The Writing Bee is Back!

The Writing Bee is Back!

Teachers can now conduct their own classroom Qualifying Sessions

The folks at BoomWriter are at it again. It’s their fourth year conducting The Writing Bee, and this year they’ve structured the event so any teacher with students in Grades 4-6 can easily conduct their own classroom Qualifying session. Top performers from each class automatically qualify for The Writing Bee Finals and a chance to become The 2020 Writing Bee Champion! 

The format is fun and engaging for students, and extremely easy for teachers to manage. Here’s how it works:

- Teachers first register on BoomWriter.com then create and start their Writing Bee.

- Students go to BoomWriter to read The Writing Bee’s original story start (Chapter 1).

- Students independently write their version of Chapter 2.

- Students read the anonymous submissions of their classmates and vote for their favorite/s.

- The winning submission becomes Chapter 2, and the process repeats for Chapter 3 (the conclusion).

- The chapter winners advance to The Writing Bee Finals and compete with students from around the world for The Writing Bee Championship!

The Writing Bee can integrate with the existing curriculum and can take part during or beyond the school day. Plus, they can be completed in just 1-2 weeks. 

Best of all, your class story will be published and all families have the option to purchase a personalized copy of the book with the child’s name prominently displayed on the front cover and final chapter inserted as an alternate ending. 

Teachers are not responsible for any aspect of The Writing Bee Finals. However, all students who participate in a Writing Bee Qualifier will be invited to read and cast votes throughout The Finals to help determine The 2020 Writing Bee Champion!

Don’t delay, though, Writing Bee Qualifying sessions must be completed by March 31st. Go to BoomWriter.com to register and start your classroom Writing Bee today!

It's Back - The Writing Bee!

BoomWriter Media recently announced they will once again be providing the writing platform for The Writing Bee.  This event is made available for free to classrooms, schools, and school districts around the world to participate.  What's new for this year's event is the addition of a middle school Writing Bee that will take place concurrently with the Elementary Grade Writing Bee.  Qualifying Rounds for both events will begin this February and continue through May with the Writing Bee Finals scheduled to take place in June.

This year's Writing Bee features Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty series, for the Elementary Grades as well as civil rights icon and former Black Panther Jamal Joseph inspiring students with their creation of spoken word-orientated content in the Middle School Writing Bee.  Following on the momentum generated by previous years' celebrity guest author Jeff Cohen from the Goonies and Jeff Kinney from The Diary of a Wimpy series, this year's authors promise to deliver the biggest and most  interactive Writing Bee to date!

The Writing Bee represents a unique way for teachers to engage all of their students in reading and writing both within and beyond the school day.  School districts, schools, or even individual classrooms can conduct their own local "Qualifying" Writing Bee using the prompts provided by the respective guest authors.  Elementary grade students will use BoomWriter to complete subsequent chapters of a story created by Nick Bruel.  This story will then be published and include the names of all participating students.  Middle School Writing Bee participants will view video prompts provided by Jamal Joseph on BoomWriter offering instruction, inspiration and the themes around which the students will be creating their original spoken word-orientated content.

As with past years' Writing Bees, teachers have the option of providing personalized feedback to students once they've submitted their work in order for them to conduct revisions before the submissions go into the voting portion of the event.  During voting, students review the anonymous submissions of their peers in small batches and cast votes for their favorite/s.  Students who win their class, school, or district's qualifying rounds, as well as each event's top vote-getters, then qualify for The Writing Bee Finals.  This knock-out style competition takes place in June with participants from around the world submitting their work and competing to become the Elementary and Middle School Writing Bee Champions and receive a $2,000 college savings scholarship!

There's a great buzz around this event (pardon the pun), but it really serves as a great way to get kids excited about writing.  Keep in mind the last year's Writing Bee did reach capacity, so if you want your students to have the chance to participate you should go to the Writing Bee site as soon as possible and register your class, school, or district.

The Writing Bee is Back

The Writing Bee is back and this year it promises to be another global event with over 100 school districts participating and results being presented at this year's SXSW EDU Conference in Austin, TX!

The 2019 Writing Bee kicks off this February and will feature American Writer, filmmaker, poet, activist, educator, Academy Award nominee, and former Black Panther Party member, Jamal Joseph. Professor Joseph will serve as The Writing Bee's featured Guest Author providing guidance and inspiration to all participating students throughout the event as they create original spoken-word oriented content.  There is so much excitement about this Bee that SXSW has asked Professor Joseph to present the results.

This is the third consecutive year of the Writing Bee, which is free to schools and hosted on BoomWriter's unique content-generation platform.  District/school-based Writing Bee Qualifying rounds consist of three sections, with each one open to all students and initiated by a prompt provided by the featured guest author to help guide students.  Once they have completed their writing sessions, students again log in to BoomWriter to review the anonymous submissions of fellow participants and cast votes for their favorites.  A winning submission is identified, and the process continues until The Writing Bee is completed.

