Literacy Now

As language arts teachers, we know the importance of helping our students build context when reading and writing in different genres. Since our students live in a digital world where they drive their own activities outside of the classroom, it is important that we bring that type of learning into our classrooms. Although most of my learners live in poverty and may not have access to a desktop computer at home, many do have access to handheld devices or smart phones. As their teacher, it is important to find the technology tools that will support their learning inside and outside the classroom walls.

When we begin a new genre study, like many teachers, I provide mentor texts for my writers to study and from which to draw inspiration. Because most of my students don’t have literature readily available in the home, and I usually don’t have enough texts for them to take home, I have created LiveBinders of online texts that the students have access to from school and from home.

A LiveBinder is a digital three-ring binder you can use to organize and label your online resources on a particular topic. You can include PDFs, videos, images, text, or webpages. One aspect of LiveBinders that I particularly love is that you can invite collaborators to add resources to your binder. When I asked my students why it was important for us to study these texts, one student said, “These are professional writers. They are the best in the business. If we want to be great writers, we need to read great writers and write like them.” By using LiveBinders, I am giving my students access to all kinds of writing that they can access from school or from home.

A Tale of Two Tools

At the beginning of the school year, we had a teacher in Memphis contact us and ask if our students could do some collaborative writing and publishing. My writers jumped at the chance to write and publish collaboratively with other students. When students can have an authentic reason to write to a real audience, it greatly impacts not only the quality of the writing, but the enthusiasm for creating great pieces for others to read. For this particular project, the students decided that creating fables would be a perfect fit for both classes. My students come to fifth grade with a vague understanding of the characteristics of the particular styles of writing. When they are given a piece of literature, they might be able to guess the genre, but few have a meaningful understanding of how to write in a specific genre.

Many teachers ask me how I foster such enthusiasm for writing with such limited classroom time. When I introduce a new genre, I want my students to build context and gain an understanding of that writing and how it is relevant to them. Their learning means so much more to them because they have discovered it on their own (with some guidance) instead of merely being given information. This is a small shift that makes a huge difference in their perception of content and in their motivation to become active, thoughtful writers.

So what does this look like in the classroom? After a discussion where they shared any prior knowledge they had about fables, they divided into pairs. Each pair had a netbook computer to explore the sites I had marked in our LiveBinders. They began their exploration of fables by visiting a site called Lit2Go. This site provides a huge database of stories and poetry in PDFs and in MP3s. They are organized by Author, Books, Genres, Collections, and Readability. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find literature available online that you can use as mentor texts. Thanks to Lit2Go, that is no longer a problem. My students had over one hundred examples of fables at their fingertips to study and analyze together. (There are so many other creative ways you can use Lit2Go in your lessons—I’m just sharing how we used it for this project.)

Now that they had a plentiful supply of texts, they needed to organize their learning. That’s where Lino-it came into play. Lino-it is a site for online sticky notes. You can create boards where collaborative users can add information, upload files and photos, and share URLs. Not only is Lino-it a web tool, it is also available as an app, making it readily accessible for my students. It’s a great place to collaboratively house all of the learning that the students are gathering during an exploratory activity such as the one in which my students are engaged.

Once students started noticing characteristics among several different fables, they began adding sticky notes to our fable board. I traveled among the pairs to ask questions or re-direct as necessary, but often before I could ask any questions, their excitement spilled out as they shared all of their findings.

Throughout the lesson, we occasionally stopped and discussed their learning. At the end of this activity, we looked at the collaborative board where they had been adding sticky notes. They made astute observations as they cited examples from the fables they had been reading. Throughout the discussion, they began organizing similar sticky notes and drawing conclusions about what should be included in their fables that they were going to create.

As you can see throughout this activity, my writers took responsibility for their learning. Never once did I assign anything or have to encourage a student to focus on their project. They were 100% engaged in this meaningful writing project that we had to squeeze around all of our other mandated work and programs.

