Kid Blogging and Other Sites to Enhance Writing Nancy Sherman & Sally Shackelford

Sally Shackelford and Nancy Sherman Sally and Nancy are both 2nd grade teachers with Hoover City Schools. Sally teaches at Trace Crossings and Nancy teaches at Deer Valley. Both have an EdS in Technology in Education from Lesley University. Sally and Nancy are very passionate about technology and integrating technology in the curriculum.

Take a Byte Out of Writing

Zooburst ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool where your students can create their own customized 3D pop-up books. These can be embedded on your class webpage. http://alpha.zooburst.com/index.php

Check Out Zooburst

Kidblog http://kidblog.org/home.php Kidblog.org is built by teachers, for teachers, so students can get the most out of the blogging process. Kidblog meets the need for a safe and simple blogging platform suitable for elementary and middle school students. Most importantly, Kidblog allows teachers to monitor and control all publishing activity within the classroom blogging community. Comment privacy settings block unsolicited comments from outside sources. Kidblog does not collect any personal information from teachers or students.

Blogging With Kidblog

Storybird http://storybird.com/ Storybird is a web site that uses collaborative storytelling to connect kids and families. Two (or more) people create a Storybird in a round robin fashion by writing their own text and inserting pictures. They then have the option of sharing their Storybird privately or publicly on the network. The final product can bewatched on screen or shared through a worldwide library. Links to wiki examples http://sshackelford.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/Our+Storybirds http://nsherman.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/Sherman%27s+Storybird

Storybird is something to Tweet About

Wonderful Word Cloud Tools: Wordle and Tagxedo Wordle Links Wordle Sample http://www.slideshare.net/boazchoi/fortyfive-interesting-ways-to-use-wordle-in-the-classroom

Tagxedo http://www.tagxedo.com/ Tagxedo Mother’s Day Project Tagxedo Sample

Story Jumper http://www.storyjumper.com/ http://www.storyjumper.com/book/browse Story Jumper is a website that allows kids to build their own books. They can easily create cover pages, add text, upload drawings or photos to illustrate their story, and can use the Story Jumper clipart gallery, too. When finished, they can order their own professionally published hardback book!

Story Jumper Story Starter Worksheet Your students can use this worksheet to organize their story. Then create their story on Story Jumper.

My Story Maker My Story Maker was created by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. No registration or download is required to use My Story Maker - just click and start writing your story straight away! A fun and interactive way to improve children's writing skills! http://www.clpgh.org/kids/storymaker/ Magic number 97440 New magic number 680148 My Story Maker is a tool that helps kids write their own stories. Add characters and objects to the storyboard, and click them to add actions. A basic story will be automatically written, and the students can then embellish the text with adjectives and other descriptive words. When the story is finished, you can print it or link to a PDF version of the book.

Ribbon Hero http://www.officelabs.com/ribbonhero Ribbon Hero is a game for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel 2007 and 2010, designed to help students boost their knowledge of these programs. They can play games, score points, and compete with their friends while improving their skills with Office. Go to this site and download the add-on.

Check Out Ribbon Hero