Write About This: Visual & Engaging Tool for Supporting & Inspiring Student Writing

I really liked the tool and the simplicity that it brought. I think the usage was easy and it was easy to explain to my nephews how to use it. I really liked how versatile the usage of the software is. I think that the possibilities that this app brings are really interesting and only the teacher is setting the limits.

We have used the free version, which works well as long as you have one child working at a time. We have had students who have gone through and written all of their work, and then went to record their voices to find out that they weren't able to because there was already another project in the app that was started. It would be nice to prevent the user from starting a prompt with the writing before deleting out the previous versions. This would make it easier for students to not have to copy and paste their work into another piece or having to start all over. The paid version of this app would be great to use if schools have the budget for it!

I think this app is fantastic. It engages my students and provides a visual to go along with a question. Often that visual helps students get started in their writing compared to times when I have just posed a prompt for them to respond to without the visual. For students with lower reading abilities the app allows for the prompts to be read aloud. Write About This has provided prompts for us to discuss and respond to whole class and prompts for students to respond to with a partner or individually. Depending on the situation I use it both ways. There are enough photos and prompts to last the whole school year without repeating, although there is the flexibility to use the same photo but complete different prompts and I can also add my own photos (or have students add photos). Some students like it so much they ask to use it during choice time and then choose a photo and write what they like without direction from me. I like that the photos are crisp, varied and of interest to elementary school children. I appreciate that I can create my own prompts and that the existing prompts are ones that I usually want to use--as with the photos they are relevant to my students and written in a way to engage them.