Competitive Writing

Young students have a great imagination, and I have been repeatedly amazed by their creativity. For proof, just take a look at the podcasts written by my second graders, or the stories written by my first graders.  So, when I saw a post on edtechdigest about BoomWriter, a reading and writing competition, I was intrigued in spite of the creepy looking avatars.

Here's how it works.  The teacher registers for a free account and posts a story starter. Then, students submit their version of what happens next.  Everyone reads each submission and votes on one to move the story forward.  Then, the teacher can start the process again until the story is completed. There are also opportunities to collaborate on stories online started by famous writers, but some of these require a membership and individual email accounts, both of which are not feasible with my student population. 

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