Back to Main MenuParagraph
Punch
Name: Paragraph Punch
Source: http://www.meritsoftware.com/solutions/high_school/index.php
Link: http://www.meritsoftware.com/software/paragraph_punch/index.php
Description:
Helps
students develop their paragraph writing skills.
Students
learn how to write an effective paragraph -- developed by reason,
detail,
sequence, example, and cause and effect. Choosing from a menu of
topics,
students are guided to develop an idea, and to
write their own topic
sentence, body, and conclusion. Steps include pre-writing, writing,
organizing,
revising, rewriting, and publishing.
Publisher:
Merit Software
Date
Published: 2001
Cost:
(depending on how
many stations it is used for) 1 Station is $199.00
Age/Group:
Grades 5th
through 10th for English, Language Arts, and
Writing
Effectiveness/Ratings:
From
Teach ESL-EJ: http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/tesl-ej/ej23/m2.html
“Perhaps
the greatest
limitation of Paragraph Punch and similar
stand-alone CALL programs is
the lack of interactivity. When the program opens, it fills the entire
computer
screen and cannot be resized to allow users to access other functions
on their
computer. This makes it impossible, for example, for learners to use
dictionary
software or online dictionaries in the process of writing. For ESL/EFL
learners
who are accustomed to using dictionaries on computers, this is a
frustrating
limitation because it forces them back to using paper or portable
electronic
dictionaries. To use other functions on their computer, learners may
exit the
program and re-enter where they left off, but most learners will find
this
procedure somewhat cumbersome. Because the program is designed around a
series
of sequences, the lack of interactivity is understandable, but there is
no
function that allows learners to choose to go back to a particular
sequence.”
Methods
and Strategies
for Classroom Incorporation:
1.
This
program can definitely be used hand in hand with the writing experience
as a
way for students to practice, interpret, and evaluate their own writing
skills.
2.
Teachers
can assess student work with the program’s excellent evaluation system
common
to Merit Software that prints out student work, information,
evaluation, and
revisions at the end of each session.
3.
This
is an individualized program as well that would be best used during
times when
students have the ability to work on their own writing skills at their
own
pace, possibly in a computer lab.
4. Unfortunately the reviews are correct that this is not an interactive program per say, but it does strategically teach students how to set up and develop their writing in to multiple paragraphs.