Archive of ‘Digital Storytelling’ category

Working on a Collaborative eBook

Jane Cooper, one of our second grade teachers signed up for a fantastic collaboration project that Kristen Wideen (a teacher in Winsor, Ontario) initiated. The Global Community iBook Project asks teachers from all over the world to contribute a couple of pages about their community.

The information is written in the Book Creator app for iPad and then uploaded to Kristen’s Dropbox account. She will then combine all the pages into one book.

Mrs. Cooper’s class has learned a LOT about Fort Worth but quickly discovered that it was really difficult to squeeze everything into two pages! After much brainstorming, they were able to choose just a few topics. On Tuesday, they worked together to begin the process of adding pictures and descriptions to their book.

Here is a brief look at the process:

There may be another book in the works – the students have so much information to share that they are seriously considering creating their own book about Fort Worth. We’ll see what transpires!

 

ABC Weather with Second Graders

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photo by K. Arrington

Mrs. Shapard’s second graders have been learning all about weather. When she mentioned that to me, I suggested taking what the students had learned to create some type of an “ABC Weather” project.

We brainstormed different ways to do this and ultimately decided to create a video using the Drawing Box and Explain Everything apps on the iPad minis.

The students were assigned a letter (or 2) and then did some research. Sometimes you really have to stretch to come up with ideas for a few of the more obscure letters!

The first step was to illustrate the letter chosen. I like the Drawing Box app and much prefer the paid version as it has so many more tools. Almost everyone finished in a 40 minute session. Drawings were saved to the camera roll (Photos) for the following step.

Next, we had to import the pictures to Explain Everything. Since this was the first time the students had used the app, I went over the tools and gave them some practice time before we continued with their weather project.

ShapardAfter a few minutes, they were ready to begin. The students tapped on the + to begin a new project. They were guided through the process of inserting the picture and setting it as the background (so it wouldn’t move around). Then the recording began! This part took longer than expected – not because the technology was a problem but because it was difficult to find quiet places to record. And, for some, absolute perfection was desired so any tiny mistake called for a do-over! After recording, the video was saved to the camera roll and air dropped to me. The students and I LOVE air drop! So quick and easy.

EE to video to vimeo

Apps and process for publishing the Weather video

I pulled everything together in iMovie and uploaded the video to Vimeo. (Click here for direct link.)


But, the students weren’t finished!

“What about making an eBook?” announced one child, then another and another!

So, we now have a video AND an ePub book made with the Book Creator app. Yes, it’s the same information but the students were excited to share their work in different formats.

All students chose the square format (necessary for all to be same size if combining books), added their picture, changed the background, recorded their narration, and emailed the book to me. From there it was easy to combine all the books (absolutely LOVE that feature of Book Creator).

Drawing box to Book Creator

Apps Used to Create the Class Book

Click below to read the ePub book on your iOS device or with the Google Chrome browser.

Our Weather ABC Book by Mrs. Shapard’s Class

Directions to download books to your iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc):

  • You will need the iBooks app (free) installed on your iOS device.
  • Click on the book link above (while on your iOS device).
  • Tap on the download button.
  • Choose Open in . . . and then choose Open in iBooks
  • The book is now in iBooks on your iOS device.

Directions to read the ePub book on a computer:

Write About This App and QR Codes

Write about thisOur second graders explored the Write About This app last week in the computer lab. The app offers visual writing prompts; students can write a story and record their narration (which saves as a QuickTime movie). There is a free version with limited prompts or, for $3.99, several prompts appear per category. For each visual there are 3 levels which allow for differentiation. Images can also be uploaded to create your own prompts.

I asked the students to go to the categories and look through them.

photo(1)Since I only have the students for 40 minutes, they had to choose a picture quickly. Once that was accomplished, the students started their writing.

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Mrs. Cooper’s students writing their stories

In the classroom, I would expect students to spend more time with the writing process but this was a “quick write” due to time constraints. We did go over our allotted time, but the children were able to write, record, and email their Write About to me.

One of the second grade teachers, Mrs. Cooper, mentioned that she liked to have work on the bulletin board outside her classroom that parents could view on parent/teacher conference day. That started me thinking – could we upload the student’s narration somewhere and create a QR code so that parents could scan and listen to their child reading?

