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826 Digital
Pros: Easily accessible writing activities have creative age-appropriate topics that'll connect with students.
Cons: No tools or guidance for assessing students' writing.
Bottom Line: This is a worth-bookmarking resource thanks to relatable writing lessons and motivating examples of actual student writing.
Teachers can use the 826 Digital writing program as a supplement to existing ELA curriculum or for after-school programs and tutoring. Though there's no student access to the website, teachers can save the handouts and supporting materials to Google Drive and assign them to students through Classroom, or download files to a computer and print them to hand out. Get students' creative juices flowing with the writing Sparks mini-lessons, and challenge them with longer writing lessons and projects. Have students discuss their thoughts on the sample student texts and then try writing their own narratives, poems, and essays in response to—or inspired by—the examples. Use the STEM activities' hands-on projects to teach students how to write about science, math, and technology topics. Challenge students to venture into new types of writing with the visual, performing, and media arts writing projects.
826 Digital is a writing education program and resource site created by 826 National, a nonprofit organization that runs free writing and tutoring programs for under-resourced students in cities across the United States. 826 Digital is aligned to the Common Core ELA standards but can also work for writing programs in states with their own standards.
Resources fall into one or more content categories. Sparks are short mini-lessons or activities that focus on specific skills, and they're very good for warm-ups. Lessons are built around a topic or genre and often need more than one session to complete. Student Writing contains student-created texts that can be used as examples for teachers and students to study. Educator Tools share tips and input from a community of educators who contribute to creating content. And Videos feature well-known authors and educators sharing prompts, ideas, and experiences.
826 Digital is based on the successful model used by 826 National nonprofit writing and tutoring centers in the United States. The program is designed around a "culture of creativity" that encourages experimentation and risk-taking. 826 Digital provides a road map with the Sparks, Lessons, Projects, Student Writing, Educator Tools, and Videos. But the program is also designed to help teachers inspire students to write by providing individualized attention as well as an opportunity to create and contribute to a writing community. Overall, there's a thorough set of thoughtful resources that teachers may find easy to use and that students might enjoy. The site is attractively designed and simple, and all resources are downloadable and printable.
The lessons span grades 1–12 and are searchable by grade level, lesson type, genre, Common Core standard, and more. The learning activities are generally well designed and easy to follow. The student-created texts are wonderful, but more of them for each lesson could be useful.
The online program can be used on its own as a tutoring program, but in a classroom it may work better as a supplement to existing curriculum. Teachers can also supplement with additional lesson plans from the 826 National books STEM to Story and Don't Forget to Write, which are available for purchase. However teachers decide to use the program, 826 Digital provides a solid foundation to build on.
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