Ed. note: App of the Week picks are now being curated by the editors of Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. Click here to read the full app review.
Writable
What’s It Like?
Teachers can use Writable as a kind of project management platform for the writing process. With Writable, students learn to write to a prompt, provide and incorporate peer review effectively, and substantively revise their work based on feedback. The real benefit of this tool is how it helps teachers orchestrate all of this, tracking it at a high level but then dipping in to offer assistance when needed. While students get the appropriate prompts and nudges to make their next revision or offer a comment, teachers get data on how everyone is doing and can see all feedback and revisions. At the end of a project, teachers can also have students evaluate peer feedback received.
Price: Free to try
Grades: 3-12
Rating: 4/5
Pros: Scaffolds the writing process like no other product on the market; an extensive library of assignments support all kinds of writing.
Cons: Requires Google accounts, which can be an issue for some schools.
Bottom line: While there’s some room for improvement, this tool is rock-solid pedagogically and can be the engine of your classroom’s writing process.
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