Jumping into Publishing

Their enthusiasm for fable writing was contagious. They couldn’t wait to write. As we squeezed conferring into our tight schedule, the writing partners quickly finished and were ready to jump into publishing. For this project, the students asked to publish a storybook where both classes published their writing together. They wanted to publish an anthology of fables.

We turned to a great tool that publishes digital storybooks, StoryJumper. StoryJumper provides teachers with the opportunity to set up a class; it provides a huge library of clip art, backgrounds, and text options and one can upload photos or scanned images. Also, with StoryJumper, if one wants to purchase a hardback copy of their work, this is possible as well. The creators have done an amazing job giving StoryJumper the feel of a storybook. It has shadows, movement, and the sounds you associate with reading a tangible storybook.

For our project, the learners felt strongly that they wanted their unique artwork included in place of the clip art. Since we were creating an anthology of writing, we were working on creating one book. The writing pairs took turns uploading their artwork and inserting their fables into their pages. When you can have students so excited about publishing their writing, you know you’ve found a winning combination.

What they really love about their StoryJumper is that it’s not only accessible to them at home, but they also can share their writing with friends and family members around the world. Often I see them reading this book during the school day, and they’ve blogged about each other’s writing. They showed their expertise as my “fable masters” had the ability to guide third graders in learning about writing in this genre as well.

Some things that I wonder…

As I’m writing this blog it brings to mind a few questions that I thought I would ask. I hope that this can spur some conversation here and on the message boards. For me, I’ve learned the most from other educators who are willing to share their thoughts and ideas. I am always in search of relevant real world mentor texts that I can share digitally with my students. When we write articles, op-eds, reviews, or PSAs, I turn to national newspaper publications’ digital sites. However, I always have to be careful with the ads that some of them have on their sites. What other sites have you discovered that provide great writing and content, but are still appropriate for sharing with students?

One comment that I hear from teachers regularly is how overwhelming the amount of digital content they generate for their students can become. I started by organizing content and links on SimplyBox, but as it is in the digital world, what we have today can be gone tomorrow. That’s why I moved to LiveBinders. My students have a binder with tabs to organize their papers in each subject, so this is a format that they easily understood. What are some ways that you’ve managed to organize links and other digital content for your students to have readily accessible from any computer or handheld device?

My students and I love publishing. Here is a blog that I wrote about ten of our favorite publishing tools: What’s in Your Writing ToolBelt? We’ve recently purchased an iPad for our classroom and some of their favorites apps (so far) are Comic Book!, ToonTastic, and PuppetPals. [To learn more about literacy classroom-friendly apps, see Karen Lirenman’s recent post, “Your Classroom Got a New Tablet Computer—Now What?”]

My writers and I are always on the look-out for tools that we haven’t used yet that might support the type of writing in which they are involved. In fact, many of them go home and spend hours looking for new tools and apps to add to our publishing tool arsenal. (Who needs to assign homework when they spend their free time like this?) So, what are some of your favorite publishing tools that you and your students enjoy using?

I really look forward to these conversations. So please contribute, ask questions, and share challenges. Not only will we become stronger educators, but the ones who are ultimately going to benefit from our discussions are the excited writers that we have in our classroom every day.

Julie D. Ramsay is a Nationally Board Certified educator, a fifth grade teacher in a student-driven classroom, and the author of “CAN WE SKIP LUNCH AND KEEP WRITING?”: COLLABORATING IN CLASS & ONLINE, GRADES 3-8 (Stenhouse, 2011). She travels the country to speak, present, and facilitate workshops in applying technology to support authentic learning. Read her blog at juliedramsay.blogspot.com.

by Julie Coiro

Do you have a classroom blog with lots of active writers, but wish there were more visitors outside of your local community? If so, Quadblogging might be just what you’re looking for! 

David Mitchell, a Google certified teacher and Deputy Head Teacher at the Heathfield Primary School in the United Kingdom created QuadBlogging two years ago after realizing that writers are so much more motivated to write when they know people are listening.

What is QuadBlogging? 

QuadBlogging (see http://quadblogging.net/) involves four schools from around the world that work in a partnership during a four-week cycle. Each week focuses on the blog at one of the four schools, and students from the other three schools visit virtually to ask questions, post comments, and share ideas. After that week, another one of the four schools becomes the focus and this is then repeated for the four-week cycle.  At the beginning of the fifth week, the quad can begin the cycle again with the same four schools, or jump back into the “pot” of other quad schools to join a different group.

In 2010, over 20,000 students from classes in 18 countries participated, and since September 2011, more than 40,000 students (ages 3 to 19) have become involved in this exciting collaboration.  Teachers have found that this unique blogging experience provides an authentic audience and a purpose for writing that motivates student writers of all ages.  In the process, children also learn about diverse cultures, religions, school practices, and daily life around the globe. The positive energy generated from the QuadBuddies, as they have come to be known, is impressive, and the website also features success stories, video clips, and tips for making the most of your own QuadBlogging experience.

The best part is that a new round of QuadBlogging was begun in January of 2012 and registration is still open–if you have a class blog already, simply fill in the form at the homepage and get started! The website also provides a link to Feb 29th–The World’s Biggest Blogging project at http://feb29th.net/–which will celebrate Leap Year with one day of posts from all over the planet. Don’t pass up these exciting writing opportunities for your students–join today and get involved!

Julie Coiro teaches in the School of Education at the University of Rhode Island. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

 

Students often indicate that one of their favorite times of the school day is when their teacher reads aloud. This special time allows them to become part of a community of readers caught in the spell of good stories, information, and poetry. Reading aloud can also be as beneficial as it is fun. Reading aloud enables teachers to introduce students to a variety of genres. Students’ reading and listening vocabularies expand as they hear new words in meaningful contexts. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) remind parents and teachers of two things about reading aloud to students. First, children’s listening comprehension is stronger than their reading comprehension until the middle grades so parents and teachers can read challenging books to develop children’s knowledge. Second, books read aloud to children in the upper grades can extend and enrich what students are able to read on their own. This week the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group focuses on some of our favorite new books for reading aloud. Happy reading!

