MindMeister

MindMeister allows your team to be more innovative by providing a shared collaboration and brainstorming environment on the web. Plan projects, manage meetings and sketch out business plans online with partners and colleagues, all in real time! Integrates with Google Drive and can export in a variety of formats.

In Google Drive, click on New > More > Connect more apps

Search for MindMeister and then select the blue Connect button

LucidChart for Education

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming tool that makes drawing diagrams fast and easy. Students can work individually on assignments or with an unlimited number of other classmates to create and edit diagrams in real time -- great for group projects. Lucidchart provides free educational licenses that include all premium features to schools. Lucidchart also integrates with Google Drive.

In Google Drive, click on New > More > Connect more apps

Search for LucidChart for Education and then select the blue Connect button

Graphic Organizers

Google Drawings is a good tool to use for creating, completing, and sharing graphic organizers. These can be used to analyze reading or to plan writing.

Blog post - "30 Free Google Drawings Graphic Organizers" - Website link

Blog post - "Language Arts Graphic Organizers with Google Drawings" - Website link

Help Guide - "Using Google Drawings" - Google Document link

Help Guide - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - Google Document link

Slideshow - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - Google Slides link

Graphic Organizers - Collection of fill-in templates and pre-made activities - Google Drive link

Training video - "Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers" - YouTube Video

Writing: Student Writing

• Sample Doc for Testing - Google Doc link

Voice Typing

With this tool, students can simply speak to Google Docs and what they say will be converted into text. This can be helpful for students still learning to type, students with disabilities, or to help students specifically think about punctuation.

In Google Docs click on Tools > Voice typing

Rhyme Finder Add-on - Google Docs Add-on link

The Rhyme Finder Add-on for Google Docs is a tool that provides a list of rhyming words for any word you select in a Google Document.

Explore Tool

This tool can be used to search from within a Google Document or Slideshow. The student can search for websites, images, and more. They can also insert citations.

In Google Docs click on Tools > Explore

Sharing for Feedback

To allow others to leave feedback on a Google Doc, the file needs to be shared properly.

• Sharing with “Can comment” rights - This allows peer review and teacher feedback on writing
• Sharing with “Can edit” rights - This allows student group work, as well as detailed feedback from teachers
• For more details on sharing see my post "Sharing and Collaborating with Google Drive" - Blog post link

Option #1 - Text Feedback

• Insert Comment feature
• Enter text and hyperlinks
• Notify a person with a “+” and their email address
• Reply to a comment
• Resolve the comment thread when done
• Use Voice Typing feature to speak your text comments
• Use Google Keep integration to insert text comments from comment lists - Website link
  • Sample comment banks - Website link
  • Sample Docs Stickers - Website link
• You can use the "Checkmark" extension to insert frequently used comments quickly - Extension link

Option #2 - Voice Feedback

• Read&Write for Google Chrome web extension - This extension can be used to record voice comments and insert them into a Google Doc. This can be a great way to provide personalized feedback to students on their work.
• Install the extension - link
• Register as a teacher for the full version at no cost - link
• Use Voice Note feature to record your voice and insert into the document.

Option #3 - Video Feedback

• Screencastify Chrome web extension - This extension can be used to make a video recording of your screen so you can record video and audio feedback of the student’s work, such as their Google Document. You can record 10 minutes at a time for free, the recorded video is saved to your drive, and the link to the video can easily be shared with the student for them to watch.
• Install from the Chrome Web Store at: Screencastify link
• Super Screencasting Activities for Students - Blog post link

Option #4 - Handwritten Feedback

• The mobile version of the Classroom app allows teachers and students to handwrite annotated notes on top of documents. This is a great way to provide more natural written feedback to students on their work.
  • Android App - link
  • iOS App - link
• Open the student’s Google Doc.
• Click the pencil icon in the top right corner to switch to annotation mode.
• Click the save icon in the top right when done

Option #5 - Google Classroom Comment Bank

• In Google Classroom, teachers can create a comment bank of frequently used comments to add to student papers.
• In the Assignment/grading window, teachers can also leave comments on student work through the Insert Comment feature or by providing a private comment.

Writing: Revising

Tracking Changes in Writing

Version History

With Google Docs (and Slides, Sheets, Drawings) you can view the version history to see all the changes ever made to the document as well as who made the change. This can be valuable information for the writing and revision process.

Blog post - "6 awesome uses for Revision History" - Website link

Blog post - "Using Named Versions in Docs to Track Writing Drafts" - Website link

Draftback - Chrome Web Store link

This extension allows you to view the revision history of a document like a movie, so you can see the order in which the document was written and edited.

Revision History Analytics - Google Docs Add-on link

This tool collects all of the Revision History data and then create pie charts and tables showing data for each person who edited the Doc. These include totals for each person’s interactions, edits, comments, and words. It is a simple way to get a visual and numeric representation of how much each person contributed to the work.