Monday, November 2, 2009
bp3_2009111_Web2.0_Tools
As I looked through the Web 2.0 tools and websites, I found myself drawn to two different websites. Both websites allowed the user to create a book. The first website, Tikatok allows the user to use illustrations created by the user(or in this case the user’s students) to illustrate a book. I found this website to have limitless possibilities. As a kindergarten teacher we spend time each day writing about our “small moments”. Moments in our lives that we have experienced. We use the small moments to teach the kids to write about what we know. It’s difficult enough to get them comfortable with writing, but to have them have to choose a topic is very frustrating for a beginning writer. Just last week, we created a class book on Halloween safety, using ideas we generated during a brainstorming session. Tikatok would be a fantastic tool to actually publish our class book. For a small fee, just $2.99 for a downloadable ebook, we could turn our writings into books to share with each other. It is possible to turn class writings into hard cover books as well.The second site I looked at, storybird.com was another site dedicated to creating books. However, this site provided illustrations. This would be a great activity to do with the class on the Promethean board (smart board). The pictures are a great starting place for a brainstorming session to create a short story to match the illustrations. During our reading lessons we always take a picture walk of the books we read together, but also as part of something else we do instead of centers, I teach my students to read the pictures of a book. For the students who can’t read yet, reading the pictures really empowers them. This would be something that every student would be able to contribute to.
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Very cool!
ReplyDeleteKim's review of storybird.com sounds inviting and goes right along with the sketchfu Web 2.0 tools I researched and reported on earlier this week. Visuals are a critical element in getting young writers to focus on a topic and begin to generate and create written stories. Using the Smart Board with the class to create a class book again a fantastic idea for teachers who want to motivate younger writers by combining writing, drawing and technology. The $2.99 price per eBook from the Tikatok site seems a little pricy, but depending on your budget might make a fantastic holiday or end of the year gift for students to not only read, but to remember and enjoy the memories for years to come. When I was in the classroom creating class books was always one of my favorite projects, especially when the kids could be heard reading and rereading the stories over and over again in the centers. I plan to visit the sites for myself and recommend them to both my kindergarten and first grade team of teachers.
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