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Acapela.tv Talking Cards - Acapela Group
Grades
K to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (63), text to speech (18), video (278)
In the Classroom
Have students create their own short video using short stories or poems they have created. Create your own video to display on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) giving your class directions for a project or announcing class events or projects. Have ESL/ELL students (or any student with special speech needs) copy and paste their work into a video to hear their words come to life.Edge Features:
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Maptia - A World of Stories - Dorothy Sanders, Dean Fischer, and Johnny Miller
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): creative writing (165), digital storytelling (155), narrative (20), photography (156)
In the Classroom
Share Maptia on your interactive whiteboard or projector to discover personal stories from anywhere in the world. Share with students as examples of personal narrative writing. Challenge students to create an account and add their own personal stories. To find even more stories like those under Causes see The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heros, reviewed here, and follow their ten steps for writing about people who make a difference. Create a class account and bookmark favorites. Share with students through a link on your class web page. Display photographs for use as a creative writing prompt.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mapwing - Redbug Technologies
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): images (278), maps (298), slides (65), virtual field trips (55)
In the Classroom
Take a look at the already created tours available. You may find something very useful for your classroom. Share HOW to use this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use Mapwing to create virtual tours of your classroom, school, or community. Create a tour of a future field trip location. Or if a field trip is not in the budget, take your students anywhere virtually using this tool. Create a virtual tour to share information about class pets. Challenge students to create a virtual tour to accompany research reports about states or geographic areas. Use at the beginning of the year for a new twist on "how I spent my summer" or beginning of the year introductions. Share this tool at Back to School night as you share your classroom (rules, schedules, and more) with families.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Youth Voices - UC Berkley Grad School of Education National Writing Project
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (85), creative writing (165), descriptive writing (40), digital storytelling (155), expository writing (42), paragraph writing (17), persuasive writing (57), process writing (47), social networking (112)
In the Classroom
Share blogs and articles found on Youth Voices as examples of peer writing. Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use the Guides tab as an excellent, relevant resource for writing prompts and ideas for classroom use. Students become better writers when they have an authentic audience, so encourage student writers to join and become an active part of this online writing community. There is a special section for grades K-5 only and another for grades 6-8.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
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Trading Card Creator - ReadWriteThink
Grades
2 to 9tag(s): back to school (62), biographies (91), book reports (36), characterization (15)
In the Classroom
Use the main character in a story your class recently read and demonstrate this tool using your projector or interactive whiteboard. Social studies classes can portray a famous person or event in history. Science classes can develop trading cards for plants, planets, cells, or just about anything else you study. In a geography class, use cards to describe a place. Students can use trading cards to help them remember facts and vocabulary from any class. Teacher-librarians can encourage students to make trading cards about books or authors. Use cards at the beginning of the year for students to create a trading card about themselves. After sharing with classmates, post them on a bulletin board for back-to-school night.Comments
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Heganoo - Heganoo Team
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): creative writing (165), descriptive writing (40), digital storytelling (155), maps (298), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Use maps for current events, geography, or much more. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector and show a sampler of Showcase maps to students. For example, share Great Women in History and The American Revolution. Consider asking a small team of students to create a Heganoo about a historic event or environmental issue you are studying. Have the student team demonstrate to the class how they created the project and how to use Heganoo at the same time. Heganoo would make a great project for any subject area. Students can create a Heganoo about a battle, a natural disaster, a famous scientist or mathematician, an author's life, or a short story you just read. Creating a Heganoo would be a good project for your gifted students to extend their learning about any subject.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Story Wars - StoryWars.net
Grades
3 to 10tag(s): creative writing (165), digital storytelling (155)
In the Classroom
Create your own class story starter then have students add on additional chapters. Ask each student to create a story and have other students add to their classmate's writing. Create a link to completed stories on classroom computers as a reading center for younger students. If your class has a pen pal or works with a "little buddies" class throughout the year, use Story Wars as an enjoyable writing project together. In science or social studies class, have students write nonfiction pieces for others to complete with historically or scientifically accurate information. Make recounting history or explaining science interactive and social! In world language class, promote written language and vocabulary development by creating cooperative stories. For English vocabulary development, have students use the words of the week in a new chapter of a continuing story.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Rootbook - Rootbook
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (165), digital storytelling (155), interactive stories (30), narrative (20), writing (365)
In the Classroom
To use Rootbook and save work, students will need an email account. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail sub-accounts, explained here. This will provide anonymous interaction within your class, and you (as the Gmail account holder) will be able to go into each Rootbook account to check progress. Begin by choosing a story and reading it as a class. Give the students scratch paper to create storyboards and have them continue the story. Then collect the papers and have them write their continuation again on someone else's paper. Next, ask students to end the story and switch again, and write their ending on this new paper. Doing this will help younger students understand the "branching" story line. If students are sitting in groups of four, they can just rotate the papers around for this activity. When students want to create their story on Rootbook, be sure to have them upload an image for the cover first and plan the story using a graphic organizer! As subject matter for stories in any curriculum area, tell a science story, such as the life of a butterfly or a history story such as what happened (and could have happened) at the Boston Tea Party.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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moovly - Brendon Grunewald
Grades
K to 12If you scroll to the bottom of the landing page and click on Education, you'll now find Moovly Studio for Education. This is a new version of moovly that offers special FREE plans to teachers, students and employees with email addresses from educational email domains. Users from educational email domains known by moovly automatically get a free Education license. If your educational email address is not recognized on sign-up, you can request access. You can now search the VideoBlocks catalog of stock video, sound and graphics via the extended library search. And upload it into your story in just one click! Free accounts can create unlimited videos that are each ten minutes long. The intro videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.
