New York City School Library System Office of Library Services

Fall Conference – November 8, 2011 NYC Department of Education

Inviting Students to Write: Using Google Forms for Book Reviews and Other Writing Projects

Elizabeth Dejean

P.S. 360

2880 Kingsbridge Terrace

Bronx, NY, 10463

Library Web site: http://library.nycenet.edu/common/welcome.jsp?site=5866

E-mail:

Instructions for going from a Google Docs form to formatted writing in Microsoft Word

Students respond to writing prompts presented in a Google Docs form made available online on your library website. You format their responses using a mail merge program to create a draft.

Resources Used: Google Forms (Part of Google Docs), Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word

A) Create your form:

1) Create 2-4 writing prompts that will both encourage students to think deeply and elicit organized writing.

2) Go to Google Docs and CREATE a FORM

3) Name and describe your form. The description should describe the goal of the writing, scaffold your students’ thinking, and explain what happens to the information they write. I always include a statement that this writing is not on the open internet, but goes directly to my Google Docs account.

4) Create your questions. Click the duplicate icon on the first sample question before editing it to create your own question. Name and describe the question (The default is “sample question.” The first few are for record keeping: First and last names are short “text” questions. Class or homeroom can be a text question or “Choose from list.” Check the required box for all required questions.

5) For the writing prompts: Name the question and provide additional prompts or requirements for the question in the Help Text box. Your students will see the entire text, not the small box you type into. The question type is paragraph text.

Test your form:

1) Close the form editing window.

2) On the spreadsheet homepage for that form click the Form tab and Go to Live Form.

3) Complete the assignment. Note any changes you wish to make. Click submit. Close the thank you box.

4) You should be back at the spreadsheet view of your form. To edit the form go to the Form tab. Click Edit. Mouse over the questions you want to change and click the pencil to edit that question. Click Done when finished with a question to close the box.

B) Create an Excel spreadsheet

1) Select and copy the spreadsheet of your form from Google Docs including your test response and headers (your questions)

2) Open Excel (It automatically opens a new spread sheet) and click Paste

3) Save As and name your spread sheet.


C) Create a Microsoft Word Mail Merge template

1) Open a new Word document.

2) In Tools go to Letters and Mailings – Mail Merge

3) Click the arrow next to Starting Document (This is the starting document)

4) Click Select Recipients. Browse to select the Excel file where you placed your info.

5) Click Write you letter. Format this document as you prefer.

6) To insert responses from the Excel file click More Items and select the appropriate field. These fields are the headers from the Excel file – the questions from the Google form.

7) Save As to name this merge document

Test your Mail Merge

1) Preview your letters.

2) Problems? Use the Previous Arrow to go back and fix the problem.

D) Using your Google Form

1) Post your form URL on a class, school, or library web page.

2) Advertise! Book marks seem to work. Especially if they promise a reward or celebration!

3) Monitor your Google Docs account. As responses come in copy and paste them from the spreadsheet view in Google Docs and paste them into your Excel file.

4) Open your Merge document

5) Use Select Recipients to select only the new responses each time you run the merge.

6) Complete the Merge and Edit Individual Letters. Save As and name this file. At this point I usually comment on the drafts by typing a note below each draft. Print and deliver these drafts to the students. Copying this document to a Google Doc can facilitate sharing with teachers and students for editing.

Now What?

Your students writing may be shockingly raw and lacking in technical finesse! Don’t panic. When commenting on these drafts it is enough to note that the student will fix obvious problems with mechanics while working on the next draft. Consider scheduling writing groups as students may need support the editing process.

Benefits: Book reviews and contests provide opportunities for students who want to write more. Writing for an audience other than their usual class can provide a more authentic reason for writing especially if their writing is displayed and used in the library.

Collaboration: Some teachers may want to make your forms a required assignment for their class. If it becomes evident that this is happening, you will want to make this a formal collaboration, working with the teacher to tailor assignments for their class and sharing the drafts electronically with the teacher. One way to share the drafts is by adding each group of formatted drafts onto a Google document that is shared with the teacher.

Common Core State Standards addressed: CCSS W 6 “Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.”