interactive learning

Q2 Immersive Interactives: ELA

12. Interactives

INTRODUCTION TO ELA INTERACTIVES

This page contains interactive activities and additional resources focused on English Language Arts (ELA) Click on the "plus" symbol in each green field to access the activities and resources.


  1. Check with your teacher about the expectations for your exploration of these ELA resources. There are a variety of different interactive resources that can support your interests and learning goals.
  2. Some assignment options:
    • Choose ONE of the Interactive Activities below and complete the Recording Document linked in the activity.  If there is no Recording Document, follow the steps in the activity and use a format of your choice to record your findings. 
      • Again, check with your teacher about the expectations for submitting the Recording Document or your work.  Your teacher may have set aside time for you to complete all of the Interactive Activities.
    • Write a brief review in the best format for you (i.e., Google Slide Presentation) about one of the Interactive Activities or the Resources below that you think would be the most useful to you in school. Include the information below. 
                    • The name of the activity
                    • URL of the activity
                    • Topic you researched
                    • Two or three sentences describing the activity with a screenshot of it
                    • Two to four sentences telling why you recommend this activity and what you liked about it the most
        • Share something you learned with another classmate or the entire class,


Awe, you are a wanna-be historical poet! 

The Verse-by-Verse website is a fun tool that helps you write your own poems with the help of famous poets. You can choose up to three poets, like Emily Dickinson or Edgar Allan Poe, and the website will give you suggestions based on their styles. It’s like having a team of famous poets helping you create your own masterpiece! You get to learn about poetry and have fun writing at the same time.

Think about poems you have read and liked (including song lyrics). 

Think about forms of poetry you may have studied in your classes up to this point.

Complete these steps to write your own poem in Verse-by-Verse.

  1. Before going to the website linked below.  Write a first line of a poem; something that interests you, an object that is inspiring, a feeling that you have...
  2. Go to Verse-by-Verse and select the Let's write a poem in the green button.
  3. You may choose up to three poets to guide your poem writing process.
  4. Select Next in the top right hand corner and complete the Design your poem structure.
  5. Select Next and enter your first line of the poem.
    • AI will then suggest subsequent lines based on the chosen poet's style.
    • You may accept, modify, or reject the suggestions to craft your poem.
  6. Once your poem is complete, review your work.  Make sure your poem have flow and coherence.
  7. Share your poem based on your teacher's instructions. That may be:
    • sharing the poem with your teacher,
    • reading your poem to a partner or the class.
    • adding your poem to a class poetry book.


We all want to improve our writing and time spent on other tasks!  Let's look at a tool that is able to help coach us through organizing our thoughts onto paper. 

Goblin Tools is a website that offers a collection of simple, helpful tools designed to make tasks easier. Goblin Tools use AI to assist with various tasks, like breaking down big projects into smaller steps or rephrasing text in different styles. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to get organized or improve their writing.

Let's try it out by enhancing a piece of creative writing in the Formalizer tool which will rephrase your writing in different styles that you may reject, modify, or accept.

Steps:

  1. Take some time to write a short paragraph (4-5 sentences) on a topic of your choice.  Or, if you have been working in class on an essay or small piece of writing, check with your teachers to see if it makes sense to use that as a writing sample.
    • Focus on being clear and descriptive.
  2. Copy and paste the paragraph into Goblin.tools/Formalizer.
    • Explore the various styles and adjust the "spiciness" level to see how your text changes.
  3. Compare your original to the modified versions.
    • How do the changes affect the tone, clarity, and overall impact of your writing?
    • Does it fit your style and original intent of the paragraph?
  4. Share your work based on your teacher's instructions.
    • With your teacher only - both the original and the modified.
    • With a partner or the whole class - both the original and the modified.
    • Discuss the benefits and the challenges or using a tool such as Goblin.tools to revise your written work.

You are a creative writer!  Put on your thinking cap and see what you can put together in a few paragraphs with randomly generated emojis.

The goal of this activity is to practice your creative writing skills and formulate correct paragraph structure.  And, have some fun blending the emojis into a storyline. 

Steps:

  1. Based on teacher's instructions, open a Google Doc, Word Doc, or another location where you keep your writing samples.
    • Label it: Emoji Writing Practice 
    • You will create a separate title for your story after you write your paragraphs.
  2. Go to the Pure Random Emoji Generator (created and shared by EduProtocols).
    • Turn on the Animate Emojis in the right top corner.  This is just fun to have on.
    • Now go through each button and generate your emoji that must be incorporated into each paragraph ~ Main Idea, Emoji 2, Emoji 3, Emoji 4, and Emoji 5 (Conclusion).
  3. Write your main idea paragraph based on the Main Idea emoji that was generated.
  4. Write your supporting paragraphs with Emoji 2, Emoji 3, Emoji 4.
  5. Write your conclusion paragraph with Emoji 5.
    • Note: Each emoji can be copied and pasted onto you document if you are using an online writing source such as Google Docs.
  6. Use the revision and editing process your ELA teacher has outlined in previous writing assignments.
  7. Based on your story, create an appropriate, attention getting title and add to the top of your document.
  8. Share your story based on your teacher's instructions.  That may be:
    • sharing the story with just your teachers.
    • reading your story to a partner or the class.
    • adding your story to a class story book/board.


Various online writing tools to explore and add to your knowledge toolbox for later use.

Many of these online tools require you to sign up for a free access or trial period.  Check with your teacher about creating an account or if the school already has free access.

  • Book Creator - allows you to writing your own story, add images or illustrations and format to your own liking. 


  • Pixton is for all you comic book and graphic novel lovers. Turn your writing into a book that you would love to read.


  • NanoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) means "your story matters". This online tool helps get what you are thinking down into a story worthy format.  


  • Writable will help you in the guided writing process. Get stuck along the way or need help with word phrasing? Writable will get it done for you. 



  • Grammarly Free Online Grammar Checker allows you to check your spelling and wording.  The built in AI feature will offer suggests for improvement.
    • *Grammarly.com/students  *your school may have an account.   You will want to check with your teacher about school access to Grammarly.

Reading TOOLS - Explore the list

 Text Summarization

Do you have an article that you want to summarize quickly and easily to get the important idea? 

textcompactor      summarize this


Try the above tools out with an article from this site: go to the Student News Articles site and select a current news article.

studentnews

  • Copy the information into either summarization site and have the site generate a summary.
  • Think about when it is appropriate to use one of these tools and reflect how it will make a difference in your writing.


Do you like to stay current on events happening in the news or posted in magazines (online or print)? Check out the options that allow you to pick your reading level in Newsela. The lite version is free but you do need to sign up with your school email account. Check with your teacher, they may have a school code that can be used.



Check with your teacher about accessing the following sites based on the age requirements. 

*Some of the tools have AI-features, and age requirements where parental permission is required {Grammarly for those under 13 (in the U.S). and under 16 for other locations] and WordTune [under 18}.

MITECS  Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students, and

ISTE Standards for Students

1. Empowered Learner
a. Articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them, and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes
d. Understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies, are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies

5. Computational Thinker
b. Collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making
c. Break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving