Education Technology


NCTE: Collaborating on Onomatopoeia

Activity Overview

In this collaborative activity, students work in groups of three to explore a Web site that includes video and audio recordings. Students take notes on the place or animals at the Web site and use their notes to write a group poem.

Before the Activity

See the attached Activity PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity.

Print the appropriate pages from the Activity for your class.

Install the NoteFolio(tm) App on the students' graphing calculators following the attached instructions.

Students will work in groups of three to explore a particular place, animal, or another topic of your choice. Decide if the students will pick their own group members or if you will assign the students to groups. To help ensure every student's involvement in this activity, assign each member a task.

During the Activity

  • Distribute the appropriate pages from the Activity to your class
  • Distribute the NoteFolio(tm) file(s) to your class using TI Connect(tm) and the appropriate TI Connectivity cable
  • Follow the procedures outlined in the Activity


  • Students will:
  • Explain the definition of onomatopoeia.
  • Explore the ways this literary device is used.
  • Find examples of onomatopoeia in selected excerpts.
  • Analyze the purpose of onomatopoeia in the works selected for review.
  • Identify new examples of onomatopoeia on the Internet and in other sources.
  • Apply knowledge of onomatopoeia to describe a place or event.
  • Demonstrate thorough comprehension of the literary device and its usage in literary works.
  • After the Activity

    During the last 10 minutes of class, each group Speaker presents the group poem. When all poems are presented, the class should discuss the use of onomatopoeia in them.

    The teacher can electronically collect the poems using either TI Connect(tm) software or the TI-Navigator(tm) classroom network.