• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Brown Bag Teacher

Teach the Children. Love the Children. Change the World.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Meet the Teacher
    • Disclosures
    • Professional Development
  • My Classroom
    • Back to School
    • Differentiated Instruction
    • Distance Learning
    • Management
    • Organization
    • Technology
  • 1st Grade
    • Art
    • Daily Five
    • Guided Math
    • Reading/Literacy
    • Science
    • Writing
  • 5th Grade
    • 1:1 iPads
    • Book Displays
    • Community Building
    • ELA
    • On Demand Writing
  • Shop
  • Blog

February 27, 2013

Digital Storytelling

Hi, friends. I am joining Fern Smith from Fern Smith’s Classroom Ideas for Thursday’s Tech Tip for Teachers! Thanks so much for hosting, Fern. πŸ™‚

We have a set of 5 ipads for our
classroom and they are fantastic. During our unit Writers as Mentors in January, our friends drafted and published their own personal narratives. After students finished with their
final drafts, they took turns being REAL authors using Story Buddy. 

Story Buddy is a
$4.99 app that allows students to create multi-page stories using text, audio,
and illustrations. Plus, the stories can be downloaded/emailed out to parents
(please note – Although I am semi-techy, I still have not figured out this
feature.) Therefore, here is my sample for you in the form of screen shots,

Strengths
Areas
of Growth
It allows students’ writings to become
REAL books. The process is SO motivating for students.
When students type their personal
narratives, they naturally edit spelling, verb agreement, spacing, and
sequence of events. So, their ‘final paper drafts’ are replaced by the significantly better Story Buddy!
When typing, squiggly lines appear
when words are misspelled, so students know when they need to check a word.
There are many options for colors,
text style, and backgrounds. It gives students opportunities to create a
piece unique to them.
The final products are fantastic and
SO much fun to share in front of the class.
You may only store 5 books on every
iPad.
Moving pages around is impossible, so
students must properly sequence events the first time.
You cannot edit letters within a word;
rather, you have to delete the entire word.
Difficult to figure out download
options.
It takes a significant amount of time
for 1st graders to peck out their writings –l.e.t.t.e.r. by
l.e.t.t.e.r.

Also before this process, I had never  asked β€œDo
authors put every.single.word of their stories on a single page?” so many times! J
Is it worth it? Hands down, absolutely!
Our students have been uber motivated by Story Buddy….like β€œMay I please work
on Story Buddy during recess?” motivated. Plus, we have some awesome, awesome final
products. When we presented some of the pieces on Spotlight Night the parents and administrators
were super impressed! So, regardless of the small aggravations (which are more aggravating for the teacher than the student), I would definitely encourage you to check Story Buddy out!
Thanks for stopping by, friends! I hope
you learned about a new resource. If you already use Story Buddy, what do you think of
it?

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Related Posts

  • Apps Every Teacher Should Have
  • Digital Publishing: Creating Books on the iPad
  • Digitizing and Organizing Paper Handouts with DocScan HDDigitizing and Organizing Paper Handouts with DocScan HD
  • Augmented Reality!

Filed Under: 1st Grade, Reading/Literacy, Technology, Writing Tagged With: iPad

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tamra Sarah says

    February 27, 2013 at 2:29 am

    Wow! This seems like a really great app! Wish we had iPads at school. We're keeping this app in mind for when we finally get iPads!

    πŸ™‚ Tamra and Sarah
    firstgradebuddies2.blogspot.com

    Reply
  2. Maria Eshman says

    February 27, 2013 at 2:54 am

    Oooooohhh!!! I must try this one out! We have used Scribble Press, free version, but there were problems with that one. Although… my kids LOVED the marker wall! Same thing with misspelled words. Kids have to erase the whole word… frustrating. The great thing is you can move the pages around.
    Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
    Maria

    Reply
  3. Kelly says

    February 27, 2013 at 3:01 am

    What a great resource. I'm just jealous y'all have iPads…we don't even have one, and I think just that would be awesome. Thanks for sharing – I'm putting this into my "when and if" bank for the future πŸ˜‰

    Kelly
    First Grade Fairytales

    Reply
  4. Tamra Sarah says

    February 27, 2013 at 3:32 am

    You are so lucky to have iPads in your room! We are your newest follower!
    Firstgradebuddies.blogspot.com

    Reply
  5. Jessica says

    February 28, 2013 at 4:37 am

    Great review! We use Story Kit, which is free. It's only on the iPod, though. Just an FYI: you can take screen shots on iOS devices by holding down both the home button and the on button a the same time. It takes a picture of whatever is on your screen! A suggestion for your next review 'cause I want to know what else you use!
    What I Have Learned

    Reply
  6. Erika says

    March 2, 2013 at 5:55 pm

    WOW, I wish I had ipads for my class! I was able to use on last year and we worked on kids recording themselves and then listening to their reading. It was so cool. Thanks for sharing this cool resource! I gotta find a grant or something to get ipads myself. Thanks for visiting my blog, I'm your newest follower πŸ™‚

    Erika teachtraintriumph

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

My name is Catherine Reed, and I am in Year 10 of my elementary life, residing in small-town, Kentucky. Β I student taught in 1st grade and never ...

Read More

Find it Fast!

Join Me!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Don’t Miss These!

Working together to meet a goal builds classroom community & encourages teamwork. As a PBIS school, check our our 20 favorite nonfood, low-cost rewards!

20 Positive Behavior Rewards that Aren’t Food

Guided Reading offers students intentional reading instruction with texts that are just a little too hard! From lesson planning to benchmarking students to word work activities, check out these awesome ideas to make Guided Reading work!

Guided Reading: 1st Grade Style

Weekly Lesson Planning Routine

Overwhelmed by math centers? Check out these SIMPLE ideas for create predictable patterns and routines that allow for streamlined planning!

Managing Math Centers

Wordless Picture Books

Categories

Archives

Footer

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Join Me!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

The Brown Bag Teacher © 2022Built with and Genesis Framework by Bellano Web Studio