Hello!!
It is Saturday and I am praying away the rain and praying in the customers as I am hoping to make a few more big sales at my garage sale today.
Whew!! Having your own garage sale is hard work!! I think I am going to stick to attending garage sales from now on.... last night I dreamt of price stickers and hangers!! :)
Anyway, since it is a slow Saturday, I decided to jump into my third assignment, Digital Story Telling. I explored StoryBird as I worked through this process. There are a couple of things I really liked about this tool!! First, I LOVE that the pre-entered art is the inspiration for the story!!! We write stories in Language Arts during the year, but they are simply typed out, without illustrations, etc. due to time constraints. StoryBird is a great way to get around that!! There are two ways to search the art, first, is to just look at it (all categorized by the same artist), the other is to choose a theme word and all sorts of pictures with that word come up. The process of creating the story was quick and easy, although, I was a little disappointed at the lack of choices as far as font, picture placement, etc. I think that this could be much more personalized (maybe I will trade in my day job!! Ha!). Anyway, I see a lot of uses for this in the classroom and am excited to work it into my curriculum next year. This is a simple process that would work great for getting kids inspired to create stories. PLUS, I totally loved the fact that you can publish or print these.... honestly, we all have a few parents that would jump at the chance to order a printed, softcover book of their kids' creation.
One obstacle to get over, however, is the class size. StoryBird is educator friendly in that they have class accounts, where one email address can cover up to 30 accounts, HOWEVER, in middle school not only do we have more than 30 kids per class, but we also have 6 classes... I guess kids with their own email address could create their own account and then the ones without an email address could be grouped into the class account... I am not sure.
Anyway, I created my StoryBird as just something silly, not curriculum related, but just to use as an example and an opportunity to get used to the program.
Enjoy!!
Liquid Gold - StoryBird
That was amazing! You have your 1st day introduction done and it is such a creative way to tell it! Love it!
ReplyDeleteStacey,
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess you really do love coffee! I'm right there with you. Awesome way to let kids know a little about you and get interested in Storybird. Hey, I'm teaching one section of Language Arts next year - maybe I can get some great ideas from your blog.
Stacey....I will have to take a page out of your book and try the whole time toast thing.....maybe that will help me with my burning toast at home as well.
ReplyDeleteStacey: What a cute (and well crafted story). I like your analysis of the StoryBird pros and cons... But, more importantly, I like coffee.
ReplyDeleteHi Stacey--I agree with Becky W--you commented that your story wasn't curriculum related, but I disagree---it's the 'getting to know you' part...and perhaps a standard or two could be 'figured out' in there.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun--and a good introduction to both you and StoryBird for the kids...
What a fun story! I can use it to explain to my kids why we need to make sure that we find you for the coffee run! You shouldn't have to chase the cart, it should chase you. My kids don't want to find out what can occur should we not serve you. I too was a little disappointed at the picture placement etc. I kept trying to find a way to move the text box. Overall, a really cute tool and kids will love having illustrations with their writings.
ReplyDelete