Extending Writing Through Augmented Reality

Working with young children is something I feel very fortunate to be able to do each day. The best part of my day is being able to share great stories with my students. They love when they see me walk in with a large, plain, brown bag. They know it is filled with new treasures from the local, independent bookstore.

My 2nd-graders not only love the rich stories we share together, they become inspired by the authors who touch their lives. We share a strong sense of family in our classroom. We spend the first few weeks of school building routines, setting expectations, and getting to know one another. Throughout the year, we continue to do team-building & activities and share our lives with one another. We have a daily show & and tell, and I eat lunch with students every day. We are very close.

When it’s time for writing workshop, my students open up and share. No one is afraid to take risks. They see failure as an opportunity to improve. They incorporate such rich craft into their stories and revise several drafts before publishing a piece. Most students even come back to published pieces to revise details they have the urge to make better. I only wish I could take credit for their drive and creativity. Our school has been using the writing units of study created by a team within our district. These units, along with our classroom culture, have enabled our young writers to support one another and believe in  themselves  as  authors.  Wanting  to  give  these  children  a  broader voice, I started incorporating technology into our writing workshop.

The results were impressive.

Excerpt from Assessing Students’ Digital Writing: Protocols for Looking Closely