Designed
to be the ONE program that you need to implement the writing
process, this program was developed based on years of experience
in working with students who struggled with the writing. All
children and for that matter all adults have an innate need
to communicate with other humans. It is part of what defines
us as human beings. However, for many people writing is a
mode of communication that often painful and difficult.
In creating
Writers Companion we wanted to give the
user the tools that would assist them to communicate in a
cogent and organized matter. Much of the structure of Writers
Companion is based on a compendium of different styles of
process writing. We take the user through the entire process
from brainstorming ideas to publishing their final draft.
Writers
Companion is designed to engage even your most reluctant
writers in a process that will fill your classroom with sights
and sounds of communication as we have come to know it in
this age of multimedia communication. Students can use text
to speech, include graphics, e-mail their stories directly
from the program and even automatically create web pages.
Writers
Companion could be your students everyday word processor.
We feel that having your students go through the entire writing
process every time they write will help them to internalize
the writing process.
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We have
designed Writers Companion to be progressively
sophisticated depending on the age of the user. You can use
it as a simple single-page graphic writing program, appropriate
for a six-year-old or as a sophisticated writing program capable
of creating term papers in college.
Writers Companion has five distinct sections:
1. Brainstorm:
In this mode the user simply creates text boxes and writes
any idea they have related to the theme of their story or
essay.
2. Organize:
In this mode the user can chose from any of three ways of
organizing their ideas:
Clustering
Timeline
Venn Diagram
Each of these graphic organizers is used for different types
of writing. Clustering can be used for any type of story or
essay. Timeline can be used any type of writing that is sequential
in nature, like recipes or directions. Venn Diagram is great
for compare and contrast.
3. Sequence:
This part of the program allows you put the ideas you have
related in the proper sequence and ready to create a rough
draft.
4. Rough
Draft: Once you have your ideas and have organized them,
this part of the program, puts them together as one document
and allows you to start the editing process. In Rough Draft
you can choose between seeing your document as an outline
or in paragraph form.
5. Publish:
Once you have edited your document, you are ready to put on
the finishing touches like formatting your document, adding
fonts, and adding graphics. It is in this part of the program
you will either print your document or publish it digitally
as an email or web page.
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