For me, the easiest way was to upload all Write Abouts to our FTP server. Once that was done, I used a QR code generator to create the code. The one I used this time was QR Stuff because I could also choose to shorten the URL at the same time the code was being generated. The codes were saved to a Word Document and labeled by child’s name. I printed them on a full-page label so all I had to do was cut them out and stick them onto the Write Abouts that had previously been printed.

photo(5)Since the Write About narrations are saved as a QuickTime movie, they could be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube. QR codes could be created as above.

The students loved the Write About This app. We don’t recall hearing anyone say, “I can’t think of anything to write!”

By the way, the same people who created Write About This have just released the Tell About This app. Visual prompts are provided that encourage children to focus on their oral language skills as they tell stories. I can’t wait to work with the younger grades!

A Very Special Day!

I love Grandparents’ Day! Yes, it is loads of work preparing for it. But grandparents come to be with their grandchildren, not to evaluate all that we do. It’s such a busy day but I truly enjoy the opportunity to visit with these wonderful visitors.

The second graders have done a Heritage Project for several years. In the past few years, this has evolved into a technology project. Students bring in pictures from the past and I am in charge of uploading these to the students’ home directories so that they can add them to VoiceThread, where they narrate each photo. It’s always fascinating to look at these pictures – some are quite old!

This year the students shared their projects using the iPads. We suggested that ear buds be brought so that the narration could be heard more clearly. Everything went quite smoothly. (Only one iPad decided not to connect to the Internet!)

Below are some snapshots of students sharing their projects with their visitors.

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Bio-Poems with Tellagami

I believe it’s important for students to be able to share their writing with others; not just their teachers and parents. Over the years we’ve done this in a variety of ways but when the 4th graders saw a “gami” I’d made with the Tellagami app, they could not wait to give it a try! I knew we needed to come up with something that was worth sharing using this app.

Since the students had drawn self-portraits earlier in the year using Microsoft’s Paint program, we decided to use these for the background for a bio-poem. There are several variations of this type of poem but here’s the format we used (not sure where I got this but have used it for over 20 years):

Name

4 describing words

Related to ____________

Who cares deeply about __________

Who feels ___________

Who needs ___________

Who gives ____________

Who fears ___________

Who would like to see ___________

Resident of ______________.

Since the self-portraits were drawn on the computer, we had to get them to the iPad and into the Tellagami app. What worked for us was for me to upload the illustrations to my Picasa photo album, have the students go to Picasa on the iPad, and then save to photos.

During our first 40 minute session in the computer lab, I had the students get the self-portrait into Tellagami and then create their avatar. Wow, did they enjoy that! We had avatars beside the faces, sitting on shoulders, . . . Next step was to write the bio-poem.

The next day, I demonstrated how to record (super easy; they didn’t really need instructions). I had the students send their finished “gami” in two different ways. One was to email to me from the app. This leads to a link on the Tellagami website. Here is Ava’s gami.

However, I wanted to combine all of the gamis to make a class video. So I also asked the students to save their gami to the camera roll and then email the video to me. I then pulled the videos into the iMovie app. Each video ends with a shot saying, “Created with the Tellagami app” – I didn’t want that after each bio-poem so I deleted that segment on all but the last one. For an intro, I created a slide using Haiku Deck, a presentation app. Next step was to upload to our Vimeo account.

It sounds like a lot of work but it really wasn’t. Once the students had emailed their gami to me, it didn’t take long at all to pull them together in iMovie.

Malone’s BioPoems from Trinity Valley School on Vimeo.

This was a fun way to share writing with others. Not one student complained about writing a poem; that sometimes happens since I’m not their “writing” teacher! By sharing with our teachers authentic ways to use technology, my hope is that they’ll find ways to use it to modify and redefine learning in their classrooms. (Can you tell we’ve been discussing the SAMR model in Lower School?)

Our Favorite Things

The end of the year means taking a look back and reflecting on what happened throughout the months in a grade level. It’s a time of “I love this grade” and “This is my very favorite year.”

I asked the second graders to brainstorm some of the activities of their year.

  • Reading the Boxcar Children and Little House in the Big Woods
  • The Heritage project and international food tasting
  • Scientist of the Day
  • Math
  • Co-curricular subjects: Computer, Spanish, Chinese, Library, Art, and Music
  • And of course . . . who can omit recess or P.E.??

