I am starting a series of story-writing posts today. This is the first one of three.
One of the teachers at my school wanted help in publishing stories digitally rather than having the students write them in their books. So we worked together in creating lovely stories in PowerPoint. Powerpoint is a perfect application for publishing stories. In this post I want to suggest a way for a student to use the Bing browser and PowerPoint to create a background for an illustrated, digital story - a background that will vary from slide to slide, but keep to the original theme.
Write stories that can be published
One of the things that I love doing in my classes is
getting the students to write stories and publish them in different ways. I've always been of the opinion that
it's such a pity to write a story at school and then let it just 'disappear into
nothingness' in an exercise book. Why not get it published digitally, and share it with
the world! My classes all have blogs, so they are able to publish the finished
products on their blogs.
Use PowerPoint for writing stories
Microsoft PowerPoint is a great tool for writing stories.
Our students use mainly Chromebooks so we used
the online Office and PowerPoint which they sign into with their Microsoft
accounts. (Our school is in the throws of getting Office 365 for the learners –
I can’t wait!).
Create backgrounds using 'Design Ideas' in PowerPoint
The wonderful thing about using PowerPoint is that it has
a feature called Design Ideas. So every time you insert an image into a slide,
Design Ideas comes into play down the right side and gives all sorts of suggestions
for placing the image on the slide. Consequently you can use one background
image in a variety of ways. Here is an example:
How to create varied backgrounds
My class was writing a story about ‘Three wishes’ so, after the story had been planned, they needed to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint and create suitable backgrounds for the story on their slides.
This is how to go about it:
1. In PowerPoint
create a presentation with around 5 – 8 blank slides.
2. Go to Insert/ Pictures/ Online pictures
3. This automatically opens the Bing Browser which you
can set to only include Creative Commons images which are free to use. Type in,
for example, ‘Clipart nature scene’.
4. Choose one and select Insert
You'll notice that 'Design Ideas' immediately goes into play and suggests ideas. Choose from these ideas.
Examples of backgrounds
Here are a few examples of backgrounds my class created using 'Design Ideas'. Take a look through. They created around 8+ different backgrounds, in the same theme, with each image.
Next steps
Once their presentations had been created, with varied backgrounds, the class added their stories and then set about adding illustrations. That process is for another blog post! But in the meantime - here is a link to the finished stories which i have captured in a Wakelet: https://wke.lt/w/s/epv3qS
This is a duplicate of the post I wrote for the PUKU website
What comes to your mind when you hear the term ‘digital writing’? Is digital writing something we need to take note of or explore in the classroom? The answer is a resounding yes! There is no doubt that in our current digital age, the Internet is transforming the meaning of what it means to write. No longer is writing private and personal, or confined to a learner’s workbook, as it once was – it is now loudly and widely proclaimed and shared and remixed with others by means of the tools available on the Internet. The interesting things is that as a result of the opportunities that digital writing affords, more people than ever before are writing…digitally!
What exactly is digital writing? A very simple definition is that digital writing is writing that doesn’t require a pen and paper. It is writing that goes beyond text as a result of using technology. Digital writing can become a multimedia experience that include images, sound and video due to the vast availability of web resources. Digital writing can take many formats. It can be anything from a text message, an email, a book review, a comment on a news article or blog post, a tweet, a Facebook update to a blog post or self-published novel. It often contains hyperlinks which link it to other writing. There is even some blur starting to emerge between the written and the spoken word with the advent of voice typing.
Digital writing and traditional schooling Digital technologies have made it easy to "write" in all sorts of new ways which are different to traditional writing at school. The truth is that young people are writing more than they ever did and school mostly doesn’t take into account the digital reality that our learners live in daily. Educators are being faced with the challenge of changing and adapting their traditional teaching practices to something more relevant.
Ten ideas to get you started with digital writing The following ideas relate to both you personally and your learners if you are a teacher. We encourage you to try some of them.
1. Note-taking or reflection apps How do you currently take notes on your phone or tablet? How do you write a quick reflection on an event using a digital device? How can your learners take online digital notes in your classroom? It’s all about apps and digital writing! Digital notes offer multiple dimensions—text, images, drawing, handwriting, audio, and even video—that paper notes do not. There are many options one could recommend, but why not try Microsoft’s OneNote online for an interactive note-taking experience? Another popular free tool, Google Docs allows voice typing – this way of typing takes place at a much faster rate than normal typing. When it comes to reflection apps, a favourite off-line reflection app on an Android device is Memoires which allows one to add text, images and audio.
