Over the 10 years that I spent in the classroom, I was always looking for ways to improve my students’ essay writing. Using evidence from a text was something that my students struggled with, especially if they were using multiple sources. I had to find ways to teach them how to keep their evidence organized. Annotation became a regularly taught skill in my learning environment, a skill that was then utilized in the rest of their classes!
Thinking Nation is proud to offer tools that equip students with skills that go well beyond a social studies classroom. I’d like to shine a spotlight on a couple of features on the platform: the annotation and chat tools. While students are reading and analyzing the provided CRP documents, there may be some details they will want to use when it’s time to write their essay. They can do that by highlighting and saving their notes right on their student portals! Students simply need to highlight and save whatever section they would like to use as evidence in their essays—simple as that! The highlighted sections are saved in the Notes section of the student portal for future use.
This feature allows students to have quick access to important information, all organized in one place instead of looking back over each document to locate evidence to support their claims!
Chat Feature
Another exciting feature for teachers is the ability to comment on student work while they are actively moving through their writing process.
The comments left by teachers will show up in our Chat feature for the students on their portals. This allows them to ask follow-up questions about notes and comments that teachers leave for them.
This tool allows teachers to communicate their advice and guidance no matter the learning environment of the students—whether that be extended absences, study halls, or in the case of an independent learning model.
At Thinking Nation we strive to provide resources and tools to allow students to thrive and engage as critical thinkers. We also pride ourselves on supporting educators with technology that gives meaning and purpose in their learning environments. The annotation and chat features are easy-to-use tools on our platform that enables this support.
Are you interested in learning more about how Thinking Nation can support student thinking at your school? Reach out!