tag(s): animation (63), movies (70), multimedia (62), slides (65), video (278)
In the Classroom
Challenge older students to create their own moovs. Students can use moovly to share their ideas or to "prototype" an idea. Students can create videos to show math processes, explanations of complex concepts, review new learning, teach others, explain scientific processes, tell stories, or present research. Flip your classroom using moovly presentations. Use moovly to create teacher-authored animations for students in ANY grade. This is a great way to present new information or ideas for discussion. It is an easy way to prepare information for the class when a substitute is coming. Embed moovly creations on your website or blog for students to review at home. Use a moovly video on the first day of school to explain class rules or give an exciting introduction to the year ahead. Use moovly to create movies or presentations for back to school night or conference nights to display on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teacher-librarians can ask students to create moovly book reviews to share kiosk style in the library/media center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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RawShorts - Antonio Otalvaro and George Estrella
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and a student emcee to show students the templates and how to use this tool. Ask students to make a plan (storyboard) for their video project. Talk about how to distill your message to only five slides! Have students write and illustrate slides as book reviews for independent reading they have done. Use this tool for students to make book promos for the library/media center. Challenge your gifted students to create a simple video presentation that goes beyond your regular curriculum. Have students make slide shows telling a short story, explaining the life of a famous person, chemical equations, solving for X, and more. During a unit on plants, have students create a video guide for plant care or a show about the world's strangest plants. ESL/ELL or world language students could create videos to practice using their new vocabulary. Create animated presentations for introduction of new units, projects, and lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Calameo - Jean-Olivier de Berard and Mathieu Quisefit
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (165), digital storytelling (155)
In the Classroom
Use this site to engage students in Writing for Digital Publication, an important part of the Common Core. In social studies or government class have individual students or small groups design magazines for the candidate of their choice. Remember those travel brochures your world language students used to make with glue sticks and scissors? Try this online tool instead. World language students can also create an interactive magazine telling a story in their new language. In science class students can design a booklet to explain cells, life cycles, or any science topic. Instead of a book report, try a digital magazine. Do an author study via a digital magazine. Create a poetry magazine. Have your ESL/ELL students create a bilingual magazine in English AND their native language. Create digital magazines for any subject or topic: explain an event in history, demonstrate different types of animals or habitats. Create an ongoing Calameo magazine of class activities.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Dropr - dropr.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): careers (139), portfolios (32)
In the Classroom
Have teens and older students upload work throughout the year to create their own "me-portfolios." Create portfolios (with permission) to share younger students' work with parents and students during conferences. Use this tool to show finished projects or to show changes in a project from start to finish. Make a work prototype site and upload examples of exemplary work to share with students to set expectations for completed products before beginning a project. Create a link to this tool on your class website for students to share projects and information. (Get parent permission before posting students' work!) Have students take ownership of their own portfolios to show progress and products across several years. Have older students build portfolios to share as part of career and college preparation. Art teachers will want to share this as a portfolio option for their students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Digital Storytelling Resource Kit - tech4learning
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): descriptive writing (40), expository writing (42), inquiry (34), persuasive writing (57), podcasts (57), video (278), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Why re-invent the wheel? Take a look at these plans for inquiry based research and the projects for summative assessment to infuse into your lessons. The digital storytelling lesson plans are free, and so are some of the resources they suggest using, such as Pics4Learning reviewed here. However, the video program (Frames) that the lesson advises is not free. Instead, use Picovico reviewed here, or Animoto reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tapestry - readtapestry.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (179), slides (65)
In the Classroom
Tapestry is perfect for use when creating and sharing short stories or poems. Use Tapestry to create quick slideshows for any classroom use. Set up a whole class account so students do not need individual logins. Easily share slides with information or (online) images on your website or blog to remind students about a project or assignment. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Create a slide show to introduce any unit and have students guess what they will be learning. Create a Tapestry easily "on the fly" as a review resource to embed on your class website or blog. This site is perfect for your BYOD (bring your own device) classroom, since it is a "DAT." Make quick "cue cards" for students to read their lines off a projector, interactive whiteboard, or tablet for a video or school news broadcast! Paste your school or class announcements into slides and embed them on the class or school website.Use this simple tool for students to make book promos for the library/media center. Display them on tablets or iTouches! Even the youngest gifted students can create simple presentations to go beyond regular curriculum in your class. Be sure to show young ones how to copy/paste the url for their finished work to send it to you or mark it in Favorites on the classroom computer or iPad. Have them make slide shows telling a story, explaining about a famous person, and more. During a unit on plants, have students create a guide to plant care or a show about the world's strangest plants. Have them write and illustrate slides as book reviews for independent reading they have done. This tool is simple enough for any student who can read.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
