Online Publishing for Kids 8-08 Workshop Handout

ePals http://www.epals.com/

à Here is a wonderful way to introduce your students to an audience beyond the school walls. Penpals, blogs, in2books, numerous projects…all have students writing for “authentic” purposes.
Writing with Writers http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/index.htm
à This is a rich site, lots of interesting possibilities for teaching and learning. While the site indicates that it cannot publish all submissions, it certainly does publish a lot!
Cyberkids http://www.cyberkids.com/
à No guarantees here, but kids are thrilled when their work is chosen for publication. According to the rules for submission, “Art and written submissions can be on any topic that is appropriate for our audience (ages 7 to 12). “
KidPub.com http://www.kidpub.com/
à This is a members-only site ($12.95/year) for publishing, but anyone can read. The material is good.
Young Writer http://www.young-writer.co.uk/
à Stories, book reports, poems by and for students from age 6 to 11.
Poetry Zone http://www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/index2.htm
à A great site! Students submit poems via email for publication. They can also submit reviews of poetry books. Ages 4 to 18.
Teen Ink http://teenink.com/index.php
à This is a dandy site for students who are hoping to be published. Submitted items may be published online, in print or both.

Kidsbookshelf http://www.kidsbookshelf.com/
à Publishes kids’ short poems, stories and reviews. I believe this site publishes all it receives (as long as it is appropriate) from youngsters aged 17 and younger.
Kids on the Net http://www.kidsonthenet.com/
à Not to be missed. Students K-10 (the site doesn’t put an age limit on this, but it appears that 14 or 15 is about as old as it goes) can submit a variety of types of writing. Teachers can guide students in making a “choose your own adventure” type of story.
Poetry.com http://www.poetry.com/
à I haven’t quite decided what to make of this site. It publishes all poems (24 lines or less) and enters them into contests. No cost, but clearly there is a money-making part to all of this. Maybe a teacher should submit his/her own work first, just to see what happens? Still, this site is recommended by some quality education sources, so….
Writers’ Window http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/home.html
à This is an excellent site. It publishes work by students from age 5 to 18. There are options for feedback, though I see rather little of that actually posted. But it is an available option.
IEarn http://www.iearn.org/projects/2007-2008iEARNProjectBook.pdf
à A whole different approach to having your students’ work published. Take a look at the IEarn Project Book. Here are dozens of ideas for collaboration world wide, many of which result in online publication. One example: The Good Deeds Project, chosen absolutely at random, just to give you a place to look. (It’s found on page 42 of the Project Book.)
RealeBooks http://www.realebooks.com/
à A free program to download that will let you create and print a book of student work. The book is saved at least one week online to allow parents/family/friends see it in its online form.
PBWiki http://www.pbwiki.com/
à This is still my favorite way to publish student work. It’s easy for both the teacher and the student. It looks great, is quick, accessible by family members. Drawback? You will have to set up a way to have folks respond to your students’ work. Therefore, a blog does have one advantage. Check out these samples of student created wikis:
http://animals.pbwiki.com/ http://mrlindsay.pbwiki.com/

Nice Little Spelling Site

SpellingCity allows you to enter spelling lists, save them, and have students access them from any computer, including their home computers...so Mom and Dad can be involved! The site lets students hear the word in a really good voice and then hear the word used in a fairly good sentence. The youngsters can practice through a "test" or by playing games with the words. This offers you a bit of variety and fun in what is often a tedious part of teaching/learning.

Make a Snazzy Badge, Seal, Poster, Etc.

This nice little site will let you quickly make a sign, seal, badge, and more. You can then save it on your own computer to print at will. Make one or make a dozen. It is so easy that you don't even have to set aside time...you can do it now!

Ustream

Here's an easy, quick way to make a video. Once you've made your video, you can embed it (like I am doing) in your blog, you can email it to yourself or others, or you can leave it on Ustream. Take a look:

Puzzle Maker

Flash-gear offers a truly simple way to make a puzzle, then either post it to your own site/blog/wiki or put a link to their own site to house the puzzle. What a great way for youngsters to master their mouse-skills. Maybe you could puzzle the cover of a book, or a picture of a character in one of your books. Be careful with the copyright, though. Children's drawings would be great puzzles. All you'd need is a digital photo of the picture.
Check out my puzzle by clicking here.