RWT++Write-up


 * Readwritethink lesson:**


 * Resource:** [|Story Cube Creator]


 * Standards:** **CCLS RL.3.1.** Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.  **3.W.6** - Production and Distribution of Writing - With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.


 * Objectives:** Students will read a story for understanding.  Students will navigate a text for details in response to text-based questions.  Students will answer questions about a text in order to create a story cube that focuses on key ideas.


 * Assessment:** Students will have created a story cube using the readwritethink.org story cube creator that responds to questions that focus on the key ideas of an independent reading selection.


 * Example:**




 * Technological Knowledge Needed:** How to link the site to the wiki, how to use the software, how to email the file or print, how to name the file.


 * Pedagogical Content Knowledge:** One computer per student will enable each student to write their own letter at their own pace, the read-write-think software scaffolds the learning of key ideas from text by asking students specific questions, this would be a two-day lesson in the 3 - 5 grade range because kids' keyboarding skills are very weak some students may need time and assistance in navigating a text for key ideas and details as well as time needed to initially read the text, students will need time to read the text and go back through with sticky notes to mark places in the text that provide some of the information needed as well as to make notes about theme and other key ideas, students may need to be reminded to capitalize the first letter of each bullet or phrase on the cube, since the focus is pulling out the key ideas, complete sentences with punctuation are not necessary but thoughts should be written clearly, differentiation can be achieved by using leveled readers so each student is working on a text at their independent reading level.


 * Reflection:** This activity is a nice tool as far as the questions used to help students navigate the text, as well as the added benefit of a student practicing keyboarding skills. However, I feel like by the time a student can answer these types of questions independently enough to use this tool, they wouldn't need the cube as a reference.  Initially, I wanted to use the mystery cube creator as a pre-writing tool.  I wanted to have the student play the game of clue and take notes.  Then have them complete the mystery cube using the details from their game.  From there, the student would use the cube as a reference for writing a short story about the mystery of their game.  As a post-reading activity, I don't quite understand why students would then need a story cube.  Perhaps students could decorate their cubes after printing them and share cubes in order to advertise the book they read to other classmates, but the conclusion part of the cube would ruin that.  It might be interesting to have students who read different books work together to complete different sections of a cube and have them then work in a group to write a new story using the different components of their stories but once again this would be for pre-writing purposes.  I wouldn't use the tool as is.