Winners and top vote-getters of the Qualifying rounds will be invited to participate in The Writing Bee Finals.  The Finals will consist of "knockout rounds" in which only the section winner and top vote-getters advance to the subsequent rounds and a chance to become The 2019 Writing Bee Champion.

Christ Twyman, CEO and co-founds of BoomWriter Media, Inc., said, "At BoomWriter, we've always taken great pride in our products' ability to connect with all types of students regardless of whether they are passionate or reluctant writers.  By partnering with Jamal Joseph and having students write entries that are intended to be spoken out loud, I know both BoomWriter and The Writing Bee will have its greatest impact ever!"

The Writing Bee Qualifying rounds will take place in participating schools and/or districts any time between February and May with The Writing Bee Finals scheduled to be conducted in June.

Jamal Joseph intro...



To learn more and register your students for free, please visit TheWritingBee.Org or email megan@boomwriter.com.  You never know, the next Writing Bee champion could be one of your own students and there's only one way to find out.  Good luck!

Night Zookeeper's International Writing Cup

Night Zookeeper is an excellent new site for students to help them w/ their Writing skills through fun interactive lessons/competition.  Also, it has an educational portal that allows educators to: assign lessons, track student progress, and assess their work in real-time.  This makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and implement project based learning in their classroom.

Starting tomorrow on November 1st, Night Zookeeper is launching their latest International Writing Cup for 2018.  This Writing challenge/contest will have students writing in three different phases.

The Writing Triathlon

1. Stage 1: Instructions - The students will write a set of instructions how to write an excellent adventure story.
2. Stage 2: Report - The students will create a lead character for the adventure and write more words describing them w/ an abundance of adjectives.
3. Stage 3: Adventure Story - The students will then use their instructions and report to help them writing an amazing adventure story.

The competition will end Nov 30th and their will be one winner for each age/grade level 6-8, and over 9.  Finally, the prizes will range from team trophies, individual trophies, and badges and certificates.

For more information on Night Zookeeper's International Writing Cup 2018 click here!!!

Star Writing Challenge

The innovative writing platform Night Zookeeper just released a free online writing contest for all students.  All a student has to do is create an account and use Night Zookeeper's Star Writing platform to create a 1000 word story.

Star Writing will provide the writing "prompt" and students will create their own original adventure story in the "Night Zoo".  Every student will receive a pack of Night Zookeeper stickers for reaching 500 words, and for a 1000 each person will win a pack of Night Zookeeper cards.

This is a great contest to help students work on their writing skills as well as their creativity.

Below is a brief demo...



For more info on the Star Writing Challenge click here.

Night Zookeeper June Challenge

Night Zookeeper is an excellent new site for students to help them w/ their Writing skills through fun interactive lessons/competition.  Also, it has an educational portal that allows educators to: assign lessons, track student progress, and assess their work in real-time.  This makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and implement project based learning in their classroom.

Recently Night Zookeeper announced they are running a new writing competition for students to create a NEW location on the Night Zoo map.

The challenge
"Hello, young zookeepers! We have a new competition for you to enter. All you have to do is invent and describe a new location for the Night Zoo. You can also illustrate your location as well. The winning entry will be illustrated and added to the map that you can see above. Good luck to everyone taking part!"

How to enter
There are two ways to enter the competition:

1. Visit the star writing page to enter the competition with your students
2. If you would prefer, you can also print this activity sheet and ask your students to complete it. Then email all entries to paul@nightzookeeper.com or Tweet us on @nightzookeeper

The prizes
We are giving away a couple of prizes to the winning entry:
1. The location will be illustrated by our team and placed in the map above. 
2. The child will receive a poster of their location delivered to their school or house. 

Click here for more info about Star Writing!!!

For more information on Night Zookeeper's latest online challenge click here.

Night Zookeeper Star Writing May Challenge

Night Zookeeper is an excellent new site for students to help them w/ their Writing skills through fun interactive lessons/competition.  Also, it has an educational portal that allows educators to: assign lessons, track student progress, and assess their work in real-time.  This makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and implement project based learning in their classroom.

Recently Night Zookeeper announced they are running two different Star Writing Challenges in April, where students will have the chance(s) to get their writing published in the third Night Zookeeper book, The Penguins of Igloo City!

The first challenge is: "Write a speech for your animal to deliver on the campaign trail."

As the maximum word allowance is 500 words, students of all ages can take part. These fun, short challenges with great prizes are a great way to excite students and motivate them to write!

More info...

• The second challenge starts on the 20th May to June 3rd.
• Students just have to visit the Star Writing page and click 'accept this mission' to start writing.
• All teachers have to do is publish and nominate their students' writing to their Night Zookeeper class blog by 4pm GMT 3rd June 2018.
• Maximum 500 words
• You can learn how to publish and nominate student writing by watching this 20 second tutorial video.