2. Annotate PDFs digitally Have you ever tried annotating on a PDF on your phone or on a tablet? Instead of printing out the file, filling in answers in pen and then scanning and re-uploading the document as a PDF, all you need for annotation is the free application Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and display the PDF. You can add your comments. You don’t have to even save – it does it for you. You can get the web-based Adobe Acrobat Reader from https://goo.gl/Uv6Ge2 / . The Android and iPad app versions are available from their respective web stores free of charge.
3) Mind mapping Mind mapping and brainstorming often go hand in hand. There are a number of great free tools one can use. Brainstorming is a great way to get all those ideas down whilst thinking out of the box. Use a mind mapping app to display your brainstorm as a mindmap. Four favourite, free mind mapping tools are Bubbl.us, Simplemind Free, Connected Mind, and Spiderscribe.
4) Virtual Collaborative Board There are a number of free, virtual ‘bulletin’ boards, where learners and others can collaborate, reflect, and share links and pictures in a secure location. One such board which is popular in classrooms is Padlet. For example you might ask your learners to write a quick book review of a favourite book. You could ask them to reflect on the lesson they have just completed. You can share out the Padlet link with your learners - they don’t need to login or register. All they do is double-click the board and add their ideas and their name.
5. Create visual text Canva is a free graphic-design website. It has an easy to use drag-and-drop interface and provides access to over a million photographs, graphics, and fonts. Canva is a favourite in the classroom and with professionals as it has so many great design and text possibilities. Many of them are free to use.
6) Virtual White Boards
A virtual whiteboard is great way to make one’s thinking visible. A person can write, draw or sketch their thoughts in an uncluttered way. Some virtual whiteboards allow you to add colour. Some can be shared with others. Take a look at AWWAPP which is a simple, free, easy-to-use virtual whiteboard.
7) Twitter Twitter (and 'tweeting') is a way of broadcasting short messages to one’s followers on Twitter in 140 characters. A picture can be included. Some high school teachers use a class Twitter account for getting their learners to improve their writing skills. A popular trend with teachers is for their learners to write a novel using Twitter. Take a look at same examples from well-known authors. These Twitter novels would include the plot, pacing, character development, theme and an obvious story arc.
8) Collaborative writing There are several online digital programs that allow users to write on the same canvas at the same time from different devices. This is great for collaborative story writing in the classroom. Primary Pad is such a program and it is free. Each learner’s writing shows up in a different colour so that you can identify who wrote what. You could give groups of three some writing prompts to choose from and they could discuss this as a group and create a story from it. They then decide who will write the beginning, the middle and the end of the story and they do so individually on the shared primary pad program on their own devices at the same time. From there the draft can be edited and transferred to a PowerPoint for example to display.
9) Story writing programs and e-book creators This aspect of digital writing is normally referred to as digital storytelling because of the story element involved. Do you like writing stories? There are a number of lovely, free story-writing programs available on the Internet. A great favourite is Storybird which provides a beautiful selection of art to go with the e-book story. Book Creator is another very popular digital e-book creator that can be used for making all kinds of books, including children's picture books, comic books, photobooks, journals, textbooks and more. Students can not only record audio narration onto the pages of their books, but also include video. It can be sued across subjects and students love using it.
10) Blogging
Have you ever thought of creating a blog for yourself or for your class if you are a teacher? Best is if your learners can each create their own blogs and use them as digital portfolios. Blogs are a space to share and reflect, and others can comment on the posts. Learners can write for a real world audience depending on how private you wish to make their blogs. The most popular free platforms for are Blogger, WordPress and Edublogs.
There’s so much to explore with digital writing – the list of useful tools is endless. Think about trying out some of these ideas, or introducing them to your learners if you haven’t already done so. Digital writing will take us all to greater heights – much further than pen and paper ever could.
