“More writing?!” groaned my class of 5th graders. My explanation: that we’d be editing, not writing, didn’t go over too well. Rough draft…editing…final draft; any one of these can be a real challenge for some kids. And this assignment was especially important. It was their 5th Grade Culmination speeches. But the class didn’t realize I had a way to make this assignment not only doable but fun, using Lola.
Of course, my class is familiar with Lola because I’m using it regularly with three students. But today I tried something different. I configured my laptop so my Work System would project on the big screen. Voila! I was able to make Lola available to the whole class.
Lola’s ‘Routine/Task’ functions helped guide me in breaking down the steps for editing an essay. In about 10 minutes at lunch, I had 7 steps tapped out. Everything from ‘proofreading’ to ‘check punctuation’ and ‘upgrade your verb choice’ was on my list. Lola makes it easy for a teacher to include anything he or she wants the kids focus on. Simply run your own, customized Work System and, as each step illuminates, kids can easily follow along. In today’s example, the repetition of directions (by me) and never-ending questions such as: “What do I do?” (from the students) was eliminated, thus freeing up my time and energies so I could circulate the room and help students as needed.
Seeing the steps broken down--and handy so they could refer to them--facilitated a better understanding of the writing process for the kids and made for a productive afternoon lesson for all.
Writing made easy. Thanks, Lola! ☺