Responding to Literature with Netscape Composer

Return to Title Page

The Graph Club	Kidspiration	Kid Works Deluxe
ClarisWorks for Kids	Kid Pix Studio	Netscape Composer

Netscape Composer
	What does it do? Netscape Composer is a free and simple program with tools to help you create, revise and publish web pages. It comes as part of the free Internet browser software called Netscape Communicator. It works much like a word processor in which you create links, add images, and format text.
How does this link to early literacy? Young children are eager to share their work with others and are extremely motivated to create quality products when they know that thousands of people from around the world will be viewing their work. This program allows students to publish their work and also enables teachers to create helpful lists of links with images or text to provide quick and safe access to online information appropriate for young students.
Online Resources Webpage Design for Educators (includes directions for Netscape) Thinkquest Internet Challenge School Web Design by Jamie McKenzie Example of Core Curriculum Links for Teachers	Online Examples Students at Pocantico School, New York A First Grade Snowy Day Animals in Our Backyard Charlotte's Web, Grade 2 Vietnam: A Children's Guide, Grade 2 Created by Teachers with Student Work Gaines Gang Kindergarten Alexander and Australia, Norwich, CT

Literature: any piece of literature can serve as a springboard for responding activities that can be shared with other students via an online classroom created webpage
Software Tool: (Web Design Software) Netscape Composer, ClarisHomepage
Additional Internet Resource: Pocantico Hills School Website includes many excellent examples of students responding to literature by creating web pages

Grade Level: 2-3

Product Example:

Animal Habitats from Pocantico: The stamps were created using Kid Pix and then the whole picture was imported into Claris HomePage to create an imagemap, which means that when you click on a part of the image, you are linked to a certain location.

If you click on woodpecker, you'd be linked to the page below, written and illustrated by two 2nd graders.

Product Example #2:

Harriet Tubman slide show from Pocantico: Kid Pix and Netscape Composer

Here's an example of kindergarten student work being posted on the Internet using Netscape Composer as a way to share their class work with others. These are two pages of a response book about why Alexander, in the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, kept saying we wanted to go to Australia. After a year long email project with friends in Australia, the students created many different response projects, one of which was this book (which was also printed out in full color for each student to bring home). The pages were first created in Powerpoint and their drawings were scanned in. Each page includes text written by the child as well as expanded text written by the teacher. What a wonderful example of shared, interactive writing and learning. To learn about the entire project and read the entire book online, visit We Know Why Alexander Wanted to Move to Australia, created by a teacher in Norwich, CT.

Child's text: He wanted to travel. (written by Daniel)
Teacher's text: Australia is 10,000 miles away from America. It takes 20-24 hours by jet.

Child's text: He wanted to play a didjeridu (written by Robert)
Teacher's text: The didjerifu is a musical instrument made from the Eucalyptus or gum tree. The Aborigines play it in their ceremonies. It can be very big.