There are many different book creator apps and sites that work great as a resource to integrate writing into your curriculum. My favorite is https://www.storyjumper.com/.
- It is user friendly.
- All students can work from your teacher account; which is free.
- You do not have to use or have google classroom for student sign up. I suggest putting student emails in and forgoing google classroom.
- You can make a class collaborative book.
- Storyjumper is free and there are not any limiting factors that require an upgrade.
- Cost is only needed if you want to purchase a book.
- You can provide a book through a link for free.
- Students can practice speaking skills by recording their story.
- You can collaborate with your computer and art teacher. Students can write in your class, draw pictures to illustrate their story in art class, and keyboard, design, and record during computer time.
- Endless possibilites to App Smash!
In Kindergarten my daughter drew pictures to go with alphabet poems. Her fantastic teacher put them in a binder and at the end of the year each student had an Alphabook, with their own drawings, to save and cherish forever. I actually saved this binder and used it to create an Alphabook for my new Granddaugher.
Click on the link to view the book. https://www.storyjumper.com/book/read/163485801/66662acfd0137
To make the book I used my iphone and took a picture of each drawing and cropped it. I emailed the photos to myself and uploaded them into Canva. From there I removed the background and added a new backdrop or border. I then downloaded the image as a png and uploaded it into storyjumper. From there I typed in the original poems.
Book Examples:
- Bird Identification Tips and Drawings
- I Dug Deeper
- I Noticed. In this book I typed what the kindergartners shared with me and then they paraphrased in their recordings.
Ideas:
- Have the students create a collaborative book and auction it off at your school’s fundraiser.
- Have the students write individual books. Take them through the 6 trait writing process and then purchase the books to put in your school library.
- Use the book as a publishing event in your Project Based Learning facilitation. Thomas G, a middle school ELA teacher, instructs a Tuesday’s with Morrie PBL. Students meet with their own Morrie as they read the book in class. For the end event each student writes about their “Morrie” using storyjumper, publishes it, and presents it to them as a conclusion to the PBL.Links
Links to support onboarding Storyjumper in you classroom.
- How to Create a Storyjmper book.
- Storyjumper tutorial
- Writing Collaboration
- Setting up without using google classroom
- Storyboard Template for brainstorming
If you are interested in using Storyjumper to support your curriculum this school year and would like help, please email me or complete the inquiry form.
A thought to puzzle over…
How could you use storyjumper this year to enage students in writing?