The next step was to illustrate their favorite (or in some cases, favorites) activity from their second grade year. For us, Microsoft’s Paint program is a good drawing tool. We use it quite a bit and the students are very comfortable with it.

The next step was to write a script in Microsoft Word that would be used for recording in the Book Creator app. A few students balked at that, saying they could remember what to say without writing it down. However, I told them that even pros write down what they’re going to say and we would take lessons from them! (Besides, it was a good way to practice word processing skills!)

Since we were making a class book, I pulled in all the pictures to the Book Creator app (uploaded the drawings to my Picasa web album account and saved them to Photos) on my iPad. Then the students recorded their narration. I really like the ability to bring in short video clips to Book Creator so we added a brief whole-class shot.

The result is an ePub book that can be read in the iBooks app on any iOS device. And now, with the latest version of Book Creator, the ebook can also be read on any computer by using the Google Chrome browser and the Readium app. (For instructions, see the post, Book Creator and the Readium Chrome Web App.)

  • If you are on an iOS device (iPhone, iPad, etc) and you have iBooks installed, tap on a link below.
  • Tap on the download button.
  • Then download to iBooks

Mrs. Cooper’s Class: Our Favorite Things

Mrs. Garcia’s Class: Our Favorite Things

Mrs. Shapard’s Class: Our Favorite Things

Book Creator and the Readium Chrome Web App

The Book Creator for iPad app is one of the very best apps I’ve seen for inspiring creativity. We’ve used it to create all kinds of ePub books that have been shared with parents. RedJumper, the app designer, has done an incredible job of updating and adding new features.

So I was absolutely thrilled when version 2.5 came out and I discovered that the books created in Book Creator could now be read in the Google Chrome Browser!

All it takes is downloading the Readium app from the Chrome App store and ePub books can then be read on a Mac or PC. This is huge! Many of our families have iOS devices, but not all – now ALL families have the capability of reading their child’s work.

 

Here are the directions to read your ePub book on a Mac or PC: (**These are specific directions for our parents to download books that have been saved in my Dropbox account.**)

  • Install Google Chrome.
  • Install the Readium app. Visit the Google app store to download the app. (You’ll need to have a google account to sign in.)

  • Download the ePub book to your computer. Click on the book’s link and choose download.

  • Open the Readium app. Click on the + sign (top right).

  • Choose local file and find where you have saved the ePub book file. Then click on Add Book.

  •  The file will upload to the Readium app. You can now read (and listen to) the ePub book.

 

Pourquoi Stories with Second Graders

What is a pourquoi story? Ask Mrs. Garcia’s second graders and they’ll be able to tell you that it is a type of story that tells why something is the way it is. In fact, pourquoi means why in French. Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories is a classic work of this genre. Do you remember . . .?

  • “How the Camel got His Hump” or
  • “How the Leopard got His Spots”

Many cultures have pourquoi tales that have been passed down through the ages. In a collaborative effort with technology and art, Mrs. Garcia’s students explored some of these stories using the “making smaller circles” principle.

Josh Waitzkin, an eight-time National Chess Champion in his youth, attributes his success to learning techniques he developed to bring his mind and body to peak performance. In The Art of Learning, Waitzkin reveals his self-study to define techniques to maximize student achievement. One of those techniques he calls “making smaller circles.”

In Mrs. Garcia’s homeroom class, students practiced how to “zoom in” on pourquoi stories’ problems, blocks, and outcomes.

In Mrs. Black’s art class, students focused on an aspect of a subject in the story to create artwork showcasing that “zoomed in” part.

Armadillo Tattletale

Using technology, students created and recorded a class ePub book with the Book Creator app.

Screenshot of page in Book Creator app

Using PowerPoint and an image from Pics4Learning I created a zoomed-in version of a zebra using the theme of “making smaller circles.” This became the book cover for the ebook.

Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Black, and I hope you enjoy the students’ view of pourquoi stories.

Link to the class book: 

Pourquoi Stories: Making Smaller Circles by Mrs. Garcia’s Second Grade Class

Directions to download book to your iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc):

  • You will need the iBooks app (free) installed on your iOS device.
  • Click on the book link above (while on your iOS device).
  • Tap on the download button.
  • Choose Open in . . . and then choose Open in iBooks
  • The book is now in iBooks on your iOS device.

