Mind Alarm #4 2011

In our last epistle we looked at how you can use a newspaper clipping generator in your classroom to engage students with writing. If you didn't see this post, visit our blog to see the previous incarnations of our bulletin by clicking here.

Believe it or not, there are dozens and dozens of web 2.o tools on the internet dedicated to generating fake things that look real - from signs posts, bill boards, magazine covers to movie posters. The Generator Blog (click on the link to go there) contains a comprehensive list of sites (over one hundred) which generate things like these. Another great place to find generators is from Wet Paint Web 2.0 Education Tools. Here are two of our favourites and how you might use them in the classroom:

T-Shirt Generator:

This works well at Years 7-9. Ask students to design an advertising campaign or a slogan for an issue they think is important (like bullying or the environment). Get them to put the slogan with a picture on a t-shirt then ask them to do some writing or a presentation tot he class explaining why this will be an effective slogan.

Movie Poster Generator:

This works well at any year level. For junior year levels, students can work on their understanding of genre by designing a poster for their own fake comedy, science fiction or action film. What do different posters look like for different genres? Why? For older students, they can take a break from the serious work of text response analysis by design funny film posters for mock film adaptations of the novels they are studying.

Coming up this week is our English Graduate Teachers' Day Out - if you're a grad or have grad English colleagues, this session is a great way to get practical resources and ideas on all aspects of teaching English.

The following week we will be doing sessions on How To Teach Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Future Worlds and Justice as Creating & Presenting Units at Year 10 or 11. For details and bookings, click here.

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