Sunday 5 February 2017

Procedural Texts and Digital Tools

When young people are explicitly taught the skills and strategies of proficient reading and are invited to live as richly literate people do, carrying books everywhere, bringing reading into every nook and corner of their lives, the results are dramatic. - Lucy Calkins

Students love to make, build, and design things. The study of procedural texts allows student to explore different types of procedures: recipes, experiments, and rules, as well as heighten the desire to experiment and create! Digital tools can help readers' respond to read procedural texts, wonder and search, make meaning, create original responses, and amplify knowledge into deep understanding and growth as a learner. The following tools are invaluable when facilitating a unit of study on procedural texts. 

SnapGuide is a free iOS application and website that specializes in user generated step-by-step how-to guides. Users create guides on the site, where community members can comment on, rate, and share guides. It scaffolds the students through the process of using the text structure. Students can add the materials list as well as photos, video, and text from the app or site as they are creating their procedure.  The site encourages students to write a persuasive introduction and conclusion. Perfect for procedural text structure!

ThingLink allows students to create interactive images by adding video, music, text, to uploaded images. Have students take pictures and video as they are immersed in the procedure. Once media has been collected, students can create their ThingLink. 


Book Creator allows students to create their own procedural text ePub.  Students can take pictures, video, and record themselves as they are immersed in the procedure. A class or student set of procedural tests could be compiled into one book. A hyperlink to ThingLink or Snapguide could be added to the ePub to be a compilation of all of their work.


View a detailed unit of study on procedural texts by clicking on the image below. Students will examine the big ideas of procedural texts and develop skills and strategies to enhance reading and comprehension. Students will explore cause-and-effect, sequence, language cues and conventions, visualization, determining importance, and synthesis. 




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