Click here for more info about Star Writing!!!

I highly recommend checking out Night Zookeeper by clicking here!!!

Night Zookeeper Star Writing Challenge 2

Night Zoopkeeper is an excellent new site for students to help them w/ their Writing skills through fun interactive lessons/competition.  Also, it has an educational portal that allows educators to: assign lessons, track student progress, and assess their work in real-time.  This makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and implement project based learning in their classroom.

Recently Night Zookeeper announced they are running two different Star Writing Challenges in April, where students will have the chance(s) to get their writing published in the third Night Zookeeper book, The Penguins of Igloo City!

The first challenge is: "Write a story set in Igloo City"

As the maximum word allowance is 500 words, students of all ages can take part. These fun, short challenges with great prizes are a great way to excite students and motivate them to write!

More info...

• The second challenge starts on the 15th April to April 29th.
• Students just have to visit the Star Writing page and click 'accept this mission' to start writing.
• All teachers have to do is publish and nominate their students' writing to their Night Zookeeper class blog by 4pm GMT 29th April.
• Maximum 500 words
• You can learn how to publish and nominate student writing by watching this 20 second tutorial video.
• The winners will be revealed in an exciting live storytelling event on Facebook at the end of April!

Click here for more info about Star Writing!!!

I highly recommend checking out Night Zookeeper by clicking here!!!

Night Zookeeper Star Writing Challenge

Night Zoopkeeper is an excellent new site for students to help them w/ their Writing skills through fun interactive lessons/competition.  Also, it has an educational portal that allows educators to: assign lessons, track student progress, and assess their work in real-time.  This makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and implement project based learning in their classroom.

Recently Night Zookeeper announced they are running two different Star Writing Challenges in April, where students will have the chance(s) to get their writing published in the third Night Zookeeper book, The Penguins of Igloo City!

The first challenge is: "Write a report about a magical animal that lives in Igloo City"

As the maximum word allowance is 500 words, students of all ages can take part. These fun, short challenges with great prizes are a great way to excite students and motivate them to write!

More info...

• The first challenge starts on the 1st April.
• Students just have to visit the Star Writing page and click 'accept this mission' to start writing.
• All teachers have to do is publish and nominate their students' writing to their Night Zookeeper class blog by 4pm GMT 15th April.
• You can learn how to publish and nominate student writing by watching this 20 second tutorial video.
• The second challenge will be announced when the first one ends, on 15th April.
• Students are allowed to enter both of the April challenges!
• The winners will be revealed in an exciting live storytelling event on Facebook at the end of April!

Click here for more info about Star Writing!!!

I highly recommend checking out Night Zookeeper by clicking here!!!

Click here for more info!!!

I highly recommend checking out Night Zookeeper by clicking here!!!

Buncee Summer Reading Contest

Buncee the wonderful learning tool that educators are using in a wide variety of ways (i.e. project based learning, digital storytelling, flipped classroom, etc.) recently announced that they are teaming w/ Capstone to create a Summer Reading Contest.

Frome their blog post...

"To enter, have your students journal their summer reading by creating Buncees. Students can read books and articles from Capstone’s beautiful digital library and on PebbleGo & PebbleGo Next, all of which Capstone is offering for free to schools this entire summer. The top three schools with the most Buncee reading journals will win! First place winners will receive Buncee & PebbleGo accounts for their school for one year, a Library Skills book set published by Cantata Learning and written by Shannon Miller and arranged and produced by Emily Arrow , and…"

I highly recommend checking out Buncee by clicking here!!!

More info below...



*Buncee is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Win a Free Chromebook

Intel has started a contest for educators asking them to follow @IntelEDU on Twitter and then tweet what their favorite feature is of the Chromebook w/ the hashtag #IntelChromebooks.  Also, they have created a new site Intel.com/ChromeEDU w/ excellent resources (i.e study guides, tips, etc.)  for teachers looking to integrate Chromebooks in their classrooms.  Well renown educators such as Naomi Harm, Erin Klein, Lisa Nielsen, and Vicki Davis shared their knowledge on apps, integration, and overall use of the Chromebooks as well.  There is even a forum for teachers to share their teaching and strategies for using Chromebooks and encouraged to share in the discussion.  Finally, there are sample tweets and infographics that can be download to share w/ others and help pass the word along for getting Chromebooks out there.

I highly recommend checking out Intel's new Chromebook site and rules for the free contest giveaway by clicking here!!!!

K-12 Contest

Worth Ave. Group (who is a paid advertiser of Technology Tidbits) is having a contest for K-12 classrooms.  This contest is for technology grant money for a school and iPod/iPads for the classroom.

For more information click here!!