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application
on the web www.storybird.com. I
use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips and ideas. This is an old post from 2015 on the Storybird blog but it is so apt for April 2018's poetry month that I am going to add it here so that I can constantly refer to it in April. The words below are taken straight from the Storybird blog: https://goo.gl/4gwssG
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12 creative ways to celebrate Poetry Month
"1. Poem-a-day: Start off your morning with a different student reading an original poem every day. It’s a great addition to the morning routine, and one that can continue beyond the month of April!
2. Writing warm-up: Storybird poetry is a great tool for engaging reluctant writers. If your students are struggling with writer’s block, or if they just need to kickstart their creativity, get them rolling with poetry as a story-starter. You can have them search for a specific word or theme (such as adventure or friendship), select a piece of art, and then refresh the word sets until they get inspired.
3. One image, many words: Students can create millions of different word combinations with Storybird’s poetry word sets. Have your class choose one piece of artwork as a group, and then see how many ways it can be interpreted using different word sets.
4. Storybird Haiku: Challenge your students to write a haiku (5 syllables-7 syllables-5 syllables) using only the words available in a Storybird set. Here’s one we created as an example:
5. Poetry slam: Rev up the energy in the classroom with a poetry slam! If you have a projector, transform your classroom into a stage and let your students perform their poems in front of an audience. With older students, poetry slams can also work well as a team sport—have small groups of students work together to write a poem, and then battle it out on the stage.
6. Create a classroom poetry anthology: An anthology is a collection of literary works (poetry, short stories, essays, etc) compiled by an editor. It can be a book of poems by one author, a collection of poetry from a particular country or region, or it can be organized by a theme. Discuss the type of anthology you would like to create as a class, and have all of the students contribute a poem to the collection. Print your final anthology to add to the classroom library, or put it on the web to share!
7. Poetry quilt: If you’re feeling crafty, you can turn your students’ poetry into a beautiful paper quilt to hang on the wall. Have each student write a poem on Storybird, then take screenshots of the finished poems and print them out in color. Glue the poetry squares onto sheets of construction paper, and attach them to the wall in a grid.
8. Poetry roulette: This is a fast and fun writing game to get the creative juices flowing. Here are the rules: Go to the CREATE page on Storybird and click the very first image that appears. Use that art to make a poem with the first set of words that appear—no refreshing allowed! See an example here.
9. Spoken word poetry: It’s easy and free to make a voice recording of your poetry on Storybird. Click here for a tutorial about how to create audio files with VoiceThread.
10. Poet-tree: Print out your students’ poems and hang them from the branches of a tree with loops of yarn or string (think: Christmas ornaments). If you don’t have a live tree handy, you can create a 2-D tree out of construction paper and attach it to a classroom wall or bulletin board.
11. Longform poetry:Younger students might be surprised to learn that not all poetry has to rhyme, while older students can delve into the differences between prose and verse. Have your students use Storybird to experiment with longform poetry: sonnets, limericks, ballads, odes, epic poems… the sky’s the limit! In the example below, Storybird memberAmethystgirlywrites freeform poetry inspired by the Canadian poet, Robert Service.
12.Rhyming picture books:Then again, there’s a lot of fun to be had when making words rhyme. Dr. Seuss said it best: “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” The sillier the better."
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application
on the web www.storybird.com. I
use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips.. Here we are in February 2018 and Storybird has a new challenge for your class! It sounds exciting. I am adding it below as written on the Storybird blog https://goo.gl/tAfDUC.
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February challenge: Across the Universe
"Imagine you have left Earth and traveled far out into space. Maybe you live in a space station. Perhaps you have colonized another planet. You could be floating in an escape pod after your rocket ship exploded. Or you’ve been captured by aliens. There are so many possibilities!
"You have the chance to transmit a letter back home to Earth. Who would you write to? What would you say? This month’s challenge is to write that letter. Describe where you are, what you see, what it feels like, and what you’re doing. Maybe share some of the things you miss about Earth, or about the person you’re writing to. Do you have any advice to send home? A warning? A new discovery?
"Let your imagination run free and really try to put yourself into that situation. Take some time to think about what you’d write before you begin — you have until February 21st to complete the challenge. It’s fun to let your mind wander, so enjoy the ride! We can’t wait to read about your adventures.
