Language+Arts

=**Cool Tools for Learning: English Language Arts**=
 * Facilitated by: Richard Beach**
 * Room: BB&T**

Activity: Using online role-play to teach argumentative writing, a key focus of the ELA CCSS. To engage in effective argumentative writing, students need to be able to clearly state their position on an issue, establish and project a believable persona or ethos, gain their audience's identification with their position, provide specific reasons with evidence, and refute counter-arguments.

[|PowerPoint presentation on Slideshare]

[|Practice online role play on this Ning site] 1. Adopt a pro-con stance and role related to the proposition "sales of unhealthy foods be banned from all grocery stores?" (parents, children, grocery store owners/workers, local farmers, doctors/health experts, food processing/packaged food company owners, politicians, etc.,). People with A – E first names, please adopt a pro stance, and people with F – Z first names, please adopt a con stance. 2. Once you've signed up in the Ning and added an avatar photo (optional), then, in the Forum box, In the Ning forum (click on the above link), identify you role and state your position on this question with supporting reasons. 3. Respond to posts in the Forum, challenging or agreeing with other role's stated positions.

[|Use of a Diigo Group to share bookmarks and annotations on the "unhealthy foods" issue]

VoiceThread for Education: Resources on using VoiceThread

[|Example of use of VoiceThread for studying the issue of "unhealthy foods"]

[|Troy Hicks: Workshop on argumentative writing (as distinguished from "persuasive writing")]

//English Journal// article on use of online role-play to teach argumentative writing

Handout on activities and resources for using online role-play to teach argumentative writing

Study of high school students' writing in an online role-play activity

We will also be discussing uses of different apps for teaching English language arts described in my Wednesday morning presentation

[|App recommendations for analyzing information; using reading, writing, discussing, images/video, games/simulations, reflection, and professional development to learn]

[|Resource site for Using iPad and iPhone Apps to Foster Learning with Literacy Across the Curiculum]

[|Resource wiki site on addressing the CCSS in ELA classes: //Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards: A Literacy Practice Approach for 6-12 Classrooms//, Routledge, 2012.]

[|Open Learning Initiative Course: Creating Argument Diagrams]