Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Convert PDFs to flipbook magazines, brochures, and more without watermarks for free using this PDF to flipbook converter tool. Customize your creation by choosing from different options for page-turning effects, change the look of the text, add interactive videos, and more. Upload your PDF document to begin using the customization options found on the dashboard. Options include adding links, images, changing the background, and embedding video. Changes are not automatically saved, be sure to save changes often. Share your flipbook using the link found on the site or embed it into a website using the embed code. Magazines created without creating an account are saved for a week; create a free account to save for future use.

tag(s): conversions (36), digital storytelling (141)

Create and share professional-looking videos with Adobe Express Video Maker (was Adobe Spark Video Maker). Follow the prompts to begin your creation using a story template or start from scratch. Add videos, text, music, and more to your video. Easily rearrange, change themes, and add components until satisfied. When finished, publish your video to share or download it to your computer.

tag(s): communication (136), digital storytelling (141), multimedia (43), video (257)

Engage in digital storytelling using the many features included at ABCYA Paint. Choose from the included tools to spray paint, draw, add stickers, and more. When finished, save as a PNG file to your computer or print.

tag(s): digital storytelling (141), drawing (59), painting (56), preK (254)

Imagine Forest offers free Writing Resources, tools, and ideas to create stories. Begin right away finding inspiration by exploring the blog. Example ideas from the blog are Creating Comic Strips and 70 Fantasy Writing Prompts. Explore the Story Crafts for PDF downloads of craft patterns for stories like Red Riding Hood, Pirate Treasure Island, and others. Though Imagine Forest is not accepting new accounts, you can still access the free resources found on the site and the ideas in their blog.

tag(s): creative writing (122), digital storytelling (141), writing (315), writing prompts (58)

Create interactive video experiences with Timelinely. Just paste your YouTube video URL to get started and bring up your video to annotate. Select any portion of the video timeline and add images, maps, links, and more to the annotation box. Edit and add as many highlights as you like, then publish when complete. You need to create a free account to publish your work. Share using social media links or the Timelinely URL provided after publication.

tag(s): communication (136), digital storytelling (141), video (257)

Design professional looking front pages for a newspaper with this tool. Simply fill in the pertinent information (headline, date, place, and more) and an image. Share via URL, Twitter, or download to your computer. Be sure to view the several samples available, and click on the little question mark at the end of the title to see ideas for use of this tool. No registration is necessary.

tag(s): digital storytelling (141), images (270), newspapers (91)

Focus on the key elements of writing a story with Story Map. Fill out and print graphic organizers for characters, setting, conflict, and resolution. Each organizer has prompts for what to write. Returning to an organizer to edit is possible. Print your Story Map, since it is not saved.

tag(s): digital storytelling (141), graphic organizers (49), writing (315)

Create and share beautiful digital content with Marq (formerly Lucidpress). After registering for a free account, follow the prompts to add a document type from the available templates. Short tutorials along the way help guide you on using available features. The easy drag and drop features allow you to personalize flyers, posters, presentations, and more. The free features allow you to include three documents.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): digital storytelling (141), posters (47), social media (53)

Make your story-telling come to life in any content area with this free tool! Story Map uses a map or pictures to tell the story. The simple editor in this tool syncs to Google Drive editor to create a storymap. The created storymap is a sequence of slides for a map location or image that includes a heading, text, and even images and embedded video. The map or image and included information appear side by side. You can click between the slides connecting one location to another (or portions of an image to another). Your story is now interactive! To use: Follow the prompts to connect your Google Drive to the tool. Choose the type of story to create, Map or Gigapixel (image). Don't worry about the map image showing on the first page. When building a map, the front page will include the portion of the World Map based on map points throughout the project (ex. USA or Europe). Add a headline and detail to the appropriate areas. Include links and change font to bold and italic if desired. Add images to any page by uploading from your computer (through Google Drive) or by entering a link to an image. Enter the URL of the Vimeo or YouTube video you wish to use. Need help? Click on the Gigapixel tab along the top for help in uploading images and videos. The Media box not only has an area for the URL, but also an area to enter a caption and credit for the image. Add additional pages by clicking "Add Slide" in the left-hand menu. Add points to your map, one per slide, by typing the building, street, city, and country. Use the zoom bar in the top left to find the location. Customize the map style, background color, and font using the Options buttons. Click Share to send through social media or to use an embed code. The embed code can be used in any site, adjusting its width for different sites. If using Gigapixel, use a large image (as the image will literally be the "map" and your points move around the image). Save your image to Google Drive and copy the URL of the image as you will need it in the first step.

tag(s): maps (209), stories and storytelling (40), timelines (49)

Draw A Stickman is a delightful, entertaining site that encourages creativity and fun! This is a mini interactive story that has students reading and following directions, solving mysteries, thinking creatively, and solving problems. Start by selecting an episode, then begin the adventure, you draw a simple stick figure and then bring him or her to life. Your figure is faced with several challenges; you must follow directions and draw several props for your stick figure to use. You will love the hero of the story (the character you created) and the villain (a dragon). Finished stories can be replayed or shared on Facebook, Twitter, or email. There is also an online gallery for students to explore and view others' creations.

tag(s): creative writing (122), digital storytelling (141), directions (12), drawing (59), interactive stories (21)

Create a fictional portion of a web page easily by entering a fictional Newspaper, Title of article, Date, and body of article. The final image will be downloaded and not retained on any website except the ones that you publish to. Note: Model ethical behavior: Do not plagiarize or use real names of newspapers or people.

There are also links at the top of the page to create: a newspaper, ninja text, wizard text, talking flowers, talking tomatoes, talking owls, a wanted poster, talking cats, talking squirrels, and a clapper board. Be aware: this site does include some minor advertisements.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): back to school (63), digital storytelling (141), firstday (22), news (229), posters (47)