a  colouring book page. ||
 * [[image:http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k5uZ3uXOI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/9xmbBwdTkeU/s200/kerpoof.png width="196" height="238" link="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k5uZ3uXOI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/9xmbBwdTkeU/s1600-h/kerpoof.png"]] || [[image:http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k6uZ3uXPI/AAAAAAAAAKY/-TEO_7Iif8w/s200/make+a+picture.png width="240" height="228" link="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k6uZ3uXPI/AAAAAAAAAKY/-TEO_7Iif8w/s1600-h/make+a+picture.png"]] || [[image:http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k7WZ3uXRI/AAAAAAAAAKo/Vzx5-58rcQk/s200/print.png width="240" height="235" link="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k7WZ3uXRI/AAAAAAAAAKo/Vzx5-58rcQk/s1600-h/print.png"]] ||
 * [|Kerpoof]is a great piece of

This would be a great site for those children who don't have anything to write about as it provides the scenes and graphics, but they get to add the words. They can manipulate the graphics and can add their own drawings to it by using the pen tool. It prints out beautifully as well. ||
 * [[image:http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k-lZ3uXSI/AAAAAAAAAKw/4TD7VgGw1DU/s200/littlepig.jpg width="259" height="225" link="http://bp2.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_k-lZ3uXSI/AAAAAAAAAKw/4TD7VgGw1DU/s1600-h/littlepig.jpg"]] || [[image:http://bp0.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_lAZ53uXTI/AAAAAAAAAK4/5met5E762yI/s200/super+doodle.jpg width="260" height="215" link="http://bp0.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_lAZ53uXTI/AAAAAAAAAK4/5met5E762yI/s1600-h/super+doodle.jpg"]] || [[image:http://bp3.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_lCip3uXUI/AAAAAAAAALA/cGIwVQ2snYI/s200/story.png width="220" height="213" link="http://bp3.blogger.com/_fAJ1_x5EGq8/R_lCip3uXUI/AAAAAAAAALA/cGIwVQ2snYI/s1600-h/story.png"]] ||
 * Make a Movie option allows you to create a movie with moving objects. There are 7 different story lines to pick from, several scene pages and a limited amount of graphics for each page. Choose from the animation list to animate the objects. Text can be added to the scene as well. It can be saved to an account at Kerpoof or printed. || Make a drawing has drawing tools where you can create a picture and print it out. Make a card has 8 preset cards including Birthday, Thank you etc. with a limited set of graphics to add. || The Make a Story is my favourite option with 19 different scenes, some graphics, text boxes and text speech bubbles. You can also add more scenes to the story.