15 WAYS TO PUBLISH STUDENT WRITING DR. JILL M. OLTHOUSE

15 WAYS TO PUBLISH STUDENT WRITING DR. JILL M. OLTHOUSE

PUBLISHING: WHY & HOW? Why? Publishing is probably the least used aspect of the writing process in schools. Publishing emphasizes finishing a complete work and producing a quality product. Publishing emphasizes that writing is a social process an exchange of ideas between authors and readers, not just a performance for the teachers.. Having feedback from readers provides motivation for writing and emphasizes higher level thinking such as creativity and organization. How? Give students examples of child writers who published best selling works it is possible! (Mattie Stepanek, Christopher Paolini, Brianna & Brittany Winner, etc.) Caution that instant success is not probable: Children should begin with small goals such as publishing for family and friends, and later progress to publishing online and entering contests. Students and teachers should never pay to enter contests and should never buy more copies of self-published books than they are willing to distribute.

TOONTASTIC APP Summary: ipad app that allows children to create animated stories using a puppet-theater interface. Educational: Teaches basic story arc, along with setting, character, and tone. Multimedia: Includes images, animation, and sound. Accessibility: Children move puppets directly by touching the screen, and they can narrate the story into the microphone. Publishing: Cartoons can be posted to the app s online gallery. Costs: Free edition or 9.99 for access to all characters and settings Are preschool students or preliterate Have handwriting, spelling, or fine motor difficulties Need visual supports for building ideas

COMICBOOK APP Summary: 1.99 iphone and ipad app that allows you to create comic books from photos and images. Photo filters Layouts Captions and callouts Publishing: pdf, facebook, twitter, print Are reluctant writers Love comics, cartoons,or superheroes Like to put themselves in their stories

STORYBIRD.COM Summary: Website where students compose storybooks based on collections of original artwork. Collaborative: Student pairs can take turns adding pages to a common book. Commenting: Students can post comments on each others books. Management: For added cost, teachers can build assignments & classes. Safety: Comments and stories are moderated. Publishing: Hard copy, paperback, and pdf at cost. Online free. Bare bones platform: No fonts, colors, or custom pictures Are young or emerging writers Are reluctant writers Like to work with peers Need visual supports for building ideas Enjoy writing fiction Are too easily distracted by full-featured programs like Microsoft Word

SCRIBBLE PRESS.COM AND APP Summary: Website and ipad app that students can use to create books which they can pay to have printed as hardcover. Visuals: Stickers that look like children s drawings can be added to the book. In the ipad version, children can draw pictures and type text on the screen. Publishing: Hard copy (14.95) Free in-app publishing. Cost: Pay to publish. Some sticker packs cost extra. In addition to books, Scribble Press also publishes clipboards and notebooks featuring children s art. Love to draw Write simple sentences and stories Have parents who are willing to pay to print a copy of their child s book

BOOK CREATOR APP Summary: ipad app that allows children to create multimedia ebooks that can be read in ibooks and can be shared via dropbox. Publishing: Epub (ibooks) and pdfs. Multimedia: Include picture, video, music, and speech. Cost: Pay 4.99 for the app, and publishing is free. Books are not sold in the app store, but are viewable using the ibooks app. To sell an ebook, see ibooks Author Mac App or Smashwords, Lulu, etc. Have ipads Want to add music and video to their books.

GLOGSTER.COM Summary: Website that allows students to create and share multimedia collages. Publishing: share on glogster and post to facebook twitter Multimedia: Integrate video, audio, picture, and text Cost: 2.50 a month for more than 10 student licenses Are emergent writers Are visual, creative learners Need to learn how to organize primary sources

KIDBLOG.COM Summary: Teacher moderated blogging website Publishing: share on kidblog in a private class Multimedia: Embed links, pictures and videos Cost: Free Are motivated by social interaction and peer commenting Need to practice daily writing habits, develop a portfolio, or keep a journal

CLASS WEBSITE Summary: Keep parents and students up to date by publishing writing on a class website or blog. Teacher or tech savvy adult does much of the work formatting and publishing Free, ad-free websites that can be distributed widely. Use only first names of students, no photos. Many sites available, but my favorite is googlesites. Hint: For 9.99 a year, you can register your own domain name. Want to share their writing with faraway friends or relatives Want a free way to distribute writing.

FIGMENT.COM Summary: Website where can write fiction, post their fiction with a cover imagine, comment, discuss, and collaborate with other writers, and enter contests. Collaborative: Students can join interest groups and workshop each others stories. Commenting: Students can post comments on each others books. Safety: Educators can set up private groups for their classrooms. Publishing: Online stories only. Funding: Includes advertisements for YA (Young Adult) titles. Social Networking: Writers can connect via facebook and twitter. Are eager or independent writers. Have specific genre interests (romance, nonfiction, etc) Like to work with peers Need specific goals (such as entering contests, or getting page views

WRITINGKID.COM Summary: Free website and email listserve that keeps track of publishing opportunities for young writers. About 12 new opportunities posted each month. Have stories, poems, or articles they want to publish in magazines Like entering contests Are in grades 1-12

SELF-PUBLISHING Summary: Web-based companies that offer self-publishing and editing services in hard copy and ebook. Free to publish on-demand printing. You only pay for the copies you print, no minimum order. Costs range from free to thousands of dollars depending on what services you order. Editing, design, and marketing services cost extra. Publishing to amazon, kindle, and ibooks can get very difficult because of formatting requirements. Will NOT distribute to bookstores. Have worked hard and want to sell a class anthology as a fundraiser. Are computer savvy and can edit, format, and make PDFs and cover designs.

WATTPAD APP Summary: Mobile app for writing and sharing ebooks. Free app for iphone, googleplay, or ipad No teacher features (classes, moderators) Love their cell phones and want to read and write on the go in their free time. 13 and older, only.

NANOWRIMO.COM Summary: Web-based free project encouraging students to write a 50,000 word book in one month. Teachers can set up class where students can workshop books and track their total word count. Students who successfully finish their books can get 5 free copies self published from createspace. Are gifted, or highly productive writers.

PRINT PUBLICATIONS Imagine Magazine John Hopkins CTY Themed writing by youth Stone Soup Stories and Art by 8-13 year olds The Concord Review Academic Writing in History by Teens TeenInk Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction by Teens

FASTWEB.COM Summary: Web-based free search engine for finding essay and scholarship contests. Large database of specialized scholarships. Are planning on college and need money.