"P.S. Keep in mind that although you are writing a letter, you should not include any personal information like your last name, your hometown, or your school. Sharing that kind of information goes against ourcommunity guidelines, which we use to keep everyone safe.
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If you would like your class to enter this challenge, please go to the challenge on the Storybird blog at https://goo.gl/tAfDUC . Storybird says, "To be eligible to be featured, your chapter must be submitted to moderation on or before February 21, 2018. Selected entries will be featured on the Storybird blog at the end of the month."
If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to
Storybird, head over to www.storybird.com today and join. Your students will love
this application.
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application on the web www.storybird.com. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. I'd love to show you an example of a Storybird poetry challenge. This challenge called 'April challenge: laughter and poetry' took place in April of this year - during poetry month. I am quoting from the Storybird blog https://goo.gl/WSAeEd
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April challenge: Laughter and Poetry
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of… laughter. April is Poetry month, so naturally, this month, we’re focused on poetry. But not just any poetry, we’re looking for ~gasp~ poetry that rhymes and makes people laugh! We can all use a little more laughter in our lives (especially after last month’s ‘conflict’ challenge!). Here’s this month’s theme in one simple line:
Make people laugh with your funny, silly, cheesy, or sincere rhyming poem
While not all poems need to rhyme, rhyming can add music and rhythm to your poems, making them fun and memorable. Here are a few tips:
A couplet format has two lines that rhyme at the end
Take a look Write a book
A tercet is more complex. Out of 6 lines: Lines 1 & 2 rhyme, lines 4 & 5 rhyme, and lines 3 and 6 rhyme
Take a look Write a book Feeling queasy? Take the time To make it rhyme Now it’s easy
A ballad stanza’s second and fourth lines rhyme:
Write a book Feeling queasy? Make a rhyme Now it’s easy.
Lastly, try to keep the syllable-count of each line roughly the same. For more details, check out this wikihow post on rhyming poems.
To get started, click ‘Create’ and start writing a PICTURE BOOK and include the theme above. You do not have to use the specific methods noted above as long as your story rhymes in some way. Like stories, your poem should have a plot—a beginning, a middle, and an end. It should have characters—a protagonist and an antagonist. And it needs a setting—where does it take place?"
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I am sure that in April 2018 there will be another exciting poetry challenge! If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to Storybird, head over to www.storybird.comtoday and join. Your students will love this application.
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application on the web www.storybird.com. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. Storybird posts wonderful challenges and ideas all the time! It had a wonderful holiday writing challenge a couple of years ago https://goo.gl/ZAQ38Q. I am going to paste the ideas here so that I can encourage one or two of my classes to do this in their spare time. It was called the 'Summer Writing club: Write a novelette'.
This is what Storybird says about the July challenge:
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July Summer Writing Club Challenge
"This year Summer Writing Club will consist of two Challenges: One in July and one in August. Each Challenge will help you write a 5,000 word novel (we’re calling it a “novelette”) made up of multiple chapters. There’s no assigned theme—you can write about anything you want.
"We will coach you through the novel writing process week by week, releasing tips and tutorials as we go. To pace yourself, set a goal to complete at least one chapter per week. By the end of the month, you will have a finished novelette! Here are the writing skills you’ll master in July:
"Week 1 - The Protagonist: Before you can begin, you need a clear idea of who your main character(s) will be.
Week 2 - The Antagonist: Every villain has a backstory. This week, we’ll look at how to build a better bad guy.
Week 3 - Plot: You might think that figuring out the plot should come first when you’re writing a novel. But with longer works, you often have to write the story to find out what the characters will do! This week we’ll show you how to keep everything on track and moving forward towards a spectacular finish.
"Note: Unlike last year, the weekly tutorials are not writing prompts. They will be exercises to help you better understand the novel-writing process as you go. One way to approach SWC this year is to think about July as your rough draft. Once you get the basics down, you’ll be ready for the advanced tutorials that will follow in August.
"Week 1 - The Protagonist
Great characters are the foundation for great stories. The protagonist is the hero of your story. The supporting characters are the friends, family, and/or love interests who help the hero achieve her goals. Supporting characters can be very important, even central to the story, but there is generally always a single protagonist driving the action.