GRADES K-3

Dempsey, Kristy. (2012). Surfer Chick. Illus. by Henry Cole. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Sometimes it’s hard to live up to the accomplishments of a parent. Although Chick is thrilled to be taken under the wings of her well-known surfer father, riding the waves is harder than she thought, and more than once, the plucky fowl ends up wiped out, struggling to stay on her pink board. Through her father's tender guidance and her own perseverance, she goes from a miserable heap of wet feathers on the beach to eventually surfing skillfully with a twist of her own. Clearly, this is a daughter much like her father, certainly deserving of the title Surfer Chick. This charming picture book written in rhyming text features clever word play with fun-to-say phrases such as "foul-tempered" (unpaginated) and "ruffled her feathers" (unpaginated). The surfer lingo such as "bummer" (unpaginated), "colossal wipeout" (unpaginated), and "gnarly new legend" heighten the book's appeal and make it a sure pick for a read aloud. The acrylic paint and colored pencil illustrations paint sentimental images of the joys of surfing and of the ocean’s allure. Not only does this title lovingly depict the relationship between a father and his daughter, but it also serves as a gentle reminder that not everything worth doing comes easily.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Henry, Jed. (2012). I speak dinosaur! New York: Abrams.
During imaginary play children like to speak dinosaur. Dinosaurs don’t ask, “May I please play with you?” (unpaginated). Instead the little boy with a red dinosaur hat shouts to his friends in dinosaur, “Gribber, grabber, blobber, slobber!” (unpaginated). All of his friends immediately disappear. Dinosaurs never say thank you or I’m sorry either. And sometimes dinosaurs speak to their moms, “Roar!” When this happens though, dinosaurs need to leave the house. The little boy moves to his back yard swing set and is suddenly lonely. Large dinosaur shadows loom overhead and ask him, “Hi, may we please play with you?” (unpaginated). Little boy is shocked to hear, “May I?” and “Please.” His young friends have returned with their own dinosaur hats, but are using their manners. This is a perfect picture book to remind children about using manners. Teachers could also use this book at an imaginary play center with some dinosaur hats. Another extension would be to show how the author and illustrator, Jed Henry, used capital letters or large font type when the dinosaurs were shouting or yelling. Children could try this idea in their own writing or book making. 
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Jurmain, Suzanne. (2011). The Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the true story of an American Feud. Illus. by Larry Day. New York: Dutton.
From the author/illustrator pair that brought readers George Did It, this new book brings to light the friendship and disagreements of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. At that time in American history the President and Vice President could represent different political parties, which was the case with Adams and Jefferson. Coming from very different political philosophies, “…as different as pickles and ice cream,” this governmental pair argued over most issues in the early years of our country. Adams became the second President of the United States serving after George Washington and Jefferson defeated Adams to become the third President. Because of their numerous arguments, the two men did not speak for over ten years after their terms ended. As the country continued to thrive under other presidents, Jefferson and Adams rekindled their friendship through letter writing as they felt the need to discuss the developing nation. Caricature illustrations provide a humorous look at the antics of these two great men as they waged their battles in shaping the United States. Personal anecdotes from the author about two of the nation’s forefathers give readers the chance to see their human qualities in addition to watching how a friendship can develop after troubled first encounters. 
- Karen Hildebrand Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Pallotta, Jerry. (2012). A giraffe did one. Illus. by Tatjana Mai-Wyss. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press. 
This fun read aloud begins with, “An ant did one, but no one could hear it” (unpaginated). A worm, a mouse, a squirrel and a skunk also did one, but readers aren’t  exactly sure what they have done. This is a perfect book to help teach the thinking strategy prediction. While reading a teacher could ask students, “what do you think the animals are doing?” On one page, “A turtle did one. It made a little bubble” (unpaginated), children could turn to a partner and share what they think the turtle did. On another page, “A monkey did one, and started laughing, but why?” The teacher could stop reading and write down on chart paper all of the students’ predictions. Later, readers will learn that a flower and a tree “can’t do one” which helps refine predictions. The funniest page is, “When the elephant does it, watch out! It sounds like an EARTHQUAKE! (unpaginated). The book closes with an illustration of a mom and a sheepish little boy surrounded by all of the different animals that were in the book at a tea party. The little boy did one too! 
- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Rosen, Michael. (2010). Tiny little fly. Illus. by Kevin Waldron. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
In this delightful read aloud title, a diminutive fly flits teasingly by three mighty beasts--an elephant, a hippo, and a tiger--without coming to any harm. One by one, each of the massive creatures decides to put an end to that fly’s peskiness. Despite their best efforts and amid all sorts of delightful language ["TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP!" (unpaginated), "ROLL! SQUASH! ROLL!" (unpaginated), and "SWOOP! SNATCH! SWOOP!" (unpaginated)]--and possible mayhem, the fly simply keeps on buzzing, slightly, but annoyingly, out of reach. Young readers will enjoy hearing this story multiple times, and readers won't mind reading it again because of how much fun it is to say the words and enjoy the pencil, gouache and digitally enhanced illustrations that fill its pages. The two-page spread that shows the elephant's eye peering at that fly is especially appealing since the size of the fly makes it unlikely that it could survive an encounter with a pachyderm. But then again, size doesn’t always matter, especially when you’re a savvy fly.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Rosenstock, Barbara. (2012). The camping trip that changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir and our National Parks. Ill. by Mordicai Gerstein. New York: Dial.
During the month of February, we celebrate Presidents so this unique story adds to the collection of little-known stories about one of America’s Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and how he came to create the national park system that we preserve and enjoy today. Roosevelt read a book written by naturalist and out-door lover John Muir where Muir was asking the government to preserve America’s beautiful forests and wilderness areas. On May 15, 1903, Teddy Roosevelt arrived in California, slipped away from the presidential entourage, and camped out for three days with Muir in Yosemite to discover the giant redwoods, Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove and other splendors of this wilderness area. When the President returned from his camping trip and outdoor adventure with Muir, the national park and monument system was created. Gerstein’s watercolor illustrations bring the beauty of America’s wilderness areas to young readers and make visible the rationale to save these wonderlands. 
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Sierra, Judy. (2012). Suppose you meet a dinosaur: A first book of manners. Illus. by Tim Bowers. New York: Knopf.
Judy Sierra takes children on a rhyming romp where a well-mannered little girl meets an equally well-mannered dinosaur in the store. Both know all of the right words to say.  For instance, “Imagine that the dinosaur is standing by the bathroom door. / You have to pee! She is in your way. / Quick! What is the proper thing to say?” You say, “Excuse me” (upaginated).  Kids will not only delight in the fun rhymes and Tim Bowers’ delightful acrylic illustrations, but also the very notion of a large green dinosaur wearing stylish pink glasses with rhinestones shopping in the store. This book is an ideal choice for reading aloud when children need a gentle reminder that good manners need to be used. 
- Terrell A. Young, Brigham Young University

