I wonder at times like this, when I find amazing tools to teach reading, why I did not become an elementary school teacher. Then I remember one hyphenated word...Germ-X! Storybird is the coolest 2.0 tool I think I've seen. I spent some time really looking for something geared towards storytelling. I love to write and I love to read my students writing, at least when it's not a load of plagiarized research papers. They are still learning. Nevertheless, there are so many times, students feel they lack creativity or the "jump off"point they need to write creatively. Storybird is absolutely amazing and gives anyone the right amount of juice they need to get their story off the ground. The stories do not have to make sense, and they do not have to be for any particular purpose, they are simply there for inspiration or to allow your personal story to be of inspiration.
I made a story myself and found it difficult to start with a particular concept. I began "shopping" through the amazing plethora of pictures the site has to offer. The coolest thing about the site is the art work. The artwork is taken from a collection of artists who create art specifically for Storybird and for reproduction. Storybird is like an online Etsy for artists looking to make a name for themselves. The art is everything from oil paint drawings, to charcoal, to textual media art. The artist range from America to India and every piece is an original. I love it!
I chose to create my book based off of one artist's work, but you can choose from several and began creating your book based from a specific theme, a specific artist, or a hodgepodge of ideas. When your story bird is finished you can save and publish to the web, you can publish and purchase it online as an order, you can email the story link to a friend, or you leave it for the public to be inspired. It's a great gifting idea for parents. Allowing students to create artwork, uploading it, and then having students to use their artwork and the artwork of their fellow classmates to tell a story of their own imagination. Not only would you as a teacher have met reading and writing content standards, but you would have also incorporated technology on a relevant and social level, and art education, all at the same time. And it's family friendly with rules and tips for parents and kids on how to keep it a safe place! How amazing is that!!!!!
Storybird is easy to navigate and has help buttons, an about us page and an online tutorial for how to get started, publish and post for others to see. Storybird allows students the ability to create meaning for themselves, a tool for the constructivist teacher. I think it could be used at any grade level, especially when teaching the basics of literary narrative, but elementary school students may be less reluctant to tell a story online. I plan to use this as gift ideas, but I may try it out on my high school students and see where our imagination takes us. So try it out, because in the words of Lavar Burton, "you don't have to take my word for it!"
www.storybird.com
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