 Directions to read the ePub book on a computer:

 

 

Wacky Wednesday with First Graders

To celebrate Dr. Seuss week, we read Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss to our first graders (who just happen to come on Wednesday to the lab!).  I have to say, there were some VERY wacky-looking students (and teachers) in the lab that day so drawing a wacky picture was not a problem at all!

The students used Microsoft’s Paint program for their illustration. The teachers joined in and discovered that it’s not so easy drawing something on the computer! Most didn’t finish during lab time so we carried over to the following week.

Once the students had completed their drawings, we opened MaxWrite (from Max’s Toolbox by FableVision Learning). MaxWrite is the child-friendly word processing program that runs off Microsoft Word.

The students inserted their pictures and then described the “wackiness” they had illustrated. We’ll be printing these out to make a class book.

I took their drawings and created an animoto video. Enjoy!

Animal Camouflage: an ePub book by Second Graders

One of our second grade teachers, Mrs. Shapard, wanted her students to research an animal to develop an understanding of what camouflage, prey, protection, and habitat means. She wanted the students to be able to share the information in a way other than the usual oral report. Mrs. Shapard chose to use the Book Creator for iPad app since it’s an easy way to make an ePub book. The app allows students to type text, insert images, and record narration. A new feature of the app allows users to make a book then email it. All books can then be combined to make one class book.

Because we only have only one class set of iPads that can be checked out, the students just wrote a few basic facts for their individual books. We were able to get the set for two different class sessions.

During the first session, the students were to use the Drawing Box app to draw two pictures: one of their animal and one of the animal in camouflage. Most had enough time to finish their illustrations.

The next week, I started out with everyone following along as I discussed the tools in the Book Creator app. It’s such an intuitive app that there were few questions and as students discovered tools they shared information with their peers. After the students wrote the animal facts, formatted their text, and inserted their illustrations, they were ready to record. Again, the app makes this super easy! While students dispersed to various corners of the room, I took pictures for their author pages.

Next step – email the book. All were sent to me and then combined into one class book. The only negative to combining books in the Book Creator app is that there is always an empty page between books (or at least I haven’t figured out how to avoid that). But, that’s a perfect spot for an “About the Author” page.

Taking this picture was probably more difficult than any other part of the process! Every time we thought we were ready to snap the photo, someone’s screen would change to something other than their animal picture. That would be fixed, then it would happen to someone else. It was rather humorous! After dissolving into fits of laughter several times, we were finally able to get all screens showing an animal at the same time!

We hope you enjoy this book from Mrs. Shapard’s class of animal lovers!

Link to the class book: To read the ePub book, you must click on the book link below while on an iOS device with the iBooks app (i.e. iPad, iPhone, iTouch). The book will not open on a PC. Downloading instructions are below the book link. We hope you enjoy the students’ work!

Animals and their Camouflage by Mrs. Shapard’s Class

Directions to download to your iOS device:

    • You will need the iBooks app installed on your iOS device.
    • Click on the book link above.
    • Tap on the download button.
    • Choose Open in . . . and then choose Open in iBooks
    • The book is now in iBooks.

Lessons Learned:

  • Always pre-write! The first day the students had the iPads, we had planned to only spend time drawing the two illustrations. However, some students finished early so we let them go ahead and start writing directly in the Book Creator. The result was that we had all kinds of writing! Not everyone knew what they wanted to say and even though we had discussed where to write the information, there was no specific order. After class, Mrs. Shapard and I debriefed and decided that it would be best to have those who had started their book begin again. The students would write a rough draft in class and when they had the iPads again, would type the information into the app. When we met again, there was a bit of groaning from the few who had started their book the week before but they quickly realized that their expertise was needed to help those who hadn’t had the chance to explore the app!
  • Make sure students know how to save the illustration to the photo roll! All drawing apps are just different enough that exporting can be confusing. In Drawing Box, saving the image doesn’t automatically send it to the photo roll. There were a few moments of panic when students couldn’t find their picture but that was easily remedied!
  • Use students as “teachers”! Students learn quickly and are invaluable in helping others who have questions; especially when a teacher can’t get there quickly to help!

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