There are hundreds of great Apps out there that support the writing process. This list contains 20 FREE Apps that you can use with your students throughout the writing process, ranging from research support, to editing/ revising, to citing evidence, and to increasing productivity. Note that I have not included any Apps for note taking or collaboration. I will include those in a separate list. While there are other Apps out there that may be better than these, I narrowed the focus to FREE Apps that teachers would be able to use with their students without needing to procure any funding.
So… here’s the list! 20 FREE Apps That Support the Writing Process!
Dragon Dictation
Features & Benefits:
Writes what you dictate
Fairly accurate
Movement (walking and talking while speaking) can tap the whole brain by activating both hemispheres of the brain.
Can dictate ideas for writing anywhere at anytime
Uses for English Class:
Helps reluctant writers breakthrough writer’s block & develop fluency
Excellent tool for differentiation
Features & Benefits:
Has a paid-for desktop app, but you can use the website for free
Edits text for confusing sentences and phrases, adverbs, and passive voice
Highlights problem areas for you to edit but won’t actually fix them
Enables students to hone their writing skills by editing trouble spots in their writing
Uses for English Class:
Excellent for editing/ revising writing throughout the writing process
Features & Benefits:
Similar to Hemingway
Labels & highlights potential issues with writing
Analyzes your style so that you can make changes as needed
Points out weak words in your writing
Uses for English Class:
Excellent for editing/ revising writing throughout the writing process
LibreOffice Writer
Features & Benefits:
A free, open source alternative to Microsoft Word
Has many Microsoft Word features at no cost
One of the most useful features is the template center
Uses for English Class:
Excellent resource for students who do not have Microsoft Word
Mindly
Features & Benefits:
Simple brainstorming App
Creates bubble maps of ideas
Allows you to take notes, add images, and export to other formats as needed
Uses for English Class:
Great tool for mapping out ideas for writing and/or speeches & presentations
Features & Benefits:
Free mind-mapping App
Creates beautiful and useful maps of your writing
Excellent for all types of writing
Uses for English Class:
Great tool for mapping out & outlining ideas for writing and/or speeches & presentations
Essay Checklist
Features & Benefits:
Provides an editing and revision checklist for essay writing
Does not give any lessons or instructions
Uses for English Class:
Useful for reinforcing writing lessons
Useful guide for editing and revision
Research Organizer
Features & Benefits:
Let’s you create notecards with topic sentences, notes, images, videos, citations, & explanations
You can color-code cards and drag/drop them to organize your research
The app will also create an outline & essay draft once the cards are put into place!!
Uses for English Class:
reat resource for the research process!
Features & Benefits:
A place to keep your research & network/ collaborate with other researchers in your field
Allows you to highlight & annotate sources online & offline
Generates citations for your resources
Tracks the impact of your work– who’s reading it
Uses for English Class:
Great resource for the research process!
Gives research a purpose and place to be published
Students can track the impact of the research they’re doing
RefMe
Features & Benefits:
Automates the citation process for all citation styles
Quickest way to cite sources and create a Works Cited or Bibliography
You can even scan barcodes of books to create quick citations!
Easily integrated with Word & Evernote etc.
Uses for English Class:
Great resource for the research process!
Helps students generate citations quickly, easily, and accurately
Helps students organize their sources and create citation pages
Do these icons ever distract you while you are trying to write?
Features & Benefits:
Today’s technology can be a huge distraction and prevent us from writing, so Self Control puts your Internet on lockdown for a period of time, so you cannot click around on Facebook and get distracted.
Locks down the Internet and social media for a period of time to increase writing productivity
Uses for English Class:
Excellent tool for distracted students
Write or DIE
Features & Benefits:
An App designed to keep you on task
Allows you to set punishments for yourself
Example-- pausing too long will begin to delete what you’ve written
The goal is to prevent you from being too critical during the drafting process
Uses for English Class:
Excellent tool for students who get distracted easily
Students will have fun setting their own punishments and trying to stop them by producing writing
Written? Kitten!
Features & Benefits:
Rewards you with pics of cute kittens for every 100 words that you write!
LOL
Uses for English Class:
FUN tool for increasing student writing productivity… that is, if they LOVE cats!
Daily Page
Features & Benefits:
Sends you a writing prompt each day
Uses for English Class:
Excellent tool for developing a writing habit and coming up with unique ideas for writing
CeltX
Trelby
Features & Benefits:
Free scriptwriting Apps
Great substitutes for Final Draft (the industry standard for screenwriting)
Trelby has more free features than Celtx such as a character name database, exports in all formats including .pdf, and you can create character/ location reports
CeltX has a basic, free scriptwriting platform
Uses for English Class:
Great tool for students to create their own scripts for film projects
Features & Benefits:
Operates as a sketchbook for mapping out a novel
Provides tools for organizing chapters and scenes
A great tool for first-time writers
Uses for English Class:
Great tool for longer writing projects such as novels, extended memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies
Plotagon
Features & Benefits:
This App allows you to create a short, animated movie of your work– puts it in action
Allows students to script a story & then select locations, characters, dialogue, emotions, etc. to bring your writing to life
Uses for English Class:
Students can create animated poems, short films, literary interpretations, etc.
They can also use Plotagon for animated debates and/or speeches
Features & Benefits:
Created by actor Tom Hanks
An old-school themed App that makes your computer sound like a real typewriter
It also removes the modern functions of your computer
Uses for English Class:
Fun for recreating an old-school writing experience
Features & Benefits:
Generates the background noise of a coffee shop
Helps you focus on your work
Uses for English Class:
Fun recreating a coffee shop atmosphere within your classroom
There are many more writing Apps where these came from! If you have suggestions for any other FREE Writing Apps, leave a comment below! I’d love to hear from you!