I have been meaning for years to figure out what Storybird is all about, so now is the time! I started by signing up and found that I can sign up for an educator account to manage a classroom of up to 30 kids. I started with 24, so that we can have each ipad signed into a corresponding account. This means that 15 kids will be sharing each account.
Storybird is a digital book creator that supplies the creator with sets of pictures that they can use to illustrate their stories. Gabe and I picked some art and made a quick little “try-it” story:
I thought this was lots of fun. To create a story, students select a set of related pictures and build the story around the images. I love the idea of using pictures to inspire a story. Kids are such visual thinkers, and I think these sets of charming pictures will get their gears moving. I also love that it is a sandbox project, but they have something to build on instead of starting from scratch. I think it would be really fun for a Kinder or first-grade class, working in small groups with an adult helping each group. I think my older classes could do this independently with a tutorial.
Logistically, it is pretty simple to use. The website says that you can use it on any device, and I’m interested to explore it more on an iPad, since that’s what my students will be using. The creation process is pretty straightforward: drag and drop the pictures, tap and type the text. There are very few options (fonts, colors) which is a plus with my age group. I didn’t see sharing options, other than linking. After a little investigation it seems that there is the option of embedding, after the story is moderated (which takes a week or so). Student work can be embedded by the teacher on the review page.
I like this a lot. I have a group of 4th-graders every 6 days for unstructured library time and I am going to try to do this with them the next time we meet!
Update: Here are the magnetic poetry-style poems they made!
lucyconnectsdots 