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Classroom Authors - Classroom Authors
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): creative writing (165), descriptive writing (40), ebooks (43), process writing (47), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Research proves publishing improves writing skills. Use Classroom Authors for class newsletters, an anthology of student written stories, and creating "choose your own adventure" type stories. Use this tool for research or opinion pieces in world language classes, science, math, or social studies. Some teachers have their students write novels for National Novel Writing Month, and at Classroom Authors they will be able to publish them.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Comics Head - Next Wave Multimedia
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): comics and cartoons (65), DAT device agnostic tool (179), digital storytelling (155)
In the Classroom
In classes with younger students, use a whole class account under teacher control. In a BYOD classroom, let students set up their own accounts and use the app versions. When studying characterization, create a dialog to show (not tell) about a character. Use the dialog box (bubbles) to explain the sequence of a story, a science concept, or school news! Create a political cartoon. Why not use the comic strips for conflict resolution or other guidance issues (such as bullying). Emotional support and autistic support teachers can work with students to create strips about appropriate interpersonal responses and/or feelings. Sometimes it is easier for students to write it down (or create pictures) than use the actual words. World language and ESL/ELL teachers can assign students to create dialog strips as an alternate to traditional written assessments. Let your creative (or gifted) students take the comics even further by making them into entire books!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Booktrack Classroom - Peter Thiel
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): book lists (131), book reports (36), DAT device agnostic tool (179), ebooks (43), guided reading (47), independent reading (129), reading comprehension (124), reading lists (81)
In the Classroom
Click "Teachers" and scroll to the bottom of the home page to find free lessons. Work together with your music teacher to find classical music selections that make great background music. Have students choose a story and create a "read aloud" with music and sound effects. Challenge students to capture the feel or tone of current events articles, science articles, or poems they have created. Use music and sound effects to enhance historical events or battles in social science. At the end of literature circles, have students select the best events in a story and put music and sound effects together with them. Watch the short tutorials to create your class and to create a book with a soundtrack. FanFiction users may want to put sound effects or music to their own writing. In the library/media center, share BookTracks to interest students in some of your "old" books!Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Timemapper - Open Knowledge Foundation Labs
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): timelines (59)
In the Classroom
Create Timemapper timelines to introduce material in any subject. If your school uses Google Apps or Docs/Drive, your students (or groups) can create their own very easily. Map specific battles in history (World War II or the Revolutionary War, perhaps?) Map significant scientific discoveries in the progress of understanding about cell theory or genetics. Follow the works of various writers, artists, or musicians. Follow the life of famous people or noteworthy events such as elections, the Olympics, or even local history!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Visme - Hindsight Ineractive
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): images (278), infographics (51), multimedia (62)
In the Classroom
Use to create educational slideshows and Infographics to introduce and interest students in a topic of study. Use to generate questions prior to the discussion of topics. Create a multi-image slideshow where students brainstorm how the images are all connected. Have students create projects for class using this easy to use tool. Be sure to include this tool on your blog, wiki, or public page for easy student access. You may want to consider allowing your older students to create their own accounts, depending on school policies. Read tips for safely managing email registrations here. Create a project site for students to upload images and videos found when studying any subject. Find images with various shapes when discussing geometry or shapes in nature. Find pictures of plants or animals for a science unit, etc. World language students can create digital photo stories to narrate using new vocabulary. Present teacher professional development or an end of year display for the school media center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Penflip - Collaborative Writing and Version Control - Loren Burton
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (165), editing (72), process writing (47), proofreading (25), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Immerse students in the peer review process by allowing them to collaborate using Penflip! Teachers and students can use Penflip to make comments in a side box or directly in the writing. All suggested revisions are in a different color with the original wording left complete. Penflip is the perfect place for students to put their writing and get feedback. Student peers can suggest different wording and ideas, and all are color-coded so the author knows what has been contributed and what is original. This tool will fulfill the Common Core Standard requirements for using technology for collaborating and writing across the curriculum. Students will save time and learn from each other when working in small groups on projects or research papers in world language classes, science, math, or social studies. The best part of this site: it is EASY to use!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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