Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Here is my example ( <-- click) that I made. It is about a trip that I took during Spring Break. I uploaded pictures from my computer. You also have the option of drawing your own using a program similar to Paint, but as I am not an art teacher I will spare you that pleasure. It was very simple to load pictures, type what I wanted, and record my voice. It also reminds you to save your work before moving on. It really took me about 5 minutes. I can definitely see my students being able to do something like this on their own.
This website is also collaborative. Children can start a story, save it and share it with others who will have access to it.
Some other features I like is the little bar in the top corner that tells you how much data space you have left. Another is the ability to purchase an MP4 of your tale. It does cost .99 but can be played on any device that plays MP4's.
Using littlebirdtales.com to create books covers a few standards in the CCSS. With regards to Writing, teachers can have students write narratives to develop events using technology and well-chosen details. It also uses technology to produce and publish writing to interact and collaborate with others. Following ISTE standards, littlebirdtales.com allows students to demonstrate creative thinking using technology and also as a support for individual learning.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Another Writing Tool...
A similar tool to littlebirdtales.com is storybird.com. Where littlebirdtales.com is geared to the primary years, this is for the older ones. Instead of creating their own artwork for a book, students get to choose from hundreds of artist created works. Their claim is that this is "art-inspired storytelling". Students can begin simply by selecting artwork that they have an interest in or selecting a theme. If students select a theme say for instance pirate, they will be given artwork that features pirates. (Examples below were taken directly from the website)
Educational Uses
I have to say my students loved this website. They were hooked from the moment they created their user details. I used it as a way to just get students to use their creativity to write.
Did I mention that storybird can also be done as a collaborative project?! Well there ya go, it can. Students can invite others to help write a story. Many of my students didn't have to be told how to do this, they figured it out on their own. Just goes to show you how easy this website is, so easy a 3rd grader can figure it out. Many invited a partner to edit their work. The website more so centers the collaboration with adults, but I find that the children enjoyed getting help from their peers versus an adult.
Here is a snapshot of the Library where my students put their stories in during this past school year.
I really learned a lot about ways to improve the use of this website with my students. I kind of gave this to them as a way to see what they could do. I was very proud of them for jumping and getting to work on a few stories together though. I found that I could use this site to help students edit each others works. It also could be used in a mini-lesson for elements of writing. It would be a great way to track the growth in a students writing over the school year.
I have to say my students loved this website. They were hooked from the moment they created their user details. I used it as a way to just get students to use their creativity to write.
Did I mention that storybird can also be done as a collaborative project?! Well there ya go, it can. Students can invite others to help write a story. Many of my students didn't have to be told how to do this, they figured it out on their own. Just goes to show you how easy this website is, so easy a 3rd grader can figure it out. Many invited a partner to edit their work. The website more so centers the collaboration with adults, but I find that the children enjoyed getting help from their peers versus an adult.
I really learned a lot about ways to improve the use of this website with my students. I kind of gave this to them as a way to see what they could do. I was very proud of them for jumping and getting to work on a few stories together though. I found that I could use this site to help students edit each others works. It also could be used in a mini-lesson for elements of writing. It would be a great way to track the growth in a students writing over the school year.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
A Writing Tool
This is a really cute website! It is an online storybook that can really get a child interested in writing. Although aimed at primary students, I feel that even my third graders would enjoy this. Children illustrate and write a story, then upload their images and record the story using their own voice. To use this in the classroom, the teacher creates an account for themselves and then for their students. A great security feature is that the accounts can be made private or open.
This website really encourages creativity in a student from beginning to end. Once a child has finished their story, they can then share it!
Classroom Uses
Some suggestions I have gathered from the links below that I can see myself using in class are the following:
This is a really cute website! It is an online storybook that can really get a child interested in writing. Although aimed at primary students, I feel that even my third graders would enjoy this. Children illustrate and write a story, then upload their images and record the story using their own voice. To use this in the classroom, the teacher creates an account for themselves and then for their students. A great security feature is that the accounts can be made private or open.
This website really encourages creativity in a student from beginning to end. Once a child has finished their story, they can then share it!
Classroom Uses
Some suggestions I have gathered from the links below that I can see myself using in class are the following:
- each student in the class can create and add a page to the story
- students can create a scrapbook like video/story that displays what they did in a Science project, or on a field trip (great way to share with parents that didn't get to chaperone!)
- uploading pictures of a students culture to share with classes around the world
Here are those links:
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