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Completed: Improve Writing Skills Through Technology

"College-bound students in a high-need community need to improve their writing skills to be competitive at the university level!

I teach science to juniors and seniors in an urban charter school. Our school's focus is to prepare ALL of our students for success at the post-secondary level. Acro... " MORE

"College-bound students in a high-need community need to improve their writing skills to be competitive at the university level!

I teach science to juniors and seniors in an urban charter school. Our school's focus is to prepare ALL of our students for success at the post-secondary level. Across the curriculum, students build their writing skills through research-based informative and argumentative essays.

However, especially in science, one of the biggest struggles our students face is how to synthesize the information they've gathered through research into their own words. They read lots of information and have the knowledge to understand it, analyze it, and speak about it, but get stuck when they have to sit down and get it on paper. Far too often, they try to "paraphrase" a resource by changing around just a few words or omitting key phrases. I know that they are trying to use their own language, but they are getting stuck by LOOKING at someone else's words.

When I would assign research papers, I would get so frustrated. I knew that my students were reading and understanding their research, but their writing was confusing and jumbled, sometimes even not in their own voice. One day I flipped over a struggling student's research notecards so she couldn't see them, and I asked her to explain to me what she was writing about. She started off a little shaky, but I asked a few questions and she just took off. She told me all about her research findings, her opinions about the validity of the research methods, her questions about the future, and so on. She had SO MUCH information in her head! When she SPOKE about it, everything flowed out beautifully! I told her that she had just "written" her essay out loud; she used all her "own words" to explain everything she had read. She was amazed at herself, and hurried to write down everything she had just told me.

I am writing this grant for a class set of digital voice recorders so that my students can replicate this oral thought process before they write. They can "hide" their resources and notes and verbally explain what they have read and learned. Then when they play it back, they can actually hear what their "own words" sound like and write it down. My hope is that this process will help to remove the roadblock my students face when they look back and forth between their notecards and the blank page. I hope that hearing their own words and then seeing them written down will help them to realize what their words sound like and look like. I hope that using the voice recorders will relieve them of some of the fear that many of my students have when they think of "WRITING."

By the end of the year, my students will be using the voice recorders less and less. They will be more comfortable with doing this process in their own heads before they write. They will be more prepared for the demands of essay-writing on ACT tests and college courses. Thank you for your consideration!

My students need 15 digital voice recorders to help them improve their writing. The cost of this proposal is $690, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment ."

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Ms. N.'s Classroom: High Poverty School

Region:

Illinois (Chicago)

Where is the classroom located?

Submitted:

Aug 14, 2009 |

Expires:

Jan 20, 2010

Hurray! On November 20, we sent an email to Ms. N. sharing the great news that this project has been funded.

You should see an initial thank-you note from Ms. N. within the next few days. Then, we'll purchase these resources.

Materials	Vendor	Price	#	Total
DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER	Highsmith	$33.30	15	$499.50

Vendor Shipping Charges				$49.95
State Sales Tax				$0.00
3rd Party Payment Processing Fee				$7.49
Postage / Processing for Donor Thank-You Package				$9.00
Project Subtotal				$565.94
Optional Donation Towards Operating Costs				$124.23
TOTAL PROJECT COST				$690.17
Partner Funding Offer				-$345.07
6 Donors				-$345.10
To Go				$0.00