What is Storybird?
According to Storybirds homepage, it is a “service that uses collaborative storytelling to connect kids and families”. Storybird see themselves as promoters of the imagination and the whole service can be described as a literacy tool. On the homepage you can also read that “kids contextualize and imagine the world through narrative. It’s how our brains work. For us, the goal was to design a service that made storytelling effortless” (www.storybird.com).
How does Storybird work?
The service works in a simple way and the design of the site is clean cut which I think is nice. You need to know how to write and read, so younger learners might need support from an adult. You choose a few images you like and with them as an inspiration you write your own story. When you are finished you can publish your story on the site and share it with other Storybird members. You can also print it out and keep the story in your own little book. If you want you can write stories together with someone else, a friend or another Storybird member through the site.
How the resource can be used by pupils
The pupils are free to play with words and pictures on the site and in that way become inspired. They can learn how to write stories and practice a language, for example English, at the same time. In that way the vocabulary size of the foreign language will increase, as the pupil needs to use a word in the story they don’t already know and have to check it up. They also might get a better understanding of how to build a story.
They can write their own story or write together with others. If that’s the case, they can practice to communicate, for example in English, at the same time. In that way the language gets a social meaning as well.
The pupils also get to use their imaginations and I think the site can be a great way to get the children interested in writing.
How the source can be used by teachers
As a teacher you can open a teacher account on Storybird. This enables the teacher to sign up students without an email address and the account will have its own class dashboard. From there the pupils will have their own accounts and be able to write their own stories. They can also read each others stories and be able to comment on them in the “class library”.
From here the teacher will be able to see how the pupils are handling the language. It can be a good tool when the teacher wants to check what kinds of grammar mistakes are common among the children. In that way he or she gets an idea of what to teach next.
The teacher can also write stories together with the children. If there is an interactive white board in the classroom it could be helpful. The teacher could start the story and the children make up the rest. The teacher could also show a picture and ask the children what they see. In that way the pupils practice their vocabulary skills.
What to consider with Storybird
I think Storybird is a nice site with a good aim. As a teacher I would consider a couple of things though. As the children are able to write comments about each others stories, the teacher is responsible to make sure that there are no offensive comments. It is also important to make sure that all the children want to show their stories to the others. If there are children that don’t feel comfortable with this, they shouldn’t need to publish their stories on the page.
It is important that everyone finds the site joyful.
Thank you for a great tip! I think that Storybird seems interesting. I have never heard about it, so it was very interesting to read. What I like most is that teachers can create an account and invite their students and follow their writing. To use storybird can be good, but like you say it is important that the students looks at it with joyful eyes and not look at it with a negative attitude. The teacher, I think, must give a carefully presentation and not use it to much. I also agree with you that the learners should have the choice to not published his/hers story. It's good that the student can print their stories out, in this way they can save them in a kind of portfolio and work with them later or in another school subject. One question I have if the student choose to not publish its story, can the teacher still follow the writing?
ReplyDeleteMy final thoughts is that Storybird can be good for students writing and reading but it should be used just enough.
Thanks again!
//Ida Bengtsson
Hi Linda!
ReplyDeleteI really like Storybird and your blogpost. I think the teacher account-function is a great idea, that one may put up assignments for the children. Through the side they may practice keeping duedates and give feedback on each others stories. Also it’s nice to have the possibility to be updated on the pupils work quite easily.
It’s a beautiful site (which is important). It’s free and yet free from advertising - almost too good to be true. The site is also a platform for new narrative artists who can show and sell their art. Perhaps it’s an example of a win-win situation that actually works?
I liked what you said about writing together on the IWB. I believe it’s an example how to use whole language approach (top-down, Storboken, kiwi-metoden etc) when writing your own stories.
Something else, it would be fun if one could print real books and use as class fundraisers as they do in the US...
Best wishes, Siri Öberg