Designing a Writing Lab
When designing a writing lab, it should include as a minimum the following four areas:
(1.) Typing
(2.) Pre-Writing/brainstorming
(3.) Writing
(4.) Publishing
But First
Before you begin writing, it’s very important to consider where your students are going to save their documents. If you are part of a school network, normally a common drive is provided where students can walk up to any machine in the school, pull up their files and get to work.
If that’s not you, you can always save files to an external hard drive or to an USB Flash drive. Now that you’ve decided on storage, you and your students are ready to begin.
Typing
There is no point in having the student work in a writing lab if they can’t operate the keyboard. Students may be able to find letters on the keyboard without much assistance, but punctuation marks are not so intuitive. A solid typing program can not only teach students some basic typing skills, but it can also be used to reinforce good writing skills. There are many wonderful typing programs available to students these days.
At the high school level, many of our students already now how to type.
Pre-Writing/Brainstorming
Inspiration (Grades 5-12) is a heavy hitter in this area. This application helps students to see, organize and develop their ideas. Completed charts and graphic organizers are then turned into outlines to help students through the writing process. Although these software applications are awesome, they require a very dedicated teacher. The software requires that the teacher give the students specific assignments and work directly with them.
Writer’s Companion (grades 2-12) is another great program. It actually steps students through the writing process, starting with brainstorming and organizing. As students use the program to generate their ideas, they can also organize and sequence their thoughts by pointing and clicking.
Writing
Microsoft Word is an extremely versatile program and it has some great typing tools, such as the spell checker, thesaurus, and word counter. However, the interface can be confusing and overwhelming to younger students. I would use Word with high school students, but younger students might benefit from software that is more age appropriate.
Writer’s Companion (grades 2-12) is an excellent add-on.. Not only are standard word processing features built in, but it takes the ideas that a student had previously generated into a fresh document. The software can read text back to students and features bilingual education components.
Scholastic Keys is another wonderful student program that is used with Microsoft Office (you must already have purchased and installed Office before you install Scholastic Keys). It puts a “kid-friendly” interface on top of the Office applications, so they don’t seem so overwhelming. Students can create and customize their writings very easily. The software can also read text back to students.
KidWorks Deluxe is another program word-processing program that students can use.
Publishing
Publishing is where the students generally have the most fun, but if the students are going to see the fruits of their labor, publishing requires a printer or two. Be sure to consider toner cartridges and the like when considering hardware and software costs for the writing lab.
You need to establish printing rules with students as to when and what they are allowed to print; it makes good economic and environmental sense.
As for software, both Writer’s Companion and Scholastic Keys have some wonderful publishing features built right in. Both allow you to add graphics, format text, change fonts and really jazz up the papers. Scholastic Keys has a great feature that allows you to create PowerPoint presentations (using their “kid-friendly” interface). Students can record sounds and voices to add into their stories. If you are interested in having students record voices, you’ll need to purchase microphones.
Older students can use PowerPoint directly with their work. The animation features alone are enough to keep kids very focused, but be careful the students don’t lose sight of the big picture.
Kid Pix Deluxe 4 can be used as brainstorming software (it comes with lots of great ideas for teachers). Although it really shines as a publishing tool for younger students, it might end up being one your favorite programs and is a hit with students of all ages.. Students can use it to illustrate their projects and to create presentations.
Other Considerations
You might also look at obtaining some fun fonts and installing them on your student computers. Fonts can easily be purchased (try here, for example), or you can also search the Internet for free fonts, download them and install them yourself or if you have one, have your school IT person do it for you.
The highlighted programs above run on both Mac and Windows platforms, but double check with your vendor to make sure.