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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

Wordle & Poetry

Posted by Adrian on Aug-8-08
Wordle Poetry Today I’ve put together a scaffold for people wishing to experiment and be a little more creative in the publishing of poetry.

The poetry scaffold is a step by step guide to creating a verbal collage about each student. It encourages reflection and experimentation.

My son added a Wordle to his blog based on his blog tags and I made mine by ‘Pasting a heap of text’ into Wordle. We enjoyed playing with this tool and I think your students will also.

Have fun

Adrian

PS Try performing this poem by readng it with a different volume and intonation for each word. Maybe even with a soundtrack behind it of Miles Davis :)

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Kafka as a Narrative Starter

Posted by Adrian on Jul-21-08
By combining the first line of Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ and the Build Your Wild Self character generator you will get a great narrative starter or a launchpad into literary description.

Online Art Creator

The Story Starter

‘As (insert name) awoke one morning after disturbing dreams, he/she found himself/herself transformed into an enormous creature.’

Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis - 1916

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Hi All,

For the last few weeks the blogs have been rather quiet as the kids really got into this rather open ended task I set them…

‘You must create a 2 minute video to showcase to the world how intelligent, articulate and creative you are. The video must not be contrary to school ethos and you are only able to use puppets.. What will you do?’

Needless to say we learnt HEAPS and I’m sure we’ll up the production values and refine the process over the coming weeks.

Feel free to leave a comment for these budding poets on their blog.

cheers

Adrian

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Since my last post I’ve been working a heap and having a little down time.

I’ve been updating the phonics poster site and am almost finished. Already the traffic has doubled since I made it look a little prettier :) I’ve put together this little flash animation that anyone can use to LINK to my pages.


Free Phonics Posters from adrianbruce.com

Recently I spent 3 days at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival just engaging with ideas. I’ve always found it funny that teachers have to ‘teach’ Writing but rarely are we what people would consider ‘writers’. So it was nice to attend forums by journalists, poets, activists, novelists and even bloggers.

cheers

Adrian

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How is ’said’ said?

Posted by Adrian on Jun-22-07
There are many ways to say ’said’. Tonight I’ve put together a collection of writing activities/ideas to help children to rise above the mundane use of ’said’. On to the Writing Tips!

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What Lolly Are You?

Posted by Adrian on Jun-9-07
In my role as ICT Integration Guy, I get to work with some teachers who are truly ’switch on’.
This lady works in a school in Australia and is big time into thinking skills.

Here is my post to her class’ blog on ‘What Lolly are You?


PS … and too much of me will make you really, really sick :)

Hint - Don’t believe anything you could read on the Internet it’s all lies & propaganda?

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Are Teachers Really ‘Writers’?

Posted by Adrian on Apr-13-07
One of my dearest friends and I have been discussing (for almost 20 years now) the fact that teachers are required to teach ‘Writing’ to our classes, but seldom could we be classed as “writers” in any other sense than ‘functionally literate’ individuals. It is an interesting debate that I’m sure we will continue tomorrow night at his birthday party ;) esp given that his dad (an ex-principal) will have more than just a little input.

Aside to Sean… So dear friend, happy birthday (it is just a number… albeit a large one) and I look forward to many other discussions that may arise from your birthday present from me. A 3 day pass to the Byron Writers’ Festival.

NB I’ve cleared it with your wife and you are free to attend the festival and then bunk down at my place.

cheers

Ad

PS (Do you think I use brackets too much?)

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To Sleep Perchance to Dream

Posted by Adrian on Apr-12-07
Last night Ginsberg was reading Beat Poetry to a disinterested porcelain cat who wished only to be known as Bono while Tom Waits (who’d been drinking again) was smashing my dinner plates into the sink ;)

I love having students keep a dream diary for a week or two as homework. The dream recordings can be used for song lyrics, poetry, art, creative writing or even just the discussion relating to Psychology, Science or even Dream Interpretation.

Give it a go as this task can generate a great deal of discussion.

cheers

Adrian

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Children as Life Coaches

Posted by Adrian on Apr-9-07
Fable Activity
Here’s an activity where I ask the children to become life coaches and produce a 5 panel comic strip of a fable that they think would be a valuable ‘life lesson’ for a member of our class. NB No one is allowed to mention names ;)

I’m always amazed at what they come up with.

cheers

Adrian

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The Story of My Birth

Posted by Adrian on Apr-9-07

Having the children interview their parents about the day of their birth makes for some really pleasant and interesting reading.

Check out the tips and tricks section for a few hints on this activity.

cheers

Adrian

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