GRADES 3-4

McCarthy, Meghan. (2012). The incredible life of Balto. New York: Knopf.
Balto was an inexperienced sled dog when Gunnar Kaasen chose him in 1925 to lead one of the last legs of a race—a 600 mile race to get life-saving serum to Nome, Alaska to save the people from a Diptheria Outbreak. “Balto delivered the medicine to Nome in record time!” (unpaginated), becoming an instant hero Balto. A statue in his likeness and honor was erected in New York City’s Central Park. A dog food was named after him. He even starred as himself in a movie called Balto’s Race to Nome. Yet, fame does not last forever. Eventually Balto and his companions became part of a vaudeville act and finally a sideshow. Cleveland businessman, George Kimball, could not believe how the once-famous Balto was now featured in sideshow.  Kimball resolved to buy Balto and his companions, but the exorbitant price of $2,000 was more than he had. The people of Cleveland raised the money in two-weeks so the Balto and his teammates could be purchased and donated to the Cleveland Zoo.  This read aloud has great appeal for animal lovers and anyone with a sense of adventure.  
- Terrell A. Young, Brigham Young University

Sheinmel, Courtney. (2012). Stella Batts needs a new name. Illus. by Jennifer Bell. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.
Even someone’s name can be the source of unwanted teasing, and when a classmate starts calling Stella Batts an unflattering rhyming name, she decides to solve the problem by changing her name. Instead of Stella, the California third grader wants to be called after a candy since the family owns a confectionery store with yummy treats identified with their two daughters. Stella’s friends all love the idea, and they decide to adopt candy names for themselves as well. Lucy becomes Truffle, Talisa becomes Kit Kat, and Willa becomes Caramel. Stella is stuck with Scheherazade because she can't think of a good candy name, but her friends comfort her by reminding her that the long moniker can be shortened to Sherry. Naturally, mayhem ensues as the students' teacher continues to address her students by their given names, and even Stella gets everyone's name mixed up. Since she plans to be a writer when she grows up, she chronicles all the difficulties she's facing, many of which can be traced back to the problem with her name. The first in a planned series that is sure to be popular with fans of Clementine, the book contains useful messages about learning to get along with others that go down as smoothly as the delicious sweets the family sells. This read aloud will have listeners laughing at the antics of Stella and her classmates.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Tavares, Matt. (2012). There goes Ted Williams: The greatest hitter who ever lived. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Ted Williams had the goal to be “the greatest hitter who ever lived,” and he worked on that goal every day of his young life. He practiced his swing longer and harder than his friends. He ate lots of food to gain weight. He did fingertip pushups. Then he practiced his swing again and again. “He is always swinging something—a bat, or a stick, or a pillow, or a rolled-up newspaper” (Unpaginated) He is offered his professional contract as a junior in high school at age 17! His batting heroics make him a star, but everything changes when he enlists in the Navy during World War II. Three years later, he is back on field and hits a home run on his first time at bat. His legendary career and legendary home runs continue until America is at war again and Williams is needed as a pilot in Korea. As he leaves for Korea, he wonders if his baseball career is over…. Students will enjoy the satisfying ending. The story of Ted Williams is the true story of a kid who had a dream and dedicated his life to making his dream come true.
- Terrell A. Young, Brigham Young University

