Writing with Technology

      There are many great resources out there for bringing technology into the classroom. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am having a difficult time finding ways to use technology in my kindergarten classroom. This past week I was assigned to develop a list of 10 technology resources that would benefit teachers. As most assignments begin I started with a broad Google search and weeded through the results. I found an article listing tech resources and the pros and cons for each. I was working on the assignment when I found the resource Storybird.com and was immediately entranced.
      Storybird is "visual story telling for everyone...Storybird lets anyone make visual stories in seconds. We curate artwork from illustrators and animators around the world and inspire writers of any age to turn those images into fresh stories." The idea is to take preexisting artwork and find the story withing.

      I set up an account, free, and on Monday presented this to my class as a way to do group writing. The kids were very excited and engaged. They waited patiently while their classmates wrote their pages and listened carefully as I read them the stories. On our first writing session we made two picture books and one poem. I was even able to print the poem out and have them illustrate their writing. I shared the website with their parents and several students have started their own projects at home. My director was so impressed she has agreed to purchase one story/child as an end of year gift. This week we will begin individual picture books. I am so glad I found this resource!

Picture found at https://diannelaycock.wordpress.com/tag/camtasia-studio/