Literacy Website #2

Mary Jane Cruz

ED638-40 Fall Intercession 2018

Dr. M. Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #2

            Storybird (https://storybird.com/) is a free website that allows students to create stories and poems using illustrations from the website. Storybird has picture books that are ideal for short, visual stories.  Students can use an artist’s portfolio or search a theme and load the images into the editor.  They can add pages, play with the images, and add text. 

            Storybird allows users to write novels or long chapters.   The chapter book format allows users to choose or create a cover page. Students can use long chapters to practice creating a story, plot, and characters.  There are no word limits per chapter and users can add as many chapters. Students can also create poems.  They can find an image and use words to drag over the art or image. Teachers can view student’s progress, provide feedback, and give grades.

            Teachers can create an account and create different classes.  Storybird allows teachers to create assignments and provides a class code so students can login at school or at home.  In assignments teachers can write a summary or set instructions to explain the assignment.  Teachers can also provide a link to explain or inspire students.  They can use media from Storybird, Youtube, or Vimeo.  Lastly, teachers can create a word list that students must use in their stories and assign the due dates.  The due dates will appear on the student’s dashboards as a reminder to complete the assignment.

              Storybird can be access on any device and students can log in using their class passcode.  All stories and poems can be read on any device and be downloaded as ePubs, PDFs, and .mobi files.  Storybird inspires students to create, write, and develop stories.  It can be used for all ages and for all subjects.   Teachers can have student create individual stories or have them collaborate in teams.  Storybird is a great tool for children to explore literacy by creating and inspiring them to be storytellers.