If you are finding it a struggle to get students to read, try asking them to write and publish their own books. This not provides obvious opportunities for writing practice, it inspires reading fluency and oral language as students work to perfect their books during the editing process.

Wixie makes it easy to support the writer and publisher in all of us. Built-in authoring, drawing and voice options provide multiple supports for student writing, and Wixie’s sharing options provide a variety of ways to publish the piece so that it will be right for your audience.

Read More

In the primary classroom, it is essential to provide emerging writers with opportunities that build both skills and confidence in their abilities. Nothing engages them more than Wixie!

Wixie provides even the youngest learners with a range of options for organizing their writing and options for sharing their own stories, information, and opinions.

Read More

The Common Core State Standards for Language Arts state that media skills should be blended throughout the reading and writing standards. Wixie provides a powerful platform for students in the middle grades to “employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use.” 

In middle grades, students are transitioning from thinking like a child to thinking like an adult. They are capable of dealing with conflict and complexity, and should be asked to write for a purpose beyond the academic. Writing to entertain others, raise awareness and change minds can help these writers explore the new boundaries of their thinking.

Students can use Wixie to both organize their ideas and research, as well as share writing to impact the world around them. Here's how.

Read More

The friendly letter is a ubiquitous elementary project, but without a meaningful context it often ends up as a rote exercise in following formatting rules. With the advent of digital tools and social media, the rules for formatting a friendly letter writing are also changing. While many bemoan this change, digital tools also made it easier to both edit writing, add visuals, voice, and video, and share immediately with an audience beyond the classroom.

Read More

Designed by teachers and educators at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, the 6+1 Trait® Writing Model of Instruction & Assessment organizes writing skills into seven “traits” that provide a common language for writing instruction.

The traits are:

1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Conventions
7. Presentation

Using these traits can help students see techniques of great writing, as well as take action to build specific skills that improve their writing.

Here are ways you can use Wixie to help students practice and support skills building for each of the traits.

Read More