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7. Creating Custom Writing Templates

The high school lab report template (made in Inspiration) shown to you earlier in this lesson is a perfect example of how a written assignment was broken down into a "visual map" making the task easier to complete for the student. In most situations, teachers are given the program Inspiration, and sometimes only a little training on how to use/navigate through it. However, they are not taught how to use the software to create custom templates for struggling students.

Please refer to the handout "Custom Writing Templates in Inspiration." There are three writing templates shown in this handout. The first template, a Book Report, I created for a student I was working with. It breaks down a long book report assignment, and provides specific directives as to what information should be included in the report. The second template I found on the Inspiration website, and it shows a writing template for an elementary level science report. Again, the students are prompted to put specific information into the answer boxes. The third template I also found in the Inspiration template file, and it does a great job of breaking down what could be a difficult social studies assignment.

For this next assignment, you are going to create a custom writing template using Inspiration. I will provide the "lesson assignment" that is going to be given to a 6th grade class. You should create the writing template that will be given to the student. Keep in mind that the idea here is to break down the assignment into smaller, specific steps, and presented in a visual format. You can use color and illustrations as you wish, as long as they will assist the student in completing the assignment (versus decorating the page). This assignment is due in your Google Docs personal folder by the next time our class meets. This assignment is worth 25 points.

Here is the "assignment" you must make a writing template for:

When Tony arrived home after school, the large package was there waiting for him on the kitchen table. He had been waiting for days for it to arrive, and now he had it in his hands. Quickly, he tore open the package and examined the contents.

Where and when does the story take place? (State, city, year, season) What is Tony like? (Age, personality, etc) How did Tony feel before he openend the box?

What does Tony do with the object in the box in the future? (keep it, give it away etc) How does the story end?