Book and Story-Related Websites
My Story Book (https://www.mystorybook.com/)
My story book is an application where you can make your own picture book and publish it onto the site as well. I really liked that it was so simple, and not too complex meaning all grades could use it. There was a drawing and doodle feature on it instead of just clip art so students could draw in their own books as well. It seems very easy to use as it is simple and goes by category. It is perfect for all different grades and can be used with many different subjects. The library of published books is also interesting to browse through.
StoryBird (https://storybird.com/)
StoryBird is a really cool website which is designed to let users create stories or read stories created by other users. There are two options for users when they enter the site: to write or to read. If you enter the write section of the site, you find that the site contains hundreds of drawings and animations that have been uploaded to the site by artists around the world, for the use of other people. Users then have two options: they can then go in, select a drawing that they really like, and start writing a story to accompany that illustration, or if they already have a story idea in mind, they can search through the illustrations until they are able to find illustrations that would fit in with the story they have already imagined. In addition to this writing section of the site however, there is also a section devoted to reading. In this section of the site, users can go through and find stories written by other users that look interesting to them and read through these stories.
Story Jumper (https://www.storyjumper.com/)
This application focuses on creating a story. Students can create their own story from scratch and learn about parts of a story. Story Jumper allows students to create the scenes, props, experiment with text and create their own story line. The website also gives story topics for students to start off with like magic and myth, food and etc. This website could help students who struggle with writing see their creation visually and it helps students create a better understanding of what is needed to create a book besides writing.
FlipSnack (http://www.flipsnack.com/)
FlipSnack is an online book creator platform that creates a “flippable” virtual book. Users can upload pdf files, jpeg files, and embed videos within a single book, so if they have work they have already created, they can easily add it to their book. Created projects are referred to as magazines and can be shared with anyone on any device. There is also a FlipSnack Edu site where teachers can create a class and see all class members’ projects in one place. Teachers can create books and share them with groups of students. Groups are private so if students need additional information for a topic, a teacher can send a book to the students without other students knowing. As a teacher, this may be an exciting way for students to share information for a presentation. I think the ability to embed videos and add text below the video makes this more exciting than a powerpoint presentation and a separate video link because everything the students may need to include would be present in one document. However, most of the creating (if students want to add captions or pages with text) for either program has to be done off-site and then uploaded as a pdf, so the extra step required may be more work than other platforms.
My Story Book (https://www.mystorybook.com/)
My story book is an application where you can make your own picture book and publish it onto the site as well. I really liked that it was so simple, and not too complex meaning all grades could use it. There was a drawing and doodle feature on it instead of just clip art so students could draw in their own books as well. It seems very easy to use as it is simple and goes by category. It is perfect for all different grades and can be used with many different subjects. The library of published books is also interesting to browse through.
StoryBird (https://storybird.com/)
StoryBird is a really cool website which is designed to let users create stories or read stories created by other users. There are two options for users when they enter the site: to write or to read. If you enter the write section of the site, you find that the site contains hundreds of drawings and animations that have been uploaded to the site by artists around the world, for the use of other people. Users then have two options: they can then go in, select a drawing that they really like, and start writing a story to accompany that illustration, or if they already have a story idea in mind, they can search through the illustrations until they are able to find illustrations that would fit in with the story they have already imagined. In addition to this writing section of the site however, there is also a section devoted to reading. In this section of the site, users can go through and find stories written by other users that look interesting to them and read through these stories.
Story Jumper (https://www.storyjumper.com/)
This application focuses on creating a story. Students can create their own story from scratch and learn about parts of a story. Story Jumper allows students to create the scenes, props, experiment with text and create their own story line. The website also gives story topics for students to start off with like magic and myth, food and etc. This website could help students who struggle with writing see their creation visually and it helps students create a better understanding of what is needed to create a book besides writing.
FlipSnack (http://www.flipsnack.com/)
FlipSnack is an online book creator platform that creates a “flippable” virtual book. Users can upload pdf files, jpeg files, and embed videos within a single book, so if they have work they have already created, they can easily add it to their book. Created projects are referred to as magazines and can be shared with anyone on any device. There is also a FlipSnack Edu site where teachers can create a class and see all class members’ projects in one place. Teachers can create books and share them with groups of students. Groups are private so if students need additional information for a topic, a teacher can send a book to the students without other students knowing. As a teacher, this may be an exciting way for students to share information for a presentation. I think the ability to embed videos and add text below the video makes this more exciting than a powerpoint presentation and a separate video link because everything the students may need to include would be present in one document. However, most of the creating (if students want to add captions or pages with text) for either program has to be done off-site and then uploaded as a pdf, so the extra step required may be more work than other platforms.