Writing Points presents: vocabulary
Wordniks gives new twist to definitions
When I started this series on vocabulary, I had no idea how many
resources were available. Here is my most recent find: Wordnik.
Wordnik
is a site that focuses on on showing how words are used by writers
— not how they should be used, but how they are used, even
it the use is what we might consider substandard. Instead of just
sentence or phrase, you will often get a whole paragraph.
Worknik is a great resource for teaching language as a topic within
the English curriculum. Worknik is not intended to be used as a
dictionary. It is for exploring the evolution of language in real
time.
The site is free, but you do have to register to use it.
If you use Mozilla's free Firefox browser, you probably know free
add-ons increase the brower's utility. (I couldn't get through my
news editing job without the perma-tab add on.)
Did you know you can put specialized search engines available
from the Firefox search box? The Firefox default lists seven general
search engines, but you can add many others such as
- Project Gutenberg, which gives free online access to
books.
- Google scholar, the search engine for academic resources.
- Dictionary.com.
- Yahooligans, the Yahoo search engine for kids.
- WorldCat, the catalog of collections and services of
10,000 libraries around the world.
To add these and many other free search engines to the menu on
your Firefox search bar, simply click the drop down menu
symbol to the left of the Firefox search engine box. Look for the
link to get more search engines. Clicking that link will
take you to the Firefox download pages where you can choose from
dozens of search engine options.
My 21st-printing copy of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
is well-worn, but I'm just beginning to find my way around the 2001
revision. If you want to get a taste of what's in the new taxonomy,
I suggest the web page, Bloom's
Revised Taxonomy.
You'll find a PowerPoint presentation, posters, a planning framework,
and other free, downloadable resources.
Since the last issue, I've worked on pages about assessment of
writing. I created a new section about
setting goals and objectives for teaching. Here's what you
can learn on that thread:
To existing pages about writing assessment, I add three new ones
about rubrics: a definition
of rubric (with cool art!), a page on writing
rubrics, and one on how designing
rubrics differs from making them.
I've also given you two pages on grading practices. One is practices
for grading the
"writing" in student papers and the other is about
grading the grammar
and other writing mechanics in student papers.
You will also find one new page on the
evidence waltz, an exposition strategy for presenting evidence.
I'm getting very close to the 240-page benchmark of a mature website.
Before long, I'll cut back on new page creation to work on books,
articles, teacher workshops and student courses.
If you are one of the people chomping at the bit for me to publish
my book on teaching writing, do yourself a favor: Tell friends and
colleagues about Writing Points. An easy way to do
that is just to forward the email notice you got about the availability
of this issue.
Publishers want to see a mailing list of 1,000 or more names before
they are willing to take on a nonfiction book, especially one in
crowded field like writing. Recommend Writing Points
and help yourself get the information you want faster.
The next issue of Writing Points should be released
August 15, no providence preventing. It will include a schedule
of student classes beginning in 2010 and teacher workshops for fall.
If you need the info earlier, check the events calendar. It is accessible
in the left hand menu of You-Can-Teach-Writing.com web pages.
Until next month, keep your pencil sharp.
Linda