GRADES 5-8

Bauer, Joan. (2011) Close to famous. New York: Viking. 
Winner of the recent Schneider Family Book Award, this title by Joan Bauer brings together a unique cast of characters that teachers will have fun portraying while reading it aloud. Fleeing Memphis in the middle of the night, Foster McFee and her mother are escaping the relationship of her mother’s abusive boyfriend, an Elvis impersonator. Since her father was killed in battle in Iraq, Foster and her mother have no real place to go but somehow end up in Culpepper, West Virginia in a rented Airstream trailer. Foster gets acquainted with the people in this tiny community through baking her delicious cupcakes and muffins. Although she always had difficulty reading, her love of baking and goal of being the first kid chef on the Food Network keep her driven and determined. As that culinary talent draws even more people to her, including a has-been movie star hiding out in Culpepper, her new friend Macon who dreams of being a filmmaker, Angry Wayne, owner of the local bar and grill (but who sells Foster’s cupcakes), and Perseverance Wilson all band together to help Foster.  Bauer tackles many issues within the storyline such as homelessness, race, domestic violence, learning disabilities and social justice. Visit Joan Bauer’s website http://www.joanbauer.com/close_to_famous.html for an interview about the book as well as cupcake recipes.
- Karen Hildebrand Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Angleberger, Tom. (2011) Horton Halfpott, or, the fiendish mystery of Smugwick Manor, or, the loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s corset. New York: Amulet Books. 
Though author Tom Anglebarger (The Strange Case of Origami Yoda) says this tale was inspired by Charles Dickens, readers/listeners might be laughing too much to think of this as Dickensian. The story opens one morning at Smugwick Manor when M’Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset to allow her circulation to start flowing, and giving her the idea to host a ball for her single and lovelorn nephew. As the days of preparation begin, the family heirloom, the Luggertuck Lump is stolen and Horton, the lowly kitchen boy is accused of the theft. A bumbling detective is hired to solve the case and Horton, falsely accused, is arrested and sent to jail. While in jail, Horton overhears who it is that actually stole the lump (a diamond!), quickly escapes and is on the path to find the real thief. The hilarious bumblings of these zany characters trying to solve the mystery within the castle prove to be an entertaining farcical story. Teachers might like to start this read aloud by sharing the two-minute video the author created for the website companion to this book found at http://hortonhalfpott.wordpress.com/.
- Karen Hildebrand Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

A classroom tablet computer is an amazing tool but heading over to its app store can be quite overwhelming—there are literally thousands from which to choose. So, where do you begin?

Apps tend to fall into specific categories. There are many drill-and-practice apps that help with basics like spelling words, but the power in a classroom iPad lies in the creative apps, such as voice recording, story creating, and draw-and-tell apps. These types of apps allow your students to demonstrate their learning.

The abundance of educational apps increases the tablet’s incredible potential for classroom use. Below are some favorite apps that I use in my grade one classroom with our class iPad.

[Please note: Most of the apps discussed are free, but I’ve noted cost when there is one. Also, many of the apps are only available for iPad at this time, but when available, Android apps have been listed as well.]

Voice Recording Apps

Voice recording apps are those I use to record my students’ voices, and have provided a great way for me to document my students reading orally over time. They are open-ended apps—unlike the drill-and-practice ones, open-ended apps aren’t set up with right or wrong answers—so their potential for learning is unlimited. Here are three of my favourites.

Audioboo (available for iPad and Android) is an easy to use recording app. It creates short voice recordings that can be stored on the Audioboo.net website, or easily embedded into a blog. Here is an example of an Audioboo embedded on my class blog.

VoiceThread (available for iPad) allows you to add oral comments to a photo or drawing. VoiceThreads can easily be shared between users (including ones one the other side of the globe!) and are great for collaborative projects.

Dragon Dictation (available for iPad) is an app that turns speech into text. In my classroom it has been great for one of my learning disabled students. This student has a ton of great ideas but has difficulty writing them down. Dragon Dictation allows this student to speak his ideas and then the app transforms the speech into text.

Story Making Apps

Story making apps allow my students to use their creativity to create or retell stories digitally. The story making apps that I recommend are open ended and the final product can be shared with others.

All of the story making apps below have been used in different ways by my students. Sometimes my students work on their own creating their stories, while other times they work in partners or small groups around the one iPad. It’s important to note that these story making apps can be used to share a variety of content, not just creative stories.

My Story ($1.99, available for iPad) is an app perfect for primary students eager to create stories. This app enables students to draw, write, and/or speak their stories then publish their finished stories for others to read.

Scribble Press (available for iPad) is another app for primary students. This app has preset story frames that can be personalized by filling in blanks. This text can also be edited and changed, or you can completely type in your own text. This app allows you to add photos and/or stickers, and create drawings using a large variety of drawing tools. Once you have completed your story, the app allows for stories to be easily uploaded and shared via the Scribble Press website.

Book Creator ($4.99, available for iPad) allows you to create personal stories that can be published. It is very easy to import photos and add text as well as play with page features such as colour and font.

Toontastic (available for iPad) is an app that allows you to create cartoons to tell a story. There is no writing involved with this app; instead, you create simple animation movies and record your voice to go with the movement. The app provides the user with a lot of different backgrounds and characters to choose from as well as a framework that allows the user to remember key elements in story telling. These key elements include setting, conflict, challenge, climax, and resolution.

Puppet Pals (available for iPad) is another animation app (made by Polished Play) that allows you to create simple movies. You can use this app to retell stories, or create your own. The free version of Puppet Pals comes with a small selection of characters and scenes, but I highly recommend investing in the $2.99 “director’s cut” for a very large selection of characters and scenes.

The beauty of story making apps is that they allow every student to create a story in a way that works best for them. For example, when we worked together with a buddy class from another school using their iPads, we used ScribblePress to easily create a collaborative story about working together. We were able to use the iPad2 camera to add photos of our experience, too.

In addition, some of my students have used our class writing time to draw, write, and tell their personal story using the My Story app. Puppet Pals was a great retell some of the Fairy Tales we studied in January. Puppet Pals can also be used to create math number stories, or to review skip counting. So, while I’ve listed many different story making apps, each app seems to meet a different teaching, learning, or student need and it’s wonderful to have such a fantastic selection.

Draw-and-Tell Apps

Draw-and-tell apps allow you to draw a concept and explain what you’re doing as you do it. They act like interactive whiteboards. For example, my grade one students will be drawing the life cycle of a frog. As they draw the life cycle they will record what they are drawing. Draw-and-tell apps bring voice to those drawings.

The following four apps do pretty much the same things but in slightly different ways. It’s best to explore all four to find out which one is best for your age group; the ones listed here are available for iPad only.

• Show Me
• Screen Chomp
• Explain Everything ($2.99 )
• Educreations

One of the benefits of draw-and-tell apps is that students can work together easily—one can draw while the other speaks. In addition, they are great for retelling stories while drawing simple story maps to go along with the retell. They can be used to create graphic organizers to compare and contrast different characters in a story, or different versions of the same story.

Draw-and-tell apps also provide an excellent way to document reading comprehension. One teacher I know used these apps as a back channel during a class movie. The students using the apps took notes (in words and in pictures) about the movie as it was happening so that they could go back afterwards and revisit what they had learned.

Draw-and-tell apps really do have an infinite number of ways to be used. Think of them like your whiteboard in that they can be used over and over again, but the results may never be the same twice.

Word Work Apps

My grade one students spend part of their day learning and working with letters and words. Here are some of my students’ favourite apps to practice their word work.

Magnetic Alphabet ($1.99, available for iPad) is just like those magnetic letters you grew up with on your fridge at home.

Word Wizard ($2.99, available for iPad) is a fabulous app for those still learning letter sounds, or for those phonetically writing. This app allows your students to hear letter sounds as they manipulate them to create words. In addition, this app has a large selection of sight words and provides an exciting way to practice spelling them.

ABC PocketPhonics ($2.99, available for iPad) is a great app to help your students learn to read, write, and say a variety of letter sounds/words. This app allows you to set up individual accounts for each student so that everyone can work at their just right level. There is a free version available for this app, but it only has a very small selection of what the full app offers.

My students love all three of the apps listed and when given the choice they love to use the magnet letters first. ABC PocketPhonics has also been well received by my students that are having trouble learning their letters and sounds.

However, as their teacher, my absolute favourite is Word Wizard. Word Wizard has helped my newest student to Canada a lot. This student has very limited English. He can say a simple sentence such as “I like Christmas” but he doesn’t yet have the skill to isolate the sounds in Christmas, nor is he sure which letters make which sounds. But when I help him stretch the word Christmas into the c, r, I, s, m, a, s, sounds he is able to use Word Wizard to figure out which letters actually make those sounds.

As you can see by reviewing this long list of apps, your classroom tablet computer is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. Hopefully these suggestions will get you thinking about ways you can integrate your new technology into your classroom!

UPDATE, 7/12: Read Karen's account of adding a class set of iPads through a grant program, and an overview of the apps she's loaded on to her students' iPads, here.

Karen Lirenman (@klirenman) is a grade one teacher in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. She has been teaching for 20 years and discovered Twitter for educational purposes in July 2011. Her interests include utilizing technology, improving her teaching, and sharing with others. Karen spent the 2009 school year teaching in Melbourne, Australia. She loves to travel and is a five-time Ironman finisher. Karen's professional blog can be found at LearningandSharingwithMsL.blogspot.com.



In the Nick of Time: Tools for Organizing Our Teaching Life

Teaching Tips: A Peek Inside—Digital Tools that Empower

Throughout my 28 years as an educator, I have worked with students in rural, urban, and suburban environments from preschool to college level. Regardless of the instructional setting or age group, one of the most challenging aspects of teaching has been supporting the learning of students with special needs. Students with learning challenges often arrive at the classroom door with needs that require educators to think carefully about the ways they plan instruction. Teachers must ensure all students have access to rich, engaging content as well as appropriate means for demonstrating their learning. With such great variability among learners, how can the classroom teacher keep up-to-date with the best ways to support student learning?

The Virginia Department of Education Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) Assistive Technology Blog has just the answer! This blog, which has been active since 2006, offers a plethora of assistive technology information for educators at every level! Assistive Technology (AT) is defined as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. (29 U.S.C. Sec 2202(2))” (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011). Although designed with students with disabilities in mind, some assistive technology tools can also support the learning of students in the regular education program.

Every weekday, T/TAC staff members post information on the latest tools, methods and technologies available for supporting student learning through assistive technology. The site’s consistent, organized design makes information easy to find. Tool bars allow the reader to search for specific keywords, view material by date posted, or look for entries related to broad categories like AT for Reading. Queries submitted in the search bar produce multiple entries on virtually every keyword one uses. The blog offers an RSS feed to keep readers informed of new entries that can be customized to focus on specific topics of interest. For example, selecting an RSS feed for the term “word study” will allow the reader to receive updated information on that topic whenever it is posted. Additionally, T/TAC encourages readers to email specific questions to the site so answers can be posted for the entire community’s benefit. 

Encouraging students of all learning abilities, particularly those with special needs, to engage in instruction can be challenging for any teacher. By visiting the Assistive Technology Blog, educators are guaranteed to find many creative solutions to meeting student’s needs while increasing their own knowledge of the latest assistive technology tools. Using the insight gained from this blog, teachers may be better able to utilize instructional methods and tools that benefit all learners.

Reference

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (July, 2011). What is assistive technology? Retrieved from: http://standards.gov/assistivetechnology.cfm

Joan Rhodes is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Reading Program group at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).