"Let’s take some examples from popular books: Katniss Everdeen: Protagonist Peeta Mellark: Supporting character Hazel Grace Lancaster: Protagonist Augustus Waters: Supporting character Harry Potter: Protagonist Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger: Supporting characters
"When you are beginning a new story, your characters come first. You have to know who you’re writing about before you know what they’re going to do. Your characters are at the center of the action in your story, so you need to know them really well. What do they want? What choices would they make? How would they react in different situations? What motivates them?
"The better you understand your characters, the better your readers will be able to relate to them. So, before you begin your novelette this month, take a minute to sit down and think first about your main character. Have a heart-to-heart with your protagonist and find out everything you can about them. You can use the questions below to get started, or better yet, print out the worksheet we link to in the post and write down the answers so that you can keep them handy as you’re writing.
"One of the goals of the Summer Writing Club—and Storybird—is to help you become a better writer. (The other goals are to have fun and make friends.) Some weeks we’ll use video from past workshops to help illustrate the topics we’re writing about. Don’t worry if it looks familiar; we’re also adding new material to coach you along so that you can write the best novelette you can this summer.
"Let’s do this! Watch this video for a quick tutorial, or jump right in to the character worksheet below.
"1. The Basics
Name: (first, middle, last, and nickname) How old is he/she? What does he/she look like? Where does he/she live? 2. Background Where did your character grow up? Are her parents married or divorced? Does she have siblings? If so, is she the oldest, youngest, middle? Which family member is she closest to? Which one does she keep secrets from? 3. Self Image What is her strongest personality trait? What is she most proud of? What does she wish she could change about herself? How do other people see her, and is it different from how she sees herself? What is she most afraid of? 4. Desires What does this character want? How far would she go to get what she wants? Where would she draw the line? Do you think she’d be happy if she got her heart’s desire? 5. Summary Read back over everything you’ve written about your character and summarize in one sentence what he or she wants, and what obstacles stand in the way. Use this to guide you as you keep writing your story.
"Now repeat this exercise with other characters in your story, such as the love interest, the sidekick, or the long-lost father who abandoned the family many years ago. The deeper you explore each of your characters, the more your story will come to life.
Isn't it amazing that Storybird would give such wonderful writing opportunities and ideas for free? You have to join this site! Here is an example of a novelette from Storybird: https://storybird.com/chapters/rules-of-school/
If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to Storybird, head over to www.storybird.com today and join. Your students will love this application.
Storybird is my favourite free story writing application on the web. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. This is a great post from the Storybird blog in 2015 on how to write original stories https://goo.gl/bJJSg4 - I am going to add their ideas here, straight from the blog. Every time I get my classes to write stories I will show them this post.
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7 tips for writing original stories
"There’s that old saying that claims there are only seven plot lines in the whole world.
"Below are 7 tips to use when you’re not sure where to begin.
"1. Look at the world around you, and ask “what if” about things we take for granted. What if the sky was red? What if your little brother was actually an alien? What if you found a million dollars?
2. Browse through the artwork on Storybird until a picture jumps out at you and makes you wonder, what’s happening here? Who are these people? Where are they, and how did they get there? What are they going to do next?
3. Start with a character who seems interesting to you. Maybe it is a character who has your same habits or fears or strengths and uses them in meaningful ways. Or maybe it is a character who is nothing like you, and that’s what makes them interesting to write about. How they would approach different situations?
4. Pick a genre, or type of storytelling. Do you like history? Then write about a time or place as it used to be. Do you like fantasy? Then start by thinking about how a world would work if it had different rules than ours, and fill it up with magic or supernatural creatures. Do you like romance? Then take two characters and put a lot of obstacles between them so the way they get together becomes a tale.
5. Ask your friends or family what they like to read, and write a story just for them! (Hint: this is a great Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift idea.)
6. Solve a mystery. Which one of these characters is hiding a secret? Who is watching whom?
7. Remember those seven plots we mentioned at the beginning of this post? Use them to your advantage. Match a piece of artwork on Storybird with one of the storylines below, and take it for a spin!
- Overcoming the Monster - Rags to Riches - The Quest - Voyage and Return - Comedy - Tragedy - Rebirth"
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Some great ideas from Storybird! If you haven't joined your class to Storybird go to www.storybird.com and do so today!
