100 Useful Web Tools for Writers | College Degrees All kinds of writers, including poets, biographers, journalists, biz tech writers, students, bloggers and technical writers, take a unique approach to their jobs, mixing creativity with sustainability. Whether you’re a freelance writer just scraping by or someone with a solid job and more regular hours, the Internet can provide you with unending support for your practical duties like billing, scheduling appointments, and of course getting paid; as well as for your more creative pursuits, like developing a plot, finding inspiration and playing around with words. Turn to this list for 100 useful Web tools that will help you with your career, your sanity and your creativity whenever your write. Getting Organized Thanks to the Internet, disorganized writers are no longer a cliche. Finding Inspiration Beat down writer’s block by using these online idea prompts and inspirational tools. Getting Gigs For many writers, finding a gig is the hardest part of their career. Networking and Marketing
Comic Master Start Your Literacy Lesson With a Word Cloud Firstly, if you’ve not yet heard of or made word clouds before visit one of the websites below to start making them: We have recently been looking for ways to engage our Key Stage Two learners in improving their understanding of different word types. One way we’ve found to do this has been through the use of word clouds. At the beginning of some literacy lessons we have displayed a word cloud and then set the children the task of listing different types of words that they can find in the word cloud. The example below contains nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. This could also be carried out using time connectives, conjunctions, alternatives for said or contractions missing apostrophes that need adding and so on… The word clouds are easily created by coping a list of words into the website. Again, please feel free to add to this post by commenting below.
50 Alternatives to the Book Report | WriteToLearn Moviesandbox » an open-source machinima toolset Tagxedo - Word Cloud with Styles Scriffon: Write and publish on the Web Sketch Star - FbF easy Wordclouds in the Classroom There are now a number of online tools which are free to use to create wordclouds (images made from words) from your own text. These wordcloud images create a visual representation of the chosen text, with the frequency of the words in the text determining the relative sizes of each word in the image. Below you will find links to some of these online tools and examples of how they can be used in the classroom. Wordle www.wordle.net can be used to produce wordcloud pictures from text – either by typing it directly into the text box or by copying and pasting from a document. As well as producing an image to accompany a text-based document (providing a visual summary of the contents of that document) Wordle has many classroom applications. Ways to Use Word Clouds in the Classroom 48 Interesting ways and tips to use Wordle in the classroom: Twenty Top Uses for Wordle:
Cliche Finder Have you been searching for just the right cliché to use? Are you searching for a cliché using the word "cat" or "day" but haven't been able to come up with one? Just enter any words in the form below, and this search engine will return any clichés which use that phrase... Over 3,300 clichés indexed! What exactly is a cliche? This is Morgan, creator of the Cliche Finder. Or, you might like my crazy passion project: Spanish for Nerds: Learning Spanish via Etymologies! Back to cliches... if you would like to see some other Web sites about clichés? © S. Special thanks to Damien LeriAnd to Mike Senter Morgan's Web page
ToonDoo - World's fastest way to create cartoons! 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing Summary: Few sources available today offer writing teachers such succinct, practice-based help—which is one reason why 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing was the winner of the Association of Education Publishers 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award for Instructional Materials. The National Writing Project's 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing offers successful strategies contributed by experienced Writing Project teachers. Since NWP does not promote a single approach to teaching writing, readers will benefit from a variety of eclectic, classroom-tested techniques. These ideas originated as full-length articles in NWP publications (a link to the full article accompanies each idea below). Table of Contents: 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing 1. Debbie Rotkow, a co-director of the Coastal Georgia Writing Project, makes use of the real-life circumstances of her first grade students to help them compose writing that, in Frank Smith's words, is "natural and purposeful." ROTKOW, DEBBIE. 2003. Back to top 2. 3. 4.
Home : Virtual Writing Tutor | Check English Grammar | Learn English as a Second Language Unusual Writing Ideas for Extraordinary Writers Unusual writing ideas for extraordinary writers When we think about writing ideas, what usually comes to mind are characters, plots, scenes, language, and images. Ideas almost always have to do with concepts and matters of the mind, but what about the physical act of writing? Most of us write at our computers, and many of us still use good old-fashioned pen and paper. Isn’t it Ordinary? It’s all rather ordinary and limiting – always sitting in the same position and using the same tools – day in and day out. What about writing ideas that get you moving and positioning your body in new ways? Get off that chair, step away from your desk, and try standing or crouching. Unusual Writing Ideas These 18 writing ideas are definitely unusual, and unlike most ideas, they don’t happen inside your head. 1. Get some extra-large, oversized paper and sprawl out somewhere – like in the grass or on the floor. 2. A pack of colored markers 3. Try writing different parts of a story or poem on sticky notes . 4. 5.