Older Children: Emergent writers

Another group I have spent this year trying to motivate into writing is a group of 3 boys who are 9years old yet academically writing at a 5yr old level. Many of the class writing topics/ research topics etc have been out of their reach and they have required their own motivations to
1. promote independence
2. promote quality of content beyond 'I went to...'

These boys are very dependent and often resistant to writing.

I found using the computers a major motivator and had some success using 'Powerpoint Photo Album' and www.storybird.com
Both of these programs use images to scaffold the writing. While we had tried printed images (story sequencing ones) with motivation increased but output still stilted independent of the teacher, it wasn't until the boys were writing on the actual computer that their motivation and output levels remained high for extended periods of time.

Photo album allowed the boys and I to co-construct a photo powerpoint (in 2 clicks) in line with a class topic (that the rest of the class were doing) and then the boys were able to work through the pictures adding captions or text under each fairly independently. The boys could get started with the Teacher aide on her days in and then continue independently - the positive off spinner being that these children have also gained ICT skills in locating documents, saving, finding web pages etc..



Storybird is something I have just introduced as we try to tackle creative writing - very challenging for these boys. Storybird gives you a choice of illustrations by real artists to choose from, drag them on the page and add your text. The finished result is a digital, page turning book. For motivation I give this a 10/10, the boys requested it everyday. We weren't getting quality writing - just sentences of what they could see in isolated pictures - but they wrote for 40 minutes independently. So I will definitely return to this tool. I think next time with the rest of the class too. As we master narrative perhaps we can find an artist to motivate a story.

What have you tried with low level, low independence writers?