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application on the web www.storybird.com. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. I have been adding some of the Storybird challenges to this blog, Storybird to the blog. Here is the December challenge https://goo.gl/VdLzLP.
_______________________________________ December Challenge: The Do-over
"It’s hard to believe that we’ve almost reached the end of the year. And what a year it has been! We have read thousands of challenge entries and featured nearly 100 (!!!) writers here on the blog in our monthly roundups. But there is one more challenge left, so make it count!
This month, your challenge is to write a single-chapter longform story in response to this writing prompt:
It’s New Year’s Eve and you’ve been given the chance to do one thing over—to turn it all around. Choose wisely!
"With the upcoming holidays, we will be extending the entry period all the way to the end of the month, so you have until December 31st to enter your longform chapter into the challenge. We will post the featured stories in January. Good luck! We can’t wait to read your do-overs.
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Sounds like fun, doesn't it. If you would like to participate in this challenge head over to the Storybird blog https://goo.gl/VdLzLP
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application on the web www.storybird.com. I use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its offerings. In this post I want to outline the types of formats you can use in Storybird. 1. Create picture books
Picture books are "multi-page books with high visual content and a low word count. As their name suggests, they're ideal for writers looking to make short visual stories and younger students who are flexing their storytelling chops. Readers will find picture books work beautifully on their tablets and laptops, but you'll have to squint a bit to read them on your phone." https://goo.gl/tUHYLR Here is a video showing how to make a Picture Book.
2. Create longform books
Longform books are "multi-chapter stories with high word counts and not as many pictures. They're ideal for amateur and professional writers looking to engage readers through serialized chapters and mature students looking to master their narrative skills. For readers, longform stories can be easily be read on your phone and you're notified when new chapters are published." https://goo.gl/tUHYLR "Chapters are individual Longform 'books'. Once you finish writing them, you can join them together.
When the first chapter of a Longform book is published there is a link underneath to begin the next chapter, and this joins the books together automatically.
If you haven't published the first chapter yet you can still write the next chapter and join them later.
You can use a different artist for each chapter for the interior art, but they will all share the cover image of Chapter 1.
When you're on your 'your stuff' screen you can join different chapters together into the same book. They will both need to be published before you can join them.
Find the second chapter of your longform book, and click on the gear icon just below the cover, and choose 'edit details'. Once you're on the edit details screen, choose the 'part of an existing book' option and then choose the 'first chapter' book from the list. Click on 'publish' at the bottom, and ta-da! - Chapter 2 has been added to your book." https://goo.gl/R9LTEz
Here is a video showing how to make a Longform book:
So, if you want your class to write novelettes, Storybird's Longform format is the way to go.
3. Create poems
"Making poems on Storybird is super easy and fun.
On the art page tap the "Use this Art..." button and select "For Poetry" and the artwork will load into the editor.
In the editor, drag words onto the art page to create your poem.
Use the Refresh button in the bottom-right corner (or the top-right if you're using an iPhone) to refresh/change the words or the art.
Use the Menu in the bottom-left corner to Publish your poem or leave the app (and discard the poem). Note that, unlike stories, you can't "Save and Close" and edit the poem later.
Poems appear on your profile and in your Subscribers' feeds immediately. And, if you add tags to them, they appear in tag collections too. " https://goo.gl/4gwssG
If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to Storybird, head over to www.storybird.com today and join. Your students will love this application.
Storybird is my favourite, free, story writing application
on the web www.storybird.com. I
use it with my classes all the time, and I love all its tips. In my email newsfeed Storybird has posted their November challenge, It's a lovely idea - "to write a picture book that shows someone that you care." This is how Storybird words it below - this is taken straight from the Storybird blog: https://goo.gl/yceGrv
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November Challenge: Who Cares?
"There are so many ways to show someone you care. A smile in the direction of a lonely schoolmate. A hug for a friend who’s having a tough day. A phone call to a far-away family member. Here on Storybird, we often use hearts and comments to show our friends and community members that we care about their creations. And every story you create is a sign of how much you care about writing, and creativity, and art.
"This month, your challenge is to write a picture book that shows someone that you care. Maybe it’s a story about a mother and daughter who get in a fight, but ultimately learn to see each other’s perspective. Maybe it’s a story about friendship and beating the odds by working together. Or maybe it’s a tale of two sisters who can’t see eye to eye but share everything else in common.
"As you’re writing this book, think about a real person in your life who you would share this book with. Remember not to include any personal information in the book, like last names, schools, or hometowns. But experiment with what it’s like to share your feelings in a story, and show us how you care.
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What a lovely idea from Storybird! If you haven't yet signed up any of your classes to
Storybird, head over to www.storybird.comtoday and join. Your students will love
this application.
In my first post I introduced you to one of my favourite writing tools in the classroom, Storybird. You can find it at www.storybird.com. I have used Storybird with great success through the years. The wonderful thing about this tool is that you can sign up your whole class so that you have access to their stories on your dashboard. As a result you can edit the stories and keep a watch on your students' progress. 1. Sign up your class
Once you have joined Storyybird for yourself, the next thing to do is to sign up your class or classes. Since I am a computer teacher this means sign up classes for me. This takes a little bit of time, but once it is done its done. Your students won't need email addresses.
2. First wet your students' appetites...
Prior to your class logging in to Storybird prepare them on what to expect. I told mine that this is a free program with the most exquisite art. They don’t need to think of a story before they start – they’ll browse through many images until they see one that inspires them. When they select this image they'll suddenly be surrounded by a large number of other images that match their chosen theme. At the end of their writing they will end up with a lovely e-book. Just to wet their appetities I take them to the latest roll-out of good stories on the Storybird blog, such as this one https://goo.gl/LxY88h or this one https://goo.gl/rmrRFJ and I give them five to ten minutes to browse through. They will find a number of exciting titles, such as this one. Click through on the arrows below.
3. Log in to Storybird
When it is time to get started with Storybird, the class will each log in on their temporary password that you have provided. The first time your students log in to Storybird they will need to update their passwords by changing their passwords to something they’ll remember. Please keep a copy of these as students forget their passwords all the time! What I do here is I already have the class added to Google Classroom. I create a Google Form that says ‘Storybird’passwords and I put the link into google Claassroom. The students log in to Google Classroom and they each fill in their own form. Google Forms collects all the details and stores them on a single Excel spreadsheet. It is as simple as that.
Whatever method you decide to use - make sure you use it the first time they log in. Then keep the list of the passwords in an easily accessible place.
As they log in they'll notice that one is greeted everywhere by exquisite art.
A storybird lesson example
I revise paragraph construction, and especially ways to write descriptive paragraphs, with the class before we start. Descriptive paragraphs include details that appeal to the five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing. A good description allows the reader to be a part of your world, to clearly imagine the scene, to feel the sensations, the smells and the tastes of the subject you are writing about.
We also talk about creating exciting headings for stories and different ways of starting killer first lines! The storybird blog has five great examples for this:
1. Start with a shocking statement.
2. Start with an introduction of the character.
3. Start with the character talking directly to the reader.
4. Start with a description of the setting.
5. Start with an interesting fact.
6. Start with clever dialogue.
So get your students started on this fascinating journey of writing stories inspired by pictures. They''ll love it.
Do you have access to computer devices at school? Do you know about the great, free, easy-to-use online writing tool, Storybird, found at http://storybird.com/? It will transform your students' writing - that is what I have discovered at school. Storybird is one of the most popular free tools for digital storytelling in schools around the globe, a MUST in any classroom. You will end up with a room ful of young authors!
What exactly is Storybird?
Storybird is an application that provides simple tools that help one build books in minutes, online. In addition to creating your own book you can read other books that have been created. One of the innovative things that sets Storybird apart from other creative writing applications is that it curates beautiful artwork from illustrators and animators around the world and inspires writers of every age to turn those images into fresh stories. The art inspires the stories. The weakest writer in your class will be inspired to produce a beautiful, professionl looking story in the form of an e-book. The beautiful art will help them to express and develop their ideas and they will be left with a feeling of great success. They will be ble to show their family their stories at home. The stories can be made and viewed as e-books and they can also be purchased as hard cover books. My students love using this application. You can also use Storybook to fundraise for your school. Find out about this at http://storybird.com/fundraisers
Watch this short video (4.49 mins) that takes a walkthough of Storybird.
In our next post we’ll look at how to easily get your class signed up to Storybird.
