An Inspiration

Before our class reads the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, we discuss how we can make our community a better place. One of the things the students do is make a web on this topic. I had the worksheets already printed out and ready to go for this lesson. Most of the time when the students are asked to complete a graphic organizer they roll their eyes or let out a sigh of dissapointment. Perhaps it is because they know a writing assignment is following shortly. I had the C.O.W.S. this particular day and I guess I was inspired by all of the sighing in the class. So this 20 minute lesson became a two and half period lesson using the computer. I figured what was the difference if the students completed a web on paper with a pencil or using Inspiration on the computer. As soon as I told the students we were going to use the computer they straightened up in their seats and were ready to work. We went through step by step on how to make a web using Inspiration. The students were really on task and were having fun doing it. They were able to get creative using pictures from the clip art and changing the colors and textures around. My teacher assistants and myself were really impressed on how well the students worked. After we printed out their fantastic webs they used them to write paragraphs.