UDL Book Builder

I created “Playing with my Thoughts” after I attended a workshop on an anti-bullying program we will be incorporating in the middle school next year.   Students will meet weekly to discuss issues surrounding bullying as well as other topics of concern.  In thinking about the hesitation of middle school students to share their personal feelings about their lives, and I came up with a journal that could aid and assist the various teachers who will be responsible for facilitating this program in their classrooms.  The journal establishes writing prompts or idea starters for students as a way of connecting with themselves, which will hopefully help them, connect with other students.  In my conversations with an ELA teacher, she often describes the hesitancy of students to begin any new activity.  She describes it as a lack of play or desire to explore the unknown without her direction.  This type of journal or sketchbook is a great resource to get students motivated and reflecting on their ideas and feelings.  She even saw the journal as having daily or weekly relevance in the classroom as a DO NOW or DO LATER activity.  UDL Book Builder she agreed was a great resource to use in the classroom.  Publishing books would not only give students more ownership over the work they were creating, but she saw it as a bridge between the school and the community.  Students could create books that they could share with the elementary school or that reflected a current issue or topic occurring in the community.  Other teachers in the school could use the same format as the journal I created, but change the types of prompts, asking students to consider their thoughts on any number of topics relevant to the specific course they were taking.  Emma, the avatar I used for the book, also provides additional prompts that help students think about what I am asking them to write about.  

UDL Book Builder - "Playing With My Thoughts"