WordSift: VOICE

What's more powerful than WORDLE or Tagul? What's able to access related images altogether on a single webpage?

Well, it's WordSift, an ELL resource, created by a research team at Stanford University. The image to the right is a representation of the WordSift of my blog post, Tuesday Trait: Voice

This web application was created to enhance student opportunity in learning English, yet WordSift can make a wonderful addition to any classroom, from kindergaten to college. This web application contains various tools you can use to more effectively teach lessons using the strategies discussed and explained in Classroom Instruction That Works: Research Based Instructional Strategies, written by Dr. Robert Marzano and his research team.

Try out WordSift! Only your imagination can limit your uses for this application.

Tuesday Trait: VOICE

hacia dónde? by movimente
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

VOICE! Mine or yours? Immediate or Distant? Weak or Powerful? Voice is as potent as Venus when she took pity on Pygmalion. She spoke and brought his beautiful sculpture to life.

What awards such cachet to VOICE? A colleague's blog, of course. While reading Ken Allan's blog, Blogger in Middle-Earth, I found his first-class blog post One Voice? A Post for Bloggers. Teachers can be guided by his ideas and tips as they develop their lessons on Voice. I'm sharing this post for them, especially secondary teachers who may be looking for ideas for writing in the content area.

Over the years, I've written essays and guides, as well as shared professional development about the Six Traits of Writing. I've discovered that many teachers would like to know more, so I'll focus on the traits in the future. For now, I've found two posts from my blog. One is Six Traits Still Rule, while the other is It's delicious.

I hope these will encourage your thoughts on the topic. I believe you can provide expanded opportunities to help your students find, define and refine their Voice as they develop their writing.