WritingBoxes, Art and Drawing, and Writing Technologies
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Writing Boxes
Art and Drawing
History of Writing Technologies
Smartphones in Classrooms
Alexander Graham Bell and the History of the Telephone
Writing Boxes
Read "Writing Boxes: The Reading/Writing Connection Supporting Literacy in the Library." Lisa Von Drasek. Children and Libraries (Spring 2018), 8-13.
Build a Physical Writing Box
Containers: Plastic Sweater Box, Basket, Backpack, Pencil Box
Markers: Pencils, Colored Pencils, Felt-Tipped Markers, Crayons
Surfaces: Paper, Notebook, Pads, Write-on/Wipe-off Board
Supplies: Tape, Glue, Stapler Ruler
Need more ideas? See Mini-Writing Centers from Scholastic
Build a Digital Writing Box
Containers: Smart phone, Tablet, Computer
Markers: Best Stylus for Kids
Supplies: Apps, digital tools, software
Use Environmentally-Friendly Writing Materials
32 Ethical and Eco-Friendly Office and School Supplies. Suggested materials include:
Notebooks with post-consumer recycled paper
Biodegradable plastic scissors
Refillable Bamboo wood pens and Bamboo rulers
Compostable smartphone cases
Cork laptop/iPad sleeves
Waste-free staplers
Recycled cotton canvas pencil case
17 Essential Vegan and Eco-Friendly School Supplies to Save the Planet
Mr. Jefferson's Writing Box. Smithsonian.com (February 2001). Jefferson used a writing box as a portable desk when drafting the Declaration of Independence
Classroom Materials by Lyn Lomasi CC BY 2.0
Art and Drawing
Kids create original art based on four squiggly lines and then share their artwork with others around the world.
Books
The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Philomel Books, 2013
Digital Resources
K-5 Remote Learning Art Lessons by award-winning Art Educator Tricia Fuglestad
Creativity & COVID: A Lesson from Art Educators on the Importance of Creativity in a Crisis
An Introduction to 100 Important Paintings with Videos Created by Smart History
The British Library Puts 1,000,000 Images into the Public Domain, Making Them Free to Reuse & Remix
YouiDraw - Online tool for drawing, painting and creating logos
Coloring Books
The Coloring Book is a 2019 Toy Hall of Fame Finalist
The Little Folks Painting Book, by Kate Greenaway (1879), the first coloring book in this country
A Brief History of the Great American Coloring Book, VOX (August 2, 2016)
August 2 is National Coloring Book Day
History of Writing Technologies
The Mark I Computer at Harvard: The First Programmable Computer in the United States
Timeline of the Development of Computable Knowledge: 20,000 BCE to Present
Computer History Timeline: 1930 to Present
Online Tools for Teaching and Learning. Digital tools on this website are organized according to the National Research Council’s (2000) four types of learning environments: assessment-centered, community-centered, knowledge-centered, learner-centered.
Our Kids Have All the Write Stuff Digital Connections Toolkit. Hundreds of apps and digital tools to inspire and support writing
First Digital Computer, 1953
Computer, tablet, smartphone
The Latest Research on Technology, Children and Teens
Social Media Demographics for Marketers in 2020
Screen Time: Conclusions about the Effects of Digital Media Are Often Incomplete, Irrelevant or Wrong, The Conversation, January 15, 2020
High Amounts of Screen Time Begin as Early as Infancy, National Institutes of Health (November, 2019)
Babies as young as 12 months get nearly an hour of screen time a day
3 year-olds average 150 minutes on screens a day
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children 2 to 5 years-old spend no more than an hour on screens; adults should avoid digital media exposure for children under 18 months except for face-to-face family interactions.
No Sedentary Screen Time for Babies, World Health Organization
WHO advice focuses on passive viewing - youngsters being placed in front of a TV or computer screen or handed a tablet or mobile phone for entertainment
The Health Impacts of Screen Time: A Guide for Clinicians and Parents
UK's Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health insists there is little evidence screen use for children is harmful in itself
Evidence is weak for a threshold to guide children and parents to the appropriate level of screen time. We are unable to recommend a cut-off for children’s screen time overall
Our primary recommendation is that families should negotiate screen time limits with their children based upon the needs of an individual child, the ways in which screens are used and the degree to which use of screens appears to displace (or not) physical and social activities and sleep
Interactive Family Media Plan Builder and Media Time Calculator, American Academy of Pediatrics
Social Media Has Not Destroyed a Generation, Scientific American (November 1, 2019)
Most young texters and Instagrammers are fine.
Heavy use can lead to problems, but many early studies and news headlines have overstated dangers and omitted context
Children Need Digital Mentorship, not World Health Organization's Restrictions on Screen Time, Brookings (April 26, 2019)
Everything in Moderation: Moderate Use of Screens Unassociated with Child Behavior Problems, Psychiatric Quarterly (February 2017)
Picture Books about Writing Technologies
Books showing children, adolescents and adults using writing and drawing technologies as writers, scientists, directors, movie makers, game players and other creative roles.
A Computer Named Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon. Suzanne Slade. Illustrated by Veronica Miller Johnson. Orchard/Scholastic, 2019.
Amelia Makes a Movie. David Milgram. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2008
Goodnight iPad. Ann Droyd. Blue Rider Press, 2011
If You Give a Mouse an iPhone. Ann Droyd. Blue Rider Press, 2014
Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer. Diane Stanley. Illustrated by Jessie Hartland. Simon & Schuster Digital Sales, 2016
Hello Ruby: Journey Inside the Computer. Linda Liukas. Fewel and Friends Books, 2017
Access of list of Picture Books for Children and Technology from the Little eLit blog of the Association for Library Service to Children.
Teaching with Interactive Picture e-Books in Grades K-6 from the ReadingRockets website.
As Fast As Words Could Fly. Pamela Tuck. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Lee & Low Books, 2018. A young African American boy teaches himself to use a typewriter and wins a typing tournament at a formerly all-White high school.
Smartphones in Classrooms
Get Ready for an Explosion in Smartphone Innovation. TechConnect, March 3, 2018
50 Apps All Kids Should Play at Least Once, Common Sense Media
Using Smartphones in the Classroom, National Education Association
Learn about Alexander Graham Bell and the History of the Telephone