So, the activities in this resource range from SUPER simple, like creating and designing a greeting card and making a list…to writing mystery stories and designing a blog site and writing a blog post. I wanted to include something for everyone. Please assess your students’ abilities prior to purchasing. Even if you have students that are working at a higher level, it can be a much-needed “mental break” to complete simple tasks. We all need that from time to time, so I have found that my students like a balance of “getting pushed” and also taking time to relax their mental muscles. Just like food, I feel like we engage with the content by “eating with our eyes first.” I wanted to creating images that were visually stimulating and go our students excited to jump in! The really beautiful part of this resource is the content…it works. You will see your students get creative and excited to do more. I’ve seen it time and time again, and I can personally tell you that I have had thousands of teachers tell me the same exact thing. Their students CAN’T WAIT to choose their next topic. It becomes FUN for them to see what their next writing adventure is. SNAG A PIN BELOW SO THAT YOU CAN EASILY BE REDIRECTED BACK TO MY SITE IN THE FUTURE.
Let’s look at how interactive writing using Google Slides can help strengthen your students’ desire to write, as well as their ability to write well!
My Interactive Writing Center has been a best seller in my shop for years, but when Covid changed the world of education, I dipped my toes into digital water.
Writing is such an important task for our students to master. The benefits of being a strong writer stretch across every aspect of our lives, both in and out of school.
Here’s my theory…in life, we all like choices, and when we are backed into a corner without any say in what we want or what we have to do, we have a tendency to rush and possibly not put forth our best work. I am giving our students choices right off the bat with an interactive category page.
Instead of a bulletin board of topics that were printed out and assembled, this interactive writing center using Google Slides allows everything to be a click away!
There are 40 TOPICS available for them to explore. Let’s take a closer look!
The categories that you see here focus on various aspects of writing. As an ELA teacher, I feel that working on sentence structure, properly using figurative language, grammar, and punctuation are CRITICAL in being an awesome writer. This center provides those options and gives our students the opportunity to choose. Yes, they will be writing, but they will also be practicing those fine-tuning skills that take them to the next level.
This resource is set up to teach and then practice each skill. It’s that simple. Everything is in one place so this is possible.
I also wanted to keep the communication between the teacher and student completely open. The tracking forms help them to keep track of when they begin and when they end each activity. The teacher can take a look at this each week when this is submitted and then sign off and assign a grade if they so choose. The discussion forms are made for…well, discussions! I think it’s to let our kiddos know that #1…we are seeing their work, but more importantly, that #2, we are assessing their individual needs. Here’s what I would do from week to week:
- Assign students a certain amount of work to complete each week. For example, each student must complete 3 writing topics a week and then submit the file to the teacher via Google Classroom.
- Check out the students’ work, offer feedback on the tracking and/or discussion forms.
- Re-assign the document to the student so that they can continue to work on the center.
- Continue to do this, and adjust how many activities they are completing each week. There is no wrong or right way to go about this. YOU DO what you feel comfortable doing each week.
- YOU can decide what each student is working on each week, as well. You don’t have to use it as a choice board. Again, that’s completely up to you.
Free Interactive Writing Activities
If you are looking for a way to ignite your students’ love of writing, these interactive writing activities are a great place to start! Not only will it get them interested in writing, it is a great teacher companion. Each activity comes with a detailed page that takes students step-by-step through each task. Fill in the information below to get your free activity pack today!
Free Teacher Planner Forms
Keep track of important information in a stylish and practical way.These printable planning forms are the perfect way to organize your classroom information. You can place them into a binder or add them to your favorite Happy Planner or custom teacher planner!
Free Text Structure Posters
These printable posters will help your students build a better relationship with what they are reading throughout the school year. They will serve as a constant companion in aiding comprehension